CANADA AUUC seeks action on Nazi war criminals in Canada TORONTO — The Association of Uni- ted Ukrainian Canadaisn has called for exposure and punishment of nazi collabora- tors living in Canada, and charged that those who apologize for and defend such persons today “deal in fiction, not fact”. The AUUC position, outlined in a press statement, refers to news reports stating that 218 former members of the Nazi SS Div- ision “Galizien”, formed in nazi-occupied Ukraine during World War Two, are among the almost 3,000 war criminals per- mitted into Canada and living here today. “This information has aroused the indig- nation of leaders of nationalist organiza- tions belonging to the Ukrainian Canadian Committee”, the AUUC statements says. “They have called press conferences, issued statements and given interviews in which Greetings to the Tribune on your 50th anniversary with success for the coming years. Ukrainian Senior Citizens Club #1. they try to deny that the SS Division Gali- zien was a Nazi military unit which commit- ted crimes against the civilian population. .. “In supporting the SS ‘Division Galizien and in trying to justify its criminal activity, these defenders and apolgoists — many of whom were themselves in the ranks of the notorious SS unit — deal in fiction not fact.” The AUUC then outlined its long- standing position which is on public record: e “During World War Two, in the coun- tries occupied by the Nazis, there were trai- tors who served the Hitlerites, acted as their lackeys, formed military and/or police units, informed on their compatriots to the Gestapo, and participated in repressing protests by the subjugated populace. — “Such traitors, quislings and fifth colum- nists existed in France, Holland, Denmark, Norway, Poland, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia; they were found among the Russians, the Byelorussians, the Jews and others; they were also among the Ukrainians. The traitors are not to be con- fused with the nations they betrayed. One has nothing in common with the other, except the accident of birth. e “The Ukrainian nation, which pro- vided every fourth solider in the Red Army, showed the whole world that it defended its freedom, its independence and its physical existence from the totalitarian assaults of Hitler’s Wehrmacht. We declare, in the name of truth and justice, that the Ukrain- Federation of Russian Canadians greets the employed and unemployed workers of our province this May 1, the international holiday of working people. Our wishes are for full employment in our country — for peace thorughout the world. MAY DAY GREETINGS to all workers and fighters for peace. YUGOSLAV PENSIONERS CLUB 22 e PACIFIC TRIBUNE, MAY 1, 1985 ian nation did not have, does not have, and could never have anything in common with those who- served Nazi oppressors. They stand condemned at the bar of history. Nor does the Ukrainian Canadian community, have anything in common with them, for at the time when it provided 40,000 soldiers to the Canadian armed forces to whip fascism from the face of the earth, the SS Division “Galizien” was fighting on the side of Nazi Germany, the sworn enemy of the Cana- dian people. @ “Those who defend the SS Division deny it was ever used against the civilian population or ever committed war crimes. One example, cited directly from its own sources, shows how dishonest and hypocrit- ical they are: “Zum Seig (To Victory), newspaper of the Galizien Division, published this report Apr. 28, 1944 by its war correspondent Myron Levitsky: “ ‘Bandits were captured. among the houses. The residents of the village, every one, were active partisans of a Bolshevik band. They were cleared out of every house, and those who were captured were turned over to the guard. The battle lasted five hours. One hundred prisoners were taken. The first clash with the Bolshevik bands ended successfully. Many weapons of all kinds were seized, and the village was destroyed with incendiary gre- nades. “ ‘Dusk was falling. The Third Company of the First Battalion of the SS Division Gali- zien returned from its first battle with no losses.’ The citation speaks explicitly about a terrible crime of the Division — the burn- ing of a Ukrainian village which Levitsky identifies only as ‘Z*.” The AUUC statement says that as early as 1945, the organization’s predecessor, the Association of Ukrainian Canadians, issued a booklet in which the role of the Galizien Division was exposed. Titled, “The Truth about Ukrainian ‘Refugees’ in Germany,” the booklet doc- umented evidence on who organized the SS Divison and why. The facts established beyond dispute that the SS Division Gali- zien was organized by Nazi occupation for- ces with the active participation of nationalist collaborators as an integral part of the German Armed Forces. “Nothing has altered the position of the AUUC on these facts,” the statement.emphasizes. e@ “In May, 1945,” it continues, “the Association of Ukrainian Canadians appeared before a hearing by a committe of the Canadian Senate on the question 0! admission into Canada of displaced per sons. : “The Association of Ukrainian Canadr ans categorically stated that it was nol opposed to the admission of displaced per the admission of war criminals to ou country — the Nazi collaborators and 4 those who voluntarily joined Hitlerite mil itary units, including the SS Division Galt zien, which were an integral part of thos forces and which came under the direé control of the Gestapo chief Heinrich Himmler. | “That was the position of the Associatiol of Ukrainian Canadians toward the SS Di¥ ision Galizien; that remains the position 0) our Association to this day. “Collaboration with the Nazis, particip® tion in their criminal acts, regardless ? when it was done or by whom, must b exposed, and proven criminals suitably pu! ished. “All of those who defend Hitlerite coll# borators today are morally responsible fo their actions,” the statement concludes. © | May Day Greetings to world labor Veterans of the Mackenzie- Papineau Battalion —— Association of United Ukrainian Canadians 805 East Pender Street, Vancouver, B.C. greets the working people of this province. For peace, prosperity and jobs on this May Day, international . holiday of working people throughout the world. — ee MAY DAY GREETINGS Organization Finnish of Canada