+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


On the Western Front

 Kazuo Ishiguro wins 2017
 Nobel Prize in Literature
October 5th.

Xinhua - The Nobel Prize in Literature for 2017 is awarded
to Kazuo Ishiguro "who, in novels of great emotional force,
has uncovered the abyss beneath our illusory sense of
connection with the world", the Swedish Academy
announced in Stockholm on Thursday.

Kazuo Ishiguro has been a full-time author ever since his first book,
A Pale View of Hills (1982). The themes Ishiguro is most associated
with are already present here: memory, time, and self-delusion,
said the Swedish Academy, in his biographical notes.

Ishiguro's writings are marked by a carefully restrained mode of
expression, independent of whatever events are taking place.
At the same time, his more recent fiction contains fantastic
features, the notes added.

"His novel, as in several others, we also find musical influences,"
the notes said, adding that apart from his eight books, Ishiguro
has also written scripts for film and television.

Kazuo Ishiguro was born on Nov. 8, 1954 in Nagasaki, Japan.

 The family moved to the United Kingdom when he was five
years old. In the late 1970s, Ishiguro graduated in English
and Philosophy at the University of Kent, and then went
on to study Creative Writing, at the University of
East Anglia.

This year's prize is 9 million SEK (1.1 million U.S. dollars).


_______________________________________________________


BREAD AND ROSES AWARD
FOR RADICAL PUBLISHING

‘The Candidate: Jeremy Corbyn’s Improbable Path to Power’
 by Alex Nunns, wins the Bread & Roses Award for Radical
 Publishing, 2017

The Alliance of Radical Booksellers (ARB) is delighted to
 announce the winner of this year’s Bread and Roses
Award for Radical Publishing as ‘The Candidate:
Jeremy Corbyn’s Improbable Path to Power’ by
 Alex Nunns and published by OR Books.

The judges greatly appreciated this exploration of the deep
roots of the Corbyn phenomenon. In The Candidate, Nunns
shows that Corbyn’s victories weren’t the accidental
consequence of other candidates’ failures, but were
 built on the work of an energised, thoughtful and
committed movement of citizen-campaigners.

Cogent, optimistic, well-written and thoroughly researched,
 this hugely topical book records with great intimacy and
insight an historical moment whose lessons mustn’t be
forgotten, while also exposing the persistent forces
 which continue to work against social change.

Alex Nunn’s was awarded the prize and a cheque for £500
 by guest judge Joan Anim-Addo at this year’s London
Radical Bookfair, hosted as ever by the ARB.

2017’s prize money was generously granted
 by the General Federation of Trade Unions.

Guest judge Joan Anim-Addo presented
 Alex Nunn’s with the award.

Book summary

In September 2015 an earthquake shook the foundations
 of British politics. Jeremy Corbyn, a lifelong and
uncompromising socialist, was elected to head
the Labour Party. Corbyn didn’t just win the
leadership contest, he trounced opponents.
The establishment was aghast. The official
opposition now had as its leader a man
 with a plan, according to the Daily
Telegraph, “to turn Britain into
Zimbabwe.”

How this remarkable twist of events occurre is the
subject of Alex Nunns’ highly readable and richly
researched account. Drawing on 1st-hand inter-
views with those involved in the campaign,
 including its most senior figures, Nunns
traces the origins of Corbyn’s victory in
 the dissatisfaction with Blairism stirred
 by the Iraq War and the 2008 financial
 crash, the move to the left of the trade
unions, and changes in the electoral
rules of the Labour Party that turned
 out to be surreally at odds with the
 intentions of those who introduced
them. The system of one-member-
one-vote, that delivered Corbyn’s
 success, was opposed by those
 on the left and was heralded by
 Tony Blair who described it as
“a long overdue reform that…
I should have done myself.”

Giving full justice to the dramatic swings & nail-biting
 tensions of an extraordinary summer in UK politics,
Nunns’ telling of a story that has received wide-
spread attention but little understanding is as
 illuminating as it is entertaining. He teases
out a plotline of such improbability that it
would be unusable in a work of fiction,
giving the first convincing explanation
 of a remarkable phenomenon with
enormous consequences for the
 left in Britain and beyond.

