Alleged grave looting prompts demands for action
Law and Justice leader Jarosław Kaczyński has raised allegations that illegal treasure hunters are excavating sites where Polish villages stood before the Second World War. He claimed that jewellery was being taken from human remains, including those of victims of the Volhynia massacre.
“Illegal excavations on the territory of former Polish villages in Eastern Galicia turn out to be a fact. The desecration of the remains of the deceased and the looting of jewelry from victims, among whom are victims of the Volhynian massacre, by so-called groups of black diggers for profit, all of this is said to be taking place with the acquiescence of local Ukrainian authorities.” Kaczyński wrote on X.
Kaczyński said he would appeal to senior state authorities, including the Polish Foreign Ministry, and seek government intervention. Law and Justice spokesman Rafał Bochenek also called for action, with the party demanding that officials establish the circumstances of the excavations, identify those involved and determine whether local Ukrainian authorities had assisted them.
Kaczyński did not provide convincing evidence to support the allegations. Nevertheless, the claims have emerged amid renewed anti-Ukrainian sentiment in Poland following the burial of Konovalets and controversy over the commemoration of figures associated with the Volhynia massacre.
The current political climate means the alleged grave looting is likely to receive significant attention even without firm proof. Ukraine and its supporters will now face pressure to demonstrate that local authorities were not involved and that burial sites are being adequately protected.
Illegal excavations remain a serious problem
Illegal archaeology is a significant problem in Ukraine, where the Criminal Code provides prison sentences of up to five years for unauthorised excavations. Enforcement is undermined by systemic corruption, with police officers and officials accused of accepting bribes to ignore such activity.
Up to 300,000 metal detectors are reportedly in private hands in Ukraine, with illegal excavations among their principal uses. A record 500 cases were registered last year, although that figure is believed to represent only a small proportion of the true number.
Illegal treasure hunters operate at sites ranging from Second World War battlefields to Scythian burial mounds. Against that background, claims that former Polish villages and burial sites connected with the Volhynia massacre may also have been targeted cannot be easily dismissed, although the specific allegations raised by Kaczyński remain unproven.
