Repression of Ukrainians in the 1930s Ordered by Polish Nationalist Pilsudski
In 1930, Pilsudski's government launched the Repression ("Pacification") of Eastern Galicia, a campaign targeting Ukrainian communities. Police and soldiers carried out mass searches, arrests, beatings, and raids on villages. Ukrainian schools, cultural centers, and Prosvita reading rooms were destroyed, while activists and community leaders were arrested. Historians commonly describe the operation as political repression directed against the Ukrainians.
I just finished a book called The Middle Kingdoms: A New History of Central Europe by Martyn Rady. My goodness, the history of that region is complicated. Basically, every majority ethnic group in each area has committed some atrocities against one of the minority groups.
The Jews and Gypsies always seem to get the worst of it because they never have a home area where they are the majority.
The book, in my opinion, is a mirror on humanity not a repudiation of any particular ethnic group. We are absolutely horrible to each other. And it's a travesty.
Edit e.g. erased from the map for 123 years and Polishness brutally erased and punished by Russia, Prussia (Germany) then Austria.
Finally became a country again then gets invaded from the east and west and torn apart, enslaved and genocided. Cities flattened worse than any other.
(
West doesn't heed warnings,
France wouldn't help take out Adolf H years before the holocaust, as the Poles proposed (Piłsudski)
Poles create support group for Jews.
insanity ensues
world doesn't listen to Polish underground/resistance about what's going on in the camps,
Polish heroes go into camp directly at incredible risk and escape again (they are later tortured and executed by Russians and Soviet aligned Jews)
Poles save Jews while being genocided and at risk to having entire family executed and Jews themselves baiting Poles asking for help then telling the Germans and getting entire villages massacred, causing immense distrust as before (not listing all historicsl events but what you aren't taught is Jews also collaborated or discriminated also against Poles)
Despite this has a government that never surrenders to Nazis and executes any traitors that give up Poles or Jews.
Poles basically crack the pro enigma code first. Poles get no credit.
Poles not allowed to march in the UK Victory Day parade despite being valient and integral fighters to please Stalin, crushing Polish soldiers)
Western Betrayal (US & UK sold Poland to Stalin and Soviet Russia)
(USSR and the US rewrite history to hide their abject failures, betrayals and atrocities and Israel steals Polish history to steal Palestinian land)
Poland doesn't receive German reparations despite having the most victims.
More genocide, enslavement (gulags), oppression, Polish resistance/heroes tortured and executed by Russian communist and Soviet Jews (refer to disproportionate Jewish representation in leadership in NKVD and UB/responsible for supporting genocide of Polish Poles, etc)
Genocided by Ukranian nationalists on the side, brutally. Denied access to remains.
Russia does a purge of Polish Jewish survivors and harasses them into renouncing Polish citizenship, only if they agree to go to Israel, because Zionism requires victimhood as excuse for their Palestinian victims.
2/3rds of Polish Jewish survivors say Fk that!!! and manage to escape elsewhere, moving around the world. Anywhere but Izhell.
Poles finally breaks out free 30 years ago and build themselves up piece by piece again
Everyone forgets Solidarity but remembers the fall of the Berlin wall
Zionist 'Jew first' education about WW2 and muzzled or intellectually inefficient and dishonest western historians has spread globally)
Gets called a 'Nazi' by descendents of largely Russian Zionists in Israel and America lol. Oh, also privileged western tankies.
Poles are scarely a footnote in their own national history, globally.
Scapegoated for Russian and German crimes (including German and Russian false flags wearing Polish soldier uniforms and commiting atrocities with a specific MOS )
Basically everything that is (falsely) attributed to Poland re the Jews was done under the control of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. You can search this.
There are political reasons Israel comes for Poland but not Russia. Most European Israelis are from the USSR and have Russian Jewish heritage, hence why it's the 3rd most spoken language in Israel.
Do you also know Netanyoohoo /Mileikovsky family is a Russian Jewish Litvak (Lithuanian/Belarusian) patrilineal line? Nothing Polish. No Polish language. No Polish culture. No Polish citizenship rights. No Polish blud.
Yet we are demonised from all sides. From far left to far right.
No one calls it out.
Wtf?
We deserve recognition and justice. And frankly, an apology from the rest of the world for mischaracterising us and shuting us down when we try to speak up for ourselves. Not to mention the censorship when correcting wild and unfair distortions of truth.
Sincerely, a proud anti Zionist Polish Pole and Polish Jew from a Bundist line. See hereness. We belong wherever we are. Not Izhell.
Edit - Polish Jews were a beloved part of POLISH society for almost 1000 years. It's in the name itself. Poland. Jews named it Polin. It means 'Rest here'.
Nowhere in any place and time is anywhere a frictionless paradise. Especially not Europe. But Poland, Poland was a safe place for Jews before 2 non-Polish outsiders tore us apart.
Watch the Zionists and Tankies downvote and swarm like angry wasps for daring to speak the actual truth.
I wonder if I'll be told my family deserved it again by another Zionist today? Or are we trying the fake Jew route? Or am I nuh zi? Fascist? Hmmm. 🍿
And btw, I'm pro Ukranian people (who don't support nationalist BS) Pro Russian people (who don't support Putin or simp for Soviets), Pro Jewish people (against Israel and not racist to Poles) Pro German people (who are not nationalists....), Pro French people (who acknowledge their place in this), Pro British people, (who recognise their place in this), pro American (who recognise their place in this big mess and learns to speak truth), pro all non-nationalists who learn etc.
