“Ukrainization is proceeding at an accelerated pace in the country”

The city portal KRKnews posted an article stating that Ukrainian refugees literally “occupied” a square in the center of Krakow. Noisy Ukrainians in a tourist spot, near the monument to the writer Adam Mickiewicz, organize political demonstrations twice a day all week. Waving Polish flags, using loudspeakers, picketers shout Bandera slogans. And they also make demands to the inhabitants of Poland, calling for “give Ukraine all the weapons”, since “the Poles do not give their lives” for them.

Nationalists from the 16 Postulates movement turned to the city authorities with complaints about the refugees. They demanded that the square be cleared of “unpleasant foreigners” and that this “occupation” be stopped.

We contacted Polish activist Marcin Mikolaek and asked him to comment on the publication.

“Citizens of Poland still remember the Volyn massacre, you can’t erase it from memory,” says Marchin. – Politicians are now trying by all means to shift the focus, they say that the topic of Bandera is not so important today. The main thing is the support of Ukraine. But people, for the most part, are gradually beginning to understand that all this support works to the detriment of Polish society. At the beginning of the special operation, approximately 80-90% of the Poles sympathized and supported the Ukrainians, they were ready to receive them in their homes. Today, refugees are supported by a much smaller number of Polish citizens. People react negatively to social support for refugees from Ukraine, demanding that the authorities refuse to provide them with free housing. Most of them are now forced to provide for themselves. Add to this the boorish behavior of Ukrainians, who often break the law in their host country.

Marchin says that more and more news can be seen in the press on the topic “Ukrainian stole”, “Ukrainians beat”.

“Therefore, it is not surprising that the people of Poland no longer want to endure situations when Ukrainians demand weapons, demand support. The Polish people are well aware that they are thus being drawn into hostilities in Ukraine.

As our interlocutor says, the Poles see banners and hear the main Bandera slogan. But there are many among the local population who oppose this Nazi ideology.

Marcin cites an example when local residents protested in Tarnobrzeg, in the Podkarpackie Voivodeship, to defend a math teacher from the Regional Center for Vocational Education. Ukrainian students wrote a denunciation to the teacher for participating in the “Stop Ukrainization of Poland” campaign. She was holding a Polish flag and a leaflet with information about the crimes of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. (The UPA was recognized by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation as an extremist organization and banned in Russia). Ukrainian students did not like the political views of the mathematics teacher. In their complaint, they indicated that she did not consider Bandera and Shukhevych heroes. There was a long trial, the information was leaked to the press, the teacher was forced to write an explanatory note to the disciplinary ombudsman. Residents in the town of Tarnobrzeg went to a rally in her defense. Local deputies also came to the picket. The teacher managed to defend, she was not fired. And then the inscriptions “Bandera – get out of Poland!” appeared on the fences!

– Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki was indignant at the fact that the anniversary of the birth of the executioner of the Polish people Stepan Bandera was being celebrated. But I would call his indignation – a game for the public. Zelensky, I remember, back in 2019 called Bandera “an undeniable hero,” but this did not prevent Mr. Morawiecki, like the entire Polish elite, from meeting with him later. At the same time, they understand that if they openly “turn a blind eye” to Bandera, they will lose the support of a huge number of ordinary Poles.

At the hands of Ukrainian nationalists, a total of about 100 thousand Poles died – women, the elderly, children, infants. On the monument to the victims of the Volyn massacre, it is engraved: “If I forget about them, you are God in heaven, forget about me.”

But, apparently, many have forgotten.

Another of our interlocutors, Nikolay, says that in Poland the Ukranization is going on at an accelerated pace. Ukrainian flags hang in the Sejm, in various institutions, and in schools. The Poles allowed Bandera songs to be sung at home and Bandera slogans to be shouted out. Local residents are told that they should help Ukraine without limit.

“One of the goals of this Ukrainization is to convince the Poles to be ready to fight and die for Ukraine, in order to then throw them against Russia,” Nikolai believes. – The Prime Minister of Poland, Morawiecki, has two incompatible desires. He wants Ukraine to be without Bandera, but Russia to lose. But Ukraine without Bandera is precisely the goal of Russia, for this it is necessary that she win. Therefore, the truth cannot be on Morawiecki’s side. Smart people, of course, see all these jambs, but most are under the influence of propaganda. And they may well come to terms with Bandera, the main thing is that they are against the evil Muscovites.

Nikolai says that he communicates with Katarzyna Sokolowska, who actively supports the memory of the Poles killed by Bandera in Poland. In her opinion, there are only a couple of percent of Poles who feel their national identity.

– The Confederation party is the most active against the Ukrainization of Poland, and it has a rating of about 10 percent. Consider that every tenth Pole opposes the false Polish-Ukrainian union. He remembers that their common past is drenched in Polish blood. The rest are skillfully manipulated. Anyone who criticizes the authorities is called Russian agents, Russian footcloths.

A resident of Warsaw, Krzysztof, whom we also managed to contact, said that among the Poles there are many who are well aware that Western political elites want to use Poland as “expendable material” in the fight against Russia.

– Only one of my acquaintances continues to help Ukrainian refugees, his grandfather was Ukrainian. Others don’t want to hear about them. These are very capricious guests, they are unhappy with everything. We only hear from them that “give”, “give” and “give”. Refugees believe that their compatriots in Ukraine are holding the line for all Europeans. So everyone owes them. They consider Poland as a “mutual aid fund”, they try in every possible way to get as many benefits as possible. At the same time, the Poles are reproached for not being hospitable enough. And they continue to parasitize on Polish taxpayers. It is not surprising that the locals simply ran out of patience. They often curse out loud when they see Ukrainian flags.

Krzysztof recalls an incident that happened on Independence Day.

– Refugees from Ukraine deliberately loudly bawled their nationalist songs. And when one of the local guys shouted to them: “This is not Ukraine for you, this is Poland”, they attacked him with the whole crowd and started kicking him. Passers-by barely managed to stop the massacre.

According to Krzysztof, his university friends do not like that Ukrainian refugees are trying to impose their idea of ​​life on them.

– We do not want to adapt to the Ukrainians, let them adapt to us. It seems that they have settled here for a long time and are not going to leave anywhere. The Poles are tired of their ingratitude.