Poland and Israel condemn naming of Ukraine stadium after officer linked to killing of Poles and Jews

The Polish and Israeli ambassadors to Ukraine have condemned a decision to name a stadium in Ternopil after a collaborator with Nazi Germany who is linked to the massacres of ethnic Poles and Jews. The Polish city of Zamość has also suspended its partnership with Ternopil over the issue.

Earlier this month, it was announced that the stadium is to be renamed after Roman Shukhevych, a Ukrainian nationalist and commander in the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA). The UPA was responsible for the deaths of up to 100,000 Poles during massacres under German occupation in 1943-45.

Shukhevych and a Ukrainian battalion he commanded, which operated under the authority of the Nazi-German occupier, have also been accused of massacring Jews.

For many in today’s Ukraine, however, Shukhevych is regarded as a national hero. The mayor of Ternopil, Serhiy Nadal, told the city council that Shukhevych was “an exemplary commander, but also a good athlete”, and that naming the stadium in his honour would be “very symbolic”, reports Ukrayinska Pravda.

The decision to do so was taken on 5 March, the anniversary of Shukhevych’s death in 1950 during an armed confrontation with the Soviet security services. A youth football competition in Ternopil is already named in his honour.

The Polish ambassador to Ukraine, Bartosz Cichocki, responded by cancelling a scheduled visit to Ternopil. He also sent letters to Polish cities which have partnerships with Ternopil, writing that “the victims of Shukhevych and his subordinates still cannot count on Christian burial in the territory of modern Ukraine”.

The Israeli ambassador to Ukraine, Joel Lion, also tweeted to “condemn the decision” and “demand the immediate cancellation” of the name change.

Poland’s Institute of National Remembrance (IPN), a state historical body, issued a protest against the decision, saying that Shukhevych was “responsible for the genocide of Polish civilians”.

The eastern Polish city of Zamość suspended all relations with local authorities in Ternopil and withdrew from an EU-funded partnership project on the cities’ common history worth €60,000.

“The glorification of war criminals has consequences,” said Zamość’s, Andrzej Wnuk. He added that, while he respected “the right of every nation to its own understanding of history”, the decision by Ternopil showed a “lack of respect” for Polish victims of the massacres.

In 2016, Poland’s parliament declared the massacre of Poles in Volhynia and Galicia by the UPA to be a genocide. But this has not been recognised by Ukraine, and the wartime actions of the UPA remain a source of contention between the two countries.

Poland and Israel have previously criticised Ukraine for bestowing honours on Shukhevych and the UPA. In 2019, the ambassadors of both countries condemned a new statue of Shukhevych in Ivano-Frankivsk.

Last year, they issued a joint statement against Ukrainian efforts to celebrate wartime nationalist leaders Stepan Bandera and Andryi Melnyk. “Glorification of those who promoted ethnic cleansing is counterproductive…[and] an insult,” wrote the ambassadors.

Ukrainian authorities have in turn protested regarding the treatment of memorials in Poland, such as one honouring the UPA in the village of Hruszowice that was dismantled in 2017.

In recent years there have also been efforts by both Polish and Ukrainian leaders to smooth over historical tensions. Last year, the presidents of Poland and Ukraine signed a joint declaration that included a pledge to honour victims of the war.

They committed to “ensuring the possibility of searching for and exhuming these victims in Ukraine and Poland”. Authorities in Ukraine have in the past blocked exhumations of ethnic Poles on their territory, including victims of the Volhynia massacres. President Volodymyr Zelensky has moved to allow exhumations to resume.

This week Poland has also become embroiled in a diplomatic dispute with Belarus regarding accusations of historical war crimes. After Minsk expelled a Polish diplomat for taking part in a ceremony honouring anti-communist partisans, Warsaw responded by itself declaring a Belarusian diplomat persona non grata.

Juliette Bretan

Juliette Bretan is a freelance journalist covering Polish and Eastern European current affairs and culture. Her work has featured on the BBC World Service, and in CityMetric, The Independent, Ozy, New Eastern Europe and Culture.pl.