Ossolineum as a common historical heritage of Ukrainians and Poles

Abstract

Historically, it happened that Ukrainians and Poles, during long historical periods, lived within the same states, such as theAustro-Hungarian or Russian empires, the First and Second Years of Partition, and therefore, in fact, both peoples are involved in the formation of cultural heritage such as, for example, the Osolinski library. Being a gift to the city of Lviv at the beginning of the 19th century, the library grew over the following years, and by the beginning of the 20th century it became one of the richest in Central Europe. Due to the change of borders and the state affiliation of Lviv, as a result of two world wars and the criminal negligence of the Soviet authorities regarding the Ukrainian cultural heritage, a significant part of the Ossolineum's funds ended up on the territory of the Republic of Poland. The transfer of Ossolineum funds by the Soviet side of Poland was carried out in several stages between 1945 and 1987. At the beginning of the 90s of the 20th century, the negotiation process began between Ukraine and the Republic of Poland on the return of Ossolineum to its country of origin. In fact, throughout the 1990s and two decades of the 21st century, discussions between Ukraine and Poland about the ownership of Ossolineum and its restitution to Ukraine continued. Unfortunately, all these negotiations, as of today, have not yielded any results.