For more info please visit the OR Book website:

http://www.orbooks.com/catalog/the-candidate/
?utm_source=Bread%20and%20Roses&utm_
medium=blog&utm_campaign=Candid

 Ode to the NeoCons —
The Charge of the White Hat Brigade
by Rob Slane? (who can drum up a good tune?)
Originally appeared at The Blog Mire

The White Hats and the Black Hats stood on each side,
Eyeball to eyeball across the divide.
Neither advanced nor retreated one inch,
The world held its breath to see who would flinch.

But the fears were misplaced for as it transpired,
The Black Hats retreated – no shot being fired.
The cost of the standoff just too much to pay,
They packed up their stuff and went on their way.

Well the White Hats rejoiced and in triumph did shout,
“Our victory marks history’s end, there’s no doubt.
We’re children of destiny, reigning supreme,
There’s no time to lose, let’s get on with our dream.”

“We’re the White Hats, the White Hats, the White Hat Brigade,
And now we’ll go round this world we have made.
Bringing White Hats to the people ourselves,
And generally saving them all from themselves.”

So they began their incredible mission,
To bring the whole world into White Hat submission.
They dropped lots of bombs, good ones of course,
Generous bombs for a generous cause.

When some complained that this just wasn’t right,
They pointed towards their hats which were white.
“White Hats can never do wrong,” they affirmed,
“Therefore we always are right,” they confirmed.

“We’re the White Hats, the White Hats, the White Hats are we,
Ours is a lonely and high destiny.
Bringing White Hats to folks everywhere,
Whether they like it or not we don’t care.”

They invented untruths of gargantuan size,
Not bad ones of course, but White Hatted lies,
Deceptions, psyops, huge fabrications,
To sell their benevolent wars to the nations.

“He’s the New Hitler,” they cried in alarm,
“He’s armed to the teeth and intent on our harm.
He must be removed, we mustn’t appease,
Let’s kill him and show our commitment to peace.”

“We’re the White Hats, the White Hats, the White Hats R Us,
When we bomb, maim and kill, please don’t make a fuss.
We’re just doing good and they’ll love us you’ll see,
When we bring them our White Hats and de-moc-racy.

So the bombs kept on falling, but rather than order,
Came havoc and mayhem from border to border.
What lessons were learned, what warnings were heeded?
“Cleverer tactics and more bombs are needed.”

And so they aligned with death-cult Wahhabists,
White Hatted armies of proxy jihadists.
To carve up a nation, its leader as well,
“We came and we saw and he died!” Ain’t that swell!

“We’re the White Hats, the White Hats, we’re nobody’s fools,
We’re history’s actors, and we make the rules,
Creating a world that you can’t comprehend,
The means always being justified by the end.”

No respite could come because every place,
Had to submit to the White Hats or face,
Chaos, regime change, demonization,
Plus mainstream Pravda insulting their nation.

Missiles 4 Peace dropped from White Hatted drones,
Globalist White-Hatted tapping of phones.
“Moderate” head-chopping terrorists too,
Cookies 4 Peace for a White Hatted coup.

“We’re the White Hats, the White Hats, from the day of our birth,
We’ve been destined to rule and inherit the earth,
The world needs a policeman, and whom may we ask,
Is better equipped than us for this task?”

Yet slowly but surely there were more and more folks,
That started to ask, “Are their white hats a hoax?
They say they’re about bringing peace, law and order,
Yet it sure looks to us more like war and disorder.”

But whenever their actions were held to the light,
And questions were asked if they really were right.
The White Hats lashed out with uncontained fury,
“We are the judge, prosecution and jury.”

“We’re the White Hats, the White Hats, and don’t you forget,
We run the world and you’re all in our debt.
We keep you safe from all Black Hatted strife,
We are the Way and the Truth and the Life.”

So any critique of their actions and vision,
Was greeted with furious howls of derision:
“It’s Fake News and Hate Views from Black Hatted trolls,
Vile propagandists; Deplorable goals.

