Lithuania has posthumously awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of the Cross of Vytis to Russia’s first president Boris Yeltsin. The head of the Lithuanian state, Dalia Grybauskaite, handed the republic’s second most important official award to Yeltsin’s widow Naina at a ceremony last Monday. The president’s decree says: “This award is being conferred on Yeltsin for his personal contribution to the strengthening of Lithuania’s statehood and the development of interstate relations between Lithuania and Russia. Under the Yeltsin presidency, the Russian federation recognized Lithuania as an independent state, withdrew the former Soviet troops from this country, and signed a state border treaty.”
The Vilnius-based political scientist Lauras Belinis told THE DAY that he remembered well the time when Yeltsin supported the Lithuanian opposition and when he came to Tallinn with other Baltic leaders to announce that they had the right to and must be independent. “At the time, it was an exploit in his part. The populace was rather skeptical of this gesture of Yeltsin. So this award is a belated tribute to the first president of Russia,” he said.
Incidentally, what does Ukraine think of Yeltsin? Should we honor his memory in some special way? For we should take into account, among other things, that it is during his presidency that the “Meshkov regime” was established in the Crimea. One way or another, this deserves to be publicly discussed. The same applies to the controversial figure of Mikhail Gorbachev, Yeltsin’s predecessor in the Kremlin.
Mr. Belinis went on to say that a square in Vilnius, where Pope John Paul II met the populace, was named after him. “And there is also a plaque on the City Hall wall, which commemorates the visit of US President George Bush Jr. to Lithuania,” the political scientist said.
Incidentally, Georgia has also named the avenue that connects the capital with the airport after George Bush Jr. who supported that country after the Russian-Georgian war in August 2008. And a monument to the 40th US President Ronald Reagan was opened in Tbilisi last year. President Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia said at the unveiling ceremony: “Today, like never before, Georgia needs Reagan who ruined the Soviet Union. An attempt is being made to take historic revenge for what Reagan did, an attempt to revive the Soviet Union.”
As for this country, Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk have honored the memory of the Chechen military leader Dzhokhar Dudayev, the first president of Ichkeria, by naming a street after him. In Odesa, a street was named in honor of Poland’s President Lech Kaczynski who died in an air crash near Smolensk. But these are just a few instances. Who should we honor? What for? In the context of what events? There has been no public debate on this so far. Yet a debate like this would be of paramount importance for us to reflect on ourselves and our historical memory. The Ukrainians should also honor, for example, Charles de Gaulle who said this famous phrase about the UPA: “If the French army had had the same spirit as the UPA, the German jackboot would have never trampled upon France” (a rare understanding – at the time – of the UPA’s nature and the historical moment!). Or Lancelot Lawton, a British journalist who spoke about the Ukraine Holodomor from the British Parliament’s podium back in the 1930s? And Gareth Jones? And Jacek Kuron and Ukrainian-Polish reconciliation? And Vasily Grossman, a Russian Jew from Berdychiv, who wrote a novel on the Holodomor? It goes without saying that James Mace also deserves to be immortalized in our country. But the reality is that we have to say this, for this country’s topological map is studded with the names of Soviet leaders, not to mention a host of odious monuments to the “leader of the world proletariat” who had never been to Ukraine and whose involvement in this country’s destiny was highly controversial. We still have this after the 21st anniversary of independence!
Moreover, it is planned to add ex-president Leonid Kuchma to the company of Leonid Brezhnev and Volodymyr Shcherbytsky in Dnipropetrovsk. The media report that Dnipropetrovsk will see on City Day, September 8, the unveiling of the statues of Kuchma, Shcherbytsky, and Brezhnev, who, in the view of the project architect Dmytro Volyk, are among the oblast’s 15 outstanding personalities who “brought fame to the region all over Ukraine and the world.” It is a typical example of crude manipulation. For how can we possibly imagine the three above-mentioned persons in the same line with Ivan Sirko, Dmytro Yavornytsky, and Oles Honchar? Who will now dare “bark from under the bench” and accuse Kuchma, now part of such a company, of complicity in the Gongadze case?
