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Mark Steyn National Post 15-May-2000 CBS fabricates news

"But yet again those old Soviet hardliners can only marvel:

They spent decades smashing presses and jamming

transmitters in an effort to shut down the flow of information.

Americans achieved that happy state just by leaving it to ABC,

CBS and NBC." – Mark Steyn

Mark Steyn in the National Post (Toronto) of 15-May-2000 takes the position that

Donna Dees-Thomases Million Mom March had its projected attendance downgraded to

100,000, though how many actually showed up is the object of varied speculation;

and more importantly that contrary to the attempt to portray Donna Dees-Thomases

as a suburban mother who had never organized anything larger than a car pool

before, she was in reality a CBS employee. In comparison to the massive

distortions of Morley Safer's Ugly Face of Freedom of 23-Oct-1994, the Million Mom

March media stunt seems like a peccadillo, but does contribute to the view of the

mass media as ready to deceive and manipulate, with the CBS perhaps playing a

leading role.

Two excerpts from the longer article:

But, speaking of Casts of Idiots, what about CBS? By now, you may

be curious about that "part-time job," as NBC coyly referred to

it. A couple of waitressing shifts? A little secretarial work

for the school district? No, Donna is a part-time publicist for

David Letterman's Late Show. Before that, she was a full-time

publicist for CBS news anchor Dan Rather. CBS This Morning was

one of the first news shows to report the Million Mom March

movement last September, when Hattie Kauffman interviewed Donna.

"What," asked Hattie, "turns a mild-mannered suburban mom into an

anti-gun activist?"

The correct answer is: "A leave of absence from my employer, CBS,

which, by remarkable coincidence, is also your employer, Hattie."

But that's not what Donna said. Only in the last week has CBS

News begun disclosing that she's one of theirs.

Mark Steyn, Made to Measure for the Media, National Post,

15-May-2000, p. A14.

Heigh-ho. The non-March is over now, and the non-Millions are

relaunching themselves today as a political lobby group. Good

luck to them. But yet again those old Soviet hardliners can only

marvel: They spent decades smashing presses and jamming

transmitters in an effort to shut down the flow of information.

Americans achieved that happy state just by leaving it to ABC, CBS

and NBC.

Mark Steyn, Made to Measure for the Media, National Post,

15-May-2000, p. A14.

HOME DISINFORMATION PEOPLE HILBERG Hilberg > 889 hits since 31May99

Hilberg Letter 1 15Sep97 Invitation to deny Lviv pogrom

September 15, 1997

Raul Hilberg

Department of History

University of Vermont

Burlington, VT

USA 05401-3596

Dear Professor Hilberg:

On October 23, 1994, Morley Safer together with Simon Wiesenthal in the 60 Minutes

story The Ugly Face of Freedom drew attention to an event which I will refer to as the

"Lviv pogrom":

SAFER: He [Simon Wiesenthal] remembers that even before the Germans

arrived, Ukrainian police went on a 3-day killing spree.

WIESENTHAL: And in this 3 days in Lvov alone between 5 and 6 thousand

Jews was killed.

...

SAFER: But even before the Germans entered Lvov, the Ukrainian militia,

the police, killed 3,000 people in 2 days here.

For the moment, let us overlook that the interviewer – Morley Safer is not

citing the evidence of his own professional witness – Simon Wiesenthal – but is instead

offering an unattributed lower estimate within a smaller time interval. And let us

overlook as well that in another place, Simon Wiesenthal places what seems to be this

same Lviv pogrom after the arrival of the Germans:

Thousands of detainees were shot dead in their cells by the retreating

Soviets. This gave rise to one of the craziest accusations of that

period: among the strongly anti-Semitic population the rumour was

spread by the Ukrainian nationalists that all Jews were Bolsheviks and

all Bolsheviks were Jews. Hence it was the Jews who were really to

blame for the atrocities committed by the Soviets.

