Canada’s Trudeau, Parliament, and Zelenskyy honor former Nazi-serving soldier with standing ovation

By
Suzanne Downing
-
42

Canada’s entire Parliament rose and applauded an elderly man they said was a Ukrainian “refugee” who had fought the Russians. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau applauded. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy applauded.

That was before critics pointed out that the man was probably a former Nazi, who changed his identity and fled to Canada to avoid prosecution after World War II.

Yaroslav Hunka, now 98, was honored for serving in the First Division of the Ukrainian National Army before he immigrated to Canada.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Speaker of the House Anthony Rota had asked him to join them as their guest during Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit to Canada last week.

“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,” Rota announced to the chamber. “He’s a Ukrainian hero — a Canadian hero — and we thank him for all his service.”

But in 2020, a Canadian researcher wrote in the military journal esprit de corps that there was never a First Division during World War II. It was a division made up after the war to cover the atrocities by these soldiers.

Writer David Pugliese reported that members of that division had actually served in Adolf Hitler’s 14th Waffen SS Division Galicia — later known as a criminal organization by the Nuremberg war crimes tribunal. He wrote that these Ukrainian men had volunteered to serve under the Nazis, and were not conscripted or coerced.

About 2,000 of the Waffen SS soldiers from Ukrainian heritage changed their identities and sought refugee status in Canada to avoid capture and trial for their war crimes. Hunka is believed to be one of them. He was one of the more than 30,000 Ukrainians fled Europe and settled in Canada as the war ended. But before the members of the Waffen unit surrendered, they hid their SS affiliation by renaming the unit, “First Division Ukrainian National Army.”

Rota over the weekend apologized after word spread that Hunka served under Nazi command.

42 COMMENTS

  1. Lots of room for error here !! A quick review of history tells us that the Ukraine was an independent nation following WW1 that was repeatedly invaded by the USSR!! Finally , in the thirties Stalin subdued the nation by instituting pogroms that decimated the Ukrainians by literally starving this mainly agrarian nation. Soviet commissars we’re sent out to collect the food including the grain that the farmers produced for profit and to live on during the winter months. Anyone caught hiding food was accused of “ hoarding” the food was confiscated and they were shot or sent to a labor camp. So when the Germans invaded in 1940 they were initially welcomed as redeemers from the communist oppressors. Many Ukrainians either fought with or joined the Germans in throwing off the communist yoke. A similar story with Finland existed where the nation had been invaded by communist Russia and they also joined with Germany in throwing off the communist yoke. These people were not fighting the Allie’s but rather fighting the communist oppression which they had experienced first hand. Many foreigners and others who hated communism joined Germany in fighting Russia including an entire division of former Russian POWs who rejected communism and fought under the German flag!! Entire SS Divisions were comprised of foreigners who fought with Germany including the famous Larry Thorne who later immigrated to the US joined the US Army and the Special Forces . He was killed in Vietnam in 1965. And who were we fighting in VietNam, the communists!!

    • Its commander was Oberfuhrer Fritz Freitag, a fanatical Nazi, who was directly involved in the mass murder of Jews. Among the commanding officers of SS Galicia was Ukrainian-born SS Hauptsturmfuhrer Heinrich Wiens, who served with the Einsatzgruppen D murder squad and personally took part in mass executions of Jews. Another division officer, SS Obersturm-bannfuhrer Franz Magall, was also a seasoned killer of Jews. SS Galicia worked alongside SS-Sonderbattalion Dirlewanger, a unit that contained rapists, murders and the criminally insane and the two organizations, at times, transferred officers between each unit, noted Per Anders Rudling, a historian of Eastern European history and Associate Professor at the Department of History at Lund University, Sweden.In 2003 a Polish government commission into Nazi war crimes concluded the 14th SS Galicia was responsible for the massacre of women and children in the village of Huta Pieniacka. Based on eye witness accounts, the Polish Institute of National Remembrance, pointed out that members of the 14th division, entered the village and began executing civilians.

      In 2005 the Institute of History at the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences arrived at the same conclusion. The SS did this in many countries so they didn’t have to use their own solders to murder jews as they were needed at the front lines. Maybe a quick review of history is not the way to go.

