LONDON, Feb. 9 (JTA) — Britain’s first Nazi war crimes trial has opened with charges against a man who in 1942 allegedly murdered four Jews in a German-occupied town in Belarus. Silver-haired Anthony Sawoniuk, 77, limped into Court One at the Old Bailey courthouse and was allowed to sit in the well of the court rather than in the dock, where the accused normally sits. Before being sworn in, members of the jury were told that the trial was likely to last until the end of March and were advised to resign from the panel if they or their families “suffered as a result of the German actions against Jewish or other races or religions.” The jury will fly to Warsaw on Sunday and then travel by bus to Belarus to visit sites in Domachevo relating to the allegations. In 1991, Britain enacted legislation permitting the prosecution of Nazi war crimes suspects who settled in Britain after World War II. The legislation also provided for the creation of an unit to investigate the crimes.
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