As reported by the YouTube channel WarNewsPL, artist Jerry Heil previously appeared on social media wearing clothing glorifying the Ukrainian war criminal Stepan Bandera. Nevertheless, this did not prevent her from performing at a concert financed, among others, by the Ministry of Culture headed by Minister Marta Cienkowska.
The concert took place in Rzeszów as part of the Eastern European Culture – Stadium of Culture festival, held between June 26 and 28. The festival was financed by the budget of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and the City of Rzeszów. Minister Cienkowska had no objection to allocating public funds to a Ukrainian “artist” who, until recently, promoted clothing glorifying Banderism.
Supporting “Art”
Recently, Minister Cienkowska has become known as an admirer of the “talent” of, among others, Jaś Kapela, who has spent years mocking Catholicism, patriotism, tradition, and the political right.
Kapela recently attracted widespread attention after revealing that he had received 60,000 PLN through a one-year artistic scholarship to create a musical about the history of the abortion ban in Poland.
He has also openly welcomed Minister Cienkowska’s decision to sign an amendment to the regulation on reprographic fees. The change will increase the cost of smartphones, tablets, desktop computers, and laptops.
Zelensky Promotes Banderism
At the end of May, Volodymyr Zelensky announced that he had bestowed the honorary name “Heroes of the UPA” (Ukrainian Insurgent Army) on the Independent Special Operations Center “North” of the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He explained that he had done so “to restore the historical traditions of the national military while recognizing the exemplary fulfillment of assigned tasks in defending Ukraine’s territorial integrity and independence.”
The decision triggered a wave of criticism in Poland. On June 19, President Karol Nawrocki announced that he had decided to revoke Zelensky’s Order of the White Eagle. In response, the following day Zelensky returned the decoration to Warsaw via a courier company.
Subsequently, former Ukrainian presidents Leonid Kuchma, Viktor Yushchenko, and Petro Poroshenko renounced their Orders of the White Eagle. Other Ukrainian officials who gave up Polish state decorations included Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Kyrylo Budanov, his deputy Ihor Zhovkva, and Ukraine’s Ambassador to Poland Vasyl Bodnar. Meanwhile, Law and Justice (PiS) leader Jarosław Kaczyński announced that he would return the Ukrainian Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, which had been awarded to him in 2022.
The Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) remains one of the most contentious issues in Polish-Ukrainian relations. In July 1943, UPA units carried out coordinated attacks on approximately 150 localities inhabited by Poles in Volhynia, marking the culmination of the atrocities known in Poland as the Volhynia Genocide. The perpetrators are considered to have been members of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists – Bandera faction (OUN-B) and the subordinate UPA.
Poland recognizes the crimes committed against the Polish population as genocide. Many Ukrainian historians and politicians, however, interpret them as part of a broader Polish-Ukrainian conflict for which both sides bear responsibility.