This was a story that ran and ran. John Demjanjuk was, over many decades, tied up in the judicial system in many countries accused and at times convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity dusing the Nazi era.
This lyric covered but one of the many wrangles over those decades, when Demjanjuk’s conviction for being a particular Ivan the Terrible was overturned. It is quite possible that he was some other Ivan The Terrible though. He died in 2012 with elements of the matter unresolved/still pending appeal.
I’m not sure the lyric was ever used. The idea of jurisdictions trying to avoid having to ddeal with tough cases of this kind seems as relevant as I write in 2019 as it did in 1993. I think the closing line of this lyric is pretty darned good, though I say so myself.
SOMEONE ELSE
(To the Tune of “Something Else”)
VERSE 1
Well looky there,
In Tel Aviv;
There goes that Demyanuk,
If he’s a Nazi he would make me puke;
But judges have their doubts in Israel,
The evidence was terrible that sent him to jail;
So now those judges are a-sayin’ to themselves;
“He sure ain’t Ivan, man,
He’s someone else”.
VERSE 2
Well looky there,
In USA;
They thought the case was dead,
They want Demyanuk like a hole in the head;
The locals will protest and Jews complain,
The Fed will extradite Demyanuk to the Ukraine;
So now those frightened nations are all sayin’ to themselves;
“We sure ain’t trying him,
Try somewhere else”.
Given the context, the Sid Vicious version of the song “Something Else”, with lyrics on the screen, seems suitable: