Ewa Siemaszko is a Polish writer, publicist and lecturer; collector of oral accounts and historical data regarding the

Massacres of Poles in Volhynia The massacres of Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia ( pl, rzeź wołyńska, lit=Volhynian slaughter; uk, Волинська трагедія, lit=Volyn tragedy, translit=Volynska trahediia), were carried out in German-occupied Poland by the ...

. An engineer by profession with

Master's A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in technological studies from the

Warsaw University of Life Sciences The Warsaw University of Life Sciences ( pl, Szkoła Główna Gospodarstwa Wiejskiego, lit=Main School of Rural Homestead, SGGW) is the largest agricultural university in Poland, established in 1816 in Warsaw. It employs over 2,600 staff including ...

, Siemaszko worked in public health education and also as a school teacher following graduation. She is a daughter of writer Władysław Siemaszko with whom she collaborates and shares strong interest in Polish World War II history. From 1990 Ewa Siemaszko collected and prepared documents regarding the ethnic cleansing that took place in Volhynia during the Second World War. She is the co-author of a 1992 exhibition at the Warsaw Museum of Independence regarding the atrocities committed by the

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (russian: Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних дел, Naródnyy komissariát vnútrennikh del, ), abbreviated NKVD ( ), was the interior ministry of the Soviet Union. ...

in and around the Polish

Kresy Eastern Borderlands ( pl, Kresy Wschodnie) or simply Borderlands ( pl, Kresy, ) was a term coined for the eastern part of the Second Polish Republic during the History of Poland (1918–1939), interwar period (1918–1939). Largely agricultural ...

region in 1941; and, an exhibit "Wolyn or our ancestors" organised in 2002 at the Dom Polonii in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

. She also collaborates with the Society of

Volyn Volhynia (also spelled Volynia) ( ; uk, Воли́нь, Volyn' pl, Wołyń, russian: Волы́нь, Volýnʹ, ), is a historic region in Central and Eastern Europe, between south-eastern Poland, south-western Belarus, and western Ukraine. The ...

and Polissia at the Polish

Institute of National Remembrance The Institute of National Remembrance – Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation ( pl, Instytut Pamięci Narodowej – Komisja Ścigania Zbrodni przeciwko Narodowi Polskiemu, abbreviated IPN) is a Polish state resea ...

. For her contribution to the monograph ''Ludobójstwo dokonane przez nacjonalistów ukraińskich na ludności polskiej Wołynia 1939-1945'' (Genocide committed by Ukrainian Nationalists in Volhynia 1939-1945)Recenzja publikacji na stronach IPN
/ref> written together with her father Władysław, she received the Józef Mackiewicz Literary Prize and medal in 2002.Informacja o nagrodzie im. Józefa Mackiewicza dla Ewy Siemaszko.
''

Adam Mickiewicz Institute The Adam Mickiewicz Institute ( pl, Instytut Adama Mickiewicza) is a government-sponsored organization funded by Poland's Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, and headquartered at ''ulica Mokotowska 25'' (the Sugar Palace) in Warsaw. Nam ...

'', Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, Poland.

Selected publications

* Ewa Siemaszko with Władysław Siemaszko, ''Ludobójstwo dokonane przez nacjonalistów ukraińskich na ludności polskiej Wołynia 1939-1945'', (Genocide committed by the Ukrainian Nationalists against the Polish inhabitants of Volyn)

, 2000, length: 1433 pages, illustrated,
Preface by Prof. dr Ryszard Szawłowski.
* Ewa Siemaszko, ''Wołyń naszych przodków Śladami życia - czas zagłady'', 2008 * Ewa Siemaszko, ''The July 1943 genocidal operations of the OUN-UPA in Volhynia''

Ukrainian responses

According to Ukrainian historian Yaroslav Tsaruk (Ярослав Царук), who commented on data collected by Siemaszkos, the number of ethnic Poles given by them, in some of the villages he is familiar with, does not correspond with his Ukrainian research.Царук Ярослав
Трагедія Волинських Сіл 1943-1944.
Національна Академія Нaук України, Інститут Українознавства ім. І. Крип'якевича, Львів, 2003. Google Books preview of Tsaruk publication; pp. 20–21, preview in Ukrainian. According to Tsaruk, Siemaszkos included in the number of Polish citizens also those who emigrated before the commencement of hostilities according to him, and included population points which were not administrative units, thus enlarging the number of Polish victims of ethnic cleansing while minimizing the Ukrainian casualties. Tsaruk claims that although according to Siemaszkos 1,915 Poles died in the hands of Ukrainian Nationalists in the area of

Volodymyr Volodymyr ( uk, Володи́мир, Volodýmyr, , orv, Володимѣръ) is a Ukrainian given name of Old East Slavic origin. The related Ancient Slavic, such as Czech, Russian, Serbian, Croatian, etc. form of the name is Володимѣръ ...

, according to him – only 430. Siemaszkos in their own monograph replied to this kind of criticism by stating that claims made by Tsaruk are based on statements made by Ukrainian villagers half a century after the war ended, therefore the discrepancies in what is being said by the locals can be "explained by psychological defense mechanisms".Władysław Siemaszko with Józef Turowski; ''Zbrodnie nacjonalistów ukraińskich dokonane na ludności polskiej na Wołyniu, 1939–1945''. Warsaw, Wydawnictwo von borowiecky Publishing, 2000. Second edition, foreword by Prof. dr Ryszard Szawłowski. .

Another Ukrainian historian,

Ihor Ilyushin Igor ( be, Ігар, Ihar ; russian: Игорь, Igor' ; sr-Cyrl, Игор ; uk, Ігор, Ihor ; ) is a common East Slavic given name derived from the Norse name Ingvar, that was brought to ancient Rus' by the Norse Varangians, in the form ...

, echoed Tsaruk's observations and questioned whether Siemaszkos' approach, based on testimony from one side, can be truly objective – wrote Canadian historian

David R. Marples David Roger Marples (born October 17, 1952) is a British-born Canadian historian and Distinguished University Professor at the Department of History & Classics, University of Alberta. He specializes in history and contemporary politics of Belarus, ...

in ''Heroes and villains''. Marples quoted Ilyushin as saying that because Władysław Siemaszko was a participant in the conflict he is not a credible witness. However, Marples also noted that Ilyushin failed to reach a reasonable conclusion in his article and made no distinction between Ukrainian atrocities committed against officials and innocent civilians; men, women and children.David R. Marples. (2007
''Heroes and villains: creating national history in contemporary Ukraine''.
Central European University Press, pp. 213–214.

Notes

References

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20090505050743/http://tylkoprawda.akcja.pl/siemaszk.htm Ewa i Władysław Siemaszkowie - krótka biografia {{DEFAULTSORT:Siemaszko, Ewa Massacres of Poles in Volhynia Polish engineers Living people Year of birth missing (living people)