© AFP / Sean Kilpatrick
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (C) with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (R), acknowdledges a Canadian-Ukrainian war veteran at the House of Commons.
The 1st Galician Division, formed by the Nazis from Ukrainian volunteers during WWII, is blamed for atrocities against Poles
Ukraine's president and Canada's prime minister greeted a former member of the infamous SS 1st Galician Division, which fought for the Nazis in World War II, as they attended a parliament session in Ottawa, according to images shared by the Associated Press.
One of the photos, taken in the House of Commons on Friday, showed a smiling Vladimir Zelensky clenching his fist and Justin Trudeau applauding to somebody outside the image.
AP's caption explained that the two leaders "
recognize Yaroslav Hunka, who was in attendance and fought with the First Ukrainian Division in World War II before later immigrating to Canada."
What the US news agency described as "the First Ukrainian Division" was in fact the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS, also known as the 1st Galician Division.
Similar images have been shared by AFP, which described Hunka, aged 98, as a
"Canadian-Ukrainian war veteran."
Videos from parliament also showed MPs giving a standing ovation to the former Nazi unit fighter.
The 1st Galician Division was assembled [by] the Nazis in 1943, when the Soviet Union was gaining the upper hand on the Eastern Front. It comprised some 80,000 volunteers, mainly Ukrainians, from the region of Galicia, spanning what is now southwest Poland and western Ukraine.
The infamous unit participated in brutal anti-guerrilla operations across Poland and Soviet Ukraine, and were accused of massacres and other atrocities against the Polish, Jewish and Russian civilian populations. It was crushed by the Red Army in July 1944 and soon rebranded as the Ukrainian National Army, before surrendering to the Western Allies after the fall of Berlin in May, 1945. After the war, some of the members of the 1st Galician Division fled to Canada, which has a large Ukrainian diaspora.
During his speech to the Canadian Parliament, Zelensky said Canada has always been on the
"bright side of history" during previous wars, and thanked Trudeau's government for the support it has provided to Ukraine amid the conflict with Russia.
In late August, Zelensky posted an image on social media, featuring a Ukrainian soldier sporting the patch of the 1st Galician Division. Kiev's troops have also been spotted wearing patches of the notorious 36th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS, one of the worst Nazi penal units, the 3rd SS Panzer Division 'Totenkopf', and assorted swastikas and other far-right symbols.
Ukraine is the only country in the world that has integrated openly neo-Nazi militias into its national military. These units were once described by Western media outlets as
"neo-Nazi," but are being referred to as
"far-right groups" amid the conflict between Kiev and Moscow.
Comment: Nazism is widespread in Ukraine and is openly applauded by the West, which considers that Ukraine is defending European values. That of course poses the question, which values we are talking about, which the leadership in the West appears so enamored with?
See also:
Canada, where many Ukrainians fighting for the nazis found refuge after WW2 is very open about their support and this current display is no anomaly but rather fits a pattern.
Ezra Levant has more regarding this issue in his Twitter thread (click on post to unpack it):
For those who don't have Xi (Twitter) here is the rest of the thread Some videos are only displayed in the thread):
2. The Nazis were in Hitler's 14th Waffen SS Division Galicia. According to military historian/journalist David Pugliese, they were able to sneak into Canada by changing their name and hiding their past.
3. Here's what Pugliese wrote in the military journal, Esprite de Corps: In an attempt to hide the SS connection, the unit had changed its name in the last few days of the war to the First Division Ukrainian National Army.
Link
4. That was nearly 80 years ago, so most of those Nazis have since died. But one of them is apparently still alive -- Yaroslav Hunka. And if I'm reading the news correctly, Trudeau invited him as an honoured guest today, to Zelenskyy's visit to Canada's Parliament.
5. The Canadian Press wire service circulated this photo and caption. (This version is taken from The Toronto Star, but it was in many places). Look at the caption on the bottom.
6. It says, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recognize Yaroslav Hunka, who was in attendance and fought with the First Ukrainian Division in the Second World War before later immigrating to Canada, in the House of Commons on Friday.
7. Can that really be true? Did Justin Trudeau really invite a Nazi SS soldier from the Second World War to Parliament as an honoured guest? Please tell me I've got a fact wrong here.
