Canada again revokes citizenship of SS veteran

The Canadian government has stripped a former SS member of his citizenship for the fourth time. Will they succeed this time in deporting him?

The Canadian government has decided to revoke the citizenship of a former SS soldier who served as an interpreter for the Einsatzkommando 10a mobile killing unit during the Holocaust.

According to the CBC, this is the fourth time Helmut Oberlander, the 93-year-old SS veteran, has had his Canadian citizenship revoked. A year ago, the Canadian Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal of a lower court ruling on the matter, putting the issue to the cabinet.

Born in Ukraine, Oberlander claims he was recruited into the SS against his will at the age of 17. He subsequently lied about his service when applying for citizenship nearly 60 years ago.

Oberlander’s lawyer said they will challenge the decision. Oberlander remains in the country during legal proceedings. A hearing in the case is expected to take place late this fall or early next year.

The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) welcomed the decision.

“The legal facts in this case are not in dispute: Oberlander was a member of a savage Nazi unit that murdered more than 90,000 Jews in the Holocaust,” Shimon Koffler Fogel, CEO of CIJA, said in a statement on Tuesday, according to CBC News.

“There is no statute of limitations for such heinous crimes, and the government deserves credit for its tireless efforts in this case,” Fogel said. “This latest development is an important milestone in bringing a measure of justice to his many victims and their families.”

The Simon Wiesenthal Center also lauded Canada’s decision.

“This is the fourth time that Oberlander’s Canadian citizenship has been revoked and hopefully he will finally be removed from Canada,” said Dr. Efraim Zuroff.

“This step should also facilitate his prosecution for ‘accessory to murder’ by the German authorities under their amended prosecution policy whereby any person who served either in a death camp or in the mobile killing units can be convicted based on service alone of accessory to murder. We urge the German authorities to take whatever steps are necessary to be able to bring Oberlander to justice as quickly as possible.”

Kirill Kalinin, press secretary of the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Canada, said the move to once again strip Oberlander of his citizenship “is a welcome step, though long overdue.”

By: World Israel News Staff

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