From the editorial board: Our longtime colleague and editor of Polish Thought, Zbigniew Lipinski (1943-2023) died. present we want to remind our readers of His text from 10 years ago.
It afraid the genocide of the CNS-UPA in the Borderlands. Kol. Zbigniew Lipinski, from Kresów (the village of Hoby k. Włodzimierz Wołyński) was born in the tragic year, in the year of the apogee of the crime in Volyn. Of course, he did not remember those days, but that tragedy was always in him. He has been an active movement activist since the 1990s. In our opinion, publishing this text from 10 years ago will be the best reminder today. Zbigniew Lipiński, all the more so due to the fact that it is inactive very current. Here's the text:
"It was not possible to silence the 70th anniversary of the genocide on Poles by the CNS-UPA and another formations of Ukrainian chauvinists from 1939 to 1947. It was not possible for the Sejm to pass a resolution commemorating this anniversary. The force on the exterminates to remind the public of this genocide has failed.
It was not possible to halt the March of Memory in Warsaw, nor to prevent ceremonies in provincial and region cities, frequently under the patronage of local self-governments, which, without a backdrop, in commemorative resolutions called the murders on Poles clearly genocide.
But we managed to make an informal coalition of disgrace in order to relativize the Upian crime at the Borderlands, reduce its size and savage cruelty, spread the blame between the deviant Ukrainian murderers and their victims. This anti-national agreement included: the environment of “Gazeta Wyborcza” with Michnik at the head, Episcopate of Poland (!!!) with its president Archabp Joseph Michalik, most of the parliament with Marshal Ewa Kopacz, president of Poland – Bronisław Komorowski. The Council for the Protection of the Fight and Martyrdom Memorial with its secretary has come to the coalition Andrzej Kunert. In the back he watched and gave instructions an highly influential Association of Ukrainians in Poland with his post-Banderian “Our Word” and plug-ins in political and technological environments. This coalition trampled the martyrdom of the Kresovians.
"Anti-Polish Action"
She was the first to launch the "GW" attack. The Chief GW in the article “Talk about Volyn the truth, but do not break it” calls the massacre of Poles carried out by the CNS-UPA at the east Borders “an anti-Polish action in Volyn”. For him, it is simply an "action", as if Ukrainians started knocking windows in Polish houses or not selling goods to Poles in their stores. That's one. Secondly, it limits genocide to the Volyn area. While the UPA bandits besides committed genocides of Poles in Podol, east Małopolska, Lublin, Rzeszów, Chełmszczyz. This genocide continued until 1947, erstwhile Operation "Wisła" put an end to the support of the local Ukrainian population (how forced and how voluntary – this is another issue) through the displacement on Western Earth. On the another hand, in the areas annexed to the russian Union, the liquidation of UPA continued until 1951. It is estimated that about 200 1000 Polish citizens were killed, including about 150 1000 Poles.
After the First planet War, Poland's recovery of parts of the Kresów inhabited by Ukrainians Michnik comments as follows: "The Ukrainians surviving in Poland felt a nation under Polish occupation". Bravo! It's like it was taken alive from a school textbook of past from Stalinist times. This language – it is hard to be amazed – is close to Michnik. In his antipolonism, the author relativizes the atrocities of the CNS-UPA, writing, “Talking about the “volyn slaughter”, it is worth remembering “the Galician slaughter” or about Jedwabne. Ukrainians did not have a monopoly on cruelty." What does Galician slaughter gotta do with the UPA genocide? Of course Michnik attributes the execution to Jedwabne Poles, as he attributed the Warsaw insurgents to murdering Jews. It besides proposes replacing the word "genocide" with another terms, specified as "tragic civilian war". It's a peculiar scam. For there was no civilian war there and at the time, only the execution of the defenceless Polish civilian population by UPA with a unique beastry. The AK or another armed formations of the Polish Underground State did not be in these areas, pacified by the Soviets. 27. Volynska AK Division was not established until March 1944, erstwhile the Polish population was mostly slaughtered. It must besides be remembered that this genocide was doctrinal, precisely planned and implemented in accordance with the principles of ;Ukrainian integral nationalism formulated by Dmitry Doncova. The aim was to get free of the “students” and make a Ukrainian state covering extended areas besides Polish, Belarusian and Russian. Michnik believes the condemnation of mass murders in Volyn is obvious. But here we have manipulation. First of all, not only in Volyn, but second – it must be said that it is the Polish population.
It besides calls for "not to empathize with cruelty and bid on who has suffered more." This is an exceptional thesis, due to the fact that the genocide committed in the Kresach by the CNS-UPA was characterized by a unique savagery, the top during the Second planet War, and besides another proposition that both sides were committing atrocities. In another words, Michnik calls for the cruelty of OUN-UPA thugs and another formations of Ukrainian armed chauvinists to be concealed. "To tell the truth, but not to break it," the author calls. But the “truth” of the michnik stems from another lie, as it suggests common suffering. Murdered Poles and UPA criminals? "Polish and Ukrainian victims must be commemorated with dignity," he postulates. Again, from this call comes common guilt and cruelty, which is simply a lie, a vile anti-Polish lie. It besides requires the expression ‘victim of both parties’. If the attacker dies during the assault, he's not a victim. In contrast, Ukrainian OUN-UPA victims request to be celebrated, as these formations murdered their countrymen for helping Poles or refusing to participate in genocide.
He besides confesses: "They are not my heroes either, pacifiers of Ukrainian forces in the Second Polish Age or leaders of the National Armed Forces". After all, Polish-Ukrainian feuds before the war were started by chauvinists from the CNS. Was it the Polish State expected to be vulnerable? Why? Ukrainians in the Second Polish Republic utilized wide cultural, educational and economical freedoms. They had parliamentary representation and Ukrainian activist Vassyl Mudryj He was Deputy Marshal of the Sejm. and this state of affairs did not correspond to the Ukrainian integral nationalists.
Finally, there is another large lie in Michnik's scamming erstwhile he writes about Polish hard Polish voices demanding repentance This is not what anyone demands from the Ukrainian people. On the another hand, the apparent Polish request is that on both the Polish and Ukrainian sides, crimes of the CNS-UPA. In the Borderlands, call it genocide, condemn this genocide, identify perpetrators, and punish the surviving criminals. Hiding, smearing or minimizing the fact about those cases is kind of like washing up SS, Gestapo, NKVD or UB crimes.
But the environment that the author represents and leads is not about the truth. It is about charging Poles with unfulfilled crimes and wines.
Archbishop Michalik apologizes to the criminals
“We are aware that only fact can liberate us... a fact that does not embellish anything and does not overlook anything that does not ignore anything ...” – says the “Declaration of Churches from Poland and Ukraine on Volynian Crime” dated 28.06.2013, signed by Archibpa Józef Michalik, president of the Polish Episcopal Conference, the arcba of the greater Światosław Szewczuk – a metropolitan of the Kiev-Halician Greek Catholic Church. The paper was besides signed by Archbishop Jan Martyniak the industrial-warszawski metropolitan of the Byzantine-Ukrainian Church and the Archibpa Mieczysław Mokrzycki – the metropolitan of Lviv, the Latin rite, the president of the Conference of the Roman Catholic Episcopal Conference of Ukraine. Unfortunately, the contents of the Declaration do not correspond to anything quoted in the Maxim document.
Before moving on to the content of this peculiar Declaration, it should be pointed out that 1 of the signatories – the Greek Catholic Church is to a large degree an accessory to genocide, due to the fact that the Greek Catholic clergy did not only service as chaplains of individual UPA sots, but besides called for the killing of Poles, and frequently the Greek Catholic priests commanded troops that advanced the Polish population.
For those signing the slaughter of Poles, done by CNS-UPA, it is “criminal and cultural cleansing”, but not genocide. They mention "tens of thousands of innocent people", but avoid giving the exact number of victims of genocide, which is set to be very close. They usage the word "Volyńsk crime" to narrow genocide to the Volyn region, while – as I wrote above – it besides included South-East Kresy and another areas of then and present Poland. Signatories call on Ukrainians and Poles to "brightly open their hearts and minds to common forgiveness and reconciliation". You and me? And what are the criminals from the OUN-UPA and their contemporary graves to forgive Poles or not?!
The next paragraph is the highest of hypocrisy and impudence, erstwhile on behalf of the Greek Catholic Church Światosław Szewczuk apologizes to the “brothers of Poles” for the “evil” done (what a euphemistic term!), but immediately demands: “In the name of fact we think that apologies and requests for forgiveness require the attitude of those Poles who did evil to Ukrainians and responded to violence.” So we should be slaughtered without any resistance, because, as it turned out after 70 years, by defending ourselves "we did evil to the Ukrainians."
Archbishop Michalik gave in to this insolence due to the fact that he declared: "As president of the Polish Episcopate, I address the Ukrainian Brothers a request for forgiveness". This passage of the Declaration was thus commented by the president of the Kresowy Kresowy Kresowy Movement in a letter-protester to Archibpa Michalik: “I ask, therefore, on whose behalf did the Archbishop address the request for forgiveness to the Ukrainians? On behalf of these 150 1000 Poles murdered by UPA bandits? Why the Ukrainians? After all, UPA criminals constituted only a tiny percent of the Ukrainian people. So the Ukrainian people did not commit crimes on Poles, but ONO-UPA, which besides murdered about 80,000 of its people, as proved by Viktor Poliszczuk and Vitaly Masłowski – non-nationalist Ukrainian historians. Or do you consider the Archbishop of Bandera's tombstones in modern Ukraine to be the “brothers” of the murderers, recognizing them as heroes and organizing fascist youth's careers with torches like the SS in Lviv and another cities in the western part of Ukraine? Which would imply that Your Excellency apologizes for the Poles' courage to defend their lives against murderers erstwhile they had the chance and sacred work to do so." Nothing to add, so let these words of the commander of the defence of the village of Rybcza in Volyn from the OUN-UPA bandits suffice for comment. The Declaration besides condemns "extreme nationalism and chauvinism". rather rightly, but why did not the distinguished authors specifically compose about Ukrainian nationalism in this document? They utilized no generals.
In total, the Declaration does not tell the fact but distorts or silences it. It lowers the number of victims, does not indicate the perpetrators of the OUN-UPA, the Bezpeky Service, SS-Galizien, the Nachtigal Battalion, and spread the blame between the victims and executioners, does not call this crime genocide or condemn the history-unknown cruelty of the torturers of the OUN-UPA. Unfortunately, the Polish Episcopate in the individual of its president entered into blurrying the fact – he sided with the ruling Polish establishment in its dark political game and post-Bander forces in Poland and Ukraine. 1 more bitter disappointment for the Kresovians and their families. And the apology of Archibpa Michalik is an insult to the memory of those murdered with the savage cruelty of Poles.
Zbigniew Lipinski
Photo: Zbigniew Lipinski during the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the crime of genocide in Volyn (with Jacek Marczyński) – July 11, 2013
Przemyśl Poland, nr 33-34/2013
