On Oct. 14, 2009, Ukrainians celebrated the holiday of the Protection of the Mother of God. This is also Ukrainian Cossacks Day and The Day of Creation of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. Certainly, a country with such a complicated history as ours cannot perceive these holidays in an unequivocal way — contradictory opinions concerning them will be expressed for quite a while since now. However, namely last Wednesday it became obvious that we have a reassuring tendency of following the right path in understanding our history. There were neither dozens of scuffles nor hundreds of demonstrations under primitive slogans. Traditional Communist actions “against nationalism and Fascism” were perceived as bare decorations of a boring theater — and this three months before the presidential elections!
So, not all of Ukrainian regions are ready to accept the fact that the UPA fighters are Ukrainian heroes. But they deserve to be respected as well as those who fought for their Fatherland in the Soviet Army. Importantly, primarily the young people understand this, which is a litmus test, a signal for those who are eager to build up muscles before the presidential race at the expense of using the energy of Ukraine’s history. Ukrainian citizens are no longer willing to listen to you, and they won’t believe you, people with mutilated worldview! Ukrainians are patiently advancing on the way to understanding their history, roots, and identity. Time and persistence will finally bring them to their goal. Without doubt, this is also the result of the work carried out by historians, public activists, and journalists.
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