Poland seeks extradition of Nazi soldier Yaroslav Hunka who was honoured in Canadian Parliament

On Tuesday (26 September), Poland upped its ante in opposition to Canada for honouring the Nazi soldier, Yaroslav Hunka, and giving him a standing ovation of their Parliament on 22 September. Notably, the Polish ambassador to Canada lambasted the Canadian authorities for lacking out on mentioning the Polish individuals of their apologies and asserted that neither Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau nor the Parliament speaker Anthony Rota has achieved sufficient on this subject. 

He emphasised that the Nazi soldier needs to be prosecuted for the battle crimes his unit dedicated in opposition to the Jewish and Polish communities.  

Additionally, the Polish Minister of Education and Science Przemysław Czamek wrote a letter to Karol Nawrockl, President of the Institute of National Remembrance – Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes in opposition to the Polish Nation, Warsaw. 

Taking to X, the Polish Minister shared the letter and conveyed that he has taken steps to probably extradite the Nazi soldier to Poland. 

In the put up, he mentioned, “In view of the scandalous events in the Canadian Parliament, which involved honouring, in the presence of President Zelenskiy, a member of the criminal Nazi SS Galizien formation, I have taken steps towards the possible extradition of this man to Poland.” 

Wobec skandalicznych wydarzeń w kanadyjskim parlamencie polegających na uhonorowaniu w obecności także prezydenta Zełenskiego członka zbrodniczej, hitlerowskiej formacji SS Galizien, podjąłem kroki w kierunku ewentualnej ekstradycji tego człowieka do Polski.… https://t.co/92qK1voktN pic.twitter.com/5J4lljH5JX

— Przemysław Czarnek (@CzarnekP) September 26, 2023

In his letter to the Commission’s President, the Polish Education Minister narrated all the episode that transpired within the Canadian Parliament on 22 September. 

It added, “I am appealing to the President to urgently examine the documents whether Yaroslaw Hunka is wanted for crimes against the Polish Nation and Poles of Jewish origin. The features of such crimes constitute the basis for requesting his extradition to Canada.” 

Polish Ambassador seeks apology from Canadian Prime Minister and asserts that the Nazi soldier needs to be prosecuted

On Monday (25 September), Polish Ambassador to Canada Witold Dzielski instructed Canadian media CTV National News that the act of honouring the Nazi soldier Yaroslav Hunka was “deeply hurtful”. 

He added that statements by each Rota (Canadian parliament Speaker) and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau don’t go far sufficient. It is to be famous that following the outrage, Canadian Parliament speaker Anthony Rota apologised for celebrating a Nazi collaborator. 

He mentioned, “Days after members of Parliament gave a standing ovation to a man who fought for a Nazi division in the Second World War, House Speaker Anthony Rota has issued a public apology – but it doesn’t go far enough to address atrocities this division performed on Polish citizens during the war.” 

He criticised the Canadian authorities for leaving out Poland from their apology statements. He mentioned, “It’s wrong that Poland has been left out of these apologies considering the Nazi division in question committed mass killings of Polish citizens.”

Dzielski added, “It’s important that allies working together need to have their facts right. In some of the commentary from the leaders, from the Canadian leaders, including the recent comment on the side of Prime Minister Trudeau, the Poles were omitted from the equation.” 

09/22 🇨🇦&🇺🇦 management at @OurCommons cheered a member of Waffen-SS Galizien, infamous #UA army formation of #WW2 liable for murdering hundreds of Poles & Jews.

🇵🇱 greatest ally 🇺🇦 has, won’t ever agree on whitewashing such villains! As 🇵🇱 Amb. to 🇨🇦 I anticipate an apology. pic.twitter.com/j6EkVWGg1d

— Witold Dzielski (@WitoldDzielski) September 24, 2023

He additionally took to X to demand an apology from the Justin Trudeau-led-government saying, “I expect an apology.”

Going forward, the Polish ambassador argued that the Nazi soldier needs to be prosecuted. Regarding this, he mentioned, “This is a person (Hunka) who participated in an organisation that was targeting Poles, was committing mass murders of Poles, not only the military personnel but also civilians. For me, such people should not be present in public life and probably should be prosecuted.”

He additionally reiterated that the Canadian facet ought to get its details proper. Demanding an apology from the Canadian facet, he reminded Ottawa that in the course of the Second World War, six million Poles had been murdered. Six million Poles died. Half of that group, three million, had been Polish Jews. 

Regarding Yaroslav Hunka – the Nazi soldier honoured within the Canadian parliament – and his Nazi unit (SS Galicia), the Polish ambassador famous that members of this division had been concerned within the mass homicide of Jews, Poles, and Ukrainians throughout World War Two. 

According to him, this division, or members of this division, had been concerned within the bloodbath of just about 1000 Polish civilians within the village of Huta Pieniacka within the Galicia area in Ukraine.

He asserted that the truth that Canada is lacking out on Polish individuals from the apology and tragic historical past is deeply hurtful. 

He mentioned, “For the Polish communities in Poland and Canada, which is one million people, this is omitting Poles, omitting Poland, and that tragic history is deeply hurtful.”