Nazi war crimes suspect dies before extradition

An ex-Nazi interpreter, the last in Canada to face allegations connected to Nazi war crimes, has died at the age of 97, local media reported on Wednesday.

Helmut Oberlander, who was facing extradition, had been fighting to stay in Canada for nearly 26 years since police launched an investigation into his links to atrocities committed during World War II.

Oberlander died on Monday, just as the Canadian government was concluding the process for his extradition, The Globe and Mail newspaper reported.

Canadian officials tried to expel him on the basis that he had hidden his role as an interpreter for a Nazi death squad during Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union.

The Ukrainian-born immigrant died in his home on Monday. His family described him as a man of both faith and community. However, his critics and investigators saw him as a war criminal.

"Notwithstanding the challenges in his life, he remained strong in his faith. He took comfort in his family and the support of many in his community," the Oberlander family said in a statement.

Several expulsion attempts dodged

In December 2019, Canada's top court declined to review a decision to strip him of his citizenship for alleged ties to the Nazis in World War II. A federal court found that he had "significantly misrepresented his wartime activities to Canadian immigration and citizenship officials when he applied to enter Canada" in 1952, according to a legal summary of the case.

He was admitted in 1954 as a permanent resident, and obtained Canadian citizenship in 1960.

Immigration officials had tried to revoke his citizenship on several occasions. In 2001, 2007 and 2012, Canadian courts fought to take away his citizenship, but the decisions were set aside on appeal.

Each time, Oberlander argued that he was forcibly conscripted by the Nazis and that he had acted as an interpreter for the Einsatzkommando 10a death squad.

Critics call out flaws in justice system

Critics of the case have said the failure to revoke Oberlander's citizenship revealed flaws in the Canadian justice system.

"We need to revisit the whole process of bringing war criminals to justice," former justice minister and ex-Liberal MP Irwin Cotler told The Globe and Mail.

"We have war criminals residing in Canada from different killing fields," he added. "We have neither the investigative capacity nor the legal remedial approach to do what has to be done as effectively as possible."