All the Germans needed to do was to exploit this climate of

opinion. It is said that after their arrival they gave the Ukrainians

free rein, for three days, to 'deal' with the Jews. (Simon Wiesenthal,

Justice Not Vengeance, 1989, p. 36, emphasis added)

What does primarily interest me here is that when I attempted to find more

information on this Lviv pogrom – which I took to be either the biggest single pogrom

of the War, or else at least among the biggest – in your The Destruction of the

European Jews, I was unable to locate anything at all resembling such an event, and in

fact, I encountered statements suggesting that such an event did not occur.

Specifically, the following two passages strike me as incompatible with the massive

Lviv pogrom described by Messrs Safer and Wiesenthal:

From the Ukraine Einsatzkommando 6 of Einsatzgruppe C reported as

follows:

Almost nowhere can the population be persuaded to take

active steps against the Jews. This may be explained

by the fear of many people that the Red Army may

return. Again and again this anxiety has been pointed

out to us. Older people have remarked that they had

already experienced in 1918 the sudden retreat of the

Germans. In order to meet the fear psychosis, and in

order to destroy the myth ... which, in the eyes of

many Ukrainians, places the Jew in the position of the

wielder of political power, Einsatzkommando 6 on

several occasions marched Jews before their execution

through the city. Also, care was taken to have

Ukrainian militiamen watch the shooting of Jews.

This "deflation" of the Jews in the public eye did not have the desired

effect. After a few weeks, Einsatzgruppe C complained once more that

the inhabitants did not betray the movements of hidden Jews. The

Ukrainians were passive, benumbed by the "Bolshevist terror." Only the

ethnic Germans in the area were busily working for the Einsatzgruppe.

(Raul Hilberg, The Destruction of the European Jews, 1961, p. 202)

The Slavic population stood estranged and even aghast before the

unfolding spectacle of the "final solution." There was on the whole no

impelling desire to cooperate in a process of such utter ruthlessness.

The fact that the Soviet regime, fighting off the Germans a few hundred

miles to the east, was still threatening to return, undoubtedly acted

as a powerful restraint upon many a potential collaborator. (Raul

Hilberg, The Destruction of the European Jews, 1985, p. 308)

And most particularly, your summary of pogrom activity in Ukraine seemed to flatly rule

out the possibility that such a massive, pre-German, Lviv pogrom had ever taken place:

First, truly spontaneous pogroms, free from Einsatzgruppen influence,

did not take place; all outbreaks were either organized or inspired by

the Einsatzgruppen. Second, all pogroms were implemented within a

short time after the arrival of the killing units. They were not

self-perpetuating, nor could new ones be started after things had

settled down. (Raul Hilberg, The Destruction of the European Jews,

1985, p. 312)

Examining another work which I also happen to have in my library – Leni Yahil's

The Holocaust: The Fate of European Jewry, Oxford, New York, 1990 – for information on

the Lviv pogrom, I again found nothing. In Yahil's book too I thought that I had in my

hands a thoroughly researched work which could not have overlooked a massive,

pre-German, Lviv pogrom, if one had ever occurred:

When The Holocaust first appeared in Israel in 1987, it was hailed as

the finest, most authoritative history of Hitler's war on the Jews ever

published. Representing twenty years of research and reflection, Leni

Yahil's book won the Shazar prize, one of Israel's highest awards for

historical work. (From the dust jacket)

And so, I would very much appreciate your opinion on this discrepancy. What

appears to be the case to myself and to others in the Ukrainian community is that the

Lviv pogrom, as described by Safer and Wiesenthal, did not take place, and we have been

attempting, with no success whatever, to get 60 Minutes to issue a retraction. If you

were to join your voice to ours in however simple and brief a statement, I think that a

retraction might be forthcoming in short order.

I should explain by way of background that my attitude to this sort of

misstatement is that it is disrespectful to the memory of the Holocaust dead. I do not

believe that the Holocaust dead authorized Messrs Safer and Wiesenthal to replace the

real Holocaust with a grander one which would do more to advance their respective

careers. I believe that by means of their fabrications, Messrs Safer and Wiesenthal do

a great disservice to the perception of Jewish credibility, provide ammunition for

Holocaust deniers, and at the same time harm Ukrainian-Jewish relations.

