Glorifying the Butcher

On a Sunday night in January, I get a late telephone call from Moscow. The old friend calling, a brave man who saw quite a lot in his intensive, risk-exposed life, and with whom we went through many daring situations, sounded completely perplexed.

“Listen, the guys and I, we just wanted to ask you – he started atypically slowly as if being not quite sure what would be my response – we are thinking here all the time, and our heads went twisted over that. What do you make of this Stepan Bandera thing, we wonder?”, and he went quiet.

I was glad he asked. For a few days already my husband and I were boiling with outrage over the making the butcher of hundreds of thousands of Poles, Jews, Hungarians, Byelorussians and Russians a Hero of Ukraine. And I understand why my friend was approaching the matter so cautiously.

I was born and grew up in Ukraine, and my husband’s family is from there, too. Since day one of Ukrainian independence, I was a steady and vocal supporter of it. Being an active writer and political observer, I considered Mr. Yushchenko, then the head of the Ukrainian Central Bank, as an able and decent man, years before many others had heard of him as a politician.

I always prompted the others to support him as the president of struggling Ukraine, and felt compassion towards his personal destiny, which has been incredibly harsh after heavy poisoning. I felt deep respect for his ability to stay reserved and still run his country in very uneasy circumstances, representing it in a civilized way, especially on the international stage. Until now.

Later on, my early instincts in seeing Victor Yushchenko as more of a worthy person than a savvy statesman proved to be right. As we have seen, armed with the highest authority, he was unable to get his country out of the mess it has been in for two decades, and now, with its new president, Mr. Yanukovich, who is barely literate, but has the first-hand rich experience on how a prison functions from the inside, the place is sliding into far deeper trouble.

But to my deep sadness and disappointment, my instincts seemed to fail me when it came to the personal qualities of this man.

Was outgoing President Yushchenko thinking, perhaps, that his theatrical gesture of awarding Stepan Bandera, posthumously, with Hero of Ukraine on the Day of Unity of his country would be perceived by the rest of the world as a spectacular grand-finale, with the audience bursting into uncontrollable applause and tears of admiration? I am afraid it looks as if Mr. Yushchenko had been acquainted only with very primitive, hopelessly provincial theater.

I wonder whether Mr. Yushchenko, whose father had been kept by Nazis as a prisoner of war in several concentration camps, including Auschwitz, has ever read any of the masses of documents which his – and now Ukraine’s – hero, Stepan Bandera, had produced during his years of militant activism. Bandera glorified Hitler and was completely ready to serve the Nazi regime. Has the president ever noticed this commonly known fact of Bandera and his organization’s attitude and plans for the other people, both inside Ukraine and from all neighboring countries: “Moscali (diminutive for Russians), Poles, Jews are hostile to us and must be exterminated,” as well as “deported and destroyed?”

Has President Yushchenko ever heard of the battalions Nachtigall and Roland, the only two battalions in the entire Eastern Europe which were formed of volunteers? These Ukrainian volunteers from the Bandera-lead organization were trained by Nazis and served them enthusiastically. Impressive records of their ‘exploits’ are widely available. Has the president of Ukraine ever heard of the SS Galichina division, and the degree of their collaboration with the Bandera led OUN, Organization of the Ukrainian Nationalists? Mr. Yushchenko’s father was among the witnesses of those massacres.

Astonishingly, there has been another nomination of this sort. One year ago, Bandera’s comrade-in-arm, OUN Military Leader Roman Shuchevich, was decorated Hero of Ukraine by President Yushchenko. Shuchevich was a captain of the Wehrmacht and was awarded a well-earned Iron Cross. This fact somehow slipped the attention of the public outside Ukraine and the former Soviet Union, and all of us were wrong to tolerate this blatant glorification of butchers and active Nazi collaborators.

Answering my bewildered friend, I said, “You know, one who fights for his motherland, and who is seeking his country’s independence, does not pave the way over mountains of corpses of people of ‘wrong’ nationalities, and the best sample of that is Poland; the country fought through the Second World War with dignity and courage, although in a truly desperate situation and betrayed by all.

One who supported Nazism with the such enthusiasm and ample practical ‘contribution’ as Bandera did, along with his militants, just cannot be pronounced as anything other that what they were: willing collaborators of the Nazis, utter racists, and bloody criminals.”

