The Polish Golgotha in Wołyń
Over 1,500 Polish settlements in Volhynia were completely destroyed. Between 1943 and 1946, Ukrainian nationalists murdered up to approximately 100,000 Poles in Volhynia, Eastern Lesser Poland, and the Lublin region. They perished in nearly 4,000 localities. To this day, the majority of the victims have not received exhumation, individual commemoration, or a Christian burial. Their remains still lie in unmarked graves, killing pits, forests, fields, and the sites of villages that no longer exist.Of the more than 2,500 Polish settlements that existed in Volhynia before the war, approximately 1,500 were completely destroyed. Some ceased to exist overnight; homes were burned, possessions looted, churches demolished, and inhabitants either murdered or forced to flee.
In Volhynia alone, approximately 60,000 Poles lost their lives. As Dr. Leon Popek calculates, fewer than 3,000 of the victims received a religious burial. This means that tens of thousands of people still rest in random, anonymous, and unmarked locations.
Victims were buried in wells, ditches, forest ravines, fields, the cellars of burned-out houses, and hastily dug pits. Often, bodies remained unburied for days. The surviving families of the murdered—who were expelled from the Eastern Borderlands (Kresy) after the war—were unable for decades to even visit the places where their loved ones had died.
Dr. Popek notes that some of the earliest post-war memorials were actually erected by the Soviet authorities. However, the inscriptions on them did not explicitly state that the victims were Poles murdered by the OUN-UPA. Instead, a formula characteristic of communist propaganda was used:
"To Soviet citizens of Polish nationality who perished at the hands of Ukrainian bourgeois nationalists."
After 1989, Polish institutions, associations, victims' families, and survivors managed to erect only a few dozen crosses, plaques, monuments, and other memorials in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia. These were established in places such as Poryck, Janowa Dolina, Borszczówka, Lidawka, and Ludwikówka.
Yet, each of these crosses marks only a small fraction of the vast map of Polish graves. Thousands of sites where Polish families were massacred by Ukrainian nationalists still await a fitting commemoration.
Parośla – the onset of mass extermination The massacre committed on February 9, 1943, in the settlement of Parośla I (located in the Sarny county) is considered the first mass murder of the Polish population in Volhynia. A UPA *sotnia* (company) commanded by Hryhoriy Perehiyniak—known by the nom de guerre "Dowbeszka-Korobka"—arrived in the village. The attackers initially posed as Soviet partisans. They persuaded the residents that, for their own safety, they should allow themselves to be bound. The bound victims were then murdered with axes and other implements. Over 150 people perished—men, women, children, and the elderly. The victims were buried in a mass grave. In 1974, a local Ukrainian man, Anton Dorofiyovych Kovalchuk, erected a memorial cross atop the burial mound. The inscription on the cross indicated that the atrocity had been committed by his own compatriots. After Ukraine regained its independence, a plaque listing the names of the murdered families was placed next to the cross. It bears the following inscription: "Behind them, toil; behind them, torment... To those who have departed forever—Sacred Remembrance." Huta Stepańska – Polish self-defense and the destruction of 37 settlements On the night of February 10–11, 1943, OUN militant groups carried out one of the first attacks on the Polish population in the vicinity of Huta Stepańska. Four Poles were killed during the raid. Aware of the mounting threat, the residents began organizing a self-defense unit. Władysław Kurkowski, the head of the local school, assumed command. Poles from surrounding villages and settlements began flocking to Huta Stepańska. The settlement became one of the key points of the Polish defense in Volhynia. People built fortifications, set up guard posts, and tried to acquire weapons. Fierce fighting took place between July 17 and 19, 1943. UPA units ultimately captured the settlement. During the operation, 37 nearby Polish villages were destroyed, and their inhabitants were murdered. The victims from Huta Stepańska are commemorated at the local cemetery. A memorial cross stands in the center, bearing a dramatic inscription: "Jesus, save us."
Borszczówka – pacification carried out by the Ukrainian police
Between March 3 and March 19, 1943, the Ukrainian police—acting either independently or jointly with the German gendarmerie—conducted pacification operations against Polish villages.
Hundreds of Poles lost their lives. In Borszczówka alone, over 200 people were murdered, and farmsteads were burned down.
