FROM ACTIVITY II
INTERNAL TERRORISM
Dr. Lucyna Kulinska
From past of the Second Republic.
Terrorism in the interwar.
In over a 1000 years of past of 2 neighboring nations: Poles and Ukrainians-Rusins, the twentieth century was the most tragic. The author focused on a small, little than 20-year-old cut of this history. Looking for answers to the question of the reasons for the failure of the Second Republic's policy towards the Ukrainian minority, she found that it was mostly the responsibility of the illegal extremist organizations: Ukrainian Military Organization, Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists and Communist organization of Western Ukraine.
Poland was not, as he wrote maliciously in his articles by Ivan Kedryn-Rudnicki "Polska powiatsalska". Its borders, both in the east and in the west, were occupied with the blood of soldiers and insurgents. Although she was a country of mixed nationality, all minorities, including Ukrainian, enjoyed full civilian rights on an equal footing with Poles.
The second Rzeczpospolita owned and managed the border districts – including Małopolska East and Volyn – legally and with the approval of global bodies. In specified a situation constant questioning of this legality and blaming Poles for all possible disasters and harms which affected Ukrainians on their way to national independency is unjustified. It is besides hard to charge Poles that after the First planet War they did not want to give the area, which was inhabited by themselves, with definitely Polish infrastructure, real property and property. specified lands and their Polish inhabitants could not just be abandoned, especially as there was a real threat of their fast integration into the Ukrainian Socialist Republic of Councils.
It should be stated that during the interwar period in Poland there was a phenomenon of political terrorism. Diversifying actions and terror, as a way of combating the state, were utilized by the UWO and the CNS, as well as by russian agents – communists, both surviving in the Republic and being transferred from the russian Union. Ukrainian nationalists had a common goal with the communists: weakening, and in favorable circumstances annihilation of Poland as a state.
The brutal ideology of UWO-CNS initially took over a tiny part of Ukrainian society. respective 100 people, from the CNS, were associated with the UWO at the end of the 1930s, respective twelve thousand. Against the background of another Ukrainian groups operating in Poland, it was a loud, but not a very crucial group. It would not pose a major threat to Poland if it were not for comprehensive logistical, training and financial assistance of governments and military spheres: Germany, Lithuania, Czechoslovakia and even russian Russia.
The main nonsubjective of the UAE and the CNS was to make a Ukrainian state. It included: Małopolska East, Chełm Region, Volyn, russian Ukraine after Caucasus and Kazakhstan, Bukovina, Besarabia and Zakarpacie.
As a consequence of the treaties concluded after planet War I, these lands belonged to 4 countries: Poland, Czechoslovakia, the USSR and Romania. Although utmost Ukrainian nationalists planned to dominate all these territories, in practice their activity was almost exclusively directed against the Republic. Only after revealing the degree of the persecution of Ukrainians in russian Russia, the blade of attacks, mostly propaganda ones, was returned against it, although Poland remained the field of play invariably.
It was a serious mistake that only a part of the Ukrainian population utilized a short 20-year period of time as part of the common state, to learn self-management and to rise the level of civilization and economical border voivodships. Anarching of south-eastern districts, terrorism and sabotage mostly financed from the funds of Polish enemies, due to the fact that for both inhabiting Kresy the nation was a highly unfavourable phenomenon. Both Poles and Ukrainians were to blame for this.
Poles were incapable to make an effective number policy. There were many reasons, among others, that Polish public opinion was full of chaos as regards the cognition of number and Ukrainian issues in particular. Among Polish politicians, supporters of the exclusionary concepts of state assimilation (which aimed to change the negative attitude of the Ukrainian community towards our statehood and to recognise it as their own, by means of various concessions and incentives) and national assimilation (the control of the Ukrainian component by Poland) and yet the prometean thought that it was impossible for Poland to build a Ukrainian state (of course for Dnieprem) and make it a convenient ally in the fight against Russia.
However, no of these projects provided for Poland to resign from the areas of Volyn and east Małopolska, although individual proposals for their division appeared on the Polish and Ukrainian sides.
None of these concepts have been achieved. Attempts to rise these lands were besides unsuccessful. This was impossible in specified a short time and in a territory shaken by continuous riots, arsons and assassinations. The increasing Ukrainian chauvinism neutralized effectively all attempts by the authorities to address the political and economical problems of the south-east districts. It was – as prof. Czesław Partacz claims – a war declared by Poland and Poles by the Ukrainian born integral nationalism, or Ukrainian form of fascism. Poles – people of Western, Latin civilization, including liberals, had no chance to win it, nor even to halt it. Poland had neither the means nor the spirit. She did not want to hotel to the methods of her opponent.
