“Mutual understanding” by way of one-sided accusations

In the last while, Den has been broaching the topic of the 1943-44 Volyn tragedy almost daily. This was partly caused by the fact that some Polish politicians (including members of the ruling Law and Justice party) have been paying more and more attention lately to those terrible events. Moreover, if you carefully analyze their approaches, you are sure to gain an impression that what prompts them to do so is not only and not so much a wish to reveal and defend the historical truth as a wish to win easy political “points” on the Polish domestic political arena.

An interesting proof of this is the press conference held on June 20 at the Polish Embassy in Kyiv by the Sejm member Michal Dworczyk. What caused this event is a letter from 200 Law and Justice members of the Polish parliament, which they sent in reply to the address of some authoritative Ukrainian intellectuals to Polish public and political figures in connection with a bill to be discussed at the Sejm in the near future to mark an anniversary of the Volyn tragedy. (The wording of this document is essentially tougher than that of the earlier similar resolutions of the Polish parliament.)

So, what did Mr. Dworczyk speak about? He expressed a lot of very sound views, for example, that “only close cooperation between Poland and Ukraine will lay the groundwork for (or promote) the security of our peoples and countries,” “our neighbors both in the West and in the East will take us seriously in such a close mutual understanding and cooperation,” “and this is why we, Sejm members, would like to take an unbiased view of this matter [the Volyn tragedy. – Author] for the sake of cooperation between Ukraine and Poland.” The Polish MP also stressed that the bill, now being drawn up at the Sejm (which, incidentally, says that UPA units deliberately committed “genocide” of Poles in Volyn and puts the blame, contrary to the formula “we forgive and ask for forgiveness,” on the Ukrainian side only), “is not aimed against Ukraine and Ukrainians, as some ill-wishers are trying to prove.” Mr. Dworczyk claims that the bill’s goal is “to honor the victims of those tragic events” (the Polish or all the victims?) and “to express the preoccupation of Polish politicians – friends of Ukraine – over Ukraine’s policy of historical memory, which tends to glorify some figures who committed ambiguous actions during the Second World War” (obviously, they mean Stepan Bandera, Klym Savur, and the UPA as a whole).

The newspaper Den has also made a contribution to solving the complicated Polish-Ukrainian relations: in 2004 its library published the book Wars and Peace, or Ukrainians and Poles: Brothers/Enemies, Neighbors written by the well-known Ukrainian historians Viktor Horobets, Volodymyr Panchenko, and Yurii Shapoval under the general editorship of Larysa Ivshyna. The well-known Polish dissident and journalist Adam Michnik wrote in the preface to the Polish-language edition that the book says what we can learn from the history of the two nations’ relations. Therefore, in all probability, it is worthwhile for Polish and Ukrainian politicians, who take interest in this difficult topic and aspire for the development of friendly and close relations, to make use of this intellectual capital.

Defending the proposed bill, Dworczyk said: “There still are very many descendants of those who suffered from the abovementioned conflict – the Volyn massacre – more than a million people were involved, one way or another, in that situation. We think the victims of that massacre have not been duly honored [? – Author]. So, adopting this document, we wanted to close this topic once and for all. It [the letter. – Author] is not aimed against Ukraine. It is UPA units and Sich Riflemen who committed homicide and mopped up Poles in a well-planned manner… We cannot put the sign of equality between the Polish units that were killing Ukrainian civilians [he admits this fact but rejects “the sign of equality.” – Author] and the abovementioned Ukrainian units.” It is the position of 200 Sejm members, not only Mr. Dworczyk.

To sum it up, this approach in fact throws the Polish-Ukrainian dialog on the Volyn tragedy 15 (if not more) years back, for it was announced as long ago as 2003 that only mutual forgiveness, without making actual one-sided political accusations or calling somebody, one-sidedly again, “tormentors” and “victims,” can be a way to mutual understanding. And the main criterion of this understanding is candidness. Much to our regret, the Polish MPs’ letter lacks this very candidness. Besides, there is a strong feeling that the tone the Polish side has chosen now is a direct result of Ukraine’s weakness…

“THE ATTEMPT TO CALL THOSE EVENTS GENOCIDE IS AN INTENTION TO ASSIGN ALL THE BLAME TO THE UKRAINIANS”

Volodymyr VIATROVYCH, Director, Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance:

“This letter of the Polish MPs markedly differs by tonality from that of the Ukrainians because their letter does not in fact show any attempt at reconciliation or any knowledge of the situation in Ukraine. What greatly surprised me is the letter’s claim that Ukraine’s present-day historical policy may be the cause of misunderstanding between Ukraine and Poland. As the core of Ukraine’s current historical policy is decommunization, i.e., in other words, the processes that began and finished in Poland a quarter of a century ago, we can say we are using Polish experience. We are actively cooperating in this field with Polish experts, including the Polish Institute of National Remembrance. So, I think it is rather improper to say that the current historical policy is a source of misunderstanding.

