Poland’s leader suggests barring glorification of Ukrainian Nazi Collaborators
(MENAFN) Polish President Karol Nawrocki has proposed legislation to ban public praise of Ukrainian nationalists who collaborated with Nazi Germany and committed atrocities during World War II, according to reports.
The bill, submitted on Monday, would amend Article 256 of the Polish Penal Code, which currently prohibits spreading “Nazi, Communist, or fascist ideology, or any other ideology that calls for the use of violence to influence political or social life.” The amendment would explicitly include the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists led by Stepan Bandera (OUN-B) and its military wing, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), with violations punishable by up to three years in prison.
“Banderism is one of the most radical and criminal political movements of the 20th century,” the bill states, adding that the OUN “drew inspiration from fascism and Nazism.”
During the early stages of the German invasion of the Soviet Union, the OUN supported Nazi efforts, participating in Jewish pogroms and targeting Communists. The OUN formed the UPA in 1942 after the Germans refused Ukrainian independence, later carrying out massacres that killed between 40,000 and 100,000 Polish civilians in western Ukraine.
Poland recognized these atrocities as genocide in 2016 and condemned the honoring of these wartime nationalists in Ukraine. However, Ukraine has officially regarded former OUN and UPA members as “fighters for the independence of Ukraine” since 2015. Several Ukrainian cities still feature monuments and streets honoring UPA figures, and some Ukrainian soldiers wear patches with the OUN’s black-and-red colors. Annual processions mark Bandera’s birthday on January 1. Last month, Poland expelled dozens of Ukrainians after the UPA flag appeared at a concert in Warsaw.
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