The Justice Department filed denaturalization papers in a federal court in Minneapolis Monday to take away the citizenship of an alleged Nazi guard during World War II.
The action in U.S. District Court is the first by the U.S. government against Edgars Inde, 79. If the lawsuit is successful, the Justice Department can then begin deportation proceedings.
Inde is being accused of serving in the Arajs Kommando, which Office of Special Investigations Director Neal Sher called a “notorious unit which has as its principle objective the murder of unarmed Jews and other civilians.”
The group, based in Latvia, where Inde was born, aided in the persecution and murder of those persons considered by the Nazis to be racially undesirable or enemies of the Third Reich, the complaint said.
The U.S. Attorney’s office and the Office of Special Investigations, which searches for and prosecutes Nazi war criminals, charged that Inde lied and concealed his past when he entered the United States in 1949 and became a U.S. citizen in June 1955.
Inde, who has 20 days to answer the charges, is a retired factory worker, The Washington Post reported Tuesday. The Post reported that at Monday’s proceedings, Inde denied that he participated in killing unarmed Jews and other civilians in 1941 and 1942.
The newspaper also quoted Inde as saying he wants to remain in the United States since Latvia is under Soviet control.
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