LETTERS TO THE EDITOR (10/12/97)

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Columnist Kuropas defends the truth

Dear Editor:

In response to the letter from the AJC board members (September 21) and their response to Dr. Myron Kuropas' columns - after being publicly slandered on national TV as being "genetically anti-Semitic" - Dr. Kuropas and, indeed, every concerned Ukrainian has every reason to be "preoccupied" with Jews. This was forced upon us by circumstances beyond our control.

If Ukrainians cannot resolve such slander in U.S. courts due to the sheer inadequacy of the law - do Leonard Grossman and Michael Slotznick propose to end Dr. Kuropas's journalistic protests by accusations of rabid anti-Semitism?

Just as only a small fraction of Soviet Jews were committed Stalinists - so also a very small portion of Ukrainians were Hitlerites. Yet the great majority of Jewish Americans bear terrible hatred toward Ukrainians calling them "far worse than the Nazis." Think for a moment: what really could have been worse?

John Demjanjuk's trial in Israel is another incident that disturbed and antagonized Jewish-Ukrainian relationships. Yet so polarized were the feelings of many Jewish Americans that they simply refused to abide by the legal verdict in Israel. To them Demjanjuk is guilty as sin, and so is every Ukrainian.

Does the American Jewish Committee propose to silence Dr. Kuropas to preclude his journalistic reply to the insults and slanders against our community? Why not simply curtail some of the adventurous and incredible journalism of Jewish American writers? Must we Ukrainian Americans absorb public slander in humility and silence? Must we fear defending an innocent man for fear of angering the Jewish community?

A new and promising chapter in the Jewish-Ukrainian relationship can be achieved only by defending the truth, which I believe columnist Dr. Kuropas has always done. You may not like his style or his opinions, but the facts are there to digest.

In sum, it is clearly not Dr. Kuropas who is preoccupied with Nazi witch hunts; Ukrainians are not genetically anti-Semitic and certainly are not worse than Nazis.

The Ukrainian government views the state of Israel favorably - as do most Ukrainian Americans. So what exactly is preventing our communities from improving relations? I certainly hope it is not the past.

Andrew M. Senkowsky
Van Etten, N.Y.

How about telling the Ukrainian side?

Dear Editor:

I was a member of a Ukrainian-Jewish dialogue group for five years in the Chicago area. The Jewish members promised to write a joint statement if John Demjanjuk was exonerated. They didn't, arguing that somehow he is still "guilty." Dr. Kuropas requested numerous times to be allowed to write the Ukrainian side of the story in the Jewish press. He was denied access because, according to one member, "all" Ukrainians are anti-Semites. Why? One Jewish member, when pressed, stated that his grandmother told him so.

Yet, here we have the benevolent Weekly providing space to the Jewish community although it is a one-way line of communication. I recommend that The Weekly stop publishing these articles until fairness is employed. If the Jewish press doesn't publish Ukrainian views, why should we publish theirs?

The letter written by Leonard Grossman and Michael Slotznick of the Philadelphia Chapter of the American Jewish Committee failed to indicate the point of the article. Is Dr. Kuropas an anti-Semite? The article provides no proof, just accusations. I suppose attacking the person is easier than providing proof.

Dr. Kuropas deserves an apology.

I would bet that Messrs. Slotznick and Grossman never met and never talked to Dr. Kuropas. I bet they never contacted Dr. Kuropas after those articles were published in 1994-1995. We have had numerous members of the Jewish community talk to us. Why doesn't the Philadelphia chapter invite Dr. Kuropas to give a presentation and explain his views?

Free speech is an essential element of our democracy. The Weekly has gone out of its way to give people a forum to express the views they hold. Why not let Ukrainian views be printed in the Jewish press? What are you afraid of? The truth? Let us practice a policy of inclusion, not exclusion.

Roman Golash
Schaumburg, Ill.

Surprised to read smear job in Weekly

Dear Editor:

I was surprised to read the anti-Myron Kuropas smear job (September 21) by two representatives of the Philadelphia chapter of the American Jewish Committee. One would expect that a letter written by two authors or a committee would be logical, rational, responsible and accurate. What's even more surprising is that you actually published this hysterical scurrilous diatribe. I guess anything goes at The Ukrainian Weekly.

Thank God, we live in the U.S.A. where our First Amendment, even though under constant attack by groups such as the AJC, the Simon Wisenthal Center, etc., still protects our rights to speak and to read whatever we want. These groups even try to censor the global Internet. Do you realize that if we were in Canada, Germany, France or Israel that Dr. Kuropas and the editors of The Ukrainian Weekly would already be indicted and charged with the criminal charges of committing "hate crimes," i.e., "inciting hatred of Jews?" As Americans we must be ever vigilant in protecting our First Amendment rights.

Just a few words about Ukrainian-Jewish dialogue. I've had some experience with it before I dropped out. It's a nice concept, but it usually works like this:

1. There will be no apology to John Demjanjuk nor his family.

2. There is no Jewish guilt for anything that happened in Ukraine. The 1933 famine has nothing to do with Jews, and it should be a crime to even mention any collaboration.

3. Ukraine/Ukrainians are guilty for the Holocaust, and therefore they must pay, pay and pay some more.

In closing, I feel we should decline the Philadelphia AJC's sincere offer to be our censor and master of what we read and think. I trust Dr. Kuropas' column will not be purged (as was Joe Sobran's from the National Review after "dialogue" from some non-existent cabal).

Jaroslaw Sawka
Sterling Heights, Mich.

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