The Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) failed to halt the publication of a book about the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), which during World War II helped the Nazis against the Soviet army. When the OUN campaign surfaced in Simferopol, thousands of people organised a rally to protest against the OUN. The Nürnberg International Tribunal proclaimed the UPA a criminal organisation that collaborated with the Fascist occupiers of the Ukraine. Under the Ukrainian Constitution, any kind of Nazi propaganda is banned, but, recently, some have made attempts to revive the memory of the UPA.
25 February 2008
Editor’s note: The UPA was one of the premier Nazi collaborationist groups in World War II, being exceeded in cruelty only by the Croatian Ustashi. Members of the UPA aided the Einsatzkommandos in the killing of Jews, they helped to deport helpless civilians to slave labour in Germany, and German records indicate that they killed between 100,000 to 500,000 Romanians, Magyars, Rusyns, Russians, and Roma (Gypsys) in areas under their control. To be fair, most Ukrainians are decent people who did not, and do not, support such terrorism and enormities. Be wary of anyone who praises this group, for it the same as glorifying the SS. Indeed, many UPA members served in the SS, such as Sturmbannführer (Major) Roman Shuskevych, who was recently awarded a posthumous medal by Yushchenko. Let God see and judge!
Voice of Russia World Service
http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=23365&cid=48&p=25.02.2008 (in Russian and English)
