Nazi Terrorists in Ukraine

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Nachtigall Battalion [Nightingale Battalion]
by Wikipedia
Accessed: 8/31/24
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nachtigall_Battalion

Nachtigall Battalion

February, 1941.
Active: February 25 – late October 1941
Country: Nazi Germany; Reichskommissariat Ukraine
Branch: Abwehr
Role: Special Forces
Size: 360 to 400
Engagements: Operation Barbarossa
Commanders
Notable commanders: Roman Shukhevych, Theodor Oberländer

The Nachtigall Battalion (English: Nightingale Battalion), also known as the Ukrainian Nightingale Battalion Group (German: Bataillon Ukrainische Gruppe Nachtigall), or officially as Special Group Nachtigall[1] (German: Sondergruppe 'Nachtigall'[2]) was a subunit under command of the German Abwehr special-operations unit Lehrregiment "Brandenburg" z.b.V. 800 in 1941. Along with the Roland Battalion it was one of two military units which originated on February 25, 1941, when the head of the Abwehr, Admiral Wilhelm Franz Canaris, sanctioned the formation of a "Ukrainian Legion"[3] under German command. The Legion was composed of volunteer Ukrainians many of whom were members or supporters of Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN-B).[4] The Battalion participated in early stages of Operation Barbarossa (the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union) with Army Group South[5] between June and August 1941.

After returning to Germany, in November 1941 the Ukrainian members of the Legion were reorganized into the 201st Schutzmannschaft Battalion. It numbered 650 persons who served for one year in Byelorussia (present-day Belarus) before disbanding.[6] Many of its members, especially the commanding officers, went on to join the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (founded in 1942), and 14 of its members joined SS Division Galicia in spring 1943.[7]

Formation and training

Prior to Operation Barbarossa, the Stepan Bandera's Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) sought contact with Nazi Germany and in fact received its training there in order to use this as an opportunity to restore independence of Ukraine.[citation needed]

According to the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and other sources, OUN-B leader Stepan Bandera held meetings with the heads of Germany's intelligence, regarding the formation of the Nachtigall and Roland Battalions. February 25, 1941, Wilhelm Canaris, head of the Abwehr, sanctioned the creation of the "Ukrainian Legion" under German command. The unit would have had[vague] 800 persons. Roman Shukhevych became a commander of the Legion from the OUN-B side.[vague] OUN expected that the unit would become the core of the future Ukrainian army. In the spring the OUN received 2.5 million marks for subversive activities against the USSR.[8][9][verify] In the spring of 1941 the Legion was reorganized into two units. One of the units became known as Nachtigall Battalion, a second became the Roland Battalion.[citation needed]

Training for Nachtigall took place in Neuhammer near Schlessig. On the Ukrainian side, the commander was Roman Shukhevych and on the German, Theodor Oberländer. (Oberländer was later to become Federal Minister for Displaced Persons, Refugees and War Victims in the Federal Republic of Germany.) Ex-Brandenburger Oberleutnant Dr. Hans-Albrecht Herzner (de) was placed in military command of the Battalion.[citation needed]

The Nachtigall unit was outfitted in the standard Wehrmacht uniforms. Before entering Lviv, they placed blue and yellow ribbons on their shoulders.[10][verify]

War with the Soviet Union

Four days before the attack on the Soviet Union, the Battalion was moved to the border. On the night of June 23–24, 1941, the Battalion crossed the border near Przemyśl while traveling in the direction of Lviv. The Nachtigall Battalion traveled along with a Panzer-Jaeger Division[dubious – discuss] and some tank units went along through Radymno-Lviv-Ternopil-Proskuriv-Vinnytsia path.[11][verify] As part of the 1st Brandenburg Battalion, the first soldiers of the Nachtigall Battalion entered Lviv on June 29.[12] The battalion took up guard of strategic objects, the most important of which was the radio station on the Vysoky Zamok Hill in the centre of Lviv. From the radio station, the proclamation of the Act of Ukrainian Independence was made.[4]


Excerpt from a report by a member of the battalion about shooting "all Jews which were met" in Vinnytsia region

The Nachtigall servicemen participated in and organized the Declaration of Ukrainian Independence proclaimed by Yaroslav Stetsko on June 30. Battalion chaplain Ivan Hrynokh made a speech after declaration meeting ended. The German administration did not support these activities but did not act harshly against organizers until mid-September 1941.[13][verify]

The first company of the Nachtigall Battalion left Lviv with the Brandenburgers on July 7 in the direction of Zolochiv. The remainder of the unit joined later during their eastward march towards Zolochiv, Ternopil and Vinnytsia.[4] The unit participated in action against Stalin Line where some of its members were awarded by the Germans. During the march at three villages of the Vinnytsia region "all Jews which were met" were shot.[14][verify]

The German refusal to accept the OUN(b)'s June 30 proclamation of Ukrainian independence in L'viv led to a change of the Nachtigall battalion direction. As the result, the battalion was recalled to Cracow and disarmed on August 15. It was later transformed together with Roland battalion into the 201st Schutzmannschaft Battalion.[15][16][verify]

Assessment

Russian historian Sergei Chuyev states that despite the ending, OUN achieved its ultimate goals – 600 members of their organization had received military training and had battle experience and these men took positions as instructors and commanders in the structure of the newly formed Ukrainian Insurgent Army.[17][verify]

Stepan Bandera wrote: "The end of OUN was such: the revolutionary columns were commanded by Roman Shukhevych with a small party of officers who had not only undergone military training but had come to a clear understanding of military tactics. Most importantly, they brought with them - an understanding of organization, strategies and tactics of partisan fighting, and the German method of dealing with partisan groups. This knowledge was very useful in the formation and activities of the UPA and in its future conflicts.[17][verify]

During its short history, the Nachtigall Battalion had 39 casualties and 40 wounded soldiers.[17][verify]

Controversy

https://rapeutation.com/ninajanc2c.gif
KGB document on action against Theodor Oberländer and Ukrainian Nachtigall (1959).[18][19]


A Ukrainian postage stamp (2007) honouring the Ukrainian Commander of the Nachtigall Battalion - Roman Shukhevych on the 100th anniversary of his birth

Main article: Controversy surrounding the Lviv pogroms of 1941

Accusations have placed the Battalion in Lviv in July 1941 and claimed that the unit participated in the pogrom that took place. Some members of the unit did indeed participate in the pogrom, which implicates the unit as a whole.

World opinion: An international commission was set up at The Hague in the Netherlands in 1959 to carry out independent investigations. The members were four former anti-Hitler activists, Norwegian lawyer Hans Cappelen, former Danish foreign minister and president of the Danish parliament Ole Bjørn Kraft, Dutch socialist Karel van Staal, Belgian law professor Flor Peeters, and Swiss jurist and member of parliament Kurt Scoch. Following its interrogation of a number of Ukrainian witnesses between November 1959 and March 1960, the commission concluded: "After four months of inquiries and the evaluation of 232 statements by witnesses from all circles involved, it can be established that the accusations against the Battalion Nachtigall and against the then Lieutenant and currently Federal Minister Oberländer have no foundation in fact".[20]

The Ukrainian side[vague] states that none of the allegations have been proven by any documents and that the Battalion's main priority was securing the radio station, newspapers and proclaiming Ukrainian independence.[21]

Canadian Investigation: The Canadian Commission on War Criminals in Canada (Deschênes Commission) that look into allegations of war criminals residing in Canada, has not named any of the members of the Nachtigall Battalion. Moreover, it concluded, that units collaborating with the Nazis should not be indicted as a group and that mere membership in such units was not sufficient to justify prosecution.[22]

Yad Vashem's Encyclopedia of the Holocaust contends that between June 30 and July 3, 1941, in the days that the Battalion was in Lviv, the Nachtigall soldiers together with the German army and the local Ukrainians participated in the killings of Jews in the city. The Encyclopedia of the Holocaust states that the unit was removed from Lviv on July 7 and sent to the Eastern Front.[23]

The Polish side[vague] contends that members of the Nazi-led Nachtigall battalion also participated in the massacres of Polish professors, including the ex-Polish Prime minister Kazimierz Bartel, Tadeusz Boy-Żeleński and others, in Lwów in 1941. See Massacre of Lviv professors. [citation needed]

References

1. Abbot, Peter. Ukrainian Armies 1914-55, p.47. Osprey Publishing, 2004. ISBN 1-84176-668-2
2. Boli︠a︡novsʹkyĭ, Andriĭ (2003). Українські військові формування в збройних силах Німеччини, 1939-1945 [Ukrainian military formations in the armed forces of Germany, 1939-1945]. Lviv: Львівський національний університет ім. Івана Франка. p. 571. ISBN 9789666132195. Retrieved 24 November 2022. During April-June 1941, Abwehr organized again two new Battalions mostly from adherents of OUN-B : Special group 'Nightingale'" (Sondergruppe 'Nachtigall' ) and Organization 'Roland' [...].
3. Not to be confused with the Ukrainian Legion of Self-Defense founded in 1943.
4. J
І.К. Патриляк. Військова діяльність ОУН(Б) у 1940—1942 роках. Archived 2016-11-04 at the Wayback Machine — Університет імені Шевченко \Ін-т історії України НАН України Київ, 2004 (No ISBN) p.271-278.
5. Melnyk, Michael James (17 May 2017). "The Crucible of a Nation State". The History of the Galician Division of the Waffen SS: On the Eastern Front: April 1943 to July 1944. Fonthill Media. ISBN 9781781555286. Retrieved 24 November 2022. When Germany invaded the Soviet Union, Roland advanced into Southern Bessarabia and Nachtigall crossed into Galicia with Army Group South.
6. І.К. Патриляк. Військова діяльність ОУН(Б) у 1940—1942 роках. — Університет імені Шевченко \Ін-т історії України НАН України, Київ, 2004 (No ISBN) pp 371-382.
7. Боляновський А.В. Дивізія «Галичина»: історія — Львів: , 2000.
8. І.К. Патриляк. Військова діяльність ОУН(Б) у 1940—1942 роках. — Університет імені Шевченко \Ін-т історії України НАН України Київ, 2004 (No ISBN) p.273-275
9. Організація українських націоналістів і Українська повстанська армія. Інститут історії НАН України.2004р Організація українських націоналістів і Українська повстанська армія, Раздел 1 "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 17, 2011. Retrieved September 1, 2009. стр. 17-30
10. І.К. Патриляк. Військова діяльність ОУН(Б) у 1940—1942 роках. — Університет імені Шевченко \Ін-т історії України НАН України Київ, 2004 (No ISBN)
11. І.К. Патриляк. Військова діяльність ОУН(Б) у 1940—1942 роках. — Університет імені Шевченко \Ін-т історії України НАН України Київ, 2004 [I.K Patrylyak (2004): Military activities of the OUN (B) in the years 1940-1942.] Kiev, Ukraine: Shevchenko University \ Institute of History of Ukraine National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. pp. 300-311
12. Дружини українських націоналістів у 1941 — 1942 роках. — Без місця видання, 1953. — С. 6, 109 — 110. (Teams of Ukrainian Nationalists in 1941-42 - 1953, 109)
13. ОУН в 1941 році: документи: В 2-х ч Ін-т історії України НАН України К. 2006 ISBN 966-02-2535-0
14. "... скрепив нашу ненависть нашу до жидів, що в двох селах ми постріляли всіх стрічних жидів. Під час нашого перемаршу перед одним селом... ми постріляли всіх стрічних там жидів" from Nachtigal third company activity report Центральний державний архів вищих органів влади та управління України (ЦДАВО). — Ф. 3833 . — Оп. 1. — Спр. 157- Л.7
15. Дружини українських націоналістів у 1941 — 1942 роках. — Без місця видання, 1953. — С. 110 — 110. (Teams of Ukrainian Nationalists in 1941-42 - 1953, 110 "По нараді з командиром Р.Шухевич вислав письмо до Команди що наша частина не є здібна дальше воювати. Цілий легіон було стягнено з фронту та відправлено назад до Нойгаммеру
16. Ivan Kazymyrovych Patryliak, Viis'kova diial'nist' OUN(b) u 1940-1942 rokakh (Kyiv: NAN Ukraïny, 2004) p 361-362
17. (in Russian) Chuyev, Sergei Ukrainskyj Legion - Moskva, 2006 pp. 179-184
18. [1].(ГДА СБУ фонд 1, опис 4 за 1964 рік, порядковий номер 3, том 5, аркуш 195 Розсекречено: 24/376 від 05.02.2008 р. - original sygnature of document).
19. In accordance with your indication of the Office of the KGB under the Council of Ministers of the Ukrainian SSR in Lviv region in the period from October 1959 to April 1960 measures were taken to document and collect evidence of atrocities in the city of Lviv and the region, committed by Oberländer and the battalion "Nachtigall". In order to compromise Oberlander and Ukrainian nationalists, KGB collected materials are widely used in the local and national press, newsreel and the press-conference in Moscow. In addition, they have been identified and trained accordingly witnesses who spoke of the case at a press conference in Moscow on the court in Berlin. Given the positive results achieved in the special events on Oberlander, I ask you to award the badge "Honorary Officer of State Security" (name not disclosed) Declare gratitude and reward valuable gift.
20. Alfred M. de Zayas, The Wehrmacht War Crimes Bureau, 1939-1945 , University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln and London, 1979, pp. 214-227
21. "The history which we do not know or do not want to know - Dzerkalo Tyzhdnia" (in Ukrainian). Archived from the original on 2010-06-17. Retrieved 2007-11-11.
22. Wasyl Veryha. Along the Roads of World War II. War Criminals in Canada? (Commission of Inquiry on War Criminals Report) Archived 2007-07-02 at the Wayback Machine
23. ""Ukrainian Military Unit" ,Encyclopedia of the Holocaust [1990]. Macmillan Publishing Company: New York, 1990". motlc.learningcenter.wiesenthal.org. 28 September 2007. Archived from the original on 12 February 2008. Retrieved 6 July 2023.

