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4 No.45 AUGUST 10, 2017 (Continued from the previous issue) “This is an objective situation that cannot be ascribed to the evil will of some specific people. It is a reflection of the general state of Ukrainian society, because it is still very divided. Indeed, the Ukrainian political nation is only being formed. “The second problem, which is subjective, is that even within these communities, there are many different organizations that compete with each other. Obviously, Babi Yar is an iconic site and one who will control the memorial side there will reap additional political dividends. This situation has existed since independence.” ● “NIHILISTIC ATTITUDE TO BURIAL PLACES IS A SOVIET LEGACY, AND NOTHING MORE” What conclusions do we need to draw from all this? “As a result, we see a lot of monuments in the landscape, which are totally unconnected and not correlated with each other, even in the artistic sense. Overall, we have a completely neglected site, which is partly a recreation park, and partly just a forest park, and at the same time a site housing dozens of monuments that are incomprehensible to most passers-by. There is still no museum, because it requires a large investment on the one hand, and on the other, every attempt to build a museum involves locating it right on the massacre site or on the cemetery, that is, closer to the epicenter of the tragedy. This logic is clear, but it is completely barbaric. People totally fail to take into consideration that there should be some kind of respect for the burial places. This, again, is absolutely a Soviet legacy, because the Soviet government destroyed Babi Yar and the surrounding cemeteries. This nihilistic attitude to burial places is a Soviet legacy, and nothing more. “So, we see that however many new monuments they would erect, it will still be obvious that this is not a memorial territory. And they all see it, but they think: the solution is that one has to erect other, better monuments or build a large memorial center. In fact, first of all, it is necessary to organize the territory, since the construction of a grand memorial would not change anything, because it will still be a memorial on a garbage heap.” Fuks argues that the project of the memorial center has received support from all Jewish organizations. What do you say to this? “This is an obvious manipulation. Fuks sees ‘all Jewish organizations’ as synonymous with the All-Ukrainian Jewish Congress, headed by Vadym Rabynovych. However, first of all, the fact is that it is not Rabynovych who supports Fuks’s project, but rather Fuks who has now become one of the leading figures in the project started by Rabynovych as early as a decade ago. Of course, the latter supports him. Secondly, while Rabynovych supports project, say, co-chairman of the Association of Jewish Organizations and Communities of Ukraine Yosyp Zisels opposes it. Furthermore, there are about a dozen all-Ukrainian and three to four dozen Kyiv-only Jewish organizations, which have not declared their position on this issue at all. Thirdly, in such matters it is impossible to take into account only the positions of the NGO leaders. This is a national matter, and it is obvious that the views of well-known journalists and artists, human rights activists and scholars are no less important than the opinions of people whose main virtue lies in the ability to deftly distribute foreign grants.” Probably, a lot depends on the city government as well. But how should we then take Fuks and Siwiec’s claim that the initiator of the Babi Yar Holocaust Memorial was Mayor of Kyiv Vitalii Klitschko? “This is also not true. Yes, Klitschko publiclysupportedthisprojectpastyear,and his brother became a member of the Center’s Supervisory Board. However, all this happened against the backdrop of the international commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the tragedy, when our highrankingofficials,truetotheabovementioned habit, were ready to support any initiatives, the more so such high-profile ones.” ● “THE INITIATORS ARE TRYING TO PUSH THROUGH THE IDEA OF THE ‘SOVIET UNITY’” Has this project undergone any changes lately? “Already when it appeared, this project was, to put it mildly, very controversial. Firstly, the memorial museum center was to be dedicated exclusively to the Jewish tragedy of Babi Yar, which was also reflected in the architectural design. Secondly, from the very beginning, it was planned to be built at the former Jewish Cemetery, where the group of initiators who created the Babi Yar Memorial Foundation managed to lease a land plot. Incidentally, the last factor contributed to the fact that the implementation of the project was opposed by well-known Ukrainian and foreign rabbis, including the chief rabbi of Ukraine Azriel Haikin. This, among other reasons, prevented its implementation then. “However, past year, at the initiative of Fuks, the project became internationally important, and therefore, it was to be transformed from the Babi Yar memorial into a memorial and museum of the Holocaust in the former Soviet Union. From a scholarly perspective, this is nonsense. Across the former Soviet Union, persecution and extermination of Jews took place in completely different ways. However, from a purely political-ideological perspective, everything is clear. In this way, the initiators are trying to push through the historical memory of the Jewish community the idea of the ‘Soviet unity,’ which is in fact the well-known ‘Russian World.’ “And I am sure this is not just their personal initiative. It is clear that Fuks and his partners in the project Mikhail Fridman, German Khan, and Viktor Pinchuk have thoroughly post-Soviet minds, especially since the first three have spent all their adult lives in Moscow, where they studied, created businesses, and became billionaires. Moreover, Fridman is an iconic figure in contemporary Russia, and I do not believe that he could have launched an international political-ideological project in Kyiv during a Russo-Ukrainian war without a direct Kremlin approval. The idea of commemorating ‘the Holocaust in the USSR’ was, in my opinion, approved in TOPIC OF THE DAY BABIYAR... as a staging area for the “Russian World” Vitalii NAKHMANOVYCH: “The Ukrainian government as represented by the president of Ukraine must genuinely assume responsibility for solving complex problems around the Holocaust Memorial” Staraya Square. At the same time, this project is a winning proposition for Russia from almost every side.” Why do you think so? “If they do build this memorial and it functions as intended, it will work even better than the Rossotrudnichestvo (the Russian Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States, Compatriots Living Abroad, and International Humanitarian Cooperation) operations. After all, the project is designed not only for Ukrainian citizens, but first and foremost for numerous tourists from all over the world, who will be told how Ukrainian collaborators exterminated the Jews. If they build it and the expected scandals begin around the Memorial or if they are not allowed to build it at all, then this is also wonderful, as it can be presented as anti-Semitic Ukraine disallowing the creation of the Holocaust Memorial. However it goes, Vladimir Putin will be fine with it.” And how can we prevent this? “Ukraine faces an urgent challenge, and there is only one way out of this situation. The Ukrainian government as represented by the president of Ukraine must genuinely assume responsibility for solving the Babi Yar issue in its totality. That is, they need to finally do what was not done in all previous years.” ● “THE MUSEUMS OF HOLOCAUST AND BABI YAR CAN BE AMALGAMATED INTO A SINGLE FACILITY” And exactly what, in your opinion, should the Ukrainian government do in this situation? “This should be a triune concept. Firstly, it is necessary to create a memorial park and clean up the site. Secondly, the Babi Yar Museum should be created. Thirdly, the Holocaust Museum should be created. “These should be two separate museums. Unfortunately, we are not ideologically mature enough today for it to be a single facility. The Holocaust is totally absent from the national history of Ukraine. This is a complicated process of not just reflecting on a world phenomenon, but developing a Ukrainian perspective on it. The complexity of this task is due to the fact that the Holodomor happened here. In fact, there are no other countries where almost simultaneously such a number of large-scale genocides were carried out by the two most terrible totalitarian regimes of the past century. It provides exceptional opportunities for intellectual reflection, but we still have to go a long way to achieve it. “In principle, the museums of Holocaust and Babi Yar can be amalgamated into a single facility. The destruction of the Kyivan Jews is a point in which the Babi Yar story, which began during the war and continues, in fact, to this day, intersects with the Holocaust story that encompassed all of Europe. But, I emphasize, this is a very complex intellectual challenge, and we are not ready for it at this time. Therefore, what is doable today is to create two museums, dedicated to Babi Yar and the Holocaust, as well as to clean up the site. Moreover, the museums should be under no circumstances located at the burial places, and the creation of a memorial park should stop dead any further development exercises in this space. “Now, the president of Ukraine is the only person who can by the virtue of his office, so to speak, force all the interested groups to the same table and say: ‘Now we will really look for an agreement.’ That is, the government should be the leading force in this process. As for funding, a foundation should be established on the principles of public-private partnership. “We have the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance as well, which has actually been excluded from most memorial projects. When the Institute was created during Viktor Yushchenko’s presidency, it had the Babi Yar Sanctuary, memorials to the victims of the Holodomor and the Bykivnia Graves subordinated to it. However, under Viktor Yanukovych, the Institute was turned into an exclusively research institution, and all these facilities were transferred to the Ministry of Culture, where they have remained ever since. Still, it would be proper to concentrate them under the Institute of National Remembrance’s umbrella, because we need a coherent policy of memory regarding the Soviet and Nazi repression. “Meanwhile, the National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Ukrainian History should be the leading institution that would develop the concept of the Holocaust and Babi Yar museums. Of course, it ought to recruit specialists from other institutions and even from other countries as well.” ● “THE BABI YAR HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL CENTER PROJECT IS BEING CREATED AS A TYPICAL COLONIAL DESIGN” Siwiec said that they have recruited precisely that – an international group headed by the Dutch scientist Karel Berkhoff. “Director General of the Babi Yar Holocaust Memorial Center Siwiec has also been saying that they are conducting some kind of discussion all the time. But when the Institute of National Remembrance responded to his appeal by proposing to hold a series of public discussions with the participation of their sponsors with provisions for recording and publishing the positions of the participants and with the obligation to take into account the results of these discussions, that same Siwiec backtracked on his word and said that he had no authority to accept it. That is, all these meetings take place pro forma only, to enable them to then submit a long list of scholars with whom they have allegedly ‘consulted.’ All this sounds very similar to the numerous stories of scandalous property developments with false ‘public hearings’ involving hired grandmothers, while the building plots are guarded by tough guys. “Indeed, Berkhoff is a well-known specialist in the history of the Nazi occupation regime and was directly involved in Babi Yar research. But the problem is that he, like almost all members of this working group, is an outsider and has a completely different perspective. Western Europeans saw nothing more terrible than the Holocaust, and it is natural for them to separate it from the entire history of the 20th century. However, although the Holocaust was, by its very nature, a world-wide phenomenon; the perspective on it must be different in every country, because it also was (or was not) a part of local history. Therefore, of course, Berkhoff, as well as some other specialists, can be invited to cooperate. It is always good to listen to a person from the other side of the divide, since they will offer a different vision and you will see something new. However, the core group should be made up of Ukrainian scholars who have to offer a Ukrainian vision of the Holocaust and Babi Yar stories. “Atpresent,theBabiYarHolocaustMemorial Center project is being created as a typical colonial design. Ukraine is perceived exclusively as a territory inhabited by illiterate natives, where civilized Russians, Poles, and other Europeans should create a museum for tourists from all over the world.However,infact,itisUkrainianswho should create a museum and a memorial there,notfortourists, butfortheirchildren, both schoolkids and college students, who will come here to reflect on their own past and think about their own future.” By Mykola SIRUK, The Day WWW.DAY.KIEV.UA By Mykola SIRUK, The Day On August 8, Georgia commemorated the 9th anniversary of the 2008 Russo-Georgian War. Let us recall that as a result of the August 2008 war, 408 Georgian citizens were killed, including 170 soldiers, 14 police officers, and 228 civilians. The number of wounded and injured reached 2,232. Among them, there were 1,045 soldiers. As a result of the war, up to 30,000 people joined the host of refugees, currently numbering 263,598 in Georgia. Russia still has not fulfilled any of its commitments taken under the international ceasefire agreement of August 12, 2008. To commemorate those who died for the independence and unity of Georgia, national flags were simultaneously lowered to half-mast on the parliament buildings in Tbilisi and Kutaisi. Prime Minister of Georgia Giorgi Kvirikashvili along with members of his cabinet visited the Mukhatgverdi Brothers Cemetery to honor the memory of the warriors who died in the 2008 Russo-Georgian war. “August 8 is the saddest day in the modern history of Georgia. I want to bow low before all the heroes who sacrificed their lives for their homeland. A candle in memory of them burns in the heart of every Georgian,” Kvirikashvili declared. In protest against Russian occupation and Russia’s actions in the occupied territories of Georgia, people lined up in a human chain just 400 meters away from the Russian occupation army’s positions along the Karapila-Khurvaleti section of the central highway. Unity as the 22nd anniversary of Operation Storm celebrated in Croatia
WWW.DAY.KIEV.UA TOPIC OF THE DAY No.45 AUGUST 10, 2017 5 GEORGIA: war and peace A Lithuanian politician has proposed to designate August 8 as the Day of Struggle for Freedom of Countries Affected by Russian Aggression A protest against the occupation of the Georgian lands was held on August 8 for the 9th time in Vilnius, in the square opposite the Russian embassy. As usual, it was organized by member of the Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats faction in the Lithuanian parliament Mantas Adomenas, who had been awarded the Presidential Order of Excellence in Georgia for his contribution to the protection of freedom of Georgia and its territorial integrity. Adomenas has launched the initiative to designate the day of August 8 as the Black Flower Day to honor all the countries affected by the Kremlin regime’s oppression: Georgia, Ukraine, and Moldova. According to Adomenas, August 8 should be commemorated as the day of struggle for freedom and nationhood of the countries enslaved by Russia. “We must do our best not to forget about the Russian aggression in Georgia in 2008,” he stressed. By the way, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius tweeted on the previous day: “9 years since the premeditated #Russian war against #Georgia. Sadly lessons not learned.” ● “NO CRIME COMMITTED BY RUSSIA SHOULD BE IGNORED” “Nine years ago, Russia invaded Georgia and got away with it. Then they went to get Ukraine. It is time to stop Russian aggression and restore Georgian and Ukrainian sovereignty,” Pavlo Klimkin wrote on his Facebook page on August 8. MP Dmytro Tymchuk offered his assessment of these events and the role of the Ukrainian government during the period in question on his Facebook page: “Ukraine then swallowed Putin’s Georgian adventure and our own