Poland has officially established July 11 as the National Day of Remembrance for Poles who were victims of the Volyn massacres, a historic event that remains a deeply divisive issue in Polish-Ukrainian relations. The law, signed by President Andrzej Duda, was passed with near-unanimous support in both houses of parliament, with lawmakers stressing the importance of preserving the memory of the victims.
The Volyn massacres, which took place from 1939 to 1946, involved mass killings of Polish civilians in the Volyn region by nationalist groups like the OUN and UPA. The designation of July 11 as a national day of remembrance underscores the Polish government’s commitment to remembering these victims. The issue continues to strain bilateral relations, with recent efforts by both governments to resolve the issue of exhumations and address the legacy of the massacre.
In April, a team of Polish and Ukrainian researchers resumed the first exhumation in western Ukraine since 2017, marking a symbolic breakthrough following years of tension. The moratorium had been imposed by Ukraine after a wave of vandalism targeting Ukrainian memorials in Poland.
The excavation began at the destroyed village of Puzhnyky in Ternopil Oblast, where UPA fighters are believed to have killed between 50 and 120 Poles in February 1945. In recent months, the Polish and Ukrainian governments have made efforts to resolve the issue of the Volyn exhumations, with Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk announcing a breakthrough in January.
Last year, Polish officials, including Deputy Prime Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz and former Deputy Foreign Minister Pawel Jablonski, warned that Ukraine’s progress toward EU accession could be blocked unless Kyiv fully addresses the legacy of the Volyn massacre and allows further exhumations of Polish victims. Poland’s Institute of National Remembrance estimates that approximately 100,000 Poles were killed during the Volyn massacres. Ukrainian historians argue that thousands of Ukrainians were also killed in retaliatory actions and insist that the conflict be viewed as mutual ethnic violence rather than genocide.
In 2016, the Polish Parliament officially recognized the events as genocide. Ukrainian and many Western scholars, however, classify them as ethnic cleansing, and debate continues over both the terminology and historical responsibility. Despite close cooperation in defense and diplomacy since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the legacy of Volyn remains a potential stumbling block in Ukraine’s integration with Europe.
July 11 will now be commemorated annually in Poland. The issue continues to strain bilateral relations, with recent efforts by both governments to resolve the issue of exhumations and address the legacy of the massacre.