Feodor Fedorenko
Encyclopedia
Feodor Fedorenko was a naturalized U.S. citizen, a former Soviet
citizen, who was denaturalized, extradited to the USSR, sentenced there to death for treason
and participation in the Holocaust and executed.
in the Ukraine
. He was mobilized on June 23, 1941, almost immediately after the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany
. He was a truck driver.
He had no previous military training, and in the next two or three weeks his group was encircled twice by the German army. He escaped the first time, but was captured three days later by the Germans and transported to Zhytomyr
, then Rivne
, and finally to Chelm
, Poland.
One day at Chelm the Germans assembled the Soviet prisoners and walked down the line selecting 200 to 300 who were sent to Trawniki concentration camp
. Federenko was among them. There Fedorenko was trained by the Germans and then posted to Treblinka extermination camp
as a guard (Wachmann) in approximately September 1942.
After the end of the war, Federenko fled to the United States in 1949 and settled in Philadelphia, where he worked in a factory. He settled in Waterbury
, Connecticut, before moving to Miami Beach, Florida. In 1978 he was arrested and brought for a denaturalisation trial in Fort Lauderdale.
Federenko gave sworn pre-trial testimony on May 25, 1976, to American investigators in Hartford, Connecticut. He was asked: "Were you aware of the fact that thousands of Jews were being exterminated in Treblinka?" He answered, "Yes, I knew." Asked if he was assigned to the forced labor camp or the camp "where they had gas chambers," he replied: "I was where the gas chambers were."
At his subsequent denaturalization hearing in June 1978, Fedorenko testified over three days in greater detail. He denied that he had actually entered the section of the camp where the gas chambers were located but admitted that he had once been posted on a guard tower overlooking this section of the camp. "I saw how they were loading up dead people, loading them on the stretchers. ...And they were loading them in a hole." Later in his testimony, he reconfirmed that this part of the camp "is where there was the workers that took the bodies and buried them or stacked them in the holes. This is where the gas chambers were." Concerning the unloading of Jews from the trains, he testified: "Some were picked for work and the others, they went to the gas chambers".
Judge Norman C Roettger said that the 71 year old had himself been a “victim of Nazi aggression.” He ruled that the prosecutors had failed to prove that Mr. Federenko committed any atrocities while at the camp, and that he could keep his United States citizenship.
However, on the 21 January 1981, the United States Supreme Court overturned this verdict
and Federenko became the first Nazi war criminal to be deported to the Soviet Union in December 1984. The Crimean Regional Court in June 1986 found him guilty of treason and taking part in mass executions. He was sentenced to death and his execution by shooting was announced in July 1987.
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
citizen, who was denaturalized, extradited to the USSR, sentenced there to death for treason
Treason
In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife. Treason against the king was known as high treason and treason against a...
and participation in the Holocaust and executed.
Biography
Federenko was born on the 17 September 1907 in the village of Sivash, in the Dnipropetrovsk OblastDnipropetrovsk Oblast
Dnipropetrovsk Oblast is an oblast of central Ukraine, the most important industrial region of the country. Its administrative center is Dnipropetrovsk....
in the Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
. He was mobilized on June 23, 1941, almost immediately after the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...
. He was a truck driver.
He had no previous military training, and in the next two or three weeks his group was encircled twice by the German army. He escaped the first time, but was captured three days later by the Germans and transported to Zhytomyr
Zhytomyr
Zhytomyr is a city in the North of the western half of Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Zhytomyr Oblast , as well as the administrative center of the surrounding Zhytomyr Raion...
, then Rivne
Rivne
Rivne or Rovno is a historic city in western Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Rivne Oblast , as well as the administrative center of the surrounding Rivne Raion within the oblast...
, and finally to Chelm
Chelm
Chełm is a city in eastern Poland with 67,702 inhabitants . It is located to the south-east of Lublin, north of Zamość and south of Biała Podlaska, some 25 kilometres from the border with Ukraine...
, Poland.
One day at Chelm the Germans assembled the Soviet prisoners and walked down the line selecting 200 to 300 who were sent to Trawniki concentration camp
Trawniki concentration camp
Trawniki concentration camp, in the village of Trawniki about 40 km southeast of Lublin in Poland, was an SS labour camp which provided forced labourers for a nearby industrial plant to work in appalling conditions with little food...
