I agree with exposing Ukraine’s dirty laundry, but find it mildly ironic that Ukraine is simultaneously criticized for using Nazi symbols, and for demolition of Communist monuments.
From my perspective, Nazis and Commies are like twin brothers, so I find it amusing that using the symbols of the former is a pretext for invasion, but removing the monuments of the latter is wrong because Russians like them. Among the atrocities on the territory of Ukraine, perhaps we could also mention Holodomor. Is it so wrong for those whose grandparents survived Holodomor to remove the monuments of those who organized it?
Fuck Nazis; and Ukraine needs to have a serious discussion about its dark past (in a context different from ”...and therefore it is OK for Russia to annex Ukraine”). But those monuments should all have been demolished in 1991.
Furthermore, it’s up to the Ukrainian people to confront their dark past. Not Russians to do it for them.
Just like it’s up to Americans to confront and atone for America’s history of slavery. Not some neighbouring country to roll in with tanks and turn our historical/cultural/political problem into a military one.
It’s likely not an uncommon attitude among Eastern Europeans, given the relevant history. I’ve heard similar sentiments expressed by Czech and Polish people before.
I agree that in this context it seems nonsensical, though. Ukrainian national socialists wanting to take down communist monuments is quite overdetermined; as the monuments are not only symbols of an ideology that they strongly oppose, but also of a foreign state that was an occupying force in Ukraine in living memory (and is an occupying force right now, depending on your interpretation of the continuity between the USSR and the Russian Federation).
I agree with exposing Ukraine’s dirty laundry, but find it mildly ironic that Ukraine is simultaneously criticized for using Nazi symbols, and for demolition of Communist monuments.
From my perspective, Nazis and Commies are like twin brothers, so I find it amusing that using the symbols of the former is a pretext for invasion, but removing the monuments of the latter is wrong because Russians like them. Among the atrocities on the territory of Ukraine, perhaps we could also mention Holodomor. Is it so wrong for those whose grandparents survived Holodomor to remove the monuments of those who organized it?
Fuck Nazis; and Ukraine needs to have a serious discussion about its dark past (in a context different from ”...and therefore it is OK for Russia to annex Ukraine”). But those monuments should all have been demolished in 1991.
Furthermore, it’s up to the Ukrainian people to confront their dark past. Not Russians to do it for them.
Just like it’s up to Americans to confront and atone for America’s history of slavery. Not some neighbouring country to roll in with tanks and turn our historical/cultural/political problem into a military one.
Well this perspective is just blatantly nonsense.
It’s likely not an uncommon attitude among Eastern Europeans, given the relevant history. I’ve heard similar sentiments expressed by Czech and Polish people before.
I agree that in this context it seems nonsensical, though. Ukrainian national socialists wanting to take down communist monuments is quite overdetermined; as the monuments are not only symbols of an ideology that they strongly oppose, but also of a foreign state that was an occupying force in Ukraine in living memory (and is an occupying force right now, depending on your interpretation of the continuity between the USSR and the Russian Federation).
Agreed. Hitler was total amateur. Commies killed much more people and actually managed to terrorize people for almost a century.