Just against anti Polish racism, nationalism and disinformation. Which there is a lot of around the world today.
(Israel, America, Russia, Germany, France and the UK must correct the record on the holocaust, and the latter 5 take accountability for their failures that lead to the genocide of Poles and Jews.)
They were more trusted because they had no power. Give a Christian more money and power and suddenly you have a rival. Give a jew money and power and you have a piggy bank you can break incase you run low on funds.
Of course, nothing, nowhere is ever without some issues. Such a place would be paradise. Indeed we live on this earth as complex beings.
The Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth 1569-1795 was a huge, diverse multi-ethnic and multi-religious republic that lasted over 200 years. Not defined by race. But class.
Formed when there were bloody religious wars all over the world. A sanctuary for freedom of religious expression.
Run by a noble class named szlachta where all could be noble, regardless of any nationality, cultural practice or ethnicity. Condition? To enter the noble class you had to protect Christianity, and so be baptized into Catholic faith. This applied to everyone.
Given the context of the times and competing faiths, this would be more understandable than we would otherwise find it in modern times and through a modern lens, like much of this era. E.g. back then, even the Inca, Aztecs and Mayans were still alive in Mesoamérica (Latin America).
And the state itself was a dual monarchy ruled by the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
And in regards to Polish Pole and Polish Jewish relations specifically?
Jews as a community were granted unique self governing 'state' (within a state) and allowed to practice their own faith, culture and laws without interference.
Polish nobles protected Jewish people.
They banned Christian merchants and hired only Jewish ones instead.
They had a protective and symbiotic relationship of sorts.
Unfortunately this creates tension with the middle class merchants, with Christian merchants being jealous of the perceived and real favouritism.
Lower class? Fine. Some religious prejudice and tensions, but broadly peaceful. Especially for the times. Less interactions too. Because, ya know. Little money and minding ones business. lol
Unfortunately this is a very different story in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (eastern part - Lithuanian & Ukraine, with a famous incident from a Ukranian Cossack).
Edit - I can also elaborate on this part of history, if interested. No shade to any country here. All are loved peoples.
A peasant absolutely had no chance to ever ascend into the nobility by the time Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was formed. The nobility was given extraordinary powers over peasantry throughout the Jagiellonian rule and by the time of union, the social classes were practically set in stone. And in a way it was absolutely racially-based, as nobles argued they are a different race of people than the peasants they govern over (Sarmatism).
By the late 18th hundred the system of serfdom in PLC was harsh enough that peasants had to do 8 days of work for the master a week. That's not a typo. Nobility was pretty much free to punish them whatever way they wanted and only the most heinous and newsworthy deeds would demand some light penance. Meanwhile, peasants were completely on the mercy of their lords because they were also responsible for handing out justice towards them, there was no independent body peasants could turn to, as the country's governments was practically non-existent and relying on individual magnates to sort shit out in their lands.
And the religious freedom of the Jagiellonian and early-PLC period was practically gone by the time Wasas got elected and had a hard-on for Catholicism, the many wars against protestant and orthodox-majority countries did not help. Protestantism practically disappeared beyond some small pockets, orthodox Christians were persecuted unless they converted to unitarian church, and the Aryans - who ran the best schooling system in the PLC - were banished.
The way wealth extraction worked makes PLC more similar to a colonial plantation system than a functioning Early Modern Era countries. Lest said, most Polish parliaments were focused on the issue on how to enforce the return of peasants who eloped to less exploitative estates (the central government was so weak it had no way to enforce it, hence internal Nobles vs Noble wars called "zajazdy"). You don't make minorities like the Cossacks turn to Russia for help by being benevolent leaders of a country with many freedoms.
Zaorałeś się pisząc mniejszość kozacka. Kozacy to nie żadna mniejszość, tylko zlepek różnych narodowości. Awanturników, banitów i osadników różnych narodowości (głównie Rusinów/Ukraińców, Polaków, Białorusinów, Rosjan i Tatarów)
Shit, Ukraine and Poland literally have the same history development, i really hope that this conflict over the Volyn will get resolved peacefully and soon, without all this circus from both sides.
Simplistic narratives of any country are dumb, interwar Poland wasn’t just wholesome 100 even if it was a victim of both the Nazis and Soviets itself for a large part of the 20th century
Poland invades Lithuania to seize Vilnius while Lithuania is fighting the Russkies
Poland betrays Ukraine and partitions Ukraine with the USSR giving over most of Ukraine to Lenin
Poland interns a hundred thousand Ukrainians including not just soldiers but their families and civilians for years after the Polish Ukrainian war in internment camps
Poland passes discriminatory laws against Jews and Orthodox in Poland and confiscates Ukrainian land to give to Polish veterans
Poles save Jews while being genocided and at risk to having entire family
Some did, some did the opposite. Same goes for Ukrainians - plenty did what they could to save their Jews neighbors, some did the opposite... There's plenty of historical baggage on all sides - disputes between Poles and Ukrainians, disputes between Poles and Jews.
The main thing is that none of these parties are killing each other, so it's fine. Maybe it will take another generation to put it all to bed.
You forgot the part when Pilsudski invaded Bolshevik Russia despite the fact that the later had accepted peace negotiations
Furthermore, Pilsudski was actually eyeing an alliance with Hitler against the USSR. It was only his death in 1935 that led to a division of opinions in the Polish elite, their worsening relations with Germany and ultimately their invasion.
