The Bandera group – criminals or heroes

I am hesitating a lot with my review. On one hand, it is a strong topic and there are many interesting memories of witnesses. Yet I prefer when the voice of professional historians with analytical comments prevails and the narrator's voice conveys facts, rather than watching the memories of witnesses that no one corrects. That can ultimately make a Ustasha member shed tears over how he heroically defended Croatian independence in Jasenovac. Also, that emotional coloring, when, for example, a contemplative Ukrainian melody is played at the end, shifts toward understanding the Ukrainian national issue. Much more attention could have been devoted to the dark side of Ukrainian nationalism because, among the nationalisms of Eastern Europe, their brutality clearly surpassed other separatist national aspirations and was quite militantly directed toward Jews, for example. One could recall the brutal cleansing in Lviv even before the arrival of the German army, and elsewhere, where merciless massacres took place. It is interesting that Solzhenitsyn, in his book "The Gulag Archipelago," is very critical of Soviet power, but while he has a significant understanding of the cause of the Vlasovites, he has only words of harsh condemnation for the Bandera supporters and considers them the worst bunch to have ever ended up in NKVD camps. Overall impression: 70%. (14/04/2014)