On remedy against the post-genocidal syndrome

As The Day has already written, our editorial office gathered last week some distinguished Ukrainian political writers – James Mace Prize winners and Public Board members. They came together for the sole purpose of announcing this year’s laureate. It will be recalled that the winner is Valentyn Torba, a Luhansk-based Den contributor. In addition to the honorary title, he also received a cash award. At the same time, the Den meeting turned into a warm, friendly, and frank debate on the role of quality political writing today – a sore point indeed. The debaters, including some well-known journalists and academics, spoke of the challenges that Ukrainian political writing and the media in general have faced in the past few months, drew some meaningful historical parallels, and explained their attitude to the interpretation of Ukrainian society’s post-genocidal syndrome, which James Mace used to emphasize.

“This is the sixth time we are awarding the prize to the best, in our view, political journalist of the year,” Den’s editor-in-chief Larysa IVSHYNA pointed out during the ceremony. “It is very symptomatic that this time the winner comes from the Luhansk region. I want to congratulate Valentyn Torba. He had long been a Den reader, but we only got in touch when the author began to send us his ‘catacomb reports.’ It was the voice of a courageous person who did not give in to the circumstances and preserved his own dignity. I’d like to emphasize that this author is not only an intelligent person, but also an active citizen, which is of a particular value today. The post-genocidal syndrome can and must be cured. Reason and profound knowledge, including that of James Mace’s books, are the best helpers in this. In my opinion, this year’s Maidan events have switched over the paradigm in which the Ukrainians lived in the 20th century. The shadow of the 1930s disaster had been hanging over Ukraine and paralyzing our will, preventing us from taking the necessary steps. But the Revolution of Dignity clearly showed that we were pulling out of this paradigm of famine and fear and were ready to draw up a new, different, one. Active citizenship is the No.1 criterion for the James Mace Prize. All of our winners continue to work fruitfully as journalists, also in Den, which we are proud of. It seems to me that members of the prize public board should propose to the president that a commission be set up to study genocide as a crime of totalitarianism against Ukraine. Besides, I think Mace’s political writing should be taught as a special course in all higher educational institutions, particularly, in the ones that train journalists. The recently published results of a sociological survey show that more than 70 percent of Ukrainians consider the 1932-1933 Holodomor as an act of genocide against the Ukrainian people. Therefore, we can conclude that the Ukrainian nation continues to mature, but this would be impossible if self-denying people, such as James Mace, had not carried the heavy cross of researching this topic.”

It is pleasant that the James Mace Prize award ceremony was this time in the spotlight of the press and television – Den’s conference hall was filled to capacity with cameras and microphones.

“The opportunity to write for Den was my salvation,” says the James Mace Prize winner Valentyn TORBA. “For those who stayed in Luhansk, it was not enough to just survive physically – you also had to struggle not to lose your personality and individuality. When you watch the true state of affairs, ‘digest’ it in your brain, and draw certain conclusions, you have an overwhelming desire to put this across to everybody – your neighbor, a passer-by, Western Ukrainians, the Russians, or an old woman who has only one cucumber left… I myself could feel for a month what it is when you are not allowed to express yourself. I was totally isolated from information – I could neither transmit nor receive any. When the period of isolation was over, I began to take an entirely different view of my articles. Each word and line is no longer a text – it is you and your life. I want to thank Den for allowing me to express myself. When I was once typing my grandmother’s recollections of the Holodomor, I could not even imagine that there would be a time when the Ukrainians would again be killed in their own land, sometimes 10 meters from their houses. I think the present-day genocide would be impossible had it not been for the 20th-century genocide, when our memory died together with people and too many killers remained behind in our land. We must not forget that Ukrainians are being killed today, at this very moment, on the basis of ethnicity, for speaking the Ukrainian language, or for wearing a tattooed national emblem on the arm. We are not only a post-genocidal society today – we can see genocide being committed against us right now. We must speak of this and not be ashamed to call a spade a spade.”

