by Oui
Sat May 3rd, 2025 at 08:15:18 AM EST
Flags of Every Commonwealth Nation
New Allies OUN and Bandera's Nation
The Ukrainian Parliament removed a tweet commemorating Stepan Bandera
The press service of the Ukrainian Parliament (Verkhovna Rada) removed a controversial publication from its Twitter page after what appears to have been an urgent request from Warsaw.
On 1 January, on the 114th anniversary of Stepan Bandera’s birth, a post appeared on the Twitter page of the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada with a photo of the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, under a portrait of the leader of the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN).
Poland condemns Ukraine's commemoration of wartime nationalist leader Bandera
After officials and institutions in Ukraine - including the national parliament - marked the birth anniversary of nationalist leader Stepan Bandera, Polish government figures have criticised the commemoration of a man they see as responsible for the genocide of ethnic Poles and Jews.
Despite Poland and Ukraine having forged an extremely close alliance against Russian aggression this year, remembrance of World War Two history - and in particular the massacre of up to 100,000 Polish civilians by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) - continues to be a bone of contention.
Bandera - who led the OUN-B political organisation that formed the UPA - is seen as a hero by many in Ukraine for his role in fighting for national independence. Critics, however, see him as a fascist and Nazi collaborator.
WWII Volhynia tragedy and its lasting impact on Polish-Ukrainian relations: analysis
The Volhynia tragedy refers to the mass murders of the Polish population carried out between 1943 and 1945 by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA).
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News of 11 June 2019 - anniversary of Volyn Massacre of 100 000 Poles by Ukrainian Nationalists
Clash of victimhoods: the Volhynia Massacre in Polish and Ukrainian memory | Open Democracy |
Volhynia, a border region in the northwest of present-day Ukraine, is almost completely absent on Europe's landscape of memory. Here, in 1943, a section of Ukraine's nationalist underground massacred the region's Polish population. These events, despite being one of the largest mass killings of the Second World War, are barely known in Ukraine today. Across the border, though, "Wołyn 1943", as the events are known, is gradually moving to the very centre of Poland's memorial culture, and is playing a significant role in Polish attitudes towards Ukraine.
What happened in Volhynia in 1943?
Located in the northeast of pre-war Poland, Volhynia was an agricultural region with 2.1m people, with three major ethnic groups: Ukrainians (almost 68%), Poles (16.5%) and Jews (9.78%).
In 1939, the region was occupied by the Soviet troops, in 1941 - by the German Wehrmacht. Soon afterwards the Volhynian Jews became the victims of Germany's "Final Solution". After the battle of Stalingrad in 1943, which made the Third Reich's defeat and the re-ordering of borders in Europe pretty much predictable, the Bandera wing of the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN-B) and part of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) nationalist underground decided to "clean out the Polish element" to make sure that Volhynia would not remain part of Poland. It is possible that the OUN-B leaders followed the experience of the First World War when post-war borders were mostly drawn according to the "national composition of the population".
In other words, the "anti-Polish operation" of the UPA was based on the nationalist logic to claim rights to land on the basis of ethnic purity and additionally inspired by the anti-Polish sentiments and experience of discriminatory politics of the interwar Polish state where people of Ukrainian origin had reasons to feel themselves "second-class citizens".
Despicable and totally unacceptable ...
Ukrainian forces to join UK military procession for Victory in Europe anniversary
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The story of Eastern Europe is one of successes and failures, competing interests, and the rise and fall of states and empires. The ancient Greek and Roman empires knew the importance of Eastern Europe for trade and settlement. Later, during the Migration Period, also known as the "Barbarian Invasions," Eastern Europe became the stomping grounds for many people groups. The Visigoths, Huns, Slavs, and central Asian Turkic tribes like the Avars and Khazars all made their way into Eastern Europe.
Where have we seen such a despicable move before?
Canada and OUN hero applauded in parliament.
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Canadian Parliament gives WWII Nazi standing ovation | Al Jazeera |
Canada's Parliamentary speaker has apologised for honouring a Ukrainian WWII Nazi in the House of Commons. 98-year-old Yaroslav Hunka, an SS veteran, was dubbed a `Ukrainian and Canadian hero' - before a Jewish group revealed he was a Nazi fighter.
From the diaries ...
Canada's Trudeau Honoring an Ukrainian Nazi Collaborator
Fu*king Stupid Canadians Honoring a Nazi Sympathizer ... murdering civilians in WWII.
