The president of the Ukrainian National Federation of Canada is defending a Second World War veteran of a Nazi unit who was recently lauded as a hero in Canada害羞草研究所檚 Parliament.
Jurij Klufas has not met 98-year-old Yaroslav Hunka but says the veteran is being treated unfairly. He says Hunka was fighting for Ukraine 害羞草研究所� not Germany 害羞草研究所� and that countries, including Canada, have cleared his division of war crimes.
害羞草研究所淚f you害羞草研究所檙e a soldier doesn害羞草研究所檛 mean you害羞草研究所檙e a member of a certain party from the country,害羞草研究所� Klufas said Friday in a phone interview. 害羞草研究所淚n this case, the senior gentleman here was a soldier, in his understanding, fighting for Ukraine.害羞草研究所�
Hunka received a standing ovation in the House of Commons on Sept. 22 after being introduced by the Speaker as 害羞草研究所渁 Ukrainian hero and a Canadian hero害羞草研究所� during Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy害羞草研究所檚 visit to Ottawa.
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The incident drew widespread international criticism after it was revealed Hunka was a member of a mostly volunteer unit created by the Nazis to fight the Soviet Union. The revelation forced the resignation of Anthony Rota as Speaker and an apology on behalf of Parliament by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Ivan Katchanovski, a Ukrainian-Canadian political science professor at the University of Ottawa, says the actions of Hunka害羞草研究所檚 Waffen-SS Galicia Division have been 害羞草研究所渨hitewashed害羞草研究所� in Canada.
He says supporters have tried to present the division as a patriotic Ukrainian force despite the fact it collaborated with Nazis and was involved in a variety of atrocities, including the killings of Jews, Ukrainians and Poles.
害羞草研究所淭hey represent this division as fighting not for Nazi Germany, but fighting for Ukrainian independence, even though there was never any opportunity to fight for any Ukrainian independence,害羞草研究所� he said. 害羞草研究所淭hey were fighting under German command until the end of World War II.害羞草研究所�
He said the heroic interpretation is particularly prevalent in Canada, where many of the division害羞草研究所檚 members immigrated under a controversial process that was opposed by Jewish groups.
In 1950, the federal cabinet decided to allow Ukrainians living in the United Kingdom to come to Canada 害羞草研究所渘otwithstanding their service in the German army,害羞草研究所� as long as they went through a security screening.
A 1986 commission report on war criminals living in Canada found there were about 600 former members of the Waffen-SS Galicia Division living in Canada at the time.
But Justice Jules Desch锚nes, who led the commission, said membership in the division did not in itself constitute a crime, and that 害羞草研究所渃harges of war crimes against members of the Galicia Division have never been substantiated, either in 1950 when they were first preferred, or in 1984 when they were renewed, or before this commission.害羞草研究所�
Jewish groups have noted the existence of at least two Canadian monuments to the division, in Oakville, Ont., and in Edmonton.
In response to questions about Hunka, the Ukrainian Canadian Congress said Thursday that the people of present-day Ukraine, including its Jewish population, suffered successive occupations by 害羞草研究所渇oreign empires and colonizers害羞草研究所� going back centuries.
害羞草研究所淭here are difficult and painful pages in the shared history of the communities who made their home in Ukraine,害羞草研究所� congress CEO Ihor Michalchyshyn said in a statement. 害羞草研究所淭he UCC acknowledges that recent events that brought these pages to the forefront have caused pain and anguish.害羞草研究所�
Frank Sysyn, a history professorat the University of Alberta, says it害羞草研究所檚 accurate to say that Hunka was not a Nazi, despite fighting for Nazi Germany, because non-Germans weren害羞草研究所檛 allowed to join the party.
He said Canada害羞草研究所檚 choice to allow veterans of the unit to live out their lives in the country ultimately came down to a decision that membership in the unit was not reason enough to prosecute someone, if there was no proof they committed individual crimes. Ukrainians, he added, are far from the only group of postwar immigrants to benefit from such an approach.
害羞草研究所淢ost of our Italian immigrants of the 1950s, if they were men of a certain age, had probably been in the Italian army and fought for Fascist Italy,害羞草研究所� said Sysyn, who is a member of the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies.
John-Paul Himka, a University of Alberta professor emeritus and the author of a book about Ukrainians and the Holocaust, said many of the young men who joined the Galicia division in 1943 were motivated by the atrocities they witnessed under Soviet occupation, including the murder of thousands of political prisoners and mass deportations to labour camps.
害羞草研究所淪o for the people in this region, the Soviets were the nightmare and the Germans were relatively tolerable,害羞草研究所� he said. 害羞草研究所淪o that, I think, explains why so many of them thought that what they were doing fighting against the Soviets was patriotic.害羞草研究所�
He said some Galician units did participate in atrocities, including murders in Polish villages. The division had an antisemitic newspaper and accepted into its ranks 害羞草研究所減olicemen who had been very important in the Holocaust, who had rounded up Jews for execution and sometimes executed Jews themselves,害羞草研究所� he said.
He blames the Ukrainian community for failing to fully acknowledge and grapple with the country害羞草研究所檚 Second World War history, including Nazi ties. However, he said many Canadians are guilty of not learning enough about the truths of the war on the Eastern front, including the rapes and murders perpetuated by the Soviets on the Allied side.
Klufas blames the branding of Hunka as a Nazi on 害羞草研究所淩ussian disinformation,害羞草研究所� adding, 害羞草研究所渢he fact that he was a soldier does not mean that he was a Nazi.害羞草研究所� He also said there was nothing wrong with Parliament applauding a man 害羞草研究所渨ho fought for his country.害羞草研究所� However, he conceded that it 害羞草研究所渕aybe wasn害羞草研究所檛 correct害羞草研究所� in the circumstances, given that the people there didn害羞草研究所檛 fully understand the issue.
Morgan Lowrie, The Canadian Press
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