Forgetting the Heavenly Hundred Heroes

Today in Ukraine is the Day to Remember the Heavenly Hundred Heroes, those who died in the violence of the Revolution of Dignity two years ago. Chernivtsi marked the occasion with a ceremony in the main square.

The ceremony included members of the military, the Self-Protection unit of the Maidan, and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. I'd estimate almost two hundred people attended the event on what was a cold and blustery day in Chernivtsi. (It was snowing earlier this morning!)

Unfortunately, the entire event was not representative of either Chernivtsi or the people who lived and died in Kyiv two years ago. No other religious, cultural, or ethnic group spoke at the event and the memorial service was Christian in practice. On a less than surprising note, members of the right-wing political party Svoboda were collecting money in the crowd. I suspect they had a hand in the event.

Two hours later: Svoboda tent and flags (including the Nationalist Red and Black flag)

All this ignores that the only identified victim from Chernivtsi, Oleksandr Scherbanyuk, was Jewish. He was an Afghan war veteran and died to a sniper shot through the heart two years ago today. Not one reference to him or his heritage was made throughout the service, as far as I could tell.
  

Oleksandr Scherbanyuk (Jan 2, 1968 - Feb 20, 2014)

What makes the Heavenly Hundred and the Revolution of Dignity so Ukrainian was that they were representative of Ukraine not "ethnically Ukrainian." Georgians, Tatars, Jews, Ukrainians, Russians, Belarusians, Armenians, and many more took part in the events. Three Jews, two Georgians, an Armenian, and a Belarusian were among the dead. It is truly shameful that so soon after the Revolution of Dignity, the events that brought Ukrainians together no matter their language, religion, background, or ethnicity is being repurposed as a Ukrainian ethno-national struggle.

Слава Україні! Героям слава!