LETTERS TO THE EDITOR (08/13/00)

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

"Nova" needs help with historic facts

Dear Editor:

In May of this year PBS presented a three-part series titled "Who Were The Vikings?" - the second portion of which was dedicated to their conquest of Eastern Europe. The program was generally well-produced, except for the usual misreading of history when it comes Kyivan Rus', Muscovy and the Russian Empire.

Some examples: "Archeological findings indicate the connection between the Vikings and the birth of the Russian Empire..." "The oldest Russian documents indicate that when Moscow was a little town, the center of the young Russian state stood here, amongst the cathedrals of Kyiv ..." And finally, no program on Kyivan Rus' would be complete without reference to Kyiv as "... the mother of all the cities of Russia."

The historian interviewed during the program was a Russian-speaking professor from St. Petersburg. The only mention of Ukraine was that Kyiv is its modern-day capital. What I find disturbing is that, after nearly nine years of statehood, Ukrainian sources are still ignored when it comes to interpreting Ukrainian history. This is particularly true when it comes to Kyivan Rus' and leads to a misleading Russocentric view of our early history. Could "Nova" not find a local historian in Kyiv to discuss Kyivan Rus'? Would producers/editors travel to northern Canada to inquire about the history of the American Civil War?

Those wishing to express an opinion can contact "Nova" at: Audience and Member Services, WGBH Educational Foundation, 125 Western Ave., Boston, MA 02134; telephone, (617) 492-2777, ext. 5400; fax, (617) 300-1020; or e-mail, nova@wgbh.org.

Unless we respond to such careless and incomplete historiography, we are in danger of having our early heritage stolen from us.

Our historical scholars both here and in Ukraine should be informed of the situation so they can respond in more detail and make themselves available in the future.

Ihor Wolchuk
Philadelphia

Re: Russians vs Ukrainian patriots

Dear Editor:

I was perplexed by the headline "Russia speaks out in defense of compatriots" (July 23) concerning the latest threat from Russia's ambassador in Ukraine - this time with respect to Lviv officials' recent efforts to limit the widespread use of the Russian language in governmental and commercial activities.

Admittedly, I have not read the resolutions objected to by Ambassador Ivan Aboimov, but I am reasonably confident that they are not draconian in nature and are reasonably calculated to foster the greater use of Ukrainian in government and commerce. Ukrainian, after all, is the official state language of Ukraine.

The bullying comments of the Russian ambassador were predictable, and mirror the usual reaction of most Russian officials, journalists and media types whenever the "language question" comes up, which is often. They invariably prefer to characterize any and every effort of Ukrainians and other non-Russians to assert their own cultural identity and advocate the use of their native language as a nefarious "attack" on Russian minorities. They have even taken it upon themselves to "defend" all Russian-speaking citizens in the former republics of the defunct Soviet Union, regardless of their ethnic origin.

But why should we buy into their traditional "older brother" attitude and passively adopt their intentionally fraudulent and malicious mischaracterizations? Why should The Ukrainian Weekly accept Moscow's deceptive mischaraterization of legitimate efforts by elected or appointed Ukrainian officials to foster and encourage the wider use of the Ukrainian language? Why should The Weekly agree with the Russian ambassador. that he is "defending" Russian-speakers in Ukraine, when the informed reader knows that the Russian language in Ukraine needs no defenders?

And, while I'm on this topic, why does The Ukrainian Weekly characterize our patriotic youth as "ultra-nationalists" ("...sporadic acts of violence by groups of Ukrainian ultra-nationalists...") knowing full-well what negative connotation that description carries? Wake up.

My comments in this regard closely dovetail with the opinions expressed in the same issue of The Ukrainian Weekly by my old acquaintance, Bohdan Vitvitsky ("The killing of a Ukrainian songwriter in Lviv, Western journalists, historians of Ukrainian and us").

Please do not misunderstand. I do not, for one moment, suggest that we refrain from the use of the honorable appellation "Ukrainian nationalist." I submit, however, that we must take (and make) every opportunity to explain that the term "Ukrainian nationalist," considered in the light of Ukraine's historical struggle for political independence and cultural freedom, simply means "Ukrainian patriot." It has nothing to do with the destructive, evil "nationalisms" (Yugoslav ethnic-cleansing, for example) that the American press and other media erroneously and simplistically understand under that the term.

A Ukrainian nationalist-patriot is as worthy of respect as any American, French, Israeli or other patriot who loves his people and country!

M. Jaroslav Berezowsky
Troy, Mich.

EDITOR'S NOTE: With all due respect to the letter-writer, The Weekly does not accept Moscow's position. For this newspaper's position on the issue, see our editorial of July 2. However, we see it as our responsibility to report on Moscow's reactions to Ukrainian policies, whether or not we like those reactions, in order to inform our readers of news developments. Furthermore, our use of the term "ultra-nationalists" in the news report did not intend to demean nationalists in any way, as there is a difference between a nationalist and an ultra-nationalist. Nonetheless, perhaps a better choice of words would have been "ultra-chauvinist."

The Ukrainian Weekly welcomes letters to the editor and commentaries on a variety of topics of concern to the Ukrainian American and Ukrainian Canadian communities. Opinions expressed by columnists, commentators and letter-writers are their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of either The Weekly editorial staff or its publisher, the Ukrainian National Association.

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