“The Home Army in Volhynia. So betrayal was not” …
The latest publication of Marek A. Koprowski, a writer, journalist and reporter, who has been dealing with eastern issues and the fate of Poles in the east, appeared in the summer holidays, and many of his books – over 30 items – are devoted to the Polish case in Volhynia. And it was in this topic that Koprowski’s next book appeared – “The Home Army in Volhynia. So betrayal”, which is a polemic against the publication of the historian Piotr Zychowicz “Volhynia betrayed, or how the Home Army command abandoned Poles to the UPA.”
As the author himself writes in the introduction to write the book “The Home Army in Volhynia. So betrayal was not” left the Volhyniak environment, and especially the children of soldiers of the 27th Volhynia Infantry Division of the Home Army. In their opinion – as Koprowski writes – Zychowicz insulted their ancestors. Importantly, the author also writes that he did not plan this book, but its resumption was a reason to write a publication in which he responds to the apparatus of Piotr Zychowicz. Therefore, when reaching for the publication of Marek A. Koprowski, first of all, you should first familiarize yourself with the book by Piotr Zychowicz. Only then will it be possible to compare both items and determine which of them is right, and the reader himself must decide!
Why is it so important that before we reach for the book by Marek A. Koprowski, get acquainted with the publication of Zychowicz? Both books, i.e. “Volhynia betrayed, or how the Home Army command abandoned Poles to the UPA” and “The Home Army in Volhynia. So betrayal” they present a different view on the issue of the attitude of the Home Army towards the events in Volhynia in 1943. In the first of them, Piotr Zychowicz stated that the Home Army not only disregarded the Banderian threat, but ignored the warnings about the impending danger on the part of Ukrainians. In addition, Zychowicz states that the Home Army focused all efforts on preparing the future uprising, and its commanders did not want to fight UPA, believing that they could get along with the Banderites, and all forces and weapons are needed to fight Germany. When the Home Army decided to intervene, it was far too late. Marek A. Koprowski has a different opinion, who in his publication repeatedly applies to Zychowicz many times, scoring the theses he concluded in the book “Volhynia betrayed, or how the Home Army command abandoned Poles to the UPA, writing at the beginning:
“You have to be a very brave man to put such a thesis in a journalistic study. The title immediately reveals that the author belongs to a group of young historians who believe that our entire story must be written again, sending the current achievements of the Polish historigorafia to waste paper, and its authors to retire “
Marek A. Koprowski’s book was divided into two parts. The first part is the author’s polemic in the face of the publication of Zychowicz, while the second brings the figure of fifteen underground soldiers, whose Potrets are to form their own opinion about the role of ZWZ-AK in the face of the situation in Volhynia. Focusing on the first part, the author writes:
“In my opinion, Wołyń was not betrayed, and the Home Army command did not give up Poles to UPA “
And he enumerates the most important issues in which he does not agree with the author of the book “Volhynia betrayed, or how the Home Army command abandoned Poles to UPA, which, as Koprowski writes: “He did not see all the nuances of this matter” Whether “It simplifies her extremely, showing that the knowledge she has about Volhynia is rather superficial.”
On the following pages, Marek A. Koprowski calculates issues with which he does not agree with Zychowicz. They show exactly how deep differences are contained in the books of both authors, so a few of them are worth combining with them by quoting with Koprowski’s book:
| Theses of Piotr Zychowicz cited in the book | Reply to Marek A. Koprowski to the theses of Piotr Zychowicz |
| Page 22 “Piotr Zychowicz asks in his book where the Home Army was: When in Volhynia, Ukrainian nationalists cut our countrymen? (…) Why was it allowed for loose packs of armed with flails and axes of the torturers for many months completely cut out Polish villages in the trunk? “ | Page 22 “The answer to this question is simple. At the time when nationalists, Ukrainians began a planned slaughter, the structures of the AK Wołyń district were only in the creation phase. All attempts made earlier by the ZWZ Chief Headquarters, and later the Home Army, failed. The result was only the discount of Polish blood “ |
| Page 35 “Therefore, it is not true what Piotr Zychowicz writes in the next chapter of his book, the most important thing is the uprising, maintaining that Col. Kazimierz Bąbiński and the whole Home Army only thought how to best prepare for the uprising “ | Page 35 “The Home Army command did not anticipate the uprising in Volhynia in a classic form “ |
| Page 65 “Piotr Zychowicz also suggests that the management of the Home Army has not undertaken in some circuits any preparations for the defense of the Polish population. He supports Halina Górka-Grabowska’s account, taken from my book … “ | Page 66 “The cited Górka-Grabowska unfortunately knew a small section of the Home Army conspiracy in Włodzimierz Wołyński. This is understandable, only the Commandant of the District could orient himself in its entirety of the structure subordinate to him, although of course he even did not know all the details “ |
| Page 99-100 “In his book, Piotr Zychowicz contains a number of theses that have had an objection to every historian dealing with Volhynia for years. It is difficult to accept, for example, the thesis that Polish self -defense survived in 1943 only because they were supported by the Germans … … by putting such a thesis, Piotr Zychowicz just in case to justify his views, makes a reservation that there is nothing to worry about the accounts of witnesses, because – a quote from Piotr Zychowicz’s book (after World War II, many witnesses of events wrote under the pressure of communist and patriotic correctness, which ordered them to bend their memories to the binding interpretation. and blur German help for Volyn Samoobron) | Page 100 “It can be assumed that the heroes of Polish self -defense, such as: Ludwik Malinowski, Antoni Cybulski, Henryk Cybulski and Apolinary Oliwa fall over in the graves. Zychowicz disavowed memories, then … he reaches for them. It should be clarified for the reader unoriented in the case that most of the self -defense in Volhynia, beyond the deserves, where 20,000 Poles took refuge, had to maintain contacts with Germany. Why? Self -defense had to be legalized by them. No one could have weapons without the consent of the Germans and use it, even for self -defense purposes against Ukrainians … “ |
This is of course only some of the author’s comments, because on the distant pages Koprowski reacts quite vividly to the next examples given from the book by Piotr Zychowicz.
By giving the above examples of comments that Marek A. Koprowski included in his book, I want to encourage readers to reach for both book positions. Without reading them, reference to bibliography, the reader will not only be able to compare both publications, but to form his own opinion and answer the key question: which of the authors is right?
Marek A. Koprowski – writer, journalist, historian dealing with eastern themes and the fate of Poles in the east. For the Wołyń series. The epic of the Polish fate of 1939–2013 received the award Oskar Halecki in the category “The best popular science book dedicated to the history of Poland in the 20th century”. He is also a laureate of the “Polcul – Jerzy Bonicki Foundation” award for activities for maintaining Polish culture in the East. For many years he has been cooperating with the Replica Publishing House, where his publications dedicated to Poles in the east during World War II appear.
Author: Marek A. Koprowski;
Title: “The Home Army in Volhynia. So betrayal was not”;
Publisher: Replika Publishing House;
Place and year of release: Poznań 2024;
Number of pages: 504;
Price: PLN 69.93;
The book can be purchased from Replica Publishing House