Sources

• (in Russian) Chuyev, Sergei Ukrainskyj Legion - Moskva, 2006
• Ukrainians in the military during World War II

Categories:

• Abwehr
• Foreign volunteer units of the Wehrmacht
• Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists
• The Holocaust in Poland
• The Holocaust in Ukraine
• Military history of Germany during World War II
• Local participation in the Holocaust
• Ukrainian collaborators with Nazi Germany
• Military units and formations established in 1941
• Military units and formations disestablished in 1941

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‘A slap in the face for Putin’ — Russians in shock at Ukrainian advance. People in Kursk are pleading to Putin for help but he has been humiliated and his troops are struggling to repel Kyiv’s incursion
by Marc Bennetts
The Times
Monday August 12 2024, 5.10pm BST,
https://www.thetimes.com/world/russia-u ... -2zm5p9zz7


President Putin’s reaction to Ukraine’s incursion has been oddly muted as Kyiv vows to make Russians feel the pain of destruction that he has wrought upon Ukraine

President Putin’s reaction to Ukraine’s incursion has been oddly muted as Kyiv vows to make Russians feel the pain of destruction that he has wrought upon Ukraine

As the Ukrainian army swept into western Russia in the biggest incursion by enemy forces since the Second World War, locals recorded a frantic video appeal to President Putin.

“We have lost our land and we have lost our homes. We fled under fire, through ruins,” said dozens of residents of the Kursk region’s Sudzhansky district. “We and our children have been left without a roof over our heads.”

After Ukrainian missiles exploded nearby, locals took cover in basements. Others jumped into vehicles and evacuated the area. “Some left in just their underpants or nightshirts. The kids were terrified,” one resident said. Others swam across a river to escape the Ukrainian assault, one man said.

Ukrainian forces, which analysts say could number up to 10,000 troops, are thought to have advanced 20 miles into Russian territory since the push began last week. More than 120,000 Russians have been evacuated in scenes of chaos and destruction reminiscent of the terror that Putin’s army has brought to Ukraine in the past two and a half years.



Near Sudzha, a town 75 miles from the city of Kursk, the regional capital, Ukrainian soldiers posted videos of themselves tearing down Russian flags from government buildings. Other videos showed the bodies of Russian soldiers in fields.

“We know nothing about the fate of 2,000 people located in 28 settlements that are under enemy control,” Alexei Smirnov, the governor of the Kursk region, said on Monday. He claimed that at least a dozen Russian civilians had died and more than 120 had been injured..

With communications down in much of the area, missing persons announcements have flooded VK, Russia’s equivalent of Facebook. “Please, help me find my grandfather, I haven’t heard from him since August 6,” read one message.

Media outlets loyal to the Kremlin have reportedly been told to play down the scale of the incursion to prevent panic. However Kommersant, a daily newspaper in Moscow that is usually compliant, reported on civilians fleeing the warzone and growing anger directed at officials.

“Where is our government? Where is the local administration?” said one woman who was quoted. “We don’t understand why they don’t tell us the truth. The enemy entered our territory and on TV they keep saying: ‘This is an emergency’. What kind of emergency is it when there are foreign tanks on our land!” She described Russian defence officials as “corrupt” and “crazy”.

On Monday Putin ordered his military to “dislodge” the Ukrainians. “One of the obvious goals of the enemy is to sow discord, strife, intimidate people, destroy the unity and cohesion of Russian society,” he said in a televised meeting with officials.

[x]
Russian strikes from Kursk deserved fair response, says Zelensky

The unprecedented incursion by Ukraine in a war that Russia expected to win in a few days has dealt a blow to Putin’s reputation, said Sergei Markov, a political expert at Moscow State University who formerly advised the Kremlin on Ukraine.

“It’s humiliation for Vladimir Putin and people, of course, are not happy,” he told Times Radio. “There are tens of thousands of refugees from these regions … it’s clear that the Russian army cannot handle the situation.”


People in Sudzha receive aid. Russian updates have been scarce as it seeks to strike a balance between denouncing the escalation and avoiding panic
ANATOLIY ZHDANOV/KOMMERSANT PHOTO/AFP

Putin’s initial reaction to the Ukrainian advance was muted. Speaking last week he described the incursion as a “provocation” and ordered officials to resolve the situation. But he also found time to sign a swathe of new laws, including one to ban the sale of energy drinks to children.

President Zelensky has said the operation is aimed to bring the war to Russia and make its people “feel” the consequences of Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine. An unnamed Kyiv official told the AFP news agency that the incursion was an attempt to “destabilise the situation” in Russia.

The Russian military appears to have been taken by surprise by the speed of the offensive. Analysts say the incursion could trigger the dismissal of senior defence officials, including General Valery Gerasimov, the head of general staff.

“This is a slap in the face for the president. We have been unable to push the enemy back,” an unnamed Russian official told the Politika.Kozlov website.


Ukrainian troops are said to be 20 miles inside Russia. Moscow has evacuated 120,000 civilians from the border areas
VIACHESLAV RATYNSKYI/REUTERS

Videos on Russian social media showed civilians’ empty cars strewn beside a road leading to Kursk while shots rang out. It was unclear what had happened to the occupants. “People are in denial. They really believe all that propaganda about our army not targeting civilians in Ukraine and they can’t understand why this is happening,” said one local.

Dozens of Russian conscripts may also have been captured during the fighting, despite the Kremlin’s promise that only mobilised men or professional soldiers would be sent to the front.

Putin has sought to convince his people that the war in Ukraine is aimed at toppling a “Nazi regime” in Kyiv that was carrying out a genocide of ethnic Russians. There is no truth to that claim although there are far-right fighters on both sides.

One of the units deployed by Kyiv to western Russia has been identified by Ukrainian media as the Nachtigall [Nightingale] Battalion. It takes its name from group of Ukrainian nationalists that fought alongside Nazi forces in the Second World War in an attempt to achieve independence from the Soviet Union. A Ukrainian military source confirmed the battalion’s existence to The Times.

Deep State, Ukraine’s leading military analytical website, has also sought to rub salt into the memory of the Nazi invasion of Russia. In a post last week on Telegram, it said a Ukrainian drone unit that it described as the “Luftwaffe” had dropped cluster munitions on “Russian Communist” troops.

Ilya Yashin, one of the Russian opposition leaders who was freed in this month’s prisoner exchange and flown to Germany, said responsibility for the Ukrainian incursion lay with Putin.

“What is happening now was inevitable and was caused by Putin’s decision to order the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. When Putin’s propaganda was shouting that we would take Kyiv in three days, I told people that the war would definitely come to Russia. And that not only Ukrainians would suffer, but that they would, as well.”

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Are Western Spooks Backing a New 'Ukrainian White Helmets? Al Mayadeen investigates
by Samir Mustafa
Source: Al Mayadeen
4 May 2022 23:56
https://english.almayadeen.net/articles ... helmets-al

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A new attempt is made by Western mercenaries to fuel the fight in Ukraine further under the guise of "humanitarian assistance," former Western soldiers and mercenaries are at the forefront of such operations.


A British mercenary with alleged ties to the US intelligence services is working to establish a version of the pseudo-humanitarian White Helmets in Ukraine.

Macer Gifford, who has previously fought with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Syriac Military Council is crowdfunding for supplies which he says are bound for the frontline.

“On the 27th of February, President Zelensky formally called for International Volunteers from around the world to assist his country. The people of Ukraine need our support and they need it NOW!,” his appeal page declares.

Gifford aims to raise at least £15,000 that he says will enable him “to create a fast response medical team, staffed by international volunteers, that will deploy to the frontline within the next month.”

He plans to emulate his experiences in northern Syria where as well as fighting ISIS, he established a medical team and provided training to mercenary forces and locals there. But he is clear that this will not merely be a humanitarian mission.

“The terrain, the particular needs of the Ukrainian military, and the enemy that we'll be fighting mean that we'll have to bring the very best equipment with us,” he writes, indicating that he is recruiting people to take part in combat against Russia.

His own Twitter page appears to support this, sharing posts on how to sign-up for the Ukrainian armed forces following Zelensky’s plea for international support. He made similar appeals during a BBC radio debate with one of the leaders of Britain’s Stop the War Coalition John Rees who described the call for volunteers to fight as “ludicrous” and dangerous.

Gifford’s organization aims to join the fight against Russia under the guise of humanitarian intervention, a model that has been used before.“I want to be absolutely clear here, the ambition is to create a Ukrainian version of the White Helmets,” Gifford states, a reference to the notorious group operating in Syria.

Also known as the Syrian Civil Defence force, the White Helmets poses as a humanitarian organization, however, is linked to both jihadist groups and western military and intelligence services. Set up by former British Army officer James Le Mesurier it has received millions in funding from the US, British, and other western governments, acting as a front for regime change operations.

Predictably, criticism of the White Helmets is dismissed as propaganda and smears led by the Syrian and Russian governments. But the White Helmets operate in jihadist-held areas and have its buildings situated next to the Islamists headquarters in many Syrian cities.

The group has been involved in a series of controversies and some of its members have been shown to be supporters of Al Qaeda and other Salafist organizations. It has been accused of staging chemical attacks, most notably in Douma, to pave the way for western military intervention in Syria.

Fears that a White Helmets-style operation could be deployed in Ukraine for similar purposes have long been praised by critics. Gifford - whose real name is Harry - hails from a wealthy part of rural Cambridgeshire. Prior to his military adventurism, he served as a Tory councilor and city currency trader.

He has openly boasted of meetings with the US and British intelligence services and has briefed government officials on the situation in Syria, pleading for increased military support. Using his connections he tried to drum up support for the YPG and attended meetings with financiers in Switzerland, the FBI in New York, and inside the British parliament.

“I’ve been to the Carlton Club [a private Conservative club in central London], you would not believe, so many times,” he said.

“But it’s important to get the message across. It’s so intensely frustrating to be out there, to be on the frontline and see the success and then see politics hold back people’s hand,” he told The Guardian newspaper in a 2016 interview.

Gifford now openly encourages British military volunteers to follow him and join “the defense of Ukraine.”

His Twitter feed sees him glorify what he describes as “a British sniper” posing with a weapon and fatigues bearing the logo of what appears to be the ultranationalist Right Sector.

Photographs appear to show members of his organization delivering training to Ukrainian soldiers in an unknown location. In video footage, he claims that he and his partner are off to train the Ukrainian police force.

His operation works under the name Nightingale Squadron, its flashy logo emblazoned on the side of an expensive Landrover Freelander vehicle seen loaded with aid packages.

While to westerners the name may seem innocent enough, it has chilling connotations for those in Lviv, evoking the name of the unit that collaborated with the Nazis, sending tens of thousands of Jews to their deaths during the Holocaust.

The Nachtigall Battalion/Nightingale Battalion was founded in 1941 and came under the control of Stepan Bandera’s Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists.

