The Canadian Polish Congress and the Association of United Ukrainian Canadians have joined calls for the identities of the alleged war criminals to be revealed.
Canadian Polish and Ukrainian groups have joined calls for the federal government to release the full list of 900 alleged Nazi war criminals who came to this country after the war.
The list is among documents created by a 1986 federal government war-crimes commission led by Justice Jules Deschenes. For almost 40 years the federal government has refused to release the material to the public.
Library and Archives Canada is deciding whether it will release the records requested under Canada’s access to information law.
Holocaust survivors and some Jewish groups have called for a full release of the 900 names of alleged Nazi war criminals. The list is believed to contain names of Nazi collaborators from eastern European as well as Waffen SS veterans such as those from a Ukrainian division known as SS Galicia.
The Canadian Polish Congress as well as the Association of United Ukrainian Canadians have now joined calls for the identities of the alleged war criminals to be revealed.
“Many members of our community are descendants of victims and survivors of Nazi atrocities, including those perpetrated by SS Galizien,” John Tomczak, president of the Canadian Polish Congress, wrote in a letter to Leslie Weir, Librarian and Archivist of Canada. “The Canadian Polish Congress believes that the greater risk lies in secrecy and omission. The Polish-Canadian community feels that any reluctance to release these names may only deepen existing wounds.”
Tomczak wrote that by only fully confronting the truth of Canada’s history regarding Nazi war criminals can “we can hope to bring a sense of justice and closure to the many families and communities who continue to grapple with the horrors of that period.” (more...)
Release secret list of alleged Nazi war criminals in Canada, say Polish and Ukrainian groups
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