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Ukrainians in the Nachtigall and Roland Units, then, were also not Ukrainians marching off to
fight for Hitler, but rather they were Ukrainians calculating that an alliance with German
forces would promote their national interests, they were Ukrainians whose willingness to fight
for Hitler or to promote Nazi interests proved to be close to non-existent, and they were
Ukrainians who fell out with their Nazi sponsors in the early stages of the war.
It must be noted also that unlike the Galicia Division, the Nachtigall and Roland Units were not
part of the SS, and so that Mr. Safer was in error when he stated that "Roman Shukhevych ... was
deputy commander of the SS Division Nightingale."
It is another mark of 60 Minutes' biased coverage that in objecting to streets being named after
the above-mentioned Stepan Bandera, it did not mention that he spent most of the war in German
captivity, nor that he lost two brothers at Auschwitz; and in objecting to the commemoration of
the above-mentioned Roman Shukhevych, it did not mention that he escaped from German captivity
and commanded the Ukrainian guerrilla war against the German occupation. These omissions are
part of a pattern of distortions and misrepresentations used by 60 Minutes to create the false
impression of undeviating commitment to Naziism on the part of Ukrainians. Take Ukraine's
staunchest opponents of Naziism, let 60 Minutes' makeup crew touch them up for the camera, and
somehow they appear on the air with swastikas smeared on their foreheads.
And so 60 Minutes has painted a picture entirely at variance with the historical record. The
idea of Ukrainians en masse unselfconsciously celebrating the SS is preposterous and on a par
with the image of Jews sacrificing Christian children to drink their blood. These sorts of
fantastic and inflammatory charges are leveled by the more hysterical elements within each
community, are passed along by the more irresponsible members of the mass media, and are aimed
at consumption by the more naive and gullible members of their respective groups. 60 Minutes'
allegations have smeared members of the Galicia Division and Ukrainians generally with a
reckless disregard of evidence that is readily available to any researcher who is interested in
presenting an impartial picture. It is a blatant calumny for 60 Minutes to hold out any of the
above-mentioned units as evidence that Ukrainians "marched off to fight for Hitler" and it
overlooks also that on the Soviet side fighting the Nazis were about two million Ukrainians
which in view of their much larger number, 60 Minutes could have taken as evidence of Ukrainians
"marching off to fight against Hitler" and it overlooks as well the large number of Ukrainians
fighting against Hitler in the various national armies of the Allied forces.
Morley Safer's Contempt for the Intelligence of his Viewers.
Morley Safer states that "Nowhere, not even in Germany, are the SS so openly celebrated," and
while he is saying this, we might rightly expect that the scenes presented will be supportive of
his statement. What we do see is elderly veterans of the Galicia Division at a reunion in
Lviv. What details of these scenes support Morley Safer's strong conclusion? Let us consider
ten possibilities.
(1) Perhaps Mr. Safer counted swastikas, and their large number supported his strong
conclusion? But no, that can't be it - for there is not a single swastika to be seen anywhere.
Not one! But how is it possible to hold the world's most open celebration of the SS without a
single swastika? Mr. Safer's conclusion does not seem to be supported by the scene presented
in fact, his conclusion seems to be contradicted by the scene presented. Well, but perhaps
there were other clues?
(2) Surely at the world's most open celebration of the SS, one would find the "SS" insignia in
plentiful supply? But no, there is not a single "SS" visible anywhere. The camera scans the
veterans, we can see their medals and decorations, but we ca
then, we have the world's most open celebration of the SS, but without a single swastika and
without a single "SS." But let us move ahead more quickly.
(3) The number of portraits of Hitler, commander-in-chief of all the German armed forces, and so
commander-in-chief of the SS? Zero!
(4) The number of portraits of Himmler, head of the SS? Zero!
(5) The number of portraits of any member of the Nazi hierarchy, or indeed of any German? Zero!
(6) Any Nazi salutes being made? No, not one!
(7) Any Nazi songs being sung? None!
(8) A single word of German spoken? No, not one!
(9) Perhaps there was literature circulated during the reunion which revealed Nazi sympathies?
But no such literature was shown. How about at any time prior to the reunion - even during the
entire 50 or so years following the formation of the Division and up until the reunion? 60
Minutes does not appear to have discovered any such Nazi literature.
(10) As these veterans have been living for more than 50 years predominantly in Canada, the
United States, and Australia, then they can readily be interviewed, and so perhaps 60 Minutes
interviewers managed to elicit pro-Nazi statements from them? No, this golden opportunity too
was passed over, not a single question was asked, not a single word spoken, and not a single
pro-Nazi statement was to be heard.
What then are we left with? We seem to be left with Morley Safer making a fantastic claim while
presenting as evidence images devoid of the slightest detail supporting that claim. We are
left, in short, with Morley Safer revealing his contempt for the intelligence of the 60 Minutes
viewer.
CONTENTS:
Preface
The Galicia Division
Quality of Translation
Ukrainian Homogeneity
Were Ukrainians Nazis?
Simon Wiesenthal
What Happened in Lviv?
Nazi Propaganda Film
Collective Guilt
Paralysis of the Comparative
Function
60 Minutes' Cheap Shots
Ukrainian Anti-Semitism
Jewish Ukrainophobia
Mailbag
A Sense of Responsibility
What 60 Minutes Should Do
PostScript
Quality of Translation
Were all those Ukrainians really saying "kike" and "yid"?
In one instance, I could make out the Ukrainian word "zhyd." Following conventions of Ukrainian
transliteration into English, by the way, the "zh" in "zhyd" is pronounced approximately like
the "z" in "azure," and the "y" in "zhyd" is pronounced like the "y" in "myth." Quite true, to
continue, that in Russian "zhyd" is derogatory for "Jew" and "yevrei" is neutral. In Ukrainian,
the same is true in heavily Russified Eastern Ukraine, and even in Central Ukraine. But in the
less Russified Western Ukraine old habits persist, and here especially among the common people
- "zhyd" continues to be as it always has been the neutral term for "Jew," and "yevrei" sounds
Russian.
Thus, in non-Russified Ukrainian, the "Jewish Battalion" of the Ukrainian Galician Army formed
in 1919 was the "zhydivskyi kurin". "Judaism" is "zhydivstvo." A "learned Jew" is "zhydovyn."
"Judophobe" is "zhydofob" and "Jodophile" is "zhydofil." The adjective "zhydivskyi" meaning
"Jewish" was used by Ukrainians and Jews alike in naming Jewish orchestras and theater groups
and clubs and schools and government departments. The Encyclopaedia Judaica (1971, Volume 11,
p. 616) shows the May 18, 1939 masthead and headlines of the Lviv Jewish newspaper which was