{"id":137250,"date":"2023-09-26T15:15:56","date_gmt":"2023-09-26T22:15:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=137250"},"modified":"2023-09-26T15:15:56","modified_gmt":"2023-09-26T22:15:56","slug":"trudeau-calls-the-standing-ovation-he-and-zelensky-gave-nazi-deeply-embarrassing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2023\/09\/26\/trudeau-calls-the-standing-ovation-he-and-zelensky-gave-nazi-deeply-embarrassing\/","title":{"rendered":"Trudeau calls the standing ovation he and Zelensky gave Nazi \u2018deeply embarrassing\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Courtesy The Independent<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has responded to outrage over the standing ovation he participated in for a war veteran who served in the Nazi Waffen-SS, calling it a mistake\u201d and deeply embarrassing\u201d to the country\u2019s Parliament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky\u2019s visit on Friday, Canada\u2019s House of Commons gave a rousing standing ovation to Yaroslav Hunka, a 98-year-old Ukrainian veteran who fought in the Second World War \u2013 unaware he had served in a Nazi SS unit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leaders – including Mr Trudeau and Mr Zelensky – were left red-faced when House Speaker Anthony Rota subsequently apologised after it emerged that Hunka served in the 14th Waffen-SS Grenadier Division, a voluntary unit made up mostly of ethnic Ukrainians under Nazi command.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Trudeau issued a statement on Monday condemning Mr Rota for introducing the controversial guest for applause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Obviously it is extremely upsetting that this happened. The speaker has acknowledged his mistake,\u201d Mr Trudeau said to the press after the veteran\u2019s past was been pointed out by various Jewish and Holocaust education organisations<\/a>. “But this is something that is deeply embarrassing to the Parliament of Canada and by extension to all Canadians.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Trudeau said he was think[ing] particularly\u201d of Canadian Jewish MPs and citizens who were commemorating Yom Kippur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He ended his statement with reassurance that Canada is still committed to supporting Ukraine against the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think it\u2019s gonna be really important that all of us push back against Russian propaganda, Russian disinformation, and continue our steadfast and unequivocal support for Ukraine as we did last week with announcing further measures to stand with Ukraine in Russia\u2019s illegal war against it,\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hunka was sitting in the gallery when he was described as a Ukrainian hero\u201d and a Canadian hero\u201d to applause from Mr Trudeau, Mr Zelensky and others present.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Canadian Jewish group CIJA said it was deeply troubled\u201d that a Nazi veteran had been celebrated, and said proper vetting is imperative to ensure such an unacceptable incident does not occur again\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a statement, Mr Rota said that on 22 September in my remarks following the address of the president of Ukraine, I recognised an individual in the gallery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have subsequently become aware of more information which causes me to regret my decision to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Rota said that no one, including fellow parliamentarians and the Ukraine delegation, was aware of my intention or of my remarks before I delivered them. This initiative was entirely my own, the individual in question being from my riding [district] and having been brought to my attention.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I particularly want to extend my deepest apologies to Jewish communities in Canada and around<\/p>\n\n\n\n

the world. I accept full responsibility for my actions,\u201d the speaker added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The remarks came shortly after\u00a0Mr Zelensky delivered a passionate speech<\/a>\u00a0to the Canadian\u00a0parliament<\/a>\u00a0to bolster support from his Western allies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Rota then hailed Hunka as a Ukrainian Canadian war veteran from the Second World War who fought for Ukrainian independence against the Russians\u201d and a Ukrainian hero and a Canadian hero\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following the address, Mr Zelensky, who is Jewish and lost family members during the Holocaust, raised his fist in acknowledgement as the veteran saluted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hunka\u2019s Nazi unit are accused of killing Polish and Jewish civilians, and were visited by SS leader Heinrich Himmler in 1944 who said his men would be eager\u201d to liquidate the Poles\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Centre said Mr Rota\u2019s remarks ignore the horrific fact that Hunka served in the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS, a Nazi military unit whose crimes against humanity during the Holocaust are well-documented\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a statement<\/a>, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs said, Canada\u2019s Jewish community stands firmly with #Ukraine in its war against Russian aggression. But we can\u2019t stay silent when crimes committed by Ukrainians during the Holocaust are whitewashed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since his invasion in February 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly made unsubstantiated claims that Ukraine harbours neo-Nazis\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From news to politics, travel to sport, culture to climate \u2013 The Independent has a host of free newsletters to suit your interests. To find the stories you want to read, and more, in your inbox, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Courtesy The Independent Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has responded to outrage over the standing ovation he participated in for a war veteran who served in the Nazi Waffen-SS, calling it a mistake\u201d and deeply embarrassing\u201d to the country\u2019s Parliament. During Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky\u2019s visit on Friday, Canada\u2019s House of Commons gave a rousing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-137250","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137250","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=137250"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137250\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=137250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=137250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=137250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}