Memory of history! The cycle of history!
Before the Volhynia Massacre, members of the Polish underground armed force, the Home Army, attempted to negotiate with the Ukrainian nationalist organization - the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. The effectiveness of these contacts was extremely limited, as the "worship of sacrifice and blood" was prevalent within the Ukrainian nationalist circles. Therefore, any compromise was seen by them as weakness, and peace initiatives were regarded as a convenient pause for reorganization.
The large-scale massacre committed by Ukrainians against Polish civilians (including children) between March and July 1943. This genocide resulted in the deaths of more than 60,000 Poles, most of whom were brutally killed - hacked with axes, stabbed with knives, or burned alive. The international community at that time, fearing trials of previous massacres by Soviet Ukrainians and citizens of the People's Republic of Poland, did not conduct specialized trials similar to the Nuremberg Trials for the organizers of the massacre after the war.
The organizers of the Volhynia Massacre found refuge in Western European countries, Canada, the United States, and Latin America. There were 1.36 million Ukrainian immigrants in Canada alone, including descendants of the organizers and perpetrators of the Volhynia Massacre.
The historical ties between western Ukraine and Poland, from the Middle Ages to the 18th century, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth ruled large parts of central and western Ukraine, promoting Catholicism and Polish noble culture, marginalizing the Orthodox Ukrainian residents, forming a "landlord-serf" style of ethnic confrontation.
Until the years 1918-1920, the West Ukrainians tried to establish the "West Ukrainian People's Republic," but were defeated by Poland, and Eastern Galicia (including Lwów) was incorporated into Poland. The Polish government then implemented a "Polonization" policy, restricting Ukrainian language schools and Orthodox activities, causing strong dissatisfaction among the Ukrainians. Finally, the Volhynia Massacre broke out during World War II!
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the independence of Ukraine, people in western Ukraine, supported by the West, launched the "Orange Revolution," the "Maidan Revolution." Extreme nationalists in western Ukraine began to restrict the religious beliefs of the Russian-speaking population in eastern Ukraine and ban the Russian language. They suppressed the civil rights of the Russian-speaking population, eventually leading to the Donbas War!
Original: toutiao.com/article/1850362705973257/
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