Defenders of utmost Ukrainian nationalism respect the terrorist activities of the CNS-UPA as exceptional and isolated phenomena for which “other”, “foreign”, “gentlemen”, etc., i.e. Russians, Germany, Poles or yet circumstances are to blame. They claim to their justification that mass execution can be committed by any nation. You can't agree with that. For in this case, specified drastic methods have been applied for centuries. In order not to leave specified a serious accusation, without justification, it is adequate to remind identically cruel conduct (although on a smaller scale) towards the Polish inhabitants of Volyn and, above all, Galicia from 1918 to 1919.
Undoubtedly, strong inspiration for radicals from the UWO-UN was the postulates of leftist movements, with socialism and communism at the head. By promoting the imagination of the self-stitch and councillorial Ukraine, they directed to mediocre peasants, the unemployed, workers and intelligence promises of large profits resulting from the seizure of Polish property and property. The land and all property was to be taken from Poles without the right to any redemption or compensation. Thus the Ukrainians were broken by moral and spiritual opposition to the taking of property and killing.
With specified simple but extremist solutions, the nationalists mastered the minds of Ukrainian youth and children (involved into work in organizations already at the age of eight), who did not want to wait or make freedom, like fathers, through tedious organic work. Hundreds of critical murders of Ukrainians and Poles, terrorist attacks, assaults and arsons inevitably contributed to further spreading aggressive attitudes among young people.
As a consequence of individual and collective panic conducted by the UWO and the CNS between 1922 and 1939, respective 100 people lost their lives or were mutilated. They were Poles, Ukrainians, Jews and even Russians. The victims of the assassinations were both representatives of political and administrative authorities: MP Tadeusz Hołówko, Minister Bronisław Pieracki, school curator Stanisław Sobiński, and influential Ukrainians: Sydor Twerdochlib, Sofron Matwias or Ivan Babić. 1 step distant from death, the bombings included Marshal Józef Piłsudski and president Stanisław Wojciechowski. The assassinations were prepared against Minister August Zaleski, Minister of Sławoj Składkowski, voivodów: Henryk Józewski and Bronisław Nakoniecznikow- Klukowski, Chief of Police of Czesław Grabowski and many others.
Police officers, soldiers (especially KOP soldiers), teachers, mayors and chiefs, foresters, members of the “Shoots”, mailmen, colonists and average peasants were the object of the attacks and killings. A very large group of victims were Ukrainians loyal to the state. Threats, “death sentences”, demolition of property, arson, and even execution were to discourage Ukrainians from working with the state. Terrorists issued death sentences on MPs of Petro Surety and Michał Baczyński, committed an unsuccessful assassination of Ukrainian junior advanced school manager Michał Hrycak, intimidated reluctant ideologies of Greek Catholic priests or Ukrainian teachers. Jews besides settled in the field or in trade. The aim, in addition to the robbery, was to destruct them as a competition to facilitate the conduct of the interests of Ukrainian cooperatives. There were besides murders in the midst of terrorist organizations themselves. Even a shadow of suspicion of cooperation with the authorities led to execution. This was the case with Jakub Baczyński or Michał Huk.
In Kraków, close the Dębnicki marketplace Square, there was a laboratory where bombs were constructed for bombers. Its manager was Jarosław Karpyniec, Ukrainian chemistry student at the Jagiellonian University.
Throughout the interwar period, UWO and OUN bombers attacked civilian and military facilities, railway equipment, police stations, barracks, guards. Private and state property, telegraph and border poles, Polish emblems, were destroyed. In 1931, the UWO planned global provocation. It was about blowing up trains in the Pomeranian corridor, which was intended to provoke the German army's attack on Poland. Members of the UWO and the CNS besides committed common robberies to rise money. These were robberies on ambulances and post offices, state offices and even average mailmen. This disgraceful course active further sacrifices.
Especially spectacular was the assassination of the east Fair in Lviv in September 1929, where the main pavilion of the exhibition was blown up, tried to burn the Main Railway Station and carry out an assassination on the then minister of manufacture and trade Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski and on the voivode of Lviv hr. Wojciech Gołuchowski. Fortunately, no luck.
The fight against specified an opponent was hard due to the fact that terrorists, acting in close conspiracy, covered their tracks, utilized ciphers, utilized disinformation, had implicators who followed police movements, and besides could always number on the aid of interviews by abroad states.
