My grandmother taught me history isn’t about dates—it’s about choices. And some choices still haunt us. Like the day a parliament full of people stood and cheered for a man who fought for the wrong side. It’s the kind of thing that makes you question everything you thought you knew. It’s not just a story—it’s a warning.
The Real Narrative
History Isn’t Black and White—It’s a Mess of Gray.
My grandfather and great uncle were Ukrainian boys caught between two monsters. First, they fought for the Soviets against the Nazis. Then, captured by the Nazis, they had a choice: fight for them against the Soviets, or die in a concentration camp. After the war, they were still fighting—this time to escape Europe’s madness. They ended up in Chicago, married sisters, and never spoke of the war again. History isn’t neat—it’s a tangle of survival and regret. And we still haven’t learned how to teach it.The Algorithms Killed Empathy Before They Killed Us.
Teachers tried to teach history, but who listens to a teacher when TikTok is calling? We’re raising a generation that can’t tell the difference between a Nazi and a meme. The truth is, we didn’t lose hope because teachers weren’t engaging—we lost hope because we handed our children to machines that feed them lies. And now? Now we wonder why they don’t know their own history. It’s not their fault—it’s ours.We Cheer for the Wrong Heroes Because We Never Learned the Truth.
Imagine this: A Ukrainian veteran, 90 years old, invited to Canada’s parliament. He fought in WWII against the Soviets. Sounds heroic, right? Wrong. He fought for the Nazis. The whole parliament stood and cheered him. It was only later, when someone finally bothered to check, that they realized what they’d done. It was a screwup—but it wasn’t an accident. It was a symptom of a society that doesn’t know its own history. And that’s scarier than any war criminal.
- The Real Nazis Hid in Plain Sight, and We Let Them.
Bruno Dey, a former SS guard, got two years of probation for helping kill over 5,000 people. Why? Because he was 17 when he served. Two years. For murder. On top of that, the original post-war trials let everyone under 25 off the hook. They were “brainwashed,” they said. So we let them live among us, breathe the same air as the people they helped murder. And we wonder why history repeats itself.
We Still Don’t Get It—We’re Still Choosing Sides Without Knowing Why.
We drone Iran and call it justice. We bomb Kyiv and call it defense. We cheer for Nazis because they fought “the enemy.” It’s the same story, over and over. We’re so busy choosing sides that we forget to ask: Are we on the right side? Are we even sure what the right side is? My grandmother used to say, “If you don’t know your enemy, you’ll end up fighting for him.” And we’re still proving her right.The System Failed Us—Again and Again.
The man who invited Hunka to parliament didn’t do his homework. The assistants didn’t check. The whole system failed to catch something that should have been obvious. And when it was exposed, they acted shocked. But it wasn’t a one-time mistake. It was a pattern. From Nuremberg to now, we’ve been letting the system decide who gets punished and who gets away. And the system keeps failing us. Because the system isn’t about justice—it’s about convenience.We’re Still Hiding the Truth—Even When It’s Right in Front of Us.
Over 200,000 Nazis escaped justice after the war. Only 6,656 were ever convicted. That’s less than 3%. And we wonder why the world feels so broken. We wonder why history keeps repeating itself. The truth is, we’re still hiding the truth. We’re still letting the past slide because it’s uncomfortable. But the past never stays buried. It always comes back to haunt us. And this time, we’re not ready.
The next time you cheer for a hero, ask yourself: Do you really know who you’re cheering for? Because history doesn’t care about your ignorance. It only remembers your choices. And some choices are harder to undo than others.