Accused Nazi May Be Deported to Germany

An immigration judge today revoked John Demjanjuk's stay of deportation to Germany, clearing the way for the retired autoworker to be sent to Germany to face charges of being a Nazi death camp guard. The 89-year-old suburban Cleveland man, who came to America after World War II, is accused in a German arrest warrant of 29,000 counts of acting as an accessory to murder at a death camp in Nazi-occupied Poland in 1943.

The ruling takes effect Wednesday, unless Demjanjuk is able to successfully appeal. There was no immediate indication if he would try. Judge Wayne Iskra, who granted the initial stay, reversed the decision today without a hearing. He agreed with the US Justice Department's response that the matter should be handled by the Board of Immigration Appeals, which has previously upheld Demjanjuk's removal. (More deportation stories.)