Deportation Appeal Denied For Accused Nazi Guard

CINCINNATI — A federal appeals court yesterday rejected an alleged Nazi death camp guard's challenge to a final deportation order by the nation's chief immigration judge. A panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled there was no basis to John Demjanjuk's challenge of a December 2005 ruling that he could be deported to his native Ukraine or to Germany or Poland.

The government initially claimed Demjanjuk was the notoriously sadistic guard at the Treblinka camp known as "Ivan the Terrible." Officials later concluded that he was not, but a judge ruled in 2002 that documents from World War II prove Mr. Demjanjuk was a Nazi guard at various death or forced labor camps. Mr. Demjanjuk, 87, lives in the Cleveland suburb of Seven Hills. He has steadfastly denied that he ever helped the Nazis, arguing that he served in the Soviet Army and was captured by Germany in 1942 and became a prisoner of war. His attorney, John Broadley, said at the time of oral arguments in November that whichever way the decision went, the losing side likely would appeal for a hearing before all the judges of the 6th Circuit or to the U.S. Supreme Court.