TORONTO (July 25, 2017) – Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC) strongly supports theCanadian Federal Cabinet's decision to revoke 93-year-old ex-Nazi interpreterHelmut Oberlander’s Canadian citizenship through an order-in-council. According to Canada’s Privy CouncilOffice, the Federal Cabinet revoked his Canadian citizenship for the fourth time on June 20,2017, after determining that Oberlander (recognized as an ex-Nazi by theCanadian government) allegedly failed to disclose his involvement with Naziforces in World War II – first as an interpreter and later as an infantrymember, when he was applying for his Canadian citizenship.

 “It ispleasing that Canada is once again re-engaging in this important case in thepursuit of justice” said FSWC President and CEO Avi Benlolo.

 According to the CanadianDepartment of Justice’s 13th report on CrimesAgainst Humanity and War Crimes, “In February 2000, the Federal Courtdecided that Mr. Oberlander had obtained citizenship through deception byconcealing his membership in Einsatzkommando 10a, a unit thatsystematically carried out mass executions of civilians, particularly Jews, inthe occupied Soviet Union.” Based on the same report, Oberlander has sinceappealed the court in 2007, 2012 and 2015 in order to once again gain hisCanadian citizenship.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center hasOberlander on its annual list of the Most Wanted Nazi War Criminals for having servedin the Nazi death squad, Einstazkommando 10a, which is estimated to havekilled 23,000 civilians – most of which were Jews. FSWCteaches about the consequence of the Holocaust every day on its Tour forHumanity, its tolerance training programs and its annual missions toAuschwitz – in order to ensure that hateful episodes like this neverhappen again.

To interview AviBenlolo, please contact:

Atara Cadesky                                                AvitalBorisovsky
Communications Associate                         CommunicationsAssociate
416.864.9735 x 30                                          416.864.9735x 29
acadesky@fswc.ca                                        aborisovsky@fswc.ca

Follow us on Twitter at @CanadianFSWC for latestnews and organization updates.

__________________________________________________________________

Friends of SimonWiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies (FSWC) is a top Jewish human rightsfoundation in Canada's organized Jewish community. It directly impacts over100,000 people each year and 500,000+ peripherally. FSWC is committed tocountering racism and antisemitism and to promoting the principles oftolerance, social justice and Canadian democratic values through advocacy andeducational programs including workshops, Freedom Day, Spirit of HopeBenefit, Tools for Tolerance and the widely acclaimed Tour for Humanity.FSWC is affiliated with the Simon Wiesenthal Center, an international Jewishhuman rights organization headquartered in Los Angeles which has won twoAcademy Awards, has built two Museums of Tolerance (with a third being built inJerusalem) and is an NGO at the United Nations, UNESCO, OAS, OSCE, the Councilof Europe and the Latin American Parliament. Visit us at www.fswc.ca.Canadian Headquarters: Toronto 

Branches:LosAngeles • New York • Chicago • Paris • Buenos Aires • Israel