This past September, the world was in shock when the House of Commons gave a standing ovation to 98 year-old Yaroslav Hunka, a former member of the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS, a volunteer unit known as the Galicia Division. The rapturous applause from politicians came during a visit from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy—to show solidarity with Ukrainian nationalism during its war with Russia. But many Canadians failed to understand that a significant number of Ukrainian nationalists during the Second World War fought alongside Nazis.
While Prime Minister Justin Trudeau immediately apologized and Speaker Anthony Rota swiftly resigned four days after the scandal, the damage was done. Jewish groups around the world condemned Canada, and many wondered how such a glaring error could be made.
Unfortunately, there’s an uncomfortable truth that must be acknowledged: Canada’s history of complicity in allowing Nazi-linked Ukrainian groups to go unpunished. There are known monuments in Canada commemorating these military divisions and the government has allowed in hundreds of Nazi war criminals, who haven’t been extradited and tried in criminal court.
To understand how Canada got here, I spoke with Bernie Farber, the founding chair of the Canadian Anti-Hate Network and past CEO of Canadian Jewish Congress—he is also the son of Holocaust survivor Max Farber—to discuss the topic.
How many known Nazi monuments do we have in Canada?
There are at least two cemeteries, one in Edmonton, Alberta and one in Oakville, Ontario, which has a cenotaph commemorating the Galicia Division. One Nazi monument is too many. The very fact we even have this is more than a stain on our country. There were hundreds of thousands of young Canadian men and women who fought and lost their lives fighting against Nazism and the fact anyone would want to celebrate those Nazis today, as we say in Yiddish, a shande (disgrace).
How did they come to be erected? There’s a bit of a complicated history.
That’s right, Ukraine has a complex history and an even more complex history with Jews. People have to understand there was a time when relations between the two groups [Ukrainians and Jews], from the late 1400s to the early 1700s, were fine; some of the greatest Yeshivot in the world, learning centres of Judaism, arose in Ukraine. And, for the most part Jews did their business and Ukrainains did theirs. But by the 1800s that dissipated and Jews became the target of choice in Ukraine, Poland, and Russia—antisemitism became rampant in Eastern Europe. At the same time, Ukraine’s borders had always bounced around. Their borders changed during the Austro-Hungarian Empire and then later during the Soviet Union.They have always yearned for a national state not under the yoke of anyone.
Flash forward to the late 1930s and 1940s, when Nazism became prevalent, many Ukrainian nationals, not the majority but a large minority, saw an opportunity under Adolf Hitler to become a free and independent Ukraine. Why they would think that is beyond my understanding but that’s what they felt. There were Ukrainian SS divisions, notably the Galicia Division, which had thousands of Ukrainian nationals whose job often involved guarding death and concentration camps, as well as fighting Polish people and the allies under the Nazi flag. After the war, they came to the U.S. and Canada. But these Ukrainians didn’t call themselves Nazis, they said they fought for Ukrainian nationalism and that’s how they got into the country. Possibly thousands came into Canada. That’s how these monuments were erected in these cemeteries commemorating the division they fought for.
So these Ukrainian nationalists who fought with Nazis have been walking among us?
There are very well known members of the Ukrainian Canadian community who were members of the Galicia Division, including the former president of the University of Alberta, but this all came to light many years ago. In 1985 there was the Commission of Inquiry on War Criminals in Canada, also known as the Deschenes Commission to determine how many Nazis came into Canada and how many could be dealt with. The Galicia Division, which was found to be a criminal division by the Nuremberg trials after the war, was named under the tribunal as a Nazi division. Here in Canada, the Deschenes Commission was convinced that collectively the division didn’t fall under the definition of war criminals, noting that some might have been involved. We [the Canadian Jewish community] always thought this was a strange and unfortunate finding by Justice Deschenes especially given the Nuremberg finding, and as a result many went unpunished.
After the House of Commons gave that unfortunate standing ovation to the former Galicia Division soldier, Canada’s Immigration Minister Marc Miller said, “Canada has a really dark history with Nazis in Canada. There was a point in our history where it was easier to get [into Canada] as a Nazi than it was as a Jewish person. I think that’s a history we have to reconcile.” What do you make of that statement?
