“Ignores the facts” Ukrainian historians explained why the case about the “Visula” action was closed in Poland

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The decision of the IPN states that the deportation of Ukrainians allegedly “took place in a humane manner” and had a “preventive and protective nature.”

Photo: Zbruc

According to the text, the investigation “did not reveal actions that would cause public or private harm.” Likewise, no abuses or excesses of authority were found during the decision on mass eviction.

According to Ukrainian historians, the corresponding decision ignores the facts of the case.

Lawyer and historian Serhiy Ryabenko says that the evidence indicates that the deportation of Ukrainians took place against the will of the population and with the use of military units.

“The evidence unequivocally indicates that the “Visula” had a coercive nature, related to the displacement of population groups based on national characteristics from the areas in which they lived at that time on legal grounds, and was also carried out in the absence of grounds permitted by international law.” – reports Ryabenko.

He says that according to the evidence, people who were placed in the concentration camp in the Polish city of Jawozno were subjected to torture and torture.

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Ukrainians were forbidden to return under the threat of repeated deportation or concentration camp, they were persecuted, the historian adds.

“All this, according to the norms of international law, are signs of a crime against humanity,” – added Serhiy Ryabenko.

Read also: Mass deportations of Ukrainians: from the Soviet “strengthening of national unity” to modern Russian war crimes

Photo: Zbruc

Also, the IPN claims that at that time Ukrainian underground structures were operating on the territory of Poland, which allegedly waged an armed conflict with the country’s government.

According to Ukrainian historians, the attempt of the IPN prosecutor to justify the actions of the authorities of communist Poland “is little different from the attempts of Russian propagandists to ‘justify’ the repressions of the Soviet totalitarian regime.”

On April 28, 1947, the Polish communist authorities launched Operation Vistula, as a result of which about 150,000 Ukrainians were deported. Those who resisted were killed.

In this way, Poland at that time wanted to “cleanse” its ethnic territories of Ukrainians and suppress the Ukrainian liberation movement.

“Visula” put an end to the Second Polish-Ukrainian War, which unfolded within the framework of the Second World War, starting in 1942 in the Holm region, the modern territory of Poland.

It is known that after the case regarding the “Visula” action was closed, more than a hundred Polish historians, public and cultural figures published a letter to the leadership of both chambers of the Polish Parliament, in which they condemned the decision of the IPN.

They called the decision scandalous and demanded to recognize the “Visula” action as a crime.

The Ambassador of Ukraine to Poland, Vasyl Zvarych, in a comment to Ukrinform, condemned the decision of the IPN and promised that Ukraine would demand its review.

“I was outraged by the decision of the Institute of National Remembrance of Poland to freeze the investigation into one of the most shameful crimes of the communist regime, which was the action “Vistula“. Most Polish historians are convinced that it was a communist crime.

We believe that this story has not yet come to an end. I think that our efforts and the efforts of Polish historians will continue to challenge the decision of the INP and conduct a real investigation of this tragedy in the history of the Ukrainian people“, – he said.

Read also: They took everything. Even the sea and the taste of grapes. Interview with a historian about the deportation of the Crimean Tatars