It’s been a while. A long while. I can tell because the last post I made was promoting the most recent anthology my group and I published and there will be another collection coming out at the end of the month (31 March 2022). This post is not about that.
Between the end of August and those posts promoting Autumn an Anthology I also had a strong desire to post about Afghanistan and what happened—not merely the pullout but about our entire collaboration in the country. It is still very near and dear to my heart but no matter how many times I started it, I was not able to finish it. This post is not about that.
What it is about is what’s going on in Ukraine.
Some of it is information, some of it misinformation. I guess that makes it the same as every other newsworthy event and several of the non-newsworthy events that we still end up seeing ad infinitum on televisions, newspapers, magazines, and for those under a certain age, yes, the internet.
The item that prompted my post was hearing about the bombing of Babyn Yar, the Ukrainian name for the site of a mass execution of Jews by the Nazis in 1941. No mention will be made here of the “other” name being used for the site because that’s the Russian name for it and why would we use that one? It’s disconcerting to me that the entire first page of search results (no matter the engine I use) does not include the actual site’s webpage, so I included it here https://babynyar.org/en/.
I knew nothing about the massacre until Putin decided it was a target. And then I spent an hour learning about the site, the details, and what has been pieced together of what happened. Absolutely fascinating history. A Jewish friend told me that the bombing was misinformation—it wasn’t actually targeted or hit—but I can’t find anything about that because it is too newsworthy an item. It underscores the insanity of the Russian actions against Ukraine.
To me, the bombing is something that had the absolute opposite affect intended. The bombing was intended to wipe out the memory of the event, just as the Soviets tried to do during their time in control of Ukraine. I have learned much about the incident, the history, and now have a desire to go to the site more than any other Holocaust site I’ve been to (for those keeping score they include Dachau, Flossenbürg, and Aushwitz). But ultimately there is an incredible parallel here that no one seems to be talking about.
The Holocaust happened because of misguided racial thinking (an understatement to say the least). The little Austrian Corporal and his associates viewed the Jews, and many others, as non-humans. The treated them like livestock, unwanted livestock. Now I could go into details of their actions that proved they really thought otherwise, but non-humans is the stated reason. They did not consider Jews to be human.
Putin has not now nor has he ever considered Ukraine a country. He has stated as such (if you believe the news articles) and tolerated their “attempts” at democracy and self-government all the while waiting for a chance to come back in and set them straight. He classifies his invasion of a sovereign country as just helping out the rightful rulers, those who are sycophants that would treat Ukranian sovereignity as a vassal state to Mother Russia. In his mind, he is in the right. As did the Nazis. Both were wrong.
Currently, Finland and Sweden—two neutral countries—are considering joining NATO. That’s harsh. But what is more harsh is that Switzerland has imposed sanctions. Making the Swiss pick a side is the most clear indication of all that things in the Ukraine are off.
I will be back posting again soon, about the forthcoming book and hopefully my website changes. Until then peruse the website for the Babyn Yar Memorial and learn more about this fascinating piece of history.