role in this war which was imposed by the Kremlin, and the Russian Black Sea Fleet (BSF) remained in Crimea. Soon enough, Ukraine itself became a victim – ironically, with that same BSF playing a part. ‘Ifs’ have no place in the study of history, but there is a lesson to be learned here: no crime committed by Russia should be ignored, wherever it happens. If some people abroad think that the current Ukrainian events are happening far away, and Putin’s barbaric actions in DAVID BERITASHVILI Crimea and the Donbas can be thus ignored, they will come to regret it soon. Ukraine itself, alas, offers a vivid and bloody example of this.” The Day asked Georgian political scientist David Beritashvili to tell us how Georgians were currently assessing the events of nine years ago and what lessons they had learned from that August war, and what role was played in it by NATO’s refusal to grant Georgia and Ukraine the Membership Action Plan at the alliance’s summit in Bucharest in April 2008. ● “AMERICANS HAVE BECOME UNITED IN THINKING THAT PUTIN NEEDS TO BE TAUGHT A LESSON” “This day is important for world history, because it marked the first occasion of torpedoing of all international acts in force at that time, like the Treaty on the Restoration of Diplomatic Relations with Russia. In other words, it was an event of global importance. “On the other hand, this Russian act of aggression resulted in several hundred victims, both soldiers and civilians. About 6,000 homes were burned down. In addition, the Russians expelled all ethnic Georgian citizens of South Ossetia. All this took place against the backdrop of a breakdown of the international order, and then it was repeated in Ukraine. It is likely that some other nations will try to emulate Putinist Russia’s actions. We had had a quarter of a million refugees before, and the war added a few tens of thousands more in August 2008. Of course, a country cannot develop normally when communications have been interrupted, when there are so many homeless people. All this places a heavy burden which inhibits development. We have built entire settlements for refugees, who need to be provided with jobs and education services.” Have lessons of the August 2008 war been learned in Georgia? “It seems to me that the experience of Georgia was useful in the case of Ukraine. When the illegal annexation of Crimea and Russian aggression in the east of Ukraine happened, everyone began to recall that it was not the first time, as the Russian Armed Forces had illegally crossed another nation’s border, seized its territory and so on before, in Georgia in August 2008. “If we talk about lessons for Georgia, the first one was taught back under the Soviets on April 9, 1989, when about 20 people, mostly women, were killed in a square during a rally. However, the Georgians somehow did not realize its implications, and it was rather the Balts who learned that lesson. “The Georgians for some reason fail to preserve their achievements. However, it is just as important to preserve something as to achieve it in the first place. Of course, I am talking about democracy and freedom of speech, the European values here. It seems to me that this is also the case in Ukraine to some extent.” In a tweet, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linkevicius expressed his regret about the West not having learned yet the lessons of Russia’s premeditated war against Georgia. What do you think about this? “The West has never been so categorically opposed to the Kremlin team before. The new US sanctions specifically target their income sources, travel opportunities, personal connections. In other words, the West is learning, but as always, it is doing so slowly. At the same time, it seems to me that the West will not retreat now.” Do you think that granting the NATO Membership Action Plan to Ukraine and Georgia at the Bucharest summit could have deterred the Russian attack? “It is hard to say. However, the decision of that summit, which resolved in writing that Ukraine and Georgia would become members of NATO in the future, did anger Russia. So it decided to attack Georgia. Following the Russian attack, the West was not inclined to show firmness. They believed that this was a propaganda campaign and Mikheil Saakashvili was a psycho. They thought, ‘why defend such a ‘bad boy’ who jails innocent bribetakers?’ Thus, when we were under attack, support came from eastern Europe only. Viktor Yushchenko, Lech Kaczynski, the presidents and prime ministers of the Baltic countries came to visit us. Meanwhile, then-French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who was at that time in Tbilisi, was hiding from the public view so that no one would think that he, along with the above-named leaders of eastern Europe, was opposed to Russia’s attack on Georgia. Now everything is becoming obvious. Everyone understands that Russia wants to develop by forcibly seizing foreign territories or ‘restoring’ the empire as far as it can.” foundation of victory By Natalia ISHCHENKO On August 5, 1995, Operation Storm by Croatia’s army and police units reached its peak. That morning the Fourth and Seventh Guards Brigades seized Knin, capital of the so-called Republic of Serbian Krajina. At noon a Croatian flag was unfurled from the top of the Croatian royal city’s fortress. That same day other populated areas were liberated, including Benkovac, Slunj, and Kijevo, and Croatian troops reached the internationally recognized border with Bosnia and Herzegovina. Croatia has celebrated the victorious Operation Storm, Victory and Homeland Thanksgiving Day, and the Day of Croatian Defenders for the past 