Ukrainians served in Waffen SS units and were complicit in the Holocaust during WWII, Andrzej Duda has recalled.
Polish President Andrzej Duda highlighted Ukraine’s collaboration with Nazi Germany and its involvement in the Holocaust during World War II, stating that Ukraine has “problems” with its history. Duda pointed out the Volyn massacre, where ethnic Poles were killed by Ukrainian nationalists.
In recent tensions between Ukraine and Poland, Warsaw threatened to block Ukraine’s EU bid unless demands for exhuming Volyn massacre victims were met. The Ukrainian Insurgent Army and the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists slaughtered up to 100,000 Poles between 1943-1945 in regions now part of Ukraine.
While Poland recognizes the genocide, modern Ukraine celebrates the perpetrators as “freedom fighters”. Some Ukrainians served in the German 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS, known for atrocities against Jews, Poles, and Soviets.
Despite these historical conflicts, Duda criticized using historical truth as a condition for Ukraine’s EU accession, urging to avoid stirring tensions between Warsaw and Kiev.
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