Memorials in Canada to Nazis and Nazi collaborators

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In July 2024, Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC) exposed the existence of a monument honouring Nazis at a children’s summer camp in Elora, Ontario called Seedrioru.{{cite web |title=Children’s Summer Camp in Ontario Honours Estonian Leaders of Notorious Nazi Waffen-SS |url=https://www.fswc.ca/news/childrens-summer-camp-in-ontario-honours-estonian-leaders-of-notorious-nazi-waffen-ss |website=Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center |publisher=FSWC |access-date=4 March 2025}} FSWC uncovered that the camp had long been commemorating Estonian members of the Waffen-SS, an elite military wing of the Nazi Party known for its involvement in war crimes and atrocities during the Holocaust.{{cite web |title=Children’s Summer Camp in Ontario Honours Estonian Leaders of Notorious Nazi Waffen-SS |url=https://www.fswc.ca/news/childrens-summer-camp-in-ontario-honours-estonian-leaders-of-notorious-nazi-waffen-ss |website=Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center |publisher=FSWC |access-date=4 March 2025}} The Waffen-SS as a whole was classified as a criminal organization during the Nuremberg Trials due to its direct participation in genocide, ethnic cleansing, and other war crimes.{{cite journal |title=Nuremberg Trial Proceedings Volume 22 |journal=The International Military Tribunal for Germany |date=30 September 1946 |volume=22 |url=https://avalon.law.yale.edu/imt/09-30-46.asp |access-date=4 March 2025}}

The monument, erected in the late 1970s, is shaped like a sword and bore the names of Colonel Alfons Rebane, Harald Riipalu, Paul Maitla, and Harald Nugiseks.{{cite web |last1=Pugliese |first1=David |title=Jewish group denounces monument to Nazi collaborators at Ontario kids' camp |url=https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/defence-watch/jewish-group-denounces-monument-to-nazi-collaborators-at-ontario-kids-camp |website=Ottawa Citizen |access-date=4 March 2025}} All four, who were members of the 20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Estonian), were awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross, Nazi Germany’s highest military honour.{{cite web |title=Monument at summer camp in Ontario honors Estonian collaborators of Nazi Germany |url=https://www.jns.org/monument-at-summer-camp-in-ontario-honors-estonian-collaborators-of-nazi-germany/ |website=Jewish News Syndicate |access-date=4 March 2025}} The 20th Waffen Grenadier Division emblem was engraved at the bottom of the memorial monument.{{cite web |last1=Shuttleworth |first1=Joanne |title=Local Estonian group accused of honouring Nazi monument |url=https://www.wellingtonadvertiser.com/local-estonian-group-accused-of-honouring-nazi-monument/ |website=The Wellington Advertiser |access-date=4 March 2025}}

FSWC’s investigation further revealed that at least one of the men, Harald Riipalu, had commanded the 36th Police Battalion in Estonia, a unit that took part in the August 7, 1942, massacre of almost all of the remaining Jews in the town of Nowogrodek in Belarus.{{cite web |title=Children’s Summer Camp in Ontario Honours Estonian Leaders of Notorious Nazi Waffen-SS |url=https://www.fswc.ca/news/childrens-summer-camp-in-ontario-honours-estonian-leaders-of-notorious-nazi-waffen-ss |website=Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center |publisher=FSWC |access-date=4 March 2025}} Another of the Nazi collaborators, Alfons Rebane, was originally a commander of a unit within the Estonian Home Guard that was involved in criminal acts, including in the roundup of 200 Roma people and 950 Jews{{cite web |last1=Pugliese |first1=David |title=Jewish group denounces monument to Nazi collaborators at Ontario kids' camp |url=https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/defence-watch/jewish-group-denounces-monument-to-nazi-collaborators-at-ontario-kids-camp |website=Ottawa Citizen |access-date=4 March 2025}}

FSWC also discovered that at least 15 individuals listed on the camp’s website as honorary members of the Canadian Estonian community who played “an integral part of the formation and sustainment of Seedrioru” have the same names as people with direct ties to the Waffen-SS.{{cite web |title=Children’s Summer Camp in Ontario Honours Estonian Leaders of Notorious Nazi Waffen-SS |url=https://www.fswc.ca/news/childrens-summer-camp-in-ontario-honours-estonian-leaders-of-notorious-nazi-waffen-ss |website=Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center |publisher=FSWC |access-date=4 March 2025}} These include former Seedrioru chairman August Jurs, author of the book Estonian Freedom Fighters in World War Two, who served in the Wehrmacht, the armed forces of Nazi Germany’s Third Reich, and in the 20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS.{{cite web |title=Children’s Summer Camp in Ontario Honours Estonian Leaders of Notorious Nazi Waffen-SS |url=https://www.fswc.ca/news/childrens-summer-camp-in-ontario-honours-estonian-leaders-of-notorious-nazi-waffen-ss |website=Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center |publisher=FSWC |access-date=4 March 2025}}

