Before I get started, if you donât know what the Library display is here is my initial post about it.
So I did say i would ask my professors about this display to see if they knew who put it up, why it was put up, and if they even knew what the red and black flag meant.
The first professor I talked to was my Political Science one. I entered his office to chat and before I could ask him about the display he asked me about my paper, then proceeded to give me lots of advice for it. That was not what I was ready for but whatever. I then asked him if he saw the display in the library, he said no. I asked if he knew what it was about even if he hadnât seen it, again he said no. He told me to explain it to him and I did, it was the âsoldiers of freedomâ display with a bunch of posters. He seemed to sort of know what I was talking about. I asked him if he knew who put it up, he didnât know but thinks it may have been the Library itself or the Ukrainian âclubâ at school (its more official than a club but I donât know what to call it without outing my location). Before i showed him the photos of the posters with the OUN flag I gave him a disclaimer that I was asking a very fair question, and while he is allowed to feel however he wants I would appreciate not being projected on. After he was primed I showed him my phone and asked him what the flag was, in the picture I showed him the Ukrainian flag was also there and he pointed it out, I had to say I was asking about the red one specifically. He looked at it for a bit and said he didnât know. I tried to push him on it a bit more but he seriously didnât know. He then asked me if I knew what it was and I said no. He told me that because its on a soldier display it might be that specific militiaâs insignia. I wasnât super happy with this but tried to play it cool.
He then asked if I was interested in this and I said yes. He then said he is a part of the Ukrainian âclubâ and can take me to the office to ask them about it, I shot this down right away. I tried to push again, âyou really donât know?â He said that he is anti-war and doesnât involve himself with military stuff so heâs unaware of what the insignia means, he finds war and stuff like it objectionable. With that I asked if he found the display objectionable, he got a little thrown off by this and said that we have a large Ukrainian diaspora here and this is their way too show support to their soldiers fighting to protect their territory. He then brought up the surge in Russophobia in Canada, like for example during a heritage day event the Russian pavilion was banned from appearing which is horrible (we both agreed on that) was one of the big ones, and that many Russians have to stay quiet nowadays even if they support Ukraine (this probably isnât what he meant but is the only good Russian the one that supports Ukraine?). He then asked me if I found the display objectionable, I had to lie and say I didnât really know. It was an odd and very disappointing conversation.
I couldnât really find an opening to ask Tovarish Tomatoâs question but I did when I asked my History professor about it. (I donât know how to tag people)
During office hours for my History professor I spent the first half discussing the class material (which I wont talk about here to save you guys from that). After that I asked him if he saw the display in the library, he said no. I then explained it to him to give him an idea. After he understood I skipped the question about who couldâve displayed it as he had no idea it even existed. So I went straight to telling him that four out of the 24 posters had this symbol on it and I wanted to know if he knew what it was. When I showed him the flag he also said he didnât know, he asked if I knew and I lied saying I didnât know (I donât know if he believed me). He then opened his computer and looked it up. He went to the Wikipedia and skimmed it a bit, coming to the conclusion that it is associated with Ukrainian nationalism, with far right connotations, and neo-Nazis. He knows Iâm planning on writing my history paper about the genocide in the Donbas and he thought maybe this interrogation was related. He went on to explain that because of the famine many Ukrainians had their nationalism fuelled and sided with the Nazis. I tried to explain away my motivations as just curiosity because I am not about to put a target on my back with the school.
This all happened on Wednesday, today I went back and asked Tovarish Tomatoâs question.
When I entered his office I cut right to the case saying that my question had nothing to do with class and it was about the poster display and the symbol used in some of the posters. I said that it was really bothering me and I would appreciate a historianâs perspective because Iâm having a hard time. I then asked âdo you think it is appropriate and responsible to showcase an artist that utilizes neo-Nazi imagery in his works in the university.â I know that wasnât Tovarish Tomatoâs question word for word but I think we all know I have to rephrase things for my own safety.
He then said that he isnât sure and that he would need to know more about what that OUN flag means to the people who put up the posters. If it means fascism then itâs bad to display, but if the flag means Ukrainian freedom from Russian oppression then itâs fine. He then said that symbols change meaning and this one could very well mean something else so we have to keep that in mind (reclamation and all that). If it was the swastika or the confederate flag then it would be an actual issue. He then asked if I had a problem with this display, and I really tried to play it off, saying I didnât care anymore, but I donât think he believed me one bit because he pushed on it and I just told him that I just have to deal with whatever the university approves of whether I like it or not.
He then explained that he was not a historian on Ukraine so he isnât the best authority on this subject, I then brought up Ivan Katchanovski as a source for information if I wanted to know more. He didnât know who he was so I told him again and I guess heâs going to look into him more. He then told me about Timothy Snyder, an American historian who apparently knows a lot about Ukraine, he then said I might not like him. I asked if heâs American, he said yes, I then said âyeah I might have issues with him.â As a little dig because American scholars can be the absolute worst. So with us exchanging scholars our chat ended and I went to the Library to study.
And what do you know? The display is still thereâŠ.
Youâre right, Iâm terrible at hiding it. I guess by target I mean not going to administration/official channels with my problems and being explicitly against the war. Thereâs also the fact that I donât say anything in front of students as they are much more dangerous than my professors.
My PoliSci professor knows about me wanting to teach Marxism and probably can tell Iâm one based on my papers but, like you said, Marxism is not seen as a threat in academia so I donât feel too bad talking to him about it, though I never bring it up anymore (he has though). Ideologically Iâm opaque to my history professor (his words not mine) he claims to have no idea what Iâm about.
I know Iâm pushing it a lot but Iâm so desperate for even a sliver of support, just a tiny bit. Other students can rely on their professors but so far I really really canât and that sucks. It sucks being the only one who cares.