They hear about themselves: "Enough help, let them return to each other," "They take our job," "On the front!" They are afraid to talk their language in public places. erstwhile individual walks by, they quiet down just in case. They are pointed at with their fingers, although they have been hugged in a motion of solidarity, patted on their backs, hugged even recently. any are victims of assault.
Prejudice towards Ukrainians in Poland is growing, and a wave of hatred is rising. In September Ukrainian students will sit in benches in Polish schools. Will they be safe there?
Poland may repeat the scenario
Tatiana Revenko, a Ukrainian who found shelter in Olsztyn after the outbreak of a full-scale war, wants to believe that educating society and building friendly bonds can halt the spilling of hatred. At the same time, as she admits in an interview with the Temat, she expected that someday "the honeymoon would end".
– We learn resistance, but each fresh trauma strengthens the erstwhile ones – he admits. – The political climate is unfortunately not friendly. We hear that we are ungrateful, that we did not apologize for Volyn. The Confederacy organizes anti-Ukrainian manifestations. I was ready for that.
It is fortunate that people around her are good and friendly. That's why 2 things hurt her the most. The first is to distort the image of Poland abroad. Tatiana's friend from Olsztyn, presently surviving in Canada, follows the media there and sees Poland portrayed as a country full of racism towards Ukrainians.
– That is not true, but individual incidents are building just specified a image – he emphasizes. – My sons are accepted, they have real and supportive friends of Poles. Olsztyn is my second home.
The second is the increasing social division in Poland.
– akin tensions were observed in Ukraine from 2013 to 2014. Then the escalation of social conflicts led to revolution, and shortly after the war broke out – it recalls.
Tatiana believes that anti-immigrant slogans are part of Russian propaganda, replicating old accusations against Ukrainians. – I am very afraid that Poland can repeat the script. We hazard getting into conflict – he warns.
The recipes for improving Polish-Ukrainian relations are seen in dialog and joint initiatives. He recalls the last gathering of the Polish-Ukrainian literary club, during which Pole read a poem in Ukrainian. He learned it especially for this occasion.
– We cried with emotion, he says.
Tatiana runs the "Two Wings of the AU" Foundation and is already planning further projects, including neighbouring breakfasts, which are meant to bring people together and strengthen common understanding.
It's getting harder.
Zoriana Varenia, a polytolist and journalist, spoke on the telephone in Ukrainian with her parent erstwhile a passing elder female grabbed her hand and insulted her: "Russian k***a". White Day, Midtown Warsaw.
A akin incidental occurred to her in public transport erstwhile she spoke Ukrainian to a friend. 1 of the passengers began to teach them that in Poland they should talk Polish. "When we explained that we were speaking fluently, he started calling us names and complaining that we came to Poland" – Zoriana describes in social media.
Nobody reacted. Nobody stood up for them.
Adam Wajrak, a writer and animal protection activist, pointed out on social media that anti-Ukrainian narratives besides affect the youngest. He described the event during which Ukrainian children in Krakow folk costumes became the mark of offensive, vulgar shouts. The vulgar slogans shouted out 2 young men who explained that Ukrainians were "too busy."
– I did not think that specified shares were possible in Poland in broad daylight – Wajrak admitted in his entry.
More and more frequently there are narratives in the media that fuel hostility towards Ukrainians. A good example is the fresh performance of Belarusian rapper Max Korż at the National Stadium, during which there was confusion – any fans jumped over the railing and faced security.
One of the performance participants presented the red-black OUN-UPA flag. The man later apologized.
Nobody got hurt. The police stopped 109 people. any 70,000 people had fun at the event. The unfavorable Ukrainian media presented the event almost apocalypticly, which further fueled the anti-Ukrainian moods.
Donald Tusk reported that the courts promptly dealt with the detainees and 63 people – Ukrainian and Belarusian citizens – would be expelled from the country.
Even recently, social media has been sipping from solidarity towards refugees from Ukraine. Support groups were created, offering support in the form of clothes, shelter or transport. Over time, this mobilization has naturally weakened, due to the fact that no 1 can keep this pace indefinitely. However, all post about how to aid caused an avalanche of warm reactions. Even today, hostile comments penetrated there. Ukrainians can read, "Get to yourself."
Ukrainian as an insult
Dr. Anna Tatar of the Anti-racist Association NEVER more bitterly evaluates the moods in Poland towards Ukrainians.
“You can even talk about xenophobic and racist hysteria, driven by politicians and the media of the far right”, he emphasised.
– Politicians know very well that hatred and national contempt can be gained. Since 2022, the language of the debate has changed dramatically: from solidarity and concern to presenting Ukrainians as a problem. And this is at a time erstwhile the war is inactive going on, and Poland is inactive bordering the country attacked by Russia. Nothing has changed in this regard.
