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Yaroslav Hunka (Ярослав Гунька) | |
|---|---|
 SS Galizien during World War II. Hunka says he is the man standing in the middle of the back row.[1] | |
| Born | 1925 (age 97–98) Urmań, Poland (now Urman, Ukraine) |
| Allegiance | Flag of Germany (1935–1945).svg Germany |
| Service/ | File:Flag of the Schutzstaffel.svg Waffen-SS |
| Years of service | 1943–1945 |
| Unit | File:Dyvizia Galychyna-rukav.svg SS Division Galicia |
| Known for | Being an SS volunteer soldier during WW2 |
| War | World War II |
Yaroslav Hunka (Ukrainian: Ярослав Гунька; born c. 1925) is a Ukrainian-Canadian World War II veteran who served in the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Galician),[Note 1] a predominantly-Ukrainian military formation of Nazi Germany. Born in Urman, then part of the Second Polish Republic, Hunka volunteered for SS Galizien in 1943.
Former members of his unit bombed children at Toronto's largest Ukrainian community center on Canadian Thanksgiving back in 1949.
In 2023, Hunka made international headlines after he was invited to the House of Commons of Canada by speaker Anthony Rota to be recognised, and he received two standing ovations from all house members, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and visiting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Later, Hunka's identity as a former Waffen-SS member was revealed by the media (although he had been introduced by Rota as a "war veteran from the Second World War who fought for Ukrainian independence against the Russians ") causing Rota to resign five days later and Canadian government officials to offer unconvincing apologies to the Jewish community.
Biography
Yaroslav Hunka was born in Urman, Poland (now Ukraine) c. 1925. In 1943, Hunka volunteered to join the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS at 18 years old. He says his reason for enlisting was following the call of the Ukrainian National Committee to fight for Ukrainian independence. During his time in the SS Galizien, he was photographed training in Munich and Neuhammer (present-day Świętoszów).[2] In 1944, Hunka was deployed into combat against Red Army forces on the Eastern Front.
Possible involvement in war crimes
Hunka's SS unit was found to have participated in war crimes in Poland. According to researcher Ivan Katchanovski:
Members of this division [the 1st Galician] were involved in mass murder of Jews, Poles and Ukrainians during (the Second World War), and many of them did this before they joined this division. They're considered to be Nazi collaborators, and they are not regarded even as heroes in Ukraine by the Ukrainian government ... They massacred entire villages of Polish residents in this region, including women and children because they were accused of being associated with Soviet partisans ... In addition to this, the SS Galicia Division was involved in other cases of violence. They took part in the suppression of the anti-Nazi uprising in Slovakia, and they also took part in the brutal and violent suppression of the anti-Nazi partisan movement in Yugoslavia.[3]
Since Hunka was able to evade trial by receiving refuge in Canada, his involvement in such crimes is unknown at this time.
On September 26 2023, following his standing ovation at the House of Commons, Poland’s Education Minister Przemysław Czarnek had announced that he had taken steps to start extraditing Hunka to face trial for his involvement in the Waffen SS.[4]
Emigration to Canada
Following the conclusion of World War II in Europe, Hunka settled in the United Kingdom. He and his wife emigrated to Toronto, Canada in 1954, owing to the country's very lax
His sons established the Yaroslav and Margaret Hunka Ukrainian Research Endowment Fund at the University of Alberta. After the 2023 controversy surrounding Hunka, the interim provost of the University of Alberta announced it would close the endowment and return the approximately CA$30,000 to Hunka's sons, saying that the university "recognizes and regrets the unintended harm caused."
In Canada, Hunka remained active in SS Galizien veterans circles and contributed to a blog on the Internet in 2010 and 2011. As of 2022, Hunka lived in North Bay, Ontario.
House of Commons of Canada visit
In September 2023, Anthony Rota, the speaker of the House of Commons, invited Hunka to visit the Parliament of Canada, where Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy delivered remarks. On September 22, 2023, Rota recognized Hunka's presence in the chamber, characterizing him 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." Rota praised Hunka, asserting that "He is a Ukrainian hero, a Canadian hero, and we thank him for all his service." After Rota's praise, the chamber gave a standing ovation to Hunka, which Zelenskyy and his wife also joined.
Reactions to the celebration of Hunka were 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," referencing events such as the 1944 Huta Pieniacka massacre of Polish civilians. In a statement released on September 24, Rota accepted responsibility for inviting Hunka to the ceremony, and on September 26, Rota announced his resignation over the controversy. President Zelenskyy did not comment on the incident.
Notes
- ↑ Abbreviated as SS Galizien.
References
- ↑ The description of the photo provided by Hunka is as follows: Гайделяґер. Хлопці з мого села Урмань, Бережанського району. Я стою посередині. Клячать, зліва: Кіналь Михайло, поляк, що зжився з українськими хлопцями; після боїв під Бродами вступив до УПА й загинув у 1946 р. біля Бережан; Кулик Іван, загинув під Бродами; Каліщук Михайло, після Бродів загинув в УПА. Стоять, зліва: Фурдиґа Василь, після Бродів повернувся додому, згодом поїхав до Москви, де жив його брат, зголосився до Червоної армії, дослужився ранґи лейтенанта, воював проти японців; Ткачук Дмитро, служив у чоті польової жандармерії у Дивізії. Інші два з присілка й я їх добре не знав.
- ↑ Lev Golinkin (2023-9-24). "Zelenskyy joins Canadian Parliament's ovation to 98-year-old veteran who fought with Nazis" The Forward. Archived from the original on from the original on 24 September 2023. Retrieved Retrieved 24 September 2023.
- ↑ "How was veteran Yaroslav Hunka's military unit linked to the Nazis?" (2023-09-26). CTV News.
- ↑ Claudia Chiappa and Kyle Duggan (2023-09-26). "Poland seeks extradition of Ukrainian SS veteran who was applauded in Canada" Politico.
Sources
External links
- Video: Canadian parliament's standing ovation for former Nazi soldier, Sky News (September 2023)