This law declares July 11 as a day of remembrance for the victims of the genocide committed by the OUN and UPA during World War II.
The President of the Republic of Poland Andrzej Duda signed the law of June 4, 2025, establishing July 11 as the National Day of Remembrance for Poles – victims of the genocide committed by the OUN and UPA in the eastern lands of the Second Polish Republic.
This is stated in a message on the website of the President of Poland.
As noted earlier, the relevant law was adopted by the Polish Sejm in early June.
Day of Remembrance for the “Victims of Genocide Committed by the OUN and UPA”: What is Known About the Law
According to the signed law, Ukrainian nationalist formations operating on the territory of today’s western Ukraine “committed the crime of genocide against the Polish population.”
“The apogee of this crime occurred in July 1943, and the symbolic date of the hecatomb of Poles at the hands of Ukrainian nationalists is July 11, 1943, the so-called Bloody Sunday, when Poles were killed in about a hundred settlements,” the law says.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry previously stated that Poland’s decision to establish July 11 as a day of remembrance for the victims of the “genocide committed by the OUN and UPA” contradicts the spirit of good-neighborly relations between the countries.
It should be noted that the events in Volyn in 1941-1943, which in the Ukrainian historical tradition are called the “Volyn tragedy”, and in the Polish one – the “Volyn massacre”, are a controversial topic.
In Poland, it was noted that the resolution of historical disputes will be one of the mandatory conditions for Ukraine's accession to the EU.
The corresponding law was adopted by the Polish Sejm, which states that Ukrainian nationalist groups “committed the crime of genocide against the Polish population.”
