A Polish parliamentarian, Sławomir Mentzen, has accused a Ukrainian journalist, Wachtang Kipiani, of publicly threatening him with death due to Kipiani’s criticism of the Ukrainian obsession with Stepan Bandera, a Nazi collaborator from World War II.
Mentzen, a candidate for the Confederation Party in the upcoming Polish presidential election in May, traveled to the Ukrainian city of Lviv (Lemberg) earlier this week, where he recorded a video in front of a Bandera monument. In the clip, he compared Bandera to a “terrorist” and recalled that a Polish court had sentenced Bandera to death for the murder of approximately 100,000 Poles. Mentzen expressed concern that the construction of monuments to Bandera would be equivalent to building monuments to Adolf Hitler.
The Polish politician stated, “The Ukraine must give up the cult of Bandera as soon as possible.”
In response, Kipiani posted a Facebook entry, mocking Mentzen and hinting that the Polish parliamentarian “dreams of Pieracki’s glory.” This referred to the Polish Interior Minister of the interwar period, Bronisław Pieracki, who was murdered in 1934 by members of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), to which Bandera also belonged.
Kipiani wrote, “We can do it again.”
Mentzen countered, accusing the Ukrainian journalist of threatening the murder of a Polish parliamentarian. “The Ukrainians once again show their attitude towards Poles” wrote the politician on Facebook, implying that Kiev constantly demands money from Poland while continuing to honor the murderers of Poles.
The Confederation Party of the parliamentarian condemned Kipiani’s death threat and added in a statement on social media that they had discovered that Kipiani’s website, which “glorifies the UPA and is a mouthpiece for nationalist Ukrainian propaganda” is partially financed by the Polish government. The UPA (Ukrainian Insurgent Army) was the military wing of the OUN.
Both Mentzen and his party have now called on the Polish Foreign Ministry to address the situation to prevent further attacks by Ukrainians on Poles and Polish citizens.
Bandera was one of the leaders of the UPA during World War II. The group allied with the invading German Nazis and committed massacres against Poles, Jews, Russians and Ukrainians, whom they accused of collaborating with the Soviets. Although the organization was accused of genocide, the then-Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko declared Bandera and the UPA national heroes in 2010.
The Polish government has particularly criticized the celebrations in honor of Bandera in Ukraine, as the UPA is believed to have murdered between 40,000 and 120,000 ethnic Poles in the regions of Volhynia and East Galicia.