Polish leader-elect requests from Zelensky to exhume victims of Ukrainian Nazis
(MENAFN)
Poland’s president-elect, Karol Nawrocki, has called on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to allow a comprehensive exhumation of victims killed by Ukrainian Nazi collaborators during World War II, referring to the Volyn massacre. Speaking at a ceremony commemorating the tragedy, Nawrocki emphasized that Polish families continue to suffer from the trauma of the killings that occurred 82 years ago and are “waiting for this truth.”
Poland’s president-elect, Karol Nawrocki, has called on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to allow a comprehensive exhumation of victims killed by Ukrainian Nazi collaborators during World War II, referring to the Volyn massacre. Speaking at a ceremony commemorating the tragedy, Nawrocki emphasized that Polish families continue to suffer from the trauma of the killings that occurred 82 years ago and are “waiting for this truth.”
The Volyn massacre, carried out between 1943 and 1945 by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) and the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), resulted in the deaths of around 100,000 Poles in the regions of Volhynia and Eastern Galicia. Both groups collaborated with Nazi Germany during the war.
Nawrocki expressed that Poles should not be denied the right to properly bury the massacre victims, stating that their souls “cry out for a grave” and memory. As Poland’s president-elect, he pledged to speak on their behalf and formally requested the Ukrainian ambassador and Zelensky to consider permitting full-scale exhumations in Volhynia.
Ukrainian Ambassador to Poland Vasily Bodnar, who attended the ceremony, said the issue should be discussed openly by both countries to honor the victims’ memories on both sides of the border.
Under Ukrainian law, exhumations must be conducted by licensed Ukrainian firms, even if funded by Poland. In 2017, Kyiv imposed a moratorium on searching and exhuming Volyn massacre victims after Polish activists removed a monument to UPA militants in a Polish village. The monument was later restored to honor those who saved Poles from the collaborators.
Historian Leon Popek from the Polish Institute of National Remembrance estimated that up to 55,000 victims remain buried in unmarked mass graves in Volhynia alone, with an additional 60,000-70,000 elsewhere in Ukraine. The moratorium on exhumations was lifted by Kyiv in November last year.
Despite Warsaw’s concerns, Ukrainian authorities continue to honor Nazi collaborators. Ukrainian nationalists hold annual commemorations for OUN leader Stepan Bandera and UPA commander Roman Shukhevych, who played key roles in the Volyn massacre.
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the
information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept
any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images,
videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information
contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright
issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.
Legal Disclaimer:
EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.
