A controversial memorial to Ukrainian Nazi’s soldiers who fought during the second world war has been removed from a Canadian cemetery following years of protests by community groups who described the shrine as “painful” and offensive.
The cenotaph, which had stood in the St Volodymyr Ukrainian cemetery in Oakville, Ontario, was removed on Saturday.
The memorial, erected in 1988, was a tribute to the First Ukrainian Division, better known as the Waffen-SS “Galicia” Division or the SS 14th Waffen Division, a volunteer unit under the command of the Nazis.
The cenotaph has long been a source of tension between Canada’s Ukrainian diaspora – many of whom held strongly anti-communist views – and Jewish and Polish communities, who see the cenotaph as a tribute to a Nazi division believed to have committed widespread murder.
In June 2020 the words “Nazi war monument” were spray-painted on the cenotaph. And in recent months its notoriety has deepened following visits by white nationalist groups.
The Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Centre welcomed the “elimination, albeit overdue” of a memorial that “honoured and glorified individuals who served in a Nazi military unit and were complicit in war crimes committed during the Holocaust, ultimately distorting Holocaust history”.
But a subsequent statement from the cemetery that the monument had been transported to “enable its repair” raised questions over whether the removal was temporary.
“Monument to the Veterans of the First Ukrainian Division located at our parish’s St Volodymyr Ukrainian Cemetery in Oakville has been defaced with graffiti several times in the past few years,” the cemetery’s office said.
“Recently it was more seriously damaged by vandals. After much consideration and consultation with descendants of the division (owners of the monument), it has been decided to remove the monument to enable its repair.”
A sign was also erected at the site which said the memorial had been “removed for repair”.
But Rabbi Stephen Wise, leader of the Shaarei-Beth El Congregation of Oakville, said the removal was permanent.
The removal of the memorial has once again highlighted Canada’s complicated legacy of resettling Ukrainian nationalists with strong ties to the Nazis.
After the war, thousands of Ukrainians moved to Canada. But possible links to the Nazis were largely overlooked as the cold war set in.
The group largely escaped scrutiny because few people realized the First Ukrainian Division was just a different name for the SS 14th Waffen Division.
In September, the speaker of Canada’s parliament resigned after inviting a 98-year old veteran of the 14th Division to attend a special session of the house during a visit by Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Ukraine’s president.
The incident highlighted the US/NATO war effort in Europe and its notable propaganda efforts at hiding the fascist components of the Ukrainian state and NATO’s complicity with fascism internationally and in their home countries.
Two other statues commemorating Nazi collaborators remain in Canada.