A Polish cemetery was opened in Borszczówka in 2003. The then-First Lady, Jolanta Kwaśniewska, attended the ceremony; her father had survived an attack carried out by SS men and Ukrainian police officers.
Lipniki – a night raid by the "Dubowy" *sotnia*
On the night of March 26–27, 1943, a UPA *sotnia* (company) commanded by Ivan Lytvynchuk—known by the nom de guerre "Dubowy"—attacked the Polish village of Lipniki.
184 Poles were murdered.
Among the survivors was Mirosław Hermaszewski—who would later become a Polish cosmonaut but was a small child at the time. His family managed to escape the village during the attack, though many other family members perished.
In 1975, Soviet authorities exhumed the remains of the victims of the Lipniki massacre. They were reburied at the Orthodox cemetery in Białka. A memorial monument also commemorates those who were murdered.
Małe Hołoby – a murdered priest and a burned church
On April 5, 1943, Father Józef Szostak and religious brother Piotr Mojsijonek were murdered by Ukrainian police officers serving the German occupation forces.
Father Szostak was returning from Lubieszów, where he had been assisting in hearing the confessions of the faithful. He was killed on the road between Pniewno and Skomorochy.
That same year, the UPA burned down the church in Małe Hołoby. The grave of Father Józef Szostak and Brother Piotr Mojsijonek is located today on the site of the former church.
Janowa Dolina – six hundred murdered on Maundy Thursday
One of the major atrocities committed in Volhynia in 1943 took place in Janowa Dolina.
It was a modern settlement for basalt quarry workers. On Maundy Thursday—the night of April 22–23, 1943—UPA units surrounded the village, set buildings on fire, and began slaughtering the inhabitants.
Approximately 600 Poles lost their lives.
The modern-day village of Bazaltowe occupies just over half the area of the former Janowa Dolina. Amidst the overgrowth, one can still trace the layout of pre-war streets and the foundations of some houses. Traces of the Roman Catholic cemetery also remain beyond the village.
In 1998, the families of the victims erected a cross and a monument over the mass grave. However, the Ukrainian contractor unilaterally removed the date "April 23, 1943." Only the following inscription remained on the monument:
"In memory of the Poles from Janowa Dolina."
The monument was not consecrated at the time; nationalists from the "Ruch" organization prevented Poles and local Ukrainians from reaching the site of the ceremony.
It was not until 2011 that a Holy Mass and a *panachyda*—an Eastern-rite memorial service—were held there.
Ugły – over a hundred Poles murdered by the "Jarema" *sotnia*
On May 12, 1943, a UPA *sotnia* (company) commanded by Nikon Semeniuk, alias "Jarema," attacked the village of Ugły.
Over 100 Poles were murdered.
The name of the village has been included on a plaque at the Volhynia Massacre Monument in Warsaw. Niemilia – the obelisk that vanished
The attack on Niemilia took place at dawn on May 26 or 27, 1943. According to other accounts, the atrocity may have been committed during the night of May 24–25.
Between 126 and 128 Poles were killed. The victims included six unidentified individuals, likely from the nearby Ukrainian villages of Komarnia or Jackowicze; these people had reportedly sought refuge in Niemilia.
In 1964, Soviet authorities erected an obelisk over the mass grave. Today, the monument no longer exists.
Przebraże – a Polish self-defense stronghold
On July 4–5, 1943, UPA units attacked 24 Polish settlements in the vicinity of Przebraże. Approximately 550 Poles were murdered.
Przebraże itself became one of the largest and best-organized Polish self-defense strongholds in Volhynia. Thousands of people fleeing attacked settlements and villages found refuge there.
After the fall of communism, Polish organizations began efforts to restore the local cemetery. Reconstruction work was completed in November 2001. The cemetery is located at the edge of the forest.
Kisielin – a massacre during Sunday Mass
On July 11, 1943—a day later referred to as Bloody Sunday—UPA units attacked the church in Kisielin.
Poles from Kisielin and surrounding villages were inside the church. Approximately 90 people were murdered. Some of the worshippers managed to reach the upper floor of the rectory, barricade the entrance, and defend themselves against the attackers for several hours.
A monument erected by local Ukrainian authorities stands over the victims' mass grave. Crosses were placed next to it in 1993.