. Federenko was among them. There Fedorenko was trained by the Germans and then posted to Treblinka extermination camp
Treblinka extermination camp
Treblinka was a Nazi extermination camp in occupied Poland during World War II near the village of Treblinka in the modern-day Masovian Voivodeship of Poland. The camp, which was constructed as part of Operation Reinhard, operated between and ,. During this time, approximately 850,000 men, women...
as a guard (Wachmann) in approximately September 1942.
After the end of the war, Federenko fled to the United States in 1949 and settled in Philadelphia, where he worked in a factory. He settled in Waterbury
Waterbury
Waterbury is a city in Connecticut in the United States.Waterbury may also refer to any one of the following:-Places:United States*Waterbury, Nebraska*Waterbury, Vermont*Waterbury , Vermont,a village within the town of Waterbury, Vermont....
, Connecticut, before moving to Miami Beach, Florida. In 1978 he was arrested and brought for a denaturalisation trial in Fort Lauderdale.
Federenko gave sworn pre-trial testimony on May 25, 1976, to American investigators in Hartford, Connecticut. He was asked: "Were you aware of the fact that thousands of Jews were being exterminated in Treblinka?" He answered, "Yes, I knew." Asked if he was assigned to the forced labor camp or the camp "where they had gas chambers," he replied: "I was where the gas chambers were."
At his subsequent denaturalization hearing in June 1978, Fedorenko testified over three days in greater detail. He denied that he had actually entered the section of the camp where the gas chambers were located but admitted that he had once been posted on a guard tower overlooking this section of the camp. "I saw how they were loading up dead people, loading them on the stretchers. ...And they were loading them in a hole." Later in his testimony, he reconfirmed that this part of the camp "is where there was the workers that took the bodies and buried them or stacked them in the holes. This is where the gas chambers were." Concerning the unloading of Jews from the trains, he testified: "Some were picked for work and the others, they went to the gas chambers".
Judge Norman C Roettger said that the 71 year old had himself been a “victim of Nazi aggression.” He ruled that the prosecutors had failed to prove that Mr. Federenko committed any atrocities while at the camp, and that he could keep his United States citizenship.
However, on the 21 January 1981, the United States Supreme Court overturned this verdict
Fedorenko v. United States
Fedorenko v. United States, , was a United States Supreme Court case which held that people who assisted in Nazi persecutions, whether voluntarily or involuntarily, were not eligible for visas to enter the United States, and thus could not legally obtain United States citizenship...
and Federenko became the first Nazi war criminal to be deported to the Soviet Union in December 1984. The Crimean Regional Court in June 1986 found him guilty of treason and taking part in mass executions. He was sentenced to death and his execution by shooting was announced in July 1987.
See also
- John DemjanjukJohn DemjanjukJohn Demjanjuk is a retired Ukrainian-American auto worker who gained notoriety after being accused numerous times of Holocaust-related war crimes....
- Karl LinnasKarl LinnasKarl Linnas was an Estonian who was sentenced to capital punishment during the Holocaust trials in Soviet Estonia in 1961. He was later deported from the United States to the Soviet Union...
- Algimantas DailidėAlgimantas DailidėAlgimantas Mykolas Dailidė is a former Lithuanian Security Police official. After the war, Dailidė sought refuge in the United States, saying he had been a "forester." While in the United States, Dailidė was a real estate agent until he retired to Gulfport, Florida...
- Anton GeiserAnton GeiserAnton Geiser is a retired steel worker and former United States citizen who, as a member of the SS-Totenkopfverbände during World War II, served as a guard at both the Sachsenhausen and Buchenwald concentration camps. In 1956 he moved to the US, settling in Sharon, Pennsylvania, where he had...
- Boļeslavs MaikovskisBoļeslavs MaikovskisBoļeslavs Maikovskis was a Latvian Nazi collaborator who served as chief of police for the second precinct of Rēzekne while the Germans occupied Latvia in World War II.After the war Maikovskis went to Austria....