Poland’s education minister says he has “taken steps” to effect the extradition of Yaroslav Hunka, a 98-year-old Ukrainian Canadian, to Poland after it emerged that the veteran served in the Nazi SS Galizien formation during the Second World War.
On Friday, Hunka was invited to sit in the parliamentary gallery by Speaker Anthony Rota for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s address to Parliament. Rota introduced Hunka as a “Ukrainian hero” and a “Canadian hero,” prompting a standing ovation in the House of Commons.
Over the weekend, it emerged that Hunka was part of the First Ukrainian Division, also known as the Waffen-SS Galicia Division or the SS 14th Waffen Division, a voluntary unit that was under the command of the Nazis.