Most of its members formed the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, while 14 of them joined the SS Galicia Division in 1943.

The Simon Wiesensthal Centre says the Nightingale Battalion was in Lviv and collaborated with the Nazis between June 30 and July 3 of 1941 when 4,000 Jews were massacred. Its descendants can be found in the far-right forces now operating in Ukraine that have been involved in the massacre of Russian speakers and pogroms against Jews.

Gifford shot to prominence in Britain having served in northern Syria in the fight against ISIS.

A notorious self-publicist who seeks to further his career in politics, Gifford published an “Andy McNab-style” book, Fighting Evil in 2019 describing his experiences in the region.

His treatment is a stark contrast to the working-class volunteers, many of whom served alongside him in Raqqa and other key battles on the frontline.

The large majority have faced arrest, surveillance, and the threat of prison on their return to Britain while Gifford has escaped similar scrutiny.

By contrast, Gifford roams freely between parliament, TV studios, and radio stations that fall over themselves to amplify his voice.

Many of his YPG peers have privately voiced suspicions that Gifford is a state agent.

He certainly fits the mould and has the contacts. Politically right-wing with conservative values, he can be relied on to trash the antiwar movement and opponents of the Tory government along with the political establishment.

And there are obvious similarities between Gifford and the man he seeks to emulate, White Helmets founder Le Mesurier who died in suspicious circumstances in Istanbul in 2019.

In many ways, he is the perfect candidate to establish a “Ukrainian White Helmets” which those on the ground have long-suspected of being an international operation.

Other former YPG fighters are also getting in on the act. Gifford’s comrade in arms, former British paratrooper and veteran of the Afghanistan war Daniel Burke, has set up a similar operation which he announced last week.

He has established what he described as an NGO named “Dark Angels of Ukraine,” although the background to this is unclear.

Burke, who was discharged from the army for fighting, said he had set up the NGO “because other NGOs or international military units tend to go to war against each other to show who is best.”

Dark Angels of Ukraine exists to provide humanitarian relief and training to the military and is already known to be operating inside Ukraine. The activities of the unit, which appears to be made up of military veterans include “moving logistical requirements such as food, water, and medicine to refugee centers and military units.” Their vehicle rescued a couple stranded somewhere in Ukraine and enabled them to return to France.

“It was on this trip that we had christened our truck the "Dark Angel" since our backgrounds as veterans lends our expertise to the Territorial Defence Forces,” the fundraising page says.

The group is there to “protect the freedoms that we all hold so dearly from our homelands here in Ukraine,” it declares.

Burke is in many ways the opposite of Gifford.

A trained soldier he was motivated to join the fight against ISIS in Syria after the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing in which 22 people died following an attack on an Ariana Grande concert.

During his time in Syria, Burke photographed and retrieved documents and hard drives that he passed onto the British counter-terror experts, and maps, which he handed to US special forces.

This led to accusations by the YPG that he was a British spy and he was interrogated for days before he eventually convinced them otherwise.

Unlike Gifford, Burke came to the attention of security services, spending eight months in prison after he was charged with terror offenses, although his case was later dropped.

According to social media networks, many former YPG volunteers have joined the ranks of the international mercenary fighters in Ukraine.

It is not clear exactly how many have traveled to the country, however, Nottinghamshire care worker Aiden Aslin - also known as Cossack Gundi - surrendered to Russian forces in Mariupol last month.

He insists that he is not a foreign mercenary and, like fellow Brit Shaun Pinner, was a member of the regular Ukrainian armed forces having signed up in 2018.

Russia claims that thousands of foreign mercenaries have entered Ukraine and accuses NATO and the west of shipping weapons and equipment via civilian rail and transport networks.

As the war drags on, the profits of the arms companies continue to rise and western efforts to weaken Russia continue while peace looks to be further away than ever.

"It is quite conceivable for a Ukrainian White Helmets to play the same role as its Syrian counterparts; a major anti-Russian propaganda offensive, staged events, and the triggering of incidents to pave the way for NATO intervention."

The opinions mentioned in this article do not necessarily reflect the opinion of Al mayadeen, but rather express the opinion of its writer exclusively.

[admin]

Theodor Oberländer
by Wikipedia
Accessed: 9/1/24
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodor_Oberl%C3%A4nder

Theodor Oberländer

Oberländer in 1952
Federal Minister for Displaced Persons, Refugees and Victims of War
In office: 1953–1960
Preceded by: Hans Lukaschek
Succeeded by: Hans-Joachim von Merkatz
Member of the Bundestag
In office: 1953 – 1961; 1963 – 1965
Member of the Landtag
In office: 1950–1953
Personal details
Born: 5 January 1905, Meiningen, Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen, German Empire
Died: 19 April 1998 (aged 93), Bonn, Germany
Nationality: German
Political party: National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP);Free Democratic Party (FDP); All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights (GB/BHE); Christian Democratic Union (CDU)

Theodor Oberländer (1 May 1905 – 4 May 1998) was an Ostforschung scientist and German Nazi official and politician, who after the Second World War served as Federal Minister for Displaced Persons, Refugees and Victims of War in West Germany from 1953 to 1960, and as a Member of the Bundestag from 1953 to 1961 and from 1963 to 1965.[1]

Oberländer earned a doctorate in agriculture in 1929 and a second doctorate in economics in 1930. He spent time in the Soviet Union during the 1920s and early 1930s, including as an employee of DRUSAG (Deutsch-Russische Saatbau AG [de]), [2] a German company involved in developing Soviet agriculture in cooperation with the Soviet government. Subsequently, he became active in Ostforschung, area studies of the Soviet Union, the Baltic states, Poland and other countries of Eastern and Central Europe, advocating elimination of Jews and subjugation of Polish people in Poland, which he characterised in his writings as having "eight million inhabitants too many". In 1933, he became Director of the Institute for East German Economy in Königsberg, and in 1938 he became Professor of Agriculture at the University of Greifswald. He served as a lieutenant in the German military intelligence service (the Abwehr) in the Soviet Union during the Second World War and was promoted to captain of the reserve before his discharge in 1943; in the same year he became Director of the Institute for Economic Sciences. From 1944 he was affiliated with the staff of Andrey Vlasov's collaborationist Russian Liberation Army. He became a member of the Nazi Party in 1933. However, from 1937 until the end of Nazi rule, he was under surveillance by the Sicherheitsdienst (SD), as he was suspected of disloyalty to the Nazi cause.[3] In 1940, he endorsed ethnic cleansing of Poland. He later became the leader of the mixed German and Caucasian Bergmann Battalion (established in October 1941), which was active in anti-partisan warfare. Both groups[which?] were later accused of participation in war crimes.

After the war, the Americans held Oberländer as a POW. He worked with the American-sponsored Gehlen intelligence organisation (c. 1946 to 1948) as an expert on Eastern Europe.[4][5] He entered politics for the liberal Free Democratic Party from 1948. In 1950, he was a co-founder of the All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights and served as its chairman from 1954 to 1955. He served as a member of the Parliament of Bavaria from 1950 to 1953 and as Secretary of State for Refugee Affairs in the Bavarian Ministry of the Interior from 1951 to 1953. He then served as Federal Minister for Displaced Persons, Refugees and Victims of War in the Second and Third Cabinets of Chancellor Konrad Adenauer from 1953 to 1960, and as a Member of the Bundestag from 1953 to 1961 and from 1963 to 1965, during which time he represented Hildesheim from 1957 to 1961. In 1956, Oberländer became a member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). Oberländer was one of the most staunch anti-communists in the German government. He received the Grand Cross of Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Bavarian Order of Merit and the Legion of Honour.

Background and early career

Oberländer was born in 1905 in Meiningen, Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen, part of the German Empire, to a Protestant family; his father Oskar Oberländer was a civil servant and director of the insurance agency in Thüringen.[6]

After the First World War, Oberländer was a member of the Gilde Greif (Greif Guild), a student association that emerged from the youth movement. As part of a military exercise in Forstenried, he, aged 18 and other members of the guild took part in Adolf Hitler's Beer Hall Putsch in Munich, Bavaria, on the 9th of november 1923, during the Weimar Republic era, according to their own admission, “rather by chance”. As a result of this he was imprisoned for four days.

Oberländer then became a member of the right-wing extremist paramilitary association Bund Oberland (Oberland League) and the fiercely antisemitic Deutschvölkischer Schutz- und Trutzbund (The German Folkish Defense and Defiance Federation), before finally adhering to the NSDAP in 1933 (where he swiftly climbed the rangs, up to the position of Gau Department Leader, becoming one of the functionaries of the nazi provincial leadership).

From 1923 to 1927, he studied agricultural science at LMU, the University of Hamburg and the University of Berlin, and earned a master's degree in this field in 1927. In 1928, he spent half a year in the Soviet Union as an employee of DRUSAG, which was involved in developing Soviet agriculture in cooperation with the Soviet government.[7] In 1929, he earned a doctorate in agriculture at the University of Berlin with a dissertation titled Die landwirtschaftlichen Grundlagen des Landes Litauen ("The agricultural base of the country of Lithuania"). In 1930, he earned a doctorate in economics at the University of Königsberg with the dissertation Die Landflucht in Deutschland und ihre Bekämpfung durch agrarpolitische Maßnahmen ("The rural exodus in Germany and its prevention by agricultural policy measures"). From 1930 to 1931, he spent nearly two years in the Soviet Union, China, Canada and the United States, where he worked for the Ford Motor Company. In 1931, Oberländer became an assistant professor at the Institute for East German Economy in Königsberg, and in 1933 he became Director of the institute. From 1934, he was also Associate Professor of Agriculture at the Technical College of Danzig. He became Associate Professor at the University of Königsberg in 1937. In 1938, he became Professor of Agriculture at the University of Greifswald.[6]

Oberländer wrote several books about the need for German intervention in the agricultural systems of the Soviet Union and Poland, which he considered "un-economic".

During the Nazi regime

Oberländer became a member of the NSDAP in 1933, a member of the SA and leader of an NSDAP district.[8] On 4 August 1935, he became an assistant to Gauleiter Erich Koch, under whose authority he started to gather information about non-German minorities in East Prussia. A significant role in this process was played by the "Bund Deutscher Osten" (BDO – "League for a German East"), which advocated radical Germanization of the eastern provinces and the elimination of the Polish language in Masuria. The language's traditional usage in the Protestant churches of the Masurians was outlawed in November 1939, with the Lutheran Prussian Church leadership acquiescing in December.

In March 1935, he attended a meeting of professors, scholars and NSDAP training specialists dedicated to the study of the "East" where he focused his essays on what he described as "border struggle" with Poland.[9] The meeting was divided into two groups:”base" and "front".[9] The "base" included 58 professors, lecturers and research assistants, the "front" was made up of political functionaries, seven training specialists of the NSDAP, the Hitler Youth, three heads of Reichsarbeitsdiensts, two teachers and two civil servants.[9] It was Oberländer who introduced the 72 participants on the first day and set for them the task to study the "border struggle" against Poland.[9] Attacking Poland, he advocated fighting the Polish minority in Nazi Germany and demanded that social relationships between Germans and Polish immigrants be prohibited.[9] Oberländer implied that Poland was not capable of sociopolitical and agrarian reforms due to the fact that it was not a "racially homogenous" nation state.[9] He dismissed the population of Polish cities as "transplanted rubes".[9] Sharing Hitler's views, Oberländer believed that the treaties regarding the East, like the German–Polish declaration of non-aggression, were only conditional, and that Ostforschung studies should go on as usual "so that after ten years we have everything ready that we could need in any given circumstances".[10] Continuing his studies on the rural population of Poland he noted in his works that "Poland has eight million inhabitants too many".[10] Reflecting on the temporary lack of possibility of open war in the East, Oberländer wrote the following: "The struggle for ethnicity is nothing other than the continuation of war by other means under the cover of peace. Not a fight with gas, grenades, and machine-guns, but a fight about homes, farms, schools and the souls of children, a struggle whose end, unlike in war, is not foreseeable as long as the insane principle of the nationalism of the state dominates the Eastern region, a struggle which goes on with one aim:extermination!"[10] Other features of Oberländer's thoughts concentrated on depicting Jews as carriers of communism, and the benefits of peasant antisemitism to German goals in Central and Eastern Europe.[10] His preparatory work in the BDO involved monitoring over 1,200,000 Poles living in Germany, with a card-name index of untrustworthy Poles and Germans living in the borderlands, and proposals to Germanise Polish place, street, and family names.[10]

