The burial of the victims of the execution in Puźniki is the restoration of dignity to those who were taken from it in the most inhuman way – said the Minister of Culture Marta Cienkowska during a ceremony murdered 80 years ago by UPA. "For us Poles, today's celebration has the rank of an crucial symbol [...], which will begin [...] the process of sincere forgiveness and reconciliation," wrote president Karol Nawrocki.
The crimes in Puźniki occurred on 13 February 1945. Sotnia Ukrainian Insurgency Army Siry Wowky (Share Wilki) attacked a Polish village in the Tarnopolski region. The squad was led by Petro Chamczuk. 80 to 120 people were murdered, and the bodies of the victims were thrown into the common pit. Chamczuk and Grey Wolves have never been held accountable for their actions. At the place where the Puffers utilized to be, present the forest grows.
After 80 years of crime, early 2025, Ukrainian authorities agreed to exhumation work in this area. The activities coordinated by the Freedom and Democracy Foundation were attended by experts from the Pomeranian Medical University, the Volynsky Antiquity Foundation and the Institute of National Memory. Their work was financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.
A ceremony after years
Exhumations in Puźniki lasted from 23 April to 10 May. The remains of at least 42 people were found – women, men and children. – We gave 42 numbers to the skeletons and 172 numbers to the objects we found with the remains. On the basis of an anthropological analysis, we established that among the exhumed remains were the remains of at least 11 minors, under the age of 18, the remains of at least 16 women and 10 men," said Prof. Andrzej Ossowski, a geneticist at the Pomeranian Medical University. Researchers took samples to conduct genetic tests and give the victims names. The recognition process is based on DNA materials obtained from the victims' relatives. The analysis will take respective months.
– I believe that this investigation will aid reconstruct the victims' identity, and their loved ones, frequently for years with no memory, will be able to light the niche," said Marta Cienkowska, Minister of Culture and National Heritage, during the ceremony in Puźniki. The ceremonies, which took place on 6 September, were attended by families of victims and representatives of the highest state authorities of Poland and Ukraine, including ministers of cultural ministries of both countries and representatives of the Sejm, legislature and Chancellery of the president of Poland.
"For us Poles, today's celebration has the rank of an crucial symbol. The symbol that will launch a sustained [...] process of sincere forgiveness and reconciliation. Therefore, I express my hope and anticipation that the next funerals of the victims will follow, in all the towns where the genocide of the Poles was committed. We must not neglect to worship any of the executed," wrote president Karol Nawrocki in a letter to the participants of the ceremony.
Long road to exhumation
The issue of the exhumation of Polish victims of the Volyn massacre has been 1 of the most delicate topics in Polish-Ukrainian relations for years. At the end of 2024, Ukrainians agreed that Poles (in cooperation with Ukrainian institutions) would carry out search and exhumation work in their country. In the beginning of 2025, the Ukrainian side positively examined 1 of respective Polish applications.
In a letter addressed to the participants of the ceremony in Puźniki, the president pointed out the request to commemorate all those murdered by UPA. "No arguments or interests justify a situation in which the remains of the victims are inactive waiting for a worthy burial, and the circumstances of their death – for a fair documentary and commemoration," wrote Karol Nawrocki. The letter on behalf of the head of state was read by Marcin Przycz, State Secretary at the President's Chancellery.
Nawrocki assured that Poles did not search revenge, but they must not forget the killed people. He besides expressed hope that funerals could be held in all the towns where a genocide crime was committed in Poles.
She besides appealed for reconciliation on land marked with tragedy during the ceremony in Puźniki by the Marshal of the Senate, Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska. As she said, after decades of silence, insecurity, and unrelenting pain, the day has come erstwhile the suffering of our fellow countrymen and their families, who have waited for a long time to be able to say goodbye to their loved ones, can be due. Kidawa-Błońska stressed that it was besides time to enter into a Polish-Ukrainian dialog about the tragic past.
Work will continue
Minister of Culture of Ukraine Tetiana Berezhna proposed a gathering of historians of both sides as shortly as possible. She pointed out that the common enemy for Ukraine and Poland is Russia, which serves nothing better than disagreements between neighbours.
Alina Charlamova of the Ukrainian Volynian Antiquity Foundation reported that the search in Puźniki would proceed due to the fact that there should be another grave there. Further search and exhumation works can begin next year.