Whom and how a society honors is also an important factor for assessing the condition of this society. I mean not only our compatriots, but also foreigners who became our friends at some twists and turns of history.
THE DAY asked some experts about which of the foreign political and public figures the Ukrainians ought to honor.
By Mykola SIRUK, THE DAY
“JAMES MACE DESERVES TO BE HONORED BECAUSE HE, WITH THE HELP OF THE DAY, TOLD THE ENTIRE WORLD THE TRUTH ABOUT THE UKRAINIAN PEOPLE’S GREAT TRAGEDY”
Volodymyr PRYTULA, expert, project Crimean Political Dialogue:
“The decoration of Yeltsin in Lithuania is an absolutely adequate decision. Although he is rather a contradictory personality, I think Ukraine could also honor him as a political figure who made quite an effort to ruin the Soviet Union and, in many respects, to help Ukraine establish itself. This provides ample grounds for honoring. However, he also did a lot of things that adversely affected Ukraine. Yet his phrase ‘Every Russian should think, when he or she wakes up, about what they are going to do for Ukraine today’ created a great impression at the time. Naturally, he attached a positive meaning to these words, but in today’s Russia some politicians wake up every morning and think about what gravest harm they can do to Ukraine today. For this reason, the role of Yeltsin in the collapse of the Soviet Union should be regarded as positive for Ukraine, even though he, naturally, more cared about himself than about Ukraine at the time – it is for this reason that he refused to hand over the Black Sea Fleet to Ukraine, although it belongs to us both factually and historically. At the same time, it is true that thanks to Yeltsin Ukraine did not have many problems as it was establishing itself and developing in the first years of independence. Had there been somebody else, we would have had more problems. And now, unfortunately, we have much more of them.
“There are a lot of foreign politicians who deserve to be honored in Ukraine as figures who contributed to our development. I want to single out Jozef Pilsudski. Unfortunately, owing to hostile communist propaganda, a negative image of him was undeservingly created in Ukraine. In reality, he protected Ukrainian interests to a large extent. He was one of the Polish politicians who took into account the needs of Ukraine. Still, he remains a controversial figure.
“I think Ukraine should owe very much to US President Bill Clinton whose visit to this country aroused interest in Ukraine all over the world at a time when many people abroad knew nothing about Ukraine. His quotation of Shevchenko’s ‘Fight and you shall overcome!’ contributed very much to the understanding of Ukraine in the West and was also viewed here as a historical reminder and a piece of advice for Ukraine to borrow the US experience, raise ‘its own Washington,’ and fulfill the Great Bard’s testament, which we, regrettably, failed to heed and thus ended up at a loss.
“Also deserving a no less honor in Ukraine is James Mace, an American academic and Holodomor researcher, who told, with the help of THE DAY, the entire world the truth about the Ukrainian people’s great tragedy. Thanks to Mace, the information about this crime spread throughout the world, and his contribution resulted in the European verdict which pronounces the Stalinist regime as criminal as Nazism.”
“UKRAINE SHOULD HONOR AND REMEMBER THE OLZHYCH FAMILY”
Natalia RUDENKO, principal, Simferopol Ukrainian Gymnasium:
“I would suggest that Ukraine honor the family of the prominent artists and patriots Kandyba-Olzhych, particularly Oleh Olzhych’s son Oleh Kandyba who resides in Canada now. He made a major effort to establish Ukrainian educational institutions, including our gymnasium, in the Crimea. He is gravely ill now, but we remain in touch with and support him. He visited our gymnasium and showed himself as an ardent patriot and a very considerate person. Then, with the help of Canadian Friends of Ukraine, he raised funds for our gymnasium, on which we purchased some highly valuable equipment. He told the Canadian Ukrainians the truth about the Crimea and the Crimean Ukrainians and always offered his personal assistance. Once, in spite of very high price, he presented a unique gift to the gymnasium – he collected and handed over to us boxfuls of Canadian books. So we and our pupils owe, to a large extent, our knowledge to no other than Oleh Olzhych. Later he handed over to us a set of Canadian Indians’ handicrafts which enriched the collection of our school museum. I think Ukraine should honor and remember the Olzhych family as outstanding artists and patriots who have made, thanks to their Ukrainianness, a major contribution to world culture and enriched the world with the knowledge and memory of our people.”
