Polish war cemetery, photo Rada OPWiM, 2001
Licence: all rights reserved
Photo montrant Polish war cemetery
Polish war cemetery, photo Rada OPWiM, 2001
Licence: all rights reserved
Photo montrant Polish war cemetery
Polish war cemetery, photo Rada OPWiM, 2001
Licence: all rights reserved
Photo montrant Polish war cemetery
Polish war cemetery, photo Rada OPWiM, 2001
Licence: all rights reserved
Photo montrant Polish war cemetery
Polish war cemetery, photo Rada OPWiM, 2001
Licence: all rights reserved
Photo montrant Polish war cemetery
Polish war cemetery, photo Rada OPWiM, 2001
Licence: all rights reserved
Photo montrant Polish war cemetery
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ID: WOJ-000078-W (UA-5567)

Polish war cemetery

ID: WOJ-000078-W (UA-5567)

Polish war cemetery

Before the Second World War, Przebraże formed, together with the neighbouring colonies: Chołopiny, Majdan Jezierski, Mosty, Wydranka and Zagajnik, one large sołectwo, constituting a uniform complex of fields and buildings. In 1938, Przebraże had over 200 homesteads with 1150 inhabitants of Polish nationality. It contained, among others: 7-class primary school, "Strzelec" organisation, agricultural circle, sports club, artistic group. In the spring of 1943, upon hearing news of attacks by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) on neighbouring settlements, self-defence was formed in Przebraż. In a short time, the young boys dug up weapons left in the forest by the Germans and