The President of the Institute of National Remembrance, Karol Nawrocki, said that the Institute of National Remembrance is waiting for the start of exhumation work in Volhynia. The Mayor of Warsaw, Rafał Trzaskowski, declared that the Powązki cemetery is ready to become a worthy resting place for the victims of the Volhynia massacre.
On Tuesday Ukraine confirmed that there are no obstacles to conducting search and exhumation work on its territory. The decision to lift the moratorium on the search and exhumation of the remains of Polish victims of the Volhynia crime, in force since 2017, was announced during a joint press conference of the ministers of foreign affairs of Poland and Ukraine. Radosław Sikorski and Andriy Sybiha.
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In the entry on the X platform, the mayor of Warsaw Rafał Trzaskowski – candidate of the Civic Coalition for president – noted that generations of Poles had been waiting for this moment. “This is what effective diplomacy looks like. Today we are solving an issue that governments with mouths full of phrases about the 'national interest' were unable to complete. This shows that what counts is not empty, even the loudest slogans, but real actions. Congratulations to Radosław Sikorski” – he wrote.
“Finally, we will be able to commemorate with dignity the victims of the Volhynian massacre. And as the mayor of Warsaw, I declare today: the Powązki Cemetery is ready to become a worthy place of rest,” he added.
“Ukraine has made a historic decision”
On the other hand Institute of National Remembrance published a short comment by the president of the Institute of National Remembrance Karol Nawrocki – candidate PIS for president. Nawrocki emphasized that the declaration of the Ukrainian authorities regarding the commencement of exhumation works in Volhynia is encouraging.
“Now is the time for a positive consideration of our applications. We are ready to start work,” declared Nawrocki, quoted by the Institute of National Remembrance.
The Minister of Interior and Administration also commented on the decision Tomasz Siemoniak. He assessed that Ukraine – by lifting the blockade on the exhumation of the victims of the Volhynia massacre – had made a historic decision. “This is a huge success for both nations. It is also a testimony to the effectiveness of Polish diplomacy. Together, without barriers, we are stronger,” wrote the head of the Ministry of Interior and Administration.
Dispute over exhumations
Since the spring of 2017, there has been an ongoing dispute 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 UPA monument in Hruszowice was dismantled in April 2017.
Poland and Ukraine have been divided for many years by the memory of the role of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, which in 1943-45 committed genocidal ethnic cleansing of approximately 100,000 Polish men, women and children.
Ukrainians want to perceive the OUN and UPA only as anti-Soviet organizations (due to their post-war resistance to the USSR), and not as anti-Polish organizations.
Monument to the “Volhynia Massacre” in Domostawa in Podkarpacie Darek Delmanowicz/PAP
In the years 2017-2024, the Institute of National Remembrance submitted nine official general applications to the Ukrainian administration, which included agreeing on the possibility of conducting search and exhumation work in a total of 65 locations (the locations were repeated due to the need to repeat applications).
Some of them were approved and work was carried out, in other places consent to work was not given, and some applications remained unanswered.
Main photo source: Darek Delmanowicz/PAP