All our plans, which are good, are at risk from this stuff,
Our motives are pure but we’ve now had enough.
Freedom of speech is too precious to lose,
And so we must shut down alternative views.”

“We’re the White Hats, the White Hats, Exceptionally so,
And we’re indispensably running this show,
We can’t have our narrative subject to flack,
By haters and bigots whose hats are quite black.”

But the day is approaching, and come yes it must,
When the dreams of the White Hats will crumble to dust,
And all their ambitions will teeter and fall,
As a handwritten message declares on a wall:

“The days of your kingdom, to an end have been brought,
And so has the world domination you’ve sought.
Weighed in the scales, the verdict is in,
The end of the White Hats is in history’s bin.”

The White Hats, the White Hats, well what do you know,
It turns out they weren’t really running the show,
Let their end be a lesson, and shout it out loud,
“God raises the humble, but brings down the proud.”


_______________________________________

The minute they realise

you might succeed in changing

more than the occasional

light bulb in the new

old community centre,

where the anti-apartheid

meetings used to happen; 

 

the late Lord Lambton 

climbs out from between 

two prostitutes and into

the next available issue

of the Daily Express 

to urge votes for anyone

but you; Earl Haig 

 

gets up from his grave

to bang the table and tell us

you’ve not successfully 

organised enough death

to properly understand 

Britain’s defence needs

in the twenty first century. 

 

The Telegraph mutters

into its whiskers about your lack

of experience – how you never once

so much as successfully destroyed a bank; 

as former comedians gather 

in darkest Norwich and Lincolnshire

to speak of your beige zip-up jackets. 

 

LBC Radio exclusively reveals your plan 

to give each failed asylum-seeker,

and anyone who’s ever

taken an axe to a child,

their own seat in 

the House of Lords;

the same day, The Spectator 

gives retired General

Franco space to expose your 

long term associations 

with known vegetarians

and Mexican importers 

of fair trade coffee. 

 

While on Radio Four’s Women’s Hour 

the former editor of the News of The World

and Dame Myra Hindley agree:

the last thing this country needs

right now is you.  

 

by KEVIN HIGGINS

WAKE UP AND ACT NOW:
GUNTER GRASS's LAST WORDS

In his last interview before death, noted German
 author Gunter Grass warned about  ”sleepwalking
 towards another world war.” He told the Spanish
 newspaper El Pais:

“We have on the one side Ukraine, whose situation
 is not improving; in Israel and Palestine things are
 getting worse; the disaster the Americans left in
Iraq, the atrocities of Islamic state, and the
problem of Syria.”

“There is war everywhere. We run the risk of
committing the same mistakes as before. So
without realizing it, we can get into a world
war as if we were sleepwalking.”

“All of this together makes me realize that
 things are finite --- that we don’t have an
 indefinite amount of time,” Grass explained.


_________________________

Before you know kindness
as the deepest thing inside
You must know sorrow as
the other deepest thing.
You must wake up with sorrow.
You must speak to it till your voice
catches the thread of all sorrows
and you can see the size of the cloth.

EUROPE's POISON

Youngsters ask, "what is fascism?"
I struggle to answer, because the
 answer must be right, or we won't
stop it this time.

Hungary, the first fascist government
in Europe, before World War 2, now has
a statue in its main square to a fascist.

Their most voted for party, is fascist.

Croatia has been fascist ever since
NATO destroyed Yugoslavia.


______________________________
______________________________
 

Meetings
In memoriam Kurt Waldheim*
 by Thomas Ország-Land
 
Small world, what, Excellency? We shall not shake hands.
I do not care how you manage to live with the murder of children
among the conquered women and spoilt vineyards and olivegroves
back in the Balkans, back in your youth: that is your affair.
But what you have done, to me and my world, that’s mine.
 
At last, our final meeting. You were an obedient officer
ordered to make a corpse of me,  perforce a small one.
I have survived the mayhem to make a poem of you.
I am more generous than you and far more consistent.
Old soldiers like you in public life can still be of use.
 
