The western scientists sharply condemned the OUN and UPA glorification in Ukraine

The collection of scientific articles of the western scientists exposing idea of the Banderavites as the heroes was published in Ukraine. The historians quote the myths according to which OUN-UPA were the “pluralistic” organizations rescuing the Jews during the Holocaust. Actually “Bandera pursued the aim to make the one-party fascist dictatorship from Ukraine without ethnic minorities”.

The published collection included the article of the Swede Per Anders Rudling “OUN, UPA and Holocaust: the research about the creation of historical myths” who is engaged in research of the European history for some years, in particular OUN activity (Organization of the Ukrainian Nationalists) and UPA (Ukrainian Insurgent Army) in Europe.

Also the works of the American Timothy Schneider “The fascist hero in democratic Kiev” who is the professor of Yale university and the summary of lectures on the theme “Stepan Bandera: life of the Ukrainian revolutionary ultranationalist and memory about him” of the young German historian, graduate student of the Hamburg university Grzegorz Rossolinski-Libe were included there.

In particular, Rudling blames the decision of the president Victor Yushchenko to declare Roman Shukhevich and Stepan Bandera as the heroes of Ukraine. “Legitimized historians by Victor Yushchenko presented OUN-UPA as the pluralistic and open organizations which not only rescued the Jews during the Holocaust, but also invited them in the ranks to battle shoulder to shoulder against Hitler and Stalin”.

Rudling reminds in the book of how semi-official historians worked in KGB archives in Kiev in the years of reign of Yushchenko with complete assistance of the head of Security Service of Ukraine Valentin Nalivaychenko. “These mythical narrations leaned on the OUN own post-war forgeries aimed at cover of the problematic past of the organization. As the staff of the Ukrainian intelligence service worked at office of the former KGB, the legitimized historians ironically pushed the scientific criticism away as the Soviet myths”, wrote Rudling.

And Schneider writes the following: “Bandera pursued the aim to make the one-party fascist dictatorship from Ukraine without ethnic minorities. His followers killed many Poles and Jews during the Second World War. Why the president Yushchenko, the leader of the democratic “orange revolution” wants to rehabilitate such figure?”
This collection of articles is the second edition from a series “Historical truth”, founded by the International Anti-fascist front in 2011. The circulation of the edition reaches 10 thousand books in the Ukrainian and Russian languages, extends free of charge, is available in electronic form on the sites of this organization and association “The Russian-speaking Ukraine”.

The sympathies to Bandera are still visible in Ukraine, especially in the west of the republic. The first secretary of the Kiev city committee of the Communist Party Andrey Medvedev argues that about 90 % of the population of the country condemns those who extol Bandera. Nevertheless it is sure that the present authorities undertake not enough efforts to lower the nationalist rhetoric.

“Because the power supports the nationalists for the split in society and uses it for the power, so such tendencies prosper. It is not a rarity when the books with a swastika and so on are exhibited”, told Medvedev to the newspaper “VZGLYAD”.

The communist specified that the ideas of Bandera are still propagandized in the country openly. The similar “nationalist sorties” according to Medvedev are “violation of our history, our fathers and grandfathers”.

“This is the violation of our memory. The history is distorted by the descendants of those who served the fascism. Unfortunately, they are in Ukraine today. It is sad for all our society”, told Medvedev to the newspaper “VZGLYAD”.

Earlier the professor of the Hamburg University Frank Golchevsky, the scientific adviser of one of the authors of the collection, namely the graduate student Rossolinski-Libe, has declared in interview to the newspaper “VZGLYAD” the right party “Freedom”, approached to the ideas of fascism in the time of Yanukovich, became very strong”. The German historian notes that the nationalism still prospers in the Western Ukraine.