Yaroslav Hunka

Yaroslav Hunka
Native name	Ярослав Гунька
Born	1925 (age 98–99) Urmań, Poland (now Urman, Ukraine)
Allegiance	Germany
Service/branch	Waffen-SS
Years of service	1943–1945
Unit	SS Galizien
War	World War II

Yaroslav Hunka (Ukrainian: Ярослав Гунька; born c. 1925) is a Ukrainian World War II veteran of the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Galician), a Nazi Germany military formation. Hunka was born in Urman, then part of Poland, and volunteered for SS Galizien in 1943. He emigrated to Canada after the conclusion of World War II. In 2023, Hunka made international headlines after he received a standing ovation from the House of Commons of Canada, and was recognized by Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Later, it was revealed Hunka was affiliated with the Nazis, and Canadian government officials apologized to the worldwide Jewish community. Hunka is retired and lives in North Bay, Ontario.

Biography

Yaroslav Hunka was born in Urman, Second Polish Republic (now Ukraine) c. 1925. In 1943, Hunka volunteered to join the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Galician). During his time in SS Galizien, he was photographed training in Munich and Neuhammer (present day Świętoszów). In 1944, Hunka was deployed into combat against Red Army forces on the Eastern Front of World War II.

Following the conclusion of World War II in Europe, Hunka settled in the United Kingdom and joined the Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain. In 1951, he married Margaret Ann Edgerton (1931–2018), and the couple emigrated to Canada three years later, settling in Toronto, where they raised their two sons, Martin and Peter, and became active in the Ukrainian-Canadian community. After graduating from a technical college, Hunka worked in the aircraft industry, eventually becoming an inspector for De Havilland.

In Canada, Hunka remained active in Waffen SS veterans circles and maintained a blog on the Internet where, in the early 2010s, he compared veterans of SS Galizien to the Israelites, arguing that both groups were spread in worldwide diasporas from their homeland and could only return after several years of exile. As of 2022, Hunka lived in North Bay, Ontario, and travelled to Greater Sudbury to protest against that year's Russian invasion of Ukraine. Describing the situation in Ukraine, Hunka told CTV News that the "Destruction is just unbelievable but it will take years and years to rebuild it, ... But Ukrainians will win and God Bless Ukraine and I pray for it."

House of Commons of Canada visit

In September 2023, Anthony Rota, the current Speaker of the House of Commons, invited Hunka to visit the House of Commons of Canada and accompany President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy. On September 22, 2023, Zelenskyy and Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau recognized Hunka in a ceremony in the House of Commons. Rota characterized Hunka as "a Ukrainian-Canadian veteran from the Second World War who fought for Ukrainian independence against the Russians and continues to support the troops today, even at his age of 98." Rota praised Hunka, asserting that "He is a Ukrainian hero, a Canadian hero, and we thank him for all his service." After Rota's praise, the House of Commons gave a standing ovation to Hunka, which Zelenskyy and his wife joined.

Reactions to the celebration of Hunka were mostly negative and generated international headlines. The Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies condemned SS Galizien as "responsible for the mass murder of innocent civilians with a level of brutality and malice that is unimaginable," referencing events such as the 1944 Huta Pieniacka massacre of Polish civilians. In a statement released on September 24, Rota accepted responsibility for inviting Hunka to the ceremony, and stated that "I particularly want to extend my deepest apologies to Jewish communities in Canada and around the world. I accept full responsibility for my action." Ann-Clara Vaillancourt, a spokeswoman for Trudeau, called Rota's apology "the right thing to do" and emphasized Rota's responsibility for inviting Hunka to the ceremony.

On September 26, Polish education minister Przemysław Czarnek said that he had "taken steps" to extradite Hunka to Poland as a war criminal.

Sources

• "1st-Division of the UNA: Commission of Inquiry on War Crimes". August 14, 2009. Archived from the original on August 14, 2009. Retrieved September 25, 2023.
• "Waffen-SS". jewishvirtuallibrary.org. Archived from the original on September 24, 2023. Retrieved September 25, 2023.

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