OTTAWA -
Several Jewish advocacy organizations condemned members of Parliament on Sunday for giving a standing ovation to a man who fought for a Nazi unit during the Second World War.
During Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's visit to Ottawa on Friday, MPs honoured 98-year-old Yaroslav Hunka, who fought for the First Ukrainian Division, in the House of Commons.
Hunka was invited by Speaker Anthony Rota, who introduced him.
"I am very proud to say that he is from North Bay and from my riding of Nipissing--Timiskaming," the Ontario MP said.
"He is a Ukrainian hero, a Canadian hero, and we thank him for all his service."
MPs cheered and Zelenskyy raised his fist in acknowledgement as Hunka saluted from the gallery during two separate standing ovations.
The First Ukrainian Division was also known as the Waffen-SS Galicia Division or the SS 14th Waffen Division, a voluntary unit that was under the command of the Nazis.
The Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies issued a statement Sunday saying the division "was responsible for the mass murder of innocent civilians with a level of brutality and malice that is unimaginable."
"An apology is owed to every Holocaust survivor and veteran of the Second World War who fought the Nazis, and an explanation must be provided as to how this individual entered the hallowed halls of Canadian Parliament and received recognition from the Speaker of the House and a standing ovation," the statement said...
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B'nai Brith Canada CEO Michael Mostyn said it is beyond outrageous that Parliament honoured a former member of a Nazi unit, saying Ukrainian "ultra-nationalist ideologues" who volunteered for the Galicia Division "dreamed of an ethnically homogenous Ukrainian state and endorsed the idea of ethnic cleansing."
https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/house-...ment-1.6575593
Several Jewish advocacy organizations condemned members of Parliament on Sunday for giving a standing ovation to a man who fought for a Nazi unit during the Second World War.
During Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's visit to Ottawa on Friday, MPs honoured 98-year-old Yaroslav Hunka, who fought for the First Ukrainian Division, in the House of Commons.
Hunka was invited by Speaker Anthony Rota, who introduced him.
"I am very proud to say that he is from North Bay and from my riding of Nipissing--Timiskaming," the Ontario MP said.
"He is a Ukrainian hero, a Canadian hero, and we thank him for all his service."
MPs cheered and Zelenskyy raised his fist in acknowledgement as Hunka saluted from the gallery during two separate standing ovations.
The First Ukrainian Division was also known as the Waffen-SS Galicia Division or the SS 14th Waffen Division, a voluntary unit that was under the command of the Nazis.
The Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies issued a statement Sunday saying the division "was responsible for the mass murder of innocent civilians with a level of brutality and malice that is unimaginable."
"An apology is owed to every Holocaust survivor and veteran of the Second World War who fought the Nazis, and an explanation must be provided as to how this individual entered the hallowed halls of Canadian Parliament and received recognition from the Speaker of the House and a standing ovation," the statement said...
...
B'nai Brith Canada CEO Michael Mostyn said it is beyond outrageous that Parliament honoured a former member of a Nazi unit, saying Ukrainian "ultra-nationalist ideologues" who volunteered for the Galicia Division "dreamed of an ethnically homogenous Ukrainian state and endorsed the idea of ethnic cleansing."
https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/house-...ment-1.6575593
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