O Canada

"It is important to note that many anti-communist and anti-Soviet advocates and fighters were also active Nazi collaborators, who committed documented massacres."

"We anticipate that the listing of names that are not thoroughly vetted and the result of a broad consensus could generate significant controversy both in Canada and abroad."

"GAC is not in a position to assess or vet the names of foreign nationals from Eastern and Central Europe that are being proposed."

Global Affairs Canada

"Although the Memorial to the Victims of Communism -- Canada, a Land of Refuge was scheduled to be inaugurated by the end of 2023, the Government of Canada is doing its due diligence to ensure all aspects of the memorial remain compatible with Canadian values on democracy and human rights."

"A memorial without specific names or events would be more inclusive and reduce the risk of potential irritants with foreign governments and the likelihood of criticism from politically active diaspora groups [veiled reference to Jewish groups] with particular interpretations of historical figures and events." 

Government of Canada

 

"Estonia has received significant international criticism for allowing ex-SS veterans to march in parades."

"More recently, it was criticized for erecting a plaque that commemorates Alfons Rebane, an SS officer and Nazi collaborator, who did, however, fight the Soviets."

Official with Canadian Heritage

Right-hand wing of Arc of Memory, Memorial to the Victims of Communism – Canada, a Land of Refuge

Some eastern Europeans view individuals and groups who collaborated with the Nazis during World War II as freedom fighters in light of the fact they fought the Soviets. But the Soviet Union while brutally crushing national movements in eastern Europe in its tight grip on its hegemonic powers through the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, also turned its back on Germany and left the Axis when Germany marched into Russia. At which point the Soviet Union joined the Allies.

 

A vexatious problem has arisen for Canada, hard on the heels as it were, of the smotheringly oblivious incident where a former WWII Ukrainian-Nazi-collaborator was invited to Parliament to meet with Ukraine's President Volodomyr Zelenskyy who was to address parliament on a state visit. Yaroslav Hunka of North Bay was actually 'honoured' by Parliament with two ovations as a 'hero' on that September day. Leading Poland and Canadian Jewish groups to demand an apology. 

 

Incredibly, no one in Parliament, from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to the  House Speaker who invited the man, down to all the elected Members of Parliament, quite understood that someone who fought Russia and elected to be a member of the Waffen-SS Galicia Division (SS 14th Waffen Division) was a Nazi collaborator fighting on Germany's side and involved in the butchery of Jews and Poles. The lesson was finally learned and caution is now the order of the day to make up for a lack of historical knowledge.

 

Design concept; Arc of Memory

The purpose of the erection of a memorial to the victims of Communism was meant to honour those who had suffered under communism. A wall of remembrance will be part of the memorial, allowing 600 names of individuals, groups or events to be listed. Jewish organization have raised their concerns that the names of eastern Europeans who collaborated with the Nazis during the Holocaust have been nominated to appear on the wall, in a deliberate effort to whitewash them.

Some individuals in fact who served with the Waffen SS have been identified by government officials, as among those whose names were submitted, according to federal documents. The Department of Canadian Heritage has as well identified other Nazi collaborators associated with the memorial. It was in fact reported back in 2021 that private donations were made to the monument in the names of Nazi collaborators, including that of Roman Shukhevych, a Ukrainian nationalist whose troops were responsible for the murder of Jews and Poles.

 

The words 'Nazi war monument' are seen on a memorial to the 1st Ukrainian Division of the Ukrainian National Army in St. Volodymyr Ukrainian Cemetery in Oakville, Ont. (Kontakt Ukrainian TV/YouTube)

 

Another is Ante Pavelic, operator of a Nazi puppet regime in Croatia, considered a chief perpetrator in the Balkans of the Holocaust. The planned November unveiling of the $7.5 million Memorial to the Victims of Communism has quietly been postponed by the federal government. A government website for the project assures those interested that the federal government oversight includes alerts to the presence of proscribed names.

 

All of which has led Canadian Heritage to now "reviewing all aspects of the project" prior to its unveiling, including the names of individuals, groups or events provided by Tribute to Liberty, the project initiators. "We are not in a position to disclose further information about the process at this stage. The rescheduled inauguration is being planned in collaboration with Tribute to Liberty -- a date will be announced in due course", assured departmental spokesperson Caroline Czajkowski.

 

Ukrainians, Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians were recruited by the Nazis for various militias and police groups involved in rounding up and executing Jews. At present, some 240 names have been proposed to appear on the memorial, many of those names for which little or no information is available. Of the total investment of $7.5 for the project, $6 million represent public funds through private donations from Tribute to Liberty. 

The two wings of the Arc of Memory sculptural installation at the centre of the Memorial to the Victims of Communism — Canada, A Land of Refuge have been in place for weeks, and an official unveiling expected in November has now been delayed. Photo by Tony Caldwell /Postmedia