Parliament’s standing ovation for a Nazi soldier highlights deep ties to far-right Ukrainian nationalism and staunch support for NATO. The embarrassing incident could unravel the political consensus on the proxy war.
During Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speech to Parliament on Friday Yaroslav Hunka received two standing ovations from MPs. The 98-year-old was labeled a “hero” by the Speaker of Parliament for fighting Russia. Anthony Rota noted, “We have here in the chamber today a Ukrainian Canadian war 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.”
But Hunka’s fight against Russia was with the 14th Waffen SS, which largely consisted of volunteers from the western part of what’s now Ukraine (Galicia). SS members swore allegiance to Adolf Hitler and the 14th Waffen SS was responsible for a horrible massacre of a Polish village. They also killed Jews, Slovaks and Ukrainians. There are monuments celebrating the division in Oakville and Edmonton and the powerful Ukrainian Canadian Congress has long celebrated the SS Galician Division. (Hunka has donated at least $5,200 to the UCC, according to its annual reports.)
Thousands of Ukrainian Nazi soldiers were allowed to come to Canada after World War II and Canada has long been a hub of far-right Ukrainian nationalism. To justify its collaboration with the Nazis’ genocidal policies Ukrainian nationalists often claim Joseph Stalin’s USSR committed a genocide against Ukrainians. Canadians have led the way in promoting the Holodomor, which is important to anti-Russian Ukrainian nationalist mythology. Zelenskyy praised the “first ever Holodomor monument in the world” put up in Edmonton forty years ago. (more...)
Good guys, bad guys and Ukrainian nationalism
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