Canada's Supreme Court declined on Thursday to hear the appeal of an ex-Nazi death squad member to reinstate his Canadian citizenship, which was revoked after his wartime activities came to light.

Helmut Oberlander, aged 95, was born to a family of German ethnicity in Ukraine. During World War II, he served first as a translator for the Einsatzkommando 10a (Ek10a), a Nazi mobile killing squad that systematically executed thousands of people in the former Soviet Union after the German invasion.

"He was found to have significantly misrepresented his wartime activities to Canadian immigration and citizenship officials when he applied to enter Canada" in 1952, the Supreme Court's case summary says.

Read more: Canadian court revokes man's citizenship over Nazi SS ties, again

Lengthy legal battle

Oberlander became a Canadian citizen in 1960, and initially had this revoked in 1995 after a Royal Canadian Mounted Police's investigation into his involvement in war crimes.

He has been fighting to stay in Canada since 1995, and on three occasions — 2001, 2007 and 2012 — immigration officials tried to revoke his citizenship, but each time the decision was reversed on appeal.

In 2017, officials succeeded, saying Oberlander "was complicit in crimes against humanity" and had made "a voluntary, knowing and significant contribution to the crimes committed by Ek10a."

Looking back on Kristallnacht, the Nazis' anti-Jewish pogroms What happened on November 9-10, 1938? Anti-Semitic mobs, led by SA paramilitaries, went on rampages throughout Nazi Germany. Synagogues like this one in the eastern city of Chemnitz and other Jewish-owned property were destroyed, and Jews were subject to public humiliation and arrested. According to official records, at least 91 Jews were killed — though the real death toll was likely much higher.

Looking back on Kristallnacht, the Nazis' anti-Jewish pogroms What's behind the name? The street violence against German Jews is known by a variety of names. Berliners called it Kristallnacht, from which the English "Night of Broken Glass" is derived. It recalls the shards of shattered glass from the windows of synagogues, homes and Jewish-owned businesses. Nowadays, in German, it's also common to speak of the "pogrom night" or the "November pogroms."

Looking back on Kristallnacht, the Nazis' anti-Jewish pogroms What was the official reason for the pogrom? The event that provided the excuse for the violence was the murder of German diplomat Ernst vom Rath by Herschel Grynszpan, a 17-year-old Polish Jew. Vom Rath was shot at close range at the German Embassy in Paris on November 7, and died days later. Grynszpan wasn't executed for the crime; no one knows whether he survived the Third Reich or died in a concentration camp.

Looking back on Kristallnacht, the Nazis' anti-Jewish pogroms How did the violence start? After vom Rath's death, Adolf Hitler gave Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels permission to launch the pogrom. Violence had already broken out in some places, and Goebbels gave a speech indicating the Nazis would not quash any "spontaneous" protests against the Jews. The SS were instructed to allow "only such measures as do not entail any danger to German lives and property."

Looking back on Kristallnacht, the Nazis' anti-Jewish pogroms Was the violence an expression of popular anger? No — that was just the official Nazi party line, but no one believed it. Constant references to "operations" and "measures" in Nazi documents clearly indicate the violence was planned ahead of time. It's unclear what ordinary Germans thought of the mayhem. There is evidence of popular disapproval, but the fact that the couple in the left of this picture appear to be laughing also speaks volumes.

Looking back on Kristallnacht, the Nazis' anti-Jewish pogroms What did the Nazis hope to gain? In line with their racist ideology, the Nazis wanted to intimidate Jews into voluntarily leaving Germany. To this end, Jews were often paraded through the streets and humiliated, as seen in this image. Their persecutors were also motivated by economic interests. Jews fleeing the Third Reich were charged extortionate "emigration levies," and their property was often confiscated.

Looking back on Kristallnacht, the Nazis' anti-Jewish pogroms Did the pogrom serve the Nazis' purpose? After the widespread violence German Jews were under no illusions about Nazi intentions, and those who could left the country. But such naked aggression played badly in the foreign press and offended many Germans' desire for order. Later, further anti-Jewish measures took more bureaucratic forms, such as the requirement that Jews wear a visible yellow Star of David stitched to their clothing.

Looking back on Kristallnacht, the Nazis' anti-Jewish pogroms What was the immediate aftermath? After the pogroms, the Nazi leadership instituted a whole raft of anti-Jewish measures, including a levy to help pay for the damage of November 9-10, 1938. The second-most powerful man in the Third Reich at the time, Hermann Göring, famously remarked: "I would not want to be a Jew in Germany."

Looking back on Kristallnacht, the Nazis' anti-Jewish pogroms What is Kristallnacht's place in history? In 1938, the beginning of what became known as the Holocaust was still two years away. But there is an obvious line of continuity from the pogrom to the mass murder of European Jews, in which the Nazi leadership would continue to develop and intensify their anti-Semitic hatred. In the words of one contemporary historian, the pogrom was a "prelude to genocide." Author: Jefferson Chase



Read more: The student who hunted Nazi judges in postwar Germany

Oberlander testified that he was forced to join one of the Nazis' mobile killing squads at age 17 and did not participate in any atrocities, according to 2018 court documents.

The Canadian government found no evidence of Oberlander's conscription, court documents reveal.

Nazi German mobile killing squads murdered more than 2 million people in Eastern Europe during World War II.

'Politics over law'

Ronald Poulton, one of Oberlander's lawyers, said he was outraged by the decision, and that any potential deportation order would be fought over "tooth and nail."

"It's such an injustice. It's politics over law," Poulton said.

Read more: Nazi victim files go online in German archive

The Canadian government was "pleased" with the decision, said Nancy Caron, the spokesperson for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.

The government is "determined to deny safe haven in Canada to war criminals and persons believed to have committed or been complicit in war crimes, crimes against humanity, or genocide," she said.

Watch video 02:49 Share Young Germans confront Nazi past Send Facebook google+ Whatsapp Tumblr linkedin stumble Digg reddit Newsvine Permalink https://p.dw.com/p/3OwDv Young Germans confront their families' Nazi pasts

mmc/dr (Reuters, AFP)

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