“THE NATIONAL INTELLIGENTSIA DIED DURING THE HOLODOMOR. THE LOSS OF IT STILL MAKES ITSELF FELT”

Yurii SHCHERBAK, writer, diplomat, chairman of the James Mace Prize public board:

“Although the James Mace Prize is awarded to Den contributors only, I think it has become by far the most important national prize of Ukraine. Even though all the recipients of it work in different genres and take different attitudes, they have really become top-level political writers. They proved by their writings that they deserved this prize and, what is more, they boosted its importance. I will say that it is not at all easy to select the winner every year because there are always several worthy candidates. Unfortunately, James Mace departed this life in his prime and managed to do far from what he had planned. I recently reread his articles and was convinced again that even the ones written 20 years ago are still topical today. His concept of a post-genocidal society is extremely apt. The genocide that occurred in Ukraine was of a comprehensive nature. That period saw the demise of not only the peasantry and its morality of work, but also the national intelligentsia, the country’s backbone. The loss of that elite still makes itself felt.”

“ONLY NOW IS SOVIET UKRAINE FINALLY TURNING INTO A POST-SOVIET ONE”

Stanislav KULCHYTSKY, Doctor of History, member of the James Mace Prize public board:

“In spite of a long temporal distance between James Mace and Valentyn Torba, there is an element of a relay race here. I met Valentyn in person quite recently at the Den Photo Exhibit. I had imagined him as a different, imposing, figure, but he turned out to be a very young, but undoubtedly talented, man. James Mace lived a happy, albeit short and full of trials, life. He ‘ran away’ from them in the US, but it was hard for him in Ukraine until he began to contribute to the newspaper Den/The Day. Mace found here not only certain financial independence, but also an opportunity to share his ideas with the reader. Only now is Soviet Ukraine finally turning into a post-Soviet one. Judging by Mace’s publications in Den/The Day, he saw this even at that time. Today, our society is rallying still more together – not in the least owing to Putin’s actions. Only now has the light begun to shine at the end of the Soviet ‘tunnel,’ but we must work hard to bring it closer.”

“A CLEAR AND HONEST WORD WEIGHS TODAY EVEN MORE THAN BEFORE”

Oleksandr PALII, political journalist, James Mace Prize 2012 winner:

“First of all, I want to congratulate Valentyn on this well-earned award. It is very important today to do what Mace used to. He always said what he considered to be necessary, without fearing to hurt somebody. He wanted his words to heal society. If you ‘sugar’ or hush up the truth, this will produce an opposite effect. A year ago we paid too high a price to be able to speak freely, but, as Christ said, ‘the truth makes us free.’ We must frankly confess to ourselves that the ongoing war against Ukraine is an ethnic extermination war. But this is not the first time we encounter this situation – there were similar examples in our history. However, the world of today gives us such an essential advantage as national information field. A clear and honest word weighs today much more than before – it can help rip off the mask of hostile propaganda and reach out to the heart of every individual. Valentyn was quite right to write that people are often fixated today on trivial things and do not see what is going on above their head. Our task is to make them focus their attention on determinative things. I wish the laureate to continue working in this direction!”

DEN’S REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS SERHII HRABOVSKY, IHOR SIUNDIUKOV, STANISLAV KULCHYTSKY / Photo by Mykola TYMCHENKO, The Day

“NOT ONLY AN ANALYST, BUT ALSO A PERSON WHO TAKES EVERYTHING TO HEART”

Ihor SIUNDIUKOV, editor of “History and I” section, newspaper Den; James Mace Prize 2010 winner:

“Awarding this year’s James Mace Prize to Valentyn Torba is an act of high justice. Firstly, it is about a brilliant journalist who not only describes the course and nature of events, but can also see the causes hidden from an inattentive glance. Secondly, Valentyn Torba is a person of really high civic courage, a true discovery of this year. I will remind you that this year’s winner ran a great risk, staying behind in the separatist-occupied Luhansk until the last moment. I think that if we published Torba’s past-year articles as a small book, the best title for it would be Ordinary Putinism. We remember Mikhail Romm’s brilliant film Ordinary Fascism, but Torba has convincingly and vividly showed us what ordinary Putinism is as performed by Luhansk and Donetsk pro-Russian nazis, the people who hate all things Ukrainian so much that they are ready to beat up or kill someone for the Ukrainian flag or language. Besides, Torba managed to stunningly expose the making of them. His first publications came out as long ago as in the spring. He showed in them the inception of this catastrophic gangrene which, much to our regret, the central government was unable to dispose of, even though it was obliged to do so. Torba writes not only as an analyst and a theoretician, but also as an insider who saw and felt all this. He took all the events to heart, reproducing them convincingly and artistically in the text. Another virtue of this author is that he not only mercilessly exposes our enemies, but also shows no condescension to the Ukrainian authorities. Particularly, I want to recall how harshly and uncompromisingly he criticized the so-called Minsk peace accords. Now that more than two months have passed since they were signed, we can conclude that Torba’s assessment of them has been confirmed. After I read this author’s heritage, I suddenly recalled an aphorism by the outstanding Polish thinker and satirist Stanislaw Jerzy Lec: ‘How can peace be achieved? Of course, by  burying the hatchet – together with the enemy.” The Donbas tragedy and Valentyn Torba’s articles show us that Lec was right.”

“THE TIME WE ARE LIVING IN SHOWS WHO IS WHO IN REALITY”

Volodymyr BOIKO, political writer, pedagogue, public activist, James Mace Prize 2013 winner:

“I congratulate Valentyn Torba on being awarded this prestigious prize. The time we are living in shows who is who in reality and, hence, it promotes journalism and political writing. In the last while of our history, it has been very beneficial to be a conformist and look for a place in the system – many have been doing just that. Then things began to crumble like a house of cards before our eyes, giving the way to something new – to what a certain part of journalists had worked for. At the same time, we got into a situation when our state found itself on the brink and everybody had to choose whether they favored or opposed its existence. What kind of Ukraine we will have depends on ourselves only. This year is a milestone for political journalism. It is now obvious to everybody who produced paid-for materials. And those who were sincerely mistaken had to make the final choice. It is very good that there are people who go on writing about what they consider necessary in spite of the circumstances. They are always odd and very few, but journalism and political writing are impossible without them. Flows of information have increased dramatically in the past few years. The need to look into this and seek benchmarks is a serious challenge to society. Every media must look today for an effective way to convey their authors’ opinions to the reader. Very much depends here on whether one political journalist or another is an interesting figure and whether he or she can find a form accessible to the mass-scale user of information. Culture – I mean its elitist, not mass-scale, segment – needs to be constantly supported, for it is unable to develop on its own.”

“THE JAMES MACE PRIZE IS ‘GOING YOUNGER.’ THIS MEANS THERE IS PROGRESS AND DEVELOPMENT”

Natalia DZIUBENKO-MACE, writer, journalist, member of the James Mace Prize public board:

