The trial of John Demjanjuk in Munich, the last major Nazi trial in a series that began in Nuremberg in 1946, has opened in what Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad describes as "chaotic cirumstances". Demjanjuk, now 89, stands accused of being a guard at Sobibor extermination camp in 1943. The families of the camp's Jewish victims will be part of the trial. For them it brings the horrors of the war very close indeed.

John Demjanjuk arrived in court in a wheelchair, partly covered with a light blue blanket, and kept his eyes firmly closed. Just five metres away sat Sobibor surviver Thomas Blatt, 82. Mr Blatt says he does not remember Demjanjuk, but has come to Munich to testify what it was like at Sobibor.
 

Listen to an interview with Rob Fransman - whose parents were murdered in the gas chambers of Sobibor.

There are 22 co-prosecutors from the Netherlands in the German courtroom. They are all people whose close family members were murdered at Sobibor extermination camp. One of these Nebenkläger is Rob Fransman. As a young boy, he survived World War II but both of his parents died in the gas chambers of Sobibor.

"I still ask myself whether it is wise to take part in this trial. Because it's sure to have an emotional impact. It stirs everything up again."

One of Rob Fransman's reasons for taking part in the trial despite his reservations is his sense of moral indignation at people who deny the Holocaust. People such as Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Mr Fransman sees this trial as probably the last chance to show the world the facts of the Nazi persecution of the Jews.

The 22 Dutch co-prosecutors in the Munich courtroom represent the 30,000 Dutch Jews who were killed at Sobibor in 1943. In total, an estimated 200,000 Jews lost their lives there. Following an uprising on 14 October 1943, the Nazis razed the entire camp to the ground to erase all traces of the mass murder.

Deep scars
The events of World War II have left deep scars in the life of Rob Fransman. Around 20 years passed before he began to live something like a normal life again.

"I've had my share of psychological problems, but I believe that I have put them behind me now. I live a completely normal life. But not a day goes by - and I mean that literally - without me thinking about the events of World War II, if only for a moment."

The background to the trial of John Demjanjuk is unusual to say the least. He was originally arrested 30 years ago in the United States on suspicion of war crimes committed in German concentration camps. In 1984 he was extradited to Israel and sentenced to death for having been an executioner at the Treblinka extermination camp. But when doubts arose about his identity, Demjanjuk was acquitted on appeal.

Banality of evil
Subsequent investigation turned up further incriminating evidence for a fresh line of inquiry. In May 2009, the United States once again extradited Demjanjuk, this time to Germany. And it is there that he will appear before the court on 30 November. And before the gaze of the families of the victims of Sobibor.

As the trial approached, Rob Fransman found himself searching the Internet for photographs of the extermination camps. He writes on his weblog:

"I download the pictures of the brutes who committed these crimes and zoom in on their faces. I can stare at them for ages. I feel you should be able to recognise a murderer. But no, there's nothing out of the ordinary to be seen. It's what Hanna Arendt, writing 50 years ago, called the banality of evil."