Melbourne, Mar. 3: A Tasmanian Senator has confirmed that he is distantly related to a Nazi war criminal.

Eric Abetz of the Liberal Party and the Opposition's deputy leader in the Senate, said his great uncle was Otto Abetz, a high-ranking SS officer during World War II.

Otto Abetz sent tens of thousands of Jews to their deaths. He was Adolf Hitler's ambassador to France from 1940 to 1944. Abetz was convicted for war crimes, including the deportation of French Jews to death camps, and looted Jewish art worth millions of dollars, reports news. com. au.

Senator Abetz, who arrived in Australia in 1961 from Germany, said: "I never met my grandfather's brother, Otto Abetz. I ask all Australians to judge me on my public conduct rather than on the past of my father's uncle. I have dedicated myself to public service and furthering democratic freedoms."

Neither Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson nor Prime Minister Kevin Rudd have commented on the issue. (ANI)