A Place of Suffering

I am touched on a deeper level in my heart at the suffering which has taken place here in Ukraine; the more we spend time here in the capital Kiev, the more we are touching history with our own hands.   

Ukraine is a small nation not only in landmass but in human population as well.  Indeed, there would be millions more people here had it not been for World War II and the Soviet years under Josef Stalin and his subsequent dictators.

During the war there were literally tens of millions of lives snuffed out in this place.  Death was not limited to one group of people either.

When Hitler sought to conquer the Slavic peoples by genocide, his first target was Ukraine.  He swept into this nation with Operation Barbarossa, bringing an invading army of three million Germans.  At first, the Ukrainians welcomed them as they pulled into town by cheering them in the streets.  They were already tired of the Soviet Union's domination of their nation which was barely 20 years old at that time.  They soon found the Nazis to be inhuman as citizens were hanged in the streets and all rights were taken away. 

I lament the fact that history is so soon forgotten.  Human suffering is always the result when individual rights are taken away by government.  That suffering can come gradually or suddenly, of course, but it comes just the same. 

After the Nazi regime was pounded to defeat by the Red Army, the communists had control of Ukraine and the idea of democracy was only a dream.  The prevailing concept over the years was that when socialism goes away we will have order and freedom, just like in America.  Now America is trying to become like the Soviets and I fear for the citizens there too.

It is time for us to look at the not so distant past and realize just what it is that we are giving up.  Ukrainians are still fighting for their survival and independence.  Religious freedom must be maintained and a stable democracy is the only answer to that.