Ukraine was translated as saying in connection with a joke circulated among the common people
"In terms of the Soviet Union which is abbreviated SSSR, that stands for three kikes and a
Russian," - in fact he was using the unarguably neutral term "yevrei" which it is obligatory to
translate not as "kike" but as "Jew" not only in Russian, but in Eastern and Western Ukrainian
as well.
Thus, in at least two instances, and possibly in all, the 60 Minutes' translator was translating
incorrectly, and in such a manner as to make the Ukrainian speakers appear to be speaking with
an unrestrained anti-Semitism, when in fact they were not. On top of that, the translator
gratuitously spit out his words and gave them a venomous intonation which was not present in the
original Ukrainian. And then too, where the speaker spoke in grammatical Ukrainian, the
translator on one occasion at least, offered a translation in ungrammatical English, making the
Ukrainian appear uneducated or unintelligent - specifically, the Ukrainian "We Ukrainians do not
have to rely on..." was rendered into the English "We Ukrainians not have to rely on...."
Since "zhyd" is currently held to be derogatory in much of Ukraine, any speaker of contemporary
Ukrainian who wishes to give no offense may choose to view it as derogatory in all of Ukraine,
and switch to "yevrei" in all contexts and in all parts of the country. The fact that a Western
Ukrainian old enough to have escaped thorough Russification has not as yet made this switch,
however, is not evidence of his anti-Semitism, and his use of "zhyd" cannot rightly be taken to
be derogatory. In non-Russified Western Ukrainian, there is only one word for Jew, and that is
"zhyd," and there is no word corresponding to the derogatory "kike" or "yid" or "hebe" of
English.
A further discussion of the use of "zhyd" vs "yevrei" can be found within the Ukrainian Archive
in a discussion of the Sion-Osnova Controversy.
CONTENTS:
Preface
The Galicia Division
Quality of Translation
Ukrainian Homogeneity
Were Ukrainians Nazis?
Simon Wiesenthal
What Happened in Lviv?
Nazi Propaganda Film
Collective Guilt
Paralysis of the Comparative
Function
60 Minutes' Cheap Shots
Ukrainian Anti-Semitism
Jewish Ukrainophobia
Mailbag
A Sense of Responsibility
What 60 Minutes Should Do
PostScript
Ukrainian Homogeneity
In his every statement, Mr. Safer reveals that he starts from the assumption that Ukrainians are
homogeneously anti-Semitic and Nazi in their inclinations. In doing so, Mr. Safer does not stop
to wonder how it is that Ukrainians can be so entirely different in this respect from all other
peoples. Take Americans, for instance. Surely we all agree that among Americans, there are
some who would pitch in and help if they saw Nazis killing Jews, and others who would risk their
lives - and give their lives - to stop that very same killing, and of course the great bulk in
the middle who would consider immediate self-interest first, and look the other way and pretend
to see nothing. But Ukrainians, if we are to believe Mr. Safer, are a people apart - exhibiting
no such heterogeneity, clones one of another, genetically programmed to hate Jews.
To suggest such a thing is, of course, preposterous. The obvious reality is that Ukrainians do
exhibit a normal degree of heterogeneity. Had 60 Minutes wanted to, it could have found plenty
of evidence of this: (1) Since the city of Lviv was featured in the 60 Minutes broadcast, 60
Minutes could have mentioned - in fact, it was duty-bound to mention the heroism of
Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky's effort on behalf of Jews. (2) Since 60 Minutes was throwing
blanket condemnations over Ukrainians collectively not only for being the world's greatest
anti-Semites, but for the most extreme war crimes and crimes against humanity, it was incumbent
on 60 Minutes to notice the vast number of instances that can be found of Ukrainian sacrifices
to save Jews. (3) Since the city of Lviv was featured on the 60 Minutes broadcast, as were
Ukrainian auxiliary police units, as was Simon Wiesenthal, 60 Minutes should have mentioned that
in the city of Lviv, just such a Ukrainian police auxiliary by the name of Bodnar risked his
life - possibly sacrificed his life - to save the life of Simon Wiesenthal himself.
Let us consider each of these points in turn.
Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky
There is little doubt as to the almost saintly role of Ukrainian (Greek)
Catholic Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky. Sheptytsky, Archbishop of L'viv and
head of the church, was widely known as being sympathetic to the Jews. ...
The elderly metropolitan wrote directly to SS commander Heinrich Himmler in the
winter of 1942 demanding an end to the final solution and, equally important to
him, an end to the use of Ukrainian militia and police in anti-Jewish action.
His letter elicited a sharp rebuke, but Sheptytsky persisted even though the
death penalty was threatened to those who gave comfort to Jews. In November
1942 he issued a pastoral letter to be read in all churches under his
