Ukrainian historians call on Poland not to equate UPA with Nazis and Communists

More than 40 representatives of the Ukrainian historical community have published an open statement regarding the intentions of some political forces in Poland to equate the activities of the UPA and OUN (b) with the totalitarian regimes of Nazism and communism at the legislative level. The statement was published by Ukrainian Institute of National Memory.

The statement said that this legislative initiative was received with concern in Ukraine. The initiators of these "innovations" unilaterally determine Ukrainians to be guilty of all events related to the Volyn tragedy.

"Attempts to equate the anti-imperial, national liberation activities of the UPA and OUN (b) with the genocidal practices of the neo-imperial totalitarian regimes of the Nazis and Communists, against which Ukrainian insurgents primarily fought, are rather dubious," historians emphasize .

They believe that politicization of the common historical heritage of Ukraine and Poland, in particular those tragic common pages of history that led to massive casualties on both sides, should be avoided.

And any actions that try to weaken Ukraine, and thus Poland, are the goal of Russia, which has been doing everything possible to destroy both Ukrainians and Poles for centuries.

That is why the Ukrainian side proposed to its Polish colleagues to resume the format of professional discussions within the Forum of Historians of Ukraine and Poland, whose joint work would contribute to an impartial study of the events of the historical past.

So far, 43 historians have signed the statement, but it is open for signature by all those who share this position and seek to maintain friendly and constructive relations with Poland.

The scholars noted that, according to current practice, the Ukrainian side will have to take mirror measures, in particular, to assess the actions of individual units of the Krajowa Army and the Battalions of the Boys.

"Who are known to have committed crimes against the civilian Ukrainian population during World War II and in the early postwar years," the statement said .

• on September 29, Polish President submitted a bill to the Sejm that proposes to introduce penalties for denying "crimes" committed by Ukrainian nationalists. In addition, the draft law proposes to increase the statutory penalties for illegal border crossing and organization of illegal border crossing.