To use one’s presidential authority to name those people heroes of one’s country is not only to shame that authority forever, but also to shame your country. This is not exactly what one would expect from the son of a survivor of Auschwitz.

No wonder then that the president of Ukraine, a big and important neighbour of Poland, was not among those leaders of states who were celebrating the 65th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz at the end of January. It is hard to imagine him among those people, at that very place, any longer. Especially after he signed his infamous decree just five days before the anniversary, which is also the international Holocaust Memorial Day. And how ironic those photos of President Yushchenko are, visiting Israel in a kippah ( Jewish skullcap for observant men), kissing The Western Wall in Jerusalem, in all that ‘devotion.’ He threw it all away with his honoring the butchers.

Soon after this outrageous act, the entire Poland went to protest against it, with a fair and harsh statement by president Lech Kaczyński, and mass demonstrations in all big cities of the country, from Warsaw to Wrocław.

Over 20 members of The Council of Europe issued the document of Inadmissibility of Honouring Militant Nationalists as Heroes, condemning the weird gesture of the outgoing Ukrainian president. This is certainly not the way that a decent political figure should leave the highest post in his big and notable country. This is not only an obscure legacy he is leaving behind. This is a legacy of glorifying atrocities. This is a legacy of blindness.

There were many other protests, in different countries and by various organisations all over the world.

But the most impressive and poignant one has been, in my opinion, the laconic move of Moshe Reuven Azman, Chabad chief rabbi of Ukraine, who has returned his Order of Merit, a Ukrainian medal awarded him, in protest against what he called this “hideous blow to Ukraine’s international image.”

To be a rabbi in Ukraine is not an easy position at all. Traditionally, the environment is quite challenging for the Jews living there, to put it diplomatically. To be the leading rabbi figure there is a very demanding position in which you are responsible for many of your colleagues. Because you are representing a very large Jewish community, you are expected to maintain friendly dialogue and be on good terms with the authorities, whoever they are, not to mention the country’s highest office. Rabbi Azman acted bravely, from his heart; and his gesture did not endanger his people as some might think. He defended them, all of us. He defended their dignity, which is the most important thing to defend.

Only confused, weak and short-sighted persons are hoping to enter the hall of history by glorifying murders. In fact, one of them just left the empty stage of his utterly provincial theater by the back door, being largely shamed and widely ignored. He might discover now how bitter the taste of irony can be. And how long it can last.

Inna Rogatchi is a writer and the president of The Rogatchi Foundation. She is a senior international affairs advisor to the European Parliament, and senior strategy advisor to a number of international human rights and modern history institutions.

The column is first published in The Baltic Times.

© Inna Rogatchi, 2010

3 thoughts on “Glorifying the Butcher

  • July 4, 2013 at 9:42 pm
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    Do not forget that in all European countries occupied by Nazi Germany, especially in countries that officially were allies of Nazi Germany, local collaboration with Nazi German forces took place. Extensive research is needed to establish true data on this issue for each country.

    The article below contains an objective unbiased analysis of Stepan Bandera to refute the arguments of his enemies and critics:
    http://www.acus.org/new_atlanticist/stepan-bandera-hero-ukraine

    Stepan Bandera was a Ukrainian nationalist, and a Ukrainian patriot, not an imperialist (adherent of conquests and subjugation of other nations as communists, fascists and Nazi Germans were imperialists), not a dictator as Bandera never came to power. He as head of the OUN (Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists), fought against Polish, Communist Russian and Nazi German rule in Ukraine (and their supporters) and against the oppression of the Ukrainian nation on Ukrainian territory. His practically little meaningful cooperation with Nazi Germany authorities was subordinated to the cause of liberation of Ukraine from foreign occupations and Ukrainian self-rule.
    After Bandera’s deputy Yaroslav Stetsko proclaimed an independent Ukrainian state in Lviv in Western Ukraine on June 30, 1941 the Germans showed their true face as conquerors and oppressors of Ukraine and arrested and imprisoned Bandera on July 6, 1941, later Stetsko and 80% of prominent members of the OUN, and unleashed terror and repressions in Ukraine. Therefore the OUN and UPA (Ukrainian Insurgent Army) formed the Ukrainian Resistance Movement fighting against oppressive German rule in Ukraine. Bandera stayed outside Ukraine during the whole war of Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union.

