SPRING FASCISM PREVIEW: Canadian Parliament gives standing ovation to Ukrainian Nazi.
Speaker of the House Anthony Rota recognized Yaroslav Hunka, 98, for his service in the ‘First Division’ of the Ukrainian National Army before immigrating to Canada.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau welcomed him as an honoured guest as part of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to Canada.
“We have with us in the Chamber today a Ukrainian-Canadian veteran from the Second World War who fought for Ukrainian Independence against the Russians and continues to support the troops today,” said Rota.
All House parties, Senate groups and foreign dignitaries gave Hunka a standing ovation for his efforts against the Russians then and now.
“He’s a Ukrainian hero — a Canadian hero — and we thank him for all his service,” concluded Rota.
However, Canada’s leading military affairs reporter, David Pugliese, wrote a 2020 article that says no such ‘First Division’ existed during WWII.
Members of the division served Adolf Hitler’s 14th Waffen SS Division Galicia — a designated criminal organization, according to the Nuremberg war crimes tribunal, reported military journal esprit de corps.
As many as 2,000 Waffen SS soldiers of Ukrainian heritage, including Hunka, supposedly changed their identities and masqueraded as “refugees” before capture to seek refuge in Canada in the 1950s.
As many as 30,000 Ukrainian refugees fled Europe for Canada at the time.
Before members of the unit surrendered to Allied forces, they hid their SS connection in the final days of the war by renaming themselves the First Division Ukrainian National Army.
More details at Forward: Zelenskyy joins Canadian Parliament’s ovation to 98-year-old veteran who fought with Nazis.
The Canadian Parliament gave a standing ovation on Friday to a 98-year-old immigrant from Ukraine who fought in a Third Reich military formation accused of war crimes.
The elderly veteran, Yaroslav Hunka was honored during a session in which President Volodomyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine addressed the lawmakers to thank them for their support since Russia invaded his country, saying Canada has always been on “the bright side of history.” The Speaker of the House of Commons, Anthony Rota — who had compared Zelenskyy to Winston Churchill — recognized a “veteran from the Second World War who fought for Ukrainian independence against the Russians and continues to support the troops today even at his age of 98.”
The assembly then rose to applaud a man in a khaki uniform standing on the balcony, who saluted, according to this screenshot from Canadian television.
The man was identified as Hunka by the Associated Press, which published a photograph showing Zelenskyy smiling and raising a fist during the ovation.
The AP caption described Hunka as having “fought with the First Ukrainian Division in World War II before later immigrating to Canada.” The First Ukrainian Division is another name for the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS, the military wing of the Nazi Party; the unit was also called SS Galichina.
This is the same unit that is honored by controversial monuments in Canada, Australia, and, as the Forward recently exposed, the suburbs of Philadelphia and Detroit. Jewish groups have called for their removal.
After a Forward article in August that was followed by coverage in the Philadelphia Inquirer, local television stations and other news outlets, the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia temporarily covered the monument located in a cemetery in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, pending discussions with local Jewish leaders. The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia and regional branches of the American Jewish Committee and the Anti-Defamation League had expressed outrage about the monument.
Formed in 1943, SS Galichina was composed of recruits from the Galicia region in western Ukraine. The unit was armed and trained by the Nazis and commanded by German officers. In 1944, the division was visited by SS head Heinrich Himmler, who spoke of the soldiers’ willingness to slaughter Poles.”
Three months earlier, SS Galichina subunits perpetrated what is known as the Huta Pieniacka massacre, burning 500 to 1,000 Polish villagers alive.
Not surprisingly, “Several Jewish advocacy organizations are condemning members of Parliament for giving a standing ovation to a man who fought for a Nazi unit during the Second World War,” CTV News reports.
(Classical — and NSFW — reference in headline.)