Jewish Group Scrutinizes Nazi Collaborator Memorial In Montgomery County

ELKINS PARK, PA — A memorial in an Elkins Park cemetery is drawing scrutiny from a major Jewish organization over its connections to Nazis.

St. Mary’s Ukrainian Catholic Cemetery in Elkins Park features a memorial dedicated to a Ukrainian Waffen-SS division that fought alongside the Nazis in World War II.

According to the American Jewish Committee, democratic governments in Central and Eastern Europe established after the fall of communism have never "been forced to openly confront their own Holocaust-era past and the role of local collaborators and perpetrators."

"In fact, many first saw independence as an opportunity to rehabilitate wartime fascist leaders, honoring their anti-Communist struggles while ignoring their documented role in the murder of Jews," a statement from the committee reads. "In the years since, many have come to recognize that this was wrong, and with the help of international historical commissions and Holocaust scholars, they are correcting these misconceptions."

The committee called the Elkins Park memorial "one of the worst examples of this."

According to the committee, the memorial was erected 30 years ago, around the time of communism's demise in Europe.

"We trust our Ukrainian friends and colleagues recognize that this cannot remain," the committee said. "We urge them to act in the same spirit that motivated Ukrainian President Zelenskyy to correct these historical myths at home and remove this memorial stone from our community."