TIMELINE: The Life of John Demjanjuk
Demjanjuk, who was convicted of assisting in the deaths of 28 thousand people while serving as a guard in the Sobibor Nazi extermination camp, died at age 91. Here is a look at his life.
1920 – Demjanjuk is born Ivan Mykolaiovych Demianiuk in a village in Ukraine
1942 – While serving in the Red Army, Demjanjuk is captured by the Germans and transferred to an SS training camp as a prisoner of war. There he is trained to become a concentration camp guard
March 1943 – Serves as a guard at the Sobibor extermination camp
September 1943 – Demjanjuk is transferred to the Flossenbürg concentration camp in Germany
1945 – Transferred to a POW camp near Munich
1952 – Demjanjuk moves to the United States and begins working at a Ford factory in Cleveland
1958 – Receives U.S. citizenship under the name John Demjanjuk
1976 – U.S. authorities begin investigating Demjanjuk after Holocaust survivors claim he is “Ivan the Terrible,” a notorious guard who committed acts of murder and savage violence against prisoners in Treblinka extermination camp. His citizenship is revoked
1986 – Demjanjuk is extradited to Israel
1988 – After facing trial, he is sentenced to death
1993 – Archives in the U.S.S.R. reveal that Demjanjuk is not Ivan the Terrible. Demjanjuk is acquitted and released to the United States
2002 – U.S. authorities investigate suspicions that Demjanjuk was a guard at Sobibor. His citizenship is revoked once again
2009 – Extradited to Munich and detained upon arrival
2011 – Demjanjuk is convicted of assisting in the murder of 28 thousand people and is sentenced to five years in prison. He appeals the sentence and waits for the final outcome in a retirement home in Germany
2012 – Demjanjuk dies at age 91