I was a university student at the time of the Deschenes commission. As a Ukrainian-Canadian who knew some former members of the Galician division, I was upset at the accusations levelled at the formation. However, over the course of the commission hearings and through later reading, I learned one important thing I didn't know before. When the Germans formed the division, they incorporated Ukrainian auxiliary police. These police units had participated in the killing of Jews. This means some members of the division were already guilty of war crimes when they joined. Some, however, doesn't mean all or most.

I once met Sol Littman, whose activism was largely responsible for the Mulroney's government to create the Deschenes commission. I told him I knew some members of the division. He said he would have to know when they joined before he could say whether he thought they were war criminals.

Myroslav Shkandrij mentions anti-Nazi Ukrainian partisans. He's referring to the Ukrainian Insurgent Army whose Ukrainian initials are UPA. The UPA was created by a Nazi-aligned fascist organization called the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists. The UPA conducted a campaign of ethnic cleansing against Poles living in the Volhynia region. Tens of thousands were murdered. Unfortunately, Ukrainian-Canadian organizations such as the Ukrainian Canadian Congress have defended UPA.

None of this ugly history should deflect us from the fact that as we speak the Russians are committing atrocities in Ukraine. Ukrainians alive today aren't responsible for what some of their ancestors did during World War II. Also, if we focus on history we should remember that many more Ukrainians fought in the Red Army than collaborated with the Nazis.

One final point. Some Russians also collaborated. Anyone interested can search the internet for Vlasov's army.