FSWC also found photographs on the camp’s website, which were immediately removed following the exposé, showing individuals, including children, laying wreaths and gathering at the monument.{{cite web |title=Children’s Summer Camp in Ontario Honours Estonian Leaders of Notorious Nazi Waffen-SS |url=https://www.fswc.ca/news/childrens-summer-camp-in-ontario-honours-estonian-leaders-of-notorious-nazi-waffen-ss |website=Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center |publisher=FSWC |access-date=4 March 2025}} The images depicted wreaths being laid in remembrance, reinforcing a tradition of honouring these individuals as heroes.{{cite web |title=Children’s Summer Camp in Ontario Honours Estonian Leaders of Notorious Nazi Waffen-SS |url=https://www.fswc.ca/news/childrens-summer-camp-in-ontario-honours-estonian-leaders-of-notorious-nazi-waffen-ss |website=Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center |publisher=FSWC |access-date=4 March 2025}}

Following FSWC’s revelations, the camp’s leadership faced significant public scrutiny including in the media. In response, they removed all incriminating names and Nazi-associated symbols from the monument and deleted related content from their website. However, the monument itself remains standing at the camp.{{cite web |last1=Shetty |first1=Aastha |title=Southern Ontario children's camp removes names of Nazi officers from monument after backlash |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/nazi-monument-estonian-camp-elora-backlash-1.7276696 |website=CBC |access-date=4 March 2025}}

File:Draža Mihailović Monument in Canada.jpg

{{main article|Memorial to the Victims of Communism (Canada)}}

The Memorial to the Victims of Communism in Ottawa, while not directly linked to Nazis and their collaborators, came under fire prior to its unveiling when the Department of Canadian Heritage was told that more than half of the 550 names on the memorial should be removed because of potential links to the Nazis or questions about affiliations with fascist groups.{{Cite news |title=Victims of Communism memorial faces call to remove over 330 names linked to Nazis, fascists |url=https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/defence-watch/government-should-remove-more-than-330-names-on-victims-of-communism-memorial-because-of-potential-nazi-or-fascist-links-report-recommends |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20241121213802/https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/defence-watch/government-should-remove-more-than-330-names-on-victims-of-communism-memorial-because-of-potential-nazi-or-fascist-links-report-recommends |archive-date=2024-11-21 |access-date=2024-12-12 |work=ottawacitizen |language=en}} The memorial was unveiled in December 2024.

There is a statue in Hamilton, Ontario of Draža Mihailović, a Yugoslav Serb general during World War II. He was the leader of the Chetniks, a royalist and Serbian nationalist movement and guerrilla force, who collaborated with the Nazis following the German invasion of Yugoslavia in 1941.{{Cite web|last1=Golinkin|first1=Lev|title=Nazi collaborator monuments around the world|url=https://forward.com/news/462694/nazi-collaborator-monuments-in-canada/|access-date=2021-04-12|website=The Forward|date=27 January 2021 |language=en-US|archive-date=2021-04-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210412184816/https://forward.com/news/462694/nazi-collaborator-monuments-in-canada/|url-status=live}}

Monuments in Canada to members of the Ukrainian Waffen-SS have been vandalized by activists at differing times as "Nazi monuments", as have monuments to members of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. Leaders of the Canadian Ukrainian community said the Ukrainian monuments are not related to Nazism.{{Cite web |last=Holt |first=Faygie |date=2021-08-16 |title=Canadian Jewish group renews campaign to remove World War II-era monuments |url=https://www.jns.org/canadian-jewish-group-renews-campaign-to-remove-world-war-ii-era-monuments/ |access-date=2022-11-21 |website=JNS.org |language=en-US |archive-date=2022-11-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221121225310/https://www.jns.org/canadian-jewish-group-renews-campaign-to-remove-world-war-ii-era-monuments/ |url-status=live }}

