Originally published September 25, 2023 6:00 pm PDT
The tribute to the Nazi “Ukrainian hero” received a standing ovation.
QUICK FACTS:
- Canadian Parliament Speaker Anthony Rota honored 98-year-old Yaroslav Hunka during a session attended by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
- Rota described Hunka as a “Ukrainian hero” and “Canadian hero” who fought for “Ukrainian independence against the Russians” during World War II.
- Hunka was a Nazi soldier, a former member of the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS, also known as the 1st Galician.
- The 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS was a paramilitary group “responsible for murdering thousands of Poles & Jews,” according to Polish Ambassador to Canada Witold Dzielski.
- Some of the paramilitary groups associated with Waffen-SS and its organizational head, the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (NSDAP), became part of the most severe Nazi units.
- Parliament, including Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ukrainian President Zelensky, gave a standing ovation following the tribute.
- Upon the revelation that he had celebrated a Nazi soldier, Rota said his ignorance was to blame and “entirely my own.”
- “I have subsequently become aware of more information which causes me to regret my decision,” he added.
- Rota went on to emphasize that “no one, including fellow parliamentarians and the Ukraine delegation” was aware of the tribute to Hunka.
WATCH: Here’s how Speaker of the House introduced former member of the
— Anti-Taxxer (@colossusPhD) September 24, 2023
14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS in the Canadian House of Commons.
Whoever wrote that speech intentionally meant to mislead Canadians on the true credentials of Yaroslav Hunka.
“Formed in 1943, SS… pic.twitter.com/YhQlMMkAjd
These are photos of SS Galicia Division veteran who was given standing ovation by Canadian parliament, prime-minister of Canada and president of Ukraine. He published these photos of himself in this division during training in Germany. He is standing in the middle in 1st photo,… pic.twitter.com/YkfKZbJ1i7
— Ivan Katchanovski (@I_Katchanovski) September 24, 2023
CRITICISM OF THE TRIBUTE:
- Pierre Poilievre, the leader of the Canadian Conservative Party, blamed Trudreau for the ordeal.
- Trudeau “personally met with and honoured a veteran of the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (a Nazi division),” Polilievre tweeted. “No parliamentarians (other than Justin Trudeau) had the opportunity to vet this individual’s past before he was introduced and honoured on the floor of the House of Commons. Without warning or context, it was impossible for any parliamentarian in the room (other than Mr. Trudeau) to know of this dark past.”
- The Canadian Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies issued a statement in response to the standing ovation: “The fact that a veteran who served in a Nazi military unit was invited to and given a standing ovation in Parliament is shocking. At a time of rising antisemitism and Holocaust distortion, it is incredibly disturbing to see Canada’s Parliament rise to applaud an individual who was a member of a unit in the Waffen-SS, a Nazi military branch responsible for the murder of Jews and others and that was declared a criminal organization during the Nuremberg Trials,” the statement reads.
- “There should be no confusion that this unit was responsible for the mass murder of innocent civilians with a level of brutality and malice that is unimaginable. An apology is owed to every Holocaust survivor and veteran of the Second World War who fought the Nazis, and an explanation must be provided as to how this individual entered the hallowed halls of Canadian Parliament and received recognition from the Speaker of the House and a standing ovation,” it went on to say.
- Rota then released an apology to the group, saying, “I particularly want to extend my deepest apologies to Jewish communities in Canada and around the world. I accept full responsibility for my actions.”
BACKGROUND:
- American Faith reported that President Vlodymyr Zelenky had engaged in an “open conversation” between himself and Andriy Biletsky, founder of the Nazi-linked Azov Battalion of Ukraine.
- A neo-Nazi, Biletsky’s college thesis was a defense of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, a group established by Stepan Bandera’s Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists that carried out ethnic cleansings of more than 100,000 Jews and Poles.
- While in custody for other activities, Biletsky published a brochure called “The Word of the White Leader.”
- The writings consist of anti-Jewish and anti-Black sentiments, discuss eugenics, and express that “race is everything for nation-building.”
