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The Edmonton Journal’s recent article, “Ex-chancellor’s war past centre of controversy,” attempts to soften and even excuse the legacy of Peter Savaryn, former chancellor of the University of Alberta and recipient of the Order of Canada. It is troubling to see the Journal publish a piece riddled with distortions and omissions that obscure the truth about Savaryn’s wartime past and the unit he voluntarily joined: the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS, also known as the SS Galicia.

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Given current calls to rename an Edmonton street still bearing Savaryn’s name, readers deserve an honest account of who he was and what he chose to fight for.

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The article asserts that the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center “classifies” Savaryn as a Nazi, as though this were a matter of interpretation. But there is nothing to classify. Savaryn was a Nazi, plain and simple. He voluntarily enlisted in the SS — the organization tasked by Hitler to........

© Edmonton Journal