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the fact that he is fighting for his homeland in this difficult time at least somewhat, if not fully, compensates for his problems.

He fights because he loves to fight. The Cossack Ataman made peace with everyone, but Taras found life boring that way, so he called on everyone to go smash the Poles and Jews, for the Orthodox faith.

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I wonder if in an alternate universe where HeroesWorld members born a century earlier participated in WWII, how many of them would have turned out to be vile traitors?

It depends on whether we grew up in that era or if you mean transporting us as we are now. Because I am fully aware of my conformity and susceptibility to propaganda, so if I had grown up in those years, I would with high probability have been an incredibly fanatical communist.