Statement by Myron B. Kuropas

Statement by Myron B. Kuropas

Below is the text of a January 29 statement by Myron B. Kuropas regarding allegations of anti-Semitism.

In light of the recent publication of news stories that grossly distort my integrity and malign my character, I wish to set the record straight.

I have spent all of my adult life working to bring America's ethnic groups together in a spirit of fraternity and understanding. I was a founding board member of the National Project on Ethnic America (a Ford Foundation-funded institute administered by the American Jewish Committee). I was also an active board member of the National Center for Ethnic/Urban Affairs.

When I was the Great Lakes Regional Director of ACTION, I developed Project Senior Ethnic Find, a federal, anti-poverty outreach program for ethnic seniors in Chicago, Gary, Detroit and Cleveland.

I was a special assistant for ethnic affairs to President Gerald R. Ford in the White House. It was during my tenure in the Ford administration that I organized White House conferences for American ethnics devoted to such topics as urban neighborhood revitalization, the 1980 census and the unique health needs of ethnic Americans. I was also instrumental in having President Ford issue a proclamation in 1976 - "An American Promise" - recognizing the injustice perpetrated against Japanese Americans during World War II.

In 1979 I received an award from the American Jewish Committee "for recognizing and respecting the diversity of all groups within our society; for helping to bring these groups together for the betterment of all mankind; for working together in responding to the needs of these diverse groups; for helping forge links among all groups, knowing that each group has an important place in a pluralistic society"

I also received awards from the Japanese American Citizens League, UNICO, an Italian American organization, as well as letter of commendation from numerous ethnic leaders.

In 1985 I was a special guest of the American Jewish Committee (AJC) on a trip to Israel where I met with Jews from Ukraine who were working to improve relations between Ukrainians and Jews. One of them, Jakov Suslensky, came to the United States. I was involved with introducing him to our Ukrainian American community and working with him to improve relations between Ukrainians and Jews in the United States. Ukrainians here lauded his efforts. Jews here largely ignored him.

I was involved in a Ukrainian-Jewish dialogue group for five years. Responding to concerns from our Jewish dialogue partners in 1990 that an independent Ukraine would lead to pogroms, I traveled to Kyiv, Ukraine, to investigate. The man our Jewish dialogue partners told me to contact was one Marc Kotlyar, a refusenik, who told me that fear of pogroms was more real in Russia than in Ukraine. Not only were there no such fears in Ukraine, but Jewish families in Russia were sending their children to relatives in Ukraine for safekeeping. A few months later Marc made his way to Chicago, where the Ukrainian dialogue partners treated him and our Jewish partners to a meet-and-greet dinner.

I received the coveted David Roth Community Relations Award from the Illinois Coalition (an AJC administered organization) in 1996 in recognition of my continued service on behalf of ethnic bridge-building.

Unfortunately, as some Ukrainian dialogue partners and I became more involved with the defense of John Demjanjuk, accused of being "Ivan the Terrible of Treblinka," our dialogues became more strained. Soon it was obvious to all of us that we were getting nowhere, so we decided to issue a statement in which we essentially agreed to disagree. The Ukrainian-Jewish dialogue was postponed.

After spending six years in an Israeli jail, Mr. Demjanjuk was found not guilty by the Israeli Supreme Court and he returned to the United States, where his citizenship was restored. When our Jewish partners remained adamant that Mr. Demjanjuk must be guilty of other crimes against the Jews, any hope of further dialogue ended. Today, I continue to support Mr. Demjanjuk and it appears that certain members of the Jewish community have never forgiven me for my beliefs in this regard.

All of the statements attributed to me regarding "the Holocaust industry" were taken out of context from my biweekly columns in The Ukrainian Weekly. The particular quotations in question were actually part of a review of the book "The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering" by Prof. Norman G. Finkelstein of City University of New York. Another column of mine was a review of "The Holocaust in American Life" by Peter Novick. All of my commentaries can be accessed at www.ukrweekly.com.

I am not a Holocaust denier. I am not an anti-Semite. I have responded, however, to certain behaviors and comments of certain Jews, especially those who seem to take pleasure in defaming the Ukrainian people. I realize that some of my views are not always in the mainstream but I believe I have the right to exercise my First Amendment rights and fairly comment on issues that are of significance in our community, especially in The Ukrainian Weekly.

Never in my 18 years at NIU have I allowed any of my personal differences with certain Jewish behavior to influence my teaching in any way. I pay great attention to cultural differences on campus and I celebrate diversity. Student evaluations have been consistently positive.

I was shocked and dismayed to read in a Chicago Sun-Times column by Lynn Sweet on January 28 that two congressmen (one from Illinois, the other from California) sent a letter to NIU President John Peters urging him to " 're-evaluate the university's association with Prof. Kuropas and disavow any association with him because of certain anti-Semitic statements attributed to him." I have never met either of these gentlemen, and to the best of my knowledge, neither of them has a clue regarding my academic record at NIU.

Finally, let me conclude by saying that not only have I always welcomed a dialogue between Ukrainians and Jews but that I continue to do so. However, dialogue can only be effective if it is based on frankness and a willingness to appreciate that not every historical event or personality is necessarily seen in the same way by observers who bring their own perspectives and heritages to bear. There are likely some issues on which Ukrainians and Jews will not agree, ever, and however sad or unsatisfying that may be, there is little that either side can do to change that reality. When such differences arise it would be better, in my view, if both sides respected each others' right to freedom of expression and freedom of the press rather than resorting to innuendo and character assassination in order to silence those of contrary opinions. We should not tolerate bigots of any ethnic, religious or racial heritage, but we should also not stifle the free expression of contrary opinions and beliefs, honestly and openly given. America was forged in protest, and our founding fathers enshrined freedom of speech as one of the basic safeguards we have against tyranny.