    • “Larry Alan Thorne” was born Lauri Allan Torni in Finland. He is not a relative. Why he received medals from the US military I don’t know, but he is buried in Arlington cemetery for his valor fighting for us in Vietnam. He joined the US Army in 1954. He was not a Nazi – he fought communism.
      The lefties want to paint me a nazi, so forgive my sensitivity here. Myself and all my relatives that I know of strongly oppose communism and its goal of destroying America and conquering the world.

      • Rico Thorne say “Myself and all my relatives that I know of strongly oppose communism and its goal of destroying America and CONQUERING THE WORLD.”

        “CONQUERING THE WORLD”

        Have you seen Haiti’s military bases on the world map?

        Instances of Use of United States Armed Forces Abroad, 1798-2023 ‘https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R42738

        After WWII, officials in Washington sent scores of agents to their deaths in a misguided effort to create an uprising against Moscow.
        ‘https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/05/11/covert-operation-ukrainian-independence-haunts-cia-00029968

    • Holodomor. The communists killed millions of Ukrainians in the early 1930s, right on Germany’s doorstep. It was a reality.

      Reliable historical information is difficult to discern. Propaganda and lies are omnipresent, not just today, but throughout historical accounts. What happened in the U.S. in 1932, when the World War 1 veterans marched on D.C. to demand their bonuses? President Hoover dealt with them harshly when the Senate rejected their demands. MacArthur, Patton, and Eisenhower cut their teeth on crushing the “Bonus Army”. Huh.

    • This just in: Poland considers bid to extradite Ukrainian Nazi veteran Yaroslav Hunka, 98, after his standing ovation in Canadian parliament and is probing whether he is wanted for crimes against Polish Jews.

  4. What is really amazing is that these morons know nothing of history. This man was introduced to Parliament as a Ukrainian Freedom Fighter who fought against the Russians in 1943. He received a standing ovation! In 1943 Russia was allied against Hitler with the USA and Britain. If you were fighting against Russia back then you were pretty much a Nazi! It was only a day later that these imbeciles realized their stupidity! God help Canada!

    • The big question is his personal backstory:

      -did he know who he was fighting with?
      -did he support the Nazis or just marriage of convenience?
      -is he accused of any crimes? If so, did he serve time for them?

      Ukraine was almoat as bad as the Nazis regarding their Jewish population.

      Regardless, it’s insanely stupid Canada didn’t do some research on this guy.

    • Fishing, you said, “If you were fighting against Russia back then you were pretty much a Nazi!” As a corollary, if you are an American today you are guilty of our nationwide holocaust of genocide against unborn Americans. Neither are fair statements. The fact is, most German soldiers in the Wehrmacht were not Nazis…. even if many did commit atrocities. Same with the SS; it is simply not true they were all rabid Nazis. To say so is the same as contending all black Americans are guilty of the violence perpetrated by BLM. In summary, blanket generalizations about people are always a fallacy.

      • BS, the SS were the NAZIs. The Wehrmacht not quite so.
        You may be an ignorant fool, or a troll trying to seed disinfo but either way your bullshit will be countered with facts.
        Sig heil to you.

        • Grr, I just like to deal with facts. As said, America is the biggest abortion/murder mill in the world even though I disapprove of it. Those like you would cast all Americans as complicit in the genocide of the unborn. By the way, your salute shout is spelled “Sieg Heil.” Reference: 4th grade spelling class.

      • Wayne, I believe that an element of the Irish Republican Army during WWII made an attempt to align their organization with the NAZI’s in order to defeat their Saxon foe then ruling Ireland. In your opinion were those seeking freedom from under the yoke of British Bondage all Nazi’s? Or could it be that the enemy of my enemy is my friend?

        BTW, the SS was an elite Nazi organization. Pretty certain of that!

        • It is understood the SS was a Nazi-fostered organization… which required actual allegiance to Hitler. At this time, the Democratic Party supports the murder of children at any point before they are born. However, a great many registered Democrats disagree with that reprehensible position…. and many other positions as well. As a corollary, a significant number of enlisted SS were not genuinely committed to the Nazi agenda.

          • Wayne, trouble is it is the reprehensible Democrats who are in power and set the agenda for their party.

            In much the same way the evil 😈 Reichsfuher, ( Himmler) drove the direction of the SS.

