Canada's speaker of the House of Commons has issued an apology after the country's Parliament gave a standing ovation to a World War II veteran who served in a Nazi unit, sparking controversy online.
The veteran, Yaroslav Hunka, had been described as a"Ukrainian hero" by Speaker Anthony Rota before the Canadian Parliament on Friday. However, after additional information was provided about Hunka's history, Rota apologized for the applause given to Hunka by the Parliament, calling the initiative"entirely my own" and wishing his"deepest apologies" to Jewish communities.
Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Canadian-based Jewish human rights group, released details about Hunka on Sunday afternoon, stating that the 98-year-old veteran had served in the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the Schutzstaffel. The group described it as"shocking" that Canada's Parliament would applaud Hunka for his time of service and that he was invited to the Parliament to begin with.
"At a time of rising antisemitism and Holocaust distortion, it is incredibly disturbing to see Canada's Parliament rise to applaud an individual who was a member of a unit in the Waffen-SS, a Nazi military branch responsible for the murder of Jews and others and that was declared a criminal organization during the Nuremberg Trials," read a statement from the group.
Yesterday, we showed President @ZelenskyyUa – and the world – that the support of Canada and Canadians for Ukraine is unwavering. And it always will be. pic.twitter.com/eXotNrLBVBHunka's visit to the Canadian Parliament took place during a visit that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky took to the country. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated that the visit showed Canada's"unwavering" support for Ukraine in its war with Russia.
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