Helmut Oberlander

Helmut Oberlander is an alleged war criminal. During WWII, he was required to work for the German forces. His duties included listening to and translating Russian Radio Transmissions, acting as an interpreter during negotiations between the military and the local population, and the guarding of military supplies. After immigrating to Canada with his wife Margaret in 1954, he ran a construction business and lived in Quebec.

In 1995 the Government of Canada investigated and accused Helmut Oberlander of war crimes. Judge Andrew MacKay, on February 28, 2000 reported his findings: He concluded that there is absolutely no evidence that Mr. Oberlander was either, directly or indirectly, involved in committing any war crimes or any crimes against humanity. However he might have obtained his entry into Canada in 1954 by not telling the truth.

Mr. Oberlander, at age 17, was used by the German Military Forces (SS Einsatz Kommandos) as an interpreter when they entered Ukraine in 1941. The Canadian Government determined that withholding this information is sufficient reason to strip Mr. Oberlander of his Canadian Citizenship and deport him from Canada.

upporters

His supporters point out that he is not accused of participating in any war crimes, was not a Nazi party member or ever politically active, never attained a rank which put him in a position to affect the actions of his units or direct any of their wartime activities. They argue that Oberlander was just 17 when he was conscripted as an interpreter for German occupation units in Ukraine in 1941. They point out that the judicial finding that he failed to disclose his wartime record when applying for immigration to Canada was based on a balance of probabilities that he was indeed likely to have been asked and likely gave a false answer rather than on any evidence that he actually did so.

They point out that Oberlander has been a model citizen since coming to Canada, and that his removal or stripping of citizenship serves only partisan political purposes and unfairly targets a decent and innocent man who was himself a victim of forces well beyond his control before, during and after the second world war.

His Detractors Allege

Oberlander's critics say his contributions to the Nazi killing squad were significant and therefore worthy of action. Wartime documents reveal that Oberlander was an ethnic German from the vicinity of Zaporizhia in Ukraine, served in the Nazi Security Police and SD (the Security Service of the SS) from 1941 until at least 1944. The unit in which he served, Special Detachment 10a of Einsatzgruppe D, was comprised of 100 to 120 men and was responsible for annihilating all persons in its areas of operation who were considered "undesirable" by the Nazi regime, particularly the Jewish and Sinti and Roma (so-called Gypsy) inhabitants. They refer to a document later used at the Nuremberg trials, in which Einsatzgruppe D reported at the beginning of April 1942 that it had "executed" 91,678 persons since the German invasion of the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941. Other reports are cited which disclose that tens of thousands of these victims were Jews. During the summer of 1942, Special Detachment 10a was issued a poison gas van with which to carry out additional mass murders, which hitherto had been performed by shooting. In one report to Berlin, Einsatzgruppe D declared that "the Jewish problem has been solved" in the area in which Special Detachment 10a was then operating. In January 1943, Oberlander was awarded the War Meritorious Service Cross Second Class for his service in Special Detachment 10a and cite this as indicating a willing participation in the war crimes committed by this unit.

Legal response

His lawyer, Eric Hafemann, called the cabinet decision flawed, as was the first revocation, and predicts a second reprieve. Hafemann will ask for a judicial review of the citizenship decision.

ources

* "Helmut Oberlander no longer a citizen: Federal cabinet strips citizenship for second time in 12-year battle" http://www.therecord.com/home_page_front_story/home_page_front_story_1050499.html

* "Oberlander, Fast lose citizenship over hidden wartime activities" http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=e795be47-3009-45cd-8038-62f840c51585&k=4672

* "Passage of time has altered perspectives on war crimes" http://www.therecord.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=record/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1180758811573&call_pageid=1024322168441&col=1024322596091

* "ACCUSED NAZI MURDERER IS EXPELLED FROM THE UNITED STATES" http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/Pre_96/May95/261.txt.html