© Aleksander Zielinski / Chancellery of the SejmCommemorations in Poland for the victims of mass killings by Ukrainian nationalists
The document was adopted by lawmakers in the Sejm on Tuesday, as Poland commemorated the victims of wartime atrocities in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia 80 years ago. Members of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), the militant wing of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), were the main perpetrators of the crimes, which Poland considers an act of genocide.
"In the attacks by OUN and UPA units, supported by part of the local Ukrainian community, over 100,000 Poles were murdered, often in a very brutal way," the Polish MPs said. "Several hundred thousand people fled... fearing the same fate."
The OUN allied with Nazi German invaders in the hope of creating a Ukrainian nation state, and slaughtered groups that they deemed to be obstructing their cause.
Their victims also included Jews, Czechs and Russians, along with ethnic Ukrainians who opposed the purges, the Polish resolution noted. The ethnic cleansing campaign was accompanied by the destruction of property, including items of cultural and religious significance.
"Polish-Ukrainian reconciliation, which was built over years by representatives of both nations, must also include recognition of guilt and commemoration of the victims," the lawmakers stressed.
Many Polish officials have said they expected Kiev to make gestures of accountability during the 80th anniversary of the tragedy. The Ukrainian government considers the UPA and its leaders to be national heroes, as they were fighting for Ukrainian independence from the Soviet Union.
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky joined his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda last week for a joint commemoration in Western Ukraine, but did not offer a formal apology. Kiev's ambassador to Warsaw, Vasily Zvarych, previously advised Poland against attempts to "pressure" his nation into taking "unacceptable" steps regarding their shared past.
Reader Comments
Well it has been predicted: „There will be Poland! But at what price ... First it will be ruled by the communists, and then by the scoundrels and pigs. In the end it will be even bigger than now. Neither you nor I will live to see this… Only the grandchildren… However, it is worth knowing that this will happen…” (Ossowiecki, 1939).
Meanwhile, Odessa beckons.
For the sake of some readers....not you Z - here is a link: [Link]
Asking Ukrainians to admit their guilt for crimes will end up the same way as if you wanted to ask a cat that just hunted a squirrel to admit that he committed a crime!
This cat may admit it, but he won't understand why he had to admit it!
It's natural for a cat to hunt and eat squirrels, who should they apologize to?
These are the Ukrainians. And as far as I know history, they have been like this FOR AGES!!!!!
If the Ukrainians are admitted to the EU, they will rob it. If they are admitted to NATO, they will destroy it.
The question is. Do people in power in the west know this and use Ukrainians as much as possible or do they not know???
I cannot understand why the Polish Government turns a blind eye to that and supports Ukraine against Russia. For almost 100 years now, it seems Poland has always chosen to trust and ally itself with powerful nations which wish it only the worst. I can't understand it. How could they be so short-sighted?
Yes it is, it's not up for discussion, you can only believe me :-)
As for the next issue, i.e. joining NATO or the EU.
These will just be my thoughts. Personally, I think people in these organizations have already figured out who they're dealing with.I conclude this from the significant cooling of relations between Washington, Brussels and Ukraine.
What about Poland?
In my opinion, the current Polish government seeks to regain old Polish territories, but this is not their idea. This idea comes from Brussels and Washington, because bigger Poland means bigger EU.
If a colleague wants a bit of historical background to this issue, I'll explain.
The people now called Ukrainians are mainly descendants of the Khazars, Roma and Tatars. They came to this area where they are now around the 9th century. At that time, too, the very wanted to be a country with equal rights. In those days, a nationwide religion was synonymous with civilization. They had no religion themselves, so their then king decided to establish a national religion... he chose Judaism.
However, the following centuries brought further disappointments. Ukrainians basically did not respect statehood, neither their own nor someone else's.They led a nomadic lifestyle, mainly engaged in looting in small bands of robbers who usually waited for merchants traveling along the roads.
Their interesting feature was that they did not just steal from merchants. They questioned them, then killed them. Later, they disguised themselves in their clothes and rode in that disguise to their destination, where they were allowed in and could do even more theft.
There was a moment in history when the Russians built something like a great wall to separate this tribe from the Russians.
There were many such curiosities in the history of this nation.
So, answering the last question, I can say that the Polish government puts a good face on a bad game. In Poland, most people are aware of the truth, despite the terrible propaganda they are now broadcasting in the media about alleged friendship between nations.
It wasn't, isn't and won't be. And it results, as I wrote, from too much difference in the mentality of both nations, it's hard to blame someone for this state of affairs, just like it's hard to blame a cat for killing a squirrel
The US government has had a mix of predatory and parasitic policies for years.
Predatory politics is taking over countries by force, and parasitic politics is making them colonies and robbing them of all possible benefits that can be stolen.
The USA, like the Ukrainians, love gold!
The USA, like Ukrainians, love power!
The USA, like the Ukrainians, are quite lazy!
These are my thoughts, but I am aware of the great grace of generalization in my statement.
I know that among those called Americans and Ukrainians there are people who can think in other categories. However, today it seems that there is a definite minority of them.
Given the fact that you have a democratic system, this means that the minority is absolutely irrelevant.
Sad but true:-)