aaus-list @ ukrainianstudies.org -- [aaus-list] Hitler dolls

["stephen velychenko" <velychen@chass.utoronto.ca>]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Roman Serbyn <serbyn.roman@videotron.ca>
Date: Apr 30, 2008 9:19 PM
Subject: Ukraine's Hitler dolls

Information website of the Kharkiv  Human Rights Protection Group
http://khpg.org.ua/en/index.php?id=1209570049

periodic editions » Prava Ludyny » access to information

http://www.khpg.org.ua/en/index.php?id=1209570049

30.04.2008
Halya Coynash

Kyiv¹s Hitler dolls from Taiwan courtesy of Russia¹s ORT and the BBC

They say that news travels fast. So, unfortunately, do lies. The speed with
which the ³story² described below reached quite different media outlets has
made many people in Ukraine question whether it, so to speak, travelled, or
was transported. Be that as it may, other questions also beg our
consideration.

We will be asking how a world-renowned information agency came to use the
news report of a Russian television company reporting on a story about
Ukraine. Used it, we would add, without any reference to its source, and
with at least one crucial omission. Of no less interest is how a UK
newspaper could have quoted as its source yet seriously distorted a
Ukrainian newspaper article. In fact, general bemusement is difficult to
avoid over the fact that not one of these media outlets would appear to have
checked any of the information they reported on site. One recalls that the
original film of ³Dr Zhivago² was apparently shot in Canada however there
were cogent political reasons for this in Soviet times.  The reason why the
BBC and two UK newspapers felt a Russian version of Ukrainian news to be
appropriate we will leave to them to explain, if they can.

Two weeks ago a short article by Andriy Kapustin appeared in the reputable
Ukrainian ³Weekly Mirror²*. Under the deliberately shocking title: ³Undress
Hitler or Barbie-Fuhrer as a gift², the author, Andriy Kapustin, reported
his find of a Hitler doll in a shop in Kyiv and his conversation with a
rather limited saleswoman.  He was writing for a Ukrainian audience and will
have been in no doubt how his readers would interpret the woman¹s ³No, not
expensive, only 1200 UAH.²  Even if these ³dolls² were for children and they
are clearly not, the exorbitant price if nothing else would place it out of
reach of Ukrainian children.

There are however plenty of other reasons why a rush on such dolls would be
most improbable.  The author is himself appalled, by this made-in-Taiwan
monstrosity being flogged in a shop in Kyiv, a hero-city from World War II,
and a few kilometres only from Babi Yar. He uses his imagination to consider
the logical extension of such ³toys².  All of the thoughts about model
concentration camps and the like are from his horrified imagination.

It is conceivable that the article available in Ukrainian and Russian
overstretched the limited linguistic skills of those who presented the
³story² in English, although baffling how they could have felt it
appropriate to continue quoting a source they did not understand.  Russia¹s
close-to-the Kremlin TV Channel ORT and other Russian media outlets had no
such difficulties. We would assume it suited their purposes to misrepresent
the source as they frequently do.

The Russian coverage was, in fact, standard fare. The main point would seem
to have been to interview a certain journalist, Oles Burzina who ³explains²
that after the posthumous naming of Roman Shukhevych Hero of Ukraine, you
must expect that each child in Ukraine will have a Hitler doll. Now this,
regardless of anybody¹s view of Shukhevych, is profoundly offensive. It is,
however, so exceptionally stupid that it would have been better ignored as
are most State-provided ³news items² on this largely State-controlled and
directed television channel.

Unfortunately, the same story, somewhat trimmed and linguistically mangled
was presented on the BBC.  The latter went further than the Russian
programme they used without acknowledgment, since they even failed to
mention that the dolls were made in Taiwan.  Perhaps they had already
thought up the title for their one-minute news item beginning ³A toymaker in
Ukraine has sparked outrage², and it was easier to adjust the facts than to
think of another name.

