“This is not a breakthrough, but a very good signal. The breakthrough the Poles are counting on is permission to exhume and commemorate the victims of the Volhynia genocide,” said political scientist Prof. Mieczysław Ryba, who yesterday assessed the presence of the President of Ukraine at the ceremonies in Lutsk, Ukraine, to mark the commemoration of the massacre of the Polish population in Volhynia in 1943.
Commemorating and demonstrating the magnitude of Volhynian crime
According to Prof. Pisces, the mere presence of Volodymyr Zelensky in Lutsk is Ukraine’s acknowledgment of “large-scale” crimes in Volhynia.
Poland raises the main issues of exhumation, because now we are not talking about the question of admitting guilt, which should be the case, but about elementary, humanitarian behavior on the part of Ukraine.
For example, it is difficult to imagine that in Poland we are dealing with mass graves and that it is not possible to have a normal funeral accompanied by a normal prayer, whether Ukrainians, Russians or anyone else. This seems obvious and natural in the civilized world. And this – it seems – is difficult for Ukrainians. But there’s no escaping it
– explains Prof. Ryba stressed that a dignified burial will make Ukrainians and the world more aware of the scale of crime in Volhynia.
Build awareness of Ukrainians
President Zelensky is in a difficult situation because the case of the Volhynia genocide was not resolved before the war, and during the war in Ukraine there were several units confessing different traditions, including OUN and UPA units fighting against German forces . Showing the truth about Volhynia could lead to chaos in the minds of Ukrainians. Therefore, at this stage, in the current moment of the war with Russia, it is difficult to enter into a historical conversation with Ukraine. However, sooner or later such a discourse is necessary. Ukraine will not be able to build its historical policy on the basis of the Bandera tradition
says Prof. Vis.
It is all the more appreciated that Volodymyr Zelensky appeared at the ceremonies commemorating the Ukrainian massacre of the Polish population. Łuck is an important place, once the capital of Polish Volhynia. If this were followed by a few more gestures related to the commemoration of the victims, that would already be a lot during the war. Prime Minister Morawiecki rightly said that the Russians are very cynical and accurate in playing this card of the massacre in Volhynia. And Polish society is sensitive to all this
he adds.
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Source: wPolityce