Thus, if it were true that the Lviv pogrom in question did not take place, and if

you were to release a statement to that effect (if only in a letter to me which I could

quote), I think you would be performing an invaluable service toward enhancing the

perception of Jewish credibility, toward disarming Holocaust deniers, and as well

toward improving Ukrainian-Jewish relations.

Sincerely yours,

Lubomyr Prytulak

HOME DISINFORMATION PEOPLE HILBERG 806 hits since 31May99

Hilberg reply to Letter 1 15Dec97 Lviv pogrom implicitly denied

Raul Hilberg

236 Prospect Parkway

Burlington, VT 05401

802-863 4653

December 15, 1997

Mr. Lubomyr Prytulak

[...]

Dear Mr. Prytulak,

I have had to delay a reply to your letter of September 15, because I had an almost

impossible deadline for a manuscript, plus two trips, one to Europe and one to

Alberta. Now I have had a chance to reexamine some sources with respect to actions in

Lviv and a few other places within eastern Galicia during the early phase of the

occupation.

Here then are a few more details to complement the sections you have taken from the

1961 edition of my book, The Destruction of the European Jews. The historian Philip

Friedman writes on pages 246-47 of his Roads to Extinction, New York 1980:

By inciteful proclamations, pamphlets, and oral propaganda, the Germans

stirred up mass hatred of the Jews. Persecution and pogroms began

immediately after the entry of the German army. From June 30 to July

3, German soldiers spread through the streets of the city in the

company of Ukrainian nationalists and an unruly mob of the local

population. They fell upon the Jews in the streets, beat them

murderously, and dragged them away for "work" – especially for

cleansing of prisons filled with corpses and blood. Thousands of Jews

were seized and conveyed to the prisons on Zamarstynowska, Jachowicza,

and Lackiego Streets; to the Brygidki prison on Kazimierzowska Street;

and to the Gestapo headquarters, at 59 Pelzynska.

The first mention of these events in a report of the Security Police of July 3, 1941,

is a statement that angered residents had already seized 1,000 Jews. A subsequent

report, dated July 16, 1941, notes that "In Lemberg [Lviv] the population rounded up

about 1,000 Jews, and with mistreatment [unter Mi?handlungen] delivered them to the

[German] army-occupied GPU prison." In the same report, there is mention of the

shooting by the Security Police of 7,000 Jews in all of eastern Galicia. Fifty Jews

were reported to have been killed by local inhabitants in Sambor. Another Security

Police report, dated July 11, 1941, refers to 600 Jews "liquidated" in the course of

"persecutions of Jews inspired by the Einsatzkommando" 4b in Tarnopol.

In conclusion, it would seem that local inhabitants violently seized about a thousand

of the Jews arrested in Lviv. Because of the German role and the presence of Ukrainian

militia, I have not called these actions a pogrom, but that may be a matter of

labeling.

Sincerely,

Raul Hilberg [signature]

HOME DISINFORMATION PEOPLE JORDAN Jordan > 786 hits since 23May98

Jordan Letter 1 Mar 6/96 Answering 16,000 pieces of mail

March 6, 1996

Michael H. Jordan

Chairman, Westinghouse Electric Corporation

11 Stanwix Street

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

USA 15222

Dear Mr. Jordan:

In the Wall Street Journal article on you of February 28, 1996, the phrase "pulling CBS from the ratings

basement" caught my attention, and led me to wonder whether it would be possible to accomplish such a feat while CBS

continues to be weighed down with personnel who have demonstrated such lapses of intelligence and of integrity as were

requisite to broadcasting "The Ugly Face of Freedom." If you take the trouble to read the enclosed documentation, I

am sure that you will be convinced that my depiction of this broadcast as requiring lapses of both intelligence and

integrity is not hyperbolic, but rather is restrained.

