I just learned that Volodomyr Vyatrovych, a historian who was serving as director of the archives for Ukraine’s SBU, was fired from that post. The SBU is the successor to the KGB, and Vyatrovych made great progress in opening the archives from the Soviet era, archives that document the innumerable crimes of the Soviet Union against the Ukrainian people. Vyatrovych is a casualty of the recent presidential election, which saw Viktor Yanykovych become president. Yanukovych is often characterized in the Western press as “pro-Russian” or “pro-Kremlin.” I often think the “West versus Russian” frame for discussions about Ukraine is too simple, but the dismissal of Vyatrovych reeks of Russian and Kremlin appeasement. Vyatrovych was certainly unpopular with Russia, because he disclosed information about the Holodomor, the 1932-33 genocidal famine of Soviet Ukraine, and because his view of the WWII-era Ukrainian nationalist resistance didn’t coincide with the Soviet/Russian propaganda.
Vyatrovych’s dismissal is an outrage; the appointment of the new SBU head is cause for shame. President Yanukovych appopinted Valery Khoroshkovsky to the post. Khoroshkovsky is a billionaire of questionable reputation with zero apparent qualifications for the position. For a much more informed take on the appointment than I can provide, read Steve Bandera’s post here.
I am angry about this news for a couple of reasons. First, and perhaps self-interestedly, I am conducting research into Ukraine’s nationalist resistance during WWII, and it’s likely that I won’t have access to archives that are essential to understanding this history. More importantly, I am angry on Vyatrovych’s behalf. I met him a few times, both here in the U.S. and in Ukraine. Though we were separated by a language barrier, we were united by a love of history and a desire to see truth emerge from the shadow of totalitarianism. I interviewed him for several hours in Lviv in 2007, and his passion for his work was inspiring. I realize this sounds like a eulogy of Vyatrovych, which is wrong. He’s too determined and intelligent to let this incident impede him.
I will move forward with my research, too, and I will do so inspired by Vyatrovych’s example and his words: “No one, regardless of titles or rank, has the right to decide which truths, or how many, should be made public.”
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11 comments
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March 12, 2010 at 10:16 PM
Kevin
Even though things were not moving fast foward it is so hard to hit the rewind button. Hopes for a better tomorrow-Kevin
March 12, 2010 at 10:20 PM
brianspadora
It’s true. When progress is a struggle, setbacks hurt much more. Reporters and historians have to fight for openness and transparency even in long-established democracies, so Ukraine and other post-Soviet countries face a more difficult battle. It’s unfortunate to have a good soldier like Vyatrovych face tougher odds.
March 13, 2010 at 9:40 AM
elmer
Ukraine now has a mafiocracy.
There is absolutely nothing good to expect from these thugs.
They will simply legalize their own robbery – and the rest of the people, and the country be damned.
March 13, 2010 at 10:52 AM
brianspadora
It’s hard not to share your pessimism. Even if all the archives were opened and corruption declined dramatically, it would still take years, if not decades, for people to recover from their Soviet-era indoctrination. Regression like this delays the needed reforms of policies and of mind-sets.
March 13, 2010 at 3:15 PM
Aunt Janet
Life brings twists and turns, happiness and agony, ups and downs. How much can a people suffer, I wonder often and why. This is just another political outrage that comes and goes and everyone just has to survive. Persevere, Brian, and you will accomplish. Setbacks are frustrating and cause much anger but we do not have control over these things and can only do what is within our power to change or challenge it.
March 15, 2010 at 9:53 PM
brianspadora
Thanks so much for the encouragement. This bad news was expected, but I was still disappointed to read it. I think that Vyatrovych’s dismissal will make him become only more determined. I know it’s done the same for me.
March 14, 2010 at 11:59 AM
elmer
Brian, the Stepan Bandera story has “legs.”
During the Orange Revolution, you would not believe the flooding of newspapers and blogs by the sovok-style “epithet” – Banderivtsi, which was the propaganda-style term hurled at people who supported the Orange Revolution. During sovok times, as has been stated before, people were supposed to cower in fear and shame upon hearing that “eptithet” – and they were supposed to hurl scorn and anger at Stepan Bandera and “Banderivtsi.”
It’s still going on – now, as you know, Poland, the European Council, newspapers all over the world have seized on to the story that won’t let go – and are probably dumbfounded when they find out the actual truth, which is in stark contrast to the sovok propaganda that was drummed into brainwashed sovok citizens.
Here is a brilliant letter to President Yanukovych by Bandera’s grandson.
President Banditkovych has not started out very propitiously – he stole a 400-acre estate from the government, with Yushchenko’s help, and he and his party have trampled on the Constitution in a desparate attempt to consolidate their power and control over everything.
The letter appears in the Kyiv Post – and, as expected, drew sovok-style responses from brainwashed sovoks.
It is a brilliant, brilliant letter.
It kills 2 birds with one stone.
It points out the appalling distortion of Ukraine’s history by the sovoks, and it points out the brutal, atrocious stark-raving mad corruption in Ukraine on the part of Banditkovych, his Party of Thugs, Yushchenko, Tymoshenko and all of the other oligarchs and their henchmen in Ukraine.
And, necessarily, by implication, it points out how these pigs refuse to let go of the government trough, and their abuse of government – to the detriment of Ukraine and its people.
The link is to Steve Bandera’s blog, but you can also find the letter at the Kyiv Post:
http://kyivscoop.blogspot.com/2010/03/deal-for-yanukovych-bandera-for.html
Link to Kyiv Post:
http://www.kyivpost.com/news/opinion/op_ed/detail/61644/
March 15, 2010 at 9:52 PM
brianspadora
Elmer, I read Steve Bandera’s letter with delight. Voices like his give me hope, despite the thuggish tactics of Yanukovych.
When I was in Siberia interviewing former Gulag prisoners and their children, the told me how they were taunted all their lives with the Banderivtsi moniker.
I agree with you about the staying power of the Stepan Bandera story. It’s strange for me, because I have spent the last few years as just about the only non-Ukrainian I know who has ever heard of Bandera. Now, I see stories about him nearly every day.
Thanks, as always, for reading and for you support of my work.
March 14, 2010 at 7:06 PM
gabe
This is really too bad. I learned of my grandfather’s 1937 execution only by going through archives in Zhytomyr. Finally my aging mother was able to learn what had happened to her missing father. To think that these archives might now not be available is so sad. Why can’t the past be known?
March 15, 2010 at 9:48 PM
brianspadora
Gabe, thanks very much for your comment and for reading. That is fascinating information about your family. I am sorry that your grandfather was among the millions of victims of Soviet repression. I hope that the knowledge of what happened to him brought your mother some measure of peace.
I think there is fear of the past, because many leaders in the region today, most obviously Putin, are the ideological descendants of the totalitarians who tortured and murdered millions. If more people knew the dangers of authoritarian rule, Putin and his ilk would face greater challenges. Hiding the past allows them to keep enough people ignorant.
Thank you again for reading.
March 15, 2010 at 4:41 PM
Sometimes The Truth Is The Only Justice « Scattered Graves: A Blog By Brian Spadora
[...] crimes is divisive and backward looking. That’s an insulting and unacceptable view. The recent dismissal of Ukrainian archivist Volodomyr Vyatrovych is an effort to prevent the Ukrainian nation from [...]