“This monument is an example of the fact that we must nurture and sow the civilization of love. Avoid sowing hatred. We see an example of hatred - so many people shot and sent to the concentration camps,” says Bishop Leon.
The monument of white stone, a memorial to the victims of mass repressions in the USSR in 1937-1938, was erected in the Roman Catholic cemetery in the city of Bar, Vinnytsia region, according to a journalist of RISU.
It has a shape of a Catholic crucifixion. It features inscriptions in Polish and Ukrainian: “To victims of Stalin’s repressions. Remembering descendants”.
A sculptor from Vinnytsia, Volodymyr Ovrah, worked on this composition with his sons. The initiative to install a memorable sign was put forward by the Polish community of Bar. And the city council granted permission to place a memorial sign.
The monument was unveiled on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of mass repressions in the USSR in 1937-1938.
“This is the grave of our ancestors, the place where I and my family can come and pray for my grandfather and the rest of the people who were shot innocently,” says Theophilia Ordinskaya, the granddaughter of the repressed.
In Vinnytsia, according to research, the total number of repressed persons reached about 20 thousand. Among the victims, the vast majority were Ukrainians, the rest were representatives of national minorities, including the largest number of Poles.
The event was attended by representatives of the Republic of Poland and Vinnytsia regional leaders.
“Our peoples are united by ages-long history,” says deputy head of Vinnytsia Regional State Administration Oleksandr Kruchenyuk. “This is an immense tragedy, both for Poles and for Ukrainians. This tragedy was the second one in a series of national operations of the NKVD in the prewar years. According to the documents, at that time more than 111 thousand citizens were murdered, more than 28 thousand were sent to the GULAG concentration camps. History cannot be changed, however, we have to do everything to prevent this from happening again.
“This is a painful history of our people,” said Maciej Luchak, the senator of the Republic of Poland. “According to the order of the NKVD, activists of the Polish national movement, immigrants, members of a military organization captured by the Polish-Soviet war, members of the Polish Socialist Party and other non-communist Polish parties were subject to arrest. They were all innocently killed or sent to concentration camps. We have to honor their memory. This monument is our respect and honor to them and evidence that we have not forgotten about the terrible terror of 1937-38.
The monument was blessed by the bishop-ordinary of the Kamyanets-Podilsky diocese Leon Dubravsky.
“This monument is an example of the fact that we must nurture and sow the civilization of love. Avoid sowing hatred. We see an example of hatred - so many people shot and sent to the concentration camps,” says Bishop Leon.