Analysts have adduced reasons for the persistent Neo-Nazi problem in Ukraine up to the contemporary time tracing it to the wake of World War II.
According to them, on the eve of World War II, Ukraine was home to one the largest Jewish communities in Europe, with estimates as high as 2.7 million, a remarkable number considering the territory’s long record of antisemitism and pogroms.
They submitted that by the end, more than half would perish, saying when German troops took control of Kyiv in 1941, they were welcomed by “Heil Hitler” banners.
“Soon after, nearly 34,000 Jews —along with Roma and other “undesirables” were rounded up and marched to fields outside the city on the pretext of resettlement only to be massacred in what became known as the “Holocaust by bullets.”
“The BabynYar ravine continued to fill up as a mass grave for two years.With as many as 100,000 murdered there, it became one of the largest single killing sites of the Holocaust outside of Auschwitz and other death camps,” they stated.
Researchers have also noted the key role locals played in fulfilling Nazi kill orders at the site as Ukraine counts between 56,000 to 140,000 Jews presently.
Last year the Government reportedly had to update the law, which is criminalising antisemitic acts but the law was intended to address a pronounced uptick in public displays of bigotry, including swastika-laden vandalism of synagogues and Jewish
memorials, and eerie marches in Kyiv and other cities that celebrated the Waffen SS.
In another ominous development, Ukraine has in recent years erected a glut of statues honoring Ukrainian nationalists whose legacies are tainted by their indisputable record as Nazi proxies.
The Forward newspaper cataloged some of these deplorables, including Stepan Bandera, leader of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), whose followers acted as local militia members for the SS and German army.
“Ukraine has several dozen monuments and scores of street names glorifying this Nazi collaborator, enough to require two separate Wikipedia pages,” the Forward reported.
It added that Bandera was declared a war criminal by both the Soviet Union and Poland for his role in the Holocaust and the mass murder of Poles in present-day western Ukraine.
“The pro-US government in Kiev declared him a national hero in 2010, however, and nationalists have honored him ever since with torchlight processions in major Ukrainian cities to mark his birthday every January 1.
“Russian President Vladimir Putin has previously expressed his bafflement that Zelensky would embrace the glorification of Bandera, given his Jewish
heritage. Zelensky’s grandfather, Semyon, had also fought in the Second World War, earning two Red Star medals for courage and heroism.
“The current Ukrainian president was previously an actor and ran for head of state in 2019 on a promise of peace with Russia, only to completely change course
and embrace the hardline nationalists within months of taking office.
“That’s why Speaking at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), the Russian leader said that one of the main goals of the special military operation in Ukraine is to “denazify” Ukraine and prevention of the spread of Nazi ideas,” report further said.