29 May 2007
The Canadian Jewish Congress (CJC) has welcomed the Canadian government's move to revoke the citizenship of Helmut Oberlander and Jacob Fast, who both misrepresented their Nazi pasts when they entered Canada. "The announcement by justice minister Rob Nicholson revoking the citizenship of these two men is very welcome news," said CJC National President Ed Morgan. "The government has made a long-awaited decision implementing Canada's commitment to international justice. Time is now our enemy, so we hope the procedure for deportation moves expediently," he added.
"In particular, Helmut Oberlander has been the touchstone case of a Nazi enabler permitted to stay in this country unhindered by his past," said CJC CEO Bernie M. Farber. "The government's move will bring great comfort to Holocaust survivors who have had to deal with the fact that Oberlander lived in freedom among them for so many years," he noted, adding: "The government's focus on Nazi-era defendants sends a strong message to modern-day war criminals who might have sought Canada as a safe haven. Prime Minister Harper's government has made it clear that time will not sully justice and Canada will pursue war criminals as long as they remain in our country."
Helmut Oberlander and Jacob Fast now face deportation hearings. It is the second time Oberlander's citizenship has been revoked following a decision in 2001 which was overturned three years later by an appeals court, which and ordered the Canadian government to reconsider the case. When Oberlander came to Canada in 1954, he concealed his membership in a Nazi killing squad that conducted mass executions of Jews and other civilians in the former Soviet Union. In 2003, another court said Fast hid his German citizenship when he entered Canada in 1947 and that he had collaborated with a Nazi security police unit in Ukraine which arrested and executed Jews.
Justice Minister Nicholson said that due process had been followed. "It is now time to move forward," he added, stressing that the government took war crimes cases seriously. "Canada will not become a safe haven for anyone who has been involved in war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide." Oberlander and Fast can still ask the Federal Court to decide if the government decision was lawful, but cannot challenge the earlier findings of fact in their cases.
