Controversial Victims of Communism memorial to be unveiled Dec. 12

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After more than a year of delay, the controversial Victims of Communism memorial will be officially unveiled in Ottawa on Dec. 12.

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Caroline Czajkowski, a spokesperson for Canadian Heritage, confirmed the date but said further details won’t be released until closer to the event.

The unveiling of the memorial was put on hold last year because of the controversy over parliamentarians mistakenly honouring a Waffen SS soldier and potential links between the monument and Nazi collaborators, according to records obtained by the Ottawa Citizen earlier this year.

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The memorial was supposed to be unveiled Nov. 2, 2023, and Department of Canadian Heritage planning for that event was in its final stages in early October 2023, according to the documents released under the Access to Information Act.

But that came to a grinding halt after the Sept. 22, 2023 incident in which Yaroslav Hunka of North Bay, Ont., was recognized in the House of Commons by all MPs with a standing ovation. He had been introduced as a Ukrainian Canadian war veteran and a hero, but news quickly emerged that he had served in a Ukrainian Waffen SS unit that fought for the Nazis.

Jewish groups have voiced their ongoing concerns about the names of alleged Nazi collaborators and other fascists being inscribed on the memorial.

The memorial, which is located near the corner of Wellington and Bay streets, is supposed to honour those who suffered under communism.

Czajkowski did not respond to a question about whether the names are to remain on the memorial.

The Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center, a holocaust education organization, wrote Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge on Oct. 10, 2024 to request the federal government make a firm and public commitment that the names of the individuals with suspected ties to the Nazis aren’t put on the memorial. The organization never received a response, Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center official Jaime Kirzner-Roberts confirmed Tuesday.

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“This prolonged silence has become deeply troubling,” she said. “The very idea of any monument in our national capital honouring Nazi war criminals is utterly unacceptable and an insult to our veterans and all Canadians. We call on the Minister to address this matter immediately and ensure that such an abhorrent outcome is prevented.”

Officials with Tribute to Liberty, the organization involved in creating the memorial, did not respond to a request for comment.

Dominik Roszak of the Canadian Polish Congress said Tuesday that his organization “has always supported this memorial and hopes its unveiling proceeds without disruption. I look forward to attending the unveiling on behalf of Canada’s Polish community.”

The Memorial to the Victims of Communism has already been the focus of multiple controversies over its exact purpose, location, size and cost over the last 15 years. The price tag for the project has ballooned to an estimated $7.5 million — including $6 million in public funds — from an original budget of $1.5 million that was supposed to be funded entirely through private donations from Tribute to Liberty. The memorial

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The Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center has pointed to a report prepared for the Department of Canadian Heritage which recommended more than half of the 550 names planned to go on the memorial be removed. That is because of potential links to the Nazis, questions about affiliations with fascist groups or a lack of information about what the individuals did during the Second World War. A number of the entries should be removed because they had no direct link to Canada, the report noted. As originally planned, there were to be 553 entries on the memorial’s Wall of Remembrance.

The department had already determined that 50 to 60 of the names or organizations were likely directly linked to the Nazis, according to documents obtained by the Ottawa Citizen through an access-to-information request.

Federal officials in other departments have also continued to warn Canadian Heritage that the inclusion of Nazi collaborators on the memorial will cause international embarrassment.

“It is important to note that many anti-communist and anti-Soviet advocates and fighters were also active Nazi collaborators, who committed documented massacres,” Global Affairs Canada officials warned their counterparts at Canadian Heritage in 2021.

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Private donations had already been made to the monument in the names of Nazi collaborators, CBC News reported in July 2021. Those included Roman Shukhevych, a Ukrainian nationalist whose troops murdered Jews and Poles, and Ante Pavelić who ran a Nazi puppet regime in Croatia and is considered a chief perpetrator of the Holocaust in the Balkans, the CBC reported.

The federal records obtained by the Ottawa Citizen also noted other potential problems on which victims to highlight on the memorial.

One historian who was consulting for Canadian Heritage raised the question of whether Canada wishes to honour Canadian sailors who were helping the Soviet Union, a communist nation, during the Second World War. The Soviet Union was Canada’s ally during that conflict.

In addition, questions were raised about whether to honour those killed in Yugoslavia by communist partisans fighting the Nazis. Canadian commandos operated in Yugoslavia helping and advising those communist partisans.

David Pugliese is an award-winning journalist covering Canadian Forces and military issues in Canada. To support his work, including exclusive content for subscribers only, sign up here: ottawacitizen.com/subscribe

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