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Part 2 of 2 (Part 1 here)

The recent change in Polish attitudes toward Ukrainian refugees

The typical Polish strategy of dealing with unexpected crises is to make a quick decision based on one’s gut, dive headlong into the issue, and come up with solutions as problems arise along the way. This kind of improvisation is great when it comes to unpredictable short-term situations, but it does not work so well when it comes to long-term situations which require a steady flow of resources. Also, a long-term strategy can lead to burnout and exhaustion. Unfortunately, this is what partly happened in Polish society as a result of the Ukrainian refugee crisis.

Since the very first day that the first wave of refugees reached Poland, many people versed in social work, myself included, have stated that this will be “a marathon, not a sprint,” and that we need to carefully and thoughtfully allocate our resources, keep all the parties that are involved well-informed (especially avoiding any falsely optimistic propaganda), and that all of these actions will require good coordination that needs to be provided by the state. Unfortunately, mistakes were made in all of these areas.

First of all, those who were new to volunteer work quickly became burnt out. This in itself was not an issue that would endanger volunteer work, as there was a steady flow of new volunteers. But it would have been much better to have a smaller number of well-organized volunteers working for a few months in shifts, which would have given them enough time to rest, than to have a new set of volunteers every couple of weeks once the previous ones became too exhausted to carry on.

Secondly, there was too much optimism about the prospects of the war itself, as well as too many made-up “feel good” stories that were told to cheer everyone up. Let me add some personal detail here: Given that I have a lot of experience in social and volunteer work and that I have been supporting the Ukrainian cause since the very beginning of the war in 2014, I quickly decided to get involved. At every place and organization I contacted, however, it turned out that they already had too many hands on deck; there were so many volunteers that they could all operate 24/7 without accepting any more candidates. I thus limited myself to donating part of my salary to those nationalists I knew personally who were engaged in fighting the invaders, as well as taking part drives for food and personal hygiene products that were being organized by the local centers. But after a few weeks I was contacted by the same volunteer organizations I had talked to before, and they told me that they were then having staffing problems given that the volunteers they had were burned out, and that they are looking for new people. This was something I had pessimistically predicted, and I knew that it would be the moment when it was best to step in.

Lastly, even though the Polish authorities made many immediate decisions which were of great help to both the refugees and the Poles helping them, there was too little coordination by the state. This meant that some initiatives were being unnecessarily doubled or even tripled, and thus resources were being wasted, while in some other areas there was too little help. To this very day the Polish government has not come up with a clear plan of how the crisis will be dealt with in the long term, including a plan for the end of the war. Another thing which backfired after a few months was the lack of a proper registry of all the refugees entering Poland.

All of the above led to a situation of rising tensions within Polish society, especially once the optimistic energy of the first months had dissipated. The first issue involved those refugees who were staying at the homes of ordinary Poles. Let us emphasize that this was all voluntary and that no one was forced to house anyone. But it is one thing to invite strangers in need into your own home, and another to live with them for a long time. While some Poles have formed many lasting bonds and true friendships with the refugees they hosted (and in Slavic countries words such as “friendship” are not thrown around easily), this situation has created just as many conflicts. After all, in most cases these were complete strangers who came from a similar, but ultimately different, culture, and who spoke a similar, but ultimately different, language. Just think about how many romantic relationships end once a couple starts living together, or how some people sigh with relief when their families leave after the holidays, and multiply this issue by weeks or months. Eventually, once the refugees found jobs in Poland or their original employers from Ukraine had shifted to a remote work model, they moved into rented apartments or into state-subsided housing centers that were usually set up in the cheaper hotels, hostels, or even in church facilities or monasteries. But this has led to another problem: the rising rental costs in Polish cities, which had significantly dropped during the COVID pandemic. This led to new tensions with the Poles.

Another issue was the transformation of Ukrainians from poor refugees to ordinary neighbors who are trying to make a living in Poland. Polish and Ukrainian culture are quite similar, but they are nevertheless different. We could say that Poles are more northwestern in their everyday lives, and Ukrainians are more southeast. This means that Poles are quieter and introverted, while Ukrainians are louder and extroverted. This has caused many micro-tensions on a daily basis. For instance, speaking loudly on public transportation or not using headphones in public places is considered rude by most Poles, but it is more acceptable for Ukrainians.

