Bandera, World War II, Heros, and National Memory

This fall I attended a conference on World War II (or the Great Patriotic War, as it is called here) and memory in Kyiv.  As you may remember form my post, I enjoyed it but didn't have the background knowledge to really appreciate it.  After some time in living in Kyiv and then Simferopol, however, I would love to have the chance to attend another conference of the same topic.

On January 20th, President Yushenko controversially declared Stephan Bandera, a leader of the Ukrainian national movement in the 30's and 40's, a national hero.  For many Ukrainians, especially in Kyiv and western Ukraine, Bandera is a national hero.  For many Ukrainians in eastern and southern Ukraine (many of whom identify as Russian), however, he is a villain and Nazi collaborator.   Pointing out the news story about Yushenko's declaration, my Russian teacher refused to call him by his last name, Bandera, but instead referred to him as бандит (bandit), or mobster.

Above is the paper that my Russian teacher brought for our lesson, and the front page is an excellent example of competing interpretations of history in Ukraine.  On the right side of the article is a statue of Bandera that recently was built in Kyiv, in the last year I believe (anyone know where exactly?).  On the left side is a memorial in front of the old movie theatre in the center of Simferopol.  The etching on the memorial reads

В память о жертвах советского народа, павших от рук пособиников фашистов - вояк ОУН-УПА и других коллаборационистов.

(In memory of the victims of the Soviet people who died at the hands of those aiding the Nazis - OUN (ed: Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists) - UPA (ed: Ukrainian Insurgent Army) fighters and other collaborators.)

A lawyer from Donetsk (a large city in Eastern Ukraine) has filed a lawsuit against Yushenko, and a parliamentarian in Sevastopol burned his Ukrainian passport in protest.  When I observed the first round of election in Sevastopol on the 17th, I saw that many residents already used a Russian or Soviet passport cover for their Ukrainian passports.  The MP was quoted as saying: "I think my next passport will not be Ukrainian."  In Moscow, the youth group Nashi protested in front of the Ukrainian embassy, promising to send Yushenko, among other things he would need upon retirement, an enema.  Moscow is upset that the U.S. State Department has been silent on the issue.

The Ukrainian Canadian Congress praised the declaration and called for changes in Canadian law to recognize members of the OUN-UPA as Canadian War Veterans.

But it is not only the tired East/West divide coming out in this debate.  Many in Ukraine's Jewish community are also upset about the declaration:

Ukraine's chief rabbi, Moshe Reuven Asman, and the U.S.-based Simon Wiesenthal Center both howled in protest, with the Wiesenthal Center expressing its "deepest revulsion" and accusing Bandera of being a Nazi collaborator whose followers killed thousands of Ukrainian Jews. (The Vancouver Sun)

Asman will also reject another national award in protest of Yushenko's declaration.

And how does such a controversial move play into the elections?  Apparently in Lviv, a statue of Bandera is being guarded surrounding rumours that either Yanukovich's party will destroy the statue in protest, or Tymoshenko's party will do the same to blame in on her opponent.