‘This Is Not About Meeting Halfway’ – Poland and Ukraine’s History Dispute

The primary issue at the heart of the Polish-Ukrainian dispute over the Volhynia massacres is multifaceted, involving emotions, historical findings, and interpretation. President Zelensky's decision to name a military unit after UPA heroes has heightened the emotional stakes. However, the root of the disagreement lies in differing perspectives on what transpired between Poles and Ukrainians during WWII.

Ukrainian historiography, aligned with the official state narrative, portrays a conflict between Poles and Ukrainians with both sides committing atrocities, suggesting it was not a calculated ethnic cleansing campaign but a fratricidal struggle. This narrative is designed to present a false equivalence between the two sides.

Ukrainian historiography is in sync with the state's portrayal of events, claiming that the conflict between Poles and Ukrainians during WWII was not a planned ethnic cleansing campaign but a fratricidal conflict. Poland, on the other hand, acknowledges the discriminatory policies of the Second Polish Republic towards Ukrainian minorities but maintains that this is not contentious within Poland.

Poles are well-informed about this historical aspect, as it is part of school curricula and widely discussed in the country. There is no debate in Poland about the discriminatory policies of interwar Poland towards ethnic minorities, including Ukrainians.

The situation becomes contentious when Ukraine attempts to portray the conflict as one of equal blame and suffering on both sides. However, archival documents and testimonies confirm that Ukrainian nationalists had a plan to eliminate the Polish population from Volhynia and Eastern Galicia. This plan aimed to remove the Polish populace from those regions.

While the exact number of Polish and Ukrainian victims is debated, Poland and Ukraine cannot find common ground on this issue, particularly the notion that this was a planned anti-Polish campaign.