Poryck – Poles murdered in the church
On July 11–12, 1943, between 200 and 220 Poles were murdered in Poryck (now known as Pavlivka).
Some of the victims perished inside the church during the Sunday service.
Exactly 60 years later, on July 11, 2003, the presidents of Poland and Ukraine—Aleksander Kwaśniewski and Leonid Kuchma—unveiled a monument to Polish-Ukrainian reconciliation in Pavlivka.
It bears the inscription:
"Memory. Mourning. Unity."
This was the first monument dedicated to the victims of Ukrainian nationalists whose erection was approved by the Ukrainian authorities.
Kołodno – a mass grave discovered after decades
On July 14, 1943, UPA units murdered five or six Polish families, as well as several individuals, in Kołodno-Lisowszczyzna or Kołodno-Siedlisko.
It was not until 1996 that the victims' families discovered one of the mass graves near the forest. A wooden cross was erected at the site.
The families also erected a monument at the Kołodno cemetery, serving as a symbolic grave for those murdered.
Ostrówki and Wola Ostrowiecka – hundreds of people in death pits
The largest massacres took place on August 30, 1943.
In Wola Ostrowiecka, 628 Poles were murdered; in the Gaj settlement, approximately 600; in Ostrówki, 521; and in the Kołodno area, 516.
Today, the sites of Ostrówki and Wola Ostrowiecka are occupied by former collective farm fields, forests, pastures, and meadows. Signs of cattle grazing are visible on some of the mass graves.
All that remains of the former Polish village is the dilapidated and overgrown parish cemetery in Ostrówki, along with individual and mass graves.
Thanks to the efforts of Dr. Leon Popek, exhumation work was carried out there in 1992, 2011, and 2015. The remains of nearly 670 people were recovered from death pits located within the boundaries of the vanished villages.
All the recovered remains were interred in the parish cemetery in Ostrówki.
The cemetery and a partially damaged statue of the Virgin Mary—behind which the church once stood—remain the only visible traces of the former village today. Before the war, Ostrówki was the seat of a parish that had existed for over two hundred years.
The exhumations have not been completed. The remains of more than 400 people still lie in nearby death pits, awaiting discovery, a dignified burial, and commemoration.
A cross standing on the so-called "Field of Corpses" (Trupie Pole) commemorates approximately 300 Poles murdered on August 30, 1943. This is the site where the unburied bodies of women and children killed by the UPA lay for at least several days.
Other memorial sites include:
the mission cross standing in front of the former church in Ostrówki, the cross at the grave known as the "Strażyc barn" site, the grave on Jan Trusiuk’s farm, and the site within the Suszek family’s farmstead.
In 1992, the remains of 243 residents of Wola Ostrowiecka were exhumed from the "Strażyc barn" grave.
Gaj – six hundred killed in a single day
On August 30, 1943, approximately 600 Poles were murdered in the settlement of Gaj.
Many years later, search and exhumation efforts were undertaken. On October 20, 2013, the recovered remains of the massacre victims were laid to rest at the parish cemetery.
Eastern Galicia – the genocide spreads beyond Volhynia
The mass murders did not end with the peak wave of atrocities in Volhynia. In the months and years that followed, the anti-Polish campaign expanded into the Lwów, Stanisławów, and Tarnopol voivodeships.
Poles were killed in their homes, churches, and farmsteads. Entire families were slaughtered, while villages were burned and looted. Perpetrators included UPA units, local OUN militias, the Ukrainian Auxiliary Police, and formations linked to the SS "Galizien" Division.
Mosty Wielkie – 73 victims of Ukrainian nationalists
On the night of January 27–28, 1944, 17 Poles were murdered in Mosty Wielkie.
In total, 73 residents of the town lost their lives at the hands of Ukrainian nationalists between 1943 and 1944.
In 1996, a monument dedicated to the victims was unveiled at the cemetery in Mosty Wielkie.
Berezowica Mała – women and children in a mass grave
On the night of February 22–23, 1944, Ukrainian nationalists attacked Berezowica Mała.
Between 130 and 135 residents were murdered.
In 2007, a cross and two plaques listing the victims were unveiled in Berezowica Mała. The inscription on the cross reads:
"In memory of the approximately 130 Poles resting here—residents of the village of Berezowica Mała—murdered on the night of February 22–23, 1944. May they rest in peace. The Government of the Republic of Poland, Families, 2007."
