Ukrainian and Polish presidents urge reconciliation over '43-'44 Volyn events (07/20/03)

Ukrainian and Polish presidents urge reconciliation over '43-'44 Volyn events

by Roman Woronowycz
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - Presidents Leonid Kuchma of Ukraine and Aleksander Kwasniewski of Poland called for mutual forgiveness and reconciliation as they solemnly marked the 60th anniversary of the Volyn tragedy of 1943-1944.

In the village of Pavlivka, located 18 miles east of the Polish border, where some of the worst massacres occurred, the two state leaders attended prayer services, laid wreaths to the victims and unveiled a monument in commemoration of the bloody events of World War II, during which tens of thousands of Ukrainian and Polish civilians in the region were killed at the hands of opposing paramilitary units representing the two countries.

"We cannot change this history, nor can we question it. We cannot silence it, nor excuse it. Instead we need to find the courage to accept the truth, to call a crime a crime, inasmuch as only with respect to the truth can we build the future," read a joint statement signed by the two presidents.

In remarks at a site on which a Roman Catholic church had stood before it was burnt to the ground, allegedly by Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) forces, President Kuchma called for an end to a "conspiracy of silence."

"Ukraine and Poland have a great potential of trust that will allow our nations to come to complete historical reconciliation, Mr. Kuchma said.

The day was the culmination of several months of negotiations and public discussion on how the two countries should commemorate the event, with some voices from the Polish side calling for war crime tribunals and declarations of genocide, while the Ukrainian side sought to bring to the fore past Polish occupation of its territory and the still-unresolved issue of forced resettlement of Ukrainians after World War II in what is referred to as Akcija Wisla.

On this day, however, the focus was on the 15,000 to 35,000 Ukrainians and 80,000 to 100,000 Polish innocents who died in ethnic massacres at the hands of the Polish Armija Krajowa (AK) and the UPA.

Some 3,000 people gathered under rainy skies, including many who witnessed the events first-hand, to watch Presidents Kuchma and Kwasniewski lay wreaths at the feet of two granite crosses marking the spot where many Polish victims of the tragic events of 1943-1944 were buried.

"We cannot blame the Ukrainian nation for the massacres of Polish civilians," stated President Kwasniewski during his remarks. "Individuals must always bear responsibility for crimes and heinous acts. However, we must express a moral protest against the ideology that led to the anti-Polish action."

In his statement the Polish president referred specifically to "Ukrainian nationalist organizations."

The commemorations, which included a prayer service at a small Orthodox church near the site where the Polish church once stood, maintained an accent on the Polish victims and suffering. A reporter who attended the event and expressed a desire to remain anonymous said the commemorations were for the most part Polish in nature. He explained that references to Ukrainian victims and commemorations of the suffering they endured seemed peripheral and done in a token manner to provide balance.

The commemorations in the village of Pavlivka came a day after the Polish Sejm and the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada approved identical resolutions calling for mutual forgiveness.

Ukraine and Poland have enjoyed close strategic relations and a high level of cooperation since the two countries broke free of the Soviet yoke in the beginning of the 1990s. Kyiv and Warsaw currently cooperate on various inter-governmental and international levels, including a Ukrainian-Polish Inter-Parliamentary Assembly and a joint Polish-Ukrainian military battalion.

As one of the combatants in the United States-led coalition that overthrew Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, Poland recently was responsible for encouraging Ukrainian peacekeeping forces to take part in the stabilization and reconstruction of Iraq.

| Home Page |