In the middle of 1937, Oberländer formulated a "divide and conquer" strategy for Poland.[9] Within Poland, ethnic groups were to be directed into fighting with each other in order to prepare the ground for German rule.[9] The Poles were to be steered away from opposing Germans and guided into confrontation with Russians and Jews.[9] Oberländer additionally called for elimination of "assimilated Jewry" which in his view carried "communist ideas".[9] Polish peasants were to be "taught" that they benefit from German "law".[9] In order to win over Poles to the side of German hegemony in Europe, Oberländer proposed that they share in the theft of Jewish property.[9] Around 3.5 million Polish Jews and 1.5 million people who were considered "assimilated Jews" were to be deprived of all of their rights.[9] He is considered by some historians to be among the academics who laid the intellectual foundation for the Final Solution.[11]

By 1937, Oberländer, however, started to lose influence in the Nazi Party as his views on the treatment of the Polish population (but not the Jewish question) were losing out to more hardline positions[9] and his personal conflict with Erich Koch.[12] As a result, he had lost his position in East Prussia and within the BDO by 1938.[9] He was essentially fired by the University of Königsberg, after the Nazi government had attacked the "political nature" of his work. He was instead appointed Professor of Agriculture at the University of Greifswald, and was ordered to refrain from involving himself in Ostforschung.[13] From 1937 until the end of Nazi rule he was under surveillance by the Sicherheitsdienst, as he was henceforth suspected of being disloyal to the Nazi cause.[3] From 1 April 1938, he worked as Professor of History at University of Greifswald.[10]

In 1939, Oberländer moved to work in Abwehrstelle Breslau; one of the main centers of sabotage and diversion organised by the Nazis that conducted operations against Poland. At the same time, his work concerned issues connected to Ukraine and the Sudetes region and he had contacts with Osteuropa Institut located in Breslau (Wrocław).[14]

World War II

In 1940, Oberländer endorsed the ethnic cleansing of the Polish population[15] and, in 1941, wrote in the German magazine Deutsche Monatshefte: "We have the best soldier in the world who re-conquered German soil in the East. There is no bigger responsibility than educating this colonist to be the best on earth and to secure the living space for all time to come" Oberländer's words echoed the views of Heinrich Himmler, who envisioned settling former soldiers, armed with weapons and ploughs in the East, not just pure peasants.[16] During 1940 he moved to the University of Prague, after which he became active in Ukraine, where he was used by Nazi Germany's military as an expert on "ethnic psychology".[10] Biographer Philipp-Christian Wachs describes Oberländer as a "German nationalist and anti-communist, but not a national socialist racial fanatic"; according to Wachs Oberländer was a pragmatist who wanted to secure the cooperation with Poles and Ukrainians, among others, in order to achieve German political dominance and defeat the Soviet Union.[17]

When Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, Oberländer became an advising officer of the Nachtigall Battalion (a Ukrainian battalion of Wehrmacht) in occupied Lwów. The participation of the Battalion in The Lwów Civilian Massacre of 1941 has since been subject to controversy, and Oberländer himself was accused after the war of participating in the events.

In January 1942, he sent a report on the situation in the Ukraine in which he wrote that success lay in "winning over the masses and pitilessly exterminating partisans as deleterious to the people".[10] He later became the leader of the mixed German and Caucasian Sonderverband Bergmann, which was active in anti-partisan warfare. Both army groups were later claimed to have participated in war crimes. Oberländer's involvement in the Eastern front would lead to the Oberländer case at the end of the 1950s.[8] In 1943, he was dismissed from the Wehrmacht due to political conflict with his superiors and returned to Prague. In 1944, he joined the staff of Andrey Vlasov's Russian Liberation Army.[8] He was a participant to crimes in the Vercors (France), in Chapelle en Vercors and Saint Nazaire en Royans. (5 bis).[18] He was taken prisoner of war by the United States Army in 1945.

Cold War

After the war, Oberländer worked for American intelligence as an expert on Eastern Europe until 1949.[4] In his denazification hearing, he was deemed to be an opponent of Nazism and categorized as "entlastet" (acquitted).[4] After the war, Oberländer claimed that he had criticised Nazi policies and personally only wanted German hegemony over Slavic peoples in which they would have "some respect" and were "treated reasonably humanely".[8]

Oberländer again became active in German politics, first in the liberal Free Democratic Party, then in the Bloc of Refugees and Expellees (GB/BHE)(despite the fact that he himself was not expelled), where he would become a prominent figure alongside another ex-Nazi Waldemar Kraft who had previously been interned for two years for his wartime activities in occupied Poland[19] The BHE itself was connected in various ways to the Nazis, as it openly tried to win over former NSDAP members angry at denazification, calling their crimes to be only "uncritical belief in Germany's future".[19] The party classified those Nazis on a par with war-damaged as fellow victims.[19] The fact that it selected as its leaders two ex-Nazis, who had taken part in the expulsion of non-Germans and expropriation of their property severely undermined German complaints about their situation.[20] Oberländer joined the Adenauer government of West Germany in 1953 as Minister for Refugees and Expellees.[11] His appointment prompted negative press coverage and made details of his Nazi past known.[11] However, despite the fact that he nominated several former Nazis as co-workers, the criticism soon died down.[11] Adenauer in particular was keen on getting the BHE on board, as, with its support, he controlled a two-thirds majority in parliament.[11] Adenauer knew very well that Oberländer was a former National Socialist and admitted he has a "very brown past"[8]

In 1956, when Oberländer tried to visit his former Nazi co-workers, who were still serving time in Landsberg prison, the foreign minister of Germany vetoed the trip, fearing international consequences, nevertheless, despite hindrances, Oberländer still tried to support far right groups.[21] Oberländer left the GB/BHE for the centrist Christian Democratic Union in 1956 when it broke with Adenauer. Adenauer himself continued to support him, as a matter of principle.[11] In the fall of 1959, the Eastern Bloc unleashed a coordinated campaign against the presence of Nazis in the West German government, which included Oberländer. He was accused of participating in the Lvov Massacre.[11] Previously, he had been able to remain active in politics despite the accusations, but the situation this time became more unfavourable, and some of his fellow CDU colleagues pushed for him to resign for the good of the government and country.[11] While many in West Germany did not believe the accusations of war crimes, it was clear that Oberländer had been an enthusiastic Nazi;[11] due to the fact that the West German community had reinvented its image as a community of innocent bystanders during the Second World War, Oberländer's past was considered a liability.[11]


KGB document from the campaign against Oberländer and Ukrainian Nachtigall (1959).[22]

In 1960, Oberländer was sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment by an East German court, for his alleged involvement in the Lviv massacre in 1941. In January 1960, during discussions with 3,000 students of University of Cologne, Adenauer was faced with protests against the continued presence of Oberländer in the German government.[8] In response, Adenauer stated that Oberländer was a Nazi but "never did anything dishonourable".[8] Despite Adenauer's protection, Oberländer became a heavy burden on the German government in May 1960[8] and finally was forced to resign from the government, but not because of his past but due to the fact that he politically represented no value that was worth the trouble.[11]

Oberländer nevertheless continued efforts to influence the German public, and in 1962 published an article in Der Stahlhelm, an organ of the former Frontsoldaten.[10] In it, he repeated claims about a "revolutionary war" in which he accused the "dictatorship in the East" of conducting an offensive revolution against the West, in which there was "no beginning", and no movement of troops, but which was led by "infiltration and publicism" as well as "espionage".[10] He denounced any possibility of "coexistence" between East and West and blamed such ideas on a "rootless intelligentsia";[10] Oberländer wrote "to appease the enemy" was "to further world revolution".[10] Historian Michael Burleigh notes that the idea that the "unfree" perhaps didn't wanted to be "liberated" by the likes of Oberländer and his "Bund der Frontsoldaten" (who passed that way twenty years ago)-did not occur to him.[10] In 1986, Oberländer received the Bavarian Order of Merit from the state of Bavaria. The GDR conviction of Oberländer was declared null and void by the Berlin Kammergericht in 1993.[23] At the end of his life, Oberländer became involved in anti-immigration politics.

A preliminary inquiry into Oberländer's role in connection with the unlawful killing of a civilian in Kislovodsk in 1942 during his Bergmann leadership was opened by a district attorney in Cologne in 1996.[24] The allegations involved an interrogation of a female Soviet teacher; it was alleged that she was whipped and, after refusing to talk about suspected partisan activity, shot in the breast by Oberländer, and then left to die. Oberländer called those allegations "old Soviet lies".[25] The inquiry was closed in 1998 due to lack of evidence.[26]

Theodor Oberländer died in Bonn in 1998. He is the father of Professor Erwin Oberländer, a noted expert on Eastern European history, and the grandfather of Christian Oberländer, Professor of Japanese Studies.[citation needed]

Honours

• Grand Cross with Star and Sash of Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (1955)[6]
• Bavarian Order of Merit (1972)[6]
• Commander of the Legion of Honour[6]

Publications

• Die agrarische Überbevölkerung Polens, Berlin 1935.
• Die agrarische Überbevölkerung Ostmitteleuropas, in: Aubin, Hermann u. a. (Hrsg.): Deutsche Ostforschung. Ergebnisse und Aufgaben seit dem ersten Weltkrieg, Bd. 2 (Deutschland und der Osten. Quellen und Forschungen zur Geschichte ihrer Beziehungen, Bd. 21), Leipzig 1943, S. 416 – 427.
• Der Osten und die deutsche Wehrmacht: sechs Denkschriften aus den Jahren 1941–43 gegen die NS-Kolonialthese. Hrsg. von der Zeitgeschichtlichen Forschungsstelle Ingolstadt. Asendorf, Mut-Verlag. 144 S. In: Zeitgeschichtliche Bibliothek; Bd. 2. ISBN 3-89182-026-7
• Bayern und sein Flüchtlingsproblem, München 1953. – Die Überwindung der deutschen Not, Darmstadt 1954.
• Das Weltflüchtlingsproblem: Ein Vortrag gehalten vor dem Rhein-Ruhr-Club am 8. Mai 1959. Sonderausg. des Arbeits- u. Sozialministers des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen. Verleger, Bonn: Bundesministerium f. Vertriebene, Flüchtlinge u. Kriegsgeschädigte. 1959.

