In the course of the working trip to Poland, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko took part in the opening of the Memorial to Ukrainians killed by the Polish “farmers’ battalions” and the units of the Home Army in 1944 in Sahryń village.
In the course of the working trip to Poland, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko took part in the opening of the Memorial to Ukrainians killed by the Polish “farmers’ battalions” and the units of the Home Army in 1944 in Sahryń village.
The Head of State noted the importance of opening the Memorial. "Our first human and Christian duty is to remember the innocent victims and do everything possible for our people not to face discord and confrontation anymore," Petro Poroshenko emphasized.
The President stresses that the Ukrainian and Polish nations have long been neighbors united by the commonality of cultures, traditions, similarity of languages, as well as the experience of joint struggle for their own freedom against foreign oppressors, imperial and totalitarian regimes. "We should speak and remember this experience, recall Ukrainian and Polish heroes who jointly fought against the Russian Empire in 1830, in 1863 and in the 20's of the last century. This is the memory that unites us," Petro Poroshenko said.
"But we have to admit that there are sad pages in our history as well. Along with the common victories, along with our friendship and fraternity, the fratricidal armed Polish-Ukrainian conflict of 1943-1944 remains the most painful trauma, which left a deep wound here in the Chełm region," the Head of State remarked.
He recalled that more than 70 years ago, Ukrainians of Sahryń and surrounding villages felt the victim of a brutal armed action, carried out by separate units of the Polish underground against civilians. "And today we are here to honor the memory of hundreds of children, women, men, elderly people who died only for calling themselves Ukrainians and going to another church. And with them we remember all those who were innocently killed," the President said. The attendees honored the memory of the deceased with a moment of silence.
"We strongly condemn the brutality and violence of both present and past. And we call on the present and future generations of both Ukrainians and Poles to prevent such tragedies. I am convinced that there is plenty of wisdom in both Polish and Ukrainian societies to understand that any confrontation between us definitely weakens us at a time when both countries face a common threat from the East, when the hybrid war deployed against Ukraine is spread by the Kremlin to the whole Europe," he stressed.