In both the 1920s and 1930s Ukrainian nationalists contributed to the outbreak of mass anti-Polish actions in the Kresach. These were the alleged first and second occurrences of the UAE. Their crime was that performers, in the name of the conflict for independence, committed arson and demolition of private property of the mediocre agricultural Polish population. There were many victims, adults and children died in the fires. There were animals burning in the stables. Polish brick mills, mills and windmills were besides set on fire. Tens of manor houses were burned with their invaluable historical memorabilia. It should not be forgotten that the action of arson affected not only settlers, but mainly indigenous and settled there for centuries the Polish population. The way of destroying the property of peasants, mostly uninsured, the UWO and the CNS sought to drive them out of the territory to which the Ukrainians claimed. This has been unacceptable on ethnically mixed lands for hundreds of years. In today’s sense, these actions were an effort to implement cultural cleansing.
The UN-inspired anti-school action in which the Ukrainian children were involved, either straight or with the aid of their parents, deserves peculiar condemnation. The goal was to intimidate and expel Polish teachers and remove Polish language lessons from state schools in Kresach. At the same time school facilities, books, maps, Polish symbols were destroyed, teachers were attacked, their dwellings and possessions were demolished, and yet Polish children were beaten and humiliated.
In the light of the work of the II services of the Republic of Poland, there is no uncertainty that the organisations of the UWO and the CNS were the 5th column in Poland. They delivered military and state papers not only to Germany, but besides to the Soviets and Lithuanians sold stolen papers to anyone who could pay for them – sometimes a fewer at a time. This trade was a fundamental way of maintaining the Berlin authorities of the UWO. erstwhile reviewing lists of people active in anti-Polish activity in the Borderlands, it is easy to guess what were the ways in which these papers could be obtained. Ukrainians served in the military at all levels, worked in the police, in the judiciary, and above all they were a large group of railway workers – who stole, not very prudently sent papers and orders. In the 1930s, the conventional forms of intelligence and diversion came into cooperation with the Branch I of the Berlin office of Abwehr. Germany needed Ukrainian nationalists to take action against Poland and the USSR. To this end, they began training agents analogously to today's preparation of peculiar services commandos. This way will besides be followed by Germany during planet War II, training groups of Ukrainians to be ruthless murderers (axons, stranglers).
On the eve of the war, the CNS undertook preparations to organize an anti-Polish uprising coordinated with the attack of neighbouring countries on Poland. In at least 10 of the eighteen districts of the CNS there were training paramilitary camps where they were taught to deal with weapons and conduct guerrilla combat. If the Ukrainian attack had not been cancelled by the Germans and then stopped the Russians from killing Poles, then the genocide of the Polish civilian population of Kresów would have occurred in the autumn of 1939, erstwhile the army bled in an unequal fight on 2 fronts and could not come to the civilians with help.
A very hard and complex problem is the support given to Ukrainian nationalists by the Greek Catholic clergy and representatives of Ukrainian political, cultural, social and economical organizations. Many publications and accounts of witnesses prove that a large part of Greek Catholic priests maintained contacts and sympathized with utmost nationalists of the UWO-UN. This explains the many participation of priests of this religion in the preparation and implementation of anti-Polish terrorist-sabotage actions of 1922–1923, 1930 and later. Thanks to the support and inspiration of Fr Andrzej Szeptycki, many officers of the Ukrainian Halyćka Army took over Greek Catholic parishes. They did not retreat from utilizing the pulpit to conduct nationalist agitations and organize mourning mass for the executed terrorists – frequently assassins of innocent people – and advance their worship. In this way, a kind of sacralization of Ukrainian nationalism took place, which had dense consequences for future events.
Ukrainian economical organizations besides provided serious financial and human resources for Ukrainian nationalist activities in the interwar. As time went by, the executives included people with increasingly extremist views, who gradually brought these organizations into the ellipse of illegal activities. The state tolerated a situation where the immense increase in Ukrainian cooperatives was financed from unknown sources. It was besides allowed to organise large Ukrainian economical centres, which remained in direct relations with Berlin, without any control. A akin process of radicalization as in the economical establishments took place in Ukrainian cultural and educational organizations with “Principal” and “Ridna Szkola” at the head. They became the forge of utmost Ukrainian nationalism over time.
Against this background, a peculiar place is occupied by the legal Ukrainian youth organization “Luh” – the fruit of the unfortunate experimentation of the authorities. Although the interview alarmed that it was in practice a religiously inspired Ukrainian military organization, the UWO's terrorist base, the “Luh” organization, protected by the state's secret services, proved indestructible and lasted until 1939. About 50,000 people were trained in “Luhach”. The authorities hoped that this force would "rewind" for itself russian Ukraine. It happened differently – most of these young people during the war fed UPA ranks and tainted themselves with mass murders.
