Court dismisses latest Oberlander effort to fight stripping of citizenship
TORONTO — An elderly man who has had his Canadian citizenship revoked for lying about his membership in a Second World War Nazi death squad has lost yet another bid to have his case revisited.
In the latest such ruling in a case that dates back to the 1990s, the Federal Court of Appeal dismissed an attempt by Helmut Oberlander, of Waterloo, Ont., to retain his citizenship.
“We are devastated with this decision,” Oberlander’s family said in a statement Thursday. “Mr. Oberlander is now 95 years old. He has health issues. He wants nothing more than to have his Canadian citizenship and his reputation restored.”
Courts have repeatedly agreed Oberlander’s citizenship should be revoked on the grounds that he lied about his participation in a Nazi squad responsible for the deaths of nearly 100,000 people, most of them Jewish. However, there has never been any evidence he took part in any atrocities.