Skip the Lawyers, go for the Headline Writers

To set down what we know.

Whoever was on the staff at the Sobibor Extermination Camp, in Poland, during World War Two perpetrated evil that is almost unspeakable.  Evil that seriously raises the question of the death penalty.  Evil that raises the question of whether forgiveness is even possible.

Now we turn to today's Boston Globe. On page 3 of my edition of the paper is an article on the German Government (or is it the Bavarian Government) trying a certain John Demjanjuk, accused of being a guard at Sobibor.  The fact is that this person was tried by a court in Israel and sentenced to death.  This conviction was later overturned based upon the fact that it was a case of mistaken identity.  It appears that in international justice terms there is no such thing as double jeopardy.

But, back to the article.  Mr Demjanjuk was born in the Ukraine, fought in the Soviet Army in WWII and was captured.  While a POW he switched sides and joined the German Army.  After the war he emigrated to the US and became a US Citizen.  He had his Citizenship stripped for lying about his past with the German SS.  After his trial in Israel, and his eventual acquittal, his US Citizenship was restored, only to again be stripped by a Federal Court.  He was then ordered deported.

As even the Boston Globe article states:

Given that his United States citizenship has been revoked, he would probably remain in Germany.

So, why is the headline?

American’s Holocaust trial begins

This man is not an American.  He was not born here and his naturalized citizenship was stripped from him.

At The Boston Globe are headlines assigned randomly?  Do the headline writers even read the stories?  Do they have a background and education that would allow them to understand the stories for which they are writing headlines?  Is there any adult leadership down at the main office?

Regards  —  Cliff