Huta Pieniacka – a village burned down along with its inhabitants
The atrocity in Huta Pieniacka—a village inhabited by Poles that no longer exists today—took place on February 28, 1944.
According to findings by researchers from the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN), the pacification was carried out by Ukrainian soldiers of the 4th SS Galician Volunteer Regiment, composed of volunteers for the SS "Galizien" Division. The unit was commanded by a German officer. The attackers were supported by UPA units and members of Ukrainian nationalist paramilitary structures.
The victims included men, women, and children.
Residents were rounded up in buildings that were subsequently set on fire. Those attempting to flee were also killed.
Huta Pieniacka had also served as a refuge for Poles from other localities who were fleeing the massacres perpetrated by Ukrainian nationalists and local peasants supporting them.
The IPN’s investigative division estimated that approximately 850 people lost their lives. The monument erected in Huta Pieniacka commemorates approximately 1,000 Poles murdered by the UPA and Ukrainian SS police units.
Podkamień – massacre at the Dominican monastery
On March 12, 1944, UPA units and soldiers from the SS "Galizien" division attacked the Dominican monastery in Podkamień and the surrounding villages.
Poles fleeing from threatened localities had sought refuge in the monastery. The attackers stormed the monastery grounds and began a massacre.
In total, approximately 800 Poles were murdered in the monastery and nearby villages.
In 2012, a monument commemorating the victims of the atrocity was unveiled and consecrated. It consists of a granite cross and six plaques bearing the names of the murdered.
However, Ukrainian authorities did not agree to list all the victims.
The monument bears the Polish coat of arms and the inscription:
"In memory of the residents of Podkamień and the surrounding area who perished in March 1944. May they rest in peace."
Palikrowy – hundreds shot in a meadow
On that same day, March 12, 1944, a massacre took place in Palikrowy.
The atrocity was committed by soldiers of the 4th SS Police Regiment—formed from Ukrainian volunteers for the 14th SS Grenadier Division "Galizien"—alongside local UPA militias and *Samooboronni Kushchovi Viddily* (Self-Defense Cluster Units).
Between 365 and 367 Poles were murdered.
The victims were gathered in a meadow, divided into groups, and shot. A monument stating the number of those killed was erected at the site of the mass grave.
Chodaczków Wielki – death toll remains undetermined to this day
On May 15–16, 1944, units linked to the SS "Galizien" division committed a massacre in Chodaczków Wielki.
Sources cite widely varying figures for the number of victims—ranging from 250 to 854 Poles murdered.
The victims were buried in a mass grave.
After the war, the surviving residents of Chodaczków Wielki were resettled to the so-called Recovered Territories. Some of them settled in Łąka Prudnicka and Gajków.
They erected a symbolic grave, topped with a cross, at the Roman Catholic cemetery. At its base, they placed an urn containing soil brought from the mass grave in Chodaczków Wielki.
Bryńce Zagórne – massacre involving local peasants
On May 22, 1944, a UPA unit, supported by local Ukrainian peasants, attacked Bryńce Zagórne.
Between 100 and 145 Poles were murdered.
The name of the village appears on a plaque at the Volhynian Massacre Monument in Warsaw.
Vorokhta – death on New Year’s Eve
On the night of December 31, 1944, into January 1, 1945, a UPA unit commanded by Havrylo Dederchuk attacked Poles living in Vorokhta.
Seventy-two people were murdered.
A memorial monument commemorating the victims stands in the cemetery by the Greek Catholic church; it was erected over the mass grave of the murdered victims.
Puźniki – women and children murdered in 1945
The massacre in Puźniki was perpetrated on the night of February 12–13, 1945, by a UPA *sotnia* (company) commanded by Petro Khamchuk, alias "Bystryi."
According to surviving accounts, at least 82 people lost their lives. As many as 70 of the victims were women and children.
The murdered victims were buried in a mass grave.
In connection with the 80th anniversary of the Volhynia genocide, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki visited the cemetery in the now-defunct village of Puźniki, where a search for the mass grave had been conducted.
Puźniki remains a symbol of the victims' families' long-standing struggle to obtain permission to search for, exhume, identify, and provide a dignified burial for the murdered Poles.
