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http://www.reuters.com/article/us-ukraine-crisis-russia-library-idUSKBN16M0PW
First, armed police seized some of its books. Next, its director was put on trial accused of stirring up ethnic hatred. And now, quietly, its shelves have been emptied and its volumes packed up, ready to be merged into another library's collection. A year and a half after Russia's only state-run Ukrainian language library, Moscow's Library of Ukrainian Literature, was dragged into a political dispute between the two countries, Reuters has learnt that authorities are quietly winding it down.
Officially, what is happening to the library -- its 52,000 books are being transferred to Russia's main foreign language library -- is "a change of address" not a closure. But the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, some of the library's employees, and members of Russia's large Ukrainian diaspora say it is a closure in all but name.
Tatyana Muntyan, a library employee, said that even before the transfer its director had reduced opening hours, stopped home lending, halted acquisitions, and made readers show passports to gain entry. The library's director declined to comment. The saga, along with other measures, suggests political differences between Moscow and Kiev are driving a wedge between two peoples whose cultures have been interwoven for centuries. It is likely to stoke Ukrainian fears that their culture, as well as their territorial integrity, is under siege.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 19 2017, @07:41PM (6 children)
I have recently seen a couple of critiques of the USA-made movie "Bitter Harvest".
Those note that the film was produced by Reactionary (Fascist) Ukrainian nationalists.
The story claims (or implies) that the 1932 - 1933 Ukrainian famine
1) affected only Ukraine.
2) was purposely created by Moscow, rather than by weather conditions.
3) saw large-scale draining (theft) of the food produced (already at subsistence levels) in order to feed other regions which were more subservient to the Soviet philosophy.
4) was larger by at least a factor of 3, relative to the actual number of deaths in Ukraine.
Full disclosure: So far, my sources are CounterPunch and The World Socialist Web Site, both strongly anti-Reactionary.
N.B. To my disappointment, both attempt to identify what the Stalinist USSR had as "Socialism" (even though USSR had a centrally-planned economy and was a 1-party Totalitarian state with Moscow sending party bosses to dictate to the collectives).
I note here that there is also a claim by the Ukrainian Fascists (often repeated by USA.gov and its allies/proxies) that collectivization was forced and unwanted by the farm workers i.e., the former serfs of the Czarist (Feudal) system.
In contrast, the Lefty writers say that, on farms, the collective motion received wide popular support from the workers (as it did in China under Mao).
The “Holodomor” and the Film “Bitter Harvest” are Fascist Lies [googleusercontent.com] (orig) [counterpunch.org]
"Bitter Harvest": Ukrainian nationalist fantasy as film [wsws.org]
One assumes that it is this sort of propaganda stuff that the draconian measures WRT the library are attempting to thwart.
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by turgid on Sunday March 19 2017, @09:46PM (2 children)
Have you read Stalin Ate My Homework and Thatcher Stole My Trousers by Alexei Sayle?
When he was a small boy, they wouldn't take him to the cinema to see Bambi. Instead they took him to see a film made in 1938 by Sergei Eisenstein called Alexander Nevsky. A fine piece of Soviet propaganda, apparently.
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 20 2017, @12:19AM
Stalin Ate My Homework and Thatcher Stole My Trousers
I missed those.
There are rumors about the title of his next book.
Apparently, all self-censored. [google.com]
Alexander Nevsky. A fine piece of Soviet propaganda, apparently
Wikipedia says that by at least 1 count, that's a top 100 flick.
Considering that it was made during the summer and they had to simulate ice, it sounds like the technical stuff is impressive.
wouldn't take him [...] to see Bambi
I'm reminded of a fun quote. [wikiquote.org]
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2, Interesting) by tftp on Monday March 20 2017, @05:33AM
A fine piece of Soviet propaganda, apparently.
I saw this movie many years ago on TV. You can also see it right now on YouTube [youtube.com]. By today's measure the movie is very, very simplistic - at least technically. But it achieved some sort of a cult status. Some quotes from the movie ("эх, коротка кольчужка!") / ("Ahh, the chain mail... too short...") are widely used.
However I see nothing wrong with pride for bravery of ones' predecessors. Europe was rife with wars at that time. Fight or be killed, your choice. Geneva Conventions did not exist at that time, and neither was the UN. Lands and property were acquired "by the right of conquest."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 20 2017, @01:54AM (1 child)
I really don't think you can repair the popular definition of socialism, by posting on SN...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 20 2017, @02:28AM
It appears that for you propaganda == popular.
I'll bet that you also believe that USA is "a force for good" rather than an an imperialist aggressor.
(USAians are now seeing first-hand what an empire in decline looks like.)
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 20 2017, @03:08AM
I don't know about Ukraine, but I know at least one other country in East Europe where forced collectivization happened.