After honoring a former Waffen-SS soldier in the Canadian Parliament, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asked for a pardon. “It was a terrible violation of the memory of millions of people who died in the Holocaust,” said the head of government yesterday. “It was a mistake that deeply shamed Parliament and Canada.”
Parliament Speaker Anthony Rota paid tribute to an SS veteran on Friday last week during Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to the House of Commons. He called 98-year-old Ukrainian immigrant Jaroslav Hunka a “Ukrainian-Canadian war veteran” who fought for Ukrainian independence against Russia. Hunka was present in the chamber and received thunderous applause.
However, Rota did not mention that, according to the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC), Hunka served in a Waffen-SS unit during World War II. After harsh criticism from deputies and members of the government, the president of Parliament resigned on Tuesday.