The deep history between the nations of Ukraine and Poland is on full display in Manitoba as the situation overseas intensifies.
“Those are our brothers and sisters over there. We should help them as much as we can,” said Jan Bragin, the Polish Association ‘Sokul’ of St. Boniface’s president.
The Manitoba Polish Congress is helping lead the charge when it comes to providing support for Ukrainians overseas and in Canada.
“People are phoning very concerned, very upset and really not knowing where to turn,” said president Jolanta Gronowski.
The ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine hits too close to home for Bragin, as he looks back upon his country being invaded by Joseph Stalin’s Soviet regime during the Second World War.
“What’s happening now to Ukraine, I remember that happened to Poland,” he said.
“The last of the Polish patriots, the soldiers were killed by the regime of Stalin. And I do worry that can happen to Ukraine after Ukraine loses the war.”
Bragin and his family immigrated from Ukraine to Poland in 1946 in the midst of a Russian invasion.
Current events now feel painfully familiar.
“When I see Putin, he’s another Stalin. He can do the same to the Ukrainian patriots,” Bragin said.
The Polish congress of Manitoba, led by Gronowski, is working around the clock to support and educate Ukrainian Manitobans with family members fleeing Ukraine en route to Poland.
“The Polish government has announced and we were told that they will accept anyone crossing the border with or without documentation to ensure that they are safe.”
Through communication with fellow Polish congress members across Canada, long-term fundraising efforts are in the works.
“Whether it’s for feet on the ground or temporary housing and shelters that are needed for the refugees, but also what is needed for the people that are still back in the Ukraine and are not going to go anywhere,” said Gronowski.
That focus will remain strong for thousands of Polish Canadians in the weeks to come.