In the chaos following the 1941 German invasion of the Soviet Union, a group of Ukrainian nationalist guerrillas calling themselves the Poliska Sich seized control of a small area surrounding the town of Olevsk. Their goal was to resist the Soviets, a goal often pursued by carrying out brutal pogroms against Jews. Later, the guerrillas helped the Nazis in implementing the final solution. Now their leader, Taras Bulba-Borovets, is being honored by both local authorities and the national government, eager for a past of patriotic Ukrainian resistance against Russian rule. Jared McBride writes:

Bulba-Borovets ruled [the town of] Olevsk and its environs during the early months of the German-Soviet war, while Germans were thin on the ground in this remote location. It was only after the pogrom violence and further abuse of Jews at the hands of the Poliska Sich that the Germans took over Olevsk in September 1941 and established a ghetto. The Sich then patrolled the ghetto and later provided the Germans with manpower to liquidate the Jewish population. . . .

The memory of Bulba-Borovets and his Sich has figured prominently in Olevsk and regional politics over the past five years. In the [nearby] city of Rivne there are plans to build a new monument for Bulba-Borovets—not to mention this summer’s bike race named after the Sich. Olevsk itself has more plans, including: naming a park after the [short-lived self-styled] “Olevsk Republic” or Bulba-Borovets [himself], naming a square after Bulba-Borovets, and creating an exposition about the Sich in a local museum (with plans to build a separate museum in the future). . . . Moreover, the Sich force has caught the interest of the Ukrainian parliament. . . . This past April it passed a resolution to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the founding of Poliska Sich.

For some time, opponents of U.S support for Israel have been urging the White House to end the war in Gaza, or simply calling for a ceasefire. Douglas Feith and Lewis Libby consider what such a result would actually entail:

Ending the war immediately would allow Hamas to survive and retain military and governing power. Leaving it in the area containing the Sinai-Gaza smuggling routes would ensure that Hamas can rearm. This is why Hamas leaders now plead for a ceasefire. A ceasefire will provide some relief for Gazans today, but a prolonged ceasefire will preserve Hamas’s bloody oppression of Gaza and make future wars with Israel inevitable.

For most Gazans, even when there is no hot war, Hamas’s dictatorship is a nightmarish tyranny. Hamas rule features the torture and murder of regime opponents, official corruption, extremist indoctrination of children, and misery for the population in general. Hamas diverts foreign aid and other resources from proper uses; instead of improving life for the mass of the people, it uses the funds to fight against Palestinians and Israelis.

Moreover, a Hamas-affiliated website warned Gazans last month against cooperating with Israel in securing and delivering the truckloads of aid flowing into the Strip. It promised to deal with those who do with “an iron fist.” In other words, if Hamas remains in power, it will begin torturing, imprisoning, or murdering those it deems collaborators the moment the war ends. Thereafter, Hamas will begin planning its next attack on Israel:

Hamas’s goals are to overshadow the Palestinian Authority, win control of the West Bank, and establish Hamas leadership over the Palestinian revolution. Hamas’s ultimate aim is to spark a regional war to obliterate Israel and, as Hamas leaders steadfastly maintain, fulfill a Quranic vision of killing all Jews.

Hamas planned for corpses of Palestinian babies and mothers to serve as the mainspring of its October 7 war plan. Hamas calculated it could survive a war against a superior Israeli force and energize enemies of Israel around the world. The key to both aims was arranging for grievous Palestinian civilian losses. . . . That element of Hamas’s war plan is working impressively.