Nazi controversy in Canada draws attention to Ukraine's involvement in World War II

 Nazi controversy in Canada draws attention to Ukraine's involvement in World War II

A contentious chapter in Ukraine's history and its commemoration in Canada received new attention when Canada's parliament honoured a Ukrainian war soldier who fought alongside Nazi Germany.

Yaroslav Hunka, the Ukrainian soldier who last week received praise in parliament, served with the Nazi 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS, sometimes referred to as the Galicia Division, which was established in 1943.

Both Jewish groups and other lawmakers criticized his appearance. He was invited by MP Anthony Rota, who has now resigned as Speaker of the House of Commons and expressed his sincere remorse for the oversight.

Trudeau finds the praise for a Nazi veteran embarrassing.

However, Canada, which is home to the largest Ukrainian diaspora outside of Europe, has seen debates about Ukraine's role in WWII before.

There are numerous memorials across the nation honoring Ukrainian WWII soldiers who served in the Galicia Division. Jewish organizations have long criticized these dedications, claiming that the Galicia Division's troops sworn allegiance to Adolf Hitler and were either involved in or had committed atrocities themselves.

These soldiers, however, are considered as freedom warriors by some Ukrainians who only fought alongside the Nazis in order to oppose the Soviets and secure an independent Ukraine.

a tumultuous past

The Waffen-SS, a Nazi military organization that was discovered to have been implicated in various atrocities, including the mass murder of Jewish civilians, included the Galicia Division.

More than a million Jews were killed in Ukraine during the war, primarily between 1941 and 1942. Nazi Germans and their allies shot most of them to death close to their homes.

Although the Galicia Division has been charged with war crimes, no one from the division has ever been convicted in a court of law.

Jewish organizations have denounced Canadian statues honoring Waffen-SS veterans from Ukraine, claiming they "glorify and celebrate those who actively participated in Holocaust crimes."

One such memorial, which bears the emblem of the Galicia Division, is located in a private Ukrainian cemetery in Oakville, Ontario. Ukrainian WWII veterans in Edmonton, Alberta, posted another.

A third, also in Edmonton, features a bust of Roman Shukhevych, a Nazi collaborator and Ukrainian nationalist leader whose forces are charged with murdering Jews and Poles.

Shukhevych wasn't a part of the Galicia Division, so it's debatable to what extent he was involved.

All of the monuments, which were vandalized recently and had the word "Nazi" painted across them in red, were built in the 1970s and 1980s.

Why are there differing opinions on what the monuments represent?

According to David Marples, an expert on eastern European history at the University of Alberta, it has to do with both the history of Ukraine's participation in the conflict and the composition of the sizable Ukrainian diaspora in Canada.

Millions of Ukrainians served in the Soviet Red Army during World War II, while hundreds also fought for the Germans as part of the Galicia Division.

According to Prof. Marples, many who fought alongside Germany thought doing so would provide them an independent state free from Soviet authority.

The Great Ukrainian Famine of 1932–1933, popularly known as the Holodomor, claimed the lives of an estimated five million Ukrainians. At the time, Ukrainians held the Soviet Union responsible.

According to Prof. Marples, far-right beliefs were also gaining ground in most European nations in the 1930s, including the UK, and Ukraine was no exception.

Some Galicia Division soldiers were permitted entrance to Canada when Germany was defeated by the Allies, despite Jewish organizations' opposition at the time.

The Galicia Division as a whole, as well as those Canadians of Ukrainian heritage, are hailed as "national heroes" for their contributions to the struggle for freedom.

Additionally, they contend that their cooperation with Nazi Germany was fleeting and that Shukhevych finally engaged in combat with both the Soviets and the Germans to fight for a free Ukraine.

The Jewish community, however, has a different perspective.

The 14th SS unit was fundamentally a Nazi organization, B'nai Brith Canada chief Michael Mostyn told the BBC.

Through a 1985 commission entrusted with looking into claims that Canada had become a sanctuary for Nazi war criminals, Canada has previously dealt with this issue.

The commission found in a report issued the following year that there is no proof linking Ukrainians who fought alongside Nazi Germany to any specific war crimes.

Furthermore, "mere membership in the Galicia Division is insufficient to justify prosecution," the report continued.

Jews and some historians have since disputed the report's conclusions.

According to Prof. Marples, several WWII archives in Russia and Ukraine that were inaccessible at the time of the report have now been accessible, which has sparked new interest in the subject.

He claimed that several of the Galicia Division's soldiers were implicated in war crimes as a result of this new inquiry, albeit none were ever found guilty.

Russia spreads false information about Ukraine's past

By erroneously portraying the Ukrainian government as Nazis to support its invasion of the nation, contemporary Russian propaganda exacerbated this historical issue as it reached the twenty-first century.

While far-right extremism does still exist in Ukraine, according to Prof. Marples, it is much less prevalent than Russian propaganda would have you assume.

Additionally, none of the far-right organizations in Ukraine are affiliated with any political authorities there.

According to Prof. Marples, "Russia has greatly simplified the narrative."

The controversy over monuments and Mr. Hunka's participation in parliament, according to Ukrainian groups in Canada, are the outcome of this misinformation.

Russian embassy in Canada denounced the presence of Ukrainian monuments in Canada as early as 2017, before the invasion but during a time of high Russia-Ukraine tensions. They claimed that they honored "Nazi collaborators" by doing so.

The fast rejection of Mr. Hunka by Canadian MPs, according to Taras Podilsky, a representative for the Ukrainian Youth Unity Complex in Edmonton, which houses the bust of Shukhevych, is the most recent result of Russia's disinformation effort.

No proof connecting the veteran to war crimes, he noted.

This person is a victim of successful in life. Russian narrative without any due process, Mr. Podilsky said.

The difficult character of this history, particularly to some among the Ukrainian diaspora, was acknowledged by Mr. Mostyn of B'nai Brith.

But he said that we "cannot allow future generations to celebrate or whitewash" any connections to Nazism.

More generally, Holocaust academics have recently criticized a number of eastern European nations for downplaying their role in the extermination of Jews during World War II.

Jewish organizations in Canada and Canadians of Ukrainian heritage who are in support of these monuments claim to have discussed the matter.

But neither said they could come to terms on how to proceed.

"It is on our own private property; it does not belong on public property, and it is for us to be equipped with a symbol of Ukrainian freedom," Mr. Podilsky said of the Shukhevych bust in Edmonton. "We are aware that nothing was wrong."

According to Mr. Mostyn, Canada's grasp of Nazi history is lacking as seen by the recent incident in the House of Commons.

When it comes to Nazi perpetrators who entered this nation, "we have a situation in Canada where we don't know our own history," he said.

He and other members of the Canadian Jewish community have demanded a fresh look at this history.

Since the Jewish community has been calling for this for years, it is crucial that our prime minister demonstrate leadership at the highest level in order to finally make this public.