Since Russia invaded Ukraine, we have witnessed the efforts of Russian President Vladimir Putin to destroy entire towns, schools, hospitals, maternity centers, artistic centers and as many Ukrainians as possible. Why we have consistently refused to recognize that this is genocide, I cannot fathom. Are we waiting for him to do something even more terrible, as Adolf Hitler did not so long ago, before we look up and see that the sky is indeed falling?
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The war in Ukraine will not just go away
In his Dec. 24 Sunday Opinion essay, “A warning to the West: Appease Putin at your own peril,” Mikhail Khodorkovsky stated Mr. Putin’s goals very clearly. He spoke from personal experience and reminded us (again) of the dangers of refusing to acknowledge the truth. He wrote, “The consequences will be felt not just by the Ukrainians or Russians but by a free world that will have failed in its responsibility to stand up to aggression.” We are repeating the mistakes of the First and Second World Wars by focusing so intently on our own “best” interests, thereby laying the groundwork for our own destruction.
The destruction of Ukraine and the rebirth of authoritarianism in Europe will not simply dissolve into nothingness and leave us all unscathed. As Ukraine goes, so goes democracy. Keep this in mind: When Hitler came to power, the pessimists recognized the danger and fled. The optimists refused to see what was coming and became Hitler’s victims. The courageous saved those who were left alive. But is there anyone left to save us?
Rosalind Goldfarb Levitt, Chevy Chase