Admit the past for the sake of the future, and go in peace
at the mercy of your smouldering, sordid, meandering memories.
Or dare to persist in denying the truth and the value of life,
pretend that nothing occurred to stir your attention,
and I promise you will never escape the stench of corpses:
 
for I will record your name as well as the crimes
from which you say you averted your indifferent eyes,
in tales of horror to be recounted throughout the ages
till the end of the march of innocent future generations
to weigh up anew, again and again, and recoil from your life.

*Kurt Waldheim, (1918-2007), former president
 of Austria, secretary-general of the UN and
 intelligence officer of Hitler’s Wehrmacht...
 died peacefully days after publicly repenting
his silence over the atrocities he oversaw.


_______________________________________
_______________________________________



Fascism causes atrocities, because it's a way of
fooling working people to hate, so that they don't
rearrange their societies and remove the banking
elite's power.

"Immigrants", "gays", "communists", "Jews", "scroungers",
all receive the passionate hatred of those who are turned
 from being loving socialists... into murderous racists.

Nigel Farage says he admires Putin over Ukraine.

Hitler and Mussolini both spoke reflecting popular
ideas, including a belief in socialism and progress,
then got people to hate others, helpless minorities,
externalising anger, deflecting it away from banks.

They were funded by US banks and local oligarchs.

So, my definition of fascism?

- the corporate state merged with a nationalism, fueled
by hatred and with no dissent allowed - is inadequate,
  because...

a failure by socialists to build a better way, and the
collapse of hope, also fuels the road there.

_________________________


HUNGER STRIKE POEM
by Adnan Farhan Abdul Latif

They are criminals, increasing their crimes.
They are criminals, claiming to be peace-loving.
They are criminals, torturing the hunger strikers.
They are artists of torture,
They are artists of pain and fatigue,
They are artists of insults and humiliation.
They are faithless—traitors and cowards—
They have surpassed devils with their criminal acts.
They do not respect the law,
They do not respect men,
They do not spare the elderly,
They do not spare the baby-toothed child.
They leave us in prison for years, uncharged,
Because we are Muslims.
Where is the world to save us from torture?
Where is the world to save us from the fire and sadness?
Where is the world to save the hunger strikers?
But we are content, on the side of justice and right,
Worshipping the Almighty.
And our motto on this island is, salaam.


ADNAN FARHAN ABDUL LATIF

Adnan Farhan Abdul Latif, a 27-year-old Yemeni
from a family of modest means, was the victim
 of a 1994 accident that resulted in serious head
 injuries, Latif spent much of the rest of the decade
 seeking affordable medical treatment in Jordan,
 Afghanistan, and Pakistan. After the 9/11 attacks
 on the United States, he was taken into custody
 by Pakistani forces and turned over to the US for
 a $5,000 bounty. He was eventually flown to
 Guantánamo and kept for a time in an open-air
 kennel exposed to the elements, causing further
 deterioration of his health. He died after joining
 the latest hunger strike, which is ongoing...

_______________________________________


SOUTH AMERICA's SPIRIT THE PUREST POETRY

Prominent Chilean bards, several Mapuches among
them, participated in celebrating World Poetry Day
in 2013, along with Chilean blues groups.

The celebration took place in Providencia, a town
of the capital city, sponsored by the municipality,
and produced by ChilePoesia (PoetryChile).

Every year this international meeting's venue
is Chile, homeland of Gabriela Mistral, Vicente
Huidobro, Pablo de Rokha and Pablo Neruda.

Prominent poets read their works from the
balconies and columns of the Palacio
Consistorial (Council Palace).

Poets participating in the celebration included
Leonel Lienlaf, Teresa Calderon, Jaime Huenun,
Loreley Saavedra, Magdalena Pulgar, Karen Hermosilla,
Jose Maria Memet, Elicura Chihuailaf, A'scar Saavedra,
Faumelisa Manquepillan and Mauricio Redoles.

Chilean blues groups Ivan Torres & Zapatillas
Social Blues, Tito Escarate and Los Galanes
Suplentes and La Bandadel Capitán Corneta
also performed.