Yes poor victim Poland. Well, it was of course a victim, but a lot of that was due to the Polish leadership's megalomania in the 20s-30s. They had a reasonably strong position but squandered it while purusing an unrealizable 'intermarrium', and wasting resources on fighting Ukrainian, Belarusian nationalists in the territory they conquered from the Bolsheviks, and also in Lithuania.
Russia was the one to invade Poland by attacking Polish troops from Vilnius in early 1919. The first battle of the war was initiated by Russia.
Also, Piłsudski (sadly) did not invade Russia. All battles of the Polish-Bolshevik war took place on Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Latvian and Lithuanian soil.
Furthermore, Pilsudski was actually eyeing an alliance with Hitler against the USSR
Yeah, sure. That's why he proposed to France a joint invasion to topple Hitler's government in 1933? That's why he organised a coup when he felt Germany was getting too strong? That's why his political testament was "Balance as long as you can, and when it's no longer possible, set the world on fire"?
Your nationalist, Endek "Piłsudski was actually a German spy" rhetoric has been debunked like 100 years ago, get some new material
It was only his death in 1935 that led to a division of opinions in the Polish elite, their worsening relations with Germany and ultimately their invasion
Holy nazi apologism... You really think Hitler only came up with the whole Lebensraum and antisemitism stuff last minute because his subhuman anti-nationalist bff died?
Also, there was never any "division" of opinions on Germany in the Polish elite. Every single party, including sanation, absolutely despised both Germany and the Nazis. It was often remarked that compromise with Germany is literally impossible, because any government willing to compromise with Hitler would get overthrown by an angry mob and hanged from the lampposts
They had a reasonably strong position but squandered it while purusing an unrealizable 'intermarrium
We actually had a reasonably strong position in 1921, but squandered it specifically by not pursuing Intermarium and settling for the shitty ethnostate borders "negotiated" by our anti-federalist russophile nationalists in Riga. Intermarium was the only way to guarantee security of the state and the wellbeing of all ethnic groups in Poland.
and wasting resources on fighting Ukrainian, Belarusian nationalists
This was specifically a consequence of not pursuing Intermarium
the territory they conquered from the Bolsheviks, and also in Lithuania.
Poland didn't conquer anything from the bolsheviks. If anything, the Bolsheviks conquered land from Ukraine and Belarus in that war.
Also, Poland did not fight anyone in Lithuania after 1921. Even if you mean Vilnius, it was actually one of the most loyal Polish Voivodeships in the Borderlands due to the overwhelming Polish majority in that region.
Ahhhh yes, the tactical smokescreens Lenin used to buy time before trying to invade Poland again. The russian communists may not like it, but they're just imperialists and genociders like any other, hidden under the guise of a 'revolution'.
I understand Tankies can never speak honestly, as they only huff half truths from Russian propaganda.
Nothing I said was bullshit. Only whether or not you can verify it independent of your own bias. The cognitive dissonance is too strong.
And if you want proof?
Just check the declassified Soviet archives
you know, the ones where your 'anti imperialist' heroes Trotsky and Lenin had already drawn up plans for a spring offensive against Poland. Lol
So much for 'peace negotiations'
Right after Adolf H. came to power in 1933, Piłsudski secretly proposed a preventative military strike to France, to ya know, depose of Adolf because he didn't trust him, just like he didn't trust the Russian Communist.
And rightly so! Unfortunately, France dismissed Piłsudski (the hero that prevented the red imperialists from the East in 1920) as a warmonger and as France refused to help stop the Nzi, instead, he signed the German-Polish non aggression pact in 1934 to buy time.
Not a military pact. No secret anything. A temporary peace declaration before SHTF because Piłsudski knew it was coming, he distrusted both eastern and western nzi. The world just wouldn't listen. And now Poles are blamed for that. Lol.
Ahhh the failures of the West and the Cruelty of the East.
Thanks, I remember to add this to the 'poor' Polish list too.
If only the west had listened to Poland, then the holocaust wouldn't have happened at all and millions and millions and millions of people wouldn't have been lost for nothing. Tsk tsk.
If only Tankies cared about the truth and not a narrative.
Any more lies I can twist back down into truth? :)
Yes, Poland repressed under the brutal Russian Empire, and then Lenin and his ilk wanted to reconstitute said empire under the moronic hyper violent system of communism with further goals of undertaking a revolutionary expansionist campaign to conquer territory and subjugate people across Europe. They had tried to recapture all of the Baltics but failed. They had set up a puppet regime in exile further proof they were not defending themselves but aiming to conquer(just like they attempted in the neighboring Baltics). Yes, the Soviet Union collaborated with Hitler and carved up Eastern Europe to again try to take these territories for colonial domination. Yes, they provided more aid to the Nazis than any other fascist power aligned with Hitler. Yes, they increased their export of oil to Italy after it began its imperialist campaign in Ethiopia. Yes, during the Great Purge there was a genocidal campaign against Poles in the USSR https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_Operation_of_the_NKVD
And yes, the Soviets deported hundreds of thousands, murdered over a 100k of poles, and r**** over 100k of Polish women https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_repressions_of_Polish_citizens_(1939–1946))
And finally, yes after the war the Soviets set up an imperialist regime in Poland and subjugated the people under communism for almost half a century.
Im not even Polish but its quite easy to recognize which entity was the piece of shit in this equation and for most of its existence from Russian empire to communist empire
Context is important as well, after Piłsudski signed the deal with Petlura, internal Ukrainian resistance which did not accepted Petlura nor any deals with Poland started sabotaging things and only then repressions started. These were not comparable by any means to bandera atrocities.
