Snips:
Canada’s University of Alberta has won a legal battle to dissolve a research trust named after Ukrainian SS veteran Yaroslav Hunka, whose standing ovation in the Canadian parliament from lawmakers, then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky sparked an international scandal.
The controversy erupted during Zelensky’s 2023 visit to Ottawa, when then-House Speaker Anthony Rota introduced Hunka, who served in the Waffen-SS Galicia Division during World War II, as “a Ukrainian hero, a Canadian hero” to rapturous applause from the packed parliamentary chamber.
[…]
Shortly after the scandal erupted, the University of Alberta acknowledged that it administered a research fund named after Hunka, a CAD30,000 ($21,500) endowment established with a donation from his son to support research into the history of the Ukrainian Catholic Church. It had remained largely obscure until the scandal, with no known beneficiaries.
The school apologized and announced plans to shut down the fund, but Hunka’s family opposed the move, arguing that his Waffen-SS service had been disclosed when the donation was made and that the university knew of his wartime record when it accepted the money. Citing a former university official, the family also noted that nine other university endowments were associated with Galicia Division members and, to their knowledge, had not been terminated.
The school apologized and announced plans to shut down the fund, but Hunka’s family opposed the move, arguing that his Waffen-SS service had been disclosed when the donation was made and that the university knew of his wartime record when it accepted the money. Citing a former university official, the family also noted that nine other university endowments were associated with Galicia Division members and, to their knowledge, had not been terminated.
Jfc
a research fund named after Hunka, a CAD30,000 ($21,500) endowment established with a donation from his son to support research into the history of the Ukrainian Catholic Church
It would have been more fun to disperse it exclusively to people studying about their crimes, denouncing them etc.
with no known beneficiaries
So what does this mean? They took a bunch of money and didn’t spend it? Collect interest? I don’t understand what this even is.
Hunka’s family opposed the move, arguing that his Waffen-SS service had been disclosed when the donation was made and that the university knew of his wartime record when it accepted the money.
What does this mean? Is it true? What is the process of making an endowment? How deeply (if at all) do universities investigate the character or history of people who want to donate sums of money? Very few people have 20k to throw around who haven’t done some kind of dirt, so theyd seem to be disincentivised.
“Here is 20k on behalf of my dad, who was in the SS but in a good way. It was a long time ago. you can use this to research or do nothing with it.”?
Citing a former university official, the family also noted that nine other university endowments were associated with Galicia Division members and, to their knowledge, had not been terminated.
Has a tone that implies they feel especially persecuted. I would love to know more about the family’s conspiracy theory about why this is happening. Can some journalist or influencer please call these people up and ask them to tell their side of the story? I legit think they probably have stuff to share about the fascist movement in Canada. Obviously they are well connected, successful and influential. Granddaddy got his ass to be lauded in parliament after all. A complimentary and solicitous journalist who made a friendly and flattering approach could probably get someone to spill.
“Citing a former university official” is an enticing thread. Who is this person, were they contacted for comment? What’s their relationship with the family, did they help set this thing up? If its a former official they must know each other socially.
Have to add a bit more from the article. Wouldn’t want university of Alberta to gain any esteem from this.
The university argued that public reaction to Hunka’s Waffen-SS service meant continued association with his name could damage its reputation and public trust. The dispute went to court this spring.
In a ruling on Friday, Court of King’s Bench Justice Debra Yungwirth sided with the university, finding that the controversy had created sufficient reputational concerns to justify terminating the trust.
“The university did not terminate the Hunka Trust because it determined that Yaroslav was a war criminal or anti-Semitic,” she wrote. “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.”
So basically the court does not contradict the family’s assertion that the university is happy to accept money from Nazis. In fact from the wording above it sounds like being a war criminal or anti-semite is a protected class in Alberta, and it would not have been acceptable to terminate on those grounds.
did not terminate the Hunka Trust because it determined that Yaroslav was a war criminal or anti-Semitic,
Oh thank God, for a moment I was concerned they’d slander a Nazi as antisemitic
This specific fund only got terminated because of the publicity surrounding it. They’ll probably just end up consolidating all of the funds into some kind of “ukrainian victims of communism” bursary or something and get this money back.
I still can’t believe that shit happened
It’s actually harder to believe these people aren’t national heroes given Canadas history.
Never forget that Canada had to take down its victims of communism memorial because most of the names turned out to be those of Nazis.
Or gave a standing ovation to a Nazi soldier in parliament.
Oh no they didn’t take it down. Its just empty.
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Fine art
lol that’s even funnier