Let me right now give you just one example of the hatemongering that was offered to CBS viewers as investigative

journalism in "The Ugly Face of Freedom." It is Morley Safer reading into the camera – without so much as blinking

"The Church and Government of Ukraine have tried to ease people's fears, suggesting that ... Ukrainians, despite the

allegations, are not genetically anti-Semitic." One might have expected that no mainstream journalist would be able

to speak such words in any public forum and still keep his job. Had someone made up the equally fantastic and

inflammatory "The World Jewish Congress has tried to ease people's fears, suggesting that Jews, despite the

allegations, are not genetically addicted to usury," then surely he would have been out of a job. Mr. Safer did say

one of these things – does it matter which one? – and yet somehow he still works for CBS television, reading his lines

into the camera just as if he is not to be held accountable for his statement, carrying on as before just as if he had

not played the leading role in what may be the most concentrated fifteen minutes of disinformation and hate to come

out of the mainstream media.

CBS's behavior since "The Ugly Face of Freedom" continues in the same vein and encourages the suspicion that

those at its helm continue to be crippled by the same deficit of intelligence and of integrity. Specifically, CBS

claimed first that of the 16,000 pieces of mail which it had received objecting to "The Ugly Face of Freedom," all had

been answered. On being pressed, it later revised the "all" downward to 25%. And only after the Ukrainian community

beat the bushes in a vain attempt to find a single person who had received an answer did CBS revise that figure

downward still another notch – to none at all having been answered. Topping that off, instead of keeping the 16,000

letters of protest on file as is required by the FCC, CBS trashed them. To date, almost one and a half years after

the original broadcast, CBS remains frozen like a deer in the headlights of an onrushing car, devoid on the one hand

of arguments to refute the charges levelled against the broadcast, and devoid also of the courage to admit that these

charges are correct – perhaps taking the advice of its lawyers that when you find yourself unable to say anything

convincing in your own defense, then the best policy is to say nothing at all.

I urge you in the interests both of truth and of redeeming CBS to weed out the incompetents responsible for "The

Ugly Face of Freedom," and to direct CBS to offer its viewers the retraction and apology which are long overdue.

Yours truly,

Lubomyr Prytulak

cc: Ed Bradley, Steve Kroft, Morley Safer, Lesley Stahl, Mike Wallace

HOME DISINFORMATION PEOPLE JORDAN 625 hits since 23May98

Jordan Letter 2 May 7/96 Confusion concerning the Lviv pogrom

May 7, 1996

Michael H. Jordan

Chairman, Westinghouse Electric Corporation

11 Stanwix Street

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

USA 15222

Dear Mr. Jordan:

In your reply to my letter to you of March 6, 1996, I am particularly looking forward to hearing your comments on

the discrepancies between the following three sets of quotations.

VIEW #1: THE LVIV POGROM WAS MASSIVE AND PRE-GERMAN.

SAFER: He [Simon Wiesenthal] remembers that even before the Germans arrived, Ukrainian police

went on a 3-day killing spree.

WIESENTHAL: And in this 3 days in Lvov alone between 5 and 6 thousand Jews was killed.

...

SAFER: But even before the Germans entered Lvov, the Ukrainian militia, the police, killed 3,000

people in 2 days here. (60 Minutes, The Ugly Face of Freedom, October 23, 1994)

VIEW #2: THE LVIV POGROM WAS MASSIVE AND POST-GERMAN.

The Ukrainian police ... had played a disastrous role in Galicia following the entry of the

German troops at the end of June and the beginning of July 1941. (Simon Wiesenthal, Justice Not

Vengeance, 1989, p. 34, emphasis added)

Thousands of detainees were shot dead in their cells by the retreating Soviets. This gave rise

to one of the craziest accusations of that period: among the strongly anti-Semitic population

the rumour was spread by the Ukrainian nationalists that all Jews were Bolsheviks and all

Bolsheviks were Jews. Hence it was the Jews who were really to blame for the atrocities

committed by the Soviets.

