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it into the window of the children's dormitory. Ten or so children
could have been killed by the explosion. But the young Ukrainian
councillor showed no confusion as to his duty. He picked up the
bomb, shielding it with his own body, and jumped out of the
building. Unfortunately, the bomb went off, seriously wounding
Maksym.
The best local surgeons fought for several days to save the boy's
life. Thanks to them, the youth's life was spared. Unfortunately,
it was not possible to save his hands.
No one can accuse the recipient of not having earned his award.
Ukrainian awards, in contrast to Soviet, are fully deserved.
(Ukrainian-language newspaper, Novyi Shliakh (New Pathway) of
7Oct95, based on the earlier report in Ukrains'ke Slovo, (Ukrainian
Word), Kyiv, No. 37, 14Sep95)
The above story of Maksym Tsarenko compels me to ask - not for the first time - who
is in danger in Ukraine? The Western media urge us to accept that it is Jews and
Russians who are in danger, threatened by Ukrainian nationalists. That, for example,
is the conclusion of your infamous 60 Minutes broadcast The Ugly Face of Freedom of
23Oct94. However, you came back from your brief visit to Ukraine with no data to
substantiate such a claim. Almost a year ago, the Ukrainian Archive has requested
both of you and of Rabbi Bleich the evidence backing your report of violence against
Jews, and neither of you has as yet condescended to reply, strengthening the
suspicion that your story was fabricated.
The sort of powerful story that neither you nor Rabbi Bleich were able to find is one
of a Russian summer-camp councillor who had his hands blown off by Ukrainian
nationalists for using the Russian language within Ukraine; or one of a Jewish
summer-camp councillor having his hands blown off by Ukrainian nationalists for using
Hebrew or Yiddish within Ukraine. Such things do not happen within Ukraine to either
Russians or to Jews - they happen only to Ukrainians. It is the story of Ukrainians
being persecuted within Ukraine that you could have richly documented and broadcast
to the world. The story of Maksym Tsarenko can be found multiplied many times over
the torture-murders of Ukrainian activist Volodymyr Katelnytsky and his mother in
their Kyiv apartment providing a recent example. The contrasting story of Jewish or
Russian victimization within Ukraine is bogus - and yet that is the story that you
unscrupulously chose to broadcast.
Lubomyr Prytulak
cc: Rabbi Bleich, Ed Bradley, Jeffrey Fager, Don Hewitt, Steve Kroft, Andy Rooney,
Lesley Stahl, Mike Wallace.
Morley Safer Letter 9 15May99 Who murdered Volodymyr Ivasiuk?
But in the meantime, those who come too near to the truth concerning what happened to
Volodymyr Ivasiuk have been the victims of an unusual number of accidents. One man's
wife unexpectedly hangs herself, another man throws himself from a balcony, still
another drowns, yet another falls under the wheels of a car.... But remember, butchers,
God's punishment will descend even upon you!
May 15, 1999
Morley Safer
60 Minutes, CBS Television
51 W 52nd Street
New York, NY
USA 10019
Morley Safer:
Who Murdered
Volodymyr Ivasiuk?
Volodymyr Ivasiuk is best known as a composer and poet,
author of the widely popular song Chervona Ruta whose first
two lines appear below as he wrote them in his own hand,
which song more than anything else made him beloved
throughout Ukraine, and even beyond the borders of Ukraine.
On top of that, Volodymyr was a man of many talents, having
earned a degree in medicine, and having demonstrated talent
in art, photography, and cinematography.
However, having reached his prime
showing so much promise, it was not
given Volodymyr Ivasiuk to develop his
talents further. He was dead at the age
of 30. To the right is a photograph of
his funeral procession, attended by
thousands of mourners despite the
suppression by the state of the
publication of information concerning
his burial, despite official warnings to
not attend funeral services, and despite
the calling of Komsomol meetings, which
carried mandatory attendance, on the
same day. The magazine Halas, on whose
information I rely in the present
letter, states that Rostyslaw Bratun who
was the first to step forward and speak
at Volodymyr's funeral lost his job two
months later. Words spoken at the
funeral by the Sichko family landed them
in prison.
To the right is a second photograph
showing the statue that was eventually
erected in Volodymyr Ivasiuk's memory.
And just how did Volodymyr Ivasiuk meet
his end? His death certificate which
appears below states that he died on
24-27 April 1979 from mechanical
asphyxiation caused by hanging in a
noose, and attributes the hanging to
suicide.
The details of Volodymyr Ivasiuk's death, however, do not support the official view that
he killed himself:
They waited and searched for Volodya for 24 days. Following the
mysterious disappearance of the composer, the search for him was not
disclosed to the public, the explanation being given that such an
a
daily used not only to help locate people, but sometimes even their
pets. [...]
It was not until May 18, 1979 that Volodymyr Ivasiuk's body was
accidentally discovered in the heavy forest near the village
Briukhovych near Lviv.
One couldn't bring oneself to believe it. The parents were allowed to
identify their son only on the following day, even though it was only a
five-minute walk from the apartment where Volodya lived to the morgue;
and the identification was conducted with gross violations of law. The
father was allowed to view the body only after he repeatedly telephoned
the Oblast Procurator threatening to send a telegram of complaint to
the General Procurator of Ukraine. The local authorities eventually
gave in with the exasperated reply: "Take your son home, and look at
him there at least a hundred years!" His death certificate reported
that he died 24-27 April 1979 at the age of 30. The cause of death:
mechanical asphyxiation. Hanging from a noose - suicide. The death
certificate was issued on May 21, 1979, and even back then, a mere
three days after the body had been discovered, without any evidence or
investigation it had been written in black and white that Volodymyr
Ivasiuk had committed suicide.
There immediately arises the question that if the composer had indeed
hung himself on 24-27 April, and was not found until 18 May, whether he
could have remained hanging from a tree for 21-24 days. Volodya
weighed 80 kg (176 lb), such that hanging for so long, the noose would
have cut into his neck to the depth of the bones. Also during May the
weather was warm and dry. The body would have decomposed during this
interval, and from it would have emanated an intolerable odour. All
these substantiating signs were missing, and missing too were the
autopsy photographs.
On May 22 of every year let us remember that Volodymyr Ivasiuk became
another i
M. Masly, Volodymyr Ivasiuk: Light and Shadow of a Legend, Halas
(Clamor), 3Jun97, pp. 11-12, as translated by Lubomyr Prytulak.