Germany charges accused Nazi guard Demjanjuk

By Sarah Marsh

BERLIN (Reuters) - German prosecutors charged suspected death camp guard John Demjanjuk on Monday with helping to kill nearly 28,000 Jews in World War Two, setting the stage for what could be Germany's last big Nazi war crimes trial.

"State prosecutors in Munich have today charged the 89-year-old John Demjanjuk as an accessory to murder in a total of 27,900 cases," prosecutors said in a statement.

Nazi hunters welcomed the announcement, which follows years of legal arguments over the wartime activities of Kiev-born Demjanjuk, who denies any role in the Holocaust.

Prosecutors said the long-time Ohio resident, who has been held in a jail in southern Germany since May 12 after he was deported from the United States, would be tried in a Munich court, but did not specify when.

Lawyers for the prosecution and the defence have previously said autumn could be a feasible start date.

The retired car factory worker tops the Simon Wiesenthal Centre's list of its 10 most-wanted suspected war criminals. It says Demjanjuk pushed men, women and children into gas chambers at the Sobibor death camp in what is today Poland.

"This is a milestone on the way to finally achieving justice," said Efraim Zuroff, the head of the Wiesenthal Centre in Jerusalem and a leading Nazi hunter.

"A trial of this sort sends a very important message, that even many years after the crimes were committed, it is still possible to achieve justice."