Manifestation forms of conflicts over historical memory: poland‘s and ukraine‘s disagreement over the memory of volhynia massacre

The paper “Manifestation forms of conflicts over historical memory: Poland‘s and Ukraine‘s disagreement over the memory of Volhynia massacre” focuses on the case of conflict over historical memory between Poland and Ukraine. Various statements prevail in media, declaring that there is clash of these two countries’ memory, therefore Poland and Ukraine take a part in the war of memory. However, the question arises whether it is correct to say that countries participate in the memory war because their memory over historical event is different. Due to this, the main question of the research is what are the manifestation forms of memory conflict between Poland and Ukraine due to the memory of Volhynia massacre. Consequently, two main goals are sought to accomplish: firstly, to indicate forms of manifestation forms of memory conflict over Volhynia massacre; secondly, to show a direction for future researches looking for the relation between memory and international relations. To achieve these objectives, more detailed tasks were set, these encompass the following: firstly, to present historical context briefly; secondly, to introduce the most important assumptions of ontological security theory that can explain the disagreement between Poland and Ukraine; thirdly, to introduce methodology of the research and data that was used; lastly, to indicate the manifestation forms of conflict over historical memory. To get the main answers and draw conclusions, a case study as of Arend Lijphart understanding was conducted. Sources of data mainly included 10 original expert interviews with those who work with the memory of Volhynia massacre both in Poland and Ukraine, statements from official websites of Polish and Ukrainian National remembrance institutes, presidents and parliaments. Interviews were conducted not only to gather data relevant to the research, but also to overcome an important methodological obstacle of not speaking Polish and Ukrainian, consequently, being not able to get deeper into the articles written in these languages. After the research was finished, conclusions were drawn. These are the following: 1.Main manifestation forms of memory conflict over Volhynia massacre between Poland and Ukraine are legal acts, symbols of popular culture and the control over the activities of scholars. In some cases, these forms are intertwined and interacting with each other. 2.Conflict between countries has been present principally because of the aim to secure countries’ biographical narrative and identity. This is especially evident in the case of Ukraine after the war with Russia started. Institute of national remembrance in Ukraine used symbols of OUN and UPA for political ends. Poland also seeks to defend its biographical narrative, yet it is not that straightforward as in the case of Ukraine. 3.Political context is a significant aspect in the memory wars. There was a noticeable shift in the memory politics of Ukraine in 2014, after war with Russia commenced. The same goes for Poland where more radical position has been presented since 2015 when right-wing party “Law and Justice” won the national elections. 4.Both Poland and Ukraine misunderstand the other side of the conflict. In Ukraine, OUN and UPA are remembered as units that fought against soviets; however, in Poland they are remembered as these who massacred ten thousands of Polish civilians. It seems that both sides do not try to step into shoes of the other and understand why a particular narrative is present in the other country. These are the suggestions for future research: 1.To analyze cases of other memory wars and test the indicated manifestation forms of such conflicts. 2.To do a research on how the official memory line of the country is reflected in the society. It would be reasonable to analyze Ukraine’s case. 3.To analyze whether countries tend to get involved into dialogue over memory when at the same moment they are fighting a physical war.