Yet another small, but irritating issue is swearing. Poles do swear, often quite heavily, but in private and only in certain situations. Ukrainian men in particular swear more and in public, and given that Polish and Ukrainian share most of the vulgar lingo, this is something else which is often noticed by Poles.

Moreover, given that most Ukrainian refugees are women and children, another point of tension are the differences in handling children. During the last 30 years Poland has undergone a great economic and cultural transformation, which has had both good and bad aspects, but a thing that changed for the better is the way people treat their children. Physical punishment is now generally frowned upon and not used, and parents generally do not shout at their children. But the Ukrainian style of upbringing reminds me of the Polish manner of the early 1990s, with parents making use of physical punishment — and generally lots of it – while also leaving their children alone for most of the day, when they are at work.

Another very important difference that is seen on a daily basis is the fact that Poles are generally more law-abiding — although perhaps not as law-abiding as Germans or the Swiss — than Ukrainians. This is probably connected with the Communist legacy. Contrary to popular belief, the Communist dictatorships were not well-functioning totalitarian states, but rather barely functioning anarcho-tyrannies. Of course, you could end up in a concentration camp or even get killed for any anti-Communist political activity, but when it came to apolitical crime directed at ordinary people, neither the law nor the courts were very harsh. You could easily get away with things such as theft, drunk driving, or even manslaughter if it did not affect the authorities. Keep in mind that Clockwork Orange was partly inspired by the social chaos Anthony Burgess witnessed during his visit to the Soviet Union. Poland has been consistently and successfully erasing this post-Communist legacy through legal reforms aimed at creating harsher laws and actually executing them. Bearing this in mind, some of the younger and more party-oriented refugees were surprised to find out that if you party too loud at home, your neighbors will call the police, and the police will actually come and fine you.

Ukrainian drivers were likewise shocked to discover that disciplinary tickets can amount to 30% of one’s salary, and that you can actually lose your driving license — as well as the fact that the Polish traffic police are not keen on accepting bribes. Smoking in non-designated areas, littering – these are also things frowned upon by most Poles. Let me emphasize that most of the Ukrainian refugees are good people who are great to host, who are law-abiding, and who respect Polish culture and the law. But the problematic minority and the unavoidable cultural differences are adding to the rising tensions in Polish society.

A major issue has been the inclusion of Ukrainian children in the Polish public school system. First of all, adding quite a few Ukrainian students — (up to 20% of the class, in the case of some schools — to the already underfinanced and understaffed Polish public schools has naturally created a difficult situation. The lack of a long-term plan likewise means that most Ukrainians want their children to take a Polish school curriculum, as they expect that the war could drag on for long time and that they might not be going back to Ukraine at all. Personally, I believe that this is a terrible situation which could have easily been avoided by hiring Ukrainian teachers in Polish schools, which would have been easy to manage given that most teachers in Ukraine are women and that many of them are now in Poland. Classes could easily be taught in Ukrainian, and offering the Ukrainian curriculum. This would lead to helping Ukrainian children retain their Ukrainian identity and prepare them for their eventual return to Ukraine. I am afraid that the situation we have now can lead to the creation of a whole generation of Ukrainians who will lose most of their national identity, but who will never feel at home in Poland. This would be a great tragedy for Poland, but especially for Ukraine. Luckily, many Ukrainian mothers are ensuring that their children follow the Ukrainian school curriculum through remote classes provided by the Ukrainian schools. But this inclusion of the Ukrainian children has caused additional tensions between Poles and Ukrainians, among both parents and children. While in most cases the situation is quite good, with the children forming new friendships and both parents and students adapting quite well to the Polish school system — which is different from Ukrainian system, being more liberal and demanding more personal engagement from both students and parents — this is something which again adds to the problems.

