Bandera rally banned from Poland

Poland's Foreign and Interior Ministry have banned bikers commemorating Stepan Bandera, founder of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army accused of killing Poles in the 1940s, from entering Poland.

The decision was made at the last minute as the bikers were waiting at the border. The Polish government claims that those participating in the rally attempted to weedle visas from the Polish Consulate.

"We are not judging and we are not talking about history," claims Tomasz Siemoniak, a spokesperson for the Ministry of the Interior.

The rally has faced much controversy in Poland as Bandera is considered to be something of a terror-figure.

Stepan Bandera, an Ukrainian activist from the first half of the XX century, is considered a nationalist or even a fascist by some Poles and is, meanwhile, praised as a patriot and an example for youth in Ukraine. Bandera was a leader of an illegal Ukrainian movement in Poland in the thirties and a founder of an Ukrainian Insurgent Army, fighting for Ukrainian independence, and responsible for brutal operations against Poles in the forties, when more than 100,000 Polish civilians were killed.

The bikers are riding from the Ukraine, having left on 1 August, to Munich, Germany to finish at the Ukrainian's grave. The rider's planned route was through Sanok, Krakow and Auschwitz, but the bikers will be required to find an alternate route.

The countries caught between the Soviet Union and German in the time of Stalin and Hitler suffered immensely from both the Nazis AND the Communists.

I read the article on Bandera in Wikipedia (which may or may not be entirely accurate). It suggests that he belonged to the more brutal and revolutionary party supporting Ukrainian freedom, which apparently involved fighting against the Poles as well as the Russians.

The aim of Ukrainian freedom from the Soviet Union may have been justified, but in the process Wikipedia says: “Bandera and his OUN are responsible for killing 100,000-150,000 Polish people, mostly women and children. Well, sorry, no matter how noble the cause, there’s no way to excuse that.

As I said at the start, both the Communists AND the Nazis committed numerous atrocities, so you can see where the roots of this sort of violence originated. Still, no excuse for that.

Let them bike around Ukraine if they want. But there is no reason why the Poles should let them do it in Poland.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.