Development conditions created for Ukrainians in Poland against the background of neighbouring countries should be considered as completely decent or at least good. There is adequate evidence for this, specified as the spectacular improvement of Ukrainian cooperatives, cultural institutions, parliamentary representation, education, etc. As the policy of the authorities towards the Ukrainian number was comparatively liberal in order to escalate the conflict between both nations, the leaders of the chauvinist Ukrainian organizations had to make a considerable propaganda effort backed by aggressive, fascist ideology. For deficiency of strong political assets, they decided to mention to economical arguments, stressing the social and social disadvantage of Ukrainians in Poland. Blaming the recently created state for this state, they did not accept that it had to conflict with the legacy of partitions, the demolition of planet War I and the large global economical crisis, and all these problems affected not only Ukrainians, but besides Poles.
Poland was forced to defend itself in a collision with terrorism. However, the authorities had to limit themselves to the legal framework outlined in the penal code, interior laws and restrictions imposed by the League of Nations. There were exceptions to this rule, but in forced situations, erstwhile hundreds of houses and barns with collections burned and there was a real anticipation of uncontrollable retaliation and self-righteousness from the injured Poles.
It was very hard for the authorities to deal with the problem of the UWO and the CNS remaining on the pay of neighbouring countries and pairing up throughout the interwar period with widely understood subversive activities and espionage. The territory of the full Republic was covered by a network of military intelligence, and its routes led by Kraków, Warsaw, Poznań, Gdańsk or Królewiec to Berlin. “ Our defence of the country, our military potential, the military war industry, even political life and the economy have been the subject of abroad influence penetration with military Ukrainian elements,” admitted the Polish intelligence. Trials of espionage and our military intelligence provided fresh news about the size of Polish action on the Earth. Olga Besarabova, Vladimir Pipczyńska, Colonel Andrzej Melnyk, Captain Opyp Dumin, Captain Ryszard Jara and many others, among whom there were no shortages and representatives of UNR (petlurists), as Colonel Nicholas Czebotariw, acted from his arm or in close association with these lectures and military cells, mentioned above.” Absolute personnel continuity in the CNS structures was besides highlighted after the outbreak of planet War II.
Between the events described from the interwar period and the genocide carried out on the Polish people of Kresów during planet War II there was a direct causal link. Undoubtedly, the same ideology that appeared in the cradle of Ukrainian nationalism took on a genocidal dimension in the favourable circumstances of planet War II. The slogan “Ukraine as clean as a glass of water” has been implemented...
The UN writes that “UN will not let peace on Ukrainian lands under business – (i.e. in Poland – cars). The fathers of Ukrainian nationalism themselves were aware of their highly destructive role. In Senyk’s file, Ivan Gabruszewicz (Habrusevych) wrote to J. Konowalc: “WWO is the rationalist of destruction, the colossal outburst of instincts to become a hero at inexpensive cost. The majority of its members are formed by bandits.”
Even erstwhile the order for extermination was carried out in 1943, doubts arose among Ukrainian nationalists themselves. Taras Bulba-Borowec wrote “Only a sovereign state can free any territory from national minorities, through the exchange of population alternatively than an army (...) through repression (...) the rule of collective and household work can be applied only by barbariansIt’s okay. ”
Such a view of UWO-UN activities seems inactive hard for any Ukrainian historians to accept. Their representatives at Polish-Ukrainian seminars publically claimed that the fight against terrorists and diversions was evidence of anti-Ukrainian government policy. Prof. W. Rezmer quoted Prof. M. Kuszczerepa's statement, which, after presenting a passage of the secret study by the Volynian Provincial Office in which he wrote: "...As a consequence of the actions, the area was cleared of a crucial number of diversions and the population was calmed down in the area..." he commented as follows: "...However, the Polish authorities did not halt there, continuing the anti-Ukrainian policy...". Prof. Vitali Makar said crucial words at another semdia: “No nationally conscious Ukrainian can accept the improvement of the programming assumptions and activities of the CNS-UPA”. For Polish historians, these statements are alarming. UWO-UN cult and UPA are developing dramatically both in Ukraine, Canada and, unfortunately, among the Ukrainian number in Poland. The CNS had its successor in the form of a terrorist organization UNA-UNSO or Swoboda. In honor of the leaders-murderers of Poles and Ukrainians, specified as Bandera, Kłaczwszki or Szuchewycz, the Kurhana is falling apart, building monuments, calling them streets, young people are learning about them in schools. They are portrayed as heroes. Their people and ideologies are attributed to participation in Ukraine's independence. Also, those in the leading positions in Ukraine present have not only never cut off from the Ounovsk scheda, but have become advocates for post-Banders.