      • This guy wasn’t just an unwilling participant in war atrocities. The Galicia SS Unit that he was a volunteer member of was known for its depravity & ruthlessness in murdering Ukrainians, Poles, Russians, Jews and Gypsys during World War Two. Almost two million Ukrainians were enslaved by the Nazi’s and shipped back to Germany as slave labor to aid the war effort. It is amazing to see so many on here doing mental backflips to justify this outrageous behavior by the Canadian Parliament. The world optics on this are not good!

  7. I hate to break it to…. honestly … just about everyone but things in the real world, which includes parts of Europe, there are fewer “black-and-white” circumstances than some want us to believe. Hard core Nazi party members are mostly all bad folks. German Wehrmacht soldiers were different; most of these folks were fighting for their country without much political flavoring. Waffen SS, some of them conscripts, are somewhere in the middle. Frankly using a big, broad Nazi brush is losing effectiveness after seventy-five years. (Personally, I am more worried about dangerous reptiles like John Brennan, James Clapper and even Anthony Fauci than a ninety year old suspected Nazi.)

    Justin Trudeau’s error highlights the foolishness of these kind of performative acts. They are meaningless and a waste of time. Justin Trudeau deserves what ever comes his way.

    As for Ukraine, there is a whole lot of gray. Zelensky isn’t a patriot but rather a tyrant. Ukraine isn’t a democracy but rather an oligarchy. Personal freedoms are severely limited: speech, press, religion, even voting. Ukraine just isn’t worth it.

    The entire civilized world seem ready to go insane over Ukraine. Let’s just stop.

    • You are correct about generalities, particularly about “nazis”, and the reptiles mentioned. I have a bone to pick with you about Ukraine: “severely limited” is in error – they are not as free as us, true, but they are vastly freer than the Russians. Allowing the Russians to re-establish the Soviet Union would be a humongous mistake – even the demrats know this. My Ukrainian friend told me after a visit to his hometown, “things are better over here” (in the US), and, “there’s a war over there… women, children… shopping centers, schools, hospitals, apartment buildings.” (crying) “When we hear (he makes a siren noise because he doesn’t know the English word for siren) we have to hide in the basement” (in his sister’s House). The Soviet Union was a lot more powerful and dangerous than modern Russia. Never forget that they want to take over the whole world and make us all slaves. This isn’t woke, it’s real – it’s our freedom we’re fighting for. brandon’s major mistake is not replenishing the munitions and not replacing the equipment we’re giving them, exposing us to a Chinese assault – first on Taiwan, ultimately on us.

      • Being just, moral and a beacon for freedom and democracy is a good thing. That prong of neoconservatism is very appealing and I support it. Unfortunately, the second prong of neoconservatism – wandering around the globe to actively clash with anti-democratic elements- doesn’t work well in some cases. The experience of the last quarter-century-plus shows that there ARE limits to the reach, depth and persistence of American power. I won’t list the failures. My point is that we need to pick our battles. Engaging in a proxy war with Russia in and with a country on Russia’s border is a bad choice. I wish many of the the Ukrainian people the best (I exclude the authoritarians, oligarchs and thieves) but Ukraine may be the wrong war in the wrong place.

      • Rich – Ukraine is one of the most corrupt countries in the World & they are NOT free by any stretch of the imagination. Their leaders have been put in place by corrupt oligarchs & foreign intelligence agencies. Zelensky has arrested priests, journalists, political opponents and any dissidents who don’t toe the official narrative. He has suspended elections in the country. Currently, an independent American journalist, Gonzalo Lira, is rotting in a Ukrainian prison where he has been subjected to torture and abuse. Zelensky’s thugs are prowling the countryside kidnapping young boys & old men to send into the meat grinder on the frontlines. Half the population has fled the country & almost half a million soldiers have been killed. Even leaked Pentagon papers have stated that the war is not going well for Ukraine, yet Short Stairs Biden, along with Dems & RINOS in Congress, continues to fund the greatest money laundering scheme in modern history!

  9. These leaders don’t care because they are sure of re-election. So they do as they wish because us little people don’t matter yet.

  10. We can agree that Justin Trudeau is no better than a stooge: imprisoning mask and vaccine protesters and pastors, and celebrating the criminalizing of those trying to help kids who think they are trans. Canada has lost its way.
    Canada should have vetted who they were applauding.
    Today’s issue is more to smear Zelensky as being pro-nazi than about who ever got wrongly applauded.
    Russia is not mining a huge part of Europe’s bread basket, targeting maternity hospitals and schools, and threatening nuclear plants because of Nazis in Ukraine. Putin want Ukraine to be a buffer for him, as is used to be called The Ukraine.
    Putin’s invasion was a naked power grab and his pretext seems to have caught the imaginations of some vocal conservatives.