Bloody Sunday – the culmination of the genocide
The largest, coordinated wave of attacks against the Polish population of Volhynia took place on July 11 and 12, 1943.
Units of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army attacked localities situated primarily in the Włodzimierz, Horochów, Kowel, and Łuck counties of the former Volhynia Voivodeship.
A Sunday was chosen for the start of the operation. Ukrainian nationalists knew that Poles would be gathering for Holy Mass. Churches, rather than serving as places of refuge, were intended to become traps.
According to some findings, 99 localities were attacked on July 11. Other estimates indicate that, between the evening of July 11 and the morning of the following day, attacks encompassed as many as 167 locations.
The atrocities continued in the days that followed. Throughout July 1943, approximately 520 Polish villages and settlements were attacked, resulting in the murder of 10,000 to 11,000 Poles.
Bloody Sunday marked the culmination of the genocide, but neither its beginning nor its end. Mass murders had already begun in February 1943 and continued in Volhynia, Eastern Lesser Poland, and the Lublin region until 1946.
Plan to Remove Poles
The perpetrators of the genocide were members of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (Stepan Bandera faction), the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (which was subordinate to it), the OUN Security Service structures, local militias, and a portion of the Ukrainian civilian population.
In many places, the neighbors of Polish families—sometimes even those with family ties to them—participated in the killings.
The OUN-UPA described its actions as an "anti-Polish operation." Its goal was to remove the Polish population from territories that Ukrainian nationalists considered part of a future Ukrainian state.
The aim was not merely to intimidate Poles or force them to emigrate. The manner in which the attacks were carried out—including the murder of children, women, and the elderly, and the destruction of all traces of the Polish presence—indicates that the objective was the physical annihilation of the population and the erasure of Polish villages from the face of the earth.
Dmytro Kliachkivskyi and the Order for Mass Extermination
Dmytro Kliachkivskyi—known by the nom de guerre "Klym Savur"—commander of UPA-North, is considered one of the key organizers of the genocide in Volhynia.
According to findings cited in investigations by the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN), Kliachkivskyi decided between March and May 1943 to extend the killings across the entire Volhynia region.
In June 1943, he issued a secret directive for a major operation to eliminate the Polish population, initially targeting men aged 16 to 60.
The document ordered that the German military withdrawal be exploited to weaken Polish forces. Villages and settlements situated near forest complexes were to be completely destroyed.
In practice, UPA units did not limit themselves to murdering men of fighting age; entire families were killed, including infants, pregnant women, children, and the elderly.
Other OUN-UPA commanders also bore responsibility for organizing and directing these atrocities, including Vasyl Ivakhiv, Ivan Lytvynchuk ("Dubovyi"), and Petro Oliinyk ("Enei").
The leaders of the OUN-B and UPA structures bore direct political and command responsibility for the anti-Polish campaign. Later on, Roman Shukhevych became one of the key UPA commanders.
Testimony of the "Turiw" District Commander
After the war, Yuriy Stelmashchuk ("Rudyj"), the commander of the UPA's "Turiw" district, was arrested by the NKVD.
In his testimony, he stated that in June 1943, he met with Dmytro Kliachkivskyi and a representative of the General Staff in the Kolky forest. According to Stelmashchuk, "Klym Savur" ordered him to exterminate all Poles in the Kovel district.
By the end of June 1943, Ukrainian nationalists had murdered between 9,000 and 15,000 Poles in Volhynia.
July was to bring an even larger, coordinated operation.
Propaganda Preparations for the Atrocity
The first July issue of the UPA newspaper *Do Zbroji* ("To Arms") foretold a "shameful death" for all Poles remaining in Ukraine.
UPA plans called for simultaneous strikes on the greatest possible number of localities. The aim was to catch residents off guard, preventing them from organizing a defense or warning neighboring villages.
The attack in the Włodzimierz district was preceded by a concentration of UPA units in the Zawidów forests.
A few days before the operation began, agitators from Eastern Lesser Poland arrived in Ukrainian villages. At meetings, they urged the local population to exterminate the Poles.
At the same time, a disinformation campaign was underway. Two days before the massacre began, leaflets were distributed calling on Poles and Ukrainians to fight together against the Germans and the Soviets.