References

1. Victor Silling: Die Hintergründe des Falles Oberländer. Grenzland Verlag 1960, p. 60–61.
2. Heeke, Matthias (2003). Reisen zu den Sowjets: der ausländische Tourismus in Russland 1921-1941; mit einem bio-bibliographischen Anhang zu 96 deutschen Reiseautoren. Band 11 von Arbeiten zur Geschichte Osteuropas (in German). Münster: LIT Verlag. p. 246. ISBN 9783825856922. Retrieved 24 November 2022. [...] die Deutsch-russische Saatgut AG - kurz Drusag.
3. Victor Silling: Die Hintergründe des Falles Oberländer. Grenzland Verlag 1960, p. 60–61.
4. Klaus von Wiegrefe: "Der seltsame Professor." Der Spiegel 27/2000, 3 July 2000, pp. 62–66.
5. Wolf, Thomas (4 October 2018). Die Entstehung des BND: Aufbau, Finanzierung, Kontrolle. Volume 9 of Veröffentlichungen der Unabhängigen Historikerkommission zur Erforschung der Geschichte des Bundesnachrichtendienstes 1945-1968 (in German). Berlin: Christoph Links Verlag. ISBN 9783962890223. Retrieved 24 November 2022.
6. Biographisches Handbuch der Mitglieder des Deutschen Bundestages 1949–2002, Vol. 1, p. 556, K.G. Saur, 2002
7. "Oberländer – Baustein oder Dynamit." Der Spiegel 17/1954, 21 April 1954
8. "Konrad Adenauer: A German Politician and Statesman in a Period of War, Revolution and Reconstruction : The Statesman : 1952–1967", Hans Peter-Schwarz pages 91, 432, Berghahn Books 1997
9. German scholars and ethnic cleansing 1919–1945" Ingo Haar, Michael Fahlbusch Berghahn Books 2006 page 10, 12
10. "Germany turns eastwards: a study of Ostforschung in the Third Reich", Michael Burleigh Cambridge University Press, 1988, pages 76 ,144–146, 222, 317–318
11. "In pursuit of German memory: history, television, and politics after Auschwitz", Wulf Kansteiner Ohio University Press; 2006 page 222-224
12. "Himmler's Auxiliaries: The Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle and the German National Minorities of Europe, 1933–1945"Valdis O. Lumens page 63
13. Werner Zschintzsch: "Betrifft: Verwendung des Prof.Dr. Oberländer, zuletzt in Königsberg", letter of 22 December 1937
14. "Przeglad Zachodni", volume 16 Instytut Zachodni 1960 page 115
15. "Working Paper 38/1997". gplanost.x-berg.de.
16. ”SCHWERTE MUSS DER PFLUG FOLGEN: Űber-peasants and National Socialists Settlements in the Occupied Eastern Territories during World War Two”Simone C. De Santiago Ramos, M.S. Thesis Prepared for the Degree of Master of Arts University of Texas page 68
17. Philipp-Christian Wachs: Der Fall Oberländer (1905–1998). Ein Lehrstück deutscher Geschichte. Campus Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2000, ISBN 3-593-36445-X.
18. "MÉMORIAL DE SAINT-NAZAIRE-EN-ROYANS". museedelaresistanceenligne.org (in French).
19. "Shouldering the Burdens of Defeat: West Germany and the Reconstruction of Social Justice" Michael L. Hughes, The University of North Carolina Press 1999
20. ”A World at Arms: A Global History of World War II" Gerhard L. Weinberg Cambridge University Press 1995 page 792
21. "Legacies of Dachau: the uses and abuses of a concentration camp 1933–2001"„ Harold Marcuse Cambridge University Press 2001 page 118
22. "С целью компрометации Оберлендера и украинских националистов, собранные УКГБ материалы широко использовались в местной и центральной прессе, кинохронике,а также на пресс-конференции в Москве. Кроме этого, были выявлены и соответственно подготовлены свидетели, выступавшие по данному делу на пресс-конференции в Москве и на суде в Берлине.С учетом достигнутых положительных результатов в проведении специальных мероприятий по Оберлендеру, прошу Вас наградитъ нагрудным знаком «Почетный сотрудник Госбезопасности». Объявить благодарность и наградить ценным подарком.". (ГДА СБУ фонд 1, опис 4 за 1964 рік, порядковий номер 3, том 5, аркуш 195 Розсекречено: 24/376 від 5 February 2008 р. – original sygnature of document). Another: "Из Москвы тов. Щербак №33988 от 13 ноября 1958 года вх.№15107 копией во Львов сообщил, что установленных очевидцев злодеяний батальона «Нахтигаль» следует подготовить для допроса работниками прокуратуры, о чем будут даны указания прокуратурой СССР. При подготовке к допросам свидетелей следует использовать опубликованные в прессе статьи о преступлениях «Нахтигаля». Работу по установлению других очевидцев злодеяний, их документации и добыче дополнительных материалов продолжить.""Довідка: КГБ про підготовку свідків проти "Нахтігалю" на базі відповідних публікацій в пресі". Archived from the original on 13 May 2011. Retrieved 11 March 2011.. ГДА СБУ фонд 1, опис 4 за 1964 рік, порядковий номер 3, том 5, аркуш 86 Розсекречено: 24/376 від 5 February 2008 р. – original sygnature of document.
23. Philipp-Christian Wachs: Die Inszenierung eines Schauprozesses – das Verfahren gegen Theodor Oberländer vor dem Obersten Gericht der DDR, Schriftenreihe des Berliner Landesbeauftragten für die Unterlagen des Staatssicherheitsdienstes der ehemaligen DDR, Vol. 14, p. 13, Berlin 2001.
24. Der Spiegel 18 / 1996 Kriegsverbrehen. Die Mühlen mahlen langsam
25. "Die Mühlen mahlen langsam". Der Spiegel. 28 April 1996 – via http://www.spiegel.de.
26. Philipp-Christian Wachs: Der Fall Oberländer (1905–1998). Ein Lehrstück deutscher Geschichte (p. 480). Campus Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2000, ISBN 3-593-36445-X.

Sources

• Article about the events in Lviv/Lemberg Archived 12 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine (in German)
• Fate of the Jews in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Oberländer's involvement (in German)
• "Grenzlandpolitik" und Ostforschung an der Peripherie des Reiches. Das ostpreussische Masuren 1919–1945 by Andreas Kossert [de] (in German)

External links

• Media related to Theodor Oberländer at Wikimedia Commons
• Theodor Oberländer in the German National Library catalogue (in German)

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Mikola Lebed
Excerpt from "U.S. Intelligence and the Nazis, by Richard Breitman, Norman J.W. Goda, Timothy Naftali and Robert Wolfe"
2005

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Lebed after his arrest for his role in the murder of Bronisław Pieracki (June 24, 1934)

Mikola Lebed

Mikola Lebed is one of the better-known cases of a former collaborator living in the United States. Newly released FBI records, together with Lebed's CIC file, CIA Name File, and INS dossier, make it possible to reveal his history with greater detail. [115] Before and during World War II, Lebed was a leading member of the younger, more radical wing of the Ukrainian Nationalist Organization (OUN) under Stephan Bandera (OUN-B) and its military/terrorist arm, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA). Based in Galicia, a region of Ukraine that was located in Poland from 1919 to 1939, the OUN had long called for an independent greater Ukraine. OUN counted among its enemies those that had denied Ukrainian independence (Poles, Soviets) and those in the Ukraine who had failed to assimilate (Jews). [116] During the Polish government's repression of the OUN in Galicia, Lebed helped plan the assassination of Polish Interior Minister Bronislaw Pieracki in Warsaw. In 1936 he was jailed by the Polish government for his role. Following the German attack on Poland in September 1939, he escaped from a column of prisoners.

In its work to destabilize the Polish state, the OUN's ties with Germany extended back to 1921. These ties intensified under the Nazi regime as war with Poland drew near. [117] Galicia was allotted to the Soviets under the August 1939 Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact, and the Germans welcomed anti-Polish Ukrainian activists into the German-occupied General Government. In 1940 and 1941, in preparation for what would become the eastern campaign, the Germans began to recruit Ukrainians, particularly from Bandera's wing, as saboteurs, interpreters, and police, and trained them at a camp at Zakopane near Cracow. In the spring of 1941, the Wehrmacht also developed two Ukrainian battalions with the approval of the Banderists, one code named "Nightingale" (Nachtigall) and the other code named "Roland."

Germans and Ukrainian units reached Lvov four days after the eastern campaign began, and on June 30, 1941, OUN-B officials proclaimed an independent Ukrainian state under a government of OUN-B members who hoped the Germans would accept the fait accompli. But though the Germans hoped to use the Ukrainians against the Poles, Soviets, and Ukrainian Jews, they had no intention of allowing even a semi-independent Ukraine. The Germans arrested Bandera and other OUN-B leaders and moved them to Sachsenhausen. [118] On July 16, the Germans absorbed Galicia into the General Government.

When the Germans arrested the OUN-B leadership, Lebed slipped through the German police net and became the de facto leader of the OUN-B. In October 1941, the German Security Police issued a wanted poster with Lebed's photograph. The following year he would form the underground terror wing, the UPA (Ukrainian Insurgent Army), which would initially fight German imperialism in the Ukraine but which also settled scores with rival Ukrainian leaders, Poles, Communists, and Jews. [119] Indeed, the Banderists sent a manifesto to the Gestapo in Lvov that Hitler had deceived them but which also proclaimed, "Long Live greater independent Ukraine without Jews, Poles and Germans: Poles behind the San [River], Germans to Berlin, Jews to the gallows." [120] There are numerous survivor testimonies concerning the Banderist murder of Jews who had escaped to the forests in Galicia in 1941 and 1942. [121]

From the fall of 1941, German police officials in the western Ukraine had nagging problems with Banderist sabotage and anti-German Ukrainian nationalist propaganda issued by the OUN-B. Certain German police reports even mention Banderist aid to Jews in the form of false papers, most likely for Jewish doctors or skilled workers who could help the movement. [122] Only in 1943 -- the year in which German police units carried out a major campaign against the UPA -- did OUN-B leaflets suggest that for the moment participation in anti-Jewish actions would make the OUN-B "a blind tool in foreign hands." [123] In the long run, the OUN-B's chief enemies remained the Soviets, who were more likely to regain control of Galicia with the German retreat from the Ukraine in 1943 and 1944. Red Army POWs told their German captors in 1944 that the UPA, led by Lebed and made up of "fanatic" Banderists, was a "terror" for Red Army units in the Ukraine to the point where the Soviets viewed them as German agents. A war of extreme atrocities thus raged between the Red Army and the UPA, with former Ukrainian Nazi collaborators backing the UPA but eventually suffering Red Army counter-insurgency methods. With the advance of the Red Army, Jews serving the UPA were murdered either by the UPA or by the Germans, and by September 1944 German Army officers in northern Ukraine told their superiors in Foreign Armies East that the UPA was a "natural ally of Germany" and "a valuable aid for the German High Command." [124] Himmler himself authorized intensified contacts with the UPA. [125] Though UPA propaganda emphasized that organization's independence from the Germans, the UPA also ordered some young Ukrainians to volunteer for the Ukrainian SS Division "Galicia," and the rest to fight by guerrilla methods. [126] Lebed still hoped for recognition from the Germans. In July 1944 he helped form the Supreme Ukrainian Liberation Council (UHVR), which would claim to represent the Ukrainian nation while soon serving as a theoretical government-in-exile. The leadership positions in the UHVR tended to be held by OUN-B members, since more moderate Ukrainian nationalists had drifted away earlier in the year. [127]

With the war lost, Lebed adopted a strategy similar to that of General Reinhard Gehlen -- he contacted the Allies after escaping to Rome in 1945 with a trove of names and contacts of anti-Soviets located in the western Ukraine and in displaced persons camps in Germany. The contacts theoretically made him very useful in the postwar intelligence world, and CIC took the bait. Though CIC noted in July 1947 one witness's claim that "[Lebed] is a well known sadist and collaborator of the Germans," it used him in 1947 and 1948 because he could provide complete information on Ukrainian groups within the U.S. zone of Germany, information on Soviet activity within the U.S. zone, and information on Ukrainian and Soviet activities outside of occupied Germany. [128]

In late 1947, the danger arose that the Soviets, who had recently ordered Lebed's arrest, would kidnap him from Rome, especially should U.S. occupation forces withdraw from Italy. "Should such an eventuality arise," said the American authorities, "the interest of the U.S. would suffer an indirect damage in as much as [Lebed] is in possession of vital information regarding the Ukrainian resistance activities ... in the Ukraine." [129] In addition, Lebed's safety would reassure Father Ivan Hrynioch (Hirnyj), a wartime collaborator of Lebed who was now the chief of the UHVR Political Section and a provider of counterintelligence to American authorities. Hrynioch requested Lebed's movement to safety. [130] The CIC therefore smuggled Lebed and his family from Rome to Munich in December 1947.