“MIKHAIL GORBACHEV DESERVES A MAJOR AWARD FROM THE UKRAINAIN STATE”
Levko LUKIANENKO, statesman, public figure, author of the Act on Independence of Ukraine:
“I am thoroughly convinced that Mikhail Gorbachev deserves a major award from the Ukrainian state. He was the first communist leader who dared to admit that the Soviet Union was losing the competition with the West and that the economy was in a crisis and it was impossible to save it without democratization. He therefore launched the policy of ‘perestroika and glasnost.’ He deserves a lot of respect for this from the Ukrainian nation. Clearly, like any other person, he had a somewhat limited vision, but this wise and bold man dared to democratize the Soviet Union. The first four years of his activities were positive. Later he began to care about the conservation of the empire, but still he always adhered to the idea of democratization. Although he defended the empire in the last years of his rule, it was too late.
“As not even a great statesman is capable of solving all problems, Gorbachev deserves a major decoration for having the courage to begin a true restructuring and democratization.
“Among Western politicians, it is, above all, US President Ronald Reagan who is worthy of honor. Unlike many other West European politicians, who either played up to or were afraid of Moscow, he openly embarked on the path of challenging it. His policy of an open rivalry finally caused the Soviet Union to ‘suffocate.’ Reagan pursued the policy of an open face-off with the communist empire, calling it ‘evil empire.’”
“ACADEMICIANS DMITRY LIKHACHOV AND ANDREI SAKHAROV PLAYED A TREMENDOUS ROLE IN BRINGING BACK THE EUROPEAN DEMOCRATIC TRADITION”
Valentyn NALYVAICHENKO, member, UDAR party:
“What played a decisive role in the restoration of Ukraine’s independence in the late 1980s was the dissident movement and legalization of the Ukrainian Church.
“The public figures that, undoubtedly, made a strenuous effort to bring back the European democratic tradition, an honest, unblinkered and non-chauvinistic democratic outlook, were academicians Dmitry Likhachov, with his code of conscience that remains of great importance, also for Russia, today, and Andrei Sakharov.
“Even when the Brezhnev era was in full swing, they resolutely rejected the totalitarian Soviet regime and did very much to enable such European countries as Ukraine to regain their identity, independence, and a state-forming tradition that is free of corruption and based on the principles of people’s power.
“As for Gorbachev and Yeltsin, neither of them, unfortunately, rose as high as to admit that, for centuries on end, Ukraine had been or fought for an independent state which it finally lost due to foreign occupations, including the one by the Bolsheviks.”
“WE MUST GIVE BORIS YELTSIN HIS DUE”
Volodymyr YAVORIVSKY, writer; member of parliament, BYuT-Fatherland:
“I would put Zbigniew Brzezinski on top of the list. We first met in 1989. Hearing me say that I represent Ukraine and advocate Ukrainian independence, he said it was the right path for our state and promised to work for Ukrainian independence at all levels. We must do him credit for actually doing this.
“I would put Boris Yeltsin on the second rung. I also worked with him in one of that-time committees, when I was still in disgrace. Besides, I was a member of the Interregional Deputies’ Group at the USSR parliament – the first opposition group with Sakharov at the head and Yeltsin as his deputy. Then we cooperated at the Architecture and Construction Committee chaired by Yeltsin. This committee assembled once a month in Moscow, and patriotic representatives of the Baltic republics, Georgia, and Ukraine discussed the interethnic issue with the chairman. Although Yeltsin was a democrat, he used to say: ‘We will be a democratic country, why do you need independence?’ But we convinced him. Naturally, his rivalry with Gorbachev also played a role. Russia was the first to declare independence, which untied the hands of our communists. However, neither Kravchuk nor Kuchma managed to use the two presidential terms of a specific Russian democrat to turn things to Ukraine’s account. The advent of Putin radically changed the situation.
