''Between Hitler and Stalin: Ukraine in World War II'' is a 2003 film produced and directed by Slavko Nowytski and narrated by

Jack Palance Jack Palance ( ; born Volodymyr Palahniuk ( uk, Володимир Палагню́к); February 18, 1919 – November 10, 2006) was an American actor known for playing tough guys and villains. He was nominated for three Academy Awards, all fo ...

. The one-hour documentary, part black-and-white and part color, is a project of Ukrainian Canadian Research and Documentation Centre – an attempt to tell the story of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

from a

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

perspective. In a chronological manner, Nowytski's film unfolds during the years of Soviet–Nazi collaboration recounting the losses and suffering of the Ukrainian people; the documentary shifts to the destruction wrought by

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...

's scorched earth policy as the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army ( Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, afte ...

retreated, and shows the ruins left behind by the German and then the Soviet offensives.Zakydalsky, Oksana.
Documentary "Between Hitler and Stalin" offers untold story of Ukraine
. ''The Ukrainian Weekly''. 9 November 2003, No. 45, Vol. LXXI. ''Between Hitler and Stalin'' describes the activity of the underground resistance movements, and specifically the long and large-scale struggle of the

Ukrainian Insurgent Army The Ukrainian Insurgent Army ( uk, Українська повстанська армія, УПА, translit=Ukrayins'ka povstans'ka armiia, abbreviated UPA) was a Ukrainian nationalist paramilitary and later partisan formation. During World ...

(UPA) on two fronts, against both totalitarian powers, for

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

's independence. As Oksana Zakydalsky writes for ''

The Ukrainian Weekly ''The Ukrainian Weekly'' is the oldest English-language newspaper of the Ukrainian diaspora in the United States, and North America. Founded by the Ukrainian National Association, and published continuously since October 6, 1933, archived copies ...

'': "although orld War II isoften called the Russo-German war or described as Russia at war, only parts of Russia were occupied, while all Ukrainian territories were invaded and laid waste by both the Nazi and Soviet war machines. ... The film documents Ukraine's contribution to the war against totalitarianism and the price Ukraine paid for its independence." For historical and political commentary, the film relies on Norman Davies, a historian from

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

;

Robert Conquest George Robert Acworth Conquest (15 July 1917 – 3 August 2015) was a British historian and poet. A long-time research fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution, Conquest was most notable for his work on the Soviet Union. His books ...

, a Soviet scholar at

Hoover Institute The Hoover Institution (officially The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace; abbreviated as Hoover) is an American public policy think tank and research institution that promotes personal and economic liberty, free enterprise, and ...

; John Armstrong, an insurgency expert, and

Zbigniew Brzezinski Zbigniew Kazimierz Brzeziński ( , ; March 28, 1928 – May 26, 2017), or Zbig, was a Polish-American diplomat and political scientist. He served as a counselor to President Lyndon B. Johnson from 1966 to 1968 and was President Jimmy Carter' ...

, a former US National Security Adviser.

References

2003 films Ukrainian documentary films Ukrainian-language films Canadian documentary films Documentary films about the Soviet Union in the Stalin era Films about Ukrainian anti-Soviet resistance movement Documentary films about genocide Documentary films about World War II Documentary films about Ukraine 2000s Canadian films {{WWII-documentary-film-stub