Gas crisis provokes outpouring of patriotism--"Remember the Great Famine, Stalin terror...If you are a Ukrainian, forward this to friends"

By Aussiegirl

In a fitting winter reprise of the Orange Revolution of just one year ago, Ukrainians once again united and took a stand for freedom and democracy in response to Russian threats to cut off gas supplies. Putin's threats this year, just like last year, provoked an outpouring of patriotism, rather than the craven submission he was seeking.

However, slow, however painful, however painstaking, I now believe the cause of democracy will inexorably move forward in Ukraine. Why? Because the Ukrainian people have at last awakened from their slumber. They have at last fully drunk from the Yevshan zilya, the Ukrainian herb of remembrance, which they caught the scent of last December in the snows of the Maidan.

At last Ukrainians understand and remember who they are.

It is said that whoever drinks of the Yevshan herb will recover his memory of his true identity. It exists as an antidote for those Ukrainians who have been in bondage for so long that they have forgotten their true origins.

Like the Jewish people, we must never forget -- the Famine, the Stalin Terror, the Russian domination which still threatens our existence.

Shche ne vmerla Ukraina! (Ukraine is not dead!) "Pokhovaite ta vstavaite, kaidany porvite!" As Shevchenko wrote in his ("Testament" -- "Bury me and rise! And break the chains that bind you!")

Gas Crisis Fueled Ukrainian Patriotism - Forbes.com

At the height of a gas dispute this week, anonymous text messages zipped across Ukrainians' cell phones calling for a boycott of all things Russian.

"Remember the Great Famine, Stalin terror ... If you are a Ukrainian, forward this to friends," one message read.

Russia's threats to leave this nation of 47 million shivering through a cold winter triggered an outpouring of anti-Russian sentiment and patriotism, from which President Viktor Yushchenko will likely benefit in March's parliamentary elections.

"Ukrainians saw the face of the enemy and Russia did everything it could to make that face terrifying," said Ivan Poltavets, the head of Kiev's Institute of Economic Research. "But Ukrainians did not get scared. Instead they closed ranks around the idea of sovereignty and democracy."