File:Roman Shukhevych statue, Edmonton, vandalised.jpeg

{{Main|Roman Shukhevych bust}}

The bronze bust{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2018-08-13 |title=Canadian monument to controversial Ukrainian national hero ignites debate |url=https://www.rcinet.ca/en/2018/08/13/shukhevych-monument-canada-oun-upa/ |access-date=2022-11-20 |website=RCI {{!}} English |language=en-US |archive-date=2022-11-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221118002453/https://www.rcinet.ca/en/2018/08/13/shukhevych-monument-canada-oun-upa/ |url-status=live }} of Ukrainian nationalist leader Roman Shukhevych, who collaborated with the Nazis from February 1941 to December 1942 as commanding officer of the Nachtigall Battalion in early 1941,{{cite book |last=Piotrowski |first=Tadeusz |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NBbnrEMswbUC&q=Poland's+holocaust |title=Poland's Holocaust: Ethnic Strife, Collaboration with Occupying Forces and Genocide in the Second Republic, 1918-1947 |date=2007-01-09 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0-7864-2913-4 |language=en |quote=...on the German side and Roman Shukhevych ('Tur', 'Taras Chuprynka') as head of the Ukrainian staff, wore the uniform of the Wehrmacht. |author-link=Tadeusz Piotrowski (sociologist)}} and as a {{lang|de|Hauptmann}} of the German Schutzmannschaft 201 auxiliary police battalion in late 1941 and 1942,{{cite journal |last1=Rudling |first1=Anders |date=2016 |title=The Cult of Roman Shukhevych in Ukraine: Myth Making with Complications |url=http://portal.research.lu.se/ws/files/17219693/22116257_005_01_S003_text.pdf |journal=Fascism: Journal of Comparative Fascist Studies |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=26–65 |doi=10.1163/22116257-00501003 |doi-access=free}}
Source also available at online on the Brill Publishers website in the article [https://brill.com/view/journals/fasc/5/1/article-p26_3.xml?language=en The Cult of Roman Shukhevych in Ukraine: Myth Making with Complications]; online publication date: 26 May 2016 units which were complicit in the Galicia-Volhynia massacres of ethnic Poles and in the Lviv pogroms (1941) against Jews. The bust was built in 1972 by Ukrainian World War II veterans on private land near the Ukrainian Youth Unity Complex in Edmonton, Alberta.{{Cite journal |last=Rossoliński-Liebe |first=Grzegorz |title=Celebrating Fascism and War Criminality in Edmonton. The Political Myth and Cult of Stepan Bandera in Multicultural Canada, in: in Kakanien Revisited 12 (2010): 1-16. |url=https://www.academia.edu/401300 |journal=Jahrbücher für Geschichte Osteuropas, Osteuropa and H-Soz-U-Kult. |quote=The complex is named in honour of Roman Shukhevych, a leading banderite and leader of the UPA in the years 1943–1950. Shukhevych was more directly responsible for OUN-UPA’s crimes against humanity such as the ethnic cleansing of Poles in Volhynia and Galicia and massacres of Jews. In 1972, a bust of Roman Shukhevych was placed in front of the entrance to the building, resulting in all celebrants passing by it on their way to the place of celebration. |access-date=2022-12-26 |archive-date=2022-02-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220225094658/https://www.academia.edu/401300 |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |date=25 Oct 2022 |title=Alberta journalist charged with mischief in vandalism of controversial statue |work=CBC |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/edmonton-police-mischief-charge-roman-shukhevych-statue-1.6629671 |access-date=20 November 2022 |archive-date=12 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221112234159/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/edmonton-police-mischief-charge-roman-shukhevych-statue-1.6629671 |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title=Group resumes decades-old fight to remove statue of Ukrainian Nazi collaborator outside Edmonton cultural centre |url=https://edmontonjournal.com/news/crime/group-resumes-decades-old-fight-to-remove-statue-of-ukrainian-nazi-collaborator-outside-edmonton-cultural-centre |access-date=2022-11-20 |website=edmontonjournal |language=en-CA |archive-date=2022-05-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220519060754/https://edmontonjournal.com/news/crime/group-resumes-decades-old-fight-to-remove-statue-of-ukrainian-nazi-collaborator-outside-edmonton-cultural-centre |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |date=2021-08-13 |title=Ukrainian monuments vandalized, group calls for their removal over historical record |url=https://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/ukrainian-monuments-vandalized-group-calls-for-their-removal-over-historical-record-1.5546656 |access-date=2022-11-20 |website=Edmonton |language=en |archive-date=2022-11-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221120043858/https://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/ukrainian-monuments-vandalized-group-calls-for-their-removal-over-historical-record-1.5546656 |url-status=live }} The statue was vandalised in 2019 when someone added the words "Nazi scum".{{Cite web |last=Noakes |first=Taylor |date=7 Nov 2022 |title=Canada Has a Nazi Monument Problem |url=https://jacobin.com/2022/11/roman-shukhevych-monument-canada-nazi-ukrainian-ultranationalism |access-date=2022-11-20 |website=jacobin.com |language=en-US |archive-date=2022-11-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221120085602/https://jacobin.com/2022/11/roman-shukhevych-monument-canada-nazi-ukrainian-ultranationalism |url-status=live }} It was vandalised again in 2021 when someone added the words "Actual Nazi" in red paint.