The recital was broadcast by a 'streaming' system
which connected the celebration in Chile with other
countries of the world, allowing poets from all over
the world, to participate.

Leading up to the celebration, in the morning, roving
recitals took place in the Santiago de Chile subway.

From the 25th to 28th March, documentaries were
screened about the great Chilean and world poets.

World Poetry Day is celebrated every March 21st,
the date established by UNESCO during its 30th
meeting, held in Paris, in 1999.

_________________________



The Bards Of Wales

 Edward the king, the English king,
Bestrides his tawny steed,
'For I will see if Wales,' said he,
'Accepts my rule indeed.

'Are stream and mountain fair to see?
Are meadow grasses good?
Do corn-lands bear a crop more rare
Since wash'd with rebel's blood?

'And are the wretched people there,
Whose insolence I broke
As happy as the oxen are
Beneath the driver's yoke?

'In truth this Wales, Sire, is a gem,
The fairest in your crown:
The stream and field rich harvest yield,
And fair are dale and down.

'And all the wretched people there
Are calm as man could crave;
Their hovels stand throughout the land
As silent as the grave.'

Edward the king, the English King
Bestrides his tawny steed;
A silence deep his subjects keep
And Wales is mute indeed.

The castle named Montgomery
Ends that day's journeying;
The castle's lord, Montgomery,
Must entertain the king.

Then game and fish and ev'ry dish
That lures the taste and sight
A hundred hurrying servants bear
To please the appetite.

With all of worth the isle brings forth
In dainty drink and food,
And all the wines of foreign vines
Beyond the distant flood.

'You lords, you lords, will none consent
His glass with mine to ring?
What? Each one fails, you dogs of Wales,
To toast the English king?

'Though game and fish and ev'ry dish
That lures the taste and sight
Your hand supplies, your mood defies
My person with a slight.

'You rascal lords, you dogs of Wales,
Will none for Edward cheer?
To serve my needs and chant my deeds
Then let a bard appear!'

The nobles gaze in fierce amaze,
Their cheeks grow deadly pale;
Not fear but rage their looks engage,
They blanch but do not quail.

All voices cease in soundless peace,
All breathe in silent pain;
Then at the door a harpist hoar
Comes in with grave disdain:

'Lo, here I stand, at your command,
To chant your deeds, O king!'
And weapons clash and hauberks crash
Responsive to his string.

'Harsh weapons clash and hauberks crash,
And sunset sees us bleed,
The crow and wolf our dead engulf -
This, Edward, is your deed!

'A thousand lie beneath the sky,
They rot beneath the sun,
And we who live shall not forgive
This deed your hand hath done!'

'Now let him perish! I must have'
(The monarch's voice is hard)
'Your softest songs, and not your wrongs!'
In steps a boyish bard:

'The breeze is soft at eve, that oft
From Milford Havens moans;
It whispers maidens' stifled cries,
It breathes of widows' groans.

'You maidens, bear no captive babes!
You mothers, rear them not!'
The fierce king nods. The lad is seiz'd
And hurried from the spot.

Unbidden then, among the men,
There comes a dauntless third
With speech of fire he tunes his lyre,
And bitter is his word:

'Our bravest died to slake your pride -
Proud Edward, hear my lays!
No Welsh bards live who e'er will give
Your name a song of praise.

'Our harps with dead men's memories weep.
Welsh bards to you will sing
One changeless verse - our blackest curse
To blast your soul, O king!'

'No more! Enough!' - cries out the king.
In rage his orders break:
'Seek through these vales all bards of Wales
And burn them at the stake!'

His men ride forth to south and north,
They ride to west and east.
Thus ends in grim Montgomery
The celebrated feast.

Edward the king, the English king
Spurs on his tawny steed;
Across the skies red flames arise
As if Wales burned indeed.

In martyrship, with song on lip,
Five hundred Welsh bards died;
Not one was mov'd to say he lov'd
The tyrant in his pride.

''Ods blood! What songs this night resound
Upon our London streets?
The mayor shall feel my irate heel
If aught that sound repeats!

