This has been sent to all Senators and Congressional Representatives Dear Representative: I have enclosed, for your further review, evidence which strongly suggests that a grave injustice has been committed by the Office of Special Investigations (hereinafter referred to as OSI). In my letter to you dated December 14, 1988, I included correspondence from attorney John Broadley of Jenner & Block, Washington, D.C., to Attorney General Richard Thornburgh dated October 25, 1988. Mr. Broadley requested the OSI to review its files and immediately release any statements or records of interviews with Richard Glazar, a Treblinka survivor and citizen of Switzerland. Through FOIA litigation, Nishnic, et al v. Dept. of Justice, Case No. 86-2802, we learned that between December 22, 1978 and September 25, 1979, at least 19 State Department cables or letters were sent to and from Bern, Switzerland reflecting the efforts of the OSI to interview Mr. Glazar (Exhibit A). After an apparent interview with Mr. Glazar on October 14, 1979, and OSI's Supplemental Answers to Defendant's interrogatories dated, November, 1979, (Exhibit B) stating that Richard Glazer had knowledge of Defendant's actions, all correspondence between the U.S. and Switzerland immediately ceased. Based upon Exhibits A and B, the following questions arise:
Two months expired without a response from Attorney General Thornburgh. Mr. Broadley then sent a second letter dated December 24, 1988 (Exhibit C). This letter clearly illustrates that not only was Richard Glazar interviewed, but also Kurt Franz, the commander of Treblinka, and Franz Suchomil, a Treblinka guard who knew "Ivan the Terrible" very well. Additional State Department cables indicate that interviews with these two individuals were, in fact, conducted (Exhibit D). Yet, no such reports were turned over to the defense or to the Israeli prosecution, who would have been obligated to release them to the defense. No listings of these interviews were posted in the Vaughn Index prepared by the OSI for the previously named FOIA litigation. We understand that on September 5, 1979, Kurt Franz was interviewed by OSI investigators, specifically, Mendelsohn, Moscowitz and Parker (Exhibit E). In 1987, the nationally broadcast ABC news program, 20/20, aired an interview with Kurt Franz where he stated that Mr. Demjanjuk is not "Ivan the Terrible" of Treblinka. Furthermore, we have recently learned that Franz Suchomil wrote a letter in March of 1978 to Dr. Pier Arrigo Carnier, who is preparing a book entitled Lo Sterminio Mancato (Exhibit F). In his letter, Suchomil referred twice to Ivan being in Trieste, Italy "before the end of the war". He further wrote, "the gas chamber fillers from Treblinka, Ivan and Nikolai, were probably shot". Knowing that this was written by Suchomil in 1978, one must wonder what he may have told OSI investigators in September of 1979. Since our FOIA lawsuit is no longer a pending litigation, I respectfully request your intervention into locating these reports so that they may be turned over to the defense once and for all. Only then can Mr. Demjanjuk, whom I believe to be a totally innocent man, finally receive the justice which he deserved nearly a decade ago, when he was known as a model American citizen. Many individuals are questioning the "due process" which Mr. Demjanjuk is said to have received in the United States, as well as, in the State of Israel. I am enclosing a recent article written by Patrick Buchanan, the former Communications Director for the Reagan administration (Exhibit G). Professor Willem Wagenaar, an Experimental Psychologist from the University of Leiden in the Netherlands, recently had a book published which severely criticizes the identification procedures used against Mr. Demjanjuk. This book is on sale in England, unfortunately, it is not yet available in the U.S. However, I have included a book review from The Independent, printed in London, where the reviewer concludes that the book "deserves to become a legal classic" (Exhibit H). On January 17, 1989, Neal Sher, Director of the OSI, finally responded to Mr. Broadley's October 25th letter to Attorney General Thornburgh (Exhibit I). You will note in the last paragraph of Mr. Sher's response, he states, "OSI has no reports of investigation or any other record of interviews of Mr. Glazar conducted by Justice Department officials". He does not state that Mr. Glazar was never interviewed. He states only that Mr. Glazar's report is not in the file. He does not address the serious evidence relating to the 19 State Department cables and apparent interview with Mr. Glazar on October 14, 1979. He does not address the issue of Kurt Franz and Franz Suchomil (John Broadley's December 24th letter to the Attorney General). The time has come for the OSI to answer some very serious questions. No legitimate purpose is served by withholding potentially exculpatory evidence. Where memories are old, witnesses elderly and scattered throughout the world, and the resources of the defendant (a former Cleveland auto worker) and the prosecution are so disparate, elementary justice requires that the Justice Department's 10 year old work product be made available to the defense for whatever light it might shed on the issues. Conversely, if OSI claims not to have this work product, one would be compelled to conclude that the Demjanjuk file was purged. The destruction of relevent documents during a pending litigation is a criminal offense. If you have any questions relating to this letter or any previous correspondence, please do not hesitate to contact me. As our time is limited in this life or death situation, I look forward to your timely response.
Enclosures EXHIBIT A [Nineteen US State Department cables or letters sent to or from Bern, Switzerland reflecting efforts � evidently successful � of the OSI to interview Treblinka Survivor Richard Glazar. Of these 19 documents, 3 have already been posted to the Ukrainian Archive � namely: (1) Document 02, a US State Department telegram which unintentionally reveals that the witness whose whereabouts are being sought is in fact Richard Glazar; (2) Document 18, a letter from Richard Glazar to Norman Moscowitz finalizing arrangements for Glazar's travelling to Washington DC to present his testimony to the OSI; and (3) Document 19, the reply from Norman Moscowitz to Richard Glazar confirming Holiday Inn reservations and the meeting time and place. The remaining 16 documents that comprise Exhibit A will be posted as resources permit.] EXHIBIT B [Martin Mendelsohn's Supplemental Answers, Nov 1979] EXHIBIT C [John H. Broadley letter to US Attorney General Richard Thornburgh, 24 Dec 1988] EXHIBIT D [Three US State Department cables indicating OSI interviewing of Kurt Franz and Franz Suchomil. These three documents will be posted to the Ukrainian Archive as resources permit.] EXHIBIT E [Two US State Department cables indicating OSI interviewing of Kurt Franz on 05-Sep-1979. These two documents will be posted to the Ukrainian Archive as resources permit.] EXHIBIT F [Gitta Sereny article on the Demjanjuk case in The Plain Dealer, 14-Jan-1989.] EXHIBIT G [Patrick Buchanan article in the Tribune Media Services, undated, but possibly late 1988.] EXHIBIT H [Anthony Storr review, published in The Independent of 15-Nov-1988, of Willem A. Wagenaar's book, Identifying Ivan. This review will be posted to the Ukrainian Archive as resources permit.] EXHIBIT I [Neal Sher's reply of 17-Jan-1989 to Demjanjuk defense attorney John Broadley.] |