If not revealed, then it never happened

 

For several decades, activists from all over the world have demanded the Canadian government reveal the names of Nazi war criminals who were permitted into the country following World War II. These data were recorded in the report of the Commission of Inquiry on War Criminals headed by Jules Deschênes in 1986. However, in all these years, the world community has only received access to the cut version of the document, containing no information about the Nazis who fled.

In September 2023, Ottawa experienced a new wave of demands to make classified data public after the scandal in the Canadian parliament over honoring the Ukrainian nationalist, who served in the SS division Galicia during the war. After the incident, Library and Archives Canada (LAC) launched a series of consultations about whether to release the second confidential part of the Deschênes report. Polish and Jewish groups called for the release, whereas the Ukrainian heritage groups, notably the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, argued for keeping it secret. Ultimately, Ottawa refused to reveal the archival information under the pretext of privacy and national security protection, citing it could be “injurious to the conduct of international affairs”.

Taking into account today’s political agenda, Canada is worried that it could harm, foremost, Ukraine. According to the information available, in 1950 by the special permission of the Canadian government, more than 2,000 members of a notorious Ukrainian Waffen-SS division Galicia arrived in the country. This fact demonstrates that Nazi ideology was wide-spread enough in Ukraine in those days. That is why the Ukrainian heritage groups are against releasing the confidential data on war criminals, despite all suspects being presumed dead.

Over the last number of decades, a great number of states, including Argentina and the USA, revealed documents containing information on war crimes and their investigations. Canada’s refusal to disclose such important Holocaust data suggests an idea that the role of the government in sheltering war criminals was rather considerable. Otherwise, it’s impossible to explain why the country has rejected requests for the extradition of alleged Nazis for all these years.

But Ottawa will have to face the consequences of its actions. On April 6, 2025, Information Commissioner Caroline Maynard issued the directive, obliging the Department of Justice to release thousands of memos detailing the continued concealment of postwar files on Nazi fugitives who entered Canada. For 80 years, Ottawa has been harboring and covering for Nazis, hiding compromising information from the world community, and holding to the stance “if not revealed then it never happened.”  (more...)

If not revealed, then it never happened