Thanks for an excellent piece. In the rush to to righteous moral high ground, the complexity and nuance of history have been trampled. We need more thoughtful analyses like this one.
I'm trying to imagine what it would have been like to be Ukrainian during the war. You get to choose between Hitler and Stalin. Given that Stalin has already murdered or enslaved millions of your countrymen, it is not completely incomprehensible to me that you might decide to roll the dice on Hitler.
To some, that makes me a Nazi sympathizer. I'm not a Nazi sympathizer. I'm just grateful to have lived in a time and place that would never put my principles to so cruel a test.
And it can be difficult for us to put ourselves back in the shoes of those making such a choice as aligning or joining with Germany in WWII given all we know about the players now. If sent back in time from even 1950 to 1943 and faced with the same decision, our knowledge base would at least make the decision to join entirely different.
Also, thinking about the decision to invite and honour Hunka in Parliament, I struggle with deciding how important it is in a longer time perspective. Right now it feels like a monumental error for a myriad of reasons. I am not certain how important it will feel in 10 days, 10 months or 10 years. Some will continue to be legitimately angry that it happened while others will simply seek to mine it to provoke outrage for their own ends, both in Canada and abroad. Our ability to try and put issues into perspective feels as if it has been severely degraded.
Here is what I still don't get: why would Yaroslav Hunka volunteer to be there? Surely he knew his own past, or is there evidence that he is not mentally stable and cannot remember being a Waffen-SS soldier? It still does not excuse the pathetic vetting process.
Well written. I’m a bit of a WWII buff and believe I would have picked up on “fought the Russians” as a red flag. I am appalled that not one member of the Speaker’s staff understood what that meant. A former protocol officer explained the Speaker’s unquestioned authority as an explanation. I wrote speeches for Ministers in the provincial government and can assure you, a faux pas like that would not have gotten through the approval process. Hard to believe that scrutiny doesn’t apply with the federal government.
🇨🇦 not the only place drawing a curtain at May 1945!! Werner V B comes to mind. But the Finnish reference re Continuation War was perhaps more misleading than truncated.
Small quibble....Finland spoke of not going deeper into USSR than the 1938 border, but did in fact breach that promise and on the Continuation War sent its army a fair bit into 1938 USSR.
I like your comparison with US - Iraq. fortunate to have lived in EU in 1956, when my father pointed out to me that Hungarians were waiting for help (that was not far away) and holding up the RU tanks. Yet no one came ! That is what I pointed out when asked by US Military attaché about my disapproving US action in Iraq : Hungarians called -> no one came, Iraq did not call -> you came.
You did as much butchering of history as resurrect it as a guide. Unfortunately, an elementary school rendition of history tattooed with bias and ignorance only deceives and obscures further.
Sometimes, the enemy of my enemy is just the enemy of my enemy... While Churchill said "If Hitler invaded Hell, I would make at least a favourable reference of the Devil in the House of Commons."
Thanks for an excellent piece. In the rush to to righteous moral high ground, the complexity and nuance of history have been trampled. We need more thoughtful analyses like this one.
I'm trying to imagine what it would have been like to be Ukrainian during the war. You get to choose between Hitler and Stalin. Given that Stalin has already murdered or enslaved millions of your countrymen, it is not completely incomprehensible to me that you might decide to roll the dice on Hitler.
To some, that makes me a Nazi sympathizer. I'm not a Nazi sympathizer. I'm just grateful to have lived in a time and place that would never put my principles to so cruel a test.
More context
https://open.substack.com/pub/justinling/p/yaroslav-hunka-canada?r=1icckq&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post
And it can be difficult for us to put ourselves back in the shoes of those making such a choice as aligning or joining with Germany in WWII given all we know about the players now. If sent back in time from even 1950 to 1943 and faced with the same decision, our knowledge base would at least make the decision to join entirely different.
Also, thinking about the decision to invite and honour Hunka in Parliament, I struggle with deciding how important it is in a longer time perspective. Right now it feels like a monumental error for a myriad of reasons. I am not certain how important it will feel in 10 days, 10 months or 10 years. Some will continue to be legitimately angry that it happened while others will simply seek to mine it to provoke outrage for their own ends, both in Canada and abroad. Our ability to try and put issues into perspective feels as if it has been severely degraded.
Here is what I still don't get: why would Yaroslav Hunka volunteer to be there? Surely he knew his own past, or is there evidence that he is not mentally stable and cannot remember being a Waffen-SS soldier? It still does not excuse the pathetic vetting process.
Well written. I’m a bit of a WWII buff and believe I would have picked up on “fought the Russians” as a red flag. I am appalled that not one member of the Speaker’s staff understood what that meant. A former protocol officer explained the Speaker’s unquestioned authority as an explanation. I wrote speeches for Ministers in the provincial government and can assure you, a faux pas like that would not have gotten through the approval process. Hard to believe that scrutiny doesn’t apply with the federal government.
🇨🇦 not the only place drawing a curtain at May 1945!! Werner V B comes to mind. But the Finnish reference re Continuation War was perhaps more misleading than truncated.
Small quibble....Finland spoke of not going deeper into USSR than the 1938 border, but did in fact breach that promise and on the Continuation War sent its army a fair bit into 1938 USSR.
I like your comparison with US - Iraq. fortunate to have lived in EU in 1956, when my father pointed out to me that Hungarians were waiting for help (that was not far away) and holding up the RU tanks. Yet no one came ! That is what I pointed out when asked by US Military attaché about my disapproving US action in Iraq : Hungarians called -> no one came, Iraq did not call -> you came.
Excellent article.
You did as much butchering of history as resurrect it as a guide. Unfortunately, an elementary school rendition of history tattooed with bias and ignorance only deceives and obscures further.
Extremely well written and incredibly eye opening to history novices.
Minor, pedantic point—this is not the Chamber Churchill stood in. That Chamber is undergoing renovations for the next decade (probably).
Sometimes, the enemy of my enemy is just the enemy of my enemy... While Churchill said "If Hitler invaded Hell, I would make at least a favourable reference of the Devil in the House of Commons."
Finland also made the Devil's bargain in WW2
Guilt by association?