Ontario cemetery removes Nazi military monument

After years of controversy, a monument honoring a Nazi-led military unit of Ukrainian soldiers has been taken down from an Ontario cemetery.

Situated in St. Volodymyr Ukrainian Cemetery in Oakville, the monument commemorated the First Ukrainian Division, a unit primarily composed of Ukrainians who fought under the Nazi regime during World War II.

Previously known as the Waffen-SS Galicia Division and the SS 14th Waffen Division, the First Ukrainian Division sparked renewed debate six months ago when Yaroslav Hunka, a veteran from the unit, received a standing ovation at the Canadian House of Commons.

Liberal MP Anthony Rota resigned as speaker following criticism over the decision to invite Hunka.

““It’s a memorial to soldiers who served for the Nazis in the Second World War, one of the greatest atrocities of the Jewish people, and it does not belong on Canadian soil,”

Wise, part of a group advocating for years, described the monument as a glorification of a Nazi military unit “complicit in war crimes committed during the Holocaust,” according to Dan Panneton with Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center.

The cemetery confirmed the monument’s removal “to enable repair” after consulting with descendants of the First Ukrainian Division, who fundraised for it in 1988 and retain ownership.

While the cemetery didn’t address whether the monument would return, Wise, involved in the removal discussions, asserted, “It is not going to be back,” suggesting it be housed in the Museum of Tolerance in Winnipeg as a historical artifact.

The monument suffered repeated graffiti defacement over the years and was recently “seriously damaged by vandals,” as per a cemetery spokesperson.

Amid heightened attention, photos of Neo-Nazis standing beside the monument surfaced, pledging allegiance to the division in October, following Hunka’s standing ovation.