[MichaelB_PL]

Originally Posted by Kathy

I think this is your stereotype.

No, it's not and I suggest doing some research if you think otherwise.

Some information:

http://www.nbuv.gov.ua/portal/Soc_Gu..._7/zalecki.pdf

The complicated and dramatic history of the Polish-Ukrainian relationships was the cause that for the past decades
the Polish had a negative perception of and felt heavily aversive to the Ukrainians. At the outset of the previous decade
CBOS conducted surveys on sympathy and antipathy to selected nations. The Ukrainians found themselves among the
nations closing the list [18]. Their perception was strongly negative. The stereotype of a Ukrainian, when broken down
to components, was found woven of features contradictory to the homo oeconomicus.: In the Polish views the
Ukrainians were poor, improvident, devoid of enterprise, and lazy. In terms of the features grouped under the heading of
culture and customs, they were seen as backward, uneducated, and untidy. In the social and political dimension, they
were described as nationalistic, vengeful, and fanatic [16].

Basically, the "backward, uneducated and untidy" joined with "nationalistic, vengeful an fanatic" fits together into the phrase "Ukrainian savage" I've used to describe the stereotype. As for this being "my stereotype", I think that as most stereotypes, it's a overblown echo of real tendencies and events, largely false in itself, but containing a small grain of truth.

Some more sources about existence of this stereotype:

http://www.batory.org.pl/doc/pol_ukr.pdf

The complex nature of Polish-Ukrainian relations was made even more difficult
by the dramatic events of World War II; insofar as the collective Polish memory
of the war and its immediate aftermath involves Ukrainians, the recollection is of
what would today be called ethnic cleansing and of wholesale slaughter of Poles
perpetrated by Ukrainian fighters.
(...)
In the meantime, books published in Poland after the war and assigned to
schoolchildren as obligatory reading did their part to reinforce the stereotype of
Ukrainians as war criminals; many young people were left with the conclusion
that the sole purpose of the Ukrainian Insurgents’ Army lay in the murder of
Poles.

Stereotyp Ukraiе└ca - TwojaEuropa.pl

(Translation) In Poland there is a rather negative image of an Ukrainian caused mainly by the stormy history between
Poland and Ukraine.

Below is an interview with a Ukrainian minority in Poland activist, Piotr Tyma::

www.domeuropejski.pl - Wywiad z przedstawicielem mniejszoІci ukraiЯskiej

(Translation)
Some people is still afraid to publically admit being part of the minorty. In Poland for a long time the sterotype of Ukrainian
was functioning. Desire for murder and greed were underlined in it. It was said that Ukrainians had black palates - a form of physical defect, implying agressive demeanor.
People got drilled into their heads image of an Ukrainian with a knife in his teeth.

Comment on the last example: in Poland there is a folk belief that a dog with black palate is a potentially agressive, bad dog - so the "black palate" example provided by Tyma contains is not only linked with suspicion of agresiveness, but is also a degrading comparison with animals.