Лев Гунин - ГУЛаг Палестины

community, are passed along by the more irresponsible members of the mass media, and are aimed

at consumption by the more naive and gullible members of their respective groups. 60 Minutes'

allegations have smeared members of the Galicia Division and Ukrainians generally with a

reckless disregard of evidence that is readily available to any researcher who is interested in

presenting an impartial picture. It is a blatant calumny for 60 Minutes to hold out any of the

above-mentioned units as evidence that Ukrainians "marched off to fight for Hitler" and it

overlooks also that on the Soviet side fighting the Nazis were about two million Ukrainians

which in view of their much larger number, 60 Minutes could have taken as evidence of Ukrainians

"marching off to fight against Hitler" and it overlooks as well the large number of Ukrainians

fighting against Hitler in the various national armies of the Allied forces.

Morley Safer's Contempt for the Intelligence of his Viewers.

Morley Safer states that "Nowhere, not even in Germany, are the SS so openly celebrated," and

while he is saying this, we might rightly expect that the scenes presented will be supportive of

his statement. What we do see is elderly veterans of the Galicia Division at a reunion in

Lviv. What details of these scenes support Morley Safer's strong conclusion? Let us consider

ten possibilities.

(1) Perhaps Mr. Safer counted swastikas, and their large number supported his strong

conclusion? But no, that can't be it - for there is not a single swastika to be seen anywhere.

Not one! But how is it possible to hold the world's most open celebration of the SS without a

single swastika? Mr. Safer's conclusion does not seem to be supported by the scene presented

in fact, his conclusion seems to be contradicted by the scene presented. Well, but perhaps

there were other clues?

(2) Surely at the world's most open celebration of the SS, one would find the "SS" insignia in

plentiful supply? But no, there is not a single "SS" visible anywhere. The camera scans the

veterans, we can see their medals and decorations, but we cannot see a single "SS." So far,

then, we have the world's most open celebration of the SS, but without a single swastika and

without a single "SS." But let us move ahead more quickly.

(3) The number of portraits of Hitler, commander-in-chief of all the German armed forces, and so

commander-in-chief of the SS? Zero!

(4) The number of portraits of Himmler, head of the SS? Zero!

(5) The number of portraits of any member of the Nazi hierarchy, or indeed of any German? Zero!

(6) Any Nazi salutes being made? No, not one!

(7) Any Nazi songs being sung? None!

(8) A single word of German spoken? No, not one!

(9) Perhaps there was literature circulated during the reunion which revealed Nazi sympathies?

But no such literature was shown. How about at any time prior to the reunion - even during the

entire 50 or so years following the formation of the Division and up until the reunion? 60

Minutes does not appear to have discovered any such Nazi literature.

(10) As these veterans have been living for more than 50 years predominantly in Canada, the

United States, and Australia, then they can readily be interviewed, and so perhaps 60 Minutes

interviewers managed to elicit pro-Nazi statements from them? No, this golden opportunity too

was passed over, not a single question was asked, not a single word spoken, and not a single

pro-Nazi statement was to be heard.

What then are we left with? We seem to be left with Morley Safer making a fantastic claim while

presenting as evidence images devoid of the slightest detail supporting that claim. We are

left, in short, with Morley Safer revealing his contempt for the intelligence of the 60 Minutes

viewer.

CONTENTS:

Preface

The Galicia Division

Quality of Translation

Ukrainian Homogeneity

Were Ukrainians Nazis?

Simon Wiesenthal

What Happened in Lviv?

Nazi Propaganda Film

Collective Guilt

Paralysis of the Comparative

Function

60 Minutes' Cheap Shots

Ukrainian Anti-Semitism

Jewish Ukrainophobia

Mailbag

A Sense of Responsibility

What 60 Minutes Should Do

PostScript

Quality of Translation

Were all those Ukrainians really saying "kike" and "yid"?

In one instance, I could make out the Ukrainian word "zhyd." Following conventions of Ukrainian

transliteration into English, by the way, the "zh" in "zhyd" is pronounced approximately like

the "z" in "azure," and the "y" in "zhyd" is pronounced like the "y" in "myth." Quite true, to

continue, that in Russian "zhyd" is derogatory for "Jew" and "yevrei" is neutral. In Ukrainian,

the same is true in heavily Russified Eastern Ukraine, and even in Central Ukraine. But in the

less Russified Western Ukraine old habits persist, and here especially among the common people

- "zhyd" continues to be as it always has been the neutral term for "Jew," and "yevrei" sounds

Russian.

Thus, in non-Russified Ukrainian, the "Jewish Battalion" of the Ukrainian Galician Army formed

in 1919 was the "zhydivskyi kurin". "Judaism" is "zhydivstvo." A "learned Jew" is "zhydovyn."

"Judophobe" is "zhydofob" and "Jodophile" is "zhydofil." The adjective "zhydivskyi" meaning

"Jewish" was used by Ukrainians and Jews alike in naming Jewish orchestras and theater groups

and clubs and schools and government departments. The Encyclopaedia Judaica (1971, Volume 11,

p. 616) shows the May 18, 1939 masthead and headlines of the Lviv Jewish newspaper which was

published in Polish. The Polish language is similar to Ukrainian, but uses the Roman rather

than the Cyrillic alphabet. The headline read "Strejk generalny Zydow w Palestynie" which means

"General strike of Jews in Palestine." The third word "Zydow" meaning "of Jews" is similar to

the Ukrainian word that would have been used in this context, and again serves to illustrate

that the Jews of this region did not view the word "zhyd" or its derivatives as derogatory.

