Ivan the Terrible

Ivan the Terrible is the nickname given to a notorious guard at the Treblinka extermination camp during the Holocaust, identified as Ivan Marchenko in statements made by other guards. The moniker alluded to Ivan IV, also known as Ivan the Terrible, the infamous Tsar of Russia. "Ivan the Terrible" gained international recognition following the 1986 John Demjanjuk case. By 1944, a cruel guard named "Ivan", sharing his distinct duties and extremely violent behavior with a guard named "Nicholas", was mentioned in survivor literature. John Demjanjuk was first accused of being Ivan the Terrible at the Treblinka concentration camp. He was found guilty of war crimes and was sentenced to death by hanging. This decision was later overruled by the Supreme Court of Israel. In 2011, Demjanjuk was convicted of war crimes for having served at Sobibor extermination camp.