History /
Should Poland organize March of the Living in Volhynia and Eastern Lesser Poland? [64]
Shouldn't we take example in how Jews commemorate their victims? Shouldn't we make young generations remember those events, just like Jews do?
A nation which forgets its history is doomed to go through it again.
The genocide of Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Lesser Poland perpetrated by Ukrainian nationalists bears striking resemblance to Holocaust in that its goal was to physically exterminate whole population including women and children. You may think that the Ukrainians "just" wanted to make Poles leave their villages, where they lived since middle ages - that was unfortunately not the case since UPA officers openly asked Poles to stay and even gave them "guarantees" on paper reassuring them that no harm will be done.
If you know Polish - take a look at this documentary about the Massacre of Wola Ostrowiecka:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massacre_of_Wola_Ostrowiecka
Towards the end of that documentary a guy recalls how his grandfather was murdered because he couldn't believe that Ukrainians could be murdering Poles for no reason (other than that they were Poles), so he went to talk with them and obviously - was murdered.
The other issue is: how should Poland honour the memory of those Ukrainians who didn't join UPA but instead saved Poles by hiding them from their countrymen? Should Poland also take example from the Jewish "Righteous among the Nations" initiative?