A gallery in Warsaw was vandalised after one of its staff members spoke out against anti-Ukrainian slogans at a march commemorating the victims of the Volhynia tragedy
Gazeta Wyborcza reports on this.
Zofia Boruchynska, the owner of Las Rąk, said that on 4 July, when a march commemorating the victims of the Volhynia tragedy was passing by the venue, one of the staff members went outside and made a gesture with her thumbs down in response to the anti-Ukrainian slogans being chanted at the march.
“I refute the fabricated reports that someone was giving the ‘fuck you’ sign to anyone or shouting anything. We are not in the habit of showing contempt for anyone, no matter how strongly we disagree with them. We are a company engaged in aid and humanitarian work, a group of activists. Our colleague gave the thumbs-down as a sign of protest against the anti-Ukrainian, inflammatory slogans,” said Boruchynska.
According to her, the organisation has not made, and will not make, any derogatory gestures or statements, particularly regarding the memory of the victims of the Volhynia massacre, as the staff also have relatives who were killed during the Volhynia tragedy.
Despite this, following the march, Las Rąk came under attack: visits from aggressive individuals, threatening phone calls and an organised wave of online hate. The gallery’s Google page was flooded with hundreds of negative reviews and comments, and the venue began to be labelled as permanently closed.
And the day before, on 6 July, a man aged around 30–40, dressed in a tracksuit, burst into the venue. He began destroying handmade items, smashing objects created by Polish artists, and overturning the exhibition.
The police were alerted to the incident. Officers retrieved footage from the town’s CCTV cameras, which showed the attacker. The threats against the staff at Las Rąk and the attack on the gallery itself are being investigated separately.
In the first case, a man has been arrested in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship, whilst in the second, the attacker is still being sought.
Meanwhile, over 137,000 zlotys have already been raised in Poland to cover the costs of the damage caused by the attack on Las Rąk. The gallery itself has expressed its gratitude and promised that any surplus funds from the collection will be channelled “towards good causes combating social exclusion”, in particular to support the Asymetryści foundation, which helps with the resettlement of refugees from the occupied territories of Ukraine.
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