On 11.07.1943, during Sunday mass, bandits attacked the Poles gathered in the church. Earlier, the priest, through the altar boys, had warned people not to gather for the 11 o'clock Mass, as he had received a warning from a well-wishing Ukrainian about the attack. However, people did not want to believe the warning and came to church. It was mostly women with children who were gathered in the temple - it was thought at the time that only men were in danger from the Ukrainian rebels and they took cover. The bandits set up machine guns at the church door, from which they opened fire on the worshippers, in addition to throwing grenades inside. The perpetrators then entered the church and shot each victim separately, precisely, killing the wounded. Some Poles pretended to be dead and thus survived. Approx. 30 people took refuge in the basement of the church, a few or a dozen hid in the church tower, which was being repaired at the time, and survived by lying on the scaffolding. About 200 Poles died that day, although figures of 300 or 500 victims are also given. The church was then looted and set on fire, but the fire was quickly extinguished as rain fell. During the attack, the priest Boleslaw Szawlowski was seriously injured. There are several versions concerning his death; common to them is the statement that an Orthodox pop confessed the priest before his death and that the priest died a few or several days after this attack. The Poles murdered on 11.07.1943 in the church, numbering at least about 100, were buried in a common grave on the right side of the church. In the autumn of 1981, the Soviet authorities held a show trial against the three perpetrators of the crime, who were still alive. On the occasion of this trial, the KGB exhumed the grave near the church, from which the remains were moved to the Orthodox cemetery to a common grave. An outbuilding was erected on the site of the original Polish grave. The exhumation was carried out without due care and respect - the victims' remains were thrown into the pit loosely, without being buried in boxes. Initially, a makeshift wooden cross was placed on the grave and the grave was surrounded by a wooden fence. In 1998, the Zamość Association for the Commemoration of Poles Murdered in Volhynia erected a concrete tombstone and a metal cross on this grave. This commemoration was funded by the Council for the Protection of Memory of Struggle and Martyrdom. In July 2001 and in August 2002, after obtaining the consent of the local authorities, the Polish side carried out archaeological sounding investigations, commissioned and funded by the OPWiM Council, to determine whether the grave of the victims of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army had been completely emptied in 1981. The research yielded an affirmative answer. In August 2002, after obtaining the necessary permits from the local authorities, the OPWiM Council exhumed the remains from the Orthodox cemetery and buried them in the surviving part of the Catholic cemetery. In addition, at the same time, the remains of the Palinka family, also murdered on 11.07.1943 and buried near the buildings of the Czacki palace in Poryck, were transferred to this cemetery to a second grave. Also buried in this grave were members of the Zakrzewicki family from Radowicz, murdered on 13.07.1943. On these two graves (those exhumed from the Orthodox cemetery and those exhumed from the vicinity of the Czapski palace and from Radowicz), the OPWiM Council placed identical crosses of pale granite with appropriate inscriptions in 2003. Unfortunately, due to pressure from the Ukrainian side, the inscriptions on the crosses were changed at the last minute, removing the word "murdered" and leaving a telling blank space. The first inscription reads: "With the smoke of fires and the dust of brotherly blood, this voice calls out to you, Lord / Kornel Ujejski / To the memory of about 200 Poles from Poryck / Pavlivka / and the estate of Stary Poryck resting in this cemetery ... [word "murdered" removed] on 11 and 12 July 1943 / May they rest in Peace / Families and the Government of the Republic of Poland / Pawliwka 2003" Second inscription: "To the memory of 12 persons of the Palinka family of Poryck/Pawliwka ... [word "murdered" removed] on 11 July 1943 and the Zakrzewicki family of Radowicz ... [word "murdered" removed] 13 July 1943 / who rest here. / Eternal rest deign to give them Lord / Compatriots / Pavlivka 2003". Under the crosses lie plaques of the same material with the names of the buried engraved on them. On 11.07.2003 the unveiling of this commemoration took place. The ceremony was of exceptional character and importance, as on that very day the 60th anniversary of the crimes committed by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) against the Poles of Volhynia during World War II was celebrated in Poryck. The celebrations were attended by the Presidents of Poland and Ukraine, Aleksander Kwasniewski and Leonid Kuchma, who delivered speeches calling for reconciliation between the Polish and Ukrainian peoples. The Presidents of Poland and Ukraine also unveiled on that day a monument to Polish-Ukrainian reconciliation, located near both cemeteries (Catholic and Orthodox). It is a monument made of black granite. The slab is topped with a small bell. The inscription reads: "MEMORY - MOURNING - UNITY".