Amidst NaziGate the Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC) has largely escaped scrutiny. But the powerful lobby group should be queried about their support for the former SS soldier applauded by Parliament and its Canadian government connections.
After six days of remaining mum about the Jaroslav Hunka scandal the UCC released a cryptic statement that doesn’t mention the 14th Waffen-SS Galicia Division veteran Canadian politicians celebrated. Instead, it notes, “there are difficult and painful pages in the shared history of the communities who made their home in Ukraine. The UCC acknowledges that recent events that brought these pages to the forefront have caused pain and anguish.”
Yet the UCC has significant ties to Hunka. He’s listed on the organization’s site as a “supporter” and Hunka donates annually, giving the UCC $5,200 since 2013. In 2003 Hunka represented the UCC at the 8th Ukrainian World Congress in Kiyv and in 2007 the group gave the former Nazi soldier a Medal of Merit (alongside several dozen other 14thWaffen-SS veterans). The Ukrainian ambassador to Canada in the post ‘Orange Revolution’ government was a special guest at the ceremony and gave a celebratory speech.
In the late 1940s the UCC campaigned to have Canada accept members of the Waffen-SS’s Galicia Division and the UCC, which is an umbrella organization, actually represented Waffen SS members who came to Canada after World War II. In “The Ukrainian Canadian Congress and its Fascist Roots” Richard Sanders writes, “this association of Nazi SS soldiers was openly listed on the UCC website as one of its national member organisations. The Ukrainian SS is still given a prominent place of honour at some UCC events. For example, at UCC Edmonton’s annual commemoration of the Holodomor in 2016, a Ukrainian WWII veteran stood behind the speaker’s podium holding the infamous Waffen SS flag.” Recent UCC Remembrance Day statements have claimed the Galicia Division was among those who “sacrificed and risked their lives for peace and freedom around the world.” (more...)
Stench from cheering Nazis not confined to Parliament
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