Battles for Bandera: Dissonant Historical Narratives of Ukrainians in Poland and Problems of Integration

Abstract

The increasing flux of Ukrainian migrants into Poland increases the urgency of correlating Polish and Ukrainian historical narratives. Here, a key problem concerns the new pantheon of Ukrainian national heroes, some of whom are viewed quite negatively by many Poles. In this article, problems of competing historical narratives, as well as correlations between historical conceptions and models of migrant integration, are examined with the reference to field research carried out with Ukrainian migrants living in Poland. Here, the main sources comprised interviews with migrants, monitoring of formal and informal cultural activities organized for migrants, as well as data obtained via social networks, thematic forums and the expatriate press. It was found that the main factors determining strategies for facilitating interaction between historical narratives comprise the degree of inclusion of migrants living in different communities of the host country, as well as the level of cohesion among the migrant communities themselves.