On the anniversary of these events, the National Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Genocide in Volhynia is observed. The Volhynia crime is all the more horrifying because it was not committed by the occupier who invaded Poland in 1939, but by its closest neighbor.

Barbara Smoleńska, president of the Society of Friends of Lviv and the South-Eastern Borderlands in Bolesławiec:

Among all the wrongs suffered by our nation, on this day we particularly wish to honor the Poles living in the south-eastern lands of the Second Polish Republic. The earth there swallowed thousands of lives. It was genocide committed against entire families, regardless of age. They were murdered for one thing: for being Polish. They were killed in order to “weed out” the Ukrainian land.

The observance also commemorates the so-called Righteous Ukrainians, who refused to take part in the brutal murders and helped Poles. We owe the victims of the genocide in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia the truth, remembrance and prayer. The bestiality of the Ukrainian perpetrators, but also the heroism of the Ukrainian Righteous who saved Poles—these are two phenomena that we must remember.

And she adds:

Due to our historical ties and the geopolitical situation, we should strive to strengthen cooperation with Ukraine. That is what we are doing. We carry out Polish-Ukrainian youth exchange projects. We cooperate in maintaining cemeteries in Ukraine, where our common ancestors—Poles and Ukrainians—are buried. We cooperate במסגרת the town partnership between Bolesławiec and Zbarazh.

Polish and Ukrainian young people and adults form friendships and visit one another privately as well. But this friendship and cooperation is often overshadowed. Contemporary Ukraine, seeking a powerful symbol of resistance against Moscow, is carrying out an incomprehensible process of mythologizing the UPA. It also rejects historical responsibility for the genocide in the south-eastern Borderlands of the Polish Republic.

In this situation, Poles are prompted to ask: can criminals be national heroes of Ukrainians?

And she invites readers:

On behalf of the members of the Society of Friends of Lviv and the South-Eastern Borderlands, I invite you to a Holy Mass for the victims, which will take place on July 12, 2020, at 12:00 p.m. at the Church of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, 49 Jarzębinowa Street (Kwiatowe housing estate).

One of the society’s main tasks is education. We must not allow people today to forget what happened in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia. We want to pay tribute to all the victims, including the Ukrainians who defended Poles.

(The photo comes from the Facebook profile of Parish of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus in Bolesławiec).