Record (Kitchener-Waterloo) | Sep. 08, 2004 | Bernie Farber

Expel Oberlander

I must respond to Eric Hafemann's Sep. 03, 2004 letter, No Evidence Oberlander Was Involved In Crimes.

Hafemann, legal counsel for Nazi enabler Helmut Oberlander, uses extreme language bordering on the obscene in trying to defend Oberlander, an acknowledged member of a Nazi killing unit that murdered more than 23,000 Jewish men, women and children, during the Second World War.

Hafemann suggests that I do not care what Helmut Oberlander "did or did not do during the Second World War." Hafemann states that all I want is for the government to deport Oberlander.

In fact, I do want the government to deport Oberlander. But it is for the very reason that I do care about what he did during the Holocaust that I want him deported. Hafemann is free to call me whatever he wishes to try to discredit my position. My reputation as a human rights activist speaks for itself.

On the other hand, it seems to me that a Canadian court has found that Oberlander was a member of a Nazi killing unit and that he lied about his membership when he applied for Canadian citizenship. This is against the law. Those who lie to obtain Canadian citizenship have such citizenship removed and are deported to their country of origin.

It has always been the position of Canadian Jewish Congress that the law in this case should be applied. Oberlander should be sent back where he came from and have his citizenship revoked. It is the only justice left for those victims of his Einzatsgruppen killing unit who still cry out for justice.

Bernie M. Farber, executive director
Canadian Jewish Congress,
Ontario region