Volodymyr Zelensky is a man on the move, and on September 22 the Ukrainian president addressed the Canadian Parliament. Also appearing was Yaroslav Hunka, 98, hailed by Speaker Anthony Rota as “a Ukrainian hero, a Canadian hero, and we thank him for all his service.” The members cheered, but there was a problem.
Yaroslav Hunka served under Nazi command with the Waffen-SS Galicia Division, a voluntary unit also known as the SS 14th Waffen Division or First Ukrainian Division. During World War II, Hunka’s unit committed atrocities against the Polish resistance and in the village of Huta Pieniacka massacred adults and children alike. The International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg declared Hunka’s unit a criminal organization.
Canadians have a lot of experience fighting Nazis like Yaroslav Hunka. Some background may be helpful.
On August 23, 1939, Stalin and Hitler signed the Nazi-Soviet Pact and the next month both totalitarian powers invaded Poland, effectively starting World War II. While the Pact was in force, Stalin invaded Finland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. With full support from Stalin, Hitler invaded Norway, Denmark, Holland, Belgium and France. Canadians were fighting back from the start, and never looked back.
On June 6, 1944, in the largest invasion in history, British, Canadian, American, Polish and Australian troops stormed the beaches at Normandy. Many brave soldiers met their end that day, but the Allies went on to take down the National Socialist regime and liberate western Europe.
On April 12, 1945, troops of the 8th Canadian Reconnaissance Regiment liberated the Westerbork transit camp in Holland. From that outpost, the Nazis deported 97,776 Jews, 54,930 to Auschwitz, 34,313 to Sobibor, 4,771 to the Theresienstadt ghetto and 3,762 to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. The Canadians saved 876 Westerbork inmates from certain death.
Just so you know, future Canadian prime minister Pierre Trudeau, was one of the “zombies” who sat out the fight against the Nazis. After WWII, on the other hand, Pierre Trudeau had no problem supporting Stalin, Mao, Castro and other Communist dictators. See David Frum’s account of how Trudeau wrecked Canada, then jump ahead to January 2022.
Children and grandchildren of the WWII vets joined in the “freedom convoy” to protest Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Covid lockdown regime. Trudeau accused Conservative politicians who supported the protesters of standing with “people who wave swastikas.” Trudeau fils was not alone.
Liberal member of Parliament Ya’ara Saks claimed that the truckers’ “honk honk” meant “heil Hitler.” Saks, who serves as “Mental Health and Addictions Minister,” was among those cheering Hunka. Poland seeks to extradite the Nazi veteran and his cheerleader Anthony Rota has resigned.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is a former blackface performer and admirer of China’s “basic dictatorship.” If anybody thought this buffoon should resign it would be hard to blame them. As Edward Gibbon noted, hereditary rule is always the most risible.
Meanwhile if you want to honor a hero, bring in a veteran of the Eighth Reconnaissance or the First Special Services Force (FSSF). In their first combat assignment, these Canadian and American commandos scaled Monte la Difensa at night, in the rain. In fierce fighting, the FSSF took down a heavily armed Nazi force.
The FSSF also defeated Nazi forces at Monte Majo, Hill 720, Monte Rementana, Radicosa, the Anzio beachhead, Artena, Colleferro and Rome. They cleared the way for the Allies to move north through Italy. As of last year, four Canadian and 17 American FSSF members remained. The people in power today, in Canada and the USA, are not worthy to carry their shoes.
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