OUN leader called for the establishment of “Day of the demolition of Ukrainians at the hands of Polish chauvinists”

Bohdan Czerwak, president of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, posted an entry on Facebook that leaves no illusions about his goals and beliefs. He claims that “in the time of the events in Volyn in 1943 20 000 Ukrainians killed by Poles were killed” that “more than 10 000 names of victims have yet to be determined”, and that in the operation “Wisła” there were to be crimes on hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians.

The culmination of this message was the call for the establishment of “Day of the demolition of Ukrainians at the hands of Polish chauvinists”. It's not just a lie. It is simply a conscious provocation, aimed at reversing roles – of executioners to make sacrifices, and of victims to torturers.

Bohdan Ostapowycz Czerwak (born 1964 in Drohobych) is simply a Ukrainian politician, historian and publicist. In the 1990s, he was a lecturer in Ukrainian literature and later went to state structures. Since 2012, she has been head of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (CNS) – a contemporary heiress of the same formation, which in the 1940s co-founded the Ukrainian Insurgency Army (UPA) and was liable for the crimes of genocide in Poles.

As the leader of the OUN Cherwak openly promotes the cult of Stepan Bandera and Roman Szuchewych, demands full rehabilitation of the OUN-UPA and attacks the Polish state for a "false version of history". He is besides the author of publications in which he tries to invalidate the findings of historians concerning the crime in Volyn, among others in the book Battle for Volyn. The organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, re-registered in 1995, operates legally in the territory of Ukraine, including through its Kiev Municipal Organization. He opens offices, organizes marches, runs publishing and training – all in the spirit of continuing the “national freedom struggle”, as described by activists. In practice, this means promoting the ideological heritage, which is liable for mass cultural cleansing.

OUN Czerwaka does not condemn Volyn massacre. On the contrary, it marginalizes its scale, dispels UPA's responsibility, and the blame tries to spread symmetrically. It is simply a lie which has consequences not only for Polish-Ukrainian relations, but besides for the historical awareness of the young generation.

In 1943–1945, as a consequence of a planned and systematic cultural cleansing, at the hands of UPA and the Ukrainian population, at least 100 1000 Poles died – according to Polish historians. Armed civilians were killed: children, women, old people. Ax, fork, hammers were utilized for the crime. The villages were burned, people were torn up by horses, killed in churches and schools.

Czerwak tries to combine these events with the action “Wisła” – carried out in 1947 by the communist authorities in Poland, whose goal was to liquidate the back office of UPA and deport the Ukrainian population. Were there any casualties? Yes, but not many. Was it cultural cleansing? Nope. The “Wisła” action was not exterminating – it was a brutal military operation, but not genocide. Trying to put them together is simply a historical lie.

Cherwak operates openly, without any consequences, besides from the Ukrainian state. And his message goes to both Ukrainian nationalists and young generations, including those Ukrainians who live and work in Poland today. The cultivation of the memory of Bandera, Schuchewycz and another criminals is not “an harmless patriotism”. It is an ideological bomb with delayed ignition – especially if it does not encounter strong resistance.

Poland must react

If Poland does not react, if it looks at it indifferently, then falsehood will become the valid version of history. Silence will mean consent. There is no place to whitewash the CNS-UPA, there is no place to effort the equations of executioners and victims, there is no place for anti-Polish slanders given by people who worship criminals.

What Bohdan Czerwak does is not controversial opinion – it is simply a planned historical policy based on lies and hostility. And in the name of fact and remembrance of the victims – it must be called by name.