1997: THE YEAR IN REVIEW

50th anniversary of Akcja Wisla

At the end of the second world war, Europe and the Soviet Union were patchwork quilts of new borders, administrative zones and occupied territories, among which were scattered millions of refugees. Millions of people who had not fled their homes were then subjected to involuntary deportation and forcible resettlement. Among those to be deported and resettled were Ukrainians who were living within the new borders of Communist Poland after the war.

The forcible resettlement, involuntary deportation and massacre by the Polish government of more than 650,000 Ukrainians from their native ethnic territory took place in two phases: from 1944 to 1947 the Polish government deported 500,000 Ukrainians to the U.S.S.R. (many of whom were subsequently sent to labor camps in Siberia, imprisoned or killed); and throughout the spring, summer and fall of 1947 the Polish government conducted an operation of planned destruction code named Akcja Wisla (Operation Vistula) that forcibly resettled 150,000 ethnic Ukrainians, as well as those of mixed Polish-Ukrainian marriages, from their homes in eastern Poland to territories in northern and western Poland.

Throughout the United States and Canada, events were held to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Akcja Wisla and to honor the victims of this campaign. Commemorations included memorial services and concerts, conferences, lectures, photo exhibits and the publication of new material.

One of the groups targeted during Akcja Wisla was Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) supporters and leaders, and since this year was also the 55th anniversary of the founding of the UPA, many commemorative events jointly acknowledged the anniversaries of Akcja Wisla and the UPA.

The Pittsburgh community, where numerous survivors of Akcja Wisla and descendants of expatriated Ukrainians live, honored the memory of victims of Akjca Wisla on September 14. The New York community's commemorations spanned a week of events from October 17-26 that included a conference, a concert and an exhibit of photos and archival documents. The Toronto community organized an ongoing exhibit, which opened on March 26, of more than 200 photos from the period of deportation and detention in the Jaworzno concentration camp.

Among the new information to surface in recent years is evidence that contradicts earlier Polish government claims that Akcja Wisla was not planned in advance. Documents from the archives of the Polish Internal Affairs Ministry prove that plans to eliminate Poland's "Ukrainian problem" (as one of the documents stated), to selectively arrest, imprison and kill leaders of the community, to destroy homes and churches, and to confiscate property had been developed for at least a year prior to the beginning of the operation. Approximately 20,000 Polish military and internal security troops were mobilized to carry out Akcja Wisla, primarily in the Lemko, Sian and Kholm regions. Other archival materials show that though the plans originated with, and were carried out by, the Polish government, the campaign was done with approval and support in Moscow.

On the occasion of this solemn 50th anniversary, the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (UCCA) sent an appeal in January to Poland's President Aleksander Kwasniewski and to the Polish Sejm, asking that Poland's leadership condemn Akcja Wisla in accordance the U.N. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, as well as consider compensatory actions such as the restoration of community property and financial measures to assist survivors. The UCCA received a response letter several weeks later in which Poland's Secretary of State Marek Siwets acknowledged the criminality and tragedy of Akcja Wisla and condemned it as a "black chapter" in the history of the 20th century.

During the final week of May, in Kyiv, President Kwasniewski and President Leonid Kuchma signed the Declaration on Concord and Unity in which Poland and Ukraine agreed to put aside historical animosities, including Akcja Wisla.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, December 28, 1997, No. 52, Vol. LXV

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