Mass grave of the victims of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), photo Rada OPWiM, 2005
Licencja: all rights reserved
Fotografia przedstawiająca Mass grave of the victims of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA)
Mass grave of the victims of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), photo Rada OPWiM, 2012
Licencja: all rights reserved
Fotografia przedstawiająca Mass grave of the victims of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA)
Mass grave of the victims of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), photo Rada OPWiM, 2012
Licencja: all rights reserved
Fotografia przedstawiająca Mass grave of the victims of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA)
Mass grave of the victims of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), photo Rada OPWiM, 2012
Licencja: all rights reserved
Fotografia przedstawiająca Mass grave of the victims of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA)
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ID: WOJ-000559-W/131496 (UA-4965)

Mass grave of the victims of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA)

ID: WOJ-000559-W/131496 (UA-4965)

Mass grave of the victims of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA)

Ostrówki was a Polish village, which was founded in the late 16th or early 17th century. The estate belonged to Czesław and Maria Konczewski in the 20th century, the owners having fled to the west before the Soviets arrived in September 1939. During the Second World War the village had about 100 farms with about 120 families - at least 664 people. The village of Wola Ostrowiecka, established at the end of the 16th or beginning of the 17th century, was adjacent to Ostrówki. The settlers were newcomers from Mazovia, who maintained their national purity, language, religion and customs throughout. During World War II, the village had 136 farms with 197 families - at least 866 people.

In the autumn of 1942, an underground Home Army post was established in Ostrówki, whose commanders were the teacher Jan Lisoń and the school manager Józef Jeż. This outpost, together with the outpost in Wola Ostrowiecka, formed the Luboml Section of the Home Army District.

On 5.07.1943, on the border of the village, the Uprising's inhabitants staged a provocation in the form of an attack on passing Germans, the aim of which was to bring about a pacification of Ostrówki. As a result of this assassination attempt, several Germans were killed, including one officer. The Germans actually wanted to pacify Ostrówki, but this was prevented by the manager of the former Konczewski estate, who convinced the Germans of the innocence of the inhabitants.

On the morning of 30.08.1943, after the murder of Poles in the villages of Kąty and Jankowce, the UPA militia moved on Ostrówki and Wola Ostrowiecka. The villages were surrounded by a tight cordon. The inhabitants were herded to one place and then led out in groups and murdered. According to witnesses, at least 1,000 people were killed in both villages during this assault.

The bodies of the murdered were not buried until days later. At least two long ditches were dug for their burial.

In August 1992, a two-week exhumation work was carried out in Ostrówki under the direction of Dr. Mądro, with the aim of transferring the bodies of the Poles murdered by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) on 30.08.1943 to the cemetery. The exhumation became possible thanks to more than two years of efforts by the families of the victims and the Society of Friends of Krzemieniec and the Volhynia-Podolia Region. Two graves in Wola Ostrowiecka were excavated from which the remains of 323 people were recovered, the other graves were not found at that time. On 30.08.1992 the excavated remains were ceremonially buried in the destroyed cemetery in Ostrówki in the presence of a delegation of Polish and Ukrainian state authorities. In 1998 the grave in the cemetery was an earthen grave with a cross without inscriptions. The Council for the Protection of Struggle and Martyrdom Remembrance took charge of preparing a permanent commemoration. In 2011, another exhumation was carried out from Ostrówki and Wola Ostrowiecka and the final commemoration of the site was carried out. The work was funded by the OPWiM Council. The inscription on the granite cross reads: "To the memory / of the inhabitants of Ostrówek and / Wola Ostrowiecka / who perished / on 30 August 1943 / May they rest in peace / Government of the Republic of Poland / Families / 2011".

Publikacja:
03.08.2023
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