(Mirror.)
The statement from the Governor General — the representative of the British Monarchy in Canada — concerned Peter Savaryn, who served as chancellor of the University of Alberta from 1982 to 1986 and in 1987 was appointed to the Order of Canada. The award is akin to the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom, and is considered the second highest distinction for Canadians, topped only by the Order of Merit available to all citizens of the British Commonwealth.
Responding to an inquiry from the Forward, the statement from Governor General Mary Simon expressed “deep regret” about Savaryn’s appointment. A spokesperson said the office is also now reviewing two other honors it gave Savaryn: the Golden Jubilee (awarded in 2002) and Diamond Jubilee (awarded in 2012) medals.
[…]
Hunka and Savaryn were both volunteers in the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS, commonly known as SS Galichina or the Galicia Division. The unit, which was formed in 1943 out of recruits from the Galicia region in western Ukraine, was armed and trained by the Third Reich, and commanded by German SS officers. It’s accused of war crimes, including burning alive 500 to 1,000 Poles in 1944.
Related: Trudeau says Canada may finally make secret Nazi files public
Events that happened today (October 6):
1900: Willy Merkl, a mountain climber whom the Third Reich briefly sponsored, was born.
1916: Chiang Wei‐kuo, Japanese–Chinese Wehrmacht(!) officer candidate, was brought to the world.
1935: Fascist forces captured Adwa.
1939: The Battle of Kock became the final combat of the September Campaign in Poland.
1942: American troops forced the Axis from its positions east of the Matanikau River during the Battle of Guadalcanal.
1943: A paramilitary group in Crete burnt thirteen civilians alive during the Axis occupation of Greece.
1944: Units of the 1st Czechoslovak Army Corps entered Czechoslovakia during the Battle of the Dukla Pass. (This later became Deň obetí Dukly or Dukla Pass Victims Day in Slovakia.)
1945: Leonardo Conti, SS‐Obergruppenführer who was involved in the massacre of hundreds of thousands of disabled people, hung himself in prison… no comment.