The Right Wrong Man: John Demjanjuk and the Last Great Nazi War Crimes Trial - Paperback

by Lawrence Douglas (Author)

Now the subject of the Netflix documentary The Devil Next Door

Back Jacket

"A remarkable and important work that lays bare the limits of the justice system for the greatest crimes. Lawrence Douglas has woven out of the trials of John Demjanjuk a book that is utterly gripping and finely crafted, one that offers insights that are profound, troublesome, and enlightening."--Philippe Sands, University College London

"In this insightful and gracefully written book, Douglas elevates the Demjanjuk case from a legal curiosity--one involving an initially mistaken prosecution followed by a later valid one--to a study in the uses and limits of the law when it confronts genocide."--Michael B. Mukasey, former US attorney general

"A marvelous book and a gripping read, The Right Wrong Man dissects one of the most bizarre episodes in the adjudication of the Holocaust. It is reminiscent of, but superior to, Hannah Arendt's Eichmann in Jerusalem. Like Arendt, Douglas studied his subject from up close, from inside the courtroom. Combining eloquent reporting with trenchant analysis, he has produced a rare thing indeed--a learned page-turner."--Jens Meierhenrich, London School of Economics

"In this pathbreaking book, Lawrence Douglas reflects on how jurists in the Demjanjuk trial grappled with challenges of the passage of time, the infirmity of the accused, the hierarchy of perpetrators, inherited legal institutions, and different legal traditions. This is an essential work for understanding judicial reckoning with mass atrocity in our time."--Michael R. Marrus, professor emeritus, University of Toronto

"The Right Wrong Man is powerful, richly observed, and darkly entertaining. Anyone interested in postwar history will want to read it."--Elizabeth Kolbert, staff writer with the New Yorker

"Lawrence Douglas has once again provided us with a history-laden and provocative analysis of Holocaust trials. His riveting study of the Demjanjuk saga is of importance, not just to historians and jurists, but to all those who wonder how can justice ever prevail when the crime being adjudicated is genocide."--Deborah E. Lipstadt, Emory University

"A wonderfully lucid book about the bizarre and fascinating case of John Demjanjuk, the only American to lose his citizenship twice, and about the much larger issues of law and morality that arise when individuals are held to account for crimes committed by the state."--Scott Turow, author of Identical

"In this excellent book, Lawrence Douglas, a thoughtful student of legal attempts to punish atrocities committed in wartime, uncovers the strange case of the non-German who, impressed into serving as a Nazi concentration camp guard, was, many years later, repeatedly tried as a war criminal and ultimately convicted."--Richard A. Posner, US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit

"Impeccably researched, imaginatively crafted, and beautifully written, The Right Wrong Man is a brilliant analysis of the longest, most complex and confusing, and most controversial series of legal measures ever initiated against any Holocaust perpetrator--John Demjanjuk. The story of the three decades of litigation required to convict him is told here as only Lawrence Douglas can tell it."--Charles W. Sydnor Jr., Virginia Holocaust Museum

"The Right Wrong Man is a fascinating exploration of what kind of justice the bit players in history's greatest crimes deserve. With the authority of an academic and the eye of a novelist, Lawrence Douglas sheds bright new light on the perplexing case of John Demjanjuk, a small cog in the Nazis' genocidal machine. Although Demjanjuk was not 'Ivan the Terrible, ' as originally accused, Douglas argues that in the end he was Ivan-the-terrible-enough to have been properly convicted."--Jane Mayer, staff writer with the New Yorker

"This book cements Douglas's reputation as our leading guide to thinking about the difficult moral, political, and legal issues surrounding the postwar Nazi trials. The Right Wrong Man is brilliant, ambitious, and wide ranging."--Devin O. Pendas, author of The Frankfurt Auschwitz Trial, 1963-1965

"Douglas has produced an excellent account of the Demjanjuk case--or rather cases. His beautifully written book is the definitive work on the subject."--William Schabas, author of Unimaginable Atrocities: Justice, Politics, and Rights at the War Crimes Tribunals

Author Biography

Lawrence Douglas is the James J. Grosfeld Professor of Law, Jurisprudence, and Social Thought at Amherst College and a Guggenheim fellow. His books include The Memory of Judgment: Making Law and History in the Trials of the Holocaust and The Vices. His work has appeared in leading publications such as the New Yorker, the Times Literary Supplement, and Harper's. He lives in Sunderland, Massachusetts.