22 years. This time the key events took place in Knin. 22 doves of peace and 22 artillery salvoes. The names of all those fallen in battle during operation storm are solemnly read out. Photo from Hrvatski Vojnik Facebook page Speeches by the president, prime minister, and the daughter of a fallen soldier. The big flag of Croatia is raised by war veterans, combatants, servicemen, volunteers, policemen, former POW camp inmates, members of fallen men’s families. Jets and choppers in an air show. Military parade. Flags of all military and police units that took part in the war. Military equipment on display. Mass celebrated with a military choir. Prljavo Kazaliste, a Croatian rock band that made its name in Yugoslavia and has remained at the top. They sing only about love. The heat wave is at an incredible 42 0 C. Thousands of visitors from all over Croatia. Croatian television broadcast victory day live, interviewing participants in the festivities. Ex-commanders of combat units and veterans recall details of hostilities. Historians commenting on operation storm. A girl sporting a camouflage T-shirt says it is important to attend such events, to pay homage to the defenders [of Croatia], and that this should be done by all citizens rather than members of the combatants’ families. A hip-looking organizer of the youth music king fest took the floor to give thanks for the victory (this festival is regularly held in Knin and the next time will be this September). “Storm is the name of Croatian freedom,” said a Croatian TV journalist and anchorman, referring to what happened on August 5, 1995. Victory Day festivities took place in other Croatian cities, mostly in the coastal resort area. There was a veterans’ march in Pula. In Zadar, guests and residents watched an air show with warplanes. The Homeland War Museum hosted a military photo exhibit. Huge documentary photos were displayed in the center of the old city where a gala concert was performed. Croatian Victory Rock Star Marko Perkovic Thompson gave a concert in Slunj, with some 10,000 – mostly young people from all over Croatia – in the audience. A rally of protest against Victory Day took place in Zagreb before a mass for the Croatian Defenders was celebrated on August 5. Some NGOs, including ones based in Belgrade, others reportedly grant-based, demanded that the anniversary of Operation Storm be marked as a day of mourning. In Serbia, August 5 is marked as day of mourning, commemorating the victims of Operation Storm. On this particular occasion, sirens wailed at noon and the churches and monasteries of the Serbian Orthodox Church served masses for the dead, in memory of the fallen Serbs. Fugitives, former residents of what used to be Serbian Krajina were still mourning the loss of their homes, sharing their grievous memories of 1995 events with media people. Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic declared that she did not understand how anyone could praise Operation Storm. In Knin, Croatian functionaries formally expressed their condolences regarding the dead and the fugitives, saying they hoped the fugitives would return one day, that they would eventually mark Victory Day together. Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic stressed that all those ordinary Serbs had had to suffer because of Belgrade’s politics and an attempt to translate into life the pan-Serbian myth. Almost a quarter of a century ago, the Serbian leadership decided to build Great Serbia. All they accomplished was to trigger a series of tragic events, including for their own people. Here one would expect a couple of lines about an aggressor state that is eventually brought to account; about the danger of imperial ambitions on the part of heads of state… Conclusions from the experience of victims of an aggression are more important for Ukraine. Ukrainian printed media has of late carried a number of materials with lessons from the “Croatian experience.” In actuality, the only foundation of victory scored 22 years ago was national unity, with each and everyone rallied round his Fatherland. This unity fortified the people and the political elite and helped them resist the aggressor and return the occupied territories. Croatian politicians representing various parties, leading musicians, athletes, journalists, and clergymen are unanimous in describing those events: Victory in the Homeland War was doubtlessly a victory over the aggressor. Nikolina Mataj, daughter of a fallen Croatian Defender, spoke about the need to preserve unity in peacetime, while building their state: “Those killed and missing in action were our fathers, ordinary family men, except that they were determined and brave. They gave their lives for their Fatherland and couldn’t help us on our way to adult life. We have properly honored their memory and will do so until our dying day. We mourn them and we are proud of them, of their kindness and love we felt while they were with us… We have enough grounds and motives for struggling to achieve the well-being of our country, for being as strong as our fathers were.” In conclusion, Nikolina called for preserving unity for the sake of their homeland: “Please, let’s stop fighting one another, let’s struggle together, let’s become a driving force, so the joy of life is felt in every home in our single Croatia.” More than two decades have passed after the event, yet this determination to remain united, to work for the good of the Fatherland is still felt in Croatia. Small wonder that the Croatian people proved so strong and monolithic during the Yugoslav-Serbian aggression.
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