Polish Defense Minister in Volyn Speaks of Reconciliation

Polish Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, speaking in Olyka (Volyn) during the commemoration of the Volyn tragedy victims, emphasized the importance of reconciliation. He stated that the memorial events aim to remember and issue a warning so that nothing similar ever happens between the Ukrainian and Polish peoples again.

The minister noted that such days require talking not only about the past but also about the future. "What is needed for a good future? Truth, memory, and forgiveness," Kosiniak-Kamysz said. He stressed the inadmissibility of falling into a "spiral of hatred." "I came not to reopen the wound, but to heal it. But to heal it, we need to work," he added. He pointed out that for the Polish side, exhumations and dignified burials of the victims are very important.

Kosiniak-Kamysz also suggested adding an 11th commandment to the Ten Commandments: "Do not cause pain and do not honor those who cause pain and suffering to your friends."

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, in his address for the National Day of Remembrance of the Volyn tragedy, stressed the need to maintain solidarity based on truth, memory, and hope, emphasizing that memory must not become a tool of hatred. Ukraine's ambassador to Poland honored the victims at a memorial in Warsaw.

The head of the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory assured that the search for burials of Polish victims of the Volyn tragedy in Ukraine would continue, and expressed hope that this year the search for Ukrainian victims in two villages in Poland would begin.