“I am also surprised to read that Ukraine allegedly honors murderers – the letter means the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA). As a historian, I am well aware of the fact that there were people in the UPA, whom we can call war criminals because they organized and carried out punitive operations against Polish civilians. But this in no way allows calling the entire army criminal. For there is quite a similar situation on the part of the Polish underground, in which there were Poles whom we can accuse of war crimes and the killing of civilians. But this gives us no grounds to say that the Polish Armia Krajowa was s criminal formation. And, in general, one must know that the UPA is respected in Ukraine for, above all, the most brilliant manifestation of anti-Soviet resistance. This is why monuments are being erected in its honor.

“According to public opinion polls, the claim that honoring the UPA is of an anti-Polish nature is a complete hoax. Surveys show that the regions that honor the UPA the most – western Ukraine – equally honor Poland and modern-day Poles.

“And the most disappointing statement in this reply letter is that the Polish parliament should recognize this Polish-Ukrainian conflict as genocide. This is absolutely wrong from the historical viewpoint because genocide means that there is some asymmetry in the means of those who commit and suffer from it.

“In reality, this was not the case, for this conflict unfolded against the backdrop of German occupation. Neither the Poles nor the Ukrainians fully controlled the situation. Therefore, the two sides were both tormentors and victims in the course of this face-off. For this reason, the attempt to call these events genocide is an intention to assign all the blame to the Ukrainians only – it is an absolutely one-sided approach to the assessment of this conflict. On the other hand, it is an attempt to hide the fact that the Polish underground committed crimes and there were mass-scale victims on the part of the Ukrainian populace.

“There is a Ukrainian-Polish forum of historians, which has been working very effectively over the past year. It might perhaps work even more effectively if we were not disturbed with all kinds of political statements. I think politicians have already said what they could in the assessment of this tragedy. Now historians should continue this work, and they are in fact doing so. I do not approve of political statements in the assessment of this Ukrainian-Polish face-off.

“Also rather dubious is the point in the letter Dworczyk brought to Kyiv about the necessity to honor all those who died – from both the Polish and Ukrainian sides. This sounds good, but, unfortunately, we have never heard any serious statements from Mr. Dworczyk or other representatives of the present-day Polish authorities in condemnation of large-scale destruction of Ukrainian graves in Poland. Dozens of Ukrainian graves have been destroyed on the Polish territory in the past year. And, very symbolically, information about this periodically appears on the websites of the ‘DNR,’ the ‘LNR,’ and other pro-Russian formations.

“Not to see that Russian propaganda is keenly interested in the extension of this debate, up to a confrontation over the past Polish-Ukrainian conflict, means to show political blindness.

“As far as I know, Ukrainian MPs suggest that, instead of exchanging laws and accusing each other of genocide during World War Two, the two parliaments issue a joint declaration. I also fully support the initiative in a letter of Ukrainian intellectuals, church hierarchs, and two presidents, about establishing a joint day of remembering victims of the Polish-Ukrainian tragedy.”

“GROWING TENSIONS OVER HISTORY ALSO ‘INFECT’ POLITICAL DIALOG BETWEEN KYIV AND WARSAW”

Aliona HETMANCHUK, Director, Institute of World Politics; member, Consultative Committee of the Presidents of Ukraine and Poland:

“The current ruling coalition in Poland believes that it can cooperate with Ukraine along two parallel, never-intercrossing, lines: the security and political one, where Poland and Ukraine are allies (particularly, in the questions of resisting the Russian aggression), and the historical one, where the Polish side considers, after Law and Justice came to power, that it is necessary to restore a dialog with Kyiv about historical reconciliation. In reality, growing tensions over history undoubtedly ‘infect’ the political and security-related dialog between Kyiv and Warsaw. The Polish ruling party should decide to what extent they are prepared to run the risk of losing Ukraine as a key security partner. I know that a debate on this matter is going on in L&J itself. I hope very much that the Polish Sejm will have passed a resolution, not a law, as some Polish politicians insisted, by the anniversary of the Volyn tragedy. Ukraine should in turn take a more serious and responsible attitude to its actions and promises in the dialog with Warsaw. It is wrong to ignore the importance and sensitivity of historical memory for the Polish side and, all the more so, to put it down to the influence of Russian propaganda or the Russian lobby. Historical issues are in reality very important and sensitive for the Polish government, and the Ukrainian side should at least show that it needs a dialog, instead of simulating readiness for one. The Ukrainian parliament made a mistake when it passed the law on UPA recognition the day [Polish President] Komorowski spoke. Poland interpreted this as a major slap in the face. Besides, if what Polish Sejm members are saying is anything to go by, the Ukrainian side, at the level of the current speaker (now premier) and other top officials, promised to make certain amendments to this law. These promises were never kept. Had these changes been made, the Polish side would have had a serious reason to pass a resolution, not a law, to mark the anniversary of that tragedy. The Polish Sejm and the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine are bearing immense responsibility today for the further course of Ukrainian-Polish relations. I hope that both legislative bodies are aware of the seriousness of this situation and will not throw the two countries’ partnership at the mercy of populists.”

Interviewed by Mykola SIRUK, The Day