"The victims of the Volhynian Massacre are waiting for dignified funerals. It is not about revenge, but about remembrance and Christian burial," said Karol Nawrocki, the President of the IPN, during the ceremony commemorating the National Day of Remembrance of Victims of Genocide perpetrated by Ukrainian nationalists on the citizens of the Second Republic of Poland.

The celebrations began with the laying of flowers at the memorial plaque in the Field Cathedral of the Polish Army in Warsaw. The mass, celebrated in memory of the victims of genocide, as well as soldiers of the 27th Volhynian Infantry Division of the Home Army, was attended by, among others, by the IPN Deputy President Mateusz Szpytma. After the mass wreaths were laid and the candels were lit at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier commemorating the places of resistance and self-defence of the Polish population in eastern borderlands.

This was followed by a prayer and an appeal of remembrance at Volyn Square, combined with a wreath-laying ceremony at the Monument to the Victims of Genocide perpetrated by Ukrainian nationalists against citizens of the Second Polish Republic in the years 1942-1947.

During the ceremony Karol Nawrocki pointed out that for almost 25 years the IPN has been restoring the memory of the victims of the Volhynian Massace by publishing memoirs, academic books, preparing educational projects and exhibitions. Thanks to this, the public space of Poland is filled with traces of the memory of the victims and the responsibility of the perpetrators. He added that memory is not enough, however, which is why the IPN has been sending formal requests to the Ukrainian side to start the exhumation process since 2020. These requests are met with silence or a lack of consent to carry out these exhumations.

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