Civic and religious leaders from Poland and Ukraine will commemorate victims of Volyn tragedy

On July 6-7 in the Volyn region and the village Sahryn in Poland a joint Polish-Ukrainian  commemorattion of the victims of the 1943 Volyn tragedy will be held. Civic and religious leaders from Poland and Ukraine will take part in this event.

The program will begin with an ecumenical prayer in the village of Pavlivka, near the memorial at the burial site of Polish victims who were killed in 1943.

"Prayer is the best way to add another dimension to the Volyn tragedy. We would like to pray together and talk about where we 'stand' with the understanding of our history, and how to avoid repeating the tragic mistakes in the future," said Vice Rector of the Ukrainian Catholic University Myroslav Marynovych.

In Pavlivka the President of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma and Polish President Aleksander Kwaśniewski had a historical reconciliation meeting in 2003 on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Volyn tragedy.

"The reconciliation between Ukrainians and Poles that was initiated then needs to be constantly updated and maintained, because it is an extension of the European Union to the East and the inclusion of Ukraine into the European family of nations," noted historian Yaroslav Hrytsak.