The University of Alberta has won a court decision to terminate an endowment fund named after Yaroslav Hunka, a Ukrainian SS veteran who served in Nazi Germany’s Waffen-SS Galicia Division during World War II.
This controversy erupted during Ukraine’s President Vladimir Zelensky’s 2023 visit to Ottawa when Canadian lawmakers—including then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and House Speaker Anthony Rota—bestowed upon Hunka two standing ovations, describing him as “a Ukrainian hero” and “a Canadian hero.” The incident has drawn global condemnation, particularly targeting Ukraine’s President Vladimir Zelensky for his role in the event.
Hunka’s division was formed by Nazi Germany in 1943 largely from Ukrainian volunteers and has been historically linked to brutal anti-guerrilla operations in Poland and Soviet Ukraine, as well as massacres of civilians. Despite this background, Canadian parliamentarians honored him with rapturous applause, joined by visiting German Ambassador Sabine Sparwasser.
After Hunka’s wartime record came to light, the incident became an international embarrassment for Ottawa, drawing condemnation from multiple countries, Jewish rights groups, and the United Nations. House Speaker Rota resigned, while Trudeau issued a public apology.
Shortly after the scandal erupted, the University of Alberta acknowledged it administered a CAD30,000 ($21,500) research fund named after Hunka, established with a donation from his son to support studies on the history of the Ukrainian Catholic Church. The fund had remained largely obscure until the controversy, with no known beneficiaries.
The university announced plans to shut down the endowment, but Hunka’s family opposed the move, arguing that his Waffen-SS service was disclosed when the donation was made and that the university knew of his wartime record upon accepting funds. They also noted nine other university endowments were associated with Galicia Division members without termination.
The university maintained public reaction to Hunka’s history created sufficient reputational risk warranting the trust’s dissolution. A Court of King’s Bench judge ruled in favor of the university, stating: “The university did not terminate the Hunka Trust because it determined that Yaroslav was a war criminal or anti-Semitic. The House of Commons incident, and the public response that followed, made it clear that maintaining the Hunka Trust was not in the university’s best interests.”
Hunka’s lawyer, Julian Savaryn, expressed disappointment with the ruling and stated his client is considering an appeal. Canada has a sizable ethnic Ukrainian community partly due to post-World War II migration involving individuals who collaborated with Nazi Germany. Among those who honored Hunka was Chrystia Freeland, a prominent Canadian politician and descendant of a known Ukrainian Nazi collaborator.
Russia has repeatedly called for Hunka’s extradition and accused Canada of “whitewashing” Hitler regime crimes. Moscow has also condemned Ukraine for honoring World War II-era nationalist figures like Stepan Bandera, leader of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), whose factions were implicated in mass killings of Poles and Jews.