“It is also worthwhile to name Vaclav Havel who supported and served as a role model for us, the Lithuanian leader Algirdas Brazauskas, and others. But if we take a slightly different magnitude, we should mention James Mace who came to Ukraine and married a Ukrainian woman. In spite of his Red Indian roots, Mace was extremely devoted to Ukraine. Instead of dishing out awards to ungifted poets, such as Bilash, one should bestow a greater honor on James Mace as a unique personality who did his utmost to tell the truth about the Holodomor.”
“YELTSIN AND GORBACHEV FIRST OF ALL CARED ABOUT THEIR OWN NATIONAL INTERESTS”
Volodymyr OLIINYK, member of parliament, Party of Regions:
“It is Aleksander Kwasniewski who did very much for Ukraine to have such a good advocate in the European Union as Poland. We continue to cooperate with him as far as the Yulia Tymoshenko and Yurii Lutsenko situation is concerned.
“As for Boris Yeltsin and Mikhail Gorbachev, they first of all cared about their own interests. Yeltsin had never put the national interests of our state above those of Russia, although his phrase that when one wakes up, he or she should think about Ukraine, can be interpreted as sort of a call for partnership. It should be also noted that relations between our states were more fraternal than they are under the current leadership.
“On the whole, most of the states view Ukraine, from the angle of their own national interests, as a component of their foreign policy. For example, the Poles attached a lot of importance to our country because they were aware that its accession to the EU would first of all change the position of Poland within this union – it would cease to be a fringe country, which would also increase investments in and the clout of that country.”
“THE NAME OF JAMES MACE IMMEDIATELY COMES TO MIND”
Taras LITKOVETS, political scientist; Deputy Dean, History Faculty, National Lesia Ukrainka East-European University:
“Whenever I think about the non-Ukrainians who will come down in Ukrainian history owing to what they have done to the benefit of this country, the name of James Mace immediately comes to mind. Incidentally, I first heard of him in Canada, where I was on a student program in 1991. There was a unique Ukrainian Canadian Research and Documentation Center in Toronto, founded and managed by the ethnic Ukrainian activist Iroida Wynnyckyj. It is here that Mace once studied documents on the Ukraine Holodomor. I heard then that he was a unique personality, an academic, a native American from the Red Indian Cherokee tribe, who was imbued with the history of Ukraine, especially the period which had long remained unknown in the world, a figure that opened this tragic page of our history to humankind. Speaking at the International Conference on the Holocaust and Genocide in Tel Aviv in 1982, James Mace was the first to classify the Ukraine Holodomor as an act of genocide against the Ukrainian people, which claimed an estimated 5 to 7 million human lives.
“I think that Ukraine, for which James Mace did so much, has not yet honored him the way he deserves – he is better known in foreign academic circles than in this country. He deserves even a monument in the capital. But the impression is that he is only remembered in the newspaper Den/THE DAY, where he worked part time and wrote about the Holodomor. His spiritual ally Robert Conquest, who had written a book on Stalinist repression in co-authorship with, incidentally, Mace, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George Bush. Did Conquest render greater services to the US than Mace did to Ukraine? Incidentally, I think Ukraine could honor Robert Conquest as well because this British historian would also expose the tragic Ukrainian history to the world. He is still living at the age of almost a hundred years. Also living is Zbigniew Brzezinski, a well-known politician of Polish origin, whom US presidents still consult. He has also been promoting and defending the idea of Ukrainian independence. Or take the Oxford Professor Norman Davis, the author of a historical bestseller on the history of Europe, who is known in academic circles only. I once bought this superb book for a lot of money in a Lutsk bookstore and have been drawing something from it for many years. Davis deserves praise for arguing that the history of Ukraine is an important segment of the worldwide political process and has some brilliant and inimitable pages, such as the Cossacks, the UPA, etc., which cannot be found anywhere else and can serve as an example for others. He would give unbiased coverage of Ukrainian history in the 1980s, a time when his information about the UPA, the OUN, and the Cossacks was also a discovery for many Ukrainians. This is an incomplete list of the individuals to whom Ukraine should be more grateful than it is now.”
Interviewed by Anna CHEREVKO, Ihor SAMOKYSH, THE DAY; Natalia MALIMON, THE DAY, Lutsk; Mykola SEMENA, Simferopol
