Memorializing Victims of Communism Who Were Nazi Collaborators
"A Wall of Remembrance that honours all the victims of Communism named in this document will attract controversy and criticism. Several of the named victims were fascists and Nazi collaborators or belonged to groups that might be described as such.""We do not have details about the wartime activities of most of the named victims who were members of the OUN-UPA.""[…] It would be tricky to know where to draw the line. The department [Canadian Heritage] may have to decide whether it should honour any members of the OUN-UPA at all.""[There was insufficient information about roughly half the names listed for commemoration, although these included several names that belonged to] individuals who appear not to have been directly impacted by Communism, including because they were born in Canada."Historian Michael Petrou"[There have been criticisms and concerns for years] about the monument being a ‘countermeasure’ to the Holocaust Monument, about the need to ‘elevate’ the suffering of the victims of Communism to the level of the Holocaust. Scholars refer to this as 'Holocaust envy'.""I also heard about the planned individual commemoration of some very unsavoury characters, some of them linked to mass murder of Jews during the Holocaust."University of Ottawa historian Jan Grabowski
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Over half of the 550 names on the Memorial to the Victims of Communism should be removed on the basis of potential links to the Nazis, it has been revealed. There are questions relating to affiliations with fascist groups, according to government records held by the Department of Canadian Heritage. In the original plans for the memorial, 553 entries were planned for the Ottawa memorial's Wall of Remembrance.
After investigation, the Department of Canadian Heritage felt confident that 40 to 60 of the names or organizations likely had been linked directly to the Nazis. A recommendation of over 330 names to be excluded was included in a 2023 report for Canadian Heritage. Because of the lack of full information regarding the individuals or organizations in question, and to be on the safe side, the exclusions were recommended, rather than risk giving then an all-clear, then discovering they were linked to fascist organizations or the Nazis of WWII.
The purpose of the memorial was to honour those who suffered under Communism. But if that also meant they had links to fascism and Nazism, as pointed out by historians, they would hardly qualify under the possibility that those who were complicit in murdering Jews be honoured by default. Concerns exist, over names of eastern Europeans who had collaborated during the Holocaust with the Nazi regime have been nominated in an effort to whitewash an inglorious past.
Because of the ongoing uncertainty and controversy, Canadian Heritage has not yet set a new date for the unveiling, after the original date was cancelled due to new incriminating evidence and recommendations for caution to be exercised. "The review of the commemorative elements is ongoing" was the response when a Heritage representative was asked whether the more then 330 entries on the Wall of Remembrance would be removed.
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| The winning design for the Memorial to the Victims of Communism was
created by Toronto architect and artist Paul Raff. Its scale was
drastically reduced from the original, which was supposed to be located
near the Supreme Court of Canada before being moved across Wellington
Street amid controversy. (Supplied) CBC |
Labels: Canadian Heritage, Memorial to Victims of Communism, Nazi Collaborators, Ottawa, Wall of Remembrance
posted by Pieface @ Tuesday, October 08, 2024
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