It may be asked whether the fall of Poland in 1939 was as successful for Ukrainian citizens of Poland as they claim? It's hard to have a clear answer. If all Ukrainians recognise the panic of the UWO-UN, then the cultural cleansing of the territory of the Western Ukraine from Poles, as well as the clash of respective 100 years of common history, as worthy of the highest honor and glory, then it will be painful to recognise that the ideology of the OUN has prevailed.
"There are no criminal nations but criminal ideologies," reiterated Ukrainian historian Viktor Poliszczuk. The terrorist activities described were followed by organisations that were driven by cruel and dangerous ideology. There is no uncertainty that this ideology should be condemned and removed from both the explanation and the practice of political life of today's Europe.
Tolerating the radicalism of national minorities and their right to separatistism was recognised in Western Europe as a determinant of the effectiveness of democracy. Meanwhile, the Balkan and Chechen wars, Basque, Catalan, Corsican and Belgian events, the increasing hostility of Muslim minorities to the native peoples of Western Europe and many others, make them ask questions about the boundaries to which separatistism can go, and about the methods to which the political and armed conflict for independency can go. Is the price that extremist local organizations make to pay in their fight besides high? Should commonly utilized terrorism be interpreted simply as an act of desperation for the mediocre and oppressed? Isn't it sometimes a calculated act – a political weapon designed to break trust in the state and its institutions, referring to the lowest instincts: the desire to plunder the neighbour's land, the achievements of his life, the social position? The welfare of individuals, including the right to life, does not number for terrorists. They are only meant to implement ideologie-based and frequently demagogue plans of the organization.
There are besides questions about criminal ideologies on which utmost groups are based. Although frequently in an unauthorised manner they mention to the highest values, patriotism, religion, in practice their background turns out to be openly racist, fascist, communist or anarchist. This was the case in the case of the Hague Trials on Crimes in the erstwhile Yugoslavia, where any of the defendants referred to Dmytra Doncov's ideology. A illness of hatred becomes a plague of all mankind, not just selected countries. In order to dream of giving up highly aggressive actions, it is not only essential to destruct and condemn utmost ideologies that push people into crime. Therefore, brakes were created in the form of religion and law, including international. However, in order to carry out specified cruel acts as were committed by utmost Ukrainian nationalists during the last war against Poles, there was inactive more to be done: suppression not only of social, but besides of primary, biological morality, prohibiting people from harming representatives of their own species.
There is besides a concept of genetic memory or "constructive cause" in sociobiologists' considerations. There is much evidence of invariability in the historical ways of the community. any types of behaviour (including aggressive ones) may have repeated more frequently than would have been the consequence of statistics, peculiarly erstwhile they brought tangible benefits to a group, or its members (hulls, territorial gains, etc.) and they did not face adequate penalties that would in future discourage specified actions. Despite changing circumstances, possibly a constant pattern of conduct is created. In the case of a peculiar community, it is possible to foretell with a large deal of probability what trends will prevail erstwhile solving disputes, what methods will escape in competition and fighting, with whom alliances will contain, etc. To show that this rule works, interesting historical analyses can be carried out. In the case of an interesting topic, it is worth to analyse the recurrent periods of escalation of aggressive behaviour towards the Polish population and even attempts to clean up cultural territory. As a rule, these crimes remained unpunished and undefiled.
These are theoretical considerations, but they are crucial due to the fact that cruel crimes, specified as genocide, proceed in the consciousness of nations for many generations, because, as Marian Malikowski wrote, "collective memory is more resistant to changes in reality than individual memory." So the hope of dealing with the ghosts of the past through persistent silence of fact may prove to be disappointing. A well-known saying says that those who ignore past are doomed to repeat it.
So we should treat Poland in the inter-war 20th anniversary, not as an exception, but as 1 of many dramas, whose course indicates the inevitability of a bloody trial by cultural number opponents of the state (especially erstwhile it finds itself in a hard global or economical situation), if the number is sufficiently numerous, and in addition there will be groups based on utmost chauvinist ideology rejecting the methods defined by Western culture as "civilized". Whether the sources will let specified events to be reconstructed on a wider scale and allowing generalisation, they will undoubtedly show investigation in this direction.
Aleksander Szumański under the authority of Dr. Lucyna Kulinska