Probably the most controversial issue is that of the Ukrainian men who are living in Poland, many of whom are economic immigrants who came to Poland before the Russian invasion. While many Ukrainian men living in Poland did return to Ukraine to join the military and defend their fatherland, it seems that most of them remained in Poland. This is an issue which is not discussed publicly in Poland, but is widely discussed in private. And while there is a growing admiration among Poles for the Ukrainian army that has been successfully defending Ukraine for over a year, there is also rising discontent with those who have abandoned their fatherland. Plus, there are Ukrainian men who have entered Poland as refugees — although in order for them to do this, they are supposed to have been officially exempted from military service. While many are legitimately exempt, it is obvious that just as many have received this exemption not for any valid reason, but due to the corruption of Ukrainian officials.

Overall, Polish society still supports Ukraine and is continuing to help the Ukrainian refugees living in Poland. But the overall attitude has changed from “extremely pro-Ukrainian” to “very pro-Ukrainian,” and I believe that we will need a well-thought plan of action from the government to counter a further negative shift. Interestingly, according to surveys the segment of the Polish population that has changed its attitude the most are young Polish women, who were the most pro-Ukrainian at the start of the crisis and who are now much more skeptical. The main cause of this shift is the fact that they have the most contact with Ukrainian refugees, the majority of whom are women, and they consider them to have had a negative impact on the already poorly-functioning Polish public school and public health systems. Young Polish women also tend to consider young Ukrainian women as rivals on both the job market, where they are perceived as being willing to work more for less, as well as on the marital market, where they are perceived as rivals when it comes to finding valuable male spouses. The attitudes of other segments have not shifted as much, however, which is another proof of my conviction that one should always limit one’s optimism and enthusiasm

Prospects and predictions for the future

One of the main lessons from the Ukrainian refugee crisis as seen from the perspective of Polish and Ukrainian history is that nothing helps as much in the relationship of two nations as having their own separate national states. In about 90 years, we went from organized discrimination on one side and ethnic cleansing on the other to state military support, voluntary assistance, and the housing of over one million refugees by ordinary people. Generally, the war has changed the attitude of Poles towards Ukrainians. While anti-Ukrainian sentiment was not that prevalent among Poles even before the war, there was nevertheless a sizeable chunk of Polish society — especially among those whose families were affected by the Volhynian Massacre — who considered Ukrainians to be eastern barbarians with no real country and no real nation. But the heroism of those Ukrainians who have stood their ground against the second-largest military power in the world, who have managed to defend most of their fatherland, and are now sacrificing their lives every day in efforts to regain their land has proven that they are a true European nation, indeed. From the Ukrainian side, the help provided by the Poles to the refugees has led many of them to come to believe that Poles are not as selfish and arrogant as they believed them to be.

Another important lesson to be drawn from this crisis is that staying for too long in the same home can cause tension and conflict, even between best friends or families. Any “two nations in one state” project is a bad idea and will ultimately lead to hate and suffering for everyone involved. The overwhelming attitude toward Ukrainian refugees was positive and remains so, even if it is less positive than it was at the beginning of the crisis — and it is definitely more positive than the Polish attitude towards the pre-war economic immigrants from Ukraine. But Poles are simply becoming tired of the whole situation, just as many Ukrainians are growing tired with living in a foreign country. Thus, while majority of Poles still agree that Poland should help the Ukrainian refugees for as long as the war continues, we would like to see some sort of road map for the future. Let me emphasize again: Distinct nations should live in distinct states for the good of all the parties involved. While it is normal for a country to have a small number of white minorities, ultimately most of the Ukrainian refugees should return to Ukraine, which will benefit both Ukraine and Poland. This means that such a crisis requires much more vision and action from the state. The Polish government has so far failed to provide a clear and well-crafted plan for the future, which is creating unnecessary tensions in Polish society.

The final lesson, and the most general one, is that you should always reach out to your fellow white man or woman when they are in need. Despite everything that separates us, and despite all the blood which has been spilled between us throughout history, there is still much more that unites us. Altruism is one of the best features of white people, and the help provided by the Poles to the Ukrainian refugees is one of the greatest examples of white solidarity in action in history.

To everyone reading this essay: consider this a call to action. Great events are the sum of small deeds. Reach out to whites in need on a daily basis.