All the Germans needed to do was to exploit this climate of opinion. It is said that after

their arrival they gave the Ukrainians free rein, for three days, to 'deal' with the Jews.

(Simon Wiesenthal, Justice Not Vengeance, 1989, p. 36, emphasis added)

VIEW #3: THERE WAS NO LVIV POGROM.

From the Ukraine Einsatzkommando 6 of Einsatzgruppe C reported as follows:

Almost nowhere can the population be persuaded to take active steps against

the Jews. This may be explained by the fear of many people that the Red

Army may return. Again and again this anxiety has been pointed out to us.

Older people have remarked that they had already experienced in 1918 the

sudden retreat of the Germans. In order to meet the fear psychosis, and in

order to destroy the myth ... which, in the eyes of many Ukrainians, places

the Jew in the position of the wielder of political power, Einsatzkommando

6 on several occasions marched Jews before their execution through the

city. Also, care was taken to have Ukrainian militiamen watch the shooting

of Jews.

This "deflation" of the Jews in the public eye did not have the desired effect. After a few

weeks, Einsatzgruppe C complained once more that the inhabitants did not betray the movements of

hidden Jews. The Ukrainians were passive, benumbed by the "Bolshevist terror." Only the ethnic

Germans in the area were busily working for the Einsatzgruppe. (Raul Hilberg, The Destruction of

the European Jews, 1961, p. 202)

The Slavic population stood estranged and even aghast before the unfolding spectacle of the

"final solution." There was on the whole no impelling desire to cooperate in a process of such

utter ruthlessness; and the fact that the Soviet regime, fighting off the Germans a few hundred

miles to the east, was still threatening to return, undoubtedly acted as a powerful restraint

upon many a potential collaborator. (Raul Hilberg, The Destruction of the European Jews, 1961,

p. 201)

First, truly spontaneous pogroms, free from Einsatzgruppen influence, did not take place; all

outbreaks were either organized or inspired by the Einsatzgruppen. Second, all pogroms were

implemented within a short time after the arrival of the killing units; they were not

self-perpetuating, nor could new ones be started after things had settled down. (Raul Hilberg

summarizing anti-Jewish activity in Ukraine, The Destruction of the European Jews, 1961, p. 204)

The Ukrainian violence as a whole did not come up to expectations. (Raul Hilberg, The

Destruction of the European Jews, 1961, p. 204)

Do you not find it disturbing, Mr. Jordan, that 60 Minutes' claim of a massive pre-German pogrom in Lviv is

contradicted by Simon Wiesenthal's earlier statements that the pogrom was post-German? And do you not find it even

more disturbing that when we turn from media stars like Simon Wiesenthal and television announcers like Morley Safer

to respected historians – in fact, the most respected historian of the Jewish Holocaust, Raul Hilberg himself – that

there is a curious lack of awareness of this most egregious of all World War II pogroms, and in fact flat denials that

anything of the sort ever happened?

Yours truly,

Lubomyr Prytulak

cc: Ed Bradley, Steve Kroft, Morley Safer, Lesley Stahl, Mike Wallace

Jordan Letter 3 May 14/96 Nowhere is the SS so openly celebrated

May 14, 1996

Michael H. Jordan

Chairman, Westinghouse Electric Corporation

11 Stanwix Street

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

USA 15222

Dear Mr. Jordan:

There are certain questions that keep revolving in my mind to which I can't seem to find any answers – perhaps

you could help me with one of these.

The particular question which I have in mind at the moment is what it was that led Morley Safer to the conclusion

that the Galicia Division reunion in Lviv – scenes of which were shown on "The Ugly Face of Freedom" – was in fact the

most open celebration of the SS imaginable – in Mr. Safer's own words: "Nowhere, not even in Germany, is the SS so

openly celebrated."