File:War Memorial St. Michael’s Cemetery, Edmonton.jpeg

A memorial reading For those who fought for Ukraine’s Freedom was constructed in St. Michael’s Cemetery in Edmonton in 1976 by former members of the Ukrainian Waffen-SS division: 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Galician).{{Cite journal |last=Rudling |first=Per A. |title=Multiculturalism, memory, and ritualization: Ukrainian nationalist monuments in Edmonton, Alberta |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/nationalities-papers/article/abs/multiculturalism-memory-and-ritualization-ukrainian-nationalist-monuments-in-edmonton-alberta/822C91BEEA821235D6E3CD0007530A25 |journal=Nationalities Papers |year=2011 |language=en |volume=39 |issue=5 |pages=733–768 |doi=10.1080/00905992.2011.599375 |s2cid=128418099 |issn=0090-5992 |access-date=2022-11-22 |archive-date=2022-11-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221122012637/https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/nationalities-papers/article/abs/multiculturalism-memory-and-ritualization-ukrainian-nationalist-monuments-in-edmonton-alberta/822C91BEEA821235D6E3CD0007530A25 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}

The International Military Tribunal's verdict at the Nuremberg Trials declared the entire Waffen-SS a "criminal organization" guilty of war crimes{{cite web |title=Waffen-SS |url=http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/waffen-ss |access-date=4 October 2018 |website=jewishvirtuallibrary.org |archive-date=17 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180917165852/https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/waffen-ss |url-status=live }} but the Canadian Deschênes Commission of October 1986 concluded this Ukrainian division should not be indicted as a group.{{cite magazine | last=Pugliese |first=David |date=October 30, 2020 |url=http://espritdecorps.ca/history-feature/whitewashing-the-ss-the-attempt-to-re-write-the-history-of-hitlers-collaborators |title=Whitewashing the SS: The Attempt to Re-Write the History of Hitler's Collaborators |magazine=Esprit de Corps Canadian Military Magazine |access-date=2024-04-18}}

In 2021 the memorial was vandalized by painting "Nazi monument to 14th Waffen SS". A spokesperson for the Canadian Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center said "These monuments are nothing less than a glorification and celebration of those who actively participated in Holocaust crimes as well the mass murder of Polish civilians." Jewish organizations requested the removal of the damaged memorial.{{Cite news |last=Lung |first=Raylene |date=October 12, 2021 |title=Jewish groups call for removal of vandalized Ukrainian WWII memorial |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/jewish-groups-call-for-removal-of-vandalized-ukrainian-wwii-memorial-1.6139297 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221120084037/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/jewish-groups-call-for-removal-of-vandalized-ukrainian-wwii-memorial-1.6139297 |work=CBC News |access-date=2022-11-21 |archive-date=2022-11-20 }} However, the Ukrainian Catholic Church called the vandalism "part of the decades-long Russian disinformation campaign against Ukraine and Ukrainians to create a false Nazi image of Ukrainian freedom fighters."{{Cite news |date=August 13, 2021 |title=Ukrainian monuments vandalized, group calls for their removal over historical record |url=https://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/ukrainian-monuments-vandalized-group-calls-for-their-removal-over-historical-record-1.5546656 |access-date=2022-11-21 |work=CTV News |language=en |archive-date=2022-11-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221120043858/https://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/ukrainian-monuments-vandalized-group-calls-for-their-removal-over-historical-record-1.5546656 |url-status=live }} The St. Michael’s monument is dedicated to "Fighters for the Freedom of Ukraine". One of its plaques is an abbreviation for the First Division Division of the Ukrainian National Army.{{Cite web |date=August 10, 2021 |first=Duncan |last=Kinney |title=Nazi collaborator monuments in Edmonton defaced with red paint and words "Actual Nazi" and "Nazi Monument" |url=https://www.theprogressreport.ca/monuments_to_nazi_collaborators_in_edmonton_vandalized_again |access-date=2022-11-25 |website=The Progress Report |archive-date=2022-11-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221125110937/https://www.theprogressreport.ca/monuments_to_nazi_collaborators_in_edmonton_vandalized_again |url-status=live }}{{cite book |last=Haike |first=Wolf-Dietrich |title=The Ukrainian Division "Galicia", 1943-1945: A Memoir |publisher=Shevchenko Scientific Society |location=Toronto |year=1988 |page=17 |oclc=21043745 |isbn=9780969023944 }} On April 25, 1945, the Waffen-SS Galizien was officially reorganized as the First Division of the Ukrainian National Army, and swore a new oath of loyalty to the Ukrainian people.{{Cite journal |last=Rudling |first=Per Anders |date=July–September 2012 |title='They Defended Ukraine': The 14. Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS (Galizische Nr. 1) Revisited |journal=Journal of Slavic Military Studies |volume=25 |issue=3 |pages=339–359 |doi=10.1080/13518046.2012.705633 |s2cid=144432759}} Bernie Farber of the Canadian Jewish Congress wrote that "removing this monument will require the Ukrainian-Canadian community to take a hard look at its own history."{{Cite news |first=Bernie |last=Farber |date=2020-07-22 |title=Bernie Farber: Canada's monument to Nazi soldiers |language=en |work=National Post |url=https://nationalpost.com/opinion/bernie-farber-canadas-monument-to-nazi-soldiers |access-date=2022-11-21}} University of Alberta historian Jars Balan told CBC News that the history of the monument and the Shukhevych statue were "complicated", saying that some people had fought in German uniforms in order to achieve Ukrainian independence.

