On 22nd September, the Canadian House of Commons gave a standing ovation to Yaroslav Hunka, a World War II veteran who fought for “Ukrainian independence” against Russian aggressors. This is how the speaker of the House, Anthony Rota, introduced him. The 98-year-old war veteran, however, was a member of a SS unit established in 1943 by the Nazis. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was also present during the occasion.
A 98-year old Ukrainian who fought for Hitler's Nazis in World War II just received a huge round of applause in the Canadian Parliament
— Sensei Kraken Zero (@YearOfTheKraken) September 23, 2023
Unreal stuff, man.
Canada is actually glorifying Nazis. pic.twitter.com/BmDZvwYEoV
In his address, Rota said, “We have here in the Chamber today a Ukrainian-Canadian World War II veteran who fought for Ukrainian independence against the Russian aggressors then and continues to support the troops today, at the age of 98. Mr. Yaroslav Hunka is in the gallery, and I am so proud to say he is from North Bay in my constituency of Nipissing–Timiskaming. He is a Ukrainian hero, a Canadian hero, and we thank him for his service.”
Associated Press identified Hunka as a war veteran who “was in attendance and fought with the First Ukrainian Division in World War II before later immigrating to Canada” in a caption of the image that had Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau applauding Hunka in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada.
The First Ukrainian Division and its history
The 14th SS-Volunteer Division “Galicia” was a World War II Nazi Germany military formation made up predominantly of military volunteers with a Ukrainian ethnic background from the area of Galicia. This region was under Soviet control but had a population that didn’t support communism. When the Germans attacked the Soviet Union in 1941, they were initially seen as liberators by Ukrainians in the area.
In his book ‘The SS: Hitler’s Instrument of Terror [Archive link], Gordon Williamson gave details about the formation and fall of the First Ukrainian Division. According to the book, The First Ukrainian Division, originally named the 14th Waffen-Grenadier Division der SS (Ukrainische Nr 1), also known as the “Galicia” Division, was created during World War II in the western part of Ukraine. The division was formed in 1943 by SS-Brigadeführer Wächter, a Nazi Party leader and a high ranking high-ranking member of the SS, with as many as 70,000 volunteers coming forward to join.
It is notable that SS was the main paramilitary group under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, and was primarily responsible for running Holocaust operations. 14th SS-Volunteer Division Galicia was made up of volunteers, which means that Yaroslav Hunka joined the unit on his own will, and was not conscripted.
In mid-1944, the division faced its first major combat in an attempt to halt the Soviet summer offensive. The division formed a battle group known as SS Kampfgruppe Beyersdorff for action against Soviet and Polish partisans. It succeeded initially and was praised by German military bosses.
However, Galicia faced major setbacks in subsequent battles, and the unit was almost completely destroyed, leaving only 3,000 survivors out of 14,000 troops. After the war, many lost soldiers operated as partisan units behind Soviet lines due to their solid anti-communist views.
Later, new volunteers joined the division and were dispatched to Czechoslovakia to quell the Slovak uprising and to Yugoslavia to combat Tito’s partisans. In the war’s final days, it fell under the command of the Ukrainian National Army and surrendered to the Anglo-American forces. However, due to some confusion, many members were able to avoid being forcibly repatriated to the Soviet Union.
It is safe to say that Yaroslav Hunka, who has been presented as a Canadian and Ukrainian war hero, fought for Hitler during World War II.
The war criminals of World War II and Canadian connections
The members of the First Ukrainian Division have been deemed war criminals by several experts. However, Canadian inquiry into their history did not recognise them as war criminals. Interestingly, there is clear evidence that Canada housed at least 3,000 war criminals. Canadian authorities established a commission to look into war criminals, and the commission headed by Justice Jules Deschenes submitted its report in December 1986 titled “Commission of Inquiry on War Crimes“.
According to the commission report, in February 1949, the immigration applications of the members of the Galicia division were rejected by the Canadian authorities on the groups of them being members of the German Wehrmacht or the SS. However, in May 1950, the Canadian Cabinet decided to give Ukrainians who were lodged in the United Kingdom at that time to be admitted to Canada following special security screening. The cabinet categorically said that they should “not be rejected on the grounds of their service in the German Army”.
The Canadian Jewish Congress opposed the admission of war criminals into Canada, or then termed as “prisoners of war” in the documents after the objections by the CJC, the Ministry of Immigration issued instructions to hold the immigration and assured the CJC that the individuals would be carefully scrutinised.
The CJC furnished two sworn statements, out of which one had events posterior to the hostilities, an indeterminate date, and a list of 94 suspects from the Galicia Division. Sadly, they could not bring witness statements to the table to support the allegations, giving the Ministry of Immigration a clear path to let the division members into Canada. The report noted that approximately 600 Galicia Division members were living in Canada in 1985.
‘It was acceptable to admit war criminals as Canada overall benefitted’
There are some alternate views on Canada allowing POWs. In his book, ‘Unauthorised Entry: The Truth about Nazi War Criminals in Canada, 1946-1956’, [Archive link] Howard Margolin pointed out that at one point, the preoccupation of immigration officials shifted from the threat of Nazi infiltration to the possibility of entry of communists in the country. He also argued that based on the country’s laws, Canada was not a “safe haven” for war criminals, as suggested by some experts.
He further argued that the entry of Nazi war criminals and collaborators into Canada after World War II was caused by those who entered the country using forged identities or false information about their wartime history. He added that those individuals were not intentionally admitted into Canada. Rather, their entry resulted from insufficient information or accessibility to verify their wartime activities. According to Margolian, the immigration of 1.5 million people to Canada between 1945 and 1955 was considered an overall benefit. Therefore, it was deemed acceptable to take the risk of admitting approximately 2,000 war criminals.
