Ukrainian-Polish Relations in Ivan Lysiak-Rudnyc’kyj (Rudnytsky) and Jerzy Giedroyc Correspondence

Ukrainian Galician historian Ivan Lysiak-Rudnyc'kyj (Rudnytsky) (1919– 1984) and Polish politician and publicist Jerzy Giedroyć (1906–2000) were forced to continue their social and scholarly activities in exile, where they criticized the totalitarian regimes established in the Eastern Europe's countries after the Second World War and tried to influence on the settlement of Ukrainian-Polish relations. Both intellectuals made regular correspondence, collaborated on the publication in Polish magazine “Kultura” and promoted the achievements of free Ukrainian and Polish cultures. They paid particular attention to the need to engage in dialogue on historical topics, recognizing that political treatment of history would not overturn the distrust between representatives of both peoples. It requires a lengthy dialogue between professional historians who are able to unmask old prejudices, show their passing character, and create the groundwork for eliminating entrenched historical stereotypes in the public consciousness of both peoples and their elites. Such a professional dialogue will create the necessary ground and help overcome gradually the accumulated prejudices and the mutual distrust and build Ukrainian-Polish relations on an equal footing. The correspondence of the two expatriate intellectuals clearly shows how the foundations for such a dialogue have been laid out for the future.