This was intended to lull the future victims into a false sense of security.
Murder of the Polish Delegation
The Polish underground attempted to halt the rising wave of murders through talks with representatives of the OUN-B.
On July 7, 1943, preliminary talks were held near Świnarzyn with Szabatura, a local commander of the OUN Security Service.
A Polish delegation set out for a follow-up meeting scheduled for July 10.
The delegation consisted of Zygmunt Rumel (alias "Krzysztof Poręba"), a representative of the Government Delegation for Volhynia; Krzysztof Markiewicz (alias "Czort") of the Home Army’s Volhynia District; and the driver, Witold Dobrowolski.
Markiewicz knew Szabatura from their school days. As a gesture of goodwill, the Polish envoys decided against taking an armed escort.
Upon arriving in the village of Kustycze, they were arrested and murdered. According to some accounts, their bodies were torn apart by horses.
The following day, "Bloody Sunday" began.
The Massacres of July 11
On the night of July 10–11, 1943, UPA units—supported by mobilized Ukrainian peasants belonging to the so-called *Samooboronni Kushchovi Viddily* (Self-Defense Cluster Units)—launched a coordinated attack.
One of the first massacres took place in Dominopol. In addition to local residents, a Polish partisan unit commanded by Stanisław (or Celestyn) Dąbrowski—which had previously collaborated with the UPA—was also executed there.
The perpetrators were likely members of the "Sich" *zahon* (battalion-sized unit) commanded by Antoniuk. Approximately 220 Poles were murdered.
Around 2:30 a.m., the attackers assaulted Gurów, killing 200 people.
Half an hour later, the same perpetrators reached Wygranka, where they murdered 150 Poles.
The atrocities were carried out according to a pre-planned pattern. Some groups would encircle the village to prevent anyone from escaping, while others entered the settlement, forced residents out of their homes, and gathered them at designated points.
Subsequent groups carried out the executions. Local peasants were responsible for hunting down those in hiding, killing survivors, and looting property.
After wiping out one village, the UPA units would quickly move on to the next.
Churches Turned into Sites of Execution Poles gathered for Sunday Mass were attacked in Chrynów, Krymno, Kisielin, Poryck, and Zabłoćce. Approximately 150 people were murdered in Chrynów, 40 in Krymno, around 200 in Poryck, and 76 in Zabłoćce. About 90 Poles died in Kisielin, though some of the faithful managed to barricade themselves on the upper floor of the rectory and put up a defense. Priests Józef Aleksandrowicz (from Zabłoćce) and Jan Kotwicki (from Chrynów) were killed in the attacks on the churches. Father Witold Kowalski from Kisielin was severely wounded. Accounts regarding the fate of Father Bolesław Szawłowski from Poryck are inconsistent. According to one version, he died in the church on July 11. According to another, he was wounded at that time but was found and killed by the attackers the following day.
Crimes Committed with Exceptional Cruelty
Poles were murdered using firearms, as well as axes, pitchforks, scythes, saws, knives, hammers, and other farm implements.
Many of the crimes were exceptionally brutal in nature. Victims were tortured before being killed. Children were murdered before their parents' eyes, and parents before their children's.
Polish homes were not always set on fire immediately after an attack. Sometimes they were left standing for several days so that those who had managed to escape or hide in the forest would believe the danger had passed and return for food or belongings.
Those who returned were captured and murdered. Only then were the buildings burned down to erase the traces of Polish settlement.
Soviet and German Occupation and Escalating Violence
The crimes committed by the OUN-UPA took place against the backdrop of two successive occupations.
Following the aggression against Poland by Germany and the Soviet Union in September 1939, the lands of the Volhynia Voivodeship fell under Soviet occupation.
The border between the two occupying powers was established by the German-Soviet Boundary and Friendship Treaty of September 28, 1939.
To create a semblance of legality for the annexation of Polish territories, the Soviets held sham elections to people's assemblies on October 22, 1939. These elections took place amidst an atmosphere of terror, arrests, and repression.
Between 1939 and 1941, the inhabitants of the Eastern Borderlands (Kresy) were subjected to deportations, executions, property confiscations, and the destruction of Polish elites at the hands of the NKVD.
