As did war-torn Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who’s Jewish.

Watch the now INCREDIBLY AWKWARD VIDEO (On the eve of Yom Kippur, no less).

INSANITY- Yaroslav Hunka, now 98, was a member of the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS in Ukraine, the military wing of the Nazi Party (SS Galichina).

Galichina members burned 1,000 Polish villagers ALIVE.

This man is a MONSTER! pic.twitter.com/gSuyHar03Q

— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) September 24, 2023

This is some excellent backstory into Mr. Hunka from @Golden_pup, and the backstory on this dude is hard to find for obvious reasons.

Yaroslav Hunka was a Ukrainian nationalist who joined the SS Galichina division when he was 18. The SS Galichina division was composed mostly of Ukrainian volunteers who allied with Nazi Germany in hopes of gaining independence from the Soviet Union. In 1943, SS Galichina was involved in suppressing partisan resistance in Ukraine. There are reports that members participated in the burning of villages and killing of civilians suspected of aiding partisans. In 1944, the division was implicated in the murder of Polish civilians in the regions of Huta Pieniacka and Palikrowy. Estimates range from a few hundred to over 1,000 civilians killed. At the end of the war in 1945, Hunka surrendered along with the remaining SS Galichina members to British forces in Italy. He was held as a prisoner of war until 1947. After the war, some former SS Galichina members, such as Hunka, who had resettled in countries like Canada and the USA came under investigation for possible war crimes. However, most were never prosecuted due to lack of evidence or witnesses. In the 1980s, the Canadian government investigated Hunka and other Galicia Division veterans over allegations they concealed their SS membership when entering Canada. However, no charges were ever filed against Hunka. In the 2000s, several historians pressured the Canadian government to strip citizenship from former members implicated in war crimes, but the efforts were unsuccessful.

Looking for someone to blame? The Trudeau government wants you to blame the speaker of the house, Anthony Rota, who put out a full-throated “sorry for inviting a real WW2 Nazi to the House Of Commons for a standing ovation! I had no idea he was a real Nazi” statement today.

“Full responsibility” or “Scapegoat.”  Either way, Scrimshaw is correct (usually is). Rota needs to resign. Fuck, a few people probably should. They brought a nazi to a pep rally for the Jewish President of Ukraine. And gave him a standing Ovation. And the guy who invited him provides an excuse with: “How was I supposed to know?”

Given Rota “accept[s] full responsibility” for his actions, he has to resign as Speaker

Full responsibility has to mean something. He better resign tomorrow at the rise of the House pic.twitter.com/Oqv5ZWV78y

— Evan Scrimshaw (@EScrimshaw) September 24, 2023

Ukraine has ALWAYS had a weird relationship with Nazis because of their hatred for the Soviet Union and Stalin’s genocide of starvation in the early 30s. There’s a great special on Netflix called “Einsatzgruppen: Nazi Death Squads” that sheds light on Ukrainians. If they weren’t forced to kill their people, they were happy to join anyone who wanted to kill Russians. It was a VERY fucked up time.

The topic of Ukrainians and their involvement with Nazi formations like the SS and Einsatzgruppen is a complex and controversial one. It requires a deep understanding of the time’s historical, socio-political, and economic contexts. Here’s a concise history:  (stop reading if you don’t want facts)

1. Background: Ukraine, being a part of the Soviet Union in the lead-up to World War II, had suffered greatly under Stalinist policies. The Holodomor, or the artificial famine of 1932-1933, killed millions of Ukrainians and remains a profoundly traumatic memory. Many Ukrainians held the Soviet regime responsible, and consequently, when German troops invaded in 1941, some initially saw them as liberators.
2. Nazi Occupation and Collaboration: With the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, many Ukrainians hoped for an independent Ukraine free from Soviet rule. The Nazis exploited this sentiment and recruited local collaborators, often portraying themselves as protectors against Bolshevism. However, the Nazis had racial ideologies that classified Slavs, including Ukrainians, as inferior. They had no intentions of granting Ukraine true independence.
3. Formation of SS Units and Einsatzgruppen: The Nazis, recognizing the potential of using local grievances against the Soviet Union, facilitated the formation of Ukrainian units in the Waffen-SS and other paramilitary formations. Teams such as the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Galician) comprised Ukrainian volunteers. However, it’s essential to note that not all Ukrainians supported or collaborated with the Nazis, and many Ukrainians were among the most significant resistance against Nazi rule.
4. Role in War Crimes: Some Ukrainian collaborators and units participated in war crimes, including the persecution and massacre of Jews, communists, and other groups targeted by the Nazis. Einsatzgruppen were notorious mobile killing squads responsible for mass shootings, and while these units were primarily German, local collaborators sometimes assisted them.
5. Reasons for Collaboration: Several factors motivated Ukrainians to collaborate:
   • Anti-Soviet Sentiment: After the experiences of the 1930s, particularly the Holodomor, many Ukrainians harbored deep resentment against the Soviet regime.
   • Nationalism: Some Ukrainian nationalists believed collaboration could pave the way for an independent state.
   • Coercion: Many Ukrainians were coerced into collaboration, facing threats against themselves or their families.
   • Economic Factors: The war and subsequent occupation led to financial hardships, and joining these formations provided a means of survival for some.
6. Post-War Consequences: After the war, many of the collaborators faced retribution from the Soviet authorities. The topic remains sensitive, with some viewing the collaborators as traitors. In contrast, others see them as individuals caught in a tragic situation, trying to navigate between two oppressive regimes.

It’s essential to approach this topic with nuance and understand the broader contexts that influenced individual and collective decisions during this turbulent period. And nuances, when it comes to THIS subject, are everything.

We don’t know anything about Hunka’s convictions today, his involvement with the SS then, or his motivation (coercion or free will) for joining the NAzi SS Battalion. All I know is it’s a fucking egregious optical failure on behalf of the Trudeau government AND Anthony Rota to invite the man into the HOC to be recognized. Mr Rota knows him as a constituent, and that’s it? And he asked him into the House of Commons with the PM and the President of Ukraine. That’s PURE incompetence. It’s not like Liberals woke up and decided to embarrass themselves and Zelensky with a 98-year-old Nazi.

In short, Canadian politicians led a standing O for a Ukrainian who was a member of a Nazi Waffen SS group from WW2 in the presence of the Jewish President of Ukraine, and everyone cheered for the Nazis. The Trudeau Government FUCKED this up, and people need to GO. It’s already front-page news around the world, and the narrative is we’re all Nazis or incompetent. And there’s an incompetent video that says they might be right. Jesus.

Good work, Canada.  Let the obligatory, uninformed “everyone’s a Nazi” tweets begin!

DB