By late 1947, Lebed had thoroughly sanitized his prewar and wartime activities for American consumption. In his own rendition, he had been a victim of the Poles, the Soviets, and the Germans -- he would carry the Gestapo "wanted" poster for the rest of his life to prove his anti-Nazi credentials. [131] Though he admitted to U.S. authorities his involvement in the 1934 Pieracki assassination, he blamed Pieracki. Lebed characterized his participation in the proclamation of the Ukrainian State in Lvov in June 1941 as having taken "part in the Ukrainian independence demonstration." After the June 1941 house arrest of OUN-B leaders, Lebed said, he began to organize resistance against the Germans while becoming the "spiritual father" of the UPA. For this, he said, the Gestapo and NKVD both placed a price on his head, and the Gestapo took his family to Buchenwald and Auschwitz in an attempt to force him to surface. In 1947, he was the official Foreign Minister of the UHVR, and he presented his manufactured credentials via mail to Secretary of State George C. Marshall and British Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin. He also published a 126-page booklet on the UPA, which chronicled the heroic struggle of Ukrainians against both Nazis and Bolsheviks, while calling for an independent, greater Ukraine that would represent the human ideals of free speech and free faith. The UPA, according to the booklet, never collaborated with the Nazis, nor is there mention of the slaughter of Galician Jews or Poles in the book. [132] The CIC considered the booklet to be the "complete background on the subject." [133] The CIC overlooked the fact that under its own watch an OUN Congress held in September 1947 had split, thanks to Lebed's own criticism of the creeping democratization of the OUN. [134] This was also overlooked by the CIA, which began using Lebed extensively in 1948. [135]

Despite living under an assumed name (Roman Turan) in Munich, Lebed was still in danger of being found by his Stalinist enemies. He hoped to immigrate to the United States, but, unlike most Nazi collaborators, he became familiar enough with U.S. immigration law to be "loath to perjure himself and face deportation after ... passing false [information]." [136] He managed anyway. In June 1949, after Assistant CIA Director W. G. Wyman notified the INS of the fact that Lebed "has been rendering valuable assistance to this Agency in Europe," the CIA smuggled him into the United States with his wife and daughter under the legal cover of the Displaced Persons Act. [137]

After his arrival, Lebed reverted to his real name and began speaking to immigrant groups in New York, which triggered Justice Department interest in him. The INS began investigating Lebed the same month he arrived in the United States. It reported to Washington in March 1950 that numerous Ukrainian informants had spoken of Lebed's involvement in the Pieracki assassination and of his role as "one of the most important Bandera terrorists." During the war, these informants said, the Banderists were trained and armed by the Gestapo and responsible for "wholesale murders of Ukrainians, Poles and Jewish [sic] ... In all these actions, Lebed was one of the most important leaders." [138] At some point during the investigation, the INS learned of the CIA's interest in Lebed, and in 1951 top INS officials apprised the CIA of its findings along with the comment that Lebed would likely be subject to deportation. The CIA countered on October 3, 1951, that all of the charges were false and that the Gestapo "wanted" poster of Lebed proved that he "fought with equal zeal against the Nazis and Bolsheviks." Lebed's deportation, added the CIA, would damage national security. [139]

INS officials were willing to suspend the investigation but they remained uncomfortable. In the first place, they noted that the CIA note of October 3 "does not ... dispose of the allegations." Additionally the INS worried that "this is the sort of case that can be exploited by commentators of the [Walter] Winchell variety," especially since Ukrainians that knew Lebed could contact the press on their own. "We will [then] be in no position," said W W Wiggins, the Chief of the INS Investigative Section, "to explain our failure to investigate." [140] INS officials asked the CIA to notify them when their need for Lebed's services would end so that the INS could "pursue our investigative responsibilities." [141] The CIA sidestepped the question. Instead, the Agency pressed the INS in February 1952 to grant Lebed reentry papers so that he could leave and reenter the United States at will. [142]

This was too much for Argyle Mackey, the Commissioner of the INS. He contacted Attorney General J. Howard McGrath to ask for guidance. "We have always cooperated whole-heartedly with the Central Intelligence Agency within the permissible limits of the law," Mackey said, "and have in this case suspended further investigation of what appears to be a clear-cut deportation case." But should Lebed leave the country and apply once again for readmission, said Mackey, "I do not see how we can give the requested assurance." Mackey gave the same reply to the Director of the CIA, Walter Bedell Smith. A reentry permit for Lebed, he said, brought "no guarantee of readmissability," since for non-U.S. citizens each re-entry was legally a new entry under which the subject had to be investigated. In other words, if Lebed left the country on CIA business, he would likely not get back in. [143]

Mackey's comments are notable in light of the notion that the INS was careless in allowing war criminals into the United States, and his warning that Lebed might not get back into the country showed there were limits beyond which the INS could not comfortably go. His statement that the INS had "always cooperated with the CIA" suggests, moreover, that there might have been similar cases.

Regardless, the CIA would not be denied Lebed's services. In a decisive letter to Mackey of May 5, 1952, Allen Dulles, then Assistant Director of the CIA, said that Lebed was the "authorized Foreign Minister of the Ukrainian Supreme Council of Liberation (UHVR), an underground organization within the USSR," and his contacts as such "have been of inestimable value to this Agency and its operations." Dulles added:

In connection with future Agency operations of the first importance, it is urgently necessary that subject be able to travel in Western Europe. Before [he] undertakes such travel, however, this Agency must ... assure his reentry into the United States without investigation or incident which would attract undue attention to his activities.

Dulles claimed that Lebed's 1936 trial in Poland could be discounted because it "was largely influenced by political factors and this Agency has no reason to disbelieve subject's denial of complicity in this assassination." This statement contradicted all information on Lebed, who had not denied his role in the killing. [144] Dulles also wanted Lebed's legal status changed to that of "permanent resident," under Section 8 of the CIA Act of 1949, since his continued availability, as Dulles said, was "essential to the furtherance of the national intelligence mission and is in the interest of national security." Thus Lebed would be able to come and go from the United States as he pleased. Dulles also wanted Lebed's application for permanent residence status backdated to October 1949, when Lebed had first entered the United States. Since Section 8 of the Act provided legal cover for permanent residence without regard to existing immigration laws, the INS had no choice but to comply even though, as Wiggins later said, Lebed's "deportability would be established" if the INS should investigate further. [145] They never did -- Lebed became a naturalized U.S. citizen in March 1957.

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Ukraine During World War II: History and its Aftermath
edited by Yury Boshyk with the assistance of Roman Waschuk and Andriy Wynnyckyj: A Symposium
Copyright © 1986 Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies
University of Alberta
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Canadian

NOTICE: THIS WORK MAY BE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT

YOU ARE REQUIRED TO READ THE COPYRIGHT NOTICE AT THIS LINK BEFORE YOU READ THE FOLLOWING WORK, THAT IS AVAILABLE SOLELY FOR PRIVATE STUDY, SCHOLARSHIP OR RESEARCH PURSUANT TO 17 U.S.C. SECTION 107 AND 108. IN THE EVENT THAT THE LIBRARY DETERMINES THAT UNLAWFUL COPYING OF THIS WORK HAS OCCURRED, THE LIBRARY HAS THE RIGHT TO BLOCK THE I.P. ADDRESS AT WHICH THE UNLAWFUL COPYING APPEARED TO HAVE OCCURRED. THANK YOU FOR RESPECTING THE RIGHTS OF COPYRIGHT OWNERS.

-- Ukraine During World War II: History and its Aftermath, edited by Yury Boshyk with the assistance of Roman Waschuk and Andriy Wynnyckyj: A Symposium

He said that there was only one good, namely, knowledge; and only one evil, namely, ignorance. -- Diogenes

CONTENTS -- Ukraine During World War II: History and its Aftermath, edited by Yury Boshyk with the assistance of Roman Waschuk and Andriy Wynnyckyj: A Symposium

• Preface xi
• Acknowledgements xv
• Contributors xvii
• List of Photographs xix
• Part I: Ukraine during World War II
• Introduction to Part I 3
• 1: Occupation
• The Soviet Occupation of Western Ukraine, 1939-41: An Overview
• Orest Subtelny 5
• Soviet Ukraine under Nazi Occupation, 1941-4
• Bohdan Krawchenko 15
• Ukrainian-Jewish Relations during the Soviet and Nazi Occupations
• Taras Hunczak 39
• 2: Collaboration and Resistance
• Ukrainians in World War II Military Formations: An Overview
• Peter J. Potichnyj 61
• Galician Ukrainians in German Military Formations and in the German Administration
• Myroslav Yurkevich 67
• Soviet Military Collaborators during World War II
• Mark R. Elliott 89
• Part II: History and Its Aftermath: Investigating War Criminals in Canada and the United States
• Introduction to Part II: Bringing Nazi War Criminals in Canada to Justice
• David Matas 113
• Alleged War Criminals, the Canadian Media, and the Ukrainian Community
• Roman Serbyn 121
• Co-operation between the U. S. Office of Special Investigations and the Soviet Secret Police
• S. Paul Zumbakis 131
• Nazi War Criminals: The Role of Soviet Disinformation
• Roman Kupchinsky 137
• Ukrainian Americans and the Search for War Criminals
• Myron Kuropas 145
• Discussion 153
• Part III: Documents, 1929-66
• Resolutions of the First Congress of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists,
• 28 January - 2 February 1929 165
• The Ten Commandments of the Ukrainian Nationalist (Decalogue), June 1929
• Einsatzkommando Order against the Bandera Movement, 25 November 1941 175
• Letter from Alfred Rosenberg to General Keitel on Nazi Treatment of Soviet Prisoners of War,
• 28 February 1942 176
• Memorandum from Alfred Rosenberg to Adolf Hitler on Nazi Policy toward Ukrainians, 16 March 1942 178
• Erich Koch on the Economic Exploitation of Ukraine, 26-8 August 1942 180
• Memorandum from Erich Koch to Alfred Rosenberg on Harsh Measures Adopted in Ukraine by the German Administration, 16 March 1943 181
• Appeal to Ukrainian Citizens and Youth by the Ukrainian Central Committee President on the Formation of the Galician Division, 6 May 1943 183
• Programmatic and Political Resolutions of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists' Third Congress, 21-5 August 1943 186
• What Is the Ukrainian Insurgent Army Fighting For? August 1943 192
• Platform of the Ukrainian Supreme Liberation Council, 11-15 July 1944 196
• Declaration on the Formation of the Ukrainian National Committee and the Ukrainian National Army, March 1945 200
• U.S. Army Guidelines on the Repatriation of Soviet Citizens, 4 January 1946 202
• U.S. Army Procedures for the Forcible Repatriation of Soviet Nationals, 22 January 1946 206
• Why the Displaced Persons Refuse To Go Home, May 1946 209
• Report on the Screening of Ukrainian Displaced Persons, 22 August 1946 223
• The Condition of Displaced Persons, September 1946 225
• Report on the Screening of the First Ukrainian Division, 21 February 1947 233
• British Foreign Office Assessment of the First Ukrainian Division, 5 September 1950 241
• Address by Ivan Dziuba at Babyn Iar, 29 September 1966
• Appendix A Chronology of Major Events, 1914-45 249
• Appendix B The Canadian Commission of Inquiry on War Criminals: Terms of Reference 261
• Abbreviations and Glossary 263
• Sources and Bibliography 267
• Index 287

[admin]

Meet the Head of Biden’s New “Disinformation Governing Board”. Nina Jankowicz is a veteran information warrior. But her “experience” working with StopFake should have set off alarm bells.
by Lev Golinkin
The Nation
May 12, 2022
https://www.thenation.com/article/polit ... ing-board/

-- Nazi Terrorists in Ukraine

-- Ukraine During World War II: History and its Aftermath, edited by Yury Boshyk with the assistance of Roman Waschuk and Andriy Wynnyckyj: A Symposium

Official portrait of Nina Jankowicz as executive director of the Disinformation Governance Board.
(UHS)

Late last month, the Joe Biden administration publicly confirmed that a “Disinformation Governing Board” working group had been created within the Department of Homeland Security. The news prompted a flood of concern about the impact of such an Orwellian organ on America.

But there’s no need to engage in hypotheticals to understand the dangers. One has to only consider the past of Nina Jankowicz, the head of the new disinformation board.

Jankowicz’s experience as a disinformation warrior includes her work with StopFake, a US government-funded “anti-disinformation” organization founded in March 2014 and lauded as a model of how to combat Kremlin lies. Four years later, StopFake began aggressively whitewashing two Ukrainian neo-Nazi groups with a long track record of violence, including war crimes.

Today, StopFake is an official Facebook fact-checking partner, which gives it the power to censor news, while Jankowicz is America’s disinformation czar.

If the Biden administration is serious about combating threats such as white supremacy, perhaps it should first reflect on the old Roman question: Who will guard the guardians?

StopFake was founded right after Ukraine’s 2014 Maidan uprising ousted the country’s president and swept a new, US-backed government into power. Formed by professors and students from the Kyiv Mohyla Journalism School, StopFake presented itself as a plucky, grassroots group wielding hard facts and semi-permanent smirks as it shredded Russian propaganda. It gained notoriety by producing slick videos hosted by dynamic disinformation warriors debunking the Moscow lies of the day.

Western reporters—and checkbooks—were paying attention. Shortly after its creation, StopFake began receiving funding from Western governments, including the National Endowment for Democracy—an organization mainly funded by the US Congress—and the British embassy in Ukraine. It was also supported by George Soros’s Open Society Foundation. (StopFake has run numerous episodes that cover Soros but fail to disclose this potential conflict of interest—a violation of basic tenets of journalism.)

Among StopFake’s hosts was Jankowicz, a graduate of Bryn Mawr and the Georgetown School of Foreign Service who was already part of the burgeoning disinformation warrior industry while in Ukraine as a Fulbright Clinton Public Policy Fellow. On January 29, 2017, she hosted StopFake Episode 117, whose lead story dealt with a perennial obsession of Russian propaganda: Ukraine’s volunteer battalions.

