Jerusalem-The Simon Wiesenthal Center today harshly criticized two decisions taken late last week by the Ukrainian parliament (Verkhova Rada) to equate Communist and Nazi crimes by banning bothregimes and to recognize local Nazi collaborators as "freedom fighters," thereby entitling them to special benefits.
In a statement issued here today by its Director for Eastern European Affairs, Holocaust historian Dr. Efraim Zuroff, the Center termed the decisions an outrageous distortion of the history ofWorld War II and the Holocaust.
According to Zuroff:
"The passage of a ban on Nazism and Communism equates the most genocidal regime in human history with the regime which liberated Auschwitz and helped end the reign of terror of the Third Reich.In the same spirit the decision to honor local Nazi collaborators and grant them special benefits turns Hitler's henchmen into heroes despite their active and zealous participation in the massmurder of innocent Jews. These attempts to rewrite history, which are prevalent throughout post-Communist Eastern Europe, can never erase the crimes committed by Nazi collaborators in thesecountries, and only proves that they clearly lack the Western values which they claim to have embraced upon their transition to democracy."
For more information: Dr. Efraim Zuroff 972.50.721.4156 Twitter: @EZuroff, join the Center on Facebook, www.facebook.com/simonwiesenthalcenter, or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent direct to your Twitter feed.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO at international agenciesincluding the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).