On Oct. 28, 1944, 64 years ago, the last piece of Ukrainian land in Transcarpathia was cleared of Nazi invaders. Of course, even today and for many future generations ahead this day remains and will remain sacred for Ukrainians. In the horrible years of the Second World War our Motherland suffered so much and put so many sacrifices on the altar of victory that we have every reason to claim: the outcome of this war truly hinged upon whether our freedom-loving people could gain victory in Ukraine’s blood-flooded fields. This is what the fate of Europe and the entire world also depended on, and this crystal-clear thought can be found in Shchodennyky (Diaries) penned by Oleksandr Dovzhenko, who hated the artificial affectedness of empty words.
It was the Ukrainian Resistance Movement that secured victory over the inhuman Nazi invaders in the Second World War, and this fact needs to be finally acknowledged. As a maximally broad notion this Resistance Movement includes military operations carried out by the regular armies (both the Red Army and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army) that mounted resistance to the enemy and by partisan units of various political orientations — from Sydir Kovpak to Taras Bulba-Borovets — that routed the same enemy. This also includes the heroic feats of people who sacrificed themselves, often fighting a lone battle against Germans. Similar resistance movements were active in all the countries occupied by Germans-Yugoslavia and France, Poland and Itality, etc. Isn’t it high time for us to acknowledge the existence of the united Resistance Movement in Ukraine, despite all political differences?
And the main thing is that it is inadmissible sacrilege to exploit the occasion of Ukraine’s liberation anniversary for tendentious and unscrupulous political purposes. Wouldn’t it be better to take good care of veterans — more often than once a year?
