The head of the Institute of National Remembrance of Ukraine (IPNU), Anton Drobowycz, stated that since September the Polish Institute of National Remembrance has not responded to his request to provide a list of places where the remains of the victims should be buried. are searched, including : Volyn crime. “Since 2017, the Institute of National Remembrance has consistently strived to ensure that all excavation requests and excavations in Volhynia come true and allow us to fulfill our obligations to historical truth and the past,” said Karol Nawrocki. The president of the Institute of National Remembrance said that nine applications have been submitted in this matter since 2017, including the last one signed by Nawrocki in early 2024.
In September we asked the Institute of National Remembrance to provide us with a list and details of the places where it (the Polish side) wanted to carry out the work. So far there is no answer
— Drobovych told the Interfax-Ukraine agency.
The agency wrote today that the head of the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance “complained that it would now be difficult to distinguish the statements of an IPN official from the presidential candidate,” and recalled that Law and Justice supported the candidacy of the head of supported the Institute. of National Remembrance, Karol Nawrocki, for the office of Head of State.
The day before yesterday, Ukraine confirmed that there are no obstacles to carrying out search and excavation work on its territory. The decision to lift the moratorium on the search and exhumation of the remains of Polish victims of the Volhynian massacre, in force since 2017, was announced at a joint press conference of the Foreign Ministers of Poland and Ukraine, Radosław Sikorski and Andriy Sybiha. .
Dispute over commemoration
Since the spring of 2017, a dispute has been going on between Warsaw and Kiev over the ban on the search and exhumation of the remains of Polish victims of wars and conflicts on the territory of Ukraine, introduced by the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance. The ban was issued after the dismantling of the UPA monument in Hruszowice in April 2017.
Poland and Ukraine have been divided for years by the memory of the role of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, which carried out a genocidal ethnic cleansing of around 100,000 people in 1943-45. Polish men, women and children. While for the Polish side it is a despicable genocide (mass and organized) crime, for the Ukrainians it was the result of a symmetrical armed conflict for which both sides were equally responsible. Moreover, the Ukrainians want to see the OUN and UPA only as anti-Soviet organizations (because of their post-war opposition to the USSR), and not as anti-Polish organizations.
In the years 2017-2024, the Institute of National Remembrance submitted nine official general applications to the Ukrainian government, agreeing, among other things, on the possibility of carrying out search and excavation work at a total of 65 sites (the sites were repeated due to the need for repeated applications). Some of them were positively reviewed and worked on. In other places, work was denied and some requests went unanswered.
Nawrocki on many years of practice
The President of the Institute of National Remembrance, Dr. Karol Nawrocki, noted that the Polish Institute of National Remembrance had been sending exhumation requests to Kiev for years.
Since 2017, the Institute of National Remembrance has consistently strived to ensure that all excavation requests and excavations in Volhynia come true and allow us to fulfill our obligations to historical truth and the past. In 2017, the Institute of National Remembrance sent the first application to conduct search and excavation work. This request concerned many places. We sent 9 such requests between 2017 and 2014. None of these proposals were accepted by the Ukrainian side
– said the head of the Institute of National Remembrance.
Despite this, we at the Institute of National Remembrance have not given up. We carried out our educational and commemorative duties. Polish cities were filled with memorial plaques. We unveiled the Monument to the Victims of the Volhynian Genocide from Zielona Góra and also prepared new publications
– he added.
Of these 9 applications, the last one will be signed by me personally at the beginning of 2024. This is a request addressed to the Minister of Culture and Strategic Communications of Ukraine. Today’s public statement must have a second form. (…) This is the “I control” mode. If the public statements of politicians are not just political statements, then we are waiting at the Institute of National Remembrance, (…) the only institution ready to carry out excavation work in Volhynia, for formal confirmation and response to our requests that have been shipped since 2017.
– said Nawrocki.
Our identification office is ready to carry out real searches in Volhynia within 24 hours. So we are waiting for formal confirmation of this information. (…) Personally, I am willing to go to Ukraine
– announced the presidential candidate.
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maz/wPolityce.pl/PAP
Source: wPolityce
Emma Matthew is a political analyst for “Social Bites”. With a keen understanding of the inner workings of government and a passion for politics, she provides insightful and informative coverage of the latest political developments.