Now is time to release Canada's Holocaust-related records

 

On Sept. 22, 2023, Yaroslav Hunka, a Ukrainian Canadian, was recognized as a war hero by former Speaker Anthony Rota.

And then the twist: it turned out that Hunka once served as a member of the 14th Waffen SS Galicia, a Nazi unit during the Second World War.

While that day will be remembered by Canadians as the day that our country honoured an individual who fought for the wrong team during the Second World War, it can also be remembered as the day when Canadians started to learn about Canada’s sordid and secret past.

During this dark period in Canada’s history, the Federal Government welcomed thousands of Nazis and their collaborators to our country. They were welcomed with open arms while many Jews from Eastern Europe were denied entry into Canada.

As we approach International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Jan. 27, 2024 – the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau – the Trudeau-led government has a golden opportunity to release its Holocaust-related records. These records include a written policy report by Alti Rodal, entitled Nazi War Criminals in Canada: The Historical and Policy Setting from the 1940s to the Present, and Part II of the Deschênes Commission report, which was issued in 1986 and addressed individual cases of Nazi war criminals and collaborators. They have never been made public.

In addition, the Government has in its possession hundreds of Nazi war-crimes files originally held by the Department of Justice and Royal Canadian Mounted Police – records that are all inaccessible.  (more...)

Now is time to release Canada's Holocaust-related records