by David Pugliese • Ottawa Citizen
(Sept. 4, 2024) – A list of 900 alleged Nazi war criminals who fled to Canada could remain secret as federal officials come under increasing pressure to censor the records because they could prove embarrassing to this country. Library and Archives Canada in Ottawa consulted in June and July with what it called a “discrete group of individuals or organizations” about whether the list should be made public, according to documents obtained by the Ottawa Citizen.
Those consulted included members of Canada’s Ukrainian community, records show, but Library and Archives Canada, also known as LAC, did not include Holocaust survivors nor Holocaust scholars who had advocated for a full release of the list of alleged Nazi war criminals, Jewish and Holocaust academics say.Some of the individuals and organizations consulted by LAC argued against releasing any of the information, warning it could be embarrassing or lead to prosecutions of the alleged war criminals.“A few stakeholders were concerned that the release of the report would result in new legal action (criminal prosecution, citizen revocation, or otherwise) being brought against the individuals named in the report,” a summary of the library’s discussions noted.Other stakeholders who advised LAC worried the list would embarrass Canada’s Ukrainian community or be used by Russians for propaganda purposes, the records show.
Large numbers of soldiers from a Ukrainian Waffen SS division fled to Canada after the war.
Library and Archives Canada had hoped to release information to the public between Sept. 16 and Sept. 20, but how many names of the alleged Nazi war criminals will actually be made public is not yet known.
Click here to read the full article by David Pugliese in The Ottawa Citizen published on Sept. 4, 2024.
Christia Freeland