Clean chit to the First Ukrainian Division
In its report, the Commission gave “clean chit” to the Galicia Division. The report noted that the Galicia Division could be held collectively responsible for war crimes. Every member of the division underwent individual security screenings before entering Canada, and there was no “concrete evidence” supporting accusations of war crimes against them. These allegations were first made in 1950 and renewed in 1984 but were never proven. Simply being a member of the Galicia Division is not enough for prosecution, especially when there was no proof of involvement in or awareness of specific war crimes. Therefore, no members of the Galicia Division can be prosecuted for citizenship revocation or deportation, as Canadian authorities were aware of the facts in 1950. Their admission to Canada was not based on false representation, fraud, or concealing important information. Out of the 217 officers reported to Canadian authorities, 86 per cent never entered Canada, 11 have passed away in Canada, 2 left for other countries, 16 lack a clear case against them, and the last one could not be located. The Galicia Division members were given clean chit not because they were not involved in war crimes but because of the fact that there was no enough evidence available against them.
Jewish groups condemn the development
The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, an advocacy group of Jewish Federations across Canada, said that they are deeply troubled & disturbed that a veteran of a Nazi SS division was given a standing ovation in Canadian Parliament. CIJA said that while the Canadian Jewish community backs Ukraine in the war with Russia, they can’t ignore whitewashing of war crimes committed by Ukrainians during Holocaust.
CIJA tweeted, “We are deeply troubled & disturbed that a Ukrainian veteran of the infamous 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the Nazi SS – which actively participated in the genocide of Jews – was celebrated with a standing ovation in the Canadian Parliament. Canada’s Jewish community stands firmly with Ukraine in its war against Russian aggression. But we can’t stay silent when crimes committed by Ukrainians during the Holocaust are whitewashed.”
We are deeply troubled & disturbed that a Ukrainian veteran of the infamous 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the Nazi SS – which actively participated in the genocide of Jews – was celebrated with a standing ovation in the Canadian Parliament.
— CIJA (@CIJAinfo) September 24, 2023
#Canada's Jewish community stands…
Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Canada-based Holocaust education and antisemitism promotion organisation, also expressed dismay over the ovation to Yaroslav Hunka, and demanded an apology from the Canadian government.
“FSWC is appalled that Canada’s Parliament gave a standing ovation to a Ukrainian veteran who served in a Nazi military unit during the Second World War implicated in the mass murder of Jews and others. An apology and explanation is owed,” they tweeted.
FSWC is appalled that Canada’s Parliament gave a standing ovation to a Ukrainian veteran who served in a Nazi military unit during the Second World War implicated in the mass murder of Jews and others.
— Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (@CanadianFSWC) September 24, 2023
An apology and explanation is owed.https://t.co/ZkzIkOCvBe
FSWC also issued a press release saying that it “is deeply disturbed over the Canadian Parliament’s recognition of a Ukrainian veteran who served in a Nazi military unit during the Second World War implicated in the mass murder of Jews and others.”
“FSWC is further outraged that parliamentarians in the House of Commons gave a standing ovation to the former soldier on Friday,” said the group. They added that the Canadian parliament ignored that Yaroslav Hunka “served in the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS, a Nazi military unit whose crimes against humanity during the Holocaust are well-documented.”
Canada a ‘haven’ for war criminals
In 2014, National Post quoted Nazi Hunter Steve Rambam saying that Canada was a haven for World War II war criminals and they would likely never face justice. Back in the 1990s, he posed as a university researcher and interviewed one of the war criminals, Antanas Kenstavicius. He told Rambam that he was a police chief in Lithuania, and his unit, under the supervision of Germans, rounded up 5,000 Jews. They were locked up for a week. Women among them were raped. Then, they were all lined up naked in a ditch and were shot dead. It took the police unit six days to kill them all by gunfire. In 1997, Canada finally started proceedings to deport Kenstavicius, but at that time, he was 90 years old and died on the same day. This was one of the many cases that went unnoticed due to a lack of evidence or evidence being destroyed with time.
India called Canada a ‘safe haven’ for terrorists and gangsters
On 21st September, the Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson, Arindam Bagchi, said that Canada has a growing reputation as a safe haven for terrorists, extremists, and organised crime. Taking a strong stance on Canada for its inaction against the criminals even after sharing the information, and making an important remark on the current diplomatic issue, Arindam Bagchi said, “If you’re talking about reputational issues and reputational damage, if there’s any country that needs to look at this, I think it is Canada and its growing reputation as a place, as a safe haven for terrorists, for extremists, and for organized crime. And I think that’s a country that needs to worry about its international reputation.”
He added, “Safe haven is being provided in Canada, we want the Canadian govt to not do so and take action against those who have terrorism charges or send them here to face justice. We’ve sought either extradition request or assistance related to that, at least more than 20-25 individuals we’ve requested over the years, but the response has not been helpful at all.”
The diplomatic relations between India and Canada have been severely strained due to the Canadian government’s expulsion of a top Indian diplomat on 19th September. The expulsion followed an inquiry into the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau considers Nijjar to be a “Canadian citizen” and suspects the involvement of “agents of the Indian government” in his murder despite lacking evidence. In retaliation, the Indian government expelled a Canadian diplomat. Amid the ongoing diplomatic tensions, the Canadian High Commission in India has announced a temporary adjustment in its staff presence and has requested security for its diplomats and consular officers in India. These actions have created a significant diplomatic controversy even though Canada had previously made baseless allegations.
