Report: Postponement of Deportation of Helmut Oberlander
02/08/21: Helmut Oberlander appears to have once again evaded deportation by having his case delayed for an additional month and possibly longer. "The final case against a Canadian linked to Nazi war crimes, which has taken 25 years in court, will be delayed further after his lawyers obtained a postponement of the hearing that was to start on Monday", reported the Globe and Mail.
"The federal government maintains he obtained citizenship through "false representation or fraud" because he never disclosed his (alleged) wartime work as an interpreter for the Einsatzkommando, a Nazi unit described as a group of killing squads tasked with exterminating Jewish people, intellectuals, Roma and other groups..." a CBC report contends.
Even while Oberlander maintains he was forcibly conscripted by the Nazis when he was 17 years old and was never charged with a crime, the Immigration and Refugee Board is supposed to determine whether he should be removed from Canada. His citizenship has been revoked four times. He was able to appeal his first three but was unsuccessful on the fourth appeal.
Canada has a substantial Jewish population that has been affected by the Holocaust. Between 15,000 and 25,000 Holocaust survivors immigrated to Canada. Even while their number has shrunken in recent years, their children and grandchildren continue to hope for justice.
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