THE POLISH-UKRAINIAN RECONCILIATION ATTEMPTS ON THE 60TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE VOLHYNIAN MASS MURDERS OF 1943

Abstract

The article deals with the Polish-Ukrainian public discussions on the Volhynian mass murders from February to July 2003 and the joint 60th-anniversary commemoration of this massacre, which happened July 11 in Pavlivka village, the Volhynian region in Ukraine. The research is written from the perspective of the conception of reconciliation. The main question is the extent to which this reconciliation was successful. The article is based on Polish and Ukrainian media materials, official statements, letters and appeals of different groups and public figures, and five unpublished interviews conducted by the author in January – June 2019. The methodological research frame is a theory of the politics of memory by Jan Kubik and Michael Bernhardt. The approach is helpful for the classification of mnemonic actors, who participated in the debates, and the research of various memories of Volhynian mass murders. The article stresses the importance of this discussion and the joint commemoration of victims. Leading politicians and intellectuals participated in the debate, especially in Ukraine. The scholars from both sides, who toke the position of mnemonic pluralists, played an important role. They tried to rethink the past of their country and the responsibility in the Polish-Ukrainian conflict. However, this rethinking was difficult for them. Appeals to reconciliation had a spiritual dimension. Therefore the church joined it, although quite carefully. The commemorative action in Pavlivka happened mainly because of state resources. It was inaccessible to a significant part of the Ukrainian public. However, even in this situation, the commemorative action in Pavlivka could contribute to overcoming the conflict of memories if both countries were more pluralistic in the following years.