Judge Revokes Citizenship of Ex-Nazi Guard

CAMDEN, N.J. — A federal judge has revoked the citizenship of a retired blueberry farmer because of his past as a Nazi guard during World War II.

The Justice Department said Andrew Kuras, 81, of Mays Landing, served as a guard at three concentration camps in the 1940s.

Officials said Kuras hid his Nazi past when he entered the U.S. in 1951 and when he became a citizen 11 years later.

The judge entered the court order Tuesday.

“No one who assisted the Nazi regime in its persecution of innocent civilians is entitled to the privilege of United States citizenship,” a prosecutor said in a statement Wednesday.

In a 2002 interview with the Press of Atlantic City, Kuras said he did not kill or hurt anyone and that he did not remember specific duties he had as a guard.

The government had not decided whether to try to deport Kuras.