A long way toward understanding
EVENTS IN PAVLOKOMA
After many years of cold, spring has finally entered this graveyard in the Zakerzonnia area, which has experienced many tragedies, disputes, and negotiations. Until the last moment there was uncertainty, and there were some who did not want any festivities in Pavlokoma, hoping that people would not remember.
But it is difficult to forget such events. It is better to glance at history with truthful eyes and proceed along the spring roads that lead to Europe.
On July 27, 1944, when the Polish Committee of National Liberation signed an agreement about the Polish-Soviet border with the Soviet government in Moscow, based on the so-called Curzon Line, with certain changes in favor of the Polish side, none of the people who inhabited these border lands could foresee the looming tragedy. The result of this partition of Poland was that over 700,000 Ukrainians inhabiting Southern Pidliashia, the Kholm and Lemko regions, Nadsiannia, and Zakerzonnia (the name of this territory used in Ukrainian journalism and historical studies) found themselves in a restored Poland.
A few months later, on Sept. 9, 1944, the Polish committee and the government of the Ukrainian SSR signed an agreement on the evacuation of the Ukrainian population from Poland and Poles from the territory of the Ukrainian SSR. This “evacuation” of Ukrainians from the age-old ethnic lands of southwestern Ukraine was supposed to be carried out on a voluntary basis and within a strict timeframe: from Oct. 15, 1944 to February 1945. One month before the deadline a total of 19,899 Ukrainians had been forced to resettle in Soviet Ukriane, mostly residents of Ukrainian villages burned down by units of the Armia Krajowa and peasant battalions.
“Beginning in September 1945, the Ukrainian deportation was carried out by three divisions of the Polish Army,” says Volodymyr Sereda, president of the Nadsiannia Society. Both the pro- communist Polish government and the anticommunist Polish underground were interested in resettling ethnic Ukrainians in a final effort to resolve the Ukrainian problem in Poland. Naturally, under the circumstances mass theft, murder, and other acts of violence became daily stimuli for implementing the Ukrainian resettlement plans.
Mass murders of Ukrainians reached their peak in Nadsiannia in February-April 1945; 366 victims were registered in Pavlokoma on March 3; the names of 78 victims were recorded in Berizka; in March some 100 victims in Skopiv; some 150 Ukrainians were murdered in Malkovychi during the night of April 17-18; over 300 in Pyskorovychi, on April 17; and 198 victims in Horaiets (Gorajec). The list of victims in Nadsiannia could be continued.
THE SYMBOL OF UKRAINIAN NADSIANNIA’S TRAGEDY
Owing to the number of victims and inexplicable acts of violence, Pavlokoma became a symbol of the tragedy that befell not only Nadsiannia but all of Zakerzonnia. In the 1940s, during the Second World War, Pavlokoma was known as a leading ethnic Ukrainian community. Peter J. Potichnyjj, a retired professor of McMaster University in Canada, has spent years collecting data on his countrymen. In 1939-1941, when Pavlokoma was under the Soviets as part of Drohobych oblast, 16 persons were arrested by the NKVD. Nine Ukrainians were arrested and 193 people were shipped to the Third Reich as slave laborers during the Nazi occupation. The Pavlokoma tragedy occurred on March 3, 1945.
On that date a Polish unit commanded by Jozef Biss (“Waclaw”) and stationed in the neighboring village of Dylagowa attacked Pavlokoma. Most of the residents hastily vacated their homes and hid in the church. Unfortunately, the church had been designated as a assembly point, where the residents were herded, tortured, and then brought to the graveyard, where they were shot. Their bodies filled three large pits that became their common graves. Their murderers selected a stick as a benchmark, killing people who were taller and sparing those who were shorter. Thus, even children between the ages of 12 and 14 were executed. The rest of the victims — 40 people, including small children and expectants mothers — were herded to the neighboring village of Selysko.
Prof. Peter Potichnyj and I traveled by bus to Poland’s borderland region.
Prof. Potichnyj, why was the Polish villagers’ attitude to the massacres so cold-blooded? They say that some of them even helped the murderers, showing them where the Ukrainian villagers were hiding, people who had shared Easter bread and danced together at weddings. The Poles held an assembly beforehand, but no one warned the Ukrainians.
P.P.: There is nothing strange about their attitude. You had to live in this era, when one war was quickly followed by another, in order to understand people’s distorted mentality, when death becomes a daily occurrence and the sight of bloodshed no longer scares anyone. There is another amazing thing: no one has ever brought that Jozef Biss to justice. I have talked to people who still believe that this policy of violence was necessary. Therefore, what finally came to pass at Pavlokoma — the solemn ceremonies commemorating the unveiling of the memorial — is a very positive event, something to which we have long aspired.
The tragedy of Pavlokoma started being discussed in Ukraine and Poland only after the proclamation of Ukrainian independence. The year 1995 marked the turning point, when the 50 th anniversary of the tragedy was observed. That was when the first “organized” group of Ukrainians visited the former Ukrainian cemetery in Pavlokoma from Peremyshl (Przemysl). They wanted to discuss the possibility of honoring the memory of the victims, as the 50 th anniversary was approaching. Roman Aftanas whose mother and brother Ivan were among the victims was among the visitors. He would later write in his memoirs: “The current residents of Pavlokoma were unfriendly to us, even aggressive. They shouted at us and waved their fists. We had come to visit our homeland and pay homage at the graves of our ancestors and murdered fellow villagers, but we had to be protected by Polish policemen with dogs. From whom were they trying to protect us?”
