Polish Film About Volyn Massacre Was Widely Released in Poland

What You Need To Know:

✅ On October 7th, a film dedicated to the Volyn massacre of1943-1945 was widely released;​
✅ The film depicts a love story in one Polish village during the massacre;
✅ The Polish Sejm recognized the Volyn Massacre as genocide. Poland will mark a Day of Remembrance of Genocide Victims on July 11th.

On October 7th, a film  of Wojciech Smarzowski’s film “Volyn” (dedicated to the Volyn massacre) “As I understand, the film is about the evil side of nationalist emotions and especially about mutual hatred between the people,” says Polish historian Dariusz Stola.

The film's official trailer was released in April. The film is about a young Polish woman who wants to marry a Ukrainian from the same village, despite her parents being against such a marriage. The events take place in a Polish village during the Volyn Massacre, recognized as a genocide by the Polish Sejm but subject to ongoing controversy in Ukraine.

“There was no such topic in Communist Poland like the massacres in Volyn or in eastern Galicia. It took a long time for the topic to emerge and I find it healthy to talk about all these topics. The question is - how to talk about it?” asks Mr. Stola.

Hromadske’s Nataliya Gumenyuk spoke to the Polish historian Dariusz Stola on October 2nd in Kyiv.