After Germany attacked the Soviet Union in June 1941, Volhynia came under German occupation and was incorporated into the Reichskommissariat Ukraine.
The mass extermination of the Jewish population began in 1942. The Ukrainian Auxiliary Police collaborated with the German police and the SS during roundups in the ghettos and the escorting of Jews to execution sites; in many instances, they also participated directly in the killings.
During the Holocaust, approximately 150,000 Jews were murdered in Volhynia, and around 455,000 in Eastern Lesser Poland.
The public, mass murders perpetrated by the German occupiers—much like the earlier deportations and executions carried out by the NKVD—fostered an atmosphere that condoned violence and instilled the belief that entire national groups could be eliminated with impunity. Ukrainian nationalists exploited the chaos of the occupation, the weakening of the Polish state, and the experience gained by some members of the Ukrainian auxiliary police to carry out their own ethnic cleansing project.
Exhumations as a State Obligation
The exhumation of OUN-UPA genocide victims involves locating burial sites, recovering remains, attempting identification, and arranging dignified burials.
These are not merely archaeological or historical undertakings. For the victims' families, they are a prerequisite for bringing closure to a decades-long period of mourning.
Since 2017, obstacles hindering Polish search and exhumation efforts in Ukraine have been among the most difficult issues in Polish-Ukrainian relations.
The families of the murdered seek the right to locate the graves, recover the remains, and bury their loved ones in accordance with their faith and traditions.
This is not about political retribution or fostering hostility toward contemporary Ukrainians; it is about the fundamental human right to a grave, a name, and remembrance.
Thousands of sites still lack a cross
An article by Dr. Leon Popek reveals just how small a fraction of the victims have received a dignified burial.
Of the approximately 60,000 Poles murdered in Volhynia, fewer than 3,000 were given a religious burial. This means the vast majority still lie in unmarked graves.
Some of the crime scenes have been completely obliterated. Fields, pastures, forests, or buildings now stand where Polish villages once existed. All that remains of the churches are foundations, the occasional statue or mission cross, and overgrown cemeteries.
Sometimes, the only evidence that a village ever existed lies in the memories of survivors, documents, pre-war maps, and lists of names.
Since 1989, Polish institutions and victims' families have managed to erect only a few dozen memorials. Given the scale of the atrocities, this number is woefully small.
Each of the places described—Parośla, Huta Stepańska, Borszczówka, Lipniki, Małe Hołoby, Janowa Dolina, Ugły, Niemilia, Przebraże, Kisielin, Poryck, Kołodno, Ostrówki, Wola Ostrowiecka, Gaj, Mosty Wielkie, Berezowica Mała, Huta Pieniacka, Podkamień, Palikrowy, Chodaczków Wielki, Bryńce Zagórne, Puźniki, and Worochta—represents just a fragment of a much larger map of extermination.
Behind every name lie real people: families, children, teachers, priests, farmers, officials, artisans, and individuals who had built their homes in the Kresy region over generations.
Their deaths were intended not only to physically eliminate the Polish population but also to erase the memory of their presence.
A Memory That Must Not Be Abandoned
The genocide perpetrated by the OUN-UPA cannot be reduced to an anonymous "tragedy," a "conflict," or a "neighborly war."
It was a planned and organized campaign targeting the Polish civilian population, aimed at removing Poles from Volhynia and Eastern Lesser Poland.
Approximately 100,000 people were murdered. Thousands of Polish settlements were destroyed. Many localities ceased to exist, and the names of some vanished from the map.
Remembering the victims requires the truth, the identification of the perpetrators, and the facilitation of exhumation work.
It also requires restoring the names of people who, for decades, were referred to only as numbers.
As long as the remains of Polish women, children, and men lie in unmarked death pits, the issue of the Volhynian genocide remains more than just history.
It remains an unfulfilled obligation toward the murdered.
Primary source: Dr. Leon Popek, "Memory of Volhynia and Eastern Lesser Poland," *IPN Bulletin* No. 4/2017. This summary was also prepared based on information regarding memorial sites, findings by researchers and investigations by the Institute of National Remembrance, and source material contained in the aforementioned study.
Source : Polska Golgota na Wołyniu – Dorota Kania
Database of victims of the Wołyń massacre: Baza Ofiar Zbrodni Wołyńskiej