July 11, 2026, 5:45 p.mJuly 11, 2026, 5:45 p.m
Overshadowed by a historical dispute with Ukraine, Poland celebrated the “Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Volhynia Massacre and Other Crimes of Ukrainian Nationalists”. The national conservative President Karol Nawrocki said at a memorial event in Radruz on the border with Ukraine: “We refuse to let the 120,000 Poles – civilians, women and children who were brutally murdered by Ukrainian nationalists – fall into oblivion.”
On July 11, 1943, partisans of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) attacked more than 100 Polish villages in Volhynia and eastern Galicia (now western Ukraine). The massacres cost the lives of tens of thousands of Poles and Jews by 1945. The so-called Bloody Sunday, which is commemorated in Poland, was the culmination of a wave of murders against the Polish and Jewish civilian population.
Volhynia massacre divides allies
The fact that the perpetrators at the time are still revered as heroes in Ukraine today because they later fought against the Soviet Union has been causing new disagreements between the two close allies for weeks. In June, Poland’s President Nawrocki stripped his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky of Poland’s highest order. The reason for this was that Zelensky gave an army unit the nickname “Hero of the UPA” as a special honor.
In Poland, the glorification of the UPA as a “hero” caused outrage. In Ukraine, however, the withdrawal of the order caused resentment. Several Ukrainian politicians also returned their Polish awards out of anger.
Tusk: Memory must not serve hatred
Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced in a video message on the X platform that a memorial wall with an “eternal flame” would be built. The head of government said the wall should bear the names of all identified victims of the 20th century wars in Ukraine. “The murdered must not remain nameless,” demanded Tusk and promised: “The Republic of Poland will not forget any of them.” At the same time, Tusk also warned: “Remembrance must not serve hatred.” (sda/dpa)