Catharines, Canada - 2 Men Ruled to be Nazis Could Lose Citizenship

Catharines, Canada - A St. Catharines man accused of being a Nazi concentration camp guard could be stripped of his Canadian citizenship after losing his case in federal court.
Jura Skomatchuk, 85, is accused of lying about his wartime activities to Canadian immigration officials in order to get into the country.
In a decision just released, Justice Judith Snider said she was satisfied that Skomatchuk was an SS guard of the Third Reich who worked as a concentration camp guard. "Mr. Skomatchuk failed to disclose that information to immigration officials at the time he came to Canada," Snider wrote in her decision. "In other words, Mr. Skomatchuk obtained his Canadian citizenship by false representation or fraud or by knowingly concealing material information."
The Ukrainian-born Skomatchuk came to Canada in May 1952 and became a citizen in October 1957.

The Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration accused him of collaborating with Nazi authorities, being a member of the SS Trawniki training camp in occupied Poland and being a guard in an SS unit at concentration camps in the German Reich.

Skomatchuk's case was heard along with the case of Josef Furman, 87, of Edmonton. Furman also lost his case. Skomatchuk and Furman were not present for any of the trial dates because of poor health.
Snider concluded that Furman is the same man as SS guardsman Josef Furmantschuk, and was integrated into the SS Death's Head guard units and deployed to help clear the Jewish ghettos in Warsaw and Bialystok.

Both men's cases will now be referred back to Immigration Minister Monte Solberg.
The process could involve revocation of citizenship. The minister can make a recommendation about an individual that would be decided in cabinet.