Helmut Oberlander came to Canada in 1954. He was married, raised a family and became a successful real estate developer in Waterloo, Ont. But in 1986, a secret spilled out into public, when a retired Quebec judge, Jules Deschênes, held an inquiry into Nazis secretly living in Canada. Deschênes named Oberlander among those who were.

Years of legal battles ensued, in which the federal government stripped Oberlander of his citizenship four times for lying about his wartime past. The case languished in legal purgatory for decades—until this week.

On Sept. 20, 2021, Oberlander died in his home, surrounded by family. That he was allowed to pass away peacefully, without serving any jail time, is now being called a black mark on Canada's judiciary system.

One critic is Steven Rambam, a private detective and Nazi hunter based in New York, who was intimately involved in tracking down war criminals in Canada. Rambam joins today to point out where, and how, the Canadian government and the Jewish community failed to bring Oberlander to justice.

What we talked about:

Credits

The CJN Daily is written and hosted by Ellin Bessner (@ebessner on Twitter). Victoria Redden is the producer. Michael Fraiman is the executive producer. Our theme music is by Dov Beck-Levine. Our title sponsor is Metropia. We're a member of The CJN Podcast Network; find more great Jewish podcasts at thecjn.ca.