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Declaration of the Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) on the Occasion
of the 55th Anniversary of "Akcja Wisla" in Poland
Ukrainian World Congress (UWC)
Press Release - 55th Anniversary of Akcja Wisla
April 12, 2002, New York, New York
In 1947 the Government of Poland forcibly deported over 140,000
Ukrainian men, women, children and the elderly, from the indigenous
Ukrainian territories of eastern and south-eastern Poland. Code-named
the "Operation Vistula" (Akcja Wisla), the deportation was carried out
without warning or consent of the victims, often in a brutal fashion, by
Polish Army and security units. The deportations were carried out without
regard for the rights of the deported population as citizens of Poland,
whose constitution guaranteed their right of property and choice of place
of residence.
Many Ukrainians, particularly leading members of the community,
priests of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic and Orthodox Churches, and
even women and children, were imprisoned in the Jaworzno concentration
camp (formerly a Nazi concentration camp of the Auschwitz complex).
Many died there as a result of intolerable conditions and ill treatment.
According to Polish government documents from the period, the
purpose of this ethnic cleansing was "to solve the Ukrainian problem
once and for all". The intent was to destroy the indigenous Ukrainian
community in Poland by dispersing it throughout the newly acquired
northern and western territories of Poland, resulting in its total
assimilation.
Ukrainians in Poland lost not only their individual property, their land and
buildings, but also their communal property, including schools and churches
Ukrainians also lost all practical means for normal social and cultural
development and political representation in the Polish Sejm (Parliament).
The Ukrainian community was deeply traumatized by this forcible
deportation and dispersal within the generally hostile Polish population.
Nevertheless, over the years, it appealed many times to the Government
of Poland for redress. All appeals were ignored.
With the emergence of newly democratic Poland, Ukrainians hoped
that the new Polish society, its Sejm and Government would finally begin
to rectify the injustice of "Akcja Wisla" by returning confiscated property,
compensating the victims and their descendants for their losses and
suffering,
and enabling the Ukrainian community's political representation in the
Polish
Parliament and Government.
Sadly, despite expressions of regret by Poland's President Kwasniewski,
the Government of democratic Poland has thus far done very little for its
Ukrainian citizens.
Nevertheless, the victims of "Akcja Wisla" and their descendents, and indeed
Ukrainians throughout the world, have not lost hope that Polish society and
its influential Roman Catholic Church, will impress upon the Polish Sejm and
the Government of Poland the need to condemn "Akcja Wisla", redress the
injustices, and prosecute those responsible for perpetrating this atrocity.
This would, finally, bring the "Ukrainian problem" in Poland to a just
conclusion.
Notes
1 There is a large body of documentation, including scholarly publications,
monographs, books and memoirs, which detail the events of the "Akcja Wisla".
See, for example, the collection of Polish government documents, Akcja
"Wisla", compiled by E. Misilo (Archiwum Ukrainske, Warsaw, 1993, in Polish;
also in Ukrainian translation, published by the Naukove Tovarystvo im.
Shevchenka, Lviv, 1997). The fate of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in
Poland is documented in Martyrology of the Ukrainian Churches Vol. II The
Ukrainian Catholic Church, O. Zinkevych and T. R. Lonchyna, Eds. (Smoloskyp
Publishers, Toronto 1985; in Ukrainian) and Church in Ruin by O. Iwanusiw
(Shevchenko Scientific Society, Ukrainian Studies, Vol. 56, 1987; Ukrainian
and English).
Ukrainian World Congress
225 E. 11 Street. New York NY 10003, USA
(212) 254-2260, (212) 979-1011
congress@look.ca
Ukrainian World Congress Office
295 College Street, 3rd Floor
Toronto, ON M5T 1S2, Canada
(416) 323-3020, (416) 323-3050 (fax)
www.ukrainianworldcongress.org
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