The monument commemorating members of the Ukrainian Insurgency Army (UPA) in Monasterz, located close Horyniec-Zdrój (V. Podkarpackie), has been the subject of controversy and tensions in Polish-Ukrainian relations for years. Its planned renovation raises many doubts, especially in the context of historical crimes committed by UPA on the Polish population.
The Monument in the Monasterz was erected in 1993 on the initiative of Ukrainian youth to commemorate UPA members killed in conflict by the NKVD in the spring of 1945. Originally, it was an iron cross with a tin plate, on which there was an inscription mentioning “the most beautiful flower of Ukraine”, surrounded and killed in the monaster forests by Bolsheviks and UB. The construction of the monument took place without the authoritative approval of the Polish authorities, which already sparked controversy at the outset. In the following years, the monument has been demolished repeatedly, and its current condition is the consequence of many attempts to rebuild and modify.
Crimes of UPA on the Polish population
The Ukrainian Pows Dance Army, operating from 1942 to 1954, was liable for many crimes against the Polish population, especially in Volyn and east Galicia. 1 of the most tragic events was the massacre in Parosla I, considered the beginning of the Volyn massacre. On 9 February 1943, a UPA division under Hryhorij Perehijniak murdered 149 to 173 Poles, including women and children. The victims were tortured and killed with utmost cruelty. The victims of the UPA savagery in the following months are counted at tens of thousands.
Controversy around monument restoration
The planned renovation of the monument in the Monasterz raises opposition to many environments in Poland. The commemoration of UPA members, an organization liable for genocide in Poles, is seen as an effort to relativize past and reduce the suffering of victims.
It is besides worth noting that the Ukrainian side has repeatedly demanded the renovation of the monument, binding this with approval to exhume Polish victims in Volyn. specified conditioning raises moral and ethical doubts, suggesting instrumental treatment of the memory of victims on both sides of the conflict. abroad Minister Andrij Sybiha, just before Volodymyr Zelenski arrived in Warsaw, in an interview with the European fact portal, announced that Poland and Ukraine had made “significant advancement on historical memory issues”. –
– We gave each another a list of memorial sites whose commemoration is curious in Ukraine and Poland respectively," he said.
When asked if Poland would renew the monument on Mount Monastyr, the Ukrainian minister replied that this issue remains “on the agenda”.