Potentially many Nazi war criminals came into this country. Deschenes found at least 200 Nazis with blood on their hands. Only one Nazi war criminal was extradited from Canada to Germany, his name was Helmut Rauca, and he was responsible for killing more than 10,000 Jews in Lithuania. It took the RCMP 35 years to find him. It’s a strange, bizarre, and sad story. He was sent to West Germany and died in a prison cell never seeing a courtroom. Canada has a dark history, which the minister alluded to, and we have to come to grips with it. Writing about it is one way, but the government has to come to terms with it as well and make a public statement and apologize. We haven’t seen any apology. They’ve never acknowledged Canada’s lack of interest in going after Nazi war criminals. It’s not a dark secret anymore.
What work is being done to remove the statues?
Not a thing, zippo, and why? They happen to be on private property. The local cemeteries are owned by the Ukrainian National Committee, and so far they don’t seem moved to remove them.
Could the Canadian government help in some way?
They could help in the sense of moral suasion, and the Prime Minister could be more forceful in saying these statues must come down; that they urge the Ukrainian community to do the right thing. We’ve never heard from any prime minister about this, even though these statues came to light some time ago. No one took any steps to do the right thing.
Some Canadian institutions have taken down statues of figures who they believe to be complicit in the genocide of Indigenous peoples in Canada. It shows that it can be done.
Genocide was perpetrated against Indigenous people of this land, and one of the greatest villains is our first prime minister John A. Macdonald. It’s hard for us to think about [this history] but in some places statues are coming down such as Ryerson and a few others. If we can start facing our own history and doing the right thing, surely the Canadian Ukrainian community can do the same thing, especially with the crimes this division is associated with. I also have a strong personal connection here, because it is highly possible the Galicia Division were guards and executioners at Treblinka where my entire paternal family were murdered.
What work can be done to ensure Canadians are aware of this history and to apply pressure to get rid of the statues?
In some ways it started. In Ontario and Alberta, where those two monuments are, both provincial governments have mandated Holocaust education in high school. That is hugely important because education is the key. We have nothing else but education and if kids don’t know about it how will they know what to do about it? A 15 year-old now would have no idea about the Galicia Division, they would have no idea what you’re talking about. It will be a work in progress to be sure. It’s time that with everything else going on, we stop honouring Nazi murderers not just because they murdered six million Jews, but because non-Jewish Canadians fought to ensure Nazism never takes hold in this country. How sad would our fathers and grandfathers who fought in the war be if they were to see these monuments still around in 2023, knowing these war criminals are being honoured on a daily basis.
This interview has been shortened and edited for clarity and length.
This past September, the world was in shock when the House of Commons gave a standing ovation to 98 year-old Yaroslav Hunka, a former member of the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS, a volunteer unit known as the Galicia Division. The rapturous applause from politicians came during a visit from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy—to show solidarity with Ukrainian nationalism during its war with Russia. But many Canadians failed to understand that a significant number of Ukrainian nationalists during the Second World War fought alongside Nazis.
While Prime Minister Justin Trudeau immediately apologized and Speaker Anthony Rota swiftly resigned four days after the scandal, the damage was done. Jewish groups around the world condemned Canada, and many wondered how such a glaring error could be made.
Unfortunately, there’s an uncomfortable truth that must be acknowledged: Canada’s history of complicity in allowing Nazi-linked Ukrainian groups to go unpunished. There are known monuments in Canada commemorating these military divisions and the government has allowed in hundreds of Nazi war criminals, who haven’t been extradited and tried in criminal court.
To understand how Canada got here, I spoke with Bernie Farber, the founding chair of the Canadian Anti-Hate Network and past CEO of Canadian Jewish Congress—he is also the son of Holocaust survivor Max Farber—to discuss the topic.
How many known Nazi monuments do we have in Canada?
There are at least two cemeteries, one in Edmonton, Alberta and one in Oakville, Ontario, which has a cenotaph commemorating the Galicia Division. One Nazi monument is too many. The very fact we even have this is more than a stain on our country. There were hundreds of thousands of young Canadian men and women who fought and lost their lives fighting against Nazism and the fact anyone would want to celebrate those Nazis today, as we say in Yiddish, a shande (disgrace).
How did they come to be erected? There’s a bit of a complicated history.
That’s right, Ukraine has a complex history and an even more complex history with Jews. People have to understand there was a time when relations between the two groups [Ukrainians and Jews], from the late 1400s to the early 1700s, were fine; some of the greatest Yeshivot in the world, learning centres of Judaism, arose in Ukraine. And, for the most part Jews did their business and Ukrainains did theirs. But by the 1800s that dissipated and Jews became the target of choice in Ukraine, Poland, and Russia—antisemitism became rampant in Eastern Europe. At the same time, Ukraine’s borders had always bounced around. Their borders changed during the Austro-Hungarian Empire and then later during the Soviet Union.They have always yearned for a national state not under the yoke of anyone.