Now for what strikes Mr. Safer as being the most open of all conceivable celebrations of the SS, I would think

that the corroborative scenes shown should have contained all, or most, or at least several of the following

ingredients:

(1) a display of photographs of Hitler,

(2) a display of photographs of Himmler, head of the SS,

(3) a display of swastikas,

(4) a display of the lightning-bolt "SS" insignia, or any "SS" insignia,

(5) the playing of Nazi songs, perhaps Nazi marching songs,

(6) goose-stepping on the part of the participants,

(7) participants raising their hands in the "Heil Hitler!" salute,

(8) pro-Nazi literature distributed to the participants as part of the celebration,

(9) pro-Nazi statements elicited from the participants by reporters,

(10) pro-Nazi statements made by speakers addressing the celebrants,

(10) reminiscences of Nazi successes during World War II,

(12) expressions of anti-Semitism.

I would think that before a summary as extreme as "Nowhere, not even in Germany, is the SS so openly celebrated,"

a responsible reporter would have mentally run over such a check-list to measure precisely how much corroboration was

really at hand. Had Mr. Safer done this, he would have come up with a remarkable figure – and that figure is exactly

zero! Zero out of a possible twelve! In other words, the scenes aired by 60 Minutes contain not a shred of evidence

– not the smallest clue, not the slightest hint – that this was in any way a "celebration of the SS." To speak words

as provocative and inflammatory as were Mr. Safer's, while at the same time offering as corroboration scenes which in

no way support those words, perhaps demonstrates the contempt in which Mr. Safer holds the intelligence of the 60

Minutes viewer.

Had Mr. Safer done just a bit of homework before he started talking, he would have discovered that the Galicia

Division was a combat unit whose only role was to fight the Soviet advance on the Eastern Front. Had Mr. Safer done

just a bit of reading before giving vent to his prejudices and stereotypes, he would have discovered that the Galicia

Division has never been so much as accused of any war crimes or any crimes against humanity – not even by the Soviets

who have always been rabidly anti-Nazi, and against whom the Galicia Division fought. Had Mr. Safer demanded from his

support staff even the most superficial research prior to reading his proclamations, he would have discovered that in

at least three formal investigations, the Galicia Division has been judged to have been devoid of Nazi sympathies.

So, then, what was the evidence that Mr. Safer was basing his statement on? How could he have said something so

strikingly at variance with what was being shown on screen? This is the riddle that I wish you would help me solve.

Yours truly,

Lubomyr Prytulak

cc: Ed Bradley, Steve Kroft, Morley Safer, Lesley Stahl, Mike Wallace

HOME DISINFORMATION PEOPLE JORDAN 1535 hits since 23May98

Michael Jordan Letter 4 12Jul96 Levitas letter to Za Vilnu Ukrainu

July 12, 1996

Michael H. Jordan

Chairman, Westinghouse Electric Corporation

11 Stanwix Street

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

USA 15222

Dear Mr. Jordan:

I am sending you a translation from the Ukrainian of an open letter to Morley Safer

and the 60 Minutes staff, written by I. M. Levitas, Head of the Jewish Council of

Ukraine as well as of the Nationalities Associations of Ukraine, and published in the

Lviv newspaper Za Vilnu Ukrainu (For a Free Ukraine) on December 2, 1994. In this

letter, Mr. Levitas protests the 60 Minutes broadcast, "The Ugly Face of Freedom."

Mr. Levitas's letter is a cry both of anguish and of outrage, but its more

particular significance to us lies in its bringing to light fresh information

demonstrating the bias of the 60 Minutes broadcast, and as well in showing us that

Ukrainian Jews are foremost among those waiting for a corrective broadcast, and

foremost also among those who are offering their cooperation in the preparation of such

a corrective broadcast.

Mr. Levitas suggests that the severity of the bias combined with the total

suppression of contradictory information that is evident in the 60 Minutes story is

Bolshevik in style. I would go on to suggest to you that just as the countries of the

former Soviet Union cannot hope to thrive without first throwing off the leaders who

are inherently Communist in outlook, so CBS News cannot hope to thrive under the

leadership of individuals whose attitude toward broadcasting is that it is a tool

placed in their hands for the totalitarian manipulation of mass opinion.