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A granite memorial entitled Pamiatnyk Slavy UPA (English: Monument to the Glory of the UPA) celebrating the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, a Ukrainian nationalist force that allied with the Nazis in 1942-43 before fighting against them in 1943-44, was inaugurated on May 26, 1988, in the St. Volodymyr Ukrainian Cemetery in Oakville, Ontario. A cenotaph to veterans of the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Galician) was added shortly afterwards, with the SS division's insignia.{{cite book |last1=Rudling |first1=Per Anders |url=https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/progressalberta/pages/2693/attachments/original/1594062960/Per_Anders_Rudling_-_Nationalist_Monuments_in_Canada.pdf?1594062960 |title=Public Memory in the Context of Transnational Migration and Displacement |date=3 July 2020 |isbn=978-3-030-41329-3 |editor1-last=Marschall |editor1-first=Sabine |pages=105–108 |chapter=Long-Distance Nationalism: Ukrainian Monuments and Historical Memory in Multicultural Canada |publisher=Springer |author-link1=Per Anders Rudling |access-date=21 November 2022 |archive-date=27 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210127162542/https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/progressalberta/pages/2693/attachments/original/1594062960/Per_Anders_Rudling_-_Nationalist_Monuments_in_Canada.pdf?1594062960 |url-status=live }}

The SS cenotaph was vandalised in mid-June 2020 when someone added the words "Nazi war monument".{{Cite web |last=Pugliese |first=David |date=17 July 2020 |title=Graffiti on monument commemorating Nazi SS division being investigated as a hate crime by police |url=https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/defence-watch/graffiti-on-monument-commemorating-nazi-ss-division-being-investigated-as-a-hate-crime-by-police |access-date=2022-11-20 |website=ottawacitizen |language=en-CA |archive-date=2022-12-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221201015150/https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/defence-watch/graffiti-on-monument-commemorating-nazi-ss-division-being-investigated-as-a-hate-crime-by-police |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |date=2020-07-17 |title=Canada police investigate vandalism of monument to Nazi troops as hate crime |url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/17/canada-nazi-monument-vandalism-hate-crime |access-date=2022-11-21 |website=the Guardian |language=en |archive-date=2022-11-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221121141044/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/17/canada-nazi-monument-vandalism-hate-crime |url-status=live }} Canadian police apologized for originally stating that the vandalism was motivated by hate.{{Cite news |last=Carter |first=Adam |date=17 July 2020 |title=Police apologize for saying anti-Nazi vandalism was 'hate motivated' |work=Canada Broadcasting Corporation |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/monument-vandalism-nazi-1.5654169 |access-date=18 July 2020 |archive-date=18 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200718023426/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/monument-vandalism-nazi-1.5654169 |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last=Pugliese |first=David |date=17 July 2020 |title=Graffiti on monument commemorating Nazi SS division being investigated as a hate crime by police |work=Ottawa Citizen |url=https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/defence-watch/graffiti-on-monument-commemorating-nazi-ss-division-being-investigated-as-a-hate-crime-by-police/wcm/957b5e7e-e26f-46f0-92a4-6e26842dbd23/ |access-date=17 July 2020 |archive-date=17 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200717161130/https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/defence-watch/graffiti-on-monument-commemorating-nazi-ss-division-being-investigated-as-a-hate-crime-by-police/wcm/957b5e7e-e26f-46f0-92a4-6e26842dbd23/ |url-status=live }}