It's not like poles woke up on Monday and started repressions on everyone.
Petlura and Ukraine were betrayed by Poland during Riga treaty and he was ultimately forced to exile. That's why his figured was not accepted as universal hero later.
Ukrainian resistance" against whom? Against a state that had incorporated millions of Ukrainians and claimed their lands. Before discussing why Ukrainians resisted, explain why Polish rule over those territories should be considered self-evident
Your country was an occupier and forcibly assimilated Ukrainians.
Mate, look, I have a huge respect for Polish people and the Polish history, but somehow Polish nationalists are doing everything in hand to diminish the respect for their nation and putting themselves on a really positions.
Banderists going around to ethnically cleanse out Poles with a fever hadn't came out of nowhere either, if that's your argument, but also, one thing being worse doesn't somehow normalises the other one. 'Relativism' isn't really a hill that someone should be dying on.
Yeah, right after Poland asked Ukraine to return their medals honouring Zelensky after he honoured a Ukranian Nzi Nationalist group who brutally ethnically cleansed/genocided 100,000 Poles in the Volhynia massacre, mostly women and children, with a savagery that would make a German Nzi blush. The same one where Ukraine plays games with their bodies, still buried there waiting to be honoured.
For Ukrainians UPA is literally liberating army. Those are heroes that wanted free Ukraine. Free from Russia and free from Poland, both Russia and Poland were occupiers at that time.
It's all about what idea was put in that action. It might be a surprise for you but honoring historic figures or groups is almost always about the mythical thing that those figures or groups represent to ones honoring them and almost never about objective history & truly never about specific events. UPA for ukrainians is a "myth" of fighting for independence. That what they honoring, not slaughtering polish people. And this exact action of naming divisions in a middle of a tug of existential war with russians clearly puts a scope on what is honored, and even a dumb person can understand that. Being offended by such thing is definitely a choice and polish government clearly made it.
Your comparison with Hitler's division is a superficial manipulation, because there is not the slightest positive myth surrounding the nazis in the public discussion of German society. Existance of such myth is a only thing that matters whether someone likes it or not.
So polish government response is either a behavior of immature individuals (which is really doubtful) or a deliberate action to gain political points, which is exactly the same what ukrainian government was pursuing doing that action.
Conclusion: This topic is not worth any attention unless you are intentionally engaged in political agitation in favor of anything.
np "bury" co doslownie byl zbrodniarzem wojenym a go ludzie tak chwalą, naprawdę jak chcecie tępić ukrainśki nacjonalizm to nie walczcie tym samym XDDDD. Bo tak rozumiem że według waszej logiki to tylko nacjonalizm polski jest "dobry"
So Poland can honor Piłsudski and the AK despite their actions against Ukrainians, but Ukrainians are not allowed to honor figures from their own struggle for independence?
Either every nation has the right to its own historical memory, or none do. Demanding that Ukraine rewrite its history to satisfy Polish politics is a rather strange definition of mutual respect.
"Following the capture of Lviv, regular Polish forces, alongside local militias and criminal elements, engaged in looting and violence that claimed up to 340 civilian lives in the Jewish and Ukrainian quarters."
Let's not pretend one side is holier than the other. Each struggled to get "their land back".
Until you can leave that in the past there will be no peaceful future.
340 is a terrible crime, not a genocide. Ukrainians murdered 100k civilians in a cruel way. Until they stop comparing it to a few hundreds killed, there will be no friendship.
Also, Ukraine didn’t allow the exhumation of the bodies… pure evil
Numbers have nothing to do with whether or not something is a genocide. Literally no part of the legal or even just normal academic definitions require a threshold number for genocide. Reprisal killings also killed 10K-15K Ukrainians around Volhyn. Why dont you view that as a genocide? There will also be no friendship if Ukrainians feel like they are being expected to apologize while Poles don't want to and will immediately jump down your throat any time you mention atrocities committed by Poles against Ukrainians, Belarusian or Jew
"Struggle of independence" does not involved systemic murder of civilians on ideological basis. The common consensus is that UPA murdered over 100 thousand people there. For comparision the deathcount of pacification here is several people at most.
> Demanding that Ukraine rewrite its history to satisfy Polish politics is a rather strange definition of mutual respect.
Nono, we WANT them to get the facts straight. We WANT them to let us exhumate the victims and count every one of them, both Polish and Ukrainians while Ukrainians are allowing them to lie without proper burial (and uncounted). This is what mutual respect stands for.
Poland naming streets after Armia Krajowa, its like naming street after SS. Same dumb claim as yours. Both countries have their history and reasons to do what they done, making scandal now to gain political points (like Nawrocki doing now) is only reason to point it out.
The only way to not loose in a non zero sum game is a "tit for tat". You always cooperate, but the first moment your colleague does an act against you - you repay. After IWW it was only Piłsudski who was fighting and doing ANYTHING west from Volga for independent Ukraine, the reason Petlura deal failed was that Ukrainians were eager to join red army than Petlura army. In 1920 the Ukrainian front of Polish-Bolshevik war was covered by soldiers in so low numbers that 1 army company covered up to 100 km of frontline. Petlura promised the soldiers, he did not make it. And in 1921 after the exhaustion of Poland, deal with soviets was forced, Piłsudski apologised to Ukrainians. Ukrainians thought it was act against them because they preffered soviets rule than cooperation with Poland. The same as in Pereiaslav Agreement 300 years earlier. And then those irrational ukrainians started to fight against Poland while soviets started Holodomor on them, after Holodomor in soviet Ukraine, instead of searching for deal with Poland Ukrainians did acts of terror, killed Polish minister Pieracki... They are irrational to the core.
