Red Army vets protest celebration of partisans

[Kyt]

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/...rld-War-II.php

Former Ukrainian partisans meet with protests as they hold first official celebration

The Associated Press
Sunday, October 14, 2007

KIEV, Ukraine: For the first time since World War II, former Ukrainian partisans celebrated their nationalist army's creation Sunday with the full approval of the Ukrainian government, despite efforts by angry socialists and communists to break up their gathering in central Kiev.

The Ukrainian Insurgent Army, or UPA, battled both Soviet and Nazi forces during the war, and for several years after the war continued to carry out raids against the Soviets and to disrupt efforts to collectivize farms.

Since the 1991 Soviet collapse, the former partisans have sought financial and moral recognition similar to what Red Army veterans have long enjoyed.

"We needed our government to recognize us and nothing else," said UPA veteran Stepan Babii, 83, who came to commemorate the anniversary of the army's creation in 1942. The crowd of several thousand included uniformed veterans, their relatives and many young Ukrainians.

Western-leaning Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko signed a degree Thursday on celebrating the 65th anniversary and ordered the government to improve medical care and other social benefits for the former partisans.

The president — whose father was a Red Army soldier who spent four years in a Nazi camp — called for further study of the historical role played by the 100,000 partisans.

Yushchenko has long been trying to win recognition for the partisans, but his efforts have met resistance from communists and Red Army veterans. The question of how to treat the nationalists in Ukrainian history — as freedom fighters or traitors — has polarized Ukraine. The west of the country supports the veteran partisans, while in the Russian-speaking east, support for the Soviet fighters is stronger.

Members of the Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine tried Sunday to prevent the former partisans and their supporters from reaching the central square, and a few were detained while trying to push through police barriers.

Communist Party members stood along the approaches to the square with posters reading "Fascism will not come."

"We are protecting our motherland from fascists," said communist Yevgenia Fatiyanova, who was a child during the war.

During Soviet times, schoolchildren were taught that members of the insurgent army were enemies of the people and that they committed atrocities alongside Nazi troops.