The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs welcomed the Canadian government’s decision to revoke the citizenship of a former SS soldier who served as an interpreter for the Einsatzkommando 10a mobile killing unit during the Holocaust.
"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 the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs said in a statement sent 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."
According to the CBC, this is the fourth time that Helmut Oberlander, the 93-year-old Holocaust perpetrator has had his citizenship revoked. Last year the Canadian Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal of a lower court ruling on the matter, punting the issue to the cabinet. Oberlander’s attorneys immediately filed a challenge.
Born in Ukraine, Oberlander said that he was impressed 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.
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"This is the fourth time that Oberlander's Canadian citizenship has been revoked and hopefully he will finally be removed from Canada,” said Dr.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 (concentration camp with installations to carry out industrialized mass murder [gas chambers or gas vans]) or in the mobile killing units (Einsatzgruppen) 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."