Richard Rashke, Useful Enemies: John Demjanjuk and Americas Open-Door Policy for Nazi War Criminals (Delphinium, 2013)
You may have heard of a fellow named Ivan or John Demjanuik. He made the news\u2013repeatedly over a 30 year period\u2013 because he was, as many people probably remember, a Nazi war criminal nick-named \u201cIvan the Terrible\u201d for his brutal treatment of Jews (and others) in the Sobibor death camp. The trouble is, as Richard Rashke points out in his new book Useful Enemies: John Demjanjuk and America\u2019s Open-Door Policy for Nazi War Criminals (Delphinium, 2013), Demjanuik was not a Nazi, was not \u201cIvan the Terrible,\u201d and, though he was certainly a guard at Sobibor, it\u2019s not entirely clear what he did (though it was likely very bad). Again and again he was brought to trial for his alleged crimes. Again and again the courts failed to agree on what he had done. Demjaniuk was and remains something of a mystery, a vital mystery that we badly want to solve but cannot. After all, we need to know who is a war criminal and who is not.\n\nWhat\u2019s most interesting about Demjaniuk\u2013at least to this reader\u2013is the moral complexity of his story. As Rashke shows, he was repeatedly compelled to make life and death choices as he tried to stay survive in Stalinist Russia, in Nazi-occupied Eastern Europe, and even after the war. He had options, but they were almost always bad ones, and often deadly ones. He was a \u201ccollaborator\u201d to be sure. But, Rashke asks, what exactly is a \u201ccollaborator\u201d? Could he have chosen differently and hoped to survive? Could he have acted \u201cmorally\u201d in the context within which he found himself? Rashke says \u201cyes.\u201d Listen in and find out why.\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices\nSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/genocide-studies