Thank you for your letter concerning the Studio 2 broadcast of May 11, 2005. I have had a chance to review the segment in question. Please allow me to respond to your concerns.
You take issue with comments Professor Plekhanov made regarding a controversial statue in Estonia and to comments Mr. Gwyn made with regard to Estonia's wartime treatment of Jews. The context of these comments was that certain Baltic leaders boycotted the 60 year VE Day celebrations in
Moscow and the issue of whether today's Russia should apologize for its own wartime record in the Baltics. Both Mr. Plekhanov and Mr. Gwyn oppose these types of apologies, on the grounds that, in Gwyn's words "it's feel-good politics; once you start, where do you stop." The point both Gwyn and Plekhanov were making is that that no country in the region had a guilt-free history during the war. The comments regarding the statue and the Jews were in support of that point. As for Mr. Plekhanov's apparent factual errors regarding the statue, I append a letter he wrote below,
in response to one sent by Toivo Kohelik.
Second, I have been assured by Dan Dunsky, whose correspondence with Mr. Peeter Leppik you cite in your letter, that he did not set out to insult Mr. Leppik or treat him with sarcasm. His use of the term "exemplary respect" was, in fact, borrowed from Mr. Leppik's email. I append a copy of their correspondence below, as well.
Please be assured that Studio 2 adheres to the highest standards of journalistic integrity. I appreciate that the Second World War and its aftermath must still be a painful topic for many in your community. If our program inadvertently added to that, we regret it.
Sincerely,
Doug Grant
Executive Producer
Studio 2
TVOntario
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City : Toronto
Question/Comment : Dear TVO;
On your Wednesday, May 11, Studio2 program your Russian expert York University professor Sergei Plekhanov told the audience that the Estonians had erected a monument of a soldier in German uniform. This,of course, shocked everybody.
The fact is that this monument was erected last year in a remote location (Lihula) and after a few days it was torn down and carted away by orders of the Estonian government. In contrast, a large statue of a Russian soldier in full Red Army uniform (erected during the Soviet occupation) is still standing in downtown Tallinn ñ the Estonian capital.
If mr. Plekhanov did not know that the German statue was almost immediately removed he is incompetent. If he knew, but omitted to mention the removal he is spouting Russian anti-Estonian propaganda In any case a person who is incompetent or who selectively presents partial facts should not appear on taxpayer supported TV. Your commentators must be impartial and informed.
Yours truly
Toivo Kohelik
CC: York Media Relations
S. Plekhanov
Estonian Central Council
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Dear Steve:
Yesterday, I received a copy of the letter sent to TVO by Mr. Toivo Kohelik, containing a critical comment on the May 11 Studio 2 discussion of the sixtieth anniversary of Nazi Germany's defeat. In that discussion, I mentioned a memorial opened last week in the Estonian capital city of Tallinn to commemorate Estonians who fought in the ranks of SS troops
during World War 2. I said that the memorial portrayed a soldier in Nazi uniform. Mr. Kohelik challenges my statement and points out that the monument I described was actually erected last year and subsequently removed.
Having done a thorough check of the facts, I stand corrected on the issue of form: the new memorial which was opened on Marjamaa Hills in Tallinn on May 8 does not contain the image of an SS soldier. I regret my error and any grief it may have caused any Estonian-Canadians. The source of the error was a news report from a usually reliable, credible source, which
accompanied information about the Tallinn memorial with a photo of a different monument. Indeed, that other monument was erected in Lihula in 2004 and dismantled by the order of Estonian authorities after the matter aroused public
controversy. Earlier, in 2002, the same sculpture had been
put up in the city of Parnu - and also removed subsequently after protests. It is to be hoped that the Nazi-helmeted stone ghost with a gun and an Iron Cross won't pop up at some other place again.
As far as the substance of what I said on the show, it does offend me to see an anniversary of the fall of Nazi Germany being marked by building monuments to Nazis - wherever it may be, whatever the Nazis' ethnic origins, and whatever the monument's design. My other point was to criticize politicians - Russian, US, Baltic and others - for exploiting the tragic memories of the war to advance their conflicting agendas of
the day.
I have always condemned Stalinism and the crimes of the Soviet government against millions of innocent people, including many Estonians. And I believe that the Russian government should make an unambiguous statement
recognizing the historical facts of the occupation and annexation of the three Baltic states by the Soviet Union. To do so is important not just for better relations between Russia and the Baltic states, but also for helping Russia recover from the ugly legacies of its past, such as Stalinism and imperial nostalgia. I hope we'll have a chance to discuss those issues on another occasion. But I cannot accept the logic by which
condemnation of Soviet crimes becomes grounds for honouring Nazis.
Sincerely yours,
Prof. Sergei Plekhanov
York University
Cc: Toivo Kohelik, Richard Gwyn, Janice Stein, Dan Dunsky, Daniel
Kitts, Nancy White
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Whoah!
Gwyns comments were way out of line concerning the Baltics. Estonia should apologize for what they did to the Jews? You gotta be kidding!
Estonia showed exemplary respect for the Jewish population in Estonia and protected them, hid them and smuggled them out of harms way.
Richard should apologize to Estonians for his misinformed comments.
Peeter Leppik
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Mr. Leppik,
I will pass on your comments to Richard.
As for showing "exemplary respect", you must be referring to the fact that only half of Estonia's Jews perished in the Holocaust, as opposed to 78% in Latvia and 85% in Lithuania.
Dan Dunsky
TVOntario
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Dear Mr. Dunsky,
Please pass on to me your source for the Estonian statistic you cite...thanks
Peeter Leppik
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Number of Jews murdered in each country and what
percentage of the pre-war Jewish population they constituted:
Austria 50,000 -- 27.0%
Italy 7,680 -- 17.3%
Belgium 28,900 -- 44.0%
Latvia 71,500 -- 78.1%
Bohemia/Moravia 78,150 -- 66.1%
Lithuania 143,000 -- 85.1%
Bulgaria 0 -- 0.0%
Luxembourg 1,950 -- 55.7%
Denmark 60 -- 0.7%
Netherlands 100,000 -- 71.4%
Estonia 2,000 -- 44.4%
Norway 762 -- 44.8%
Finland 7 -- 0.3%
Poland 3,000,000 -- 90.9%
France 77,320 -- 22.1%
Romania 287,000 -- 47.1%
Germany 141,500 -- 25.0%
Slovakia 71,000 -- 79.8%
Greece 67,000 -- 86.6%
Soviet Union 1,100,000 -- 36.4%
Hungary 569,000 -- 69.0%
Yugoslavia 63,300 -- 81.2%
Source: Encyclopedia of the Holocaust