Ivano-Frankivsk City Council resolution recognizes Halychyna Division veterans (03/31/02)

Ivano-Frankivsk City Council resolution recognizes Halychyna Division veterans

by Roman Woronowycz
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - With days left before the parliamentary elections in Ukraine, a resolution proposed by the Ivano-Frankivsk City Council which would extend combat veteran status to members of the Halychyna Division of the Ukrainian National Army, a World War II Ukrainian fighting force that battled against both the Soviet Army and Nazi forces, has caused an international stir.

The action has brought the ire of Moscow, which blasted the decision as "regretful" and "shameful," along with critical statements from Jewish community leaders both in Kyiv and the United States.

The resolution, passed by the City Council of Ivano-Frankivsk on March 19, would give Halychyna Division veterans additional pensions and other government subsidies similar to what Soviet Army veterans currently enjoy. However, unlike the Soviet veterans, who are cared for by the central government, the Ivano-Frankivsk City Council would take upon itself the financial burden to the Ukrainian veterans. It earlier had agreed to compensate from its own till another group of Ukrainian freedom fighters from World War II, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA).

Before the resolution becomes law, it needs the mayor's signature. Before that, however, it must go through a process of legal and historical analyses. If implemented it would extend benefits to 24 survivors who are residents of Ivano-Frankivsk, most of them disabled former prisoners of the Soviet gulag.

The All-Ukraine Jewish Congress, which has vehemently protested the decision, organized a rally on March 27 at the Monument to the Unknown Soldier in Kyiv to protest the city council move. Vadim Rabinovich, president of the congress, called the decision "a crime against the Ukrainian and Jewish people."

During the meeting, held with several hundred mostly disinterested looking students in attendance, Ukrainian Jewish leaders read a statement from the Simon Wiesenthal Center, located in Los Angeles, which read in part: "Those who volunteered to fight on the side of Germany and Hitler are the moral equivalent of Bin Laden and the terrorist cells of Al Qaeda."

It could not be determined whether the students were forced or paid for their presence or whether they came voluntarily.

Moscow also came out strongly against the local decision. Interfax reported that the Russian Foreign Ministry condemned the move by Ivano-Frankivsk city officials on March 20, calling it "a shameful act of betrayal" of millions of Nazi victims. The statement said that Russia could not accept recognition of a fighting force that had murdered thousands of "our fathers and grandfathers."

Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, meanwhile, responded to the charges by stating on March 26 that the issue is an internal matter, which should not have a bearing on relations with other states, while underscoring that satisfying all sides in the matter of who should be considered Ukrainian veterans of World War II is not an easy task.

"The issue is not limited to the Halychyna Division, but extends to the broader question, which includes the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) and its role, as well," explained Ihor Dolhov, ministry spokesman. "It is a deeply national, deeply moral issue, one which involves matters of historical accuracy and national reconciliation, as well as respect for veterans of liberation movements on Ukrainian territory."

In an interview with The Weekly, Ivano-Frankivsk City Council Press Secretary Ihor Pasichniak criticized Moscow for twisting the facts and turning the matter into a pre-election issue.

"This is a provocation and it is meant to intrude on the electoral process," explained Mr. Pasichniak.

He explained that at no point were additional pensions or subsidies considered for members of the Waffen SS Halychyna Division. All references, without exception, were for government pensions and subsidies to members of the Halychyna Division of the Ukrainian National Army, which developed from the remnants of the Waffen SS military unit after it was, for all practical purposes, wiped out by the Soviet Army at the Battle of Brody. Those Ukrainian National Army division members who did not flee to Western Europe as World War II ended were eventually absorbed into the UPA.

The matter of pensions and subsidies for veterans of Halychyna Disivion came up at the tail end of a regular session of the Ivano-Frankivsk City Council on March 19. When the council addressed the last point on its agenda, "Miscellany," Councilman Zinovii Boichuk tabled the matter of the compensation, which was duly voted upon and supported.

With the events in Ivano-Frankivsk evolving as the election season climaxed, some media outlets in the fiercely polarized and caustic Ukrainian press - and several Russian ones, as well - quickly labeled the move as representative of the "fascist tendencies" of the supporters of Viktor Yushchenko, the head of the Our Ukraine election bloc, which has much support in the western regions of Ukraine and the city of Ivano-Frankivsk.

However, a city dweller who wished to remain anonymous told The Weekly that Mr. Boichuk belongs to the Ukrainian Republican Party, which is associated with the Yulia Tymoshenko election bloc.

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