Alexander Dovzhenko once wrote in his Diaries that it is difficult to find another country besides our fatherland whose history has been so subjected to distortions, bans, falsifications, and curses. A striking example of this is the history of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), the 62nd anniversary of which we marked last Saturday. You can hardly find another more painful and antagonistic subject reflecting the tragic division of Ukraine — a division that, unfortunately, concerns not only politics but also world perception.
For some Ukrainians, mostly in the south and east, according to sociologists, the UPA fighters are “nationalists,” “Bandera’s bandits,” and “Nazi henchmen,” while for others, in Ukraine’s western and central regions, they are heroes of the struggle for a free and united Ukraine. The attempts to reconcile, unite, and “universalize” these two diametrically opposing viewpoints have not been successful, bitter as it is to admit this. Why? Obviously, this is not so much a question of two barely compatible (incompatible?) approaches to the very nature and philosophy of contemporary Ukrainian statehood as about the future vector — European or Eurasian — of this statehood’s development.
The situation can only be changed by insistent and painstaking explanatory work among Ukrainians living in the east and south. People should be told in the language of irrefutable facts (because facts are the best weapon!) about the goals, objectives, and principles of the OUN and the UPA (“Freedom for peoples! Freedom for the individual!”), about the heroic life of Olena and Mykhailo Teliha, Oles Olzhych, and hundreds and thousands of Ukrainian fighters who died at the hands of the Nazi butchers. But even this work will hardly lead to success unless our current political leadership staunchly defends our state and national interests, and the foundations of democracy and social justice in order to bring us all closer to the Ukraine about which the UPA founders dreamed and for which they fought.
The Day asked several regional experts about what local governments are doing to bring the truth about the UPA to the public.
PRECURSORS OF FREEDOM
Vitalii SHLIAPNIKOV, journalist, Mykolaiv:
“The Mykolaiv Oblast Administration is doing practically nothing to inform the public about the UPA’s activities. Liudmyla Nechushkina, the administration’s domestic policy department chief, failed to say anything about efforts to inform the public about the UPA and advised me to turn to...the administration’s press service. The governor’s spokesperson Natalia Abramova could not clarify the situation either. According to Abramova, the oblast administration issued an instruction, but she was not able to say anything concrete about the way it is being implemented.
“Former MP Yurii Didenko, chairman of the Mykolaiv oblast branch of the Popular Movement of Ukraine (Rukh), spoke with me more categorically. In his view, the authorities are not doing what they are supposed to do to inform the public about the UPA. Unfortunately, bureaucrats are waiting for instructions from their bosses, but they are not forthcoming.
“Civic organizations are trying to fill the vacuum that was created as a result of the passivity of central and local bodies of government. For example, the Mykolaiv-based New Horizon research consortium recently organized as part of the social partnership among civic organizations, business people, and the authorities, a roundtable debate called “Awarding OUN-UPA combatants World War II veteran status: for and against” at the Oleksandrivsky business center. The announcement of the results of a poll conducted by the Nobel center in Mykolaiv and Ternopil sparked a heated debate among the main participants, members of parliament from the Communist Party of Ukraine and the Ukrainian People’s Party.
“Their positions were radically different. At certain points it seemed that passions would end up in reciprocal accusations. We must give credit to the roundtable organizers, who managed to keep the debate on track. The speeches of Mykolaiv’s Deputy Mayor Yurii Hranaturov, representatives of the Socialist Party, the youth wing of the Progressive Socialist Party and the city’s World War II veterans’ organizations, which were delivered in a spirit of tolerance and respect for the opinions of other debaters, also kept the roundtable on an even keel.
“All the speakers noted that equating OUN and UPA combatants with Soviet army veterans is a very complicated question now being raised by some political forces.
This was confirmed by the results of a poll conducted by Nobel: while 88 percent of polled Mykolaiv residents said that OUN and UPA veterans should not be given the same status as Soviet army veterans, 79.5 percent of Ternopil’s respondents are convinced that the authorities should make more strenuous efforts to grant OUN and UPA veterans the same rights and privileges that Soviet army veterans are enjoying.
“During the heated almost three-hour-long debate the roundtable participants aired their views on this problem and heard the opinions of their opponents. A working group was set up to formulate proposals that will be submitted to administrative bodies for a final decision.
“Unfortunately, this kind of event very seldom takes place in the region, for which the local government undoubtedly bears the blame.”
Volodymyr BEZRODNY, chief of the information and public relations department at the Donetsk Oblast Administration:
“Donetsk oblast never had anything to do with this movement: by decree of history, this mostly took place in Western Ukraine. That is why we have never honored UPA veterans or had any historic meetings with them. But, at the same time, we do not want Donetsk oblast residents to have blank spots in their knowledge of Ukrainian history, and we are doing our best to ensure that they know as much as possible about Ukraine: they not only have the right to know these things, and in my view-they must.
