The monument-vandalizing craze currently sweeping the United States has crossed the border into Canada. Two recent incidents have particular significance for the Ukrainian community.
The first to be brought to public attention (though the second in chronological order) was the defacing of the fence sign in front of construction site for the forthcoming Memorial to the Victims of Communism in Ottawa with the message “communism will win.” The vandals also included three hammer and sickle symbols. (See The Weekly’s front page of July 12).
The memorial’s construction is administered by the National Capital Commission, a federal Crown corporation charged, in part, with maintenance of statues and monuments in Canada’s capital city. It was launched, in part, by Tribute to Liberty, a non-profit organization that promoted the idea for the memorial and helped raise funds for its construction.
In reacting to this hate crime, the Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC) stated it was “saddened by the disgraceful act of vandalism that took place at the site of the Memorial to the Victims of Communism – Canada, a Land of Refuge”
“The Memorial to the Victims of Communism is to be a national place of mourning, reflection, contemplation and remembrance, honoring the millions of innocent victims murdered by Communist regimes throughout the world,” the UCC continued.
“Millions of people, including many Ukrainians, who were subjected to the brutality and inhumanity of Communism, fled to Canada – where they found liberty and peace. That this sight was desecrated through this act of hate is unacceptable and deplorable, and an insult to the hallowed memory of the millions of innocent victims of Communism,” added the UCC.
Frankly, the vandals’ statement that “communism will win” is laughable. Everywhere Communist parties came to power, they not only created totalitarian dictatorships that cracked down on dissent, oppressed minorities, violated human rights, committed genocide but, in direct violation of professed Marxist ideology – exploited workers for the benefit of a rich and powerful Communist Party elite.
Perhaps the most telling moment came at this year’s Academy Awards when the producers of the Best Documentary, “American Factory,” shouted out the closing slogan of Karl Marx’s 1848 Communist Manifesto – “Workers of the World Unite.” Except that in this case, the exploiters weren’t some 19th century capitalists, but 21st century Communists. Yes, Communists. The film is about an auto plant in Ohio which is taken over by the Chinese company Fuyao. Unlike the capitalist owners who preceded them, these Communist owners view their workers more as cogs in a machine than as individuals. They are expected to work much longer hours for much less pay. Overtime and working on weekends are considered mandatory, and safety regulations and protocols are not strictly observed. This proves communism will never win because it is a bankrupt ideology.
The other incident involved the desecration of the stone cenotaph honoring veterans of the 1st Division of the National Army of Ukraine at the Ukrainian Cemetery in Oakville, located just east of Toronto. But the ramifications of this incident are quite serious. Around June 21, the monument was spray painted with the words “Nazi war monument.” This was not brought to public attention, however, until July 21, when a story by David Pugliese appeared in the Ottawa Citizen under the headline “Graffiti on monument commemorating Nazi SS division being investigated as a hate crime by police.”
As the Citizen is one of several member publications owned by Canada’s largest newspaper chain – Postmedia – it was subsequently carried by other papers as well. This had its effect on Halton Regional Police, who then stopped investigating it as a hate crime and, instead, questioned why the monument was put up in the first place.
Mr. Pugliese has earned a reputation as an unethical journalist who very carefully selects only those facts that fit his pro-Russian agenda and makes absolutely no effort whatsoever to provide a balanced report. And this was no exception. As before, the usual charges were brought up – that the Division was a bunch of “Nazis” and accused of war crimes by certain academics. Postmedia printed a follow-article by Mr. Pugliese and even added a companion piece by notorious Ukrainophobe Bernie Farber (he’s the one who obstinately insists on calling Ukrainians who have not been charged with any crime whatsoever “alleged Nazi war criminals”) for good measure.
The Ukrainian community responded with many letters pointing out, among other things, that Ukrainians were considered Untermensch, or sub-humans, in Hitler’s racist order, thus barred from joining the Nazi Party; that the Division insisted on having Ukrainian Greek-Catholic chaplains in order to minimize the risk of Nazi demoralization amongst the soldiers; that Nazi indoctrination was absent within the Division; that no evidence of war crimes by the Division was found by several British and Canadian Investigations, including the 1985-1986 Commission of Inquiry on War Crimes, headed by the Justice Jules Deschênes. Contributors included this author, the National Office of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, and Prof. (emeritus) Myroslav Shkandrij, who is actually working on a book about the Division, just to mention a few.
And how many got printed? Absolutely none.
By printing the Russian propaganda Mr. Pugliese regurgitates on such a regular basis without allowing our community any chance of getting the truth out to their readers, Postmedia ended up presenting only a very one-sided narrative, sponsored by a brutal dictatorship, to its readers.
This is a gross violation of all ethics responsible journalists aspire to maintain. As such, Postmedia has absolutely no right to claim it is a reputable and responsible media corporation “delivering sound, trusted and high-quality journalism to Canadians.” Instead it is an extremely powerful tool of influence that uses its massive resources to regurgitate Russian propaganda and smear Ukrainians as a group.
Unfortunately, despite many efforts to get Postmedia to start becoming responsible, there seems to be nothing the Ukrainian community can do to rectify this situation.
Marco Levytsky may be contacted at [email protected].