Лев Гунин - ГУЛаг Палестины

killed in three days - but then Mr. Safer turns around and changes it to 3 thousand killed in two days. This does not

seem fair - after all you were there and Morley Safer wasn't, and whereas for Mr. Safer, this is just a story that he

is covering, for you it is the pivotal experience which determined the course of your life, the experience which in

the words of Mr. Safer, "compelled Wiesenthal to seek out the guilty, to bring justice."

So I wonder why Morley Safer changed your numbers? As you are the only witness adduced, Mr. Safer seems to have

lowered your figures on his own initiative. I wonder if you have contacted Mr. Safer concerning his revision of your

estimate, or if in your subsequent discussions with Mr. Safer, you might have by now arrived at a mutually-agreed

estimate? If you have, I wonder if you would be able to tell me whether Mr. Safer has agreed to raise his estimate,

or if you have agreed to lower yours?

Be that as it may, it must surprise you to learn that when I consulted Leni Yahil's The Holocaust: The Fate of

European Jewry, Oxford, New York, 1990 for further information on the Lviv pogrom, I found nothing. There is no

indication in Yahil's book that such a pogrom ever took place. If Yahil's book were cursory or carelessly researched,

then the oversight of the single largest pogrom of the War might be understandable, but if we are to believe the

book's dust jacket, then it is one of the best works on the Jewish Holocaust ever written:

When The Holocaust first appeared in Israel in 1987, it was hailed as the finest, most

authoritative history of Hitler's war on the Jews ever published. Representing twenty years of

research and reflection, Leni Yahil's book won the Shazar prize, one of Israel's highest awards

for historical work.

Well, in my continuing quest to learn more about the Lviv pogrom which you describe on 60 Minutes, I turned next

to Raul Hilberg's The Destruction of the European Jews, Holmes Meier, New York, 1985. This work too cannot be

accused of being either cursory or carelessly researched. For example, the publisher's promotional material claims:

This landmark work, now substantially revised and expanded, is destined to remain the foremost

source to which historians and others must turn in any exploration of the most infamous crime in

history.

...

This definitive edition of THE DESTRUCTION OF THE EUROPEAN JEWS is the most complete,

comprehensive, and authoritative account of the Nazi Holocaust.

As well, this same promotional material cites critical acclaim for Hilberg's work in Michael R. Marrus's review in The

Times Literary Supplement which ends in the words:

No single book has contributed more, even to its critics, to an understanding of Nazi genocide.

In its originality, scope, and seriousness of theme, this is one of the great historical works

of our time.

But what does Hilberg say about the Lviv pogrom, this most massive pogrom of the Second World War; what does he

say in his "most complete, comprehensive, and authoritative account of the Nazi Holocaust"? Why he says ... exactly

nothing! He too seems to be totally unaware of it.

Worse than that - much worse - Hilberg makes statements to the effect that no such pogrom ever took place. I

reproduce below three quotations from Hilberg, the last of which is particularly troubling, as it is his summary of

all anti-Jewish activity in Ukraine, and it flatly contradicts the possibility of the pogrom that you describe:

From the Ukraine Einsatzkommando 6 of Einsatzgruppe C reported as follows:

Almost nowhere can the population be persuaded to take active steps against

the Jews. This may be explained by the fear of many people that the Red

Army may return. Again and again this anxiety has been pointed out to us.

Older people have remarked that they had already experienced in 1918 the

sudden retreat of the Germans. In order to meet the fear psychosis, and in

order to destroy the myth ... which, in the eyes of many Ukrainians, places

the Jew in the position of the wielder of political power, Einsatzkommando

6 on several occasions marched Jews before their execution through the

city. Also, care was taken to have Ukrainian militiamen watch the shooting

of Jews.

This "deflation" of the Jews in the public eye did not have the desired effect. After a few

weeks, Einsatzgruppe C complained once more that the inhabitants did not betray the movements of

hidden Jews. The Ukrainians were passive, benumbed by the "Bolshevist terror." Only the ethnic

Germans in the area were busily working for the Einsatzgruppe. (Raul Hilberg, The Destruction of

the European Jews, 1961, p. 202 - in this case, I am quoting from the 1961 edition)

The Slavic population stood estranged and even aghast before the unfolding spectacle of the

"final solution." There was on the whole no impelling desire to cooperate in a process of such

utter ruthlessness. The fact that the Soviet regime, fighting off the Germans a few hundred

miles to the east, was still threatening to return, undoubtedly acted as a powerful restraint

upon many a potential collaborator. (Raul Hilberg, The Destruction of the European Jews, 1985,

p. 308)

First, truly spontaneous pogroms, free from Einsatzgruppen influence, did not take place; all

outbreaks were either organized or inspired by the Einsatzgruppen. Second, all pogroms were

implemented within a short time after the arrival of the killing units. They were not

self-perpetuating, nor could new ones be started after things had settled down. (Raul Hilberg,

The Destruction of the European Jews, 1985, p. 312)

It would seem, Mr. Wiesenthal, that you were an eyewitness - the only eyewitness - to the largest pogrom of the

war, and that at the same time, at least two of the foremost chroniclers of the Jewish Holocaust have quite overlooked

this program, and in the case of Raul Hilberg, flatly deny that any such pogrom ever took place. According to

Hilberg, all Ukrainian pogroms took place after the arrival of the Germans, were instigated by the Germans, were small

in scale, and had no momentum of their own.