Both monuments were the subject of complaints from the Russian Embassy to Canada in 2017.{{Cite web |title=Russian Embassy charges monuments to alleged 'Nazi collaborators' in Oakville |url=https://www.insidehalton.com/news-story/7681143-russian-embassy-charges-monuments-to-alleged-nazi-collaborators-in-oakville/ |access-date=2023-01-01 |website=InsideHalton.com |date=24 October 2017 |language=en-CA |archive-date=2020-07-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200706202222/https://www.insidehalton.com/news-story/7681143-russian-embassy-charges-monuments-to-alleged-nazi-collaborators-in-oakville/ |url-status=live }} Ihor Michalchyshyn, the CEO of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress accused Russia of obfuscation.{{Cite news |last=Smith |first=Marie-Danielle |date=2017-12-23 |title=Ukrainian-Canadian community urged to confront WWII past amid controversy over monuments |language=en |work=National Post |url=https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/ukrainian-canadian-community-urged-to-confront-past-amid-controversy-over-monuments-to-nazi-collaborators |access-date=2022-11-21}}

Jewish B’nai Brith organization and the Canadian Polish Congress called for the SS monument's removal in a joint statement, saying that the presence of monuments that whitewash the Holocaust and Nazi ideology is unacceptable in Canada.{{Cite web |date=2020-07-28 |title=B'nai Brith Taking Action Against Nazi Glorification |url=https://albertajewishnews.com/bnai-brith-taking-action-against-nazi-glorification/ |access-date= |website=Alberta Jewish News |language=en-US |archive-date=2022-11-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221122005105/https://albertajewishnews.com/bnai-brith-taking-action-against-nazi-glorification/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title=Canadian Jewish and Polish Groups Join Forces to Demand Removal of SS Monument at Ontario Cemetery |url=https://www.algemeiner.com/2020/07/31/canadian-jewish-and-polish-groups-join-forces-to-demand-removal-of-ss-monument-at-ontario-cemetery/ |access-date=2022-11-22 |website=Algemeiner.com |language=en-US |archive-date=2022-11-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221122035908/https://www.algemeiner.com/2020/07/31/canadian-jewish-and-polish-groups-join-forces-to-demand-removal-of-ss-monument-at-ontario-cemetery/ |url-status=live }} Oakville Mayor Rob Burton stated that he would remove the SS monument but he can’t, because municipalities have no right to regulate private cemeteries.{{Cite web |title='Disgusted': Oakville cemetery facing calls to remove what's being called a Nazi monument |url=https://www.insidehalton.com/news-story/10130501--disgusted-oakville-cemetery-facing-calls-to-remove-what-s-being-called-a-nazi-monument/ |access-date=2022-11-25 |website=InsideHalton.com |date=10 August 2020 |language=en-CA |archive-date=2022-11-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221125105636/https://www.insidehalton.com/news-story/10130501--disgusted-oakville-cemetery-facing-calls-to-remove-what-s-being-called-a-nazi-monument/ |url-status=live }}

In March 2024, the monument was finally removed but it was also reported that it might just be repaired and might eventually return.https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/14th-waffen-grenadier-division-of-the-ss-nazi-monument-oakvillehttps://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/12/canada-ukranian-nazi-memorial-removed

