Poland: Displacement of Ukrainians in Poland after World War II, with an emphasis on area called Lemkivchina; Current treatment of ethnic Ukrainians in Poland

Both Checinski's Poland: Communism, Nationalism, Anti-Semitism and the article by Vasyl Markus entitled "The Religious Situation of the Ukrainians in Poland and of the Poles in Ukraine" mention that there was a military resettlement of Ukrainians in 1947 called Operation Wisla or Akcja Wisla. The Markus article further mentions that there is a region called Lemko in Eastern Poland which contains a number of villages which remain predominantly ethnic Ukrainian. No information is currently available to the IRBDC regarding Lemkivchina.

For an overview of the treatment of Ukrainians in Poland, please consult the attached copy of the article by Vasyl Markus. Also attached is an article from The Globe and Mail, dated 15 September 1989, which provides further information on the recent treatment of the Ukrainian ethnic group in Poland. [Lubomyr Luciuk, "Ukrainian refugees find cold comfort in Austrian camps", The Globe and Mail, 15 September 1989.] According to this article, the Ukrainians in Poland are remnants of a large population that inhabited Eastern Galicia (Western Ukraine) between the Wars. [Ibid.] These people were forcibly relocated to former German territory in Poland in 1947, in response to a resistance campaign waged against the Soviets because of Galicia's incorporation into the Soviet Union. [Ibid.] This source mentions that despite the election of Solidarity, the Ukrainians in Poland fear a continuation of the policies which have given them a "second-class existence." [Ibid.]

Two sources contacted by the IRBDC corroborate reports that the Ukrainian community in Poland has suffered ill treatment. According to the Ukrainian Social Services organization, the current situation has not changed much, although a Ukrainian bishop in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church was recently installed. This, according to the Ukrainian Organization in Canada, amounts to semi-recognition of the Church by the state authorities. That aside however, both the Ukrainian Social Services and the Ottawa Branch of the Canadian Polish Congress claim that Ukrainians in Poland have their ethnic origin "ignored" by the government, which does not recognize Ukrainian as an official minority in Poland. Ukrainian is not taught in the education system, the language is ridiculed, and Ukrainians are encouraged to "Polonize" their names, according to the Ukrainian group in Canada. In the area of religion, the representative of the Ukrainian Social Services claimed that many Ukrainian Orthodox churches were closed and turned over to the Roman Catholic Church. The representative of the Polish Congress highlighted the fact that the Roman Catholic Church considers the Ukrainians as Roman Catholic and only in some cases provides a location for Ukrainian ceremonies. This source added that even between the wars, in the heyday of a "free Poland", it was difficult for ethnic minorities and this issue was never resolved in the post-war era. Apparently, it is not a priority today. It was further noted by the Polish Congress that the Ukrainians in Poland tend to live in small communities among themselves and people from these settlements can be more readily singled out as Ukrainians by the Poles. On the other hand, many Ukrainians have moved into the urban areas and have undergone an assimilation process, including a change of name, thus making them difficult to single out.

The U.S. Department of State's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1988 points out that the Ukrainian members of the Orthodox faith have complained of Polish ethnic prejudice but also mentions that the Church has obtained the return of several religious buildings taken over by the government. [U.S. Department of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1988, (Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1989),

p. 1154.]

No further corroborating sources are currently available to the IRBDC.

ATTACHMENTS

Markus, Vasyl. "The Religious Situation of the Ukrainians in Poland and of the Poles in Ukraine", in Potichnyi, Peter, ed. Poland and Ukraine. Toronto: Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, 1980, 132-145.

Checinski, Michael. Poland: Communism, Nationalism, Anti-Semitism. New York: Karz-Cohl Publishing, 1982. 64-65.

Luciuk, Lubomyr. "Ukrainian refugees find cold comfort in Austrian camps", The Globe and Mail. 15 September 1989.