Ottawa has rejected calls to release a secret report containing the names of around 900 alleged war criminals who settled here after the Second World War.
The news was greeted with dismay by Jewish groups, which had joined dozens of leading scholars from around the world asking for the names to be published.
The Globe and Mail was among three organizations to file an access to information request to release Part 2 of the 1986 Commission of Inquiry on War Criminals in Canada led by retired Superior Court of Quebec judge Jules Deschênes. The second half of the report, containing the names of the alleged war criminals, was kept secret.
Library and Archives Canada, which consulted stakeholders for several months on whether to release the names, replied to The Globe on Monday, saying, “the documents you requested were identified, assessed and are withheld in their entirety.”
Among the 900 names in the secret report are members of the Ukrainian SS Galicia Division who settled in Canada. Last year, there was an outcry after a veteran of the Nazi-led division, Yaroslav Hunka, received two standing ovations in the House of Commons during a visit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Anthony Rota, who invited Mr. Hunka and praised him as a hero, later resigned as Commons Speaker.
Those calling on Canada to declassify the report include Sir Richard Evans, former Regius professor of history at Cambridge University and author of 18 books, including Hitler’s People.
Some groups and individuals who were consulted by the government warned that Russian propaganda in the war against Ukraine could get a boost from the naming of hundreds of alleged Nazi war criminals who later came to Canada. They expressed fears that the information could fuel Russian President Vladimir Putin’s unfounded claim that the invasion of Ukraine amounts to a purge of Nazis.
Library and Archives Canada said that after carrying out a “comprehensive review in accordance with the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act – which included targeted consultations with external stakeholders and various Government of Canada departments – a decision has been made to withhold the Part II Report of the Deschênes Commission in its entirety.”
“This decision was based on concerns regarding risk of potential harm to international relations and Canadian interests,” added spokesman Richard Provencher in a statement. The safety of individuals, as well as issues relating to personal information and the revelation of an informant were also taken into account.
But Jewish groups criticized the decision, saying the consultation was too limited.
“We are disappointed and are angry that once again the government has made the decision to hide from Canadians the facts surrounding the Nazi war criminals who moved to our country and enjoyed total impunity,” said Jaime Kirzner-Roberts, senior director of advocacy and policy at the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Centre, a Jewish human-rights organization. “This entire consultation process was stacked from the very beginning to shut out the voices of Holocaust survivors and organizations in order to ensure this shameful outcome.
“Nazi war criminals should never have been allowed to make their way into our country and Canadians deserve transparency.”
B’nai Brith, another Jewish organization, has been urging the government to release the unpublished second half of the report and also filed an access to information request. It condemned the decision to keep it secret.
“This disgraceful secrecy dishonours survivors of the Holocaust and denies justice. For decades, B’nai Brith Canada and our senior legal counsel, David Matas, have fought for full access – only to face endless delays and stonewalling. Justice delayed is justice denied,” said Marty York, director of communications.
Historian Per Anders Rudling of Lund University, in Sweden, said many of the names had already been released to scholars using freedom of information laws in the United States. That country is more open about granting scholars access than Canada, he added.
“As we are approaching the 80th anniversary of the end of the Holocaust, with virtually all perpetrators dead, Canadian authorities decide to deny historians access to relevant materials,” said Mr. Rudling, who has published research on the SS Galicia Division. “They do so after a secretive process of consulting undisclosed ‘stakeholders’ without inviting or consulting historians of the Holocaust.”
Bernie Farber, the son of a Holocaust survivor from Poland who hid in a hole in the ground for months after his entire village was killed, called the decision “a shameful blot on our history.”
Mr. Farber, a former chief executive officer of the Canadian Jewish Congress, has campaigned for decades for the names to be published. He said he was surprised by the decision and asked the government to reconsider.
“What does this mean for future war criminals? Does it mean that they can without worry come to Canada and never be exposed?” said Mr. Farber, founding chair of the Canadian Anti-hate Network.