Time for this man to be deported
The Supreme Court of Canada has once again denied a request by former Nazi Helmut Oberlander to appeal the revocation of his Canadian citizenship. This was far from the first time that a Canadian court had ruled against Oberlander’s wishes to remain in this country, but it should be the last.
This ruling was not a victory. Rather, it points to an ongoing frustration for not only Canada’s Jewish community and our Second World War veterans, but for every decent Canadian appalled by the atrocities of Nazi Germany. What exactly is Helmut Oberlander still doing in Canada?
B’nai Brith Canada provided its expert opinion to the federal government well before this latest Supreme Court appeal; our government had the legal ability to deport Oberlander long ago.
Enough’s enough. It’s time for Canada to do the right thing and deport this man. Now. No more delays. No more procrastination. This simply cannot be a political issue.
Not all that long ago, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau issued a public apology for Canada’s role in denying safety and refuge to the St. Louis, a ship filled with 937 Jewish passengers fleeing certain death in Nazi Germany in 1939. He expressed hope that Canada today could remain a more “dynamic, inclusive and open country” than it was back then and affirmed his “commitment to fight anti-semitism everywhere.”
But the disease of anti- Semitism is again spreading, even in this country. Sadly, B’nai Brith finds itself exposing cases of blatant anti- Semitism and Holocaust denial in Canada on a regular basis. Our anti- hate hotline receives calls on a daily basis reporting anti- Semitic incidents. As reported in our annual Audit of Anti- Semitic Incidents, Canada’s authoritative document on anti- Semitism, our nation’s number of anti-semitic incidents has steadily risen for the past three years — consistent with other statistics showing alarming rises in anti- Semitic sentiment and behaviour throughout the world.
As powerful as Trudeau’s words were in the St. Louis speech, they hold no real meaning if Canada is unwilling to back them up with concrete action. This can start now — today — by deporting Oberlander. There is no legal justification for his continued presence in Canada. The legal system has spoken. Canadians have spoken. Will our laws be enforced and justice served, or will undue sympathy for the man’s age trump the rule of law and our moral obligations to the memories of more than 90,000 innocent men, women and children who were victims of Oberlander’s horrific unit?
As a beacon of human rights and morality in the world, Canada must demonstrate in no uncertain terms that Nazis are still not welcome here and are owed no sympathy, no matter how many years have passed since their vicious crimes took place.
As difficult as it might be for many of us to accept or believe, there is no hiding from the fact that in certain corners of our society, it has become acceptable once again to be an unabashed Nazi sympathizer and to seek to cause actual violence and harm to others. It is also undeniable that the threat of anti-semitism today and the risks posed by not addressing it effectively are greater than they have been in recent memory.
In a healthy and moral society, finding a portion of the population faced with that kind of circumstance should be cause for immediate and decisive action to correct the trend and prevent it from reaching its despicable goals. Canada can no longer ignore Oberlander, an actual, bona fide Nazi.
What message does it send to the world about Canada’s resolve to deal with those involved in genocide if our government furthers its delays?
Oberlander was a part of the most evil political movement in human history. The six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust were forever denied a voice with which to seek justice for themselves. We owe it to them, and to the remaining survivors, to make it unequivocally clear that they have not been forgotten and that their murderers did not succeed in destroying their lives with impunity.
There are no more excuses. The opportunity that history is now presenting must be seized to offer the smallest bit of justice.
Further delay will be Canada’s eternal shame.
Canada must deport Helmut Oberlander. Immediately.