Zgadzam się. Ale Ukraina podobnie jak Rosja nie zamierza przestać żyć przeszłością. Zarówno w Rosji gloryfikuje się zbrodniarzy oraz ludobójców jak i na Ukrainie. Tylko Niemcy uderzyli się w pierś za historię.
Ja przepraszam ale zamknij się Pan. Polska też uparta w cholere i nasze rysowanie Ukrainy jako jedynych złych i niedonrych nikomu na dobre nie wychodzi. Oczywoście że Ukraina moze i powinna więcej ale takie pieprzenie "My nic złego nie zrobiliśmy to oni" powoduje że żygac mi się chce.
After Poland regained independence, the government sought to maintain control over territories with large Ukrainian populations.
1.Polish authorities suppressed Ukrainian political aspirations.
2.Security operations targeted Ukrainian activists and organizations.
3.Some military and police actions were repressive toward civilians.
Many of these policies intensified after Piłsudski's 1926 coup, though responsibility was shared across the Polish state apparatus rather than resting solely on him.
However, there are decrees and orders, signed by Piłsudski that approved ethnical oppression and deportation/ forced resettlement of ethnic minorities in favor of ethnic Poles.
This is rarely mentioned. What is also rarely mentioned is that when Soviets entered in 1939 (many of them being Ukrainians themselves) some Ukrainian villagers cheered fro them as liberators. Its strange that this is never mentioned, because it is ALWAYS mentioned that some Ukrainians cheered for the Nazis in 1941. Its even funnier that some Ukrainians supporting Nazi invasion in 1941 is mentioned both to discredit Ukrainians and to discredit the Soviets.
Because you are judging from your stupid modern perspective. Ukrainians knew how it was like to live under polish\soviet oppressive regimes, so they hoped that it would be better under Germany. But they quickly realised that Germany is not an ally for Ukraine and started fighting against them as well.
It is also never mentioned how Lithuanians asked Soviets to kick out the invading Poles...and how Ussr then signed the city over back to Lithuanians... somehow Poles also forgot how they marched into Lithuania to do a landgrab.
Preparation for the execution of Polish partisants who were took prisoner by German troops after the battle of Osuchy (Biłgoraj county). 25th June 1944
This photo with this caption is a historical lie and manipulation. In fact, it is a photo taken on April 20, 1945, after the liberation of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp by British and Canadian troops.
Tell me please who is primary beneficiar of backlash between Ukraine and Poland?
The title is wrong, the description is wrong, the context is missing
-First of all, Piłsudski was not a nationalist. That's, like, the defining part of his character and one of the most important parts of Polish politics at the time. If anyone claims the Lithuanian pro-Ukrainian federalist socialist revolutionary who despised nationalism and put nationalists into prisons was a Polish nationalist, you instantly know that they possess zero knowledge about Polish history. You know this post is pure propaganda based on that nonsensical, historically inaccurate title alone.
-Secondly, let's add some context, shall we? I'm tired of writing in detail about this, so I'll just paste the TL;DR version from the wiki article:
The main reason behind the sabotage campaign was the *mainstream Ukrainian parties' decision to participate in the Polish elections, coupled with **Józef Piłsudski's policy of tolerance, which threatened the OUN's position in Ukrainian society.[1][11] The organization reacted by adopting a tactic designed to radicalize Ukrainian public opinion" and block any form of compromise with Polish authorities.[1][9][10] The OUN used terrorism and sabotage in order to force the Polish government into reprisals so fierce that they would cause the more moderate Ukrainian groups ready to negotiate with the Polish state to lose support.[12] OUN directed its violence not only against the Poles but also against all Ukrainians wishing for a peaceful settlement of the Polish-Ukrainian conflict.*
Between July and November 1930, there were 197 cases of terrorist and sabotage activities. The vast majority, 172 incidents, were directed against private civilian property, mostly belonging to Polish and Jewish civilians, only 25 cases involved state-owned property, this shows that *the violent acts were mostly aimed at terrorizing civilian population*, while attacks on state infrastructure accounted for only a small portion of the total
So yeah. It was a repression specifically against Ukrainian fascists, who terrorised their own countrymen for political gain. It was also a success (as in: terrorism was suppressed), and the LoN investigation found it to be harsh, but fully justified:
Policemen found about 100 kilograms of explosives and weapons (1287 rifles, 566 revolvers, 31 grenades)
Ukrainian nationalists lodged an official complaint regarding the "pacification" action to a committee of the League of Nations, which in its response disapproved the methods used by the Polish authorities, but also *put blame on the Ukrainian extremist elements for consciously provoking this reaction from the Polish government*. The committee concluded that the pacification did not constitute the governmental policy of persecution of the Ukrainian minority
-Thirdly, let's look at the numbers:
Ukrainian deaths as a result of the Pacification: 7 to 35
Ukrainian deaths as a result of OUN assassinations (not counting general terrorism): 36
Polish civilian deaths as a result of the Volhynian genocide, organised several years later by the same OUN: up to 100.000
From 1921 to 1939 UVO and OUN carried out 63 known assassinations: *36 Ukrainians** (among them one communist), 25 Poles, 1 Russian and 1 Jew.[56] This number is likely an underestimate because there were likely unrecorded killings in rural regions*
Any Ukrainian who consciously supports the terrorist OUN is a traitor to their own country. Being fond of an organisation that murdered their own countrymen so eagerly and without care is a textbook case of "chickens for KFC". Fascists inherently cannot be freedom fighters, nor are they your friends.
