Canadian Nazi Appearance ‘Quite Unbelievable from Any Perspective,’ Insists Prof. Katchanovski

Sept. 25, 2023, (EIRNS)—Professor Ivan Katchanovski, of the School of Political Studies at the University of Ottawa, gave a live interview today to Toronto’s CP 24TV “concerning (the) standing ovation to SS Galicia Division veteran in Canadian parliament & involvement of Waffen SS division members in mass killings of Jews, Poles & Ukrainians, including execution of about 100 Jews , as well as Poles & Ukrainians in my high school in Western Ukraine,” he tweeted today. The following is a close paraphrase of his interview.

The reporter first read the statement from Canadian House Speaker Anthony Rota: “I wish to make clear that no one, including fellow parliamentarians and the Ukraine delegation, was aware of my intention or of my remarks before I delivered them. This initiative was entirely my own,” etc. This has, however, stretched the realm of credibility, in the view of many political observers.

After an opening question from the reporter, who asked Professor Katchanovski what his reaction was when he first encountered this, he began: “Thank you for this invitation. When I saw this, for me, this was unbelievable, to witness a veteran of the Waffen SS Division from Galicia in western Ukraine given a standing ovation in the Parliament. Because I researched this division. I researched atrocities committed by members of this division. And also there is a personal connection, because one unit which later joined this division, executed about 100 Jews, and also Ukrainians and Poles, in my high school in Ukraine. And this was published several years ago in the United States by Associated Press. So ... this was quite unbelievable to witness this event.

“I tweeted about this, that this was like Orwell, or quite unbelievable from any perspective. And I think this is now a major story, not only in Canada, but also in many other countries around the world.”

Q: How is this possible that this cannot be (have been) researched?... You obviously have a personal connection to this. And it didn’t take long for a lot of people to just figure this out. So how could (there be) any excuse that no one knew this? How is that possible?

Katchanovski: This is a question which I also asked, because it was quite obvious, quite indicative, when the Speaker of the Parliament announced that this is a veteran of the First Ukrainian Division, who was fighting against the Russians during World War Two. And in Ukraine, during World War Two, it was obvious that the only formation which was fighting against the Soviet Union was actually Nazi, or allies of Nazis, and in this case, I think, for me, this is still kind of quite astonishing to witness this. And the question is if anybody actually knew in advance who this person was and why he was introduced into the Parliament and given a standing ovation. And because also, not only the Canadian Parliament but also the President of Ukraine gave a standing ovation. And especially because also not only the Canadian government, not only Canadian Parliament members, but also the President of Ukraine gave a standing ovation. And this is very important for the Ukrainians. Because of the current Russian invasion of Ukraine, and since Russia uses the false claim that Ukraine is a Nazi state, to justify its invasion. So this has very significant consequences, not only in Canada, but also in Ukraine, because of the war in Ukraine.

Q: ...Are there other countries talking about this as well? What has their reaction been?

Katchanovski: Yes, I think in Poland, there is also a big reaction in media publications about this story. And the (Polish) ambassador to (Canada), tweeted his request for an apology from the Ukrainian and Canadian leaders for this standing ovation in the Canadian Parliament to a veteran of this SS division because members of this division were involved in the massacre of almost 1,000 Polish civilians in the village of Huta Pieniacka in the Galician region of Ukraine, and also, according to my research, and according to other documents, another unit of this division ... was actually also involved in the massacre of Poles in several villages in the Volhynia region of Ukraine and in Poland. And this is also very important for such a perspective. but in addition to this, I saw media reports in many countries of the world, including Switzerland, Germany, and Hungary, and even countries like India, this became a major story and major repercussions, and especially because of the relations between Ukraine and Poland, now inchoate because of the grain. So this is I think very important to deal with such implication of this quite unbelievable event which took place in the Canadian Parliament.

Q: Absolutely. Making international headlines for all the wrong reasons....