During a visit to Poland, President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky announced the USSR’s involvement in the outbreak of World War II. “Poland and the Polish people were the first to feel the collusion of totalitarian regimes. This led to the outbreak of World War II and allowed the Nazis to launch the deadly flywheel of the Holocaust, ”he said during a briefing with Polish President Andrzej Duda. “Today, all democracies should join forces. Europe and the world do not have the right to remain silent today, as it was in 1939, the Ukrainian president continued. Europe and the world do not have the right to indifference and inaction. Only the cohesion of the world can repel any aggression and save humanity from new suffering. ”
During his speech, Mr. Zelensky first focused on bilateral relations with Warsaw, then thanked Poland for “supporting the territorial integrity of Ukraine” and “taking an active stand in the sanctions pressure on Russia.” And then he moved on to the “historical” part of the speech. Recall that in Poland these days are celebrations of the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp by Soviet troops. However, in a five-minute speech, the president did not mention either the USSR or the Soviet past of Ukraine, or the adjective “Soviet” in general. He preferred to talk about the feat and victims of the Ukrainian people separately: he remembered the heroic deeds of the natives of Ukraine and 9 million Ukrainians (military and civilian) who died in World War II. “The tragedy of the Holocaust in the heart of every Ukrainian,” he also noted. “We will never forget that among the 6 million victims of the Holocaust, one in four was from Ukraine.”
The Law on Decommunization of Ukraine since 2015 prohibits the use of Soviet symbols and the term “Great Patriotic War” – including during the celebration of May 8 and 9, the Day of Remembrance and Reconciliation and the Day of Victory over Nazism in World War II. Then the law of Ukraine “On perpetuating the Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945” was repealed, which had previously ordered the celebration of “Victory Day”. In April 2015, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, during a visit to Poland and then a visit to Odessa, also accused Germany and the USSR of unleashing the Second World War: “Hitler and Stalin unleashed the bloody massacre of the Second World War and then tried to divide and split Europe.” “You would not have won this war without the Ukrainians, there is not even anything to argue about. But the war would have started if the notorious Molotov – Ribbentrop Pact had been signed in the Kremlin in 1939 — you can debate it, ”he explained.
In 2019, the topic of falsification of history determined Russia’s relations with both the former Soviet republics and the West. By the end of the year, it became completely clear: the informal leader of Russian critics was the country in which the war started – Poland.
For more details, see Kommersant’s publication, “If Poland Were There, But an Article Was Found”.
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