Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Faking History
JANUARY 26, 2016
by LUCIANA BOHNE
Singing The Internationale today in Ukraine is punishable by up to ten years in prison. The Kiev Rada passed a law in December making it a crime to deny the criminal nature of the Soviet regime (1917-1991). From selling a Soviet-era postcard, to membership in the communist party, to singing the Soviet national anthem, the law penalizes all symbols and activities connected to the USSR.
Volodymyr Chemerys calls attention to the laws violations of human rights in a recent article in CounterPunch:
Volodymyr Chemerys calls attention to the laws violations of human rights in a recent article in CounterPunch:
History is being invented in vast quantities
its more important to have historians, especially skeptical historians, than ever before, said Eric Hobsbawm in 2002. Dutifully, professionally, as it happens, seventy international historians, experts on Ukraine, wrote an open letter to Petro Poroshenko urging him not to sign into law the bills proposed in April 2015. They wrote:
Indeed, historical truth is more urgent than ever. Clearly, raping the past means forcing an illegitimate and unwanted futureone not in the interest of the majority of people.
The new century promises bleak, as Hobsbawm noted:
Faking history is a form of burning books. Where books are officially burned, people follow. Its already happened on 2 May 2014 in the Hall of Trade Unions in Odessa set on fire by Kiev-junta-related neo-Nazi thugs. Over one hundred people died, including women and children. This was real history and real terrorism happening. The media ignored it.
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. . . . 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 . . .. Those who regard victory over Nazi Germany as a pivotal historical event should neither feel intimidated nor excluded from the nation.
Indeed, historical truth is more urgent than ever. Clearly, raping the past means forcing an illegitimate and unwanted futureone not in the interest of the majority of people.
The new century promises bleak, as Hobsbawm noted:
A tentative forecast: war in the 21st century is not likely to be as murderous as it was in the 20th. But armed violence, creating disproportionate suffering and loss, will remain omnipresent and endemic occasionally epidemic in a large part of the world. The prospect of a century of peace is remote. 2002 Counterpunch article
Faking history is a form of burning books. Where books are officially burned, people follow. Its already happened on 2 May 2014 in the Hall of Trade Unions in Odessa set on fire by Kiev-junta-related neo-Nazi thugs. Over one hundred people died, including women and children. This was real history and real terrorism happening. The media ignored it.
Full article: http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/01/26/faking-history/
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
1 replies, 1146 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (6)
ReplyReply to this post
1 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Faking History (Original Post)
polly7
Jan 2016
OP
Mr_Jefferson_24
(8,559 posts)1. Glaring omissions, exaggeration, and...
...outright fabrication litter the "official/accepted" historical record for so many of our most important events and time periods in human history. Fortunately, truth often seems to have a way of bubbling to the surface over time. Unfortunately, it can take decades and longer before it ever does.