LETTERS TO THE EDITOR (08/01/99)

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Russian Chronicles: about HURI's role

Dear Editor:

I would like briefly to respond to Dr. Z. Lew Melnyk's comments regarding the much-reviled "The Russian Chronicles: A Thousand Years that Changed World" (July 11).

When I inquired after the matter with Prof. Horace Lunt, he told me that the last thing he had on file regarding the book was a letter that he had sent in 1990 to the project's managing editor, which began, "Since I have heard nothing from you in the last 18 months, I assume that the project is dead." Prof. Lunt was asked his opinion on some linguistic issues concerning the Novgorod Chronicle and the Primary Chronicle. A few passages of his work in progress, a translation of the Primary Chronicle, were used. In the final product they were not attributed to him in the text, a serious lapse on the part of the editors.

For his part, Prof. Omeljan Pritsak remembers the work being over a decade ago; he was asked to provide some bibliographic information about several points in old East Slavic history and was asked to review several passages. He was never contacted regarding whether or not his suggestions would be followed. The editors of the book never showed galleys or proofs to Profs. Lunt or Pritsak of any part of the book. To sum up, both were contacted in the 1980s to review very small portions of the project and neither believed that the project had been published, since standard procedure was not followed and they never received any information about their suggestions or progress of the book.

They both are surprised that the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute was listed as their affiliation, since their appointments, respectively, are through Harvard's Slavic department and History department. The "special acknowledgment" clearly is because they are the most distinguished names on the contribution page.

HURI thus is an innocent bystander in another publishing house's egregiously bad editorial process. The work of Profs. Lunt and Pritsak clearly was abused. As those who visited HURI's exhibit at the Joint Conferences in Washington know, we are zealous about the study of Ukraine and its history. We therefore take these things close to heart when they happen.

There is little formal recourse for us in this particular case - however, I will send an open letter to the publisher protesting its editorial process and I will also take appropriate steps to let others know that HURI does not endorse the book.

I hope that these actions will bring closure to this matter for us all.

Robert A. De Lossa
Cambridge, Mass.

The writer is director of publications, Ukrainian Research Institute, Harvard University.

"60 Minutes" continues its bias

Dear Editor:

The CBS "60 Minutes" saga continues. On June 27 "60 Minutes" broadcast a segment produced by Shari Finkelstein on slave labor in Nazi Germany. The labor force was frequently identified as Jews, Poles and Russians. Although Ukrainians outnumbered the Poles and Russians, they were never mentioned - not once.

Both my parents were slave laborers in Nazi Germany, taken by force as teenagers from their ancestral villages in western Ukraine. With very few exceptions, my entire childhood community in Milwaukee (about 150 families) were former slave laborers. Indeed the vast majority of diaspora Ukrainians of my parents' generation were slave laborers. Their suffering is equally worthy of mention.

Protests over this omission should be addressed to: Ms. Shari Finkelstein, Producer, CBS News "60 Minutes," 524 W. 57th St., New York, NY 10019.

Oles Cheren
Mansfield, Ohio

| Home Page |