These are the dozens of paramilitaries formed in 2014 to fight against Russian-backed separatists in Ukraine’s Donbas region. From the beginning, Moscow focused on the violent and far-right nature of many of these units.

At the time of Jankowicz’s piece, the Russian press was bristling at Kyiv’s creating a new holiday to honor military volunteers—Moscow commentators depicted this as a celebration of far-right butchers. Jankowicz offered an emphatically different take.

“Volunteer battalions organized throughout the country and they supported weak Ukrainian armed forces and prevented further Russian separatist encroachment. Today the volunteer battalions are part of the official Ukrainian armed forces, overseen by the Defense and Interior Ministries,” she said in her StopFake debunking segment.

“The volunteer movement in Ukraine extends far beyond military service. Volunteer groups are active in supporting Ukraine’s military with food, clothing, medicine, and post-battle rehabilitation, as well as working actively with the nearly two million internal refugees displaced by the war in Ukraine,” she added.

While Janowicz extolled the battalions, an on-screen graphic displayed patches of four paramilitaries: Aidar, Dnipro-1, Donbas, and Azov. All four have a documented record of war crimes, while Azov is an outright neo-Nazi group.

On September 10, 2014, three years before Jankowicz’s warm portrayal of volunteer battalions, Newsweek ran an article titled “Ukrainian Nationalist Volunteers Committing ‘ISIS-style’ War Crimes.” The story, which covered a report by Amnesty International, featured Aidar, one of the battalions lauded in Jankowicz’s segment. According to Amnesty, Aidar fighters amassed a record of “widespread abuses,” ranging from kidnapping and torture to “possible executions.”

Three months later, Amnesty issued an urgent report about Aidar and Dnipro-1—another paramilitary featured in Jankowicz’s segment—blocking food from eastern Ukrainian towns and villages. “Using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare is a war crime,” Amnesty stated.

(Of course, almost every war crime charged against one side in this conflict has also been charged against the other; Russia has reportedly recently been blocking food in its siege of Mariupol.)

The Donbas Battalion—the third paramilitary in Jankowicz’s segment—is another unit notorious for torture, as documented by the UN, among others. The fourth group, Azov, not only has its own history of war crimes, but is avowedly neo-Nazi; indeed, the Azov patch shown in Jankowicz’s video has a stylized Wolfsangel (the “N” with the sword)—a popular white supremacist rune used by groups like Aryan Nations.

Azov—which is now a premier hub of transnational white supremacy—has been extensively covered by Western media outlets, including by me in The Nation. Its nature was well known by the time of Jankowicz’s 2017 StopFake video. (In a 2020 book, Jankowicz briefly acknowledged Azov is a “far-right group,” but immediately pivoted to portraying them as victims of a Russian hoax.)

During Jankowicz’s tenure with StopFake (her last known episode aired May 21, 2017), the disinformation site continued being touted as a pioneer in combating Russian propaganda. In March 2017, a fawning Politico story heralded StopFake as the “grand wizards” of the anti-fake news ecosystem. It was an ironically prophetic description, given that Jankowicz’s misleading “nothing to see here” report about the battalions turned out to be a mere fraction of what StopFake has done for Ukraine’s far right.

By 2018, StopFake started defending C14, a neo-Nazi gang that conducted horrific pogroms of Ukraine’s Roma. After media outlet Hromadske described C14 as neo-Nazi, one of StopFake’s founders tweeted “for Hromadske, C14 is ‘neo-Nazi,’ in reality one of them—Oleksandr Voitko—is a war veteran and before going to the war—alum and faculty at @MohylaJSchool, journalist at Foreign news desk at Channel 5. Now also active participant of war veterans grass-root organization,” as if the fact that the gang has a veteran somehow precludes it from being neo-Nazi.

In 2020, StopFake defended C14 in a press release. The same year, news broke that C14 was aiding Kyiv police in enforcing Covid quarantine measures; StopFake labeled this fake news, denying C14 is far-right, describing it as a “community organization” instead, and citing C14’s own denial of carrying out anti-Roma pogroms as “evidence” of its innocence.

In reality, C14’s ties to Ukrainian authorities have been verified by Radio Free Europe (US government–run media), among others. By now, even the US State Department classifies C14 as a “nationalist hate group.”

StopFake has also continued defending the Azov Battalion. Last month, StopFake tweeted that the unit—which was formed out of a neo-Nazi gang, uses two neo-Nazi symbols on its insignia, and has been documented as neo-Nazi by numerous Western outlets—“doesn’t profess #Nazi views as official ideology,” labeling stories about Azov and neo-Nazism as fake news.

This is particularly disturbing because in February, Facebook reversed its ban on praising Azov. Facebook had previously banned the Azov battalion’s account as well as posts celebrating the neo-Nazi organization. The reversal is stunning, given the platform’s professed commitment to combating far-right extremism.

It’s unclear whether StopFake played a role in Facebook’s decision to lift its Azov ban, but considering StopFake is Facebook’s official fact-checking partner, it’s hard to believe the group’s track record of whitewashing Azov wasn’t a factor.

The “grand wizards” of battling fake news have even dabbled with Holocaust distortion, downplaying WWII-era paramilitaries who slaughtered Jews as mere “historic figures” and Ukrainian nationalist leaders, while attacking members of the US Congress who had denounced Ukraine’s glorification of Nazi collaborators.

Astonishingly, when Jankowicz herself was quoted in a July 2020 New York Times story about StopFake’s going off the rails, the article failed to disclose the fact that the disinformation expert being quoted used to work with the group.

Painting neo-Nazi paramilitaries with an extensive record of war crimes as patriots helping refugees, all while working with a “disinformation” group that turned out to run interference for violent neo-Nazi formations—that’s the experience Biden’s new disinformation czar brings to the table.

[admin]

Ukrainian Nationalist Volunteers Committing 'ISIS-Style' War Crimes
by Damien Sharkov
Newsweek
Published Sep 10, 2014 at 12:36 PM EDT
Updated Feb 28, 2016 at 11:15 AM EST
https://www.newsweek.com/evidence-war-c ... ows-269604


Ukrainian servicemen from the "Azov" battalion detain men at a site of battle with pro-Russian separatists in the eastern Ukrainian port city of Mariupol June 13, 2014. Osman Karimov/Pool/Reuters

Groups of right-wing Ukrainian nationalists are committing war crimes in the rebel-held territories of Eastern Ukraine, according to a report from Amnesty International, as evidence emerged in local media of the volunteer militias beheading their victims.

Armed volunteers who refer to themselves as the Aidar battalion "have been involved in widespread abuses, including abductions, unlawful detention, ill-treatment, theft, extortion, and possible executions", Amnesty said.

The organisation has also published a report detailing similar alleged atrocities committed by pro-Russian militants, highlighting the brutality of the conflict which has claimed over 3,000 lives.

Amnesty's statement came before images of what appeared to be the severed heads of two civilians' started circulating on social media today, identified by Russian news channel NTV as the heads of rebel hostages.

Shortly after, Kiev-based news network Pravilnoe TV reported that it had spoken with one of the mothers of the victims who confirmed her son was a rebel, captured during fighting in Donetsk.

She said she had received her son's head in a wooden box in the post, blaming nationalist volunteers for her son's death. Newsweek has not been able to verify the report independently.

There are over 30 pro-nationalist, volunteer battalions similar to Aidar, such as Ukraina, DND Metinvest and Kiev 1, all funded by private investors.

The Aidar battalion is publicly backed by Ukrainian oligarch Ihor Kolomoyskyi, who also allegedly funds the Azov, Donbas, Dnepr 1, Dnepr 2 volunteer battalions, operating under orders from Kiev. Last spring Kolomoyskyi offered a bounty of $10,000 of his own money for each captured Russian "saboteur".

A warrant for Kolomoyskyi's arrest was issued in Russia in July for "organising the killing of civilians," through his sponsorship of volunteer militants.

"According to the government these volunteers always operate under an overall command and control of one of their regular forces," Denis Krivosheev of Amnesty International told Newsweek.

Amnesty's report, however, indicates Kiev's loose regulation on volunteer groups and its "members... act with virtually no oversight or control".

Amnesty has asked for Kiev to clarify the legal status and affiliation of its volunteer battalions and fully integrate them into "clear chains of command", making all of its servicemen aware of international law and implementing "effective investigations" into abuses of human rights.

Meanwhile Norwegian channel TV2 presented footage yesterday of the Azov battalion flying flags with the symbols of Ukraine's neo-Nazi party - Patriot of Ukraine.

This is the first instance of government-backed volunteers displaying far-right tendencies. However, numerous powerful paramilitary groups are reportedly involved in the Ukrainian conflict such as Patriot of Ukraine, Right Sector and White Hammer.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko announced today that the majority of Russian troops had left the country, raising hopes of peace negotiations between Kiev and pro-Russian separatists.

Correction: This article originally mistakenly stated Ihor Kolomoyskyi offered a bounty for each killed 'saboteur', when it was in fact for each captured 'saboteur'. This has been corrected and Newsweek apologises for the error.

[admin]

Eastern Ukraine: Humanitarian disaster looms as food aid blocked. Pro-Kyiv volunteer battalions are increasingly blocking humanitarian aid into eastern Ukraine in a move which will exacerbate a pending humanitarian crisis in the run up to Christmas and New Year, said Amnesty International.
by Amnesty International
December 24, 2014
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/ ... d-blocked/

“As winter sets in, the already desperate situation in eastern Ukraine is being made even worse by the volunteer battalions preventing food aid and medicine from reaching those in need. It is no secret that the region is facing a humanitarian disaster with many already at risk of starvation,” said Denis Krivosheev, acting Director of Europe and Central Asia for Amnesty International.

“These battalions often act like renegade gangs and urgently need to be brought under control. Denying food to people caught up in a conflict is against international law and the perpetrators must be held to account.”

Amnesty International has received information that the pro-Kyiv battalions, which include Dnipro-1 and Aidar, have blocked aid entering territories controlled by the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics (DNR and LNR).

The Dnipro-1 volunteer battalion, along with members of Donbass battalion and Pravyi Sector militia, are reported to have blocked 11 roads leading into the DNR-controlled territory. They have refused to allow most aid convoys through, because they believe food and clothing are ending up in the wrong hands and may be sold instead of being given as humanitarian aid. They also insist on the release of prisoners held by the separatist forces as a condition for granting access to the humanitarian aid to the east.

At least four convoys sent by the humanitarian foundation of Rinat Akhmetov, one of Ukraine’s richest men, were blocked on the roads leading to the separatist-controlled territory by the Dnipro-1 battalion last week.

After stopping one of the convoys Vladimir Manko, deputy commander of the Dnipro-1 battalion, told the Ukrainian media:

“We don’t have any control on the other side. It turns out that we’re at war with them and we’re spilling our blood, but in the same time we’re feeding them.”

Over half of the population in these areas are now entirely dependent on food aid as wages, pensions and social benefits are not being paid regularly as a result of the conflict that began in May. The decision of the Ukrainian authorities in Kyiv to essentially cut off the region from the Ukrainian financial system in November is also contributing to the hardship of the local population.

An aid worker from the Luhansk Region has informed Amnesty International that Aidar battalion is also stopping and searching cars that travel from Starobil’sk to Luhansk and vice versa. Members of the battalion, which was previously implicated in arbitrary detention and torture, are reportedly stopping food and medicines getting through to the region.

The aid worker recalled a particular case when medicines for four elderly people in Krasnodon, who are suffering from heart and blood pressure conditions, were snatched from a bus at a checkpoint.

“Checking the content of humanitarian convoys crossing frontline is one thing. Preventing it is another. Attempting to create unbearable conditions of life is a whole new ballgame. Using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare is a war crime,” said Denis Krivosheev.

The population of the region has suffered from six months of fighting between Kyiv-controlled and pro-Russian separatist forces. More than 4,700 people have died and thousands more live in fear of being caught in the crossfire or being entirely cut off from vital food and medical supplies.

Amnesty International reiterates its call for the Ukrainian authorities to reign in the volunteer battalions and to ensure that humanitarian aid reaches those who desperately need it.

