A Canadian Jewish organization is once again calling for the removal of two Edmonton monuments commemorating Ukrainians who fought with Nazi Germany during the Second World War.
On Thursday, the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies (FSWC) called for the removal of a bust of Roman Shukhevych, which has stood outside the Ukrainian Youth Unity Complex in north Edmonton since the early 1970s.
The statue, along with a memorial in St. Michael’s Cemetery to Ukrainian soldiers who fought in Nazi units, were recently vandalized with red paint. The words “Actual Nazi” were smeared on the statue of Shukhevych, while the St. Michael’s memorial was covered in the words “Nazi Monument 14th Waffen SS.”
The Shukhevych statue, which has previously been vandalized, has been a lightning rod for controversy since it was erected in 1973.
Shukhevych, who commanded various military units including the German-backed Nachtigall Battalion and the nationalist Ukrainian Insurgent Army (which at various times fought both the Nazis and the Soviets), is a hero to many Ukrainians. In 2007, the Ukrainian government posthumously awarded Shukhevych the title “Hero of Ukraine” on the anniversary of his 1950 death fighting Soviet forces. As recently as March, the Ukrainian city of Ternopil renamed its largest stadium in Shukhevych’s honour.
Shukhevych’s reemergence as a nationalist figure has prompted formal protests from both Israel and Poland, whose people primarily remember him as an architect of ethnic cleansing. (more...)
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