Nazis Triumph Over Communists in Ukraine

[Purveyor]

This discussion thread was locked as off-topic by NancyBlueINOklahoma (a host of the Latest Breaking News forum).

Source: Bloomberg

May 19, 2015 1:04 PM EDT
By Leonid Bershidsky

It's goodbye Lenin, hello Nazi collaborators in Ukraine these days. Laws signed into effect by President Petro Poroshenko require the renaming of dozens of towns and hundreds of streets throughout the country to eliminate Soviet-era names. At the same time, Ukraine will begin to honor groups that helped Hitler exterminate Ukrainian Jews during World War II.

Ukrainians' desire for a European identity and a break with the country's Soviet past is Poroshenko's biggest political asset, but these latest steps should worry the country's Western allies.

A law Poroshenko signed May 15 bans all Soviet and Nazi symbols, even on souvenirs, and criminalizes "denying the criminal character" of both totalitarian regimes. It bans place names, monuments and plaques glorifying Soviet heroes, Soviet flags and communist slogans. Statues of Lenin have been toppled in many Ukrainian cities since the "revolution of dignity" last year, but the new law goes further.

Big regional centers such as Dnipropetrovsk (named after Grigory Petrovsky, who ran Ukraine in the 1920s and 1930s) and Kirovograd (bearing the name of Sergei Kirov, a Bolshevik leader whose popularity rivaled Stalin's, causing the latter to have him killed), as well as dozens of smaller towns, will need new names. Lots of towns have streets named after Lenin and Soviet saints, and these will also be erased in the next few months, creating lots of confusion for anyone using old maps (or Google maps, for that matter). Soviet emblems will be removed from buildings and bridges, murals in the subway will be altered.

Read more: http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-05-19/nazis-triumph-over-communists-in-ukraine

[Spitfire of ATJ]

1. The title is a joke....

But typical of Bloomberg. The title makes it sound like Ukraine is going to look like this:



But the article says this:

"A law Poroshenko signed May 15 bans all Soviet and Nazi symbols"

[True Blue Door]

2. Outrageously sensationalistic title on the part of Bloomberg, but a legitimate cause for concern.

The Kiev government does seem to be falling victim to reactionism, and foolishly accepting Putin's false premises.

They have every right to reject the Soviet legacy, but that shouldn't lead to legitimizing criminals who acted from a different agenda.

I have similar concerns with the Japanese government's attitude.

Too many governments fail to understand the proper balance to strike.

[OKNancy]

3. Locking - this is an opinion/commentary article

Reading the entire linked article, this is obviously an opinion article and not breaking news.
Please re-post in GD or Good Reads.