In view of this oversight on the part of the historians, Mr. Wiesenthal, shouldn't you get in touch with them and

recount your experiences to them so that the story of the Lviv pogrom is not lost to future generations, and so that

Jewish hatred of Ukrainians is not diminished by the loss?

Sincerely yours,

Lubomyr Prytulak

HOME DISINFORMATION PEOPLE WIESENTHAL 906 hits since 18Jan98

Wiesenthal Letter 16 Sep 9/97 Shifting date for the Lviv pogrom

September 9, 1997

Simon Wiesenthal

Jewish Documentation Center

Salztorgasse 6

1010 Vienna

Austria

Dear Mr. Wiesenthal:

In my letter to you of September 8, I demonstrated that two prominent historians seem to be unaware of the

pre-German Lviv pogrom which killed 5 to 6 thousand Jews, at least as claimed by Morley Safer and yourself on the 60

Minutes broadcast, The Ugly Face of Freedom of October 23, 1994. I will remind you that in that 60 Minutes broadcast,

Morley Safer twice asserts - once seemingly in your hearing - that the Lviv pogrom antedated the arrival of the

Germans, thus placing culpability squarely at the feet of the Ukrainian perpetrators.

In a continuing effort to learn more about this Lviv pogrom, I turned to your biographical Justice Not Vengeance,

only to discover you claiming that this pogrom postdated the arrival of the Germans:

Thousands of detainees were shot dead in their cells by the retreating Soviets. This gave rise

to one of the craziest accusations of that period: among the strongly anti-Semitic population

the rumour was spread by the Ukrainian nationalists that all Jews were Bolsheviks and all

Bolsheviks were Jews. Hence it was the Jews who were really to blame for the atrocities

committed by the Soviets.

All the Germans needed to do was to exploit this climate of opinion. It is said that after

their arrival they gave the Ukrainians free rein, for three days, to 'deal' with the Jews.

(Simon Wiesenthal, Justice Not Vengeance, 1989, p. 36, emphasis added)

As the timing of the Lviv pogrom is critical to assigning blame, I would have expected this timing to have been

verified with care and to be either consistent between the two reports, or else with an explanation offered for any

inconsistency. Instead, I find that you along with Morley Safer have broadcast a version in 1994 that directly

contradicts a version that you published five years earlier in 1989.

I look forward to hearing your clarification of this discrepancy.

Sincerely yours,

Lubomyr Prytulak

HOME DISINFORMATION PEOPLE WIESENTHAL 2113 hits since 18Jan98

Wiesenthal Letter 18 Sep 11/97 Questions concerning the Waffen SS

September 11, 1997

Simon Wiesenthal

Jewish Documentation Center

Salztorgasse 6

1010 Vienna

Austria

Dear Mr. Wiesenthal:

Your accusation that Canada harbors a large number of war criminals has been

incessant over the years, and at one point led to the creation of Canada's Deschenes

Commission on War Criminals. This accusation seems to be based primarily on Canada's

presently being home to some former members of the Ukrainian Galicia Division, combined

with the fact that the Galicia Division was categorized by the Germans as belonging to

the Waffen SS.

The first question that I would like to put to you, Mr. Wiesenthal, is whether you

are aware that the Waffen SS was a combat unit that played no role in the management of

concentration camps, and carried out no SS functions? I wonder if you are aware of

this, as you typically - perhaps always? - drop the qualification "Waffen" and refer to

members of the Galicia Division simply as members of the "SS," which gives the

misleading impression that combat soldiers were administrators of concentration camps.

If you are already aware of the distinction between the SS and the Waffen SS, then I

wonder that you would allow yourself to present the misleading picture that you have

been presenting. If you are unaware of this distinction, then I wonder how it came to

be that you are accorded the status of an expert witness on World War II events, as you

were on the 60 Minutes broadcast The Ugly Face of Freedom on October 23, 1994. Would

you be able to throw any light on this question?

But on top of that, you must have become aware during your long career as a Nazi

hunter that Ukraine was not unique in providing the German armed forces with Waffen SS

troops. Below, I reproduce a quote from an interview by Slavko Nowytski of Professor

Norman Davies, historian at the University of London, and author of the recent Europe:

A History, published by Oxford University Press:

In discussing the question of collaborating with Germany Prof. Davies

noted that, "A large number of the volunteers for the Waffen SS came

from Western Europe. The nation which supplied it the largest number

of divisions was the Netherlands [four]. There were two Belgian

divisions, there was a French Waffen SS. To my mind, it's rather

surprising that Ukraine, which is a much larger country [than the

Netherlands or Belgium] supplied only one Waffen SS Division.... It's

surprising that there were so few Ukrainians [in the German Army].