Each voice is hush'd; through silent lanes
To silent homes they creep.
'Now dies the hound that makes a sound;
The sick king cannot sleep.'

'Ha! Bring me fife and drum and horn,
And let the trumpet blare!
In ceaseless hum their curses come -
I see their dead eyes glare…'

But high above all drum and fife
and trumpets' shrill debate,
Five hundred martyr'd voices chant
Their hymn of deathless hate

Janos Arany

The Jeju Jewel called
‘Take your cruel weight of concrete stars from our feet.’
And where it slides into the sea, through this surf of truth
Red green yellow orange shiny from the silver lips of fishes,
The dance of weed,
Sang:
‘This land this earth and all its souls is just
One perfect clasp
Between two foolish cruel walls.’
‘Time – long overtime
To Stop.
Take your sour ships of hate, suspicion and waste
from our clear skies of ocean.’

Sub-marine
The rock holds hands
as we do,
yes, as we do - in the south, so the north, the east, the west.

THE ULTIMATE HAIKU !!!


Words are energy;
let's gather, store and offer them
with utmost care.



AND THE WEST's DOGGEREL ANSWER?


"If you think you are beaten, you are;
If you think you dare not, you don't.
If you'd like to win, but think you can't
It's almost a cinch you won't.

If you think you'll lose, you've lost.
For out in the world we find
Success begins with a fellow's will:
It's all in his state of mind.

If you think you're outclassed, you are:
You've got to think high to rise,
You've got to be sure of yourself before
You'll ever win that prize.

Life's battles don't always go
To the stronger or faster man,
But sooner or later the man who wins
Is the one who thinks he can."


Attributed to Author Napoleon Hill circa 1973

*************************************************
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‘Cordell Country’

The Cordell Country tourism marketing campaign
aims to change perceptions of the Valleys,
encourage more people to visit, and increase
the tourism spend in the area.

Alexander Cordell was inspired by the lives
and loves of the people of The Valleys...

and inspiration for all ages may be found
on the new-look Cordell Country website:

www.cordellcountry.org


In 2010 the Cordell Festival was held at
Rhondda Heritage Park as one of a number of
events held to commemorate the centenary
of the Tonypandy Riots.

POETRY ON THE WEB

The Poetry Translation Centre’s Poem Podcast is
an ideal way to hear a diverse range of poetry
from some of the world’s best loved poets, read
both in their original language and in English.

You can subscribe to the weekly Poem Podcast on
iTunes where there are already more than a dozen
poems to enjoy, in languages ranging from Arabic
to Zapotec. A new poem is added every Monday.

Go here to visit The Poetry Translation Centre:

http://www.poetrytranslation.org/downloads


A Week in Estonia is Philip Gross’ new blog
on the University of Glamorgan’s website:

http://philip-gross.blogs.glam.ac.uk/


Philip, who is the son of an Estonian wartime
refugee, was born in 1952 in Delabole, Cornwall.
In 2010 he won both the T.S Eliot Poetry Prize,
for his collection The Water Table (Bloodaxe,
2009), and Wales Book of the Year for I Spy
Pinhole Eye (Cinnamon, 2009) which features
photographs by Simon Denison. Philip is the
Professor in Creative Writing at the University
of Glamorgan, & has been, since 2004.

Scholars on Ukraine Appeal to Poroshenko Not to
 Sign "Disturbing" Anti-Communist Witch Hunt Law

More than 40 scholars sign an open letter warning
 Poroshenko not to sign a law (banning critiques of
 OUN-UPA which collaborated with Nazi occupation
 and slaughtered tens of thousands of Poles) as
well as institute a wholesale condemnation of
the entire Soviet period
 
This article originally appeared at The New Cold War

To the President of Ukraine, Petro O. Poroshenko
 and to the Chair of Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada,
 Volodymyr B. Hroysman:

We, the undersigned, appeal to you not to sign into
 law the draft laws (no. 2538-1 and 2558) [1] adopted
 by the Verkhovna Rada on April 9, 2015. As scholars
 and experts long committed to Ukraine’s
 regeneration and freedom, we regard these laws
 with the deepest foreboding.  Their content and spirit
 contradicts one of the most fundamental political
rights: the right to freedom of speech. Their
adoption would raise serious questions about
Ukraine’s commitment to the principles of the
 Council of Europe and the OSCE, along with a
number of treaties and solemn declarations
adopted since Ukraine regained independence
 in 1991. Their impact on Ukraine’s image and
 reputation in Europe and North America would
 be profound. Not least of all, the laws would
provide comfort and support to those who
 seek to enfeeble and divide Ukraine.