In 2015 CTV News reported that in Quebec a street in Gatineau was named after Alexis Carrel, as well a street and park named after him in 1972 and 1988 respectively in Montreal community Rivière des Prairies, and a park and streets named after him in Boisbriand and Châteauguay. Carrel won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1912, and was a supporter of eugenics and the Nazis, advocating for the elimination of "undesirables", and was involved in the Vichy government of France.{{Cite web |date=2015-06-11 |title=Gatineau renames streets honouring Nazi sympathizers |url=https://thecjn.ca/news/canada/gatineau-renames-streets-honouring-nazi-sympathizers/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230101080441/https://thecjn.ca/news/canada/gatineau-renames-streets-honouring-nazi-sympathizers/ |archive-date=2023-01-01 |access-date=2023-01-01 |website=The Canadian Jewish News |language=en-US}}{{Cite news |title=Montreal Mayor Pledges to Rename Sites That Honor Nazi Sympathizer |language=en |work=Haaretz |url=https://www.haaretz.com/jewish/2016-04-24/ty-article/montreal-mayor-promises-to-rename-sites-that-nazi-sympathizer/0000017f-e745-df2c-a1ff-ff5561620000 |url-status=live |access-date=2023-01-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230101080436/https://www.haaretz.com/jewish/2016-04-24/ty-article/montreal-mayor-promises-to-rename-sites-that-nazi-sympathizer/0000017f-e745-df2c-a1ff-ff5561620000 |archive-date=2023-01-01}} In 2015 the street in Gatineau was renamed after Marie Curie. In 2017 it was announced that the street and the park in Rivière des Prairies, Montreal would be renamed. This followed a campaign from the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs of Quebec, who said that they hoped Boisbriand and Châteauguay would follow the lead of Montreal and Gatineau.{{Cite news |date=9 August 2017 |title=Montreal to rename avenue, park named for alleged Nazi sympathizer Alexis Carrel |work=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/montreal-to-rename-avenue-park-named-for-alleged-nazi-sympathizer-alexis-carrel-1.4241052 |url-status=live |access-date=1 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230101080441/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/montreal-to-rename-avenue-park-named-for-alleged-nazi-sympathizer-alexis-carrel-1.4241052 |archive-date=1 January 2023}}

In 2022, the Toronto Star reported that the Peace River Regional District was asked to reconsider their lack of input over the province's proposal to change the names of Bedaux Pass and Mount Bedaux, both of which are named after French-American industrialist Charles Bedaux. The two monuments were named after Bedaux, who was later arrested for collaborating with Nazi Germany and killed himself in prison in 1944, since he'd led a famous subarctic expedition through the region in 1934.{{Cite web |last=News |first=Tom Summer, Local Journalism Initiative Alaska Highway |date=2022-02-08 |title=Bedaux renaming controversy lingers at PRRD |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/bedaux-renaming-controversy-lingers-at-prrd/article_2084fbce-e11b-5209-ab2d-0160725e5503.html |access-date=2025-02-09 |website=Toronto Star |language=en}}

A mountain on the border of British Columbia and Alberta was named for Nazi collaborator Philippe Pétain until British Columbia removed its name in 2022 following Alberta's decision to remove the mountain's name in 2019. It was named for Pétain in 1919, at which point he was considered a hero for leading forces to victory in the 1916 Battle of Verdun in World War I. Later, during World War II, Pétain led the collaborationist Government of Vichy France.{{Cite web|author=CBC Radio|title=Canadian mountain no longer named for Nazi collaborator thanks to father and son|url=https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-tuesday-edition-1.6510937/canadian-mountain-no-longer-named-for-nazi-collaborator-thanks-to-father-and-son-1.6510938|access-date=2022-12-27|website=CBC|language=en-CA|archive-date=2022-11-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221120053320/https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-tuesday-edition-1.6510937/canadian-mountain-no-longer-named-for-nazi-collaborator-thanks-to-father-and-son-1.6510938|url-status=live}}

The town of Ajax, Ontario is named for HMS Ajax, which fought in the Battle of the River Plate in the Second World War.{{cite news |last1=Kitts |first1=Daniel |date=10 November 2015 |title=The Second World War created Ajax. Here's how |work=TVO |location=Toronto ON |url=https://www.tvo.org/article/the-second-world-war-created-ajax-heres-how |access-date=31 January 2022 |archive-date=29 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190929063605/https://www.tvo.org/article/the-second-world-war-created-ajax-heres-how |url-status=live }} In the municipality, one of the streets was named Langsdorff Drive in honour of Hans Langsdorff, a battleship captain who commanded German forces in the battle.{{Cite web |title=Ontario community urged to change the name of a street named after Nazi battleship captain - Todayville |url=https://www.todayville.com/ontario-community-urged-to-change-the-name-of-a-street-named-after-nazi-battleship-captain/ |access-date=2022-12-09 |website=www.todayville.com |archive-date=2022-12-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221209020725/https://www.todayville.com/ontario-community-urged-to-change-the-name-of-a-street-named-after-nazi-battleship-captain/ |url-status=live }} The naming was supported by the River Plate Veterans Association. The street received a naming ceremony, with Langsdorff's daughter and son-in-law in attendance.{{cite news |date=9 October 2007 |title=Langsdorff dedication appreciated by daughter |work=Oshawa This Week |location=Oshawa ON |url=https://www.durhamregion.com/news-story/10558569-ajax-ndp-candidate-steve-parish-slammed-for-support-of-street-named-after-nazi-germany-naval-officer/news-story/3484969-langsdorff-dedication-appreciated-by-daughter/ |access-date=31 January 2022 |archive-date=31 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220131000323/https://www.durhamregion.com/news-story/10558569-ajax-ndp-candidate-steve-parish-slammed-for-support-of-street-named-after-nazi-germany-naval-officer/news-story/3484969-langsdorff-dedication-appreciated-by-daughter/ |url-status=live }}

