ГУЛаг Палестины

The best local surgeons fought for several days to save the boy's

life. Thanks to them, the youth's life was spared. Unfortunately,

it was not possible to save his hands.

No one can accuse the recipient of not having earned his award.

Ukrainian awards, in contrast to Soviet, are fully deserved.

(Ukrainian-language newspaper, Novyi Shliakh (New Pathway) of

7Oct95, based on the earlier report in Ukrains'ke Slovo, (Ukrainian

Word), Kyiv, No. 37, 14Sep95)

The above story of Maksym Tsarenko compels me to ask - not for the first time - who

is in danger in Ukraine? The Western media urge us to accept that it is Jews and

Russians who are in danger, threatened by Ukrainian nationalists. That, for example,

is the conclusion of your infamous 60 Minutes broadcast The Ugly Face of Freedom of

23Oct94. However, you came back from your brief visit to Ukraine with no data to

substantiate such a claim. Almost a year ago, the Ukrainian Archive has requested

both of you and of Rabbi Bleich the evidence backing your report of violence against

Jews, and neither of you has as yet condescended to reply, strengthening the

suspicion that your story was fabricated.

The sort of powerful story that neither you nor Rabbi Bleich were able to find is one

of a Russian summer-camp councillor who had his hands blown off by Ukrainian

nationalists for using the Russian language within Ukraine; or one of a Jewish

summer-camp councillor having his hands blown off by Ukrainian nationalists for using

Hebrew or Yiddish within Ukraine. Such things do not happen within Ukraine to either

Russians or to Jews - they happen only to Ukrainians. It is the story of Ukrainians

being persecuted within Ukraine that you could have richly documented and broadcast

to the world. The story of Maksym Tsarenko can be found multiplied many times over

the torture-murders of Ukrainian activist Volodymyr Katelnytsky and his mother in

their Kyiv apartment providing a recent example. The contrasting story of Jewish or

Russian victimization within Ukraine is bogus - and yet that is the story that you

unscrupulously chose to broadcast.

Lubomyr Prytulak

cc: Rabbi Bleich, Ed Bradley, Jeffrey Fager, Don Hewitt, Steve Kroft, Andy Rooney,

Lesley Stahl, Mike Wallace.

Morley Safer Letter 9 15May99 Who murdered Volodymyr Ivasiuk?

But in the meantime, those who come too near to the truth concerning what happened to

Volodymyr Ivasiuk have been the victims of an unusual number of accidents. One man's

wife unexpectedly hangs herself, another man throws himself from a balcony, still

another drowns, yet another falls under the wheels of a car.... But remember, butchers,

God's punishment will descend even upon you!

May 15, 1999

Morley Safer

60 Minutes, CBS Television

51 W 52nd Street

New York, NY

USA 10019

Morley Safer:

Who Murdered

Volodymyr Ivasiuk?

Volodymyr Ivasiuk is best known as a composer and poet,

author of the widely popular song Chervona Ruta whose first

two lines appear below as he wrote them in his own hand,

which song more than anything else made him beloved

throughout Ukraine, and even beyond the borders of Ukraine.

On top of that, Volodymyr was a man of many talents, having

earned a degree in medicine, and having demonstrated talent

in art, photography, and cinematography.

However, having reached his prime

showing so much promise, it was not

given Volodymyr Ivasiuk to develop his

talents further. He was dead at the age

of 30. To the right is a photograph of

his funeral procession, attended by

thousands of mourners despite the

suppression by the state of the

publication of information concerning

his burial, despite official warnings to

not attend funeral services, and despite

the calling of Komsomol meetings, which

carried mandatory attendance, on the

same day. The magazine Halas, on whose

information I rely in the present

letter, states that Rostyslaw Bratun who

was the first to step forward and speak

at Volodymyr's funeral lost his job two

months later. Words spoken at the

funeral by the Sichko family landed them

in prison.

To the right is a second photograph

showing the statue that was eventually

erected in Volodymyr Ivasiuk's memory.

And just how did Volodymyr Ivasiuk meet

his end? His death certificate which

appears below states that he died on

24-27 April 1979 from mechanical

asphyxiation caused by hanging in a

noose, and attributes the hanging to

suicide.

The details of Volodymyr Ivasiuk's death, however, do not support the official view that

he killed himself:

They waited and searched for Volodya for 24 days. Following the

mysterious disappearance of the composer, the search for him was not

disclosed to the public, the explanation being given that such an

announcement would create a disturbance. However, the mass media are

daily used not only to help locate people, but sometimes even their

pets. [...]

It was not until May 18, 1979 that Volodymyr Ivasiuk's body was

accidentally discovered in the heavy forest near the village

Briukhovych near Lviv.

One couldn't bring oneself to believe it. The parents were allowed to