(1) a display of photographs of Hitler,
(2) a display of photographs of Himmler, head of the SS,
(3) a display of swastikas,
(4) a display of the lightning-bolt "SS" insignia, or any "SS" insignia,
(5) the playing of Nazi songs, perhaps Nazi marching songs,
(6) goose-stepping on the part of the participants,
(7) participants raising their hands in the "Heil Hitler!" salute,
(8) pro-Nazi literature distributed to the participants as part of the celebration,
(9) pro-Nazi statements elicited from the participants by reporters,
(10) pro-Nazi statements made by speakers addressing the celebrants,
(10) reminiscences of Nazi successes during World War II,
(12) expressions of anti-Semitism.
I would think that before a summary as extreme as "Nowhere, not even in Germany, is the SS so openly celebrated,"
a responsible reporter would have mentally run over such a check-list to measure precisely how much corroboration was
really at hand. Had Mr. Safer done this, he would have come up with a remarkable figure - and that figure is exactly
zero! Zero out of a possible twelve! In other words, the scenes aired by 60 Minutes contain not a shred of evidence
- not the smallest clue, not the slightest hint - that this was in any way a "celebration of the SS." To speak words
as provocative and inflammatory as were Mr. Safer's, while at the same time offering as corroboration scenes which in
no way support those words, perhaps demonstrates the contempt in which Mr. Safer holds the intelligence of the 60
Minutes viewer.
Had Mr. Safer done just a bit of homework before he started talking, he would have discovered that the Galicia
Division was a combat unit whose only role was to fight the Soviet advance on the Eastern Front. Had Mr. Safer done
just a bit of reading before giving vent to his prejudices and stereotypes, he would have discovered that the Galicia
Division has never been so much as accused of any war crimes or any crimes against humanity - not even by the Soviets
who have always been rabidly anti-Nazi, and against whom the Galicia Division fought. Had Mr. Safer demanded from his
support staff even the most superficial research prior to reading his proclamations, he would have discovered that in
at least three formal investigations, the Galicia Division has been judged to have been devoid of Nazi sympathies.
So, then, what was the evidence that Mr. Safer was basing his statement on? How could he have said something so
strikingly at variance with what was being shown on screen? This is the riddle that I wish you would help me solve.
Yours truly,
Lubomyr Prytulak
cc: Ed Bradley, Steve Kroft, Morley Safer, Lesley Stahl, Mike Wallace
HOME DISINFORMATION PEOPLE JORDAN 1535 hits since 23May98
Michael Jordan Letter 4 12Jul96 Levitas letter to Za Vilnu Ukrainu
July 12, 1996
Michael H. Jordan
Chairman, Westinghouse Electric Corporation
11 Stanwix Street
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
USA 15222
Dear Mr. Jordan:
I am sending you a translation from the Ukrainian of an open letter to Morley Safer
and the 60 Minutes staff, written by I. M. Levitas, Head of the Jewish Council of
Ukraine as well as of the Nationalities Associations of Ukraine, and published in the
Lviv newspaper Za Vilnu Ukrainu (For a Free Ukraine) on December 2, 1994. In this
letter, Mr. Levitas protests the 60 Minutes broadcast, "The Ugly Face of Freedom."
Mr. Levitas's letter is a cry both of anguish and of outrage, but its more
particular significance to us lies in its bringing to light fresh information
demonstrating the bias of the 60 Minutes broadcast, and as well in showing us that