    During the artificial famine of 1932-1933 between 7 to 10 million people died in enslaved Ukraine as a result of criminal agricultural policies of the Soviet communist government in which Jews played a significant role. As an ethnic minority in the Soviet Russian Empire Jews were disproportionately highly represented in senior positions in communist parties, in Soviet state security agencies and other repressive anti-people communist power institutions. Therefore Jews actively participated in unsurpassed communist crimes in large numbers. Just explore the information on Lazar Kaganovich (butcher of Ukraine through artificial famine), Leon Trotsky (commander-in-chief of the Red Army), Genrikh Yagoda and many other communist Jews in power. A lot of ordinary Jews also actively supported communism.

    In addition Ukraine lost at least 8 million people during World War 2. Ukraine’s losses in the 20th century suffered especially from Soviet Russian and Nazi German rule are staggering and unsurpassed (human losses alone may be over 20 million).

    The biggest crimes of the 20th century in Europe were committed by both the Soviet communist and Nazi Germany regimes that sought world conquest and domination (dozens of millions of people of many nationalities were exterminated).

    The Ukrainian nation has the legitimate right to demand financial and material compensation for crimes against the Ukrainian nation on the lawful basis of Germany’s compensations to many nations for Nazi German crimes. I wish advocates of International justice could raise this issue in their publications, speeches, in mass media, with appropriate government officials in Ukraine, the EU, the USA, Canada and with the International Criminal Court.

    Communist crimes greatly surpass Nazi German crimes and crimes of their allies and collaborators.
    Communist crimes committed worldwide must also be prosecuted and punished as Nazi crimes have been. Truth and real justice (punishment for all crimes) must prevail.

    The issue of financial and material compensations for communist crimes especially by Russia as the birthplace of communist power must also be resolved as Germany paid compensations for Nazi German crimes to many nations including Jews for the Holocaust.

    Reply
  • July 6, 2013 at 10:25 pm
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    The Ukrainian nation has the most tragic history of all European nations. Because of its natural resources and its strategic location, Ukraine was frequently invaded, conquered, divided and heavily oppressed by neighbouring imperialist powers in particular Russia, Poland, Austria-Hungary and Germany, especially in the bloodiest 20th century. Despite joint efforts of those imperialist powers to enslave and to eventually destroy the Ukrainian nation (especially the Ukrainian language, culture and religion), the Ukrainian nation survived and gained long overdue independence in 1991. So the Ukrainian nation did not pursue imperialism – conquest of other nations’ territory and subjugation of other nations, but waged a legitimate struggle for liberation of Ukraine from foreign occupation and from foreign oppression, and for self-rule for the Ukrainian nation. Why is this most important fact ignored by anti-Ukrainian forces as to who the aggressors, conquerors and oppressors of Ukraine were? The true answer to this question is: in order to whitewash and to justify expansionist oppressive policies of imperialist powers of the past aforementioned.

    In the past foreign aggressors, occupiers and oppressors of Ukraine caused the Ukrainian nation enormous economic, human and other losses and suffering including during aggressive criminal wars waged by them especially in the 20th century to conquer, to enslave and to destroy the Ukrainian nation.

    Reply
  • July 8, 2013 at 6:04 pm
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    Svoboda (Freedom) Party in Ukraine is not a right-wing extremist neo-Nazi anti-Semitic party. It advances the interests of true Ukrainian sovereignty and opposes Russia’s domination of Ukraine and Russification of Ukraine (linguistically, religiously and culturally). Svoboda Party supports the legitimate interests of ethnic minorities in accordance with the Constitution of Ukraine on the basis that ethnic minorities support Ukraine’s sovereignty and act in its interests.

    Keep in mind that historically Jews as an ethnic minority in Ukraine predominantly supported foreign rule in Ukraine, not Ukraine’s independence (sovereignty). Jews predominantly served the interests of foreign occupiers and oppressors of the Ukrainian nation (Russians and Poles) and did not support the Ukrainian Liberation Movement.

    Now Jews in Ukraine promote Russian domination in Ukraine more than Ukraine’s sovereignty judging by the actions of Jewish oligarchs and politicians in Ukraine.
    It’s wrong to call valid truthful criticism of Jews anti-Semitism.

    Reply

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