LETTERS TO THE EDITOR (03/05/00)

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

A shameful letter and a distortion

Dear Editor:

The letter by Michael Step (February 13) is shameful, disgraceful and a gross distortion! The U.S. State Department issued its recent annual human rights report which describes Castro's Cuba as a vicious police state that routinely abuses the rights of children. It is not uncommon for Communist Party leaders and Cuban government officials to conscript grade school and high school students to rally in front of the homes of "dissidents" and shout obscenities, damage property and even physically attack families.

This should all sound familiar to anyone of Ukrainian heritage - duh ... wake up Mr. Step!

Elian's father is not afraid of Clinton; he's afraid of Castro! We know from Elian's lawyer, Spencer Eig, who appeared on CNN's "Crossfire," that Elian's father repeatedly and frantically made long-distance calls to Florida relatives to see if his son and ex-wife made it safely. When they didn't and it became world news and Castro found out - then, suddenly, the Cuban dictator discovered "family values" and ordered the dad to get his son while Castro holds "hostage" the rest of the "family." What "values"!

Elian's father, unlike any normal father, refuses to come and get his son. Again, duh ... this makes sense if you understand Communist tyranny. If Mr. Step and the other Castro apologists were sincere they would insist that the father with his entire family come to Florida and decide whether to stay or return.

It is disgusting that Mr. Step would use "U.S. public opinion" as a reason to send back Elian and take a cheap swipe at Dr. Kuropas. "U.S. public opinion" is easily molded and swayed by the mass media. Yes the same media [not only CBS] that considers non-Communist Ukraine to be "ugly" and its freedom to have an "ugly face."

It is relatively easy for the "media" to whip up anti-Ukrainian hysteria, as it did during the time of the FDR-era with The New York Times best seller "Sabotage!" - a book whose authors accused the Ukrainian National Association of operating torture and execution cambers in its basement.

The mass media is the last thing we should consider when making a moral choice.

Jaroslaw B. Sawka
Sterling Heights, Mich.

Thanks for article about Krychevsky

Dear Editor:

Thank you very much for the very interesting and informative article by Marta Baczynsky on the multi-faceted and illustrious contributions of the esteemed and prodigious artist/scholar Vasyl Krychevsky (November 21, 1999).

In 1992 I had the opportunity to visit the city of Poltava and observe both the exterior and interior of the truly magnificent Poltava Zemstvo Building. Prior to the visit, my knowledge of Krychevesky's artistic, architectural and scholarly legacy was superficial, at best. After observing this most extraordinary building, I became forever spellbound by its indescribable magnificence and completely floored by the artist's talent. The building is arguably the most fascinating modern structure in all of Poltava, if not the entire Poltava Oblast.

I urge anyone and everyone who is even near the city of New York and in the vicinity of The Ukrainian Museum, to visit the museum, experience the remarkable legacy of Vasyl Krychevsky and pay tribute to this phenomenal genius.

Perhaps The Ukrainian Museum should consider sponsoring someday a retrospective exhibition of all the artistic members of the Krychevsky family, including Vasyl, Fedir, Mykola and Kateryna Krychevsky-Rosandich. Such a tribute would be a great gesture towards the glorious legacy of one of the greatest artistic families in modern Ukrainian history.

Illya Matthew Labunka
Kyiv

| Home Page |