A Sense of Responsibility
What 60 Minutes Should Do
PostScript
A Sense of Responsibility
Jews have lived with no other peoples as intimately and for as long as they have with
Ukrainians. In this shared history, there have been bright periods and dark episodes. It is
possible to imagine a shared future in which the bright periods predominate and the dark
episodes are banished. This is the future that Ukrainians and Jews should strive toward, this
is the image that should guide them in their dialogues and that should have guided Mr. Safer in
his broadcast. Perhaps it is already the attitude that inspires the majority of both Ukrainians
and Jews.
The Jewish claim to a share of the newly-created nation of Ukraine is as tenable as that of the
ethnic Ukrainians and of the ethnic Russians and others who reside there. At present, all three
of these groups are beginning to mine that claim in relative peace. Differences are being
overlooked, cooperation is the norm, a bright future is possible.
Into this scene burst immature and undiplomatic people like Morley Safer needing a sensational
story, Simon Wiesenthal desperate to retain his relevance in the modern world by having it
believed that 1941 is repeating itself, and Yaakov Bleich disoriented by having been plucked
from the United States to fill this exotic role of rabbi of Ukraine and these three show no
grasp of the political situation, no comprehension of the complex world that they are
simplifying into their stereotypes, no sympathy for impulses toward reconciliation that are
manifest on all sides, certainly no sense of responsibility for nurturing these impulses. This
gang of three has no stake in Ukraine - Mr. Safer leaves for home immediately after reading his
lines into the camera, Mr. Wiesenthal lives in Vienna (where needing to get along with Germans
but not Ukrainians, he expediently concludes that Germans weren't as bad as Ukrainians), and
Yaakov Bleich - unhappy in his discovery that in slinging mud he has become muddied, every day
more deeply convinced that he has been miscast in this role of rabbi of Ukraine - we may expect
will shortly be catching a plane for home. What do any of them care if they are stirring up a
hornet's nest in Ukraine?
The Jews who are left behind in Ukraine, who have a stake in Ukraine, who need to get along - to
these 60 Minutes does not give air time. It's the irresponsible ones with nothing to lose who
are able to offer the more sensational testimonials.
And not only does 60 Minutes' trio of provocateurs have nothing to lose from chaos erupting in
Ukraine, they have this to gain - that if chaos does erupt, they will be able to play the role
of prophets who foretold its coming, and they will do this quite overlooking that they helped it
come.
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