This name was changed in 2021 in response to public opposition.{{Cite web |date=2021-03-12 |title=New name for Ajax street that had been named after captain of Nazi war ship |url=https://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/local-ajax/news/council/2021/03/12/new-name-for-ajax-street-that-had-been-named-after-captain-of-nazi-war-ship.html |access-date=25 January 2022 |website=St. Catharines Standard |language=en |archive-date=2022-01-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220125151806/https://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/local-ajax/news/council/2021/03/12/new-name-for-ajax-street-that-had-been-named-after-captain-of-nazi-war-ship.html |url-status=live }} In 2020 Ajax {{clarify|date=January 2022}} tried to honour Langsdorff and his ship the Admiral Graf Spee by naming a street Graf Spee Crescent. This was also changed after the public became aware and brought it the attention of Ajax Mayor Shaun Collier. Collier put forward a motion to change this name, stating, "We did Langsdorff, which I did support ... This, I think, has crossed the line a little bit."{{cite news |last=Gilligan |first=Keith |date=6 August 2020 |title='Crossed the line a little bit': Ajax scuttles naming street after Nazi warship |work=Ajax News-Advertiser |url=https://www.durhamregion.com/news-story/10130982--crossed-the-line-a-little-bit-ajax-scuttles-naming-street-after-nazi-warship/ |access-date=13 September 2020 |archive-date=8 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200808165722/https://www.durhamregion.com/news-story/10130982--crossed-the-line-a-little-bit-ajax-scuttles-naming-street-after-nazi-warship/ |url-status=live }} Many of Ajax's streets are named after people involved in the Battle of the River Plate.{{cite web |date=9 October 2007 |title=Langsdorff dedication appreciated by daughter |url=https://www.durhamregion.com/news-story/3484969-langsdorff-dedication-appreciated-by-daughter/ |access-date=10 March 2019 |publisher=DurhamRegion.com |archive-date=30 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201130063304/https://www.durhamregion.com/news-story/3484969-langsdorff-dedication-appreciated-by-daughter/ |url-status=live }}

A street in Gatineau, Quebec, used to be named after Philipp Lenard, who won the Nobel Prize in physics in 1905. He was also a strong supporter of the Nazis and acted as an advisor to Hitler.[https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1905/lenard-bio.html Nobel prize 1905] In 2015 the street was renamed after Albert Einstein following a campaign from the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs of Quebec.{{Cite web |date=2015-05-29 |title=Quebec residents unfazed by streets named after Nazi sympathizers |url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/quebec-residents-unfazed-by-streets-named-after-nazi-sympathizers-1.2396913 |access-date=2023-01-01 |website=CTVNews |language=en |archive-date=2023-01-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230101062712/https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/quebec-residents-unfazed-by-streets-named-after-nazi-sympathizers-1.2396913 |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |date=10 June 2015 |title=Gatineau renames two city streets after complaints over Nazi links |work=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/gatineau-renames-two-city-streets-after-complaints-over-nazi-links-1.3107377 |access-date=1 January 2023 |archive-date=1 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230101062706/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/gatineau-renames-two-city-streets-after-complaints-over-nazi-links-1.3107377 |url-status=live }}

• Monuments in the United States to Nazi collaborators
• List of Holocaust memorials and museums in Canada
• List of Holodomor memorials and monuments in Canada
• Monument of Lihula, Estonia
• Monuments to Stepan Bandera
• Yaroslav Hunka scandal

{{reflist}}

{{SS Divisions}}

• Owen Schalk, [https://canadiandimension.com/articles/view/why-isnt-canadian-media-condemning-nazi-collaborator-roman-shukhevych Why isn’t Canadian media condemning Nazi collaborator Roman Shukhevych?], Canadian Dimension, November 3 2022.
• Harrison Samphir, [https://www.straight.com/news/how-did-a-monument-to-a-nazi-ss-division-end-up-being-erected-in-canada How did a monument to a Nazi SS division end up being erected in Canada?], The Georgia Straight, 25 July 2020.

Category:Statues in Canada

Category:Controversies in Canada

Category:Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists

Category:Ukrainian Insurgent Army

Category:Ukrainian collaboration during World War II

Category:World War II memorials in Canada