Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC) for Holocaust Studies announced Saturday that a controversial monument in an Oakville, Ont., cemetery had been removed.
The monument, located within West Oak Memorial Gardens, a 100-acre private cemetery owned by St. Volodymyr Ukrainian Cemetery, was dedicated to the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the S.S., a Nazi military unit comprised of predominantly Ukrainian soldiers during World War II.
It was erected in 1988 to honour the members of the First Ukrainian Division. Veterans, as well as family members, are buried in the cemetery.
Richard Robertson, Director of Research and Advocacy at B’Nai Brith Canada, said members of this division “would have sworn allegiance to Adolph Hitler and the S.S.”
In a statement, Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center said calls for the pillar to be removed had been heard for many years.
“FSWC previously stated that such monuments ‘distort the Holocaust while glorifying the memory of individuals who participated in crimes against humanity,’ ” the statement read.
Rabbi Stephen Wise, spiritual leader of Shaarei-Beth El Congregation in Oakville, agreed that the honourary pillar was a negative reminder of the past.
“To the Jewish people, this monument represents a horrible past, connects us to the Holocaust,” he said.
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A petition through change.org, which garnered 1,000 signatures, was launched in 2020 to have the marker removed after it was defaced.
At that time, Oakville Mayor Rob Burton responded the campaign saying he found the monument “repugnant,” but that municipalities were unable to intervene in regulating the contents of private cemeteries.
According to the statement released Saturday by FSWC, Oakville-based Rabbi Stephen Wise said members of the local Ukrainian community responsible for the memorial had reached the decision to remove it recently.
“The monument’s removal comes nearly six months after Yaroslav Hunka, a veteran who served in the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division, received a standing ovation in the Canadian House of Commons, provoking international outrage and renewed calls for monuments dedicated to Nazi collaborators in Canada to be removed,” Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center said in the statement.
Dan Panneton, Director of Allyship and Community Engagement with FSWC, said the months following the Hunka controversy caused a “distressing” amount of activity around the monument.
“In the fall after the Hunka affair, we saw a group of local neo-Nazis make a pilgrimage to this monument, which is deeply distressing,” Panneton said.
Now, nothing but the platform and sign remain in the cemetery.
Two similar monuments continue to stand in Edmonton. FSWC says it continues to call for the removal of those pillars, as well.
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