Poland’s Education Minister Przemysław Czarnek said Tuesday he has “taken steps” toward extraditing Yaroslav Hunka, a 98-year-old Ukrainian Nazi veteran who was honored by Canadian parliamentarians last week.
During Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit to Canada last Friday, House Speaker Anthony Rota introduced Hunka as a Canadian-Ukrainian war hero, prompting a standing ovation from parliamentarians.
But the tribute triggered a wave of criticism from Jewish organizations, advocacy groups and leaders across the world, because Hunka fought with the First Ukrainian Division — also known as the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division, which served under command of the Nazis in Adolf Hitler’s World War II fight against Russia’s Red Army.
“In view of the scandalous events in the Canadian Parliament, which involved honoring, in the presence of President Zelenskyy, a member of the criminal Nazi SS Galizien formation, I have taken steps towards the possible extradition of this man to Poland,” Czarnek said on X, formerly Twitter.
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