“James was once asked: ‘Why are you here in Ukraine? What do you want here?’ He answered: ‘I am a historian. I always stay where the winds of history blow. Strong historical winds are blowing today over Ukraine. It is here, in Ukraine, that the destiny of not only Ukraine and Russia, but also the entire Europe and world will be decided.’ He was convinced of this. James warned more than once that Russia would never give up its encroachments on Ukraine. He warned about what might happen in Crimea (see the article ‘Europe: the Materialization of Ghosts’ reprinted in Den, No. 27 of February 14-15, 2014). In his articles, he amply exposed Russia’s military, borderline, political, and cultural encroachments. Read it! Had our politicians heeded him at the time, there would perhaps be no tragedy now. But society kept silent, as did the newspapers. When James suggested holding the campaign ‘Light a Candle,’ only Slovo Prosvity, a small-circulation newspaper, supported us. That was all – not a single media publication responded because they were all toeing the line in pursuance of governmental ‘requests.’ We must remember how fast our journalists can ‘repaint’ themselves. It is a lesson to all of us. We need a well-considered, rational, and patriotic humanitarian policy. If we fail in this and do not manage to bring up Ukrainians as Ukrainians, if we fail to win over our young people, major woes will await us. The post-genocidal syndrome is a condition when there is no pain but the organism is dead and indifferent. I sincerely congratulate Valentyn Torba on being awarded this prize. It pleases me very much that no other than he, a Luhansk-based author, won it. I have been there and understand how difficult it was for him. I am proud that we have today the youngest winner in the entire history of this prize. I am very glad that the prize ‘is going younger.’ This means there is progress and development. We must do today all that we failed to do when James Mace passed away. We must demand that our government and parliament raise the question of worldwide recognition of the Ukraine Holodomor as an act of genocide. We failed to do so earlier for want of a consensus. Today, we must reach it.”

“VALENTYN’S POLITICAL WRITING IS PROFOUND, A LITTLE EMOTIONAL, AND, AT THE SAME TIME, EASY TO READ”

Oleh NALYVAIKO, chairman, State Committee for Television and Radio, Ukraine:

“I spoke the other day to the chairman of the Luhansk Oblast League of Journalists, and he pointed out an interesting thing: fortunately, the past year has seen changes in the mentality of the journalists who did and still do work in Luhansk. They are now aware of the tragedy’s scale. And the journalists who have not been engaged in political writing before are now pouring their hearts out in texts with a unique content. Some of them are writing for social websites or blogs, for they have no possibility to get their works printed. Valentyn Torba is good political journalist. And it is very good that he has found Den and Den has given him the floor. It is very important that we can know about what is going on in the east not only from National Security and Defense Council spokesmen (although it is also an important source of information), but also from the people who were to the last moment or still are there – particularly, when political writing is, as in the case of Valentyn, profound, a little emotional, and, at the same time, easy to read.”

“WE MUST PUT AN END TO POSTCOLONIAL, POST-GENOCIDAL, AND POST-TOTALITARIAN EXISTENCE”

Serhii HRABOVSKY, political journalist, James Mace Prize 2011 winner:

“Unfortunately, the ‘post-genocidal syndrome’ may drag out for many years, for it is very difficult to overcome it. One of my grandmothers, still mentally sound, has lived to be 95. When everybody was elated over the Orange Revolution, she said: ‘I also used to jump when I was a schoolgirl and shout: ‘Freedom, freedom!’ It was 1918, the Ukrainian National Republic. Once, when her mother, my great-grandmother, came home in 1933, she said: ‘Well, forget the Ukrainian language, we are switching to Russian.’ This must have saved them. My father was, together with Mykola Vinhranovsky, one of the last pupils of Oleksandr Dovzhenko, but we spoke Russian at home until 1965. This is the post-genocidal syndrome! Only in 1965 did we make a radical decision to switch to Ukrainian. It is a very serious problem to overcome the post-genocidal syndrome on the personal and, moreover, on the national level. Ukraine is now on this way, but people have to follow it with weapons in hand, on the national scale. Today we must again speak of genocide on the basis of ethnicity, committed by the same Kremlin secret police officers. We see the same schemes, for the first hybrid war was waged in 1917-18. They won that war because they corrupted the Ukrainian army and society. For this reason, a profound study of history and, in particular, these aggressive techniques should be the No. 1 task for our politicians. The national liberation war, now underway, is supposed to complete a historical cycle. There is nothing strange in this. It took France exactly 100 years to march from the fall of the Bastille to the General Boulanger affair. Now, to be able to begin tackling entirely different problems, we must put an end to the postcolonial, post-genocidal, and post-totalitarian existence. We must get rid of this in a serious way and free the nation at last. I wish Valentyn Torba every success in this endeavor, for it is impossible to imagine that this really grandiose historical task can be fulfilled without active participation of the newspaper Den.”