I Rzeczpospolita we współczesnej historiografi i ukraińskiej
The Second Polish Republic in Contemporary Ukrainian Historiography

Summary/Abstract: An analysis of selected Ukrainian historiographic publications on the interwar period and the Second Polish Republic encourages moderate optimism. The image of Poland and Poles presented by the contemporary Ukrainian historians analysed in the article differs significantly. There are many differences in their perception, as they not only put emphasis differently but also look at the history of Polish-Ukrainian relations from different perspectives. Ukrainian historians are trying to fill in the white gaps in our shared history. The image of Poland and Poles is definitely evolving. The slow and painstaking process of demythologization and decommunisation of national historiography is taking place.At the same time, Ukrainian historians still focus too much on these areas of Polish-Ukrainian history that have been analysed for many years: Polish national policy, brought up in virtually every book, the attitude of Polish political elites towards the Ukrainian minority, methods of assimilation of Ukrainians, sabotage actions and the growth of the Ukrainian nationalist movement, the Polish “pacification” action of 1930, the policy of “normalization”, or the collapse of the “Volhynia experiment”. It is also worth to note that Ukrainian historians focus on analysing Polish-Ukrainian relations primarily in two regions: Eastern Galicia and Volhynia. Other regions inhabited then by the Ukrainian population are dealt with perfunctorily or simply ignored. Seen from this perspective, the Second Polish Republic remains an imperialist, partitioning and oppressive state, and the Ukrainian population is its victim. There are no publications that would focus on the Polish perception of the problem, on attempts at reconciliation undertaken by both parties, analysis of Polish policy towards other regions inhabited by the Ukrainian population (e.g. towards Chełm region or Podlasie).

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