The presenter, however, obligingly repeated the Russian source in speaking
of ³cases of extreme racism like those seen in Nazi Germany² and immediately
giving the interview with Oles Burzina.  Once again, the BBC, who clearly
saw no need to investigate any aspect of this story in Ukraine itself, may
not have known that the ORT had not chosen their interviewee in order to get
a balanced and objective view. There is, of course, no problem with asking
for an opinion however we do not need to explain to the BBC that when an
interview is shown to apparently corroborate a vague but serious allegation,
an alternative opinion must be offered

The news stories which appeared the same day in the UK papers ³Daily
Telegraph² and ³Daily Mail² presented Kapustin¹s most hideous fantasies
(about toy concentration camps) as future business plans of the spurious
Ukrainian toy manufacturers purported to have produced the doll.

The BBC has now removed the news item, which remains however available in
Google¹s cache and was re-broadcast anyway in Canada.  They have made no
apology and have not publicly corrected the errors made.  The newspapers in
question ignored my letters and in one case even failed to post my comment
among those shocked and disgusted opinions of their readers.

On the subject of shock and outrage, I would mention one extra point. Next
time foreign tourists visit Russia, and come back with KGB badges and
uniforms, they might like to think about the many people, myself included,
who have very good reason for finding this profoundly offensive.

As offensive as are any suggestions that in a country as devastated by the
Nazis as Ukraine, toy manufacturers would come up with such a horror, and
parents would buy it. In just a few days, Ukraine will be marking the 62nd
anniversary of the end of that War.  The figures presented in all English
language reports were ludicrously understated, and the facile conclusions
repeated deeply hurtful.

The fact that news reports apparently unrelated to each other appeared
almost simultaneously does raise certain questions. They are questions we
would respectfully suggest the English language outlets might find it wise
to scrutinize themselves.

As far as information about Ukraine¹s problems are concerned, there will be
plenty of reports since the media in Ukraine has largely freed itself of the
old yoke, and Ukrainians themselves are aware of problems which need
addressing. This, of course, means easy pickings for those who are prepared
to distort what they read for their own purposes.

It is sometimes baffling how much scrutiny Ukraine¹s problems with
xenophobia get, with no reference to Russia. Perhaps people have decided
that Russia¹s problems are too large, too geopolitically inconvenient to
talk about, or simply not ³news² anymore.

We reject this attitude - on behalf of our Russian colleagues, on behalf of
our young friends in Moscow and other Russian cities who are terrified to be
on the street ³too late² and don¹t come out at all on Hitler¹s birthday at
all. And for all our sakes since the skinheads and others, spreading
violence and hatred throughout Russia, are also actively seeking support in
Ukraine.

We do not refer to problems with xenophobia in Russia in order to downplay
those in Ukraine, although we do feel that Russian semi-official media
outlets might profitably spend less time screaming of an alleged epidemic of
fascism in Ukraine and more time trying to address the plague at home.

This, however, in no way minimizes the need to address the issues in
Ukraine.  We believe they must be confronted and endeavour to do so on our
site in both Ukrainian and English ( www.khph.org.ua ) and know of many
media outlets and civic organizations actively fighting hate speech and
xenophobia.

We are not closing our eyes to major problems in the country and even the
authorities have begun taking measures. Often inept, slow, sometimes
ineffectual, but it¹s a beginning.  It is very frustrating when a lot of
time is spent trying to counter accusations and stereotypes which, like all
inaccurate and imbalanced information, mislead the public.



*http://www.zn.ua/1000/1550/62775/ The reference is to the Russian since
this is more likely to have been read by the Russian media outlets


****

I should point out that the Hitler Doll is being sold in Britain:
http://www.modellersloft.co.uk/showitem.ihtml?id=22831
and the United States:
http://www.pzg.biz/figure_hitler.htm

Roman Serbyn





-- 
Stephen Velychenko
CERES Associate;
Research Fellow,Chair of Ukrainian Studies;
Munk Center
University of Toronto
Devonshire Place
Toronto M5S 3K7