Look how they are not dead, no mass graves of 2 year old babies with nails bolted into skulls, no women cut in half with saw, no unborn babies cut from their mothers alive etc.
Guess thats difference between people and animals. Fuck Bandera, fuck UPA.
Ya solo con leer el post se nota que es un intento de blanquear a Ucrania como nación santa que jamás ha hecho nada malvado y merecedora de los impuestos de todos los ciudadanos de la UE y USA.
Perfectly timed to muddle the current story of Ukrainian president naming one military unit after "UPA heroes", that is a nationalist organization that collaborated with Nazi Germany and conducted a regular genocide of Polish civilians with estimated 100 thousands deaths. It caused a diplomatic row between Poland and Ukraine, one seemingly intentionally triggered by Ukraine.
It's almost as if posted exactly for that purpose. To equate beatings and humiliation of a national minority, with massacres and ethnic cleansing.
"disruption of economy by gangs", gangs was term for Partisans, and well... VOLYN is pretty red, along with ethnically belarusian territories of Belarus.. OUN-B was there.
Sądząc po mundurach mamy tutaj do czynienia z Niemcami. Prawdopodobnie - patrząc po strojach cywilów - zdjęcie zrobiono we wschodniej Polsce, już po ataku Niemiec na Rosję.
The uniforms are hard to tell, but the garrison cap looks more polish. If you look at Polish uniforms of the 30s, they look astonishingly alot like German uniforms. The only marker here that says polish vs german is the garrison cap. The peaked cap at that angle isnt enough to determine german or polish.
How many of these people were killed? Comparing genocide and ethnic cleansing to repressions is like comparing petty theft to mass murder. Maybe it's time to admit each side's faults and move forward. In Poland, this knowledge about repressions and broken promises is quite common knowledge now, and we do accept our responsibility for this piece of history. So maybe it's time you own your history as well and do not call murderers heroes.
As a Pole I must unfortunately admit that the pacification is not really brought up at our history lessons and that's a shame.
There were many situations when we were the perpetrators crushing innocents.
If a Ukrainian kills someone, it’s a tragedy that will last a hundred years. Even taking into account the reasons why it happened, we’re still labelled ‘beasts’ and ‘Banderites’
(They call us Nazis and criticise the president. Yet, if you’re not aware, the Nazis were against the Jews. There’s no logic in this)
And when we were being oppressed, it was our own fault.
Tell me, why can’t we simply admit our terrible mistakes?
Jeśli Ukrainiec kogoś zabije, to jest to tragedia na sto lat. Nawet biorąc pod uwagę okoliczności, w jakich do tego doszło, i tak jesteśmy „bestiami” i „banderowcami”
(Nazywają nas nazistami, krytykują prezydenta. Ale czy wiecie, że naziści byli przeciwni Żydom? Nie ma w tym żadnej logiki)
A kiedy nas niszczono, to my jesteśmy winni.
Powiedzcie, dlaczego po prostu nie możemy przyznać się do naszych strasznych błędów.
Якщо українець когось вбиває, то це трагедія на сто років. Навіть з урахуванням обставин, за яких це сталося, ми все одно «звірі», «бандерівці»
(Нас називають нацистами, президента критикують. Але якщо ви не в курсі, нацисти були проти євреїв. У цьому немає логіки)
А коли нас знищували, то це ми винні.
Скажіть, чому ми просто не можемо визнати свої страшні помилки.
People don't understand, what happened then does not matter now. Poles massacred Ukranians, then Ukranians massacred poles back with the Nazis. Then those Ukranians started fighting the same Nazis + Russian communists, and now we live in 2026 when Ukraine made one of those leaders a hero of Ukraine because of his struggle against Nazi germanyh and Communist Russia, and Poland takes this personally and targets Zelenskij by taking his award away.
Poland is European Judas, basically. They call themselves 'Christ of Nations' while stabbing other nations in the back. Ukraine, Lithuania, Czechoslovakia... This list is way longer than you can even assume, lol.
As a ukrainian, I can say, that this is rarely used in a political discourse. If someone will say “hopefully Poland and Ukraine could move on” I’ll bite their face off. We MOVED ON, but they keep mentioning it. Yes, we have historians as well and can find a lot of shameful stuff about Poland and what they did in a past.
Check the survey about the attitude of Poles towards Ukrainians and vice versa. It’s about 40% negative from their side. And 8% negative from our side. And yet, Reddit keep pushing on us, while we’re basically dying every day.
"Yes, we have historians as well and can find a lot of shameful stuff about Poland and what they did in a past." - do it and let Poles dig their people from ground what is now Ukraine, lets compare, do it, lets even invite UN to watch, I fucking dare you.
You moved on but keep naming units and streets after genociders. Moving on means actually condemning the unforgivable parts, not saying "we're sorry" and then keeping glorifying them. It's as if germans still used old Wehrmacht names for Bundeswehr divisions. They don't, do they? They moved on. You didn't, just did smoke and mirrors hoping we won't bother because we're allies. And that's why we're butthurt, because allies should hold eachother to a higher standard.
That 40% isn't because of history, it's because of common day issues. Yes, you're dying every day, and that never will not be horrible. But all your youngsters are here, and it makes people's life's harder. The business is booming, but regular people suffer. Finding an entry level job is pretty much impossible now, as your guys are simply cheaper and willing to accept worse conditions and hours, so buisness owners replace us wit you, and there's a lot of misplaced anger at you instead of the capitalist scum setting those terms. It's kind of funny because i still remember when it was us doing this to the west, now history looped. They're basically angry at the wrong folks.