We also are troubled by the fact that the
laws passed without serious debate, with
no dissenting votes and with large numbers
of deputies declining to take part.

In particular, we are concerned about
the following:

Concerning the inclusion of groups such as the
 Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) and
 Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) as “fighters for
Ukrainian independence”:

Article 6 of this law makes it a criminal offense
 to deny the legitimacy of “the struggle for the
 independence of Ukraine in the 20th century”
and public denial of the same is to be regarded
as an insult to the memory of the fighters.
Thus questioning this claim, and implicitly
questioning anything such groups did, is
 being made a criminal offense.

Law 2558, the ban on propaganda of “Communist
and National Socialist Regimes” makes it a criminal
 offense to deny, “including in the media, the criminal
 character of the communist totalitarian regime of
 1917-1991 in Ukraine.”

The potential consequences of both these laws are
 disturbing. Not only would it be a crime to question
 the legitimacy of an organization (UPA) that
 slaughtered tens of thousands of Poles in one of the
 most heinous acts of ethnic cleansing in the history
of Ukraine, but also it would exempt from criticism
 the OUN, one of the most extreme political groups in
 Western Ukraine between the wars, and one which
collaborated with Nazi Germany at the outset of the
 Soviet invasion in 1941. It also took part in anti-
Jewish pogroms in Ukraine and, in the case of the
 Melnyk faction, remained allied with the occupation
 regime throughout the war.

However noble the intent, the wholesale
 condemnation of the entire Soviet period as
 one of occupation of Ukraine will have unjust
and incongruous consequences. Anyone calling
 attention to the development of Ukrainian culture
 and language in the 1920s could find himself or
herself condemned. The same applies to those who
 regard the Gorbachev period as a progressive period
 of change to the benefit of Ukrainian civil society,
 informal groups, and political parties, including
 the Movement for Perestroika (Rukh).

Over the past 15 years, Vladimir Putin’s Russia has
 invested enormous resources in the politicization of
 history. It would be ruinous if Ukraine went down the
 same road, however partially or tentatively.  Any
 legal or ‘administrative’ distortion of history is an
assault on the most basic purpose of scholarly
inquiry: pursuit of truth. Any official attack on
 historical memory is unjust.  Difficult and
contentious issues must remain matters of debate.

The 1.5 million Ukrainians who died fighting the Nazis
 in the Red Army are entitled to respect, as are those
 who fought the Red Army and NKVD. Those who
 regard victory over Nazi Germany as a pivotal
historical event should neither feel intimidated
nor excluded from the nation.

Since 1991, Ukraine has been a tolerant, inclusive
 state, a state (in the words of the Constitution) for
 ‘citizens of Ukraine of all nationalities’. If signed,
the laws of April 9 will be a gift to those who wish
 to turn Ukraine against itself. They will alienate
 many Ukrainians who now find themselves under
 de facto occupation. They will divide & dishearten
Ukraine’s friends.  In short, they will damage
 Ukraine’s national security, and for this reason
above all, we urge you to reject them.