  11. Canada must be terribly short of homegrown heroes if Waffen SS qualify for a standing ovation.
    .
    Could this have been Trudeau’s delightfully quirky way of thanking SS alumni for tips on handling restive Canadian truckers?
    .
    So soon we forget Ukraine’s Babi Yar, where almost 150,000 people were murdered during Nazi occupation?
    .
    For Schutzstaffel apologists infesting this page, may we remind the decision to murder all Jews in Kiev was made by Military Governor Generalmajor Kurt Eberhard, Police Commander for Army Group South, Einsatzgruppe C Commander Otto Rasch… and SS-Obergruppenführer Friedrich Jeckeln.
    .
    Sonderkommando 4a, sub-unit of Einsatzgruppe C, assisted by —Ukrainian Auxiliary Police— carried out the orders.
    .
    And Canadians welcomed them afterwards.
    (nationalpost.com/opinion/canadas-soft-pedalling-ukraine-ss-galicia)

  12. Best compliments to everyone! Almost all the comments here are very good and well-informed. It might indicate that MRAK readers/conservatives are more savvy than most. I will also throw in an oar of what seems to be the most common thread: WW II was MUCH more complicated than most of us Americans realize. Remember, the USSR helped to start it by its alliance with Hitler and near simultaneous invasion of Poland! Ergo, Russkies switched sides. The Ukrainians saw the Germans as liberators for a few weeks, at least. Who wouldn’t, after Stalin’s genocide? Hungarians, Romanians, Bulgarians, Czechs, Austrians all have their own complicated stories to tell. Italy also changed sides, or at least tried to, and surrendered almost 2 years BEFORE Germany in late summer of ’43. The left-over Italian soldiers & sailors pretty much went 3 equal ways afterwards: join the partisans, get drafted into labor brigades into Germany, or thrown into Mussolini’s puppet regime as garrison soldiers. We have our own on-going mass murders and atrocities in our “enlightened” times: not only abortion but now child mutilation and sterilization. I won’t even mention the Covid Jab. Too early to make a proper judgment, but we can see the pieces coming together.

  13. There were many Germans who simply fought for their country. They weren’t necessarily bad people, just on a bad side.

    Very rarely were they members of Waffen SS.

  14. Suzanne, Disappointed you didn’t print my early comments on this issue. As I said ( but you wouldn’t print )this issue is not as simple or as black and white as you and most others make it out to be. Many, many soldiers who fought with the axis were not fighting for Naziism BUT AGAINST A COMMUNIST INVADER ( Finland and the Ukraine ). Best example is Larry Thorne , a native born Finnn who was in the Finnish military when Russia invaded Finland. He was later recruited into a Waffen SS unit and fought the Russians on the eastern front. After the war he immigrated to The US joined the USArmyand qualified for the Special Forces. He was killed in VietNam in 1965. As I said previously, who were we fighting in VietNam – the communists!!
    Canada has far worse problems than the issue with honoring the Ukrainian immigrant!! The US recruited and used former Nazis in spy operations and certainly the German scientists who had worked for the Third Reich in our space program after the war. Canada is NOT the only country accused of using former ThirdReich personnel after the war, including Russia!!

  15. In those days it was hobson’s choice for some. The murdering Stalinist Bolshevik’s or the murdering Nazi’s. Depending on where you were sitting it was one or the other. We sided up with Stalin (who had originally sided with Hitler) against Hitler. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. As WW-2 wrapped up we were immediately at odds with the USSR. And we had the Berlin Wall. Some US military thought we should immediately go after the USSR. History is a beast.

  17. The questions remain:
    .
    What entitles the Waffen SS to a standing ovation from the government of a presumably democratic, non-communist, non-socialist country?
    .
    Who here will rise to “honor” a Waffen SS veteran under similar circumstance?

      • Ghastly notion, but you’re probably right; the precedent’s there already.
        .
        Precedent is that SS-Hauptsturmführer Mengele’s legacy appears to thrive in the Left’s congressionally supported shrine to contemporary atrocity, otherwise known as Planned Parenthood.

Comments are closed.