Reaction to "60 Minutes" broadcast (10/30/94)

Reaction to "60 Minutes" broadcast

Following are the full texts of letters sent to Eric W. Ober, president of the CBS News Division, by Askold Lozynskyj of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America and Ulana Diachuk of the Ukrainian National Association. The letters are in reaction to the "60 Minutes" segment reported by Morley Safer and titled "The Ugly Face of Freedom," which aired on Sunday, October 23.

Letter from UCCA

Your blatantly defamatory segment on anti-Semitism in the Ukrainian city of Lviv ("60 Minutes," October 23, "The Ugly Face of Freedom") attained new levels of journalistic irresponsibility and inaccuracy. Morley Safer's statement impugning all Ukrainians as "genetically anti-Semitic" was so maliciously racist that it may be unique in the recent annals of television. Hate speech of this type is unacceptable in a civilized society, whether uttered by a David Duke, a Louis Farrakhan, a Vladimir Zhirinovsky, or by Morley Safer speaking to a national TV audience under the guise of journalistic objectivity.

Allow us to correct only a few of the segment's inaccuracies: You aired clips of youth scouting groups in Lviv, falsely implying a renewed "Hitlerjugend." You showed footage of Jewish residents being rounded up and a Jewish rape victim decrying her attackers, and attributed the atrocities to the Ukrainian Police. However, the film and photo date is from the Soviet occupation of Lviv! This arrogant, even amateurish disregard for truth was pervasive throughout the segment, as exemplified by your references to Symon Petliura, Roman Shukhevych and Stephan Bandera as anti-Semites. In actuality, as commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Army in 1919, Petliura issued an emergency decree making anti-Semitic activity a capital crime. As commander of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army during World War II, Shukhevych simultaneously fought both the Nazis and Soviets, thereby attaining a level of heroism not even attempted by our own Allied Forces. Bandera, the leader of the Ukrainian national liberation movement OUN, which was branded in your report as a "notorious army of murderers," lost two brothers in Auschwitz and himself spent the war years under German arrest.

During World War II both the Ukrainian Police and the Ukrainian Division represented desperate attempts by the Ukrainian people to rise up against the Soviet oppression - the predominantly Russian perpetrators who retreated across Ukraine by decimating entire villages, leaving a legacy of fresh graves filled with tortured victims without regard to ethnicity, gender or age. Not a single charge of civilian persecution or atrocities has been filed much less proved against a member of the Ukrainian Division. That collaborators existed is undeniable; but in many instances it was under duress, just as Jewish kapos served their Nazi masters in the ghettos and concentration camps, albeit reluctantly. Your segment failed to mention that Ukrainian "Righteous Gentiles" are among those recently honored at Yad Vashem for risking their lives during World War II to save Jews.

The sentiment today in Lviv and throughout Ukraine is one of healing of the wounds inflicted by years of Soviet and Russian persecution. The Ukrainian government, which observed the Babyn Yar commemoration as one of its first official acts, has drafted a Constitution which safeguards the rights of Jews and other minorities more thoroughly than does our own U.S. law. Current Ukrainian legislation on protection of minority rights has been lauded by the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe as the most progressive in the world. The American Jewish Committee has recently praised the government of Ukraine for its commitment to the welfare of the Jewish community, its good relations with Israel and its ability to resolve conflicts without force.

We expect an updated, corrected "60 Minutes" report on ethnic relations in present-day Ukraine. We also believe you should dismiss Mr. Safer for his unprecedented expressions of racism, bigotry and journalistic irresponsibility. We look forward to your response.

Respectfully yours,
Askold Lozynskyj
President

Letter from UACC

The over 60,000 members of the Ukrainian National Association are shocked at the defamatory story on Ukraine which you aired on October 23. It violated all principles of journalistic ethics:

Morley Safer accused Ukrainians of being "genetically anti-Semitic" which demonstrates a bias unacceptable in responsible journalism.
No evidence, not even a victim of anti-Semitism, was produced to confirm the allegation of anti-Semitism.
The translator continually translated a historic term for Jews as "kike," an inaccurate translation.
No national, regional, local or city government official of Ukraine was given an opportunity to respond to the allegations made by CBS.
The history of Ukraine under German occupation was distorted.
The integrity of historic Ukrainian leaders was questioned not with facts but with accusations and innuendoes.

The facts are that, under Russian Communist rule, 7 to 10 million Ukrainians died in 1932-1933 during a man-made famine and an additional 6 million Ukrainians perished at the hands of the Nazi and Red armies during World War II, including over 1 million in German work camps. Historic facts demonstrate that Ukraine is a victim and not a victimizer as portrayed in your story. While it is true that the German government did organize Ukrainian military forces under its command, this was also the case in every other nation occupied by Nazi Germany. In the case of France, the whole French government worked for Germany. Yet, CBS does not portray France as anti-Semitic. The Ukrainian military did not fight for Germany but against Communist Russia.

The fact is that there has been less ethnic, racial and religious violence in Ukraine during its three years of independence than there is on any single day on the streets of New York City. It is as inaccurate to accuse Ukraine and Ukrainians of anti-Semitism as it would be to accuse America and Americans of racism because of isolated instances. In the case of Ukraine, you did not even produce isolated instances.

In the story, Morley Safer said that Jews are leaving Ukraine "as quickly as they can get exit permits." The fact is that many Jews who fled the Soviet Union are returning to or investing in Ukraine. This is occurring because Ukraine has enacted and enforces laws, even stronger than those in the United States, for the protection of minorities and minority rights. If Ukraine is "anti-Semitic" as portrayed in your story, how do you explain the presence of Jews at all levels of the Ukrainian government, particularly at the national level?

Your story not only was inaccurate and violated journalistic ethics, but it was defamatory and inflammatory. CBS News and "60 Minutes" owe Ukraine and Ukrainian Americans a retraction and an apology. I sincerely hope that there is enough journalistic integrity at CBS to acknowledge and apologize for this tragic mistake.

Sincerely,
Ulana Diachuk

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