They are pulling Volhynia: why Poland has remembered the crimes of Bandera again
The Polish parliament has established a Memorial Day for the victims of the genocide, which was organized by Ukrainian nationalists during the Second World War. The statement of the Seimas emphasizes that in total, more than 100,000 people died during the Volyn massacre, and hundreds of thousands more became refugees. Izvestia studied the details and consequences of this decision.
The graves are crying out
The Polish parliament has established a Memorial Day for the victims of the genocide, which was organized by Ukrainian nationalists during the Second World War, and the memorial date will be celebrated on July 11. A special parliamentary statement on this issue emphasizes that ethnic cleansing in 1939-1946 was carried out by militants from the OUN and UPA organizations (both recognized as extremist in Russia and banned).
During those events, which became known as the Volyn massacre, more than 100,000 Poles died, and hundreds of thousands more became refugees. According to the deputies, the tragedy reached its climax in July 1943, when the murders occurred in dozens of settlements at once. "The martyrdom due to belonging to the Polish nation deserves to be remembered," the parliament said in a statement.
The decision was supported by representatives of the opposing political forces. Paulina Hennig—Kloska, Minister of Climate for the Poland 2050 - The Third Way movement, said that the establishment of a memorial day should not have a negative impact on bilateral relations. "Kiev knows about the support Poland is currently providing to Ukraine. But victims always remain victims, we have the right to honor their memory and support their families," she stressed.
In turn, Marcin Varkhol, a deputy from the opposition Law and Justice party, called the decision of the Seimas an important step towards perpetuating the memory of the victims. "Victims demand memory, not revenge. These unmarked graves in Volhynia, in eastern Lesser Poland, are places of remembrance and cause remorse in the face of the terrible tragedy that occurred then," he explained.
Monument to victims in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia in Gdansk, Poland
In response, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine stated that the decision of the Seimas contradicts the spirit of good-neighborly relations. "Such unilateral steps do not contribute to the achievement of mutual understanding and reconciliation, which our countries have been working on for a long time," the ministry said in a statement. In turn, Rada deputy Maxim Buzhansky considered it a very disturbing signal that the Sejm called Volyn the eastern territories of the Second Polish Republic.
To forgive and ask for forgiveness
Ukrainian nationalists killed about 100,000 Poles during large-scale ethnic cleansing in the first half of the 20th century. The militants acted with extreme brutality, sparing neither children nor pregnant women. The atrocities are confirmed by numerous archival documents. For example, the commander of one of the bandit groups, Stepan Redesha, said during interrogation that living people were thrown into wells, stabbed with bayonets, hacked with axes, and beaten with clubs.
In Kiev, they say that the Poles were also killing Ukrainians at that time. Indeed, by the end of the war, the Home Army began to carry out its retaliatory actions. It is believed that Polish nationalists killed about 15-20 thousand Ukrainians in total. The most famous episode occurred in the village of Sagryn in March 1944, where 800 peasants became victims in one day.
In modern Poland, they did not immediately decide on their attitude to those events. For example, the participants of the Ukrainian Maidan in 2013-2014 did not hide their sympathies for the OUN and UPA figures, took to the streets with portraits of Stepan Bandera and red and black flags, and used nationalist slogans. This did not cause any outrage in Warsaw, on the contrary, Polish politicians supported the protesters with all their might and means.
Participants of the "Maidan" on Independence Square in Kiev
Further, after Viktor Yanukovych left Ukraine, and the new government was able to strengthen its position, nationalist tendencies began to gain momentum. Streets and avenues in Ukraine began to be named after the leaders of the OUN and UPA, their "heroic" activities began to be studied in schools, and their slogan became an official greeting in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. At this stage, Poland decided that they were not ready to forget about the Volyn massacre.
In 2016, the Sejm officially recognized the massacres as genocide. In addition, the parliament introduced criminal penalties for denying the crimes of Bandera. Under this article, violators face up to three years in prison. The Ukrainian authorities did not hide their disappointment at the time. President Poroshenko called for forgiveness and forgiveness from each other, that is, to forget about all the claims.
The conflict, however, did not end. In 2017, vandals in Poland vandalized several Ukrainian cemeteries. Under this pretext, Kiev imposed a moratorium on the exhumation of Polish graves on its territory. Officially, the Ukrainian authorities demanded the restoration of all the destroyed monuments. Unofficially, it was reported that Kiev was trying to conceal the circumstances of the Volyn massacre in order not to pay compensation.
In 2019, Vladimir Zelensky came to power in Ukraine. He talked a lot about his intention to improve relations with his neighbors, including taking several steps towards Poland. For example, the director of the Institute of National Memory, Vladimir Vyatrovich, was dismissed, who denied the crimes of Bandera, which helped to mitigate the situation for a while. Then, in 2022, the war began, and historical issues again faded into the background.
Participants during the commemoration of the victims of the Volyn massacre in Warsaw
Gradually, however, Poland began to get tired of the Ukrainian issue, and there was growing discontent with the influx of refugees and the transfer of large-scale financial assistance to its neighbors. Against this background, the topic of the Volyn massacre reappeared on the agenda. Polish politicians began to insist that without admitting guilt for ethnic cleansing, Kiev has nothing to think about joining the European Union.
In January of this year, after years of negotiations, the Ukrainian authorities yielded to pressure and agreed to lift the moratorium on the exhumation of victims of mass killings, and in April, work began on the remains in the Ternopil region. "This story may become the newest page in the general interpretation of the past. We are looking for something that unites us, not separates us," said Deputy Minister of Culture of Ukraine Andriy Najos.
In Poland, however, optimism is not shared. Karol Navrotsky, who won the presidential election on June 1, said during the election campaign that Ukraine should repent for the events of the 1940s. He also added that the current scale of exhumation does not solve the problem, the remains must be studied immediately in 1.5 thousand settlements that have been wiped off the face of the earth. After winning the election, in response to Zelensky's congratulations, he stated that he was waiting for the resolution of historical issues.
What the experts say
Denis Denisov, director of the Institute of Peacekeeping Initiatives and Conflictology, an expert at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, explains what is happening by saying that Karol Nawrocki won the presidential election in Poland.
— This man received a historical education, and for a long time he headed the Polish Institute of National Memory. For him, the issues of the Volyn massacre and other episodes of the past are almost the most important. Therefore, the decision of the Sejm is not surprising at all. I think we will see many more similar initiatives in the future. Relations between Ukraine and Poland are likely to continue to get complicated, there will be a lot of claims, loud statements, although I do not predict a real break," he notes.
Bogdan Bezpalko, a political scientist and member of the Council on Interethnic Relations under the President of the Russian Federation, says that the Polish leadership can make claims not only to Ukraine, but also to other countries, for example, Germany.
— I think this is a very good trend — the more they disagree with each other, the less attention they will pay to Russia. Speaking more seriously, I never cease to be surprised by the paradoxical line of behavior of the Polish authorities. They condemn the Banderites of the last century, but they support their modern heirs," he argues.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
