Ceremonies commemorating the 60th anniversary of the tragic death of thousands of Poles killed by groups of Ukrainian nationalists in 1943, were held in Pavlivka, Ukraine, July 11.


It was the first official tribute in 60 years to the nearly 60,000 Poles murdered in Volhynia, attended by presidents of both countries: Aleksander Kwaśniewski of Poland and Leonid Kuchma of Ukraine (see photos).

Before World War II, Pavlivka was called Poryck and located on the territory of Poland. The town was inhabited by Polish, Ukrainian and Jewish populations who lived in peace, as witnesses state unanimously. Poryck had never been a site of ethnic conflict or friction. It was during the war that tensions first appeared, leading to conflicts, accusations and hatred.

The summer of 1943 witnessed the climax of this conflict. On July 11, a group of Ukrainian nationalists attacked Polish civilians gathered for Sunday mass in the local church. Over 200 Polish people, chiefly women and children, were killed in the attack. On the same day, similar assaults took place in over 100 other towns and villages in Volhynia. The bloody summer began. The Ukrainian nationalists, in committing the killings, wanted to cleanse Volhynia of the Polish population; they believed that Volhynia should become a region inhabited exclusively by Ukrainians. The crimes committed in Volhynia led to the death of over 60,000 Poles and over 10,000 Ukrainians. Most of the Polish victims were civilians.

Until the 1990s, which marked the fall of communist rule in Central and Eastern Europe, knowledge of these tragic developments was communicated practically only through family and personal contacts. The Polish and Soviet communist authorities were not interested in explaining or commemorating the tragedy. The more so, as there had been more than just two sides involved in the conflict-Soviet partisans and regular units of the German army were also involved. Owing to the complexity of the situation and the unclear role played by Soviet intelligence in creating the tragic conflict, the communist authorities were neither interested in investigating the truth nor allowing people to talk about it.

Thanks to the great transformation which took place in Central and Eastern Europe in the late 80s and early 90s, Poles and Ukrainians started to revisit that period to seek the truth about the past tragedy. The search was supposed to result in an explanation to the roots of the bloody conflict, the acceptance of responsibility and, finally, reconciliation between both nations.

The July ceremonies in Pavlivka were meant not only as a tribute to the people killed in the former town of Poryck and victims of other massacres committed in Volhynia. They were also supposed to be an important step toward Polish/Ukrainian reconciliation. As long as past divisions are not overcome, the Polish-Ukrainian partnership will be exposed to difficult tests.

These days, Pavlivka is a small and poor village. Few of its present residents remember what took place here 60 years ago. The frantic preparations for the anniversary commemorations continued in Pavlivka until the last moment. Even the day before the ceremonies, residents were laying asphalt on access roads, planting bushes and trees, whitewashing curbs, laying grass, painting houses and fences. People knew that the village would be visited by presidents, but only few were fully aware of the reason for their meeting. The years of Soviet domination in this land erased the historical memory of the local population and the decade of independence which followed did not bring any considerable change.

The anniversary ceremony was held on the site of the former Catholic cemetery. The site was tidied up thanks to the efforts of the Polish Council for the Remembrance of Struggle and Martyrdom and thanks to the friendliness of the local authorities and residents. The exhumed remains of the people killed in the local church on July 11, 1943, which had been buried in different parts of Pavlivka, were interred in the cemetery.

The anniversary ceremonies started with a church service. Stanisław Filipowicz, a resident of former Poryck and one of the few people to survive the pogrom, spoke after the service. His speech was the dramatic voice of a witness, a forewarning and an appeal for reconciliation. "May the three large crosses which I brought here from Poland be a forewarning for us so that a tragedy like this never takes place in the future. May this historic day be a day of tribute to truth and memory, and a call for genuine reconciliation between Poles and Ukrainians, between both our nations."

The two presidents spoke in a similar tone, calling for historical truth, forgiveness and reconciliation. President Leonid Kuchma said: "In this place where Polish victims rest, on behalf of all Ukrainians who want peace and justice, I wish to express my deep sympathy to all the wronged Poles, all those who suffered as a result of this disaster. We issue a strong condemnation of the violence committed against the Polish civilian population."

President Aleksander Kwaśniewski on his part remarked: "One should not blame the Ukrainian nation for the massacre of the Polish population. There are no culprit nations. It is always specific people who bear responsibility for crimes and misdeeds. But it is necessary for us to express our moral protest against the ideology which led to the "anti-Polish operation," initiated by part of the Ukrainian Nationalist Organization and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. I know that these words may be painful to many. But no goal, even one as noble as national freedom and sovereignty, can justify genocide, the slaughter of civilian populations, violence and cruel suffering inflicted on your neighbor."

The most important part of the ceremonies was the unveiling of the Monument to Polish/Ukrainian Reconciliation by the two presidents and fixing to it the Declaration on Reconciliation. The Declaration includes the following words: "We believe that what has united Poland and Ukraine for centuries cannot be destroyed by conflicts of the past. From this place, which has gone down in both nations' history as a tragic chapter, we want to appeal for the tightening of the ties which unite us, and for understanding that anyone who tries to sever these ties acts not only against the other Nation but also against their own Nation. Today, we are closer to the truth, closer to each other-together in the united Europe."

However, many of the people who arrived in Pavlivka expected the Ukrainian president to offer an apology, similar to that made several years ago by the Polish president towards the Ukrainians who suffered as a result of the Vistula operation, the resettlement of the Ukrainian population following World War II. But President Kuchma did not offer an apology. Similarly, the crosses placed in Pavlivka lack any explanation as to what happened in this village on July 11, 1943, to why over 200 Polish people lost their lives on that day. Does the lack of such an explanation mean that the present-day situation and state of Polish/Ukrainian relations are not mature enough for us to fully document the painful past? If so, then the ceremony in Pavlivka should be regarded only as the beginning, the first step on the road towards Polish/Ukrainian reconciliation.

Krzysztof Renik
Pavlivka, Ukraine