On April 30, 1995, more than 100 people-members of the Nadsiannia Society-protected by policemen and dogs came from Peremyshl to Lviv. For the first time since the war a mass for the dead was celebrated by four priests. The former cemetery was cleaned in later years. Thanks to the Pavlokoma Foundation in Canada and Mr. Myroslav Sydir from Peremyshl, the graveyard was fenced off and three metal crosses were erected in the center. It took more than a decade of knocking on office doors to unveil this small memorial site, years of patience and hopes for the best. For a long time the memorial council remained adamantly opposed to unveiling a plaque bearing the victims’ names, until finally a Ukrainian-Polish agreement was signed, thanks to the unceasing and selfless efforts of the Pavlokoma Memorial Committee. Work on the memorial then began.
HOPE-INSPIRING WORDS
The fact that the presidents of Ukraine and Poland visited Pavlokoma to pay tribute to the victims of this tragedy is proof that the times are really changing.
“This is an historic date,” said President Viktor Yushchenko, adding, “I know that before me are the representatives of the glorious Ukrainian and Polish nations; nations with their beautiful, knightly histories. However, there are pages in these histories, which make us feel ashamed today. I remember the tragedy of the First World War and the Polish-Ukrainian War of 1917-1919. These wars had an effect on the interwar period. Then came the Second World War with its even more gruesome consequences. The Volyn tragedy took place during this period, along with Pavlokoma and many other tragedies. Both of our nations found themselves facing two paths: continuing this warfare in their souls or reaching a helping hand to each other.
“Our relationships are held not only in the purely official dimension, but a human one, for the tragedies we are talking about have affected thousands of hearts on both the Ukrainian and Polish sides. I can imagine how difficult this road must have been for tens of thousands of people to reach an act of reconciliation that we are now witnessing. I am confident, however, that only people who are strong can forgive. Of these two roads, we chose the one leading to understanding in 1997. We have taken a number of steps, including the opening of the Orliata section of Lychakiv Cemetery [in Lviv] and this memorial. I urge one and all to accept this pathway as the only correct one that can guarantee our prospects.”
Poland’s President Lech Kaczynski in turn declared:
“I am reading a speech for the third time in my life. The first time was during the commemoration of an anniversary of the Polish uprising; the second time when I was sworn in and made my inaugural speech as president of Poland. The third time is now. This means that I consider my appearance here of the utmost importance.
“We are meeting today in Pavlokoma in order to pay joint homage to the Ukrainian and Polish victims of past years. We are standing here gripped with pain and grief, offering up prayers and pondering past events, bowing our heads to the graves of the victims of that tragedy. In the 20th century fate painfully touched both our nations, and the period of the Second World War and the first postwar years were especially tragic for our relations. This land is soaked in Polish and Ukrainian blood.
“Pavlokoma witnessed tragic events in 1945. A group of Poles was abducted from this village; they were killed and buried somewhere. Several weeks later Polish military units killed most of the Ukrainian residents of Pavlokoma. This crime was kept secret for decades; the victims were not allowed to touch the crosses or pray near them. For Ukrainians, Pavlokoma became a symbol of tragedy affecting the entire nation. I am now pondering this fact with profound sadness; the blood shed in those days is a pang of conscience for our nations.
“This fact cannot be ignored for the sake of mutual benefit, and future friendly progress and cooperation between our nations. To this end we must not conceal the truth and keep unresolved issues secret. Fortunately, we are united by the conviction that we recognize common values and that no crime can be justified. With this in mind we must shoulder the burden of Polish-Ukrainian history. Above all, we must remember that there have been many good things there.
“We must discuss our painful and difficult past openly and take steps to formulate a uniform and just assessment of all wartime tragedies, those that took part in Poland and Ukraine. All these tragic events, like those in Pavlokoma, the Kholm region, Volyn, Eastern Halychyna, all the tragedies that accompanied Operation Vistula, must eventually be explained in the course of dialogues held by politicians, historians, and ordinary people. A solid and lasting association can be made only by relying on the truth.
“We cannot change our past, but we can prevent it from determining our future. The presence in Pavlokoma of the presidents of Poland and Ukraine is proof that we are prepared to continue the great process of understanding between our nations.
“The presence of Pavlokoma’s residents and their participation in this act of accord and the offering of prayers is of great importance. The process that was initiated by Jerzy Giedroyc, the greatest champion of Polish-Ukrainian rapprochement, is marked by acts to honor the memory of victims in Volyn, the opening of Orliata Cemetery in Lviv, as well as by words of love and reconciliation uttered by Roman and Greek Catholic bishops, who attended the ceremony. The Maidan was perhaps the best proof of what Ukrainians and Poles have achieved, with the Ukrainian and Polish national colors flying over the crowd on the square.
“Our nations are demonstrating to the rest of the world that there is no evil in history that cannot be overcome. Here, in front of the crosses of Pavlokoma, as before the crosses of Volyn, Podillia, and other sites of tragic events in our past, we are uniting our memories and hopes. We will carry out our joint duty and will then hand it over to the younger generation. With mercy and the courage to pray, I ask you that you turn to God with these words: ‘Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.’”
