Peter Savaryn

Peter Savaryn CM (September 17, 1926 – April 6, 2017) was a Ukrainian-born Canadian lawyer.

During World War II, he belonged to the Waffen-SS Galician Division, part of the SS military wing of the Nazi Party.

[1][2] The Waffen-SS, a branch of the Nazi elite corps SS under Heinrich Himmler, systematically took part in crimes against humanity in Eastern Europe in the wake of Operation Barbarossa, the Yugoslav campaign (1941—1945) and the extermination (concentration) camps, which were guarded by SS personnel.

[3] Savaryn was among the approximately 2,000 Waffen-SS Galicia fighters allowed to immigrate to Canada, who would have done so under false testimony.

[8] In 2023, after international scrutiny and outrage when the Canadian government honoured fellow SS Galician veteran Yaroslav Hunka, the Governor General of Canada Mary Simon expressed "deep regret" for Savaryn's award of the Order of Canada in a response to an enquiry from The Forward magazine.