During the ceremony in Domastawa, where flowers were placed at the monument of the Volynska Reich, Dr. Karol Nawrocki, president of the Institute of National Memory and candidate for president of the Republic of Poland, clearly defined the nature of events from 80 years ago. He didn't beat around the bush.
The Volyn crime was indeed a genocide committed on the Polish Nation. There is no uncertainty about it.
As he pointed out, the scale and nature of these murders leave no area for relativisation.
It was a crime committed by Ukrainian nationalists on selected, elected representatives of the Polish Nation.
Nawrocki pointed out the brutality and inhuman dimension of these events that took place in the neighbouring context – people who knew each another became oppressors.
The methods of killing Poles were cruel. It was a vicinity crime due to the fact that neighbors murdered neighbors. It was besides a robbery crime, due to the fact that Ukrainian nationalists not only murdered but besides frequently robbed their neighbors.
Nawrocki expressed the belief that his future function as president would not change his attitude to historical truth, on the contrary, he would give him additional legitimacy.
I have the right to talk about this as president of the Institute of National Memory and I will have this right as president of Poland after 1 June.
The ceremony took place under a monumental monument by Andrzej Pityński – an artist known for his uncompromising approach to the past of Poland. The monument, unveiled in July 2024, is located in Domastawa (Podkarpackie province). It commemorates victims of the Volyn massacre and attracts attention with its directness: characters in the grip of death, crosses, flames – a symbolic consequence to silence and omissions.
Karol Nawrocki thanked everyone who contributed to his uprising and reminded that this effort made a deep sense.
Thank you to all the border environments that could always number on me as I was and as president of the Institute of National Memory. The fact is the fight, ladies and gentlemen, not the rematch.
He besides stressed the importance of national identity in modern politics.
It is simply a cry for fact and for us to realize in 2025 that we are Poles and have Polish obligations.
Nawrocki has been active in commemorating the victims of the Volyn massacre for years. Even as manager of the planet War II Museum in Gdańsk, he introduced exhibitions and educational activities devoted to the tragedy of the Kresów. As president of the IPN, he initiated and supported investigation projects, publications, documentaries and local commemorations.
He besides pointed out the blocking of the Ukrainian exhumation of Polish victims, even after the Russian invasion, when, as he emphasized, Poles showed solidarity and help.
Volynsk crime is simply a national trauma for Poland, which did not meet the knowing of Ukrainian people and president Volodymyr Zelenski.
The speech in Domastawa besides contained a sharp commentary on the statements of Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who considered the exhumations in Puźniki as a breakthrough in Polish-Ukrainian relations.
There was no breakthrough in the start of the exhumation in Volyn. We're talking about 1500 towns that have been wiped off the map around the world.
Exhumations in Puźniki were made by the Freedom and Democracy Foundation with the participation of my staff of the Institute of National Memory before Prime Minister Donald Tusk became Prime Minister.
According to him, a real breakthrough will take place only erstwhile Ukraine agrees to the systemic, full exhumation work.
We must request it and I will request it as president of Poland.
Nawrocki makes it clear: it is impossible to build the future, forgetting the past. But that doesn't mean he wants to live solely in history.
I will be the president who will be aware of our history. But I will be president of your future.
He added that Poland cannot be treated as an economical or political base for Ukraine, but as an equal partner.
Poland wants to be treated in partnership. We will not be an auxiliary farm for Ukrainian farmers, nor will we agree to unfair competition.
The monument in Domostawa and the words of Karol Nawrocki is not only a motion of remembrance – it is simply a reminder that past takes courage. And truth, even painful, is simply a essential step towards genuine reconciliation and sovereign politics.
