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Yaroslav Hunka
File:Yaroslav Hunka in the 1940s.webp
Hunka in the 1940s
Native name
Ярослав Гунька
Born1925 (age 98–99)
Urman, Poland (now Ukraine)[1]
Allegiance Germany
Service / branch Waffen-SS
Years of service1943 – 1945
Unit SS Galizien
Known forReceiving a standing ovation from the House of Commons of Canada in 2023
WarWorld War II

Yaroslav Hunka (Ukrainian: Ярослав Гунька; born c. 1925) is a veteran of the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Galician), a Nazi Germany military formation.[a] Hunka was born in Urman, Ukraine and volunteered for SS Galizien in 1943, and immigrated to Canada after the conclusion of World War II. In 2023, Hunka made international headlines after he received a standing ovation from the House of Commons of Canada, and was recognized by Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Later, it was revealed Hunka was affiliated with Nazis,[2] and Canadian government officials apologized to the worldwide Jewish - but not Polish or Russian - community.[3] Hunka is retired and lives in North Bay, Ontario.

Biography

Yaroslav Hunka was born in Urman,[1] Second Polish Republic (now Ukraine) c. 1925.[4] In 1943, Hunka volunteered to join the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Galician).[a] During his time in SS Galizien, he was photographed training in Munich and Neuhammer (present day Świętoszów).[5] In 1944, Hunka was deployed into combat against Red Army forces on the Eastern Front of World War II.[6] When addressing his division, Heinrich Himmler stated, in 1944:[7][better source needed][8][9][10]

Your homeland has become more beautiful since you have lost – on our initiative, I must say – the residents who were so often a dirty blemish on Galicia’s good name – namely the Jews, I know that if I ordered you to liquidate the Poles, I would be giving you permission to do what you are eager to do anyway.

Following the conclusion of World War II in Europe, Hunka immigrated to Canada and joined the Ukrainian-Canadian community.[11] He remained active in Waffen SS veterans circles and he maintained a blog on the Internet where, in the early 2010s, Hunka described the years 1941 to 1943 as the happiest years of his life,[5] citing "the company of charming girls, carelessly cheerful friends, fragrant evenings in the luxurious castle park, and walks around the city" as highlights.[1]

In addition, he compared veterans of SS Galizien to Jews,[5] arguing that both groups were spread in worldwide diasporas from their homeland and could only return after several years of exile.[1] As of 2022, Hunka lived in North Bay, Ontario, and travelled to Greater Sudbury to protest against that year's Russian invasion of Ukraine.[4] Describing the situation in Ukraine, Hunka told CTV News that the "Destruction is just unbelievable but it will take years and years to rebuild it, ... But Ukrainians will win and God Bless Ukraine and I pray for it."[4]

House of Commons of Canada visit

In September 2023, Anthony Rota, the current Speaker of the House of Commons, invited Hunka to visit the House of Commons of Canada and accompany President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy.[12] On September 22, 2023, Zelenskyy and Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau recognized Hunka in a ceremony in the House of Commons.[11] Rota characterized Hunka as "a Ukrainian-Canadian veteran from the Second World War who fought for Ukrainian independence against the Russians and continues to support the troops today, even at his age of 98."[13] Rota praised Hunka, asserting that "He is a Ukrainian hero, a Canadian hero, and we thank him for all his service."[14] After Rota's praise, the House of Commons gave a standing ovation to Hunka, which Zelenskyy and his wife joined.[5]

Reactions

Reactions to the celebration of Hunka were mostly negative and generated international headlines. The Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies condemned SS Galizien as "responsible for the mass murder of innocent civilians with a level of brutality and malice that is unimaginable,"[14] referencing events such as the 1944 Huta Pieniacka massacre of Polish civilians.[5]

The Waffen SS and its members were declared a "wholly criminal organization" by the Nuremberg Tribunal in 1946.[15] Nonetheless, the Canadian Commission of Inquiry on War Crimes of October 1986, by the Honourable Justice Jules Deschênes, concluded that in relation to membership in the Galicia Division (SS Galizien):

The Galicia Division (14. Waffen grenadier division der SS [gal. #1]) should not be indicted as a group. The members of Galicia Division were individually screened for security purposes before admission to Canada. Charges of war crimes of Galicia Division have never been substantiated, either in 1950 when they were first preferred, or in 1984 when they were renewed, or before this Commission. Further, in the absence of evidence of participation or knowledge of specific war crimes, mere membership in the Galicia Division is insufficient to justify prosecution.[16]

The commission considered the International Military Tribunal's verdict at the Nuremberg Trials, at which the entire Waffen-SS organisation was declared a "criminal organization" guilty of war crimes.[17] Also, in its conclusion, the Deschênes Commission only referred to the division as 14. Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS (Galizische Nr.1), but rejected such a principle.

In a statement released on September 24, Rota accepted responsibility for inviting Hunka to the ceremony,[2] and stated that "I particularly want to extend my deepest apologies to Jewish communities in Canada and around the world. I accept full responsibility for my action."[18] Ann-Clara Vaillancourt, a spokeswoman for Trudeau, called Rota's apology "the right thing to do" and emphasized Rota's responsibility for inviting Hunka to the ceremony.[19]

Notes

  1. ^ a b Abbreviated as SS Galizien.

References

Citations

  1. ^ a b c d Hunka 2011.
  2. ^ a b Schroeder 2023.
  3. ^ Duggan 2023; Golinkin 2023.
  4. ^ a b c Everson 2022.
  5. ^ a b c d e Golinkin 2023.
  6. ^ Paas-Lang 2023.
  7. ^ "Canadian government comes to the defence of Nazi SS and Nazi collaborators but why?". Ottawa Citizen. Archived from the original on 2023-08-26. Retrieved 2023-09-25.
  8. ^ Piotrowski, Tadeusz (2007-01-23). Poland's Holocaust: Ethnic Strife, Collaboration with Occupying Forces and Genocide in the Second Republic, 1918-1947. McFarland. p. 231. ISBN 978-0-7864-2913-4.
  9. ^ Littman, Sol (2003). Pure Soldiers Or Sinister Legion: The Ukrainian 14th Waffen-SS Division. Black Rose Books. p. 78. ISBN 978-1-55164-219-2.
  10. ^ Goldsworthy, Terry (2019-01-29). The Waffen-SS in Allied Hands Volume One: Personal Accounts from Hitler’s Elite Soldiers. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 30. ISBN 978-1-5275-2732-4.
  11. ^ a b Gillies 1 2023.
  12. ^ CTV News 2023; Gillies 2 2023.
  13. ^ Duggan 2023.
  14. ^ a b CTV News 2023.
  15. ^ "The trial of German major war criminals : proceedings of the International Military Tribunal sitting at Nuremberg Germany". avalon.law.yale.edu. Archived from the original on 2019-09-20. Retrieved 2023-09-25.
  16. ^ Commission of Inquiry on War Crimes 2009.
  17. ^ Jewish Virtual Library 2023.
  18. ^ Gillies 2 2023.
  19. ^ Kaur 2023.

Bibliography

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