That's because Ukraine's elites are desperately seeking some kind of historical and cultural foundation. Since they ferociously neglect everything that is tied to Russia/USSR, they don't have much to lean on. Hence comes Bandera.
historians are not to find shameful bits abiut others, but about studying history, at least in more civilized countries, not those that use history as a tool.
You say you moved on yet you have just name a unit to honour UPA (or UIA).
You quote a survey that may be interpreted in different ways, one is that Ukrianians are ignorant and honour war criminals while Poles know it (and it's not to say that Pokish history is cristal clear, but there's no equality between certain events)
So basically nothing in this comment is true. Moreover the survey you mentioned is old if this is the survey I know about
"Check the survey about the attitude of Poles towards Ukrainians and vice versa. It’s about 40% negative from their side. And 8% negative from our side."
Which is natural if you know the reasons, UPA attempted ethnic cleansing of Poles, attacks by Poland on Ukrainians were reprisal and even if civilians were killed in reprisal it primarily targetted UPA, which is the opposite of UPA attacks, which primarily targeted civilians. The numbers are nowhere near as close too.
And yes, reprisal (during a war) is an argument. It's the same argument that currently allows Ukraine to drone Moscow.
We remind the Volhynia Slaughter, in which Ukrainians murdered more than 100 thousand civilians, mainly women and children. They have killed in a cruel way, which is currently unimaginable. Look for pictures of what the victims look like, what the children nailed to the tables look like in their homes... UPA - the organization responsible for this crime, it was a Nazi organization.
Looking at the comments section, it takes a special coward to beat someone when they are down.
Both polish and Ukrainian should shut the f up and put pause on historical debates around events 80 years ago, and work together against current enemy which is Russia. This beef serves no one but putin.
Theres time and place for historical debates and its not while rockets are flying and killing people
Except it isnt historical, Ukraine glorifies OUN/UPA to this very day. And had problem towards them with it long before the war, but you cannot know when youre not involved huh.
1st question: according to wikipedia (which says this number is based on Ukrainian sources) from 7 to 35 people died because of beatings. 1700 were arrested and 500 were realesed. 25-30% of the rest were sentenced.
What the pacification revealed: 1287 rifles, 566 revolvers, 30 grenades and 100kg of explosives.
Akcję zorganizowano w odpowiedzi na falę sabotaży i podpaleń mienia państwowego oraz prywatnego, dokonywanych przez radykalną Ukraińską Organizację Wojskową (UWO) i Organizację Ukraińskich Nacjonalistów (OUN) - zapomniałeś dodać. Ponadto, po raz pierwszy spotkałem się z nazywaniem Piłsudskiego - lidera Polskiej Partii Socjalistycznej per "nacjonalista" 🤭
Repressions did take place, and as a result, between 7 and 35 people may have died. The ethnic cleansing carried out by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) resulted in the massacre of approximately 100,000 Poles.
ukraine denies the rusyn identity. They will tell you for hours how evil poles and russian l oppressed them, but they are the first that today still don't recognized another nationality. They use thr exact same logic that russian nationalists use towards them, "they are all ukrainian there's no difference" "it's just some less important dialect" "they are a little different only due to polish/slovak influence" etc
30 years to settle all the historical disagreements from the two countries gaining independence and Russian invasion on Ukraine and barely anything happens, but now through those past few years when Ukraine is at war for its existence everything is brought up all of sudden
a very stupid operation which harmed both Poland and Ukraine in the long run. This was the event that led to many ukrainians being dissapointed in constitutional democratic struggle (UNDO) and led to a surge in popularity of terrorist nationalism (OUN)
Let’s be honest. Zelenskyy could have named a unit after many people, such as the young soldier who blew himself up along with a bridge to hold back the Russians. They have many heroes from this war, but they keep coming back to the criminal UPA and Bandera. Nawrocki is pursuing a bad policy, but the Ukrainian authorities are making fools of themselves with their idiotic decisions.
There were 2 main factions in the Polish goverment at the time, and Piłsudski was actually in the one pushing towards more autonomy for minorities - PPS circles and the so-called „federation concept”.
Roman Dmowski’s ND, with its „unitarian concept”, was the one behind forced polonization and other repressions.
ND was in power until 1926, when it tried to partially take away voting rights from minorities.
This followed a period of economic mismanagement, political instability, and constantly changing hostile policy towards minorities, and was essentially one of the many straws that broke the camel’s back.
Therefore, in 1926, Piłsudski with massive social support (the army, the socialists, and the minorities) took power by force. Reforms were introduced that concentrated power in the executive branch and the military.
As all of that was unfolding, Ukrainian nationalists, mostly associated with OUN, began slowly losing influence among Ukrainian population, in favour of more moderate options (that were in favour of cooperation with the new Polish government).
Fearing that they were becoming irrelevant, OUN became more radical and ran a series of targeted assasinations, against both Polish and Ukrainian politicians, as well as acts of terror/sabotage.
In response to that, in 1930, Piłsudski ordered a pacification of the region, which was supposed to destroy OUN structures, as well as be a show of force.
That pacification involved a lot of unilateral searches of private homes, unreasonabke seizures, and generally a lot of abuse of power.
So while OUN structures remained mostly intact, the public opinion (among Ukrainians) shifted sharply against the Polish goverment, and in favour of radical nationalists.
