The Comparison of Polish and Ukrainian Institutes of National Remembrance and their Interpretations of the Massacre of Poles in Volhynia

The thesis compares Polish and Ukrainian Institutes of National Remembrance, analyses Polish and Ukrainian dominant models of the collective memory and historical narratives of the massacre of Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia 1943. The analysis also clarifies and compares interpretations of this phenomenon by Polish and Ukrainian Institutes. The subjects of the research are Polish and Ukrainian Institutions of National Remembrance themselves, as the main promoting tools of politics of memory in their states. The thesis covers a period from the revolutionary changes in Ukraine in 2014 (have changed Ukrainian historical narratives and politics of memory) to present days. Political situations in Ukraine (2014) and Poland (2015) are reflected in this thesis, as they are in the direct relation with changings in politics of memory, which have restored the conflict of memory. The first signs of the memory conflict (Yushchenko presidency and the first Law and Justice cabinet) are explained briefly, as thesis is focused on a current situation. The massacre of Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia, which is the most tragic point of modern Polish-Ukrainian relations, is described as a sticking point between Poland and Ukraine. The analysis argues in detail that Polish and Ukrainian Institutes are..