Flash forward to the late 1930s and 1940s, when Nazism became prevalent, many Ukrainian nationals, not the majority but a large minority, saw an opportunity under Adolf Hitler to become a free and independent Ukraine. Why they would think that is beyond my understanding but that’s what they felt. There were Ukrainian SS divisions, notably the Galicia Division, which had thousands of Ukrainian nationals whose job often involved guarding death and concentration camps, as well as fighting Polish people and the allies under the Nazi flag. After the war, they came to the U.S. and Canada. But these Ukrainians didn’t call themselves Nazis, they said they fought for Ukrainian nationalism and that’s how they got into the country. Possibly thousands came into Canada. That’s how these monuments were erected in these cemeteries commemorating the division they fought for.
So these Ukrainian nationalists who fought with Nazis have been walking among us?
There are very well known members of the Ukrainian Canadian community who were members of the Galicia Division, including the former president of the University of Alberta, but this all came to light many years ago. In 1985 there was the Commission of Inquiry on War Criminals in Canada, also known as the Deschenes Commission to determine how many Nazis came into Canada and how many could be dealt with. The Galicia Division, which was found to be a criminal division by the Nuremberg trials after the war, was named under the tribunal as a Nazi division. Here in Canada, the Deschenes Commission was convinced that collectively the division didn’t fall under the definition of war criminals, noting that some might have been involved. We [the Canadian Jewish community] always thought this was a strange and unfortunate finding by Justice Deschenes especially given the Nuremberg finding, and as a result many went unpunished.
After the House of Commons gave that unfortunate standing ovation to the former Galicia Division soldier, Canada’s Immigration Minister Marc Miller said, “Canada has a really dark history with Nazis in Canada. There was a point in our history where it was easier to get [into Canada] as a Nazi than it was as a Jewish person. I think that’s a history we have to reconcile.” What do you make of that statement?
Potentially many Nazi war criminals came into this country. Deschenes found at least 200 Nazis with blood on their hands. Only one Nazi war criminal was extradited from Canada to Germany, his name was Helmut Rauca, and he was responsible for killing more than 10,000 Jews in Lithuania. It took the RCMP 35 years to find him. It’s a strange, bizarre, and sad story. He was sent to West Germany and died in a prison cell never seeing a courtroom. Canada has a dark history, which the minister alluded to, and we have to come to grips with it. Writing about it is one way, but the government has to come to terms with it as well and make a public statement and apologize. We haven’t seen any apology. They’ve never acknowledged Canada’s lack of interest in going after Nazi war criminals. It’s not a dark secret anymore.
What work is being done to remove the statues?
Not a thing, zippo, and why? They happen to be on private property. The local cemeteries are owned by the Ukrainian National Committee, and so far they don’t seem moved to remove them.
Could the Canadian government help in some way?
They could help in the sense of moral suasion, and the Prime Minister could be more forceful in saying these statues must come down; that they urge the Ukrainian community to do the right thing. We’ve never heard from any prime minister about this, even though these statues came to light some time ago. No one took any steps to do the right thing.
Some Canadian institutions have taken down statues of figures who they believe to be complicit in the genocide of Indigenous peoples in Canada. It shows that it can be done.
Genocide was perpetrated against Indigenous people of this land, and one of the greatest villains is our first prime minister John A. Macdonald. It’s hard for us to think about [this history] but in some places statues are coming down such as Ryerson and a few others. If we can start facing our own history and doing the right thing, surely the Canadian Ukrainian community can do the same thing, especially with the crimes this division is associated with. I also have a strong personal connection here, because it is highly possible the Galicia Division were guards and executioners at Treblinka where my entire paternal family were murdered.
What work can be done to ensure Canadians are aware of this history and to apply pressure to get rid of the statues?
In some ways it started. In Ontario and Alberta, where those two monuments are, both provincial governments have mandated Holocaust education in high school. That is hugely important because education is the key. We have nothing else but education and if kids don’t know about it how will they know what to do about it? A 15 year-old now would have no idea about the Galicia Division, they would have no idea what you’re talking about. It will be a work in progress to be sure. It’s time that with everything else going on, we stop honouring Nazi murderers not just because they murdered six million Jews, but because non-Jewish Canadians fought to ensure Nazism never takes hold in this country. How sad would our fathers and grandfathers who fought in the war be if they were to see these monuments still around in 2023, knowing these war criminals are being honoured on a daily basis.
This interview has been shortened and edited for clarity and length.