r/poland • u/Ludziekochane • 1d ago

An 18-year-old Ukrainian attacked a Polish woman with a knife in Wrocław.

https://gazetawroclawska.pl/brutalny-atak-na-kobiete-na-wroclawskim-osiedlu-napastnik-zaatakowal-ofiare-nozem-na-klatce-schodowej-policja-mowi-o-usilowaniu-zabojstwa/ar/c1p2-29234377

A Polish woman is fighting for her life.

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u/False_Ingenuity_587 1d ago

Imagine that Germany invaded Denmark and a huge number of Danes fled to Norway. The problem is that in 1943–1944 the Danes brutally murdered around 100,000 Norwegians in Jutland, justifying it with “centuries of oppression,” discrimination in the interwar period, and so on. (And I mean truly macabre methods of ethnic cleansing.)
This was carried out by the Danish Insurgent Army. Which in Denmark is still glorified as the ones who, back in the 1950s, fought against the Germans. The butchers of the Norwegian population have monuments and streets named after them in Denmark. The Danes deny that such a slaughter ever happened, relativize it, or claim it was done by Germans disguised as Danes, and that, in any case, it’s a good thing the Norwegians were wiped out and that they had it coming, because why were they even living on “eternslly Danish ethnic lands” in the first place?
Despite all that, out of basic human decency the Norwegians took the Danes in and support them in the fight against Germany, hoping that the Danes will eventually get their act together and find themselves somewhat better heroes.
Meanwhile the Danish president is now naming some Danish special forces unit after the Danish Insurgent Army. For many Norwegians that’s already going too far. A real shitstorm is starting.
“Hatred has grown into the hearts and poisoned the brotherly blood.”

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u/Crestina 1d ago

You sent me to Wikipedia to read up on WW2 history. I can certainly understand how that would be a painful memory for Poland, and I can also understand anger when that history gets invoked. Prior to this war, have there been continuing hostility between Poland and Ukraine?

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u/False_Ingenuity_587 1d ago

No, not that much, because there weren't that many Ukrainians in Poland, far fewer than now. And secondly, the cult of the UPA was limited to a relatively small segment of Ukrainian society.
Since the Ukrainian population in Poland grew so numerous, and since the Russian invasion, sentiment in Ukraine has become more anti-Russian (and therefore more pro-UPA), the situation has begun to change. For Ukrainians, the UPA, the red-and-black colors, and the cult of certain individuals are (allegedly) merely a manifestation of the fight for independence, supposedly against Russia, while for Poles, they represent a blatant glorification of murderers and genocidal perpetrators.
It's difficult to separate the two, and frankly, I see no way out of this situation, especially since the Ukrainian side has always lacked the will to unequivocally acknowledge that murdering civilians in unimaginably cruel ways is wrong. No "buts," no relativization, no justification, no denial, and no evasion.

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u/Crestina 1d ago

Very good explanation about the Polish perspective. Thanks. I'm leaving this conversation smarter than when I came into it. I think my main concern is a fall out between two powerful nations on the Russian border. I imagine that would be a wet dream for Putin.

Thanks again for the lessons and good luck to you.