Can anyone answer my following question?
In early 40th of the last century there 2 crimes committed against Polish people.
First one in Katyn (strictly speaking there were 3 or 4 places scattered over the USSR, but the collective name for the mass murder is Katyn massacre). Second one in Volyn.
(As a person of Russian/Ukrainian ancestry I apologies for my distant relatives, and agree, that there was/is absolutely no excuse for both actions. Absolutely. Period.)
The number of people killed in Katyn is calculated up to one person - 21 857.
Number of Volyn victims is unknown, I read different numbers, but it looks like it was at least 35 000. Probably around 50 000 - 60 000.
Katyn:
Soviet/Russian officials at least 7 times acknowledged the fact that the mass murder was done by NKWD. It was done on the highest political level, 5 times - by presidents, 2 times by the parliament.
President Eltsyn in 1993, at Kayn memorial (the one at Warsaw) explicitly and directly said: "Forgive us".
In Katyn polish people were not killed just because they were polish (some polish people were in top positions at that time in the Soviet Union - marshall Rokossowsky in 1945 commanded the Victory parade, 20 years before that Feilx Dzierzhinsky was the first head of KGB, his statue was before the main office of KGB till 1991, and nobody cared). It cannot be called a genocied, but rather a mass murder.
Polish parliament called it "genocidal murder".
This fact of Katyn massacre is in russian history books, recommended (by law, they do not order, just recommend some list of books, and schools, colleges, universities decide for themselves what to use) by the ministry of education.
In Russian Wikipedia you read:
"Катынский расстрел ... — массовые казни польских граждан (в основном пленных офицеров польской армии), осуществлённые весной1940 года сотрудниками НКВД СССР."
"Katyn shootings... - mass execution of polish citizens (mainly captured officers of polish army), done in the spring of 1940, by NKWD of the USSR)"
Volyn:
I never heard Ukrainian president ever apologize for Volyn, nor heard I parliament do this.
In Volyn people were killed for the very fact that they were polish. This is a classical example of genocide.
Polish parliament called it " murder with elements of genocide" - definition is softer than for Katyn massacre.
As I know Volyn massacre is not in Ukrainian historical books.
In Ukrainian Wikipedia you read:
"Волинська трагедія — один із кривавих епізодів українсько-польского конфлікту під час Другої світової війни на Волині ... За польскими підрахунками ... 35 тисяч осіб українського боку загинуло до кількох тисяч осіб. В Україні подібних до польських підрахунків не проводилося"....Дії поляків, які спричинили конфлікт...Першими почали конфлікт поляки..."
"Volyn tragedy - one of bloody episodes of polish-ukrainian conflicts during the WW2 in Volyn. According to Polish calculations - at least 35 000 polish people died and several thousands ukrainians. On Ukrainian side nobody calculated .... Polish actions which caused the conflict ... It was Polish side, that started the conflict first..."
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Can anyone explain me, why polish side so differently approaches the two event? Polish parliament interprets Volyn massacre softer. I never heard Andrzey Wayda planning new film "Volyn". If you google (in .pl domain): Zbrodnia katyńska - 181,000; Rzeź wołyńska - 8,180. The difference is more than 22 times!
I am not advocating NKWD. God forbid.
But can anyone (on polish side) explain me this phenomenon?
Inne tematy w dziale Kultura
