No Rehabilitation To National Fascism!

Prof. Vladimir Herasymchuk

As it became known, the people's deputy of Ukraine, a member of the party that is called Union of Social Democrats, has brought up on the agenda in the Supreme Council of Ukrainian parliament a proposal for a new law "Recognition as Veterans the Ukrainian Nationalist Fighters of OUN/UPA."

Do they not know that even in the present Ukraine’s Statutes it is written about the status of World War Two veterans who fought against the German-fascist army and who took part in that bitter struggle on the temporarily-occupied Ukrainian lands from 1941-1944 who were already rehabilitated under the law passed by the present regime, called "About the rehabilitation of all who were politically repressed in the Ukraine." Of course, it is absolutely not understandable, how could these bandits have fought against the German occupiers, when in fact they were cooperating with them?

But… in this new proposal there are other things to be accomplished. This new proposal means that all the fighters in the Second World War have to admit that they were "soldiers" of the Ukrainian Underground Army, the OUN/UPA, even those on whose hands there is blood of thousands of their countrymen and women… this blood is still on their hands, even now! This blood cannot be washed away. If this new law is passed, it would mean that all the bandits who fought with Hitler against their own people will be recognized as "fighters in the war struggle"?!

Against whom did the bandits of OUN/UPA fight?

About this question many books have been written. There is a tremendous amount of documentation of witnesses and photographs and there are still living witnesses.

There is a well-known Canadian Ukrainian historian Orest Subtelny, who wrote in one of his works: "On the eve of the attack by Germany on the USSR, already there was formed the Ukrainian Underground Army, the first formation was called 'Legion of Ukrainian Nationalists.' This legion was composed of 600 members and it was split into two battalions, code-named "Nightingale" and "Roland". These Ukrainian fascists came together with the Germans into Ukraine. In June of 1941 in Lvov, they distributed leaflets, which ended up with these words; "People, do understand! Moscow, Poland, Hungary, Jews – these are the enemies! We must eliminate them!" In the Act of Declaration of Ukrainian "Independent" State in 1941, the document ended with these words: "Glory to the victorious German Army and its great leader, Adolph Hitler!"

Yes, after the first success of the German army, the German fascists "arrested" the "leader" of the Ukrainian nationalists. This was done in order to make the OUN/UPA conform to the German plans. This cooperation between the German Army and the Ukrainian nationalists lasted until the end of World War II. The leading positions of the OUN/UPA were staffed by high German officers of the Intelligence section. The members of these Ukrainian nationalist brigands were in Germany during the war years in espionage and intelligence schools. The head of UPA/OUN was appointed by the German command – Roman Shukhevich. At the same moment, the "arrested" Premier of "Ukraine" Yaroslav Stetsko, wore a German Police uniform. Bandera received his officer's baton from the German High Command. He had many servants looking after all his needs.

"Our authority must be terrible!"

This was stated by Bandera, as he conducted the politics of OUN/UPA on the territory of the German-occupied Ukraine. He recommended to "kill everyone who will stand in our way and against our regime!"

Here is just one example of countless terror as practiced by these Ukrainian nationalists, taken from the newspaper "Tovarish" (Olexa Panasenko):

"Those who did not want to fulfill the orders of these Ukrainian nationalists, the Security Detail of OUN/UPA not only made certain that you received 30-50 lashes but physically you were killed. Because Sidor K. Oniskovets, living in the village of Tinnje, Sarnetsky region, did not want to join UPA, first they killed him in front of his children with an ax. After that they killed four members of his family, and lastly, his two-year-old son Ivan, for the "glory of Ukraine" they cut off a leg of this two-year-old baby, and with his blood they wrote on the wall: "For the traitorous act against Ukraine." This is the essence of these bandits "democracy"!…

And today, this deputy Shiller in his appeal to the present Ukrainian parliament writes: " The state must look favorably at the veterans of OUN/UPA since this question was always hushed up and not resolved before, this is nothing more than ignoring a practice of democracy"? There is only one thing to do now, yell out: "Glory to the heroes!" Or I feel it might be better to yell – "Heil!?…

 Who is this Kubiyevich?

Much is written about him in the present Ukrainian nationalist press. He is called a "great patriot," "the top learned Ukrainian intellectual." It looks as if he is one of the OUN heroes. It is he who is credited with forming the Ukrainian nationalist army to fight together with Hitler against Bolshevism. On April 28, 1943 in Lvov, there was held a great manifestation to welcome the Governor General of Galicia, Hans Frank, Governor of Galicia Otto von Vekhter and Kubiyevich on the occasion of forming such an army division. Already in September of that year, the first thousand of these Ukrainian nationalist volunteers took their oath of allegiance to Hitler Germany. The "SS Galichina" was the second SS division, formed exclusively by foreigners. The first division was the "Hanfzhar" formed by Muslims.

The present grandchildren of Bandera and Stetsko are not waiting to rehabilitate them first, but are trying to influence the present generation of youth. Pretty soon in Lvov there will be erected a monument to the "SS Galichina" Division and to Kubiyevich. But what about the results of the Nuremberg Trial of the war criminals which condemned and sentenced the "SS Galichina" as a World War II terrorist organization? This sentence cannot be rescinded even by the present Ukrainian nationalist government!

One more fact about the life of this "saint." Heading the Ukrainian Committee in Lvov in 1941, he appealed to the German Command to clean up all the Jews living in the city of Lvov. In the summer of that year, there were organized "Petlura Days" in his honor, these Ukrainian bandits held day and night pogroms against the Jews, and blood was flowing in the streets of Lvov. How do we look at this? As a struggle by OUN/UPA against German fascism during the war?

Much has been written about this genocide, but let us quote just one author, a Polish professor Vitoli Kulesha. The original documents support this fact, which are saved in the archives of Krakow, Poland. There is a list of all the names of the SS legion Galichina - 567 names, with dates of birth, places of birth, rank and when they joined the SS Galichina. There is also a list of 219 Ukrainian SS soldiers from the 31st battalion. These documents show concretely, how these nationalists took part in crushing the Warsaw Uprising, and how they performed other terrorist acts.

"Rzeszpospolita", 19/09/2001

We just looked at some facts taken at random about the terrorist acts of OUN/UPA. But this is enough to certify that these bandits took part in the war against the Soviet people, together with the German Army. But whom were these bandits fighting against? They fought against their own people! We must put the slogan up front – National Fascism shall not pass! We shall not allow these war criminals bandits of the OUN/UPA – the bloody terrorists of the Great Patriotic War.

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