Sincerely yours,

Lubomyr Prytulak

cc: Ed Bradley, Steve Kroft, Morley Safer, Lesley Stahl, Mike Wallace

WHY DIDN'T YOU SHOW

THE UKRAINIANS AND POLES WHO RESCUED JEWS?

Esteemed Gentlemen! Esteemed program host, Mr. Safer!

It has come to our attention that on October 23, 1994, American television broadcast

a program about events in the city of Lviv and in the Western region of Ukraine. We

have acquainted ourselves with the contents of this program, and have also received

feedback from Jews who recently emigrated from Ukraine to the United States.

Our conclusion: from isolated and insignificant facts you created a broadcast in

which you overwhelmingly crammed distortions and emphasized the negative aspects of

Jewish life, while at the same time hiding the positive aspects which are

considerably more numerous.

Everything that you reported in your broadcast unfortunately exists, but exists only

as isolated events diluted in the normal flow of life in Lviv. By focussing on

these isolated events, you painted an unrelievedly negative picture, and that

constitutes your principal error – unless it wasn't an error at all but rather was

done intentionally.

We are a young democracy, and the unrestrained expression of democratic freedoms may

give birth to untoward manifestations, as is bound to happen in any country,

including the United States – a country of long-standing democracy.

Many bad things, including attitudes toward Jews, have been bequeathed to us from

the past, and it is difficult to wholly eradicate this from the consciousness of the

people.

In your broadcast, you mentioned streets that were renamed after Petliura and

Bandera, but didn't mention that Frunze Street, which before the war was called

Starozhydivska Street ["Ancient Jewish Street"], was also recently renamed

Staroyevreiska Street [also "Ancient Jewish Street" but without the negative

connotation that "zhyd" has in Russian and in Eastern Ukrainian] – and, please note,

not to Starozhydivska Street, in deference to Jewish sensibilities.

You broadcast that contemporary Ukrainians don't know about the Yanivsky

concentration camp. Possibly so – but there has grown up a generation which has

already forgotten about even Auschwitz and Maydanek. But in fact in Ukraine, we do

know about the Yanivsky camp. Our Jewish Council has established a Yanivsky Camp

Foundation. Here in Lviv, we have held conferences dedicated to the memory of this

camp. Where your broadcast shows a woman carrying flowers, a stone memorial has

been erected bearing the Shield of David. I was present at the unveiling of this

memorial. Representatives of the Lviv City Council made presentations at this

ceremony, as did representatives of the Ukrainian Orthodox and Ukrainian Catholic

Churches. I have in my possession a photograph of this event which I could forward

to you.

Yes, the fence which you showed, and the dogs, unfortunately are there – but these

are remnants of the past. In any case, a decision has been made to get rid of them

and to build a memorial in the same location. You should have reported this. More

to the point, the very first monument in our new Ukraine dedicated to Jewish victims

was erected not far from Lviv, in the town of Chervonohrad. Following that, three

other monuments were erected in our region.

You reported that two Jews were robbed and beaten. This might have happened, but

most likely not because they were Jews. I imagine that in Lviv, Ukrainians are also

robbed (and significantly more often!), and yet nobody draws from this the sort of

conclusions concerning ethnic hostility that you draw from the robbing of these two

Jews.

Our Jewish Council constantly receives news concerning Jews in Ukraine, but during

the past five years, we have received not a single report of anyone being beaten

because he was a Jew. However, it must be admitted that such a thing may have

occurred without it coming to our attention – there are plenty of miscreants in

every country.

Because the facts selected for your broadcast were excessively biased and one-sided,

it is incumbent upon me to give you a view of the other side of Jewish life.

In Lviv, where seven thousand Jews live, there are thirteen Jewish organizations.

There are also active organizations in the rest of the region – in Drohobych,

Boryslav, Truskavets. I can send you all their addresses. Lviv was the first city

in Ukraine to have a Jewish Society (1988), the first Ukraine-Israel Society (1989),