Only 3 months after the outbreak of the war, the Association published a study on incidents against Ukrainians.
“There was inactive a large wave of solidarity that we could be arrogant of,” says Dr. Tatar. – However, our function was to observe the utmost reaction of the right – this formal and informal – to the presence of war refugees in Poland. We have collected many examples of anti-Ukrainian and pro-Russian propaganda: entries justifying Russia's aggression, discouraging aid, accusing Ukrainians of alleged privileges.
And then:
– These narratives were based on 2 pillars: manipulative usage of Volyn's subject to represent modern Ukrainians as cruel and dangerous and to duplicate false claims that they received free housing, extraordinary care and peculiar services.
As Dr. Tatar points out, this message has been spread from the outset by far-right groups, associations and political parties headed by the Confederation. – Grzegorz Braun promoted the slogan "Stop Ukrainianization" and made it 1 of the most popular anti-Ukrainian slogans from 2022 to 1923 – recalls.
Initially, specified statements remained at the margins of public debate. In time, however, from 2024 to 2025, anti-Ukrainian communicative began to penetrate downtown.
– In the presidential campaign, most candidates had in their account an expanding dislike of the Ukrainians – from ideas of receiving 800+ benefits to proposals of segregation in queues to doctors – notes Dr. Tatar.
What else fuels this constant wave of resentment? “There is absolute freedom and impunity in social media,” says Dr. Anna Tatar.
– It is an perfect environment for spreading lies, slander and contempt. In 2024, Twitter removed only 10 percent of our hatred speech reports. Now it's even worse due to the fact that it practically doesn't remove anything anymore.
Dr. Tatar points out that it is the net that is the most effective carrier present from manipulated content.
– Take an example of recordings with the alleged "bander flag" at the National Stadium. In a fewer minutes, the net went off. There was an avalanche of comments calling for hatred and even killing Ukrainians in Poland. The events in Warsaw were addressed by the Prime Minister and the President. And where is simply a akin reaction erstwhile respective 100 aggressive kiboli demolish a train, stadium or city? I don't see her. Even city presidents sponsoring local clubs are silent.
The enemy towards Ukrainians is besides set present by people who have late helped refugees. Why the change?
– There are alleged delicate points, topics that are easy to use. All you gotta do is put false information into circulation that Ukrainians are taking jobs or in clinics, and anger is ready. Meanwhile, they have had the same access to wellness care as Poles for a long time – explains Dr. Tatar. But it's more convenient to believe a lie than to test it.
The Association NEVER more leads the "Brunna Book" – a catalogue of manifestations of racism, xenophobia and hatred. Only in July was there a number of attacks on refugees from Ukraine.
Can anti-Ukrainian moods be reversed? According to Anna Tatar, this would be highly difficult. He does not realize why the Church is silent about refugees, although the temper towards the Ukrainians is clearly deteriorating.
And he adds:
– Each of us was raised in a certain strategy of values. But these values don't defend today.
The youngest generations of Ukrainians who learn in Polish schools are peculiarly threatened. Anna Tatar points out that verbal force against children is becoming more frequent. “The last fewer months have brought many reports: students in Polish schools are being challenged by "banderists", and sometimes the word "Ukrainian" itself is utilized as an insult,” he says. That's the attitude of the children from home. And it is not a problem of 1 or 2 institutions – it is simply a nationwide phenomenon. School change frequently changes nothing: in a fresh place the situation may look the same.
The deficiency of an adequate consequence from the teaching staff is even more worrying.
“The reactions of teachers and directors may be inadequate or they are not present at all. As a result, there are situations that Ukrainian children are isolated, stigmatized and left to themselves,” says Anna Tatar.
– The state's systemic consequence to discrimination is missing. After any perturbations, a resolution was adopted in July on a government programme to support number students. That is good, although late, due to the fact that 3 years after the outbreak of the war, the Polish education strategy is inactive not prepared for real integration.
As he goes on to say, it means that the youngest function in a sense of danger – both in school and outside: on the Internet, on the street, in public spaces.
“But the school where they spend most of the day should be a place of safety, not of fear,” he adds. – There are no cultural assistants who could translate commands, aid in adaptation and build bridges between peers. Without specified support, these children cannot grow. due to the fact that you don't usually function in fear.
***
PS From the author: I late drove Bolt. Driver: young and good boy. We're talking about the weather and the coming weekend. At 1 point, he looks at me and spits out, "You're fortunate you're Polish. If you were Ukrainian, I wouldn't take you.".
![Nie spodobało się, iż nazwałam się imamką [Rozmowa z Seyran Ateş]](https://cdn.oko.press/cdn-cgi/image/trim=398;0;424;0,width=1200,quality=75/https://cdn.oko.press/2025/08/AFP__20170728__R207J__v1__HighRes__GermanyFranceReligionIslamMosque.jpg)
