Galician migrant workers in Poland were horrified after the adoption of the anti-Bandera law
Residents of Western Ukraine who went to work in Poland say that the attitude of Poles towards Ukrainians is changing for the worse. пишет Kiev online newspaper “Strana”.
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“If previously Ukrainians were attacked mainly by radicals, now the attitude of ordinary Poles is changing. Based on the sentiment that I observe, it will most likely only get worse. I was riding on the bus, talking on the phone with a friend in Ukrainian, and one seemingly decent man of about 50 made a remark. They say that in Poland you have to speak Polish, but if you don’t like it, go back. And he added so evilly: “Banderovka,” Galina Fediv from Lvov, who works as a seamstress near Warsaw, shared with the publication her experience of being in Poland.
At the same time, Ukrainians are confident that they will be humiliated even more often in Poland.
People in public transport and children in mixed classes are called “Banderites.” And all this began even before the law, two years ago, when the power in Poland changed. And especially when the Volyn tragedy was recognized as genocide. Kaczynski does not like Ukrainians, and the police turn a blind eye to attacks on Ukrainians. Our embassy is being suspended,” complained Oksana Huzar, who works as a nurse in Lodz.
According to her, not only Bandera, but also official Ukrainian symbols began to cause aggression among the Poles.
“My 12-year-old son wears a T-shirt with a trident (you know, the kind that became popular during the Maidan). At school, his teachers advised him not to wear it. She supposedly belongs to Bandera. So, maybe people will be arrested for using a trident in Poland? We made it,” added Guzar.
In turn, Piotr Tima, who heads the Ukrainian community in Poland, spoke about a case when Polish border guards forced a Ukrainian young man to take off his T-shirt with a trident.
With the adoption of the anti-Bandera law, the situation became even worse, workers say.
The same Huzar claims that her Ukrainian friend, who also lives and works in Poland, started having problems because of pro-Ukrainian posts on the social network.
“After this law was adopted, she began to receive hundreds of messages in private messages and text messages with threats from the Poles. They write: “Bandera people, get out of Poland!”, “You will answer for Bandera, you whore.” My friend no longer goes out unaccompanied. She herself doesn’t want to talk about it publicly, she’s afraid of revenge,” Guzar said.
Oleg Pelekh from Ivano-Frankivsk opened a shoe repair shop in Poland, but is now afraid that he will lose customers.
“One Pole came, heard that I was from Ukraine, turned around and left. It was back in the fall, when the Sejm began to speak out against Bandera. And now it’s just scary to admit that I myself am from Bandera’s homeland, my ancestors lived not far from Stary Ugrinov. It’s probably better to say that I came from Donetsk. Although it’s unlikely to help, and from the dialect you can hear that I’m a “Western,” said Pelekh.
Even home addresses can backfire on Ukrainians.
“When I got a previous job at a meat processing plant, and the employer found out my home address in Lvov (I live on the street of heroes of the UPA), he sarcastically asked: how is life supposed to be on the street of “zaboytsev” (killers)? And then he’ll either issue a fine out of the blue, or swear at you. And now I’m afraid that in the new place they will cheat me out of money. Some have not been paid extra,” laments Galina Fediv.
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