C 20 TEVET 5755/DECEMBER 23, 1994 Nazi Neighbor? Government sues to strip Sterling Heights man of citizenship because of alleged Nazi involvement. ) JILL DAVIDSON SHEAR STAFF WRITER H e is an older man with a slight build principles of the Constitution of the and pale blue eyes that search the United States." pavement for relief for his dilemma If the government succeeds in its He offers visitors a handshake that lawsuit, Mr. Hammer will be stripped is polite but weak and a smile that quick- of his rights as a U.S. citizen and de- ly fades. ported, much like other former Nazis He lives in a white brick bungalow sur- the government has found living in the rounded by a meticulously manicured United States. lawn. The house, like all of the others on "We are more kind to them than his block, is decorated for Christmas. It they were to their victims," said John .0 has three wreaths in the front window and Russell, a spokesman for the Justice a poster of Santa Claus scaling the front Department. porch bannister. The government's lawsuit focuses Ferdinand Hammer: The OSI files charges. He is Ferdinand Hammer. The gov- on a period in Mr. Hammer's past, a ernment says he was a Nazi concentra- time he said he served in the "German States that allowed refugees from war- tion and death camp guard. Army SS." Then, he said, he wore an SS torn Europe to immigrate. Under the law, In a civil complaint filed 10 days ago in insignia on his lapel and fought on the the immigrants were given permanent U.S. District Court, attorneys from the front line against Soviet forces. He denied visas to America. And jobs, he heard from Department of Justice's Office of Special serving in a camp. relatives, were plentiful in America. Investigations claim the 73-year-old re- "I didn't hurt nobody," he said in heav- Mr. Hammer claims he told American tired blacksmith lied about his wartime ily accented, broken English. "I want to consulate officials in Salzburg, Austria, activities on a visa application and later stay here." about his wartime involvement with the on a petition for citizenship. After the war was over, Mr. Hammer SS when he filed a visa application. Based According to the law, citizenship can be said he moved to Austria to find work. He on the information Mr. Hammer gave on revoked if it was obtained by willful mis- was able to find menial jobs but desired the application, the American officials representation. Another requirement of to work as a blacksmith or a farmer, his granted him a visa as a Yugoslav state- naturalization states that a petitioner for occupation before the war. Mr. Hammer less person and a German expellee. citizenship "has been and still is a person heard about the Refugee Relief Act of 1953 of good moral character, attached to the (RRA), then a new law in the United NAZI NEIGHBOR -page 15 Lost, Found Nazis have done their best to disappear. The OSI is there to catch them. ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM ASSOCIATE EDITOR akob Reimer insisted he was an in- nocent man. Eli Rosenbaum wanted details. Acting director of the Office of Spe- cial Investigations, the Department of Justice's Nazi-hunting unit, Mr. Rosen- baum has met more than a few "innocent" men. "From the way you hear them talk, you would think that nobody, with the ex- ception of Hitler and Himmler, ever did anything wrong," he said. So when Mr. Rosenbaum spoke that day with Jakob Reimer, a New York res- ident the Justice Department last year charged with being a member of the SS, he wasn't going to take "innocent" for an answer. Mr. Reimer admitted going to a mass killing at a ravine during World War II. But he said he himself had never harmed anyone. "Do you suppose that all the men who might still be alive who were at the ravine...they would tell us...that the one man who did not fire a shot was you?" Mr. Rosenbaum asked. j LOST page 15 Inside BUSINESS Mail Bonding Postage rates may force direct mail out-sourcing. Page 30 SPORTS Double Play Two championships in six months for Burt Hurshe. Page 50 Without The Rebbe Rabbi Schneerson's death has spurred local efforts. Page 80 Contents on page 3 RUTH LITTMANN 11\11 RI I f H Harold Finkelstein's breath wisps away in the cold morning air. Two EMS work- ers wheel him to- ward the ambulance. En route to his new home, Mr. Finkel- stein knows he won't return to Bor- man Hall. Will he miss it? He shrugs. Mr. Finkelstein has moved before.