8. Hunka was introduced to Parliament as a 98-year-old soldier "who fought... against the Russians... a hero."
9. Three months ago, Trudeau went to Ukraine and met with Andriy Melnyk, a Holocaust denier who was fired by Zelenskyy after he said Israel and Poland were lying about Jewish deaths:
Link
10. And last year, Chrystia Freeland held up a scarf promoting a far-right Ukrainian Nationalist movement linked to Neo-Nazis commemorating Stefan Bandera, the Nazi criminal. Freeland deleted her social media posts, but not before the photo was saved:
Link
11. Before the Russian invasion in 2022, David Pugliese wrote about Trudeau and Freeland working with Nazi groups in Ukraine. Here are two of his stories from November, 2021:
Link
12. Those articles were published in the prestigious Ottawa Citizen. Here's an article in the Globe and Mail about Freeland's grandfather, a Nazi propagandist. She tried to keep that a secret for years, and then claimed it was Russian propaganda:
Link
13. Trudeau and Freeland routinely call peaceful, domestic political critics "Nazis" and "far right" and "racist". They're not of course -- they just disagree. It's Trudeau and Freeland who really do have a Nazi problem -- and it's coming from inside their house.
Comment: Nazism is widespread in Ukraine and is openly applauded by the West, which considers that Ukraine is defending European values. That of course poses the question, which values we are talking about, which the leadership in the West appears so enamored with?
See also:
- Ex-Ukrainian president pictured wearing Nazi symbol
- Zelensky holds court with Ukraine's most notorious neo-Nazi
- Israel (finally) speaks out on Ukraine lionizing Nazi collaborators
- Journalists are asking Ukrainian soldiers to hide their Nazi patches, NYT admits
- Nazi Germany's defeat... but a pause for fascism as NATO's proxy war in Ukraine demonstrates
- West created 'Nazi paradise' in Ukraine to fight Russians - Dugan
Canada, where many Ukrainians fighting for the nazis found refuge after WW2 is very open about their support and this current display is no anomaly but rather fits a pattern.- Canada Has a Nazi Monument Problem
- Canada and the neo-nazi Banderites
- Nazi hunter Efraim Zuroff scolds Canada over support for Ukraine
- Canada has a monumental Ukrainian Nazi problem
- Canada's got a Nazi problem
- Owner behind neo-Nazi website flees to Canada to avoid FBI warrant
Ezra Levant has more regarding this issue in his Twitter thread (click on post to unpack it):For those who don't have Xi (Twitter) here is the rest of the thread Some videos are only displayed in the thread):
2. The Nazis were in Hitler's 14th Waffen SS Division Galicia. According to military historian/journalist David Pugliese, they were able to sneak into Canada by changing their name and hiding their past.
3. Here's what Pugliese wrote in the military journal, Esprite de Corps: In an attempt to hide the SS connection, the unit had changed its name in the last few days of the war to the First Division Ukrainian National Army. Link
4. That was nearly 80 years ago, so most of those Nazis have since died. But one of them is apparently still alive -- Yaroslav Hunka. And if I'm reading the news correctly, Trudeau invited him as an honoured guest today, to Zelenskyy's visit to Canada's Parliament.
5. The Canadian Press wire service circulated this photo and caption. (This version is taken from The Toronto Star, but it was in many places). Look at the caption on the bottom.
6. It says, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recognize Yaroslav Hunka, who was in attendance and fought with the First Ukrainian Division in the Second World War before later immigrating to Canada, in the House of Commons on Friday.
7. Can that really be true? Did Justin Trudeau really invite a Nazi SS soldier from the Second World War to Parliament as an honoured guest? Please tell me I've got a fact wrong here.
8. Hunka was introduced to Parliament as a 98-year-old soldier "who fought... against the Russians... a hero."
9. Three months ago, Trudeau went to Ukraine and met with Andriy Melnyk, a Holocaust denier who was fired by Zelenskyy after he said Israel and Poland were lying about Jewish deaths:Link
10. And last year, Chrystia Freeland held up a scarf promoting a far-right Ukrainian Nationalist movement linked to Neo-Nazis commemorating Stefan Bandera, the Nazi criminal. Freeland deleted her social media posts, but not before the photo was saved:Link
11. Before the Russian invasion in 2022, David Pugliese wrote about Trudeau and Freeland working with Nazi groups in Ukraine. Here are two of his stories from November, 2021: Link
12. Those articles were published in the prestigious Ottawa Citizen. Here's an article in the Globe and Mail about Freeland's grandfather, a Nazi propagandist. She tried to keep that a secret for years, and then claimed it was Russian propaganda: Link
13. Trudeau and Freeland routinely call peaceful, domestic political critics "Nazis" and "far right" and "racist". They're not of course -- they just disagree. It's Trudeau and Freeland who really do have a Nazi problem -- and it's coming from inside their house.