The Trudeau government announced it will not be releasing the names of around 900 alleged Nazi war criminals who relocated to Canada following the Second World War.
The names listed were part of the war crimes commission led by retired Superior Court of Quebec Justice Jules Deshcenes in 1986 and compiled via RCMP records and other confidential documents.
The Ottawa-based Library and Archives Canada recently held consultations with unnamed members of Canada’s Ukrainian community and a “discrete group of individuals or organizations” as to whether the names should be made public earlier this year.
During those consultations, some bureaucrats felt that going public with the list would be too embarrassing for the country, as large cohorts of Ukrainian Waffen SS soldiers fled to Canada once the war was over. The LAC ultimately decided to withhold the documents “in their entirety.”
Additionally, those consulted cited worries that such information could be repurposed for Russian propaganda.
Members of the Nazi-led Ukrainian SS Galicia division were among those listed in the Commission of Inquiry on War Criminals in Canada report.
News that the names will be withheld was met with strong backlash from several Jewish advocacy groups, including B’nai Brith and the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Centre.
“For decades, B’nai Brith & David Matas, B’nai Brith Canada’s senior legal counsel, have fought for full access—only to face endless delays and stonewalling. Canada is withholding hundreds of Nazi war-crimes files from the public. This disgraceful secrecy dishonours survivors and denies justice,” said the organization.
“Absolutely disgusted by the government’s decision to continue to conceal the truth about the Nazi war criminals who moved to Canada and enjoyed total impunity,” wrote Jaime Kirzner-Roberts, senior director of advocacy and policy at the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Centre in a post to X.
“What a grave insult to those who suffered at their barbaric hands. What a slap in the face to our great veterans.”
This dark part of history resurfaced and made international headlines after Waffen-SS veteran Yaroslav Hunka received a standing ovation in the House of Commons during Ukrainian Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit last September.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau later blamed his invitation on House Speaker Anthony Rota, who resigned over the incident.