“So we have focused mostly on informing Donetsk residents about the activities, veterans and history of the UPA. As part of a nationwide program, Donbas newspapers have repeatedly published materials on this issue (a series of publications and spot reporting), and we have been organizing theme evenings in regional schools, higher educational institutions, and libraries. In other words, this has mostly been activity on a limited scale.
“We are now monitoring this work in all the cities and districts of Donbas and are going to continue this activity so that all generations of Donetsk oblast residents know about the UPA.”
Leonid PILUNSKY, member of the Crimean parliament:
“The Crimean authorities are doing their utmost to leave the local public in total ignorance of the truth about the UPA. The situation is paradoxical: the people who participated in the patriotic movement and fought for the freedom of their fatherland have lived all their lives surrounded by lies about them. Therefore, their postwar life is in itself a patriotic exploit, perhaps even a more significant one than service in the UPA. But even now all the Crimean governmental bodies are still in the grip of the deceitful stereotypes of communist propaganda, which deliberately portrayed UPA combatants as Nazi henchmen. They are not only doing nothing to ensure that Crimean residents know at least a part of the truth but are still continuing to publish mendacious articles on the UPA and the so-called Banderites in the local press. On top of it, in the Crimea the label ‘Banderite’ is given to everyone who speaks Ukrainian, which is often called the ‘Banderite language,’ and to those who consider themselves, one way or another, Ukrainians and part of Ukrainian culture. This old-style propaganda often turns into psychological hysteria and is one of the main directions of the ‘activities’ of Crimean pro-Russian newspapers.
“Incidentally, the problem of rehabilitating the UPA has nothing to do with the Crimea. When I worked in radio and tried to shatter these stereotypes, I tried to find out how many ‘Banderites’ live in the Crimea. I requested the Security Service to give me official data and was told: three individuals. One of them is already dead. So because of these three rather old people this propaganda is still exploiting communist stereotypes, which in fact stirs up interethnic enmity and hostility not only to Crimean Ukrainians but also to the Ukrainian state of which the Crimea is a part. I think that those who are engaged in this kind of activity should be prosecuted, but for some reason law-enforcement agencies are turning a blind eye to people who all too often whip up interethnic hostility in the press, everyday life, and government offices.”
Ihor SABIY, chief of the domestic policy department at the Khmelnytsky Oblast Administration:
“A year ago, on Oct. 13, 2005, a memorial cross was set up near the village of Hukiv, in Chemerivtsi district, where the body of Lieutenant-General Roman Shukhevych, the outstanding UPA commander, was cremated. Other commemorative actions were carried out with the participation of delegations from various regions of Ukraine. On Oct. 13, 2006, a public political event called Red Guelder-Rose is supposed to take place here. The program includes a mourning rally, the theatrical production of Vasyl Folvarochny’s tragedy by Merited Artist of Ukraine O. Boitsov, a thematic program to honor the memory of UPA combatants, “Your Cossack Spirit Will Never Die, and Freedom is Your Sacred Flag!,” planting a guelder-rose tree, and the youth action “Glory to Heroes!” which envisages forming a unity chain and announcing messages from the youth of Khmelnytsky oblast to Soviet army and UPA veterans. “Through a symbolic chain we shall try to warm your hearts and reconcile your attitudes, and make you shake each other’s hands through our hearts;” to their peers, “We are calling on you to surmount the wall of mistrust by a joint effort and to build the future of Ukraine together;” to the Ukrainian government, “Put an end to the confrontation in Ukrainian society, ensure an equally decent official attitude to all defenders of the fatherland, irrespective of the flag under which they fought against the invaders, adequate social security and honor.” The oblast’s youth organizations has been actively collecting signatures under these messages.
“Another direction of work involves the publicizing and discussion of the scholarly findings of a working group of historians, who are members of the government commission studying the activities of the OUN and the UPA in order to dispel Soviet-era stereotypes. To this end, the media and representatives of regional branches of political parties have organized a number of roundtable debates, public meetings, etc.
“On May 25, the same place near Hukiv, where the UPA commander went to his eternal rest, was the venue of the first all-Ukrainian competition of patriotic songs dedicated to Roman Shukhevych. Among the contest’s participants were performers from Kyiv, Cherkasy, Kharkiv, Ternopil and, naturally, Khmelnytsky oblasts. From now on this will be a traditional contest.
“In a few days the regional TV and radio company Podillia-Center is going to hold a live debate with the director of the oblast’s state archives on the topic “UPA Activities in Podillia: Documents and Facts.” High on the agenda will be adequate coverage of all commemorative events, with a special emphasis on social consolidation, patriotism, reconciliation of the representatives of different veterans’ organizations, and recognition of both UPA combatants and Soviet army veterans as defenders of the fatherland. Similar events are taking place in other districts of the region.”
