Councillor's dad served as an SS officer

A SON of a former SS officer, an ex-Australian soap actress, an open-top bus tour guide and a former deck hand on the Greenpeace boat Rainbow Warrior are among Edinburgh's new councillors.

Former athletes, cab and bus drivers, and an ex-spin doctor for the Royal Family will also take their place in City Chambers next week.

However, much of the spotlight will be on Stefan Tymkewycz, whose father Bohdan served with the Ukrainian Division of the SS during the Second World War.

The 86-year-old, who now lives in Dalkeith, Midlothian, is understood to have been an officer in the 16,000-strong 14th Waffen SS Galizien Division. Its members have been accused of taking part in a string of atrocities during the Second World War, though there is no suggestion Mr Tymkewycz's father was involved.

Bohdan Tymkewycz, was named last year as a suspected war criminal along with 50 other former SS Galizien members by London MP Andrew Dismore, who was campaigning for former Nazi war criminals to be brought to justice.

He has criticised the police for failing to take enough action to pursue alleged war criminals living in the UK before they die.

He said today: "The former Galiziens named in my Commons motion were all done so after many years of research. I don't want to comment on any individual cases, but I obviously believe that all these people are still worthy of pursuit for war crimes."

Stefan Tymkewycz was elected as an SNP councillor in the Craigentinny/Duddingston ward and was also voted in as an MSP on the Lothians regional list, though he has still to decide whether to take on both roles.

The former Metropolitan Police officer, who was born in Abbeyhill and still lives in the area, today confirmed his father had been a member of the Galizien but refused to comment further on his military background.

He said: "He doesn't keep too well now and has had three operations in the last year. I don't see what relevance this has to me."

Members of the division were offered refuge in Britain in 1947 after spending two years in a prison camp. At the time, it is thought the Ministry of Defence wanted to use them as a possible fighting force against Communism.

Earlier this year it emerged that there were more than 1400 of the original Galizien still alive and living around the UK. However, the Government has said there is not enough evidence of atrocities to pursue any cases.

Mr Tymkewycz's father's involvement with the SS is said to be common knowledge in SNP circles. One party source said: "It's not something Stefan particularly wants to advertise, but he's been pretty open about it. It's not exactly a secret within the party, but it's got nothing to do with his suitability to be a councillor or MSP."

An SNP spokesman added: "We were aware of it, but it is not an issue. It's obviously a private personal matter to do with Stefan's private family history."

Mr Tymkewycz said he would decide in the next few weeks whether to serve as both a councillor and an MSP: "There is no reason why I couldn't do both but it's something I need to decide on."

Fellow SNP councillor Deidre Brock was born and bred in Perth, Australia, where she carved out an acting career on stage and screen Down Under, including an appearance in a minor role in the hit soap Home and Away.

Cllr Brock, who moved to Edinburgh 11 years ago, has most recently been a parliamentary assistant to Highlands MSP Rob Gibson and will represent Leith Walk in the council.

She said: "I played a doctor in a couple of episodes of Home and Away who had to break the news that one of the characters had a brain tumour. I was in a few TV shows that would only have been broadcast over there, but I was also in a show called The Leaving of Liverpool, which was a joint production between Australia and the UK."

Green MSP Steve Burgess, who heads the party's research team at Holyrood, was previously a crewman on Rainbow Warrior. He said: "I spent three months on board as a deck hand when it toured Australia and New Zealand, before I joined the Greens."

Mr Burgess, who has worked at Holyrood since the creation of the parliament, worked previously as a research scientist at Edinburgh University's King's Buildings. He will serve Southside/Newington.

Fellow Green Alison Johnstone, elected in Meadows/Morningside, has been a leading figure in campaigns such as the fight to stop the selling-off of Meggetland playing fields and recent protests over the plans to replace Meadowbank Stadium. She is also a former 800m and 1500m Scottish international runner.

Norma Hart, who will be representing the Liberton/Gilmerton areas in the council, is a former chief executive of Dumfries and Galloway Tourist Board. She is a self-employed trainer, and is a member of both Amnesty International and Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce.

New Lib Dem councillor Elaine Morris, who won a seat in the Forth ward, had a spell as a spin doctor at Buckingham Palace.

Inverleith SNP councillor Stuart McIvor swapped a career in the Metropolitan Police for a job as an open-top tour guide with Lothian Buses.

Former council leader, Donald Anderson, who stepped down as a councillor before the elections, said the new intake faced a big challenge coping with the workload and responsibility which came with the job. He said: "For the ones that are new, it's getting their heads around the issues that face the city. You have to keep some time for yourself and, if you're working, you have to balance that with your council activities. Trying to keep a sensible balance is difficult but essential if you want to make a success of it."

So his advice to the city's new councillors? "Don't take short cuts, don't play games and treat it as seriously as you would treat any other job."

Dark past of the Ukrainian 14th Waffen SS Galizien Division

AROUND 8500 members of the Ukrainian 14th Waffen SS Galizien Division were given refuge in Britain after the war.

British defence officials are reported to have believed at the time that the Nazi-trained anti-Soviet troops could be used as a possible fighting force against communism.

The 16,000-strong division was formed in 1943 charged with "pacifying" villages and taking part in actions against underground armies in Poland and Slovakia. Many signed up to fight after years of Soviet oppression, seeing the Third Reich as a route to an independent Ukraine.

Galizien units have been accused of participating in atrocities during the war. These include the murder of 1200 mainly elderly people in the Huta Peniatska, and 44 civilians as young as three in Chlaniow - both in Poland in 1944. They were also said to have played a major part in a 1941 massacre of 7000 Jews.

Some 1400 of the original Galizien still survive in the UK. Last year MP Andrew Dismore launched a House of Commons motion calling for those accused of crimes to be brought to justice, but the Government has said there is not enough evidence.