Does criticism of the OUN mean pro-Russian? Nikolai Susuyev, a Ukrainian publicist and military analyst, presents his personal stance on the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, the Volhynian massacre, and how Ukrainians should discuss their own history. This is an original commentary that contributes to the debate on historical memory and responsibility for the past. – ed.
The following text is the author’s journalistic commentary.
• Estimated reading time: 4 minutesand
Faithfulness to one’s own conscience
Even if there were not a single person on this globe who would speak up about what happened in Volhynia, even if the entire world accepted or even honored the members of the OUN and erected monuments to them, even if no one in Poland said a word about it… I would still reject the representatives of this organization as heroes for myself and I would still not change my opinion in any way.
For me, it does not matter who and how officially or unofficially defines certain events, what is written in the textbook – it only matters whether I will be faithful to my beliefs and whether I will live in accordance with my own conscience.
And that’s why I don’t accept a totalitarian organization as heroic. Because a hero is a kind of role model for future generations, and it doesn’t matter who that role model is.
And just as I reject Russian totalitarianism in all its forms, or German or Chinese totalitarianism, I reject Ukrainian totalitarianism as well. Or perhaps even more so, because it concerns me more than any of the others.
The OUN was a totalitarian, chauvinistic, anti-Semitic organization. This is a fact these gentlemen made no secret of; it’s embodied in the documents they adopted—they had their own beliefs and were proud of them. And I cannot be proud of such beliefs; I feel abhorrent towards them.
I will not accept the struggle to build a nation or a state at any cost. Such a state, built on such a foundation, has no value. It matters not only that someone fights for independence, but also how they fight, and what that independence will be.
In the OUN state there would be no place for many of today’s Ukrainians, including… for example, today’s president of Ukraine.
Rejecting the OUN does not mean being pro-Russian
For these beliefs, I have heard many times from the Ukrainian side that I am a Russian propagandist who defames Ukraine.
I reject these theses and the very idea that there is any connection between pro-Russian views and the rejection of OUN representatives as heroes.. This is a false, misleading claim.
On the contrary, I believe that Ukrainians are characterized by a love of personal freedom, the right of an individual to determine their own path, social activity, and tolerance of other views within a single national organism, and that is why I reject an organization whose ideology assumed the suppression of these values.
No crime justifies a crime
Did the other side commit crimes? Every post I write is filled with comments claiming the other side wasn’t any better.
Honestly: I DON’T CARE.
Even if the Polish side had committed a crime five times worse, I would still reject the OUN, their ideology, and their methods of warfare. Because nothing justifies a crime, including another crime.
The Second Polish Republic was a state that practiced collective punishment, repression, and humiliating actions against its Ukrainian citizens. The Polish state was governed by a harsh, autocratic regime. The Home Army and other formations killed Ukrainian civilians.
The authoritarian state behaved like an authoritarian, nationalist state. It attempted to assimilate national minorities.
And the totalitarian organization OUN tried to do what all totalitarian organizations of that time did – to finally resolve the question, in this case the Polish question, in those lands that it treated as its own.
This is my personal view of what happened there.
It is the Ukrainians who must come to terms with their own history.
The point is, however, that it doesn’t matter, because it’s not a game of who will convince whom.
It’s not Ukrainians’ business to discuss Polish crimes. It’s Poles’ business – Poles should judge for themselves what this state was like and whether it conducted its policies correctly. And it doesn’t matter to me what they decide.
It is the business of Ukrainians to discuss Ukrainian organizations and Ukrainian crimes.
And this is needed not by Poles, not by Russians, not by Georgians, Armenians or French – this is needed by Ukrainians themselves, because it defines the future of Ukraine.
Your attitude towards the past defines who you are, because if you don’t learn from the past, you will make the same mistakes in the future.
Not necessarily the same ones, because I don’t think Ukrainians will commit a crime on a similar scale again, but lying to yourself, whitewashing something that is black, is a mistake that will sooner or later lead to tragedy.
The ability to self-reflect is one of the foundations of a civilized society.
On the other hand, it won’t be someone who has spent most of their life in another country who will decide this. Those who will discuss Ukrainian heroes will be those who are currently shedding blood and dying for this country—and it will be they who will decide who is treated as a hero.
If they are willing to pay the appropriate political price for their decision and lie to themselves, that is their right.
This text is not the voice of Ukrainians in Poland, nor is it anyone’s voice but mine. I am responsible only for myself and my own conscience.
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