The Dutch co-plaintiffs in the Demjanjuk trial will be allowed to read their complaint in the Munich courtroom on Wednesday 13 and Thursday 14 April. Sobibor survivor Jules Schelvis, aged 90, will also read his complaint. Mr Schelvis did this earlier during the revision trial against Karl Frenzel at Hagen (1982-1985). The complaint of Rob Wurms, who died unexpectedly on March 24 at the age of 68, will most likely be read by his lawyer.
The German judicial system allows immediate relatives of homicide victims to assist the public prosecutor as co-plaintiffs. They are entitled to read their own complaint, and are free to choose the contents and form they deem fit. During the Demjanjuk trial 23 surviving relatives of Jews killed in the Sobibor destruction camp will act as co-plaintiffs. As such, they will speak on behalf of their murdered relatives, but also, symbolically, represent all those who perished in the Sobibor gas chambers.
John (Ivan) Demjanjuk has been on trial in Munich since November 2009, for complicity in the murder of at least 27,900 Dutch Jews during the period from 28 March to 1 October 1943, while working as a Trawniki-trained Wachmann in Sobibor. The verdict is expected to be delivered in May.Press folder>>
