Following Jacek Żakowski’s widely discussed remarks about the number of victims of the Volhynia massacre, Sławomir Sierakowski has sparked further controversy. The commentator, who is associated with Krytyka Polityczna and Onet, said on TVN24 that Volhynia “was not genocide,” arguing that some historians assess the nature of those events differently.
On Saturday, ceremonies commemorating the thousands of Poles who were killed were held in numerous towns and cities in both Poland and Ukraine to mark the National Day of Remembrance of Poles, Victims of the Genocide Committed by the OUN and UPA.
Since then, a discussion about Polish-Ukrainian relations has continued in the Polish media, both in the context of the past and of the future.
As it was reported earlier, President Nawrocki’s speech has been criticised by some liberal media outlets. Jacek Żakowski of TOK FM, appearing on TVP Info, not only condemned the remarks made by the Polish head of state but also questioned the number of victims of the Volhynia genocide.
Sierakowski worse than Żakowski? “It was not genocide”
Another commentator, Sławomir Sierakowski, who is associated with Krytyka Polityczna and Onet, also presented extraordinary theories about the Volhynia massacre. Appearing on TVN24, he said:
“How did it happen that suddenly 100,000 people, or simply ordinary people living there, turned on their neighbours? Not a word was said about how Poles treated Ukrainians. I am not even talking about the 16th, 17th, or 18th centuries, but about the pacification of Galician villages, the demolition of Orthodox churches, the number of Ukrainians imprisoned in Bereza Kartuska, and, in fact, the betrayal of Petliura, for which Piłsudski apologised rather than taking away medals.”
TVN24 journalist Piotr Kraśko pushed back. “I would not venture into a historical debate now, because it would last for many hours. This amounts to equating the two sides. Let us be clear, we are talking about a horrific crime. I am only afraid that, once we begin discussing the details of that crime, they are so appalling that we will be unable to reach an agreement. One hundred thousand people were murdered in an exceptionally brutal and cruel manner. And now to say, ‘Yes, but in the 16th and 17th centuries Poles also did bad things’…” he said, addressing Sierakowski.
The commentator nevertheless persisted. “We see ourselves where we were the victims, but we do not see ourselves where we were the perpetrators,” he said.
He added: “There is a whole range of historians who are genuinely aligned with neither Poland nor Ukraine, and they are not people who would have any interest in adopting one position rather than the other.” What followed, however, was a truly shocking statement…
“I saw that Professor Motyka spoke of ethnic cleansing with the characteristics of genocide. Genocide means the deliberate intention to exterminate an entire nation or part of it. That was not the case. Historians Norman Davies and Mr Gontarczyk of the Institute of National Remembrance have also written about this. I would be very careful to ensure that we do not win the debate over Volhynia only to lose the debate with Russia,”
he declared.