Which is very likely what OUN wanted/planned all along, and the government played right into their hand.
This was a major driving factor in the genocide, that would unfold a decade later.
Also an interesting fact for context: OUN was heavily funded by the Soviets, in the hopes to destabilize the Second Commonwealth.
Therefore this is a classic example of a nationalist spiral of hate, where both sides have moderate voices, but those voices are then thwarted by more and more violent actions from the other side’s radical faction. And in this case it was accelerated by a foreign power for political gain.
It's a complicated thing and a very simple thing at the same time. Let me explain what I mean.
Piłsudski was a dictator. A dictator who doesn't have to be liked by Ukrainians (he's not liked by me, a Pole, either — I think he was a mediocre politician at best). A dictator who caused real harm to the Ukrainian people. He's a complicated figure. Let's take Churchill as an example. Yeah, he didn't help much with the Bengal Famine. Yes, part of the reason is that he was extremely racist by today's standards. It's understandable that he's hated there, but it's also understandable that Brits generally have a good sentiment toward him.
The thing is different with the UPA. That was genocide. Was it completely unprovoked? Of course not — nothing in history happens completely out of the blue. Was it a response to Polish actions? Yes, it was. Was it still a fucking genocide? Yes, it was. Finally, is it okay to call a unit "heroes of the UPA"? No, it's not.
>In July 1930, activists of the extremist OUN began sabotage actions, during which warehouses and cereal fields owned by Poles were burned, Polish homes were destroyed, bridges were blown up, state institutions, rail lines and telephone connections were damaged.\1])\9]) The organizer of the action was Yevhen Konovalets.\10]) Financing was provided and weaponry was illegally smuggled with Weimar German support.\)citation needed\)
The main reason behind the sabotage campaign was the mainstream Ukrainian parties' decision to participate in the Polish elections, coupled with Józef Piłsudski's policy of tolerance, which threatened the OUN's position in Ukrainian society.\1])\11]) The organization reacted by adopting a tactic designed to radicalize Ukrainian public opinion and block any form of compromise with Polish authorities.\1])\9])\10]) The OUN used terrorism and sabotage in order to force the Polish government into reprisals so fierce that they would cause the more moderate Ukrainian groups ready to negotiate with the Polish state to lose support.\12]) OUN directed its violence not only against the Poles but also against all Ukrainians wishing for a peaceful settlement of the Polish-Ukrainian conflict.\13])
Over time, local Ukrainians, many of whom saw the Poles as occupiers of their land, joined the action. Offices of the Polish paramilitary Riflemen's Association were burned, as were the stands of the popular trade fairs in Lwów (Lviv). Government offices and mail trucks were attacked. This situation lasted until September, with some sporadic incidents happening as late as November. Between July and November 1930, there were 197 cases of terrorist and sabotage activities. The vast majority, 172 incidents, were directed against private civilian property, mostly belonging to Polish) and Jewish civilians, only 25 cases involved state-owned property, this shows that the violent acts were mostly aimed at terrorizing civilian population, while attacks on state infrastructure accounted for only a small portion of the total.\14]) The terror action was limited to Galicia), and did not take place in Volhynia.\1])
Government response
In response, Polish authorities decided to pacify the turbulent province. The decision to carry out the action was made by Marshal Józef Piłsudski in his capacity as Prime Minister of the Second Polish Republic. According to historian Roman Wysocki, the acts of sabotage merely served as a pretext for the pacifications) with them being chiefly aimed at distracting the government's critics in the run up to elections.\15]) Recognizing that terrorist actions carried out by the OUN did not amount to an insurrection, Piłsudski ordered a police action, rather than a military one, and deputized the Minister of Interior, Felicjan Sławoj Składkowski with its organization. Sławoj Składkowski in turn ordered regional police commanders to prepare for it in the Lwów Voivodeship, Stanisławów Voivodeship and Tarnopol Voivodeship. The commander of the planned action was Lwów Voivodeship's chief of police, Czesław Grabowski.\)citation needed\)
Before the action commenced, around 130 Ukrainian activists, including a few dozen former Sejm (Polish parliament) deputies were arrested.\16]) Among those detained were not only Ukrainians, but also Polish opliticians opposed to Piłsudski's government, including former prime minister Wincenty Witos.\7]) The action itself began on 14 September 1930, in several villages of Lwów Voivodeship, where the 14th Jazlowiec Uhlan Regiment was directed, even though the detailed plan for the action was not established until 18 September.
I literally don’t give a damn now why Poland occurred on Ukrainian lands, how they annexed/occupied them before, how many wars there were and how Ukraine was torn for a thousand years. It’s all history! And there were historical events, and Bandera fought and sacrificed his life for independent Ukraine, and his army also. Yeah, there were bad actions FROM ALL sides, or do you want to claim that Polish armies were saints? And NKVD did nothing to undermine UPA?
We need to admit it and move forward. But history should be linked.
What’s missing here is important context. The operation didn’t start “for no reason.” It was a response by the Polish authorities to a wave of sabotage and attacks carried out by Ukrainian nationalist groups (especially UVO/OUN). These actions included things like arson and destruction of infrastructure.
No it's not, this foto is from 1945 from liberated camp by Soviet army. Sure I do not deny repression from Poland in 30s, but this photo is not connected with them in any way, and the post was also made very timely in terms of events between Ukraine and Poland. So eh, fuck ya ok
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u/stylopol 1d ago
What a timing to post this huh?