Canada has extradited a former Nazi guard to Italy, where he has been convicted of committing war crimes during World War II.

 

Michael Seifert, known as the "Beast of Bolzano," was convicted in absentia in 2000 by an Italian military court of nine counts of murder committed while he was an SS guard at a prison camp in Bolzano, northern Italy.

Seifert, who has lived in Canada since 1951, acknowledged being a guard at the prison, but denied that he had killed anyone.

 

He was turned over to the control of Italian authorities in Toronto on Friday for a flight back to Italy, an official said.

Last month Seifert lost a bid to have the supreme court of Canada consider his appeal, seeking to stop his extradition to Italy, clearing the way for his deportation.

 

He had unsuccessfully resisted efforts by the Canadian government to strip him of his citizenship based on claims that he hid his past when he entered the country.

 

 

In 1944 and 1945, the Bolzano camp was used as a transit point for Jews, Italian resistance fighters, Italians drafted for factory work and German army deserters.

 

Seifert was born in 1924 in Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union, and began work as a guard after the German occupation.

 

He moved to Canada after the war, claiming to be from Estonia, worked as a mill worker in Vancouver, where he raised a family and lived until he was arrested at Italy's request in 2002.

 

The Canadian Jewish Congress said it welcomed news of the extradition, saying it showed Canada was not a safe hiding place for war-crimes suspects.

 

Sylvain Abitbol, the group's co-president, said: "We are relieved and grateful that this individual is heading home to face the justice he has evaded for far too long."