Over two years after Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainians are nonetheless preventing valiantly. Two years on, Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to be spewing baseless propaganda that my nation, a rustic with a Jewish president and a thriving Jewish group, is a Nazi state.
There is no such thing as a extra profound image to counteract this false portrayal than the current completion of the Torah scroll of solidarity between Ukraine and Israel, with letters inscribed by their presidents Volodymyr Zelensky and Isaac Herzog. This scroll will likely be a motivating power for the Ukrainian and Jewish communities to unify, nearer than ever, to counter the previous Soviet playbook and be certain that freedom prevails. However extra should be carried out.
Putin has repeatedly pushed ahead the abhorrently false narrative that Ukraine should be “denazified,” declaring that Ukraine is a Nazi state led by neo-Nazi aligned Ukrainian nationalists, thereby justifying his unprovoked and unwarranted conflict. These claims should not new.
For many years, Russian authorities, previously Soviet, have referred to as the Ukrainian nationalist motion a Nazi motion in an effort to discredit Ukrainians who need to dwell in a free and democratic Ukraine. They’ve targeted their power on the Group of Ukrainian Nationalists, a political celebration that was established in 1929, devoted to the institution of an unbiased Ukrainian state.
The OUN performed a central function within the institution of a Ukrainian state and continues to play an more and more essential function in Ukrainian society immediately.
Throughout World Conflict Two, there have been situations of Ukrainian nationalists partnering in crimes in opposition to Jews. However these acts have been uncommon exceptions and completely not official coverage or a mirrored image of OUN’s place. A lot of the “reporting” immediately on the celebration’s purported crimes through the Holocaust stems from KGB propaganda aimed toward discrediting Ukrainian nationalists.
The truth is, there have been many situations of Ukrainian nationalist leaders risking their lives to avoid wasting Jews from the Nazis in Ukraine. And now, as Putin’s Russian propaganda proliferates globally with supporters like Tucker Carlson doing his bidding, it’s extra necessary than ever for the Ukrainian and Jewish communities to return collectively to spotlight their very own tales, and push again in opposition to Russian myths about Ukrainians and Ukrainian Nationalists.
Ivan Vovchuk’s story should be dropped at the general public’s consideration
It’s the tales of those people that should be dropped at the general public’s consideration. They embody the democratic and indomitable spirit of the Ukrainian people who find themselves preventing for his or her freedom immediately. And so they underscore the necessity to strengthen Ukrainian-Jewish relations, and to not let Putin undermine them.
Certainly one of these Ukrainians was Ivan Vovchuk.
VOVCHUK, a local of Nikopol and a frontrunner of the Group of Ukrainian Nationalists, used his place to avoid wasting Jewish households, together with Sara Bakst and her youngsters, from Nazi terror.
His actions, and people of his brave spouse, Yelizaveta Shkandel, are poignant reminders of the shared historical past and mutual help between the Ukrainian and Jewish communities, debunking the vile narrative propagated by the Kremlin. “Vovk” was honored by Yad Vashem, Israel’s official memorial to victims of the Holocaust, as a Righteous Among the many Nations for his heroism.
His story is a beacon of humanity and braveness, countering the baseless Russian propaganda that seeks to color Ukraine as an antisemitic, Nazi state.
Russia’s present propaganda marketing campaign will not be solely traditionally inaccurate, however deeply offensive. It’s an insult to the reminiscence of Holocaust victims and the bravery of people like Vovk who stood in opposition to actual antisemitism and Nazism. And it’s an insult to the trendy Jewish group in Ukraine.
Sadly, this narrative has resonated amongst a choose few segments of American and European society. That is why I’m working with the Vovk Basis on a brand new ebook, detailing the historical past of Ivan Vovchuk, to dispel the fictional lies propagated by Putin and his anti-Ukraine allies within the West.
This ebook, using a raft of unreported main sources and paperwork, will push again in opposition to Putin’s castigations of Ukrainians and Ukrainian Nationalists like Ivan Vovchuk, and convey the Ukrainian and Jewish communities nearer collectively because the Russian conflict machine makes an attempt to intentionally insert a rift between them.
The significance of the Ukrainian and Jewish communities standing collectively in opposition to aggression can’t be overstated. This alliance is a testomony to our shared dedication to justice and mutual respect. Our solidarity is a potent power in opposition to the misinformation and hatred unfold by our adversaries.
The wrestle we face immediately isn’t just Ukraine’s battle; it’s a battle for the very soul of Europe and the rules of freedom and humanity which are important to all the world. Simply as Vovk and others like him rose to the problem of their time, we too should stand agency in opposition to the distortion of historical past and the malign intent of Russian aggression. The worldwide group, significantly the West, should proceed to help Ukraine, guaranteeing that the sacrifices made are honored and that the aspirations for a peaceable and simply future are realized.
The author is president of the Jewish Confederation of Ukraine.
