How did the Polish government respond to the Holodomor in 1933? Let me remind you that in that year, not tens or hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians died – millions did. So what was the public position of the Polish government regarding the genocide of millions of Ukrainians? Ukrainian historian, journalist, and TV host Oleksandr Zinchenko writes.
In my film “Holodomor. Chronicleris,” my Polish colleague, the outstanding publicist and writer Mirosław Wlekły, explains in detail:
“…We know that the Polish government was well aware of the situation in Ukraine. However, the Polish government behaved similarly to the Vatican – it said nothing because it had just signed a non-aggression pact with the USSR. The Poles did not want to quarrel with Stalin; they wanted to maintain an agreement with him. Therefore, they remained silent about the plight of a neighboring nation.
So we see that everyone around – from Poland to the Americans – simply washed their hands, looked away, and pretended not to see millions of people dying.”
In 1933, Poland joined the conspiracy of silence surrounding the Holodomor. Piłsudski’s Poland found itself in “excellent” company with Mussolini’s Italy and Hitler’s Germany.
Everyone knew.
Polish Consul Jan Karszo-Siedlecki reported from Kharkiv on June 6, 1933:
“Cases of death from starvation on the streets and in the courtyards are now counted not in tens, but in hundreds per day. Every night, trucks and carts roam the streets, collecting the dead from the streets, markets, gardens, and courtyards. It was recorded that in the morning, four trucks of dead and dying from starvation were removed from Kyiv’s main railway station. Reports indicate this happens daily.”
Similar reports came from Kharkiv from German Consul Konstantin von Neurath and Italian Consul Sergio Gradenigo.
Piłsudski knew. Mussolini knew. Hitler knew. And they stayed silent.
Why?
Professor Ola Hnatiuk put it best in the film:
“Above all, there was one reason – the decline of values, which allowed millions of people to be starved to death in the heart of Europe.”
Europe, through this conspiracy of silence, realized that any crime would go unpunished. And so it happened – the outbreak of World War II.
There is another important aspect of Poland’s responsibility toward Ukraine.
On August 23, 1939, Stalin and Hitler did to Poland exactly what Poland and Bolshevik russia had done to Ukraine on March 18, 1921 – they partitioned it between themselves.
The only difference was that the USSR and the Third Reich first signed the document and then acted, while Poland and Bolshevik russia acted first and formalized it later in an agreement.
Poland, in 1918 – 1921, stood in the way of Ukrainian statehood, resulting in the deaths of millions of Ukrainians.Poland, in 1933, joined the conspiracy of silence about the genocide of Ukrainians in the USSR.
The Polish state has never, in its entire history, apologized for its complicity in the most horrific tragedies of the Ukrainian people.
This is a huge sin, one that most Poles do not acknowledge. And a significant part of Polish society denies this responsibility.
This shows that Polish society is now in a dynamic that indicates a terrible decline in values.
Poland is returning to 1933.
