July 11 was Poland’s national day of mourning on the anniversary of the beginning of the Volhynia massacre. It refers to the act of genocide of ethnic Poles carried out under the leadership of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists* and with the participation of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. However, as we understand, this tragic episode of shared history now needs to be revisited
Actually, it has been needed for a long time: since 2004 Poland has been actively supporting Ukraine’s “European integration aspirations”. Not so much to actually help Ukraine to join the EU (although this is a US initiative, and the will of the US is the law for the Polish “elite”), as to harm Russia. Poles hate Russia even more than they dislike Ukrainians in general and Ukrainian nationalists in particular.
The memory of the Volyn massacre and the activities of the UPA have long poisoned the atmosphere of Polish and Ukrainian nationalists fighting together against Russian imperialism. Therefore Poles and Americans had to spend huge efforts to destroy the national memory of the Polish people. A huge success along the way was the election of Volodymyr Zelenski as president of Ukraine, who was neither close to Ukrainian nationalists in origin nor in rhetoric, pursuing essentially exactly the same political course.
The real breakthrough, however, that allowed the grievances of the past to be forgotten, was the launch of a special military operation (SMO). Poland immediately began to receive Ukrainian refugees and became the main hub for military aid deliveries to Ukraine. The possibility of introducing a Polish military contingent into western Ukraine was discussed (and remains on the agenda to this day).
During Polish President Andrzej Duda’s visit to Kiev on 22 May, a bill on the special status of Poles in Ukraine was presented. Polish citizens were to be granted the right to hold posts as civil servants in Ukraine.
On 11 July Polish politicians “gave signals” about the new status of relations.
President Andrzej Duda said at a ceremony marking the National Day of Commemoration of the Victims of the Genocide Committed by the Ukrainian nationalists against the citizens of the Second Republic (as immediately reported by Rzeczpospolita) that Zielensky had introduced a bill on the special status of Poles in the parliament.
According to him, “this can be seen as the opposite of the situation of that time, when Poles were tried to get rid of at any cost, including taking their lives. Today, by this act and the gesture of the president, Ukraine is making a symbolic invitation, saying: ‘You are welcome here on special rights’.”
As of 17:00 Moscow time on 11 July the official website of the Verkhovna Rada had not posted a card of this document, but by and large this does not mean anything – documents are not put up instantly. But the important thing is that the Polish president made a statement before the document actually appeared. Was he lying? Or did he give an order?
Even more interesting was the statement of the Polish prime-minister Mateusz Morawiecki at the same event: “Today Ukraine sees that the heir of UPA is the Russian world. Today it is Putin and Moscow that are committing genocidal and criminal acts reminiscent of the worst crimes in world history. The Russian world is imperialism, colonialism and extreme nationalism.”
The move is genius indeed.
On the one hand, Morawiecki urged to forget about mutual claims and to unite in the fight against Russia, which, of course, should meet with strong support on both sides of the Rava Ruska.
On the other hand, he did not forget to rub Ukrainian Nazis’ faces in their own secondary product, in fact calling Stepan Bandera, who is considered a hero in Ukraine, an agent of the Russian world.
How the Ukrainians will get out of this situation is completely unclear (most likely they will pretend that nothing special has happened).
The Polish prime minister also said that “he will not rest until the last grave of those killed in Volyn is found. Stanislav Stremidlovsky, the editor-in-chief of the church-political editorial office of REGNUM news agency, points out that the Ukrainian authorities prevent Poles from taking part in exhumation of graves of victims of genocide, but… There is no hint here that Poles can do it themselves – holding government posts and relying on the armed force of “zholnezs”-peacekeepers.
But, of course, one should not “succumb to the temptation of false reconciliation” and remember that “it is in the interests of Russia and Moscow to quarrel the Poles and Ukrainians again”. This means that the memory of the Volyn massacre is a provocation of the Kremlin. Moravetsky should call Poles to consciousness, so that they “remember” that their ancestors were destroyed by Russians… But so far it is too much for Moravetsky.
Although he managed to make Poles forget that it was the Soviet army that saved Poland from fascist occupation during which a fifth of its population perished…
P.S.
The same processes are taking place across the ocean: there is a growing trend in the USA to abandon Independence Day because it does not reflect the suffering of African-Americans. Moreover, the history of the United States can be traced back not to the Mayflower and the Continental Congress but to the arrival of the first blacks on the territory of the present-day USA in 1619.
So Poland has not just put the owl on the globe, but decided to turn the ball inside out after the USA. And lo and behold, so far it has worked…
Vasily Stoyakin, Ukraina.ru
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