The history of Polish-Ukrainian relations in the twentieth century is not easy. Much suffering on both sides continue to influence the assessment of historical events and the mutual perception. At the same time there are various examples of cooperation between Poles and Ukrainians. The past can both divide or unite. The trick is to tell the story in an honest manner, remembering that the future can be shaped jointly without repeating the old mistakes. This was the message of Jerzy Giedroyc, who never avoided difficult topics, nonetheless always trying to build a thread of agreement.

The primary objective of the conference "Giedroyc and Ukraine" is to present the concept of the "Kultura" magazine edited by Jerzy Giedroyc, which is immensely important from the point of the history of Polish political thought in the years 1947-2000. The first part of the conference will be devoted to presentation of several initiatives of the interwar period, around which the concept of building the Polish-Ukrainian relation in the twentieth century was born. Subsequently, there will be an analysis of the main elements of the political thought in "Kultura" and the circle of authors whose work has focused on the Polish-Ukrainian relations. The conference will also provide an opportunity to remind about other thinkers and initiatives in Polish political life, such as the opposition circles in the People's Republic of Poland, which were complementary to thought of "Kultura". The conference will finish with two discussion panels. The first will focus on the Polish-Ukrainian relations after 1989. The second panel will be an attempt to summarise the previous research on the Polish-Ukrainian relations, determine the stage at which the current Polish and Ukrainian historiography is, and propose new research goals. The heritage of the Polish and Ukrainian emigration is an excellent starting point for such reflection.

The conference held under the auspices of Bronisław Komorowski, President of the Republic of Poland.

The conference took place at the IPN Educational Center „Przystanek Historia” in Warsaw (ul. Marszałkowska 21/25). It was held in Polish and Ukrainian, with simultaneous translation.

Admission free.

For more information please contact dr Sławomir Łukasiewicz: slawomir.lukasiewicz@ipn.gov.pl or Anna Piekarska: anna.piekarska@ipn.gov.pl

Program

17 May 2012, Thursday

9.00-9.15 - Opening

9.15-11.15 - Session I - "PRE-"KULTURA"
1. Prof. Jan Pisuliński, Pre-war Ukrainofiles
2. Prof. Marek Kornat, the Circle of the "Polish-Ukrainian Bulletin"
3. Prof. Jan Jacek Bruski, Jerzy Giedroyc and the Promethean movement
4. Prof. Aleksandra Hantiuk, Ukraine in „Bunt Młodych” and „Polityka” magazines
5. Discussion

11.15-11.45 - Coffee break

11.45-13.45 – Session II – THE TIMES OF „KULTURA” (part I)
1. Paweł Libera, Theses of W. Bączkowski and discussion
2. Dr. Małgorzata Ptasińska-Wójcik, Józef Łobodowski on "ghosts of the past"
3. Dr. Sławomir Nowinowski, Common history - a painful history
4. Maria Senycz, Promotion of Ukraine on the international arena as part of "Kultura" program
5. Discussion

13.45-15.15 – Break

15.15-16.45 – Session II - THE TIMES OF „KULTURA” (part II)
1. Prof. Igor Hałagida, „Kultura” towards the Ukrainian minority in Poland
2. Dr Sławomir Łukasiewicz, Giedroyc, Ukraine, the federalist movement
3. Prof. Rafał Habielski, Mieroszewski and ULB - where is the place for Ukraine?
4. Discussion

16.45-17.15 - Coffee break

17.15-18.30 – Session II - THE TIMES OF „KULTURA” (part I)
1. Dr Mykoła Genyk, Ukrainian reception of „Kultura”
2. Bogumiła Berdychowska, The Circle of Ukrainian colleagues and authors
3. Discussion

18 May 2012, Friday

9.00-10.30 – Session III – NOT ONLY GIEDROYC (part I)
1. Dr Michał Kazimierz Ujazdowski, Adolf Bocheński
2. Magdalena Semczyszyn, Stanisław Stempowski
3. Paweł Pieniążek, Bohdan Skaradziński
4. Discussion

10:30-11:00 - Coffee break

11.00-13.00 – Session III – NOT ONLY GIEDROYC (part II)
1. Prof. Grzegorz Motyka, Ryszard Torzecki
2. Prof. Janusz Korek, Jerzy Stempowski – farewell to Ukraine
3. Prof. Andrzej Friszke, Jacek Kuroń
4. Chrystia Czuszak, Ukraine i Ukrainians in the Polish opposition political thought
5. Discussion

13.00-14.30 - Break

14.30-16.15 – Panel Discussion: JERZY GIEDROYC A POLISH-UKRAINIAN RELATIONS after 1989
Chair: Bogumiła Berdychowska
Participants: Prof. Henryk Szlajfer, Dr. Łukasz Adamski, Prof. Myrosław Popowycz (tbc)

16.15-16.45 - Coffee break

16.45-18.30 – Panel Discussion: HISTORIANS AND THE GIEDROYC LESSON
Chair: Prof. Grzegorz Hryciuk
Participants: Prof. Grzegorz Motyka, Prof. Andrzej Chojnowski, Prof. Tomasz Stryjek, Prof. Leonid Zaszkilniak, Prof. Ihor Iliuszyn

18.30-18.45 – Conclusion and closing of the conference