On 18-20 May this year delegation of Institute of National Remembrance visited Kiev. The following representatives of the Institute took part in the trip: IPN President Dr. Łukasz Kamiński, Deputy President Dr. Paweł Ukielski, member of the IPN Council Prof. Grzegorz Motyka, Director of the Office of the President Dr. Krzysztof Persak, Director of the Public Education Office Dr. Andrzej Zawistowski and Director of the IPN's Archives Rafał Leśkiewicz.
The delegation took part in the opening of the exhibition „The Destruction of the Polish Elite. Action AB - Katyń. Action AB - Katyń”, which has been translated into Ukrainian and opened on display at the National Museum of History of Ukraine. During the opening ceremony, the president of IPN Łukasz Kamiński said that the Katyń Massacre holds a unique place in the Polish memory. He also expressed his belief that the Ukrainian language version of the IPN exhibition is an important step on the road to mutual understanding of the history of the neighboring nations. The head of the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance Dr. Volodymyr Viatrovych stressed the similarities of the Soviet and German totalitarian systems, referring to the materials presented at the exhibition. During the ceremony, Ihor Kulyk, director of the State Archives of the Security Services of Ukraine, handed over to the President of the IPN copies of archival materials concerning the Katyń Massacre, recently found in the Ukrainian archives. This includes lists of names of the officers from the Starobelsk camp and documents on how KGB handled the burial of the victims of the Katyń Massacre in Piatichatki near Kharkov.
After the ceremony representatives of the two institutions laid wreaths at the monument of Polish and Ukrainian victims of Soviet crimes in Bykivnia. Also, the delegation visited the Museum of the Holodomor, laid flowers at the monument to victims of the Great Famine and at the Maidan, where heroes of the revolution died.
IPN visit in Kiev was an opportunity to the first in many years meeting of members of the Polish and Ukrainian Institutes of National Remembrance. This was possible due to resuming contact that occurred after the victory of the Ukrainian revolution which began on the Maidan. During the working meetings issues related to Polish-Ukrainian relations during the Second World War and the first years after its end were mainly discussed. It has been decided that under the auspices of both Institutes the Polish-Ukrainian Historical Dialogue Forum will be established. It will promote dialogue about the most dramatic period of common history of Poles and Ukrainians, which occurred in the years 1939-1947. The Forum will consist of renowned researchers from academic and scientific circles. As an introduction to its work a seminar will be held on Forums's future scope of activities. It was also recognized that there is a need to organize a joint research initiative targeted at young researchers of these topics. It is especially important to commence search for unknown sources and critical editing of documents concerning Polish-Ukrainian conflict in the years 1939-1947. During the talks, the Polish side expressed concern about one of the laws of historical nature recently adopted by the Supreme Council of Ukraine. The representatives of the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance explained that the adopted law in no way limits scientific research, including the research on OUN and UPA. According to the Ukrainian side, the main purpose of the adopted laws was to emphasize the criminal nature of the Nazi and Communist totalitarian systems.
During the meetings also issues related to continuing archival cooperation were discussed. Until recently IPN worked with the SBU archives on editing materials regarding Polish and Ukrainian history. Under the recently adopted law, the files of the Soviet secret police will be taken over by the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance, which will continue the work with the IPN.
During the talks, the parties declared their willingness to continue sharing experience regarding the process of reappraisal, in particular on the issues of taking over and making available the archival materials produced by the Communist security apparatus.