The failure of the Sejm to accept the motion to mention to the second reading of the draft law on the penalisation of flagism and the alleged "Volyński lie" makes it to the Committee on Justice and Human Rights and its future remains uncertain. This subject not only divides politicians, but besides raises strong emotions among patriotic and borderline communities.
The draft amendment of the Act on the Institute of National Memory and the Criminal Code was intended to let the prosecution of persons denying genocide by Ukrainian nationalists on citizens of the Second Republic. An crucial component of the proposal was the alignment of the “Volyński lie” with the “Oświęcim lie”.
Mr Przemysław Czarnek, co-author of the project, stressed the importance of historical memory and the request to enforce the truth:
"We cannot afford to proceed to be deceived about what happened in east Małopolska and Volyn. We heard here from this talker a fewer weeks ago the assurance of Prime Minister Donald Tusk that we have a breakthrough that there will be exhumations of our murdered countrymen and we will be able to bury them with dignity. Apart from the word “breakthrough” nothing happened, there are no exhumations, there are no decisions about exhumations. It's just the Ukrainian state's charming us again".
The second of the project's rapporteurs, Zbigniew Bogucki, took a akin position. He pointed out that designation of the fact about genocide was essential to close the painful chapter of history:
“The cure for this wound, so that it finally, after 80 years, is the truth”.
In his opinion, it is not only the Polish responsibility, but besides the work of the Ukrainian side:
"The Ukrainian authorities and any Ukrainian citizens must stand in this truth. Admit that what happened in Volyn and in east Małopolska was genocide, due to the fact that things should be called by name.”.
The bill was supported by any parliamentary groups, including Law and Justice, the Confederation and the Polish People's Party. PSL politicians pointed out the request to organise historical discussions and destruct false narratives. As said by PSL MP Tadeusz Samborski:
"People who have been guardians of the memory of the victims of the flag genocide for many years have judged this legislative initiative to be very useful and valuable and responding to current political phenomena and events, especially in the area of historical memory".
Samborski besides added that the task will aid to organize concepts related to tragic events in the Kresach:
"The Polish People's Party's Parliamentary Club sees in this draft solutions that will mostly order the circumstantial conceptual chaos in the delicate substance of the end genocide and destruct from the public space common lies, understatements, falsehoods and deformations of the historical message about this most bloody and painful passage of the past of our nation".
Despite the support of any groups, the task was not accepted for second reading. The opponents of the bill argued that it could complicate Polish-Ukrainian relations and introduce ambiguities in terms of freedom of speech.
End-of-day environments and patriotic organizations expressed disappointment at the decision of the Sejm, fearing that the task would stay in committee for a long time and yet "lost". As the activists of these communities emphasized, the Polish state has a moral work to fight the forgery of past and to commemorate the victims of the Volyn massacre.
The debate on the bill is not disconnected from the global context. Ukraine has been conducting a historical policy for years, in which it glorifies figures associated with the CNS-UPA. For Poland this is simply a serious problem in building a common historical narrative.
Regardless of the further destiny of the Act, the subject of the Volyn genocide and its consequences remains a key issue in Polish historical policy. As Mr Zbigniew Bogucki noted:
"From the right to the left we should stand in the fact and say that it was genocide, and unfortunately this is inactive missing in Poland".
