The 1st Galician Division, formed by the Nazis from Ukrainian volunteers during WWII, is blamed for atrocities against Poles
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (C) with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (R), acknowdledges a Canadian-Ukrainian war veteran at the House of Commons. © AFP / Sean Kilpatrick
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.
Non è un incubo, è la realtà. Zelensky, Trudeau e il parlamento canadese celebrano l'anziano nazista ucraino Yaroslav Hunka arruolato volontario nella divisione ucraina delle SS-Galizia di Hitler e Himmler. Il bello è che non si vergognano neanche un pò. https://t.co/QETK56BmH1pic.twitter.com/N3XdPleQB9
— Chance 🤺 Giardiniere 🍊 🔞 (@ChanceGardiner) September 24, 2023
The 1st Galician Division was assembled 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.
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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.
READ MORE: West using Zelensky’s Jewish heritage to distract from Nazism in Ukraine – Putin
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.