[admin]

The StopFake Supervisory Board Position About the Escalating Information Attacks Directed Against the Project Team
by StopFake.org
2020-07-08, 12:49
https://www.stopfake.org/en/the-stopfak ... ject-team/

The StopFake Supervisory Board Position About the Escalating Information Attacks Directed Against the Project Team

We are convinced that brutal, untrue articles that discredit the activities of the organization, as well as personal threats received by editors and employees are directly related to the fact-checking work of StopFake. A recent publication by journalists of the online publication “Zaborona” showed that defending the truth, StopFake journalists are facing powerful information threats. The accusations published in this article are untrue and cause moral and reputational damage to the organization.

We have conducted an internal investigation and here is our analysis of the situation.

StopFake blocked the article “Zaborona” – not true

The reason for the whole publication in “Zaborona” last week was allegedly blocking of an article published by “Zaborona” on Facebook by StopFake fact-checkers. This is stated by the authors in the first paragraph of the text.

In reality StopFake has never blocked any “Zaborona” material on Facebook. Because StopFake was never authorized to block or delete any Facebook user posts or profiles. StopFake team members have repeatedly talked about in their interviews with various Ukrainian publications. Exploring the topic of StopFake’s collaboration with Facebook, the author could not help but know this.

As part of the partnership with Facebook, fact-checkers can only mark posts that contain inaccurate information, and to include an explanatory article (debunking) justifying why that information is inaccurate. The marked post has a blurred gray background, which sends social network users a warning that the post may contain inaccurate information. Also, the author of the post has the possibility to contact StopFake to correct inaccurate data, and in this case the marking is removed. During 3 months of cooperation with the Facebook system, where potentially untrue posts are selected by an algorithm, the fact-checkers never came across any posts of “Zaborona” or personal posts of any of the representatives of this project.

Commentators’ suggestions that StopFake fact-checkers can label posts as fake based on personal preferences are unfounded, as each material marked as false has a refutation link that can be verified by all Facebook readers. This process is completely transparent.

Therefore, the title of the material “Zaborona” is openly untrue. In addition, StopFake has a special correction policy and this gives a direct opportunity to anyone who has doubts about the labeling of their own content to contact them for feedback.

But also there are other reasons why “Zaborona” material does not meet the standards of journalism and investigative journalism. It contains a lot of manipulative, unsubstantiated and subjective slanderous allegations and that look like black PR.

The thesis about StopFake taking political sides is untrue

The examples given in “Zaborona” itself contradicts their own statement. Since its creation, the objective of StopFake was to identify Russian propaganda (disinformation) fakes. The team was never financially supported by the government of Ukraine or any political forces.

In the context of ongoing Russia’s war against Ukraine, before the election of Volodymyr Zelensky as President of Ukraine, special attention of Russian propaganda was focused on then President Petro Poroshenko. They actively formed and promoted certain narratives and images, which, apparently, StopFake team has repeatedly analyzed in their publications and debunked, because they were related to the broader context of Ukrainian politics. Now this emphasis has shifted to incumbent President Volodymyr Zelensky, so our team continues to monitor these narratives regardless of the political situation in the country – and to debunk fakes about Zelensky.

Examples of such rebuttals are: https://www.stopfake.org/en/fake-presid ... n-ukraine/, https://www.stopfake.org/en/economic-de ... on-russian -media-on-ukraine-s-land-reform /.

A significant part of the StopFake team are well-known researchers and consultants in the field of communications. Therefore, StopFake actively cooperates with the current government, in particular the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports of Ukraine, including a team of experts that participated in the process of developing and discussing of the “On Disinformation” draft law (2019). StopFake also signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with the National Council on Television and Radio Broadcasting of Ukraine to counter misinformation.

Paradoxically, in the text of the “Zaborona” itself there is a refutation of their assertion of StopFake’s political bias when the authors write about StopFake’s cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine within the “Study and Distinguish” program of the Council for International Research and Exchanges (IREX) with the support of the British and US Embassies.

Involvement in neo-Nazism is not true

The only journalistic source to confirm the information in the article “Zaborona” is US journalist Christopher Miller. The authors did not ask any Ukrainian media organization about their views on StopFake’s activities and did not provide any other evidences and points of view. Unfortunately, the only source they have chosen is difficult to call objective.

Journalist Christjpher Miller has repeatedly demonstrated a subjective and hostile attitude towards StopFake, disseminating emotional and unconfirmed information about the project and team members.

Constructive and sound criticism can be treated with respect until it threatens the organization’s reputation and the positive morale of its employees. The article “Zaborona” produced actually looks more like an example of “black PR” (a textbook example of slander) aimed at undermining the reputation of StopFake and its leadership. Unfortunately “Zaborona” presents its point of view based only on quoting Christopher Miller, who initiated a public discussion of this issue and has a subjective, biased attitude towards StopFake.

His attitude has been regularly seen on Twitter for many years in the form of a personal vendetta of this journalist, who obviously does not like StopFake’s consistent position on the protection of Ukraine’s information security. Miller also consistently criticized the socio-political processes that took place in Ukraine – the wider introduction of Ukrainian language, the defense of Ukrainian history and culture, and the process of decommunization. That is, Miller himself, covering the news from Ukraine, consistently did what he accuses StopFake of – politicizing the news. Representatives of the StopFake project have repeatedly complained about Miller’s position and his interference in StopFake editorial work to the RFE/RL management, for whom he wrote materials working in Ukraine.

However, quoting Miller as the only journalist in this article, “Zaborona” cites a set of unfounded claims that are intended to cast a shadow over StopFake’s journalistic standards and personally against Yevhen Fedchenko as editor-in-chief.

For example, Chris Miller claims that Yevhen Fedchenko allegedly “opposes journalists and freedom of speech.” But this is not true, because Yevhen Fedchenko is a leading Ukrainian journalist with more than 20 years of experience in this field.

Yevhen Fedchenko’s main position, which he consistently defended, was not to perceive journalists from Russian propaganda media as representatives of the profession and he consistently fought against all sorts of misinformation. This position has received support in the professional circle of media professionals.

We are convinced that Yevhen Fedchenko’s contribution to the development of freedom of speech and journalistic education is truly invaluable. Yevhen has been teaching at the School of Journalism since 2002, and has been its director since 2006, and its alums work in all the leading media in Ukraine. Including in “Zaborona”.

“Zaborona” uses allegations about Yevhen Fedchenko that have been taken out of context. For example, the mentioned article gives the reader the impression that “Yevhen Fedchenko allegedly supported some far-right people publicly.” As proof, they cite the following: “For example, in 2018, he (Yevhen Fedchenko) criticized the post of Hromadske TV about the detention of Brazilian militant Rafael Lusvarga by representatives of the C14 organization.”

In fact, in his post on Twitter Fedchenko stated the real facts: Olexandr Voitko (whom the authors call a neo-Nazi) was indeed a student at the School of Journalism (there is a documented proof for that), then Oleksandr became a lecturer (it’s also documented fact), and then Olexandr was one of the first to volunteer for the Russian-Ukrainian war and eventually received the status of a war veteran (he has a document about that as well). This is official, open information. But it was on the basis of this post that a conclusion was made about Yevhen Fedchenko’s alleged sympathy for the far-right.

As for the status of the C14 organization, which Hromadske and later Mr. Miller call “neo-Nazis”, there is a decision of the Ukrainian court – three instances, which came to the opposite conclusion :

http://reyestr.court.gov.ua/Review/83537340 ? fbclid = IwAR1pjFdh3phCPkAReGB8cxvLntWsFe4DJR6ZIRMaxUWJS9tufToS385HSa8

http://reyestr.court.gov.ua/Review/8568 ... Z_2lxz9pyA

There is also a decision of the Commercial Court of Cassation, Case # 910/10429/18, decision of 21.01.2020

“Zaborona” also refutes itself, noting that in August 2019 the court upheld the lawsuit of right-wing radicals.

We believe that such a reaction is a response to public criticism of Hromadske TV. Such aggressive unprofessional steps by “Zaborona” journalists are a direct attack on freedom of speech. It will be usuful to take into consideration that Yevhen Fedchenko was a member of the Hromadske TV Supervisory Board, whose authority was to analyze and evaluate the work of this organization – and critisise it if nesesary.

StopFake member Marko Suprun’s allegations of links to neo-nazis are also not true. The authors of the “Zaborona” article employ the fallacy of guilt by association. Such serious allegations are made mostly on the basis of photographs in which Marko Suprun is next to people whom the author of the article considers radicals. Most of these photos have previously been published on pro-Russian websites or by bloggers.

Marko Suprun has also been photographed with members of Ukraine’s LGBT community, various art communities, film communities, several politicians from different parliamentary factions and ambassadors. He has also been photographed along side Rabbi Yakov Bleich, but this does not make him a member of his synagogue.

Marko Suprun is the host of the English-language TV show StopFake, known for his volunteer work and a public figure. He was a co-producer of the feature film “Nashi Kotyky/Leathal Kittens” a war comedy set in 2014 on the frontlines about Ukraine’s volunteer battalions defending Ukraine from Russian invasion. Suprun gives many lectures and presentations to various audiences, takes photos with participants of such events. Indeed, the producers of the film hosted a pre-premiere showing for veterans of Ukraine’s combined armed forces and several hundred veterans attended and several photographs were taken. But to claim that taking a picture with someone, you become like-minded or allies, is outright manipulation and slander. Most importantly, the authors of the article do not cite any quotations or actions that would indicate Marko Suprun harbours any “Nazi views.”

We emphasize that contrary to the assumptions of the “Zaborona”, Marko Suprun is not involved in the joint fact-checking project StopFake has with Facebook. Marko hosts a weekly English-language digest, edited by another well-respected journalist, Irena Chalupa. Previously this show was hosted by other well-known journalists and public figures including from, US Peace Corps volunteers, American businessmen and researchers living in Kyiv. The English language digests were broadcast on the Ukrainian state broadcasting platform and Hromadske TV.

Unfortunately, the article from the “Zaborona” is not an isolated case. It is a continuation of a course of action that includes harassment and intimidation from pro-Russian media directed against the StopFake team, which is by extension imposed on the audience in order to discredit the project. Publications with identical content have been repeatedly published in Russian and pro-Russian propaganda outlets like RT, Strana.ua where false information about StopFake fact-checkers, funding sources, etc was disseminated.

In the last few months, such discrediting materials have been regularly published by the Russian propaganda publications Ukraina.ru., Tsargrad, Red Spring, Rubaltic.ru and others. In particular, the reason for the information attack was the news that StopFake became a partner in Facebook’s Third-party Fact-checking program.

Here are just a few examples of such material that aims to discredit StopFake:







https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.rubalt ... t/%3famp=Y

https://ukraina.ru/exclusive/20200518/1027725144.html

https://tsargrad.tv/articles/ataka-na-c ... ake_264196

https://ukranews.com/news/712616-zaboro ... onatsistov

http://ukrrudprom.com/digest/Facebook_i ... yut_k.html

https://rossaprimavera.ru/news/40cc624e

Every day, the StopFake team receives in its mail box various insults and baseless accusations. For example, in connection with the verification of materials related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the project editors repeatedly received phone calls with physical threats over blocked materials. It is worth mentioning the case of the author, who claimed on Facebook that he invented drugs to help fight COVID-19 (they were drugs for animals https://www.stopfake.org/ru/fejk-lekars ... to-vetoks- 1000 /) and he called StopFake team members with threats of physical violence for their fact-checking. Despite such conditions, the StopFake team continues to do its job.

StopFake is a leader in fact-checking work not only in Ukraine. Their work has been repeatedly noted by journalistic and governmental organizations around the world. In six years of work, the project has been covered by more than 500 world media, including the New York Times, CNN, Politico, Washington Post and others.

In 2014, StopFake received the The Bobs award from Deutsche Welle as the best project in the Russian language. In 2016, StopFake was included in the list of New Europe 100 (organizations and individuals that are changing Central and Eastern Europe), compiled by Res Publica, Google, Visegrad Fund and the Financial Times.

In 2017, the StopFake project received the prestigious Democracy Award from the National Democratic Institute (NDI) as an organization that is a leader in the global fight against propaganda and misinformation. And now the team itself is facing powerful information attacks that pose irreparable reputational harm.

The Supervisory Board of StopFake highly values the cooperation between StopFake and Facebook and is ready to defend the honor and safety of employees of the organization in various ways. Therefore, we ask Facebook to jointly develop strategies for the protection of their partner organizations. After all, in the conditions of an information war, fact-checking organizations that defend the truth and oppose anti-democratic phenomena in the information space, are subject to being exposed to similar situations.