A veteran of the Waffen-SS was honored during the visit of the Ukrainian president to the Canadian Parliament. Now Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau has also apologized — from Holocaust victims and from Zelensky.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau apologized after honoring a former Waffen-SS soldier in the Canadian Parliament. “This is a terrible violation of the memory of the millions of people who died in the Holocaust,” the head of government said. “This is a mistake that deeply embarrasses Parliament and Canada.”
Parliament Speaker Anthony Rota honored the SS veteran during a visit to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s lower house on Friday last week. He called Jaroslav Hunka, a 98-year-old Ukrainian immigrant who fought for Ukraine’s independence against Russia, a “Ukrainian-Canadian war veteran.” Hanka was in the room and received thunderous applause.
However, according to the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC), Rota failed to mention that Hanka served in the Waffen-SS during World War II. Classified as a criminal organization by the Nuremberg Trials after the end of the war, the SS had national associations in many occupied countries that were involved in war crimes.
Trudeau also apologized to Zelensky
“All of us in Parliament on Friday deeply regret our standing ovation, even if we don’t know the background,” Trudeau said. The rota is solely responsible for calling and honoring the SS soldier. The Speaker of Parliament resigned on Tuesday after strong criticism from MPs and members of the government.
Trudeau apologized for the situation the incident caused Zelensky. “It is very troubling that Russia and its supporters are using this mistake to spread false propaganda about what Ukraine is fighting for,” Trudeau said. Russia has repeatedly tried to portray Ukraine’s government as “neo-Nazi” to justify its 19-month war of aggression.
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