Signatories:

Tarik Cyril Amar, Assistant Professor of History,
Columbia University, USA

Mark R. Baker, Assistant Professor,
 Koç University, Istanbul, Turkey

J. Arch Getty, Distinguished Professor of History
 University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), USA

Dominique Arel, Chair of Ukrainian Studies,
 University of Ottawa, Canada

Uilleam Blacker, Lecturer in Comparative East
European Culture, University College, London, UK

Jeffrey Burds, Associate Professor of Russian and
Soviet History, Northeastern University, USA

Marco Carynnyk, Independence Scholar,
Toronto, Canada

Markian Dobczansky, Ph.D. candidate, Department
 of History, Stanford University, USA

Rory Finnin, University Senior Lecturer in Ukrainian
 Studies, University of Cambridge, UK

Christopher Gilley, Research Fellow, University
of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

Guido Hausmann, Ludwig-Maximilian University,
 Munich, Germany

John-Paul Himka, Professor Emeritus, Department
 of History & Classics, University of Alberta, Canada

Tom Junes, PhD (historian) – Imre Kertész Kolleg,
 Jena, Germany

Ivan Katchanovski, Adjunct Professor, School of
 Political Studies, University of Ottawa, Canada

Olesya Khromeychuk, Teaching Fellow,
University College, London, UK

Oleh Kotsyuba, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Slavic
 Languages and Literatures, Harvard University, USA

Matthew Kott, Researcher at Centre for Russian
 and Eurasian Studies, Uppsala University, Sweden

Olga Kucherenko, Independent Scholar,
Cambridge, UK

Victor Hugo Lane, York College,
 City University of New York, USA

David R. Marples, Distinguished University Professor,
Department of History & Classics, University of
Alberta, Canada

Jared McBride, Visiting Assistant Professor of
 History, Columbia University, USA

Tanja Penter, Professor of Eastern European History,
Heidelberg University, Germany

Olena Petrenko, Ph.D. Student, Department of East
 European History, Ruhr University Bochum, Germany

William Risch, Associate Professor of History,
Georgia College, USA

Per Anders Rudling, Associate Professor of History,
 Lund University, Sweden

Martin Schulze Wessel, Chair of Eastern European
 History, Ludwig-Maximilian-Universität München,
Germany

Steven Seegel, Associate Professor of History,
University of Northern Colorado, USA

Anton Shekhovtsov, Visiting Senior Fellow,
Legatum Institute, London, UK

James Sherr, Associate Fellow, Chatham House,
 London, UK

Volodymyr Sklokin, researcher, Center for Urban
History of East-Central Europe (Lviv)

Iryna Sklokina, researcher, Center for Urban History
of East-Central Europe (Lviv)

Yegor Stadny, Ph.D. student, Department of History,
 Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, Ukraine

Andreas Umland, Senior Research Fellow, Institute
for Euro-Atlantic Cooperation, Kyiv, Ukraine

Richard Vulpius, Research Fellow, Department for the
 History of East- and Southeastern Europe,  Ludwig-
Maximilian University, Munich, Germany

Lucan Way, Associate Professor of Political Science,
University of Toronto, Canada

Zenon Wasyliw, Professor of History,
 Ithaca College, USA

Anna Veronika Wendland, Research Coordinator,
The Herder Institute for Historical Research on
East Central Europe; Member of the German-
Ukrainian Historical Commission, Germany

Frank Wolff, Assistant Professor of History and
 Migration Studies, Osnabrück University, Germany

Christine Worobec, Professor Emeritas,
Northern Illinois University, USA

Serhy Yekelchyk, Professor of Slavic Studies and
 History, University of Victoria, Canada

Tanya Zaharchenko, Postdoctoral Fellow, Center for
 Historical Research, Higher School of Economics
 Saint Petersburg

Sergei Zhuk, Associate Professor of History,
 Ball State University, Indiana, USA

Krytyka editor’s note:

Draft law no. 2538-1 “On the Legal Status and
 Commemoration of Fighters for Ukraine’s
Independence in the 20th Century” is avaiable
 in Ukrainian here:

http://w1.c1.rada.gov.ua/pls/zweb2
/webproc4_1?pf3511=54689
 (Draft law no. 2558)

“On the Condemnation of the Communist and
the National-Socialist (Nazi) Totalitarian Regimes
 in Ukraine and Ban on the Propaganda of Their
Symbols” is available in Ukrainian here:

http://w1.c1.rada.gov.ua/pls/zweb2
/webproc4_1?pf3511=54670




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