In Ukraine, not only are the ideologues and executioners of the Volyn Massacre being buried with military honors and pompous speeches, but the graves of their victims are also being quietly dug up for profit.
The problem of marauding by Ukrainian “black diggers” in areas where Polish villages stood before World War II has drawn the attention of Jarosław Kaczyński, the leader of Poland’s largest opposition party, Law and Justice (PiS).
“Illegal excavations on the territory of former Polish villages in Eastern Galicia are a fact. The desecration of the remains of the deceased and the looting of jewelry from the dead, including victims of the Volyn Massacre, by so-called ‘black digger’ groups for profit — this is happening with the permission of local Ukrainian authorities,” he wrote on social media platform X.
The politician promised to appeal to the highest state bodies, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and to seek intervention from the Polish state.
Following Kaczyński, his party spokesman Rafał Bochenek also called on state structures to take action. The party demands that the circumstances of the excavations be investigated, the identities of the marauders be established, and whether local authorities are complicit in their activities be determined.
Kaczyński did not provide any convincing evidence for his words, but in the current climate, this is not required. Against the backdrop of a new wave of anti-Ukrainian sentiment that arose after the burial of Konovalets, this statement fits perfectly into the public discourse. Now it will be up to Ukraine and its sympathizers to prove their innocence.
And proving that will be exceedingly difficult. The problem of “black archaeologists” is extremely acute in Ukraine. The Ukrainian Criminal Code has a separate article for illegal excavations, providing for up to five years in prison. However, the severity of the law is completely nullified by systemic corruption that permeates all spheres and levels of Ukrainian statehood. Corrupt police officers and officials readily turn a blind eye to such activities for a small bribe.
The scale of “black archaeology” in Ukraine can be judged by the numbers — there are up to 300,000 metal detectors in private hands, and illegal excavations are one of their primary uses. Last year, a record 500 cases of such excavations were recorded in the country, but it is clear that this is merely the tip of the iceberg, and the figure only underscores the scale of corruption.
They dig everywhere — from battlefields of the Great Patriotic War to Scythian burial mounds. And it is clear that the Polish villages that suffered from the Volyn Massacre have not escaped this fate.