We find this same conclusion in the recollections of Nikita Khrushchev (in the following

quotation, I have replaced the original translator's "yid" which rendered the passage confusing,

with the more accurate "zhyd"):

I remember that once we invited Ukrainians, Jews, and Poles ... to a meeting at

the Lvov opera house. It struck me as very strange to hear the Jewish speakers

at the meeting refer to themselves as "zhyds." "We zhyds hereby declare

ourselves in favour of such-and-such." Out in the lobby after the meeting I

stopped some of these men and demanded, "How dare you use the word "zhyd"?

Don't you know it's a very offensive term, an insult to the Jewish nation?"

... "Here in the Western Ukraine it's just the opposite," they explained. "We

call ourselves zhyds...." Apparently what they said was true. If you go back

to Ukrainian literature ... you'll see that "zhyd" isn't used derisively or

insultingly. (Nikita Khrushchev, Khrushchev Remembers, 1971, p. 145)

But 60 Minutes' mistranslation went even further than that - upon listening to the broadcast

more carefully, it is possible to hear that where the editor of the Lviv newspaper For a Free

Ukraine was translated as saying in connection with a joke circulated among the common people

"In terms of the Soviet Union which is abbreviated SSSR, that stands for three kikes and a

Russian," - in fact he was using the unarguably neutral term "yevrei" which it is obligatory to

translate not as "kike" but as "Jew" not only in Russian, but in Eastern and Western Ukrainian

as well.

Thus, in at least two instances, and possibly in all, the 60 Minutes' translator was translating

incorrectly, and in such a manner as to make the Ukrainian speakers appear to be speaking with

an unrestrained anti-Semitism, when in fact they were not. On top of that, the translator

gratuitously spit out his words and gave them a venomous intonation which was not present in the

original Ukrainian. And then too, where the speaker spoke in grammatical Ukrainian, the

translator on one occasion at least, offered a translation in ungrammatical English, making the

Ukrainian appear uneducated or unintelligent - specifically, the Ukrainian "We Ukrainians do not

have to rely on..." was rendered into the English "We Ukrainians not have to rely on...."

Since "zhyd" is currently held to be derogatory in much of Ukraine, any speaker of contemporary

Ukrainian who wishes to give no offense may choose to view it as derogatory in all of Ukraine,

and switch to "yevrei" in all contexts and in all parts of the country. The fact that a Western

Ukrainian old enough to have escaped thorough Russification has not as yet made this switch,

however, is not evidence of his anti-Semitism, and his use of "zhyd" cannot rightly be taken to

be derogatory. In non-Russified Western Ukrainian, there is only one word for Jew, and that is

"zhyd," and there is no word corresponding to the derogatory "kike" or "yid" or "hebe" of

English.

A further discussion of the use of "zhyd" vs "yevrei" can be found within the Ukrainian Archive

in a discussion of the Sion-Osnova Controversy.

CONTENTS:

Preface

The Galicia Division

Quality of Translation

Ukrainian Homogeneity

Were Ukrainians Nazis?

Simon Wiesenthal

What Happened in Lviv?

Nazi Propaganda Film

Collective Guilt

Paralysis of the Comparative

Function

60 Minutes' Cheap Shots

Ukrainian Anti-Semitism

Jewish Ukrainophobia

Mailbag

A Sense of Responsibility

What 60 Minutes Should Do

PostScript

Ukrainian Homogeneity

In his every statement, Mr. Safer reveals that he starts from the assumption that Ukrainians are

homogeneously anti-Semitic and Nazi in their inclinations. In doing so, Mr. Safer does not stop

to wonder how it is that Ukrainians can be so entirely different in this respect from all other

peoples. Take Americans, for instance. Surely we all agree that among Americans, there are

some who would pitch in and help if they saw Nazis killing Jews, and others who would risk their

lives - and give their lives - to stop that very same killing, and of course the great bulk in

the middle who would consider immediate self-interest first, and look the other way and pretend

to see nothing. But Ukrainians, if we are to believe Mr. Safer, are a people apart - exhibiting

no such heterogeneity, clones one of another, genetically programmed to hate Jews.

To suggest such a thing is, of course, preposterous. The obvious reality is that Ukrainians do

exhibit a normal degree of heterogeneity. Had 60 Minutes wanted to, it could have found plenty

of evidence of this: (1) Since the city of Lviv was featured in the 60 Minutes broadcast, 60

Minutes could have mentioned - in fact, it was duty-bound to mention the heroism of

Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky's effort on behalf of Jews. (2) Since 60 Minutes was throwing

blanket condemnations over Ukrainians collectively not only for being the world's greatest

anti-Semites, but for the most extreme war crimes and crimes against humanity, it was incumbent

on 60 Minutes to notice the vast number of instances that can be found of Ukrainian sacrifices

to save Jews. (3) Since the city of Lviv was featured on the 60 Minutes broadcast, as were