FOR THE RECORD: Union of Ukrainians in Poland statement on Akcja Wisla (11/03/02)

FOR THE RECORD

Union of Ukrainians in Poland statement on Akcja Wisla

Following is a position paper released in Warsaw on October 12 by the board of the Union of Ukrainians in Poland concerning the elimination of the consequences Akcja Wisla.

In 2002 the Ukrainian community in Poland commemorates the 55th anniversary of the Wisla operation which was carried in 1947. In its aftermath, Ukrainians were deported from their indigenous lands to northern and western regions of Poland. Members of the entire Ukrainian community were deprived of their civil rights in violation of the law. They were dispossessed of their property, including the property of social and religious organizations. Some Ukrainians were incarcerated without due process at the concentration camp in Jaworzno.

This coming anniversary of the deportation presents an opportunity for representatives of Ukrainian organizations, which promote respect for civil rights as well as national and cultural identity of Polish citizens of Ukrainian nationality, to review the policies pursued by the Polish state towards the Ukrainian minority, and especially the way it responds to the positions that the legal and material consequences of the Wisla operation should be eliminated. Having reviewed various spheres of social and political life, it is with regret that we conclude that what prevails in the attitude of the authorities to the above-mentioned issues is lack of good will and lack of willingness to take an integrated approach to the postulate of eliminating the consequences of Akcja Wisla that was put forward by the board of the Union of Ukrainians (ZUwP) in Poland and submitted in the form of a document to the Polish Parliament on November 19, 1992.

In our opinion, in the last decade both the Polish administration and political elites not only failed to commit themselves to the eradication of those consequences, but also to carry an unequivocal assessment of the causes and effects of the deportation, whose impact on the situation of Polish citizens of Ukrainian nationality is evident to the present day. This is best evidenced by the following facts.

I. In the area of law:

There has been no final decision on the part of state bodies about the payment of compensations to 168 verified inmates incarcerated without any court trials at the Central Labor Camp at Jaworzno in 1947-1949. The Ukrainians who were persecuted, tortured and punished without due process of law during the Stalin era continue to be a community "of those rightly repressed."

The absence of an act on restitution of private property makes it difficult to address the positions voiced by the Ukrainian community about the return of the property that had been nationalized by the state in 1949. Failure to address this issue has resulted in such negative phenomena as sale of the property that once had been owned by Ukrainians (including cemeteries) by the Agency of Rural Property of the State Treasury and that there are groups of citizens who had been deported to work on state farms in 1947 who have not been paid any indemnity for the property they lost during Akcja Wisla. Presently, this group of Ukrainians lives in the areas of Poland which are affected by the highest unemployment (Western Pomerania and the Warmia and Mazury region) and is a victim of transformations for the second time in their lifetime.

In recent years there has been a noticeable tendency not to commemorate tragic episodes of Ukrainian history and to slow down the reconstruction of Ukrainian memorials in Poland. Such state bodies as (the Board for the Protection of Monuments of Struggle and Martyrdom) have broken all substantive contacts with the board of the Union of Ukrainians in Poland, decisions about burials and commemoration of Ukrainian sites in Poland are not made in consultation with social organizations of Ukrainians. Sometimes it takes years for decisions on some issues raised by the Ukrainian community to be made (e.g., regarding the reconstratuion of the monument in Lancut cemetery of the soldiers of the Ukrainian National Republic, completion of the reconstructed cemetery of UNR soldiers in Kalisz). In 2000, neither the families nor organizations representing the Ukrainian community were consulted when UPA solidiers, whose bodies had been exhumed from common graves at Bircza and Liszna, were buried, and the opening ceremony of the cemetery of UPA soldiers has not been held. To date, no permission has been granted to install new plaques to replace the ones that had been stolen.

II. In the area of historical studies:

There is no information about the results of the investigation conducted by the Commission for Persecution of Crimes Against the Polish State regarding mass killings of Polish citizens of Ukrainian nationality, while at the same time, now and then, there are so-called "controlled leaks" to newspapers and electronic media about the results of investigations into crimes perpetrated on Poles by "Ukrainian nationalists in Volyn," or about the SS Galizien soldiers. Such information, when properly "served," creates a bad atmosphere in the debate about the future (see the publication in Nasz Dziennik of January 5-6, which is Christmas Eve across the eastern border, titled "Smert lachom smert," or biased news about the participation of Ukrainian soldiers in the thwarting of the Warsaw Uprising which was aired by TVN on January 7-8, 2001). This is accompanied by the lack of more comprehensive information (including access to that information) about the investigations into mass killings of Ukrainians at Terka, Zawadka Morochowska and many other locations. Due to such an approach, stereotypes about the Polish-Ukrainian conflict at the time of World War II are further reinforced: namely, that there were victims only on the Polish side and that only the Ukrainians are to blame. There was no response on the part of the commission to some issues (e.g., the use of coercion during deportations to the USSR in 1944-1946) raised by the Union of Ukrainians in Poand.

III. In the area of public rights and present consequences of Akcja Wisla:

The consequences of Akcja Wisla pertain not only to the historical and material sphere, e.g., the dispersal of the Ukrainian community, but they continue to constrain the cultivation of the Ukrainian language and tradition, and prevent Polish citizens of Ukrainian nationality from being active in many walks of public life (including culture, education and public institutions). The constraints give rise to the following problems.

Owing to their dispersal, Ukrainians cannot enjoy the beneficial rights vested in election committees of national minorities by the Election Law. As a result, our community enjoys practically no preferences and its representatives are very unlikely to be elected. Both at the parliamentary and local government levels it is difficult to ensure Ukrainian representation in the democratic process. This problem could be addressed by supplementing the Election Law with new provisions that would provide for the establishment of National Minority Electoral Groups and reserve six or seven parliamentary mandates for the representatives of such dispersed minorities as Ukrainians, Romany and Jews.

A request for the establishment of a Center of Ukrainian Culture was turned down. The Center was to coordinate and develop various forms of dissemination and promotion of culture among Ukrainians. At the same time, relations between Ukrainian social organizations and the Ministry of Culture have been deteriorating with each coming year. Procedures were changed and there were problems with the transfer of monies earmarked for the cultural activities of minorities in the ministry's budget, which made it impossible to launch valuable projects, plan more attractive cultural offerings or enlarge the range of dissemination activities.

Despite the fact that a negative stereotype of Ukrainians continues to persist in the Polish society, Ukrainian social organizations appealed to Polish authorities that nationalities be declared at the time of the national census. But the authorities failed to prepare the surveyors appropriately and, in effect, many irregularities were signalled (the Polish nationality was entered automatically, other than Polish nationality was frequently questioned, and the Ukrainian nationality was entered in pencil). Thus, the census will not be able to report a reliable number of Ukrainians in Poland.

Equally unsatisfactory is the Ukrainian community's access to public media. Despite a positive decision that the "Telenowyny" TV news prepared in the Ukrainian language will be broadcast twice a month, a significant group of Ukrainians (who live in such regions as Western Pomerania and the Carpathian lowlands), continue to be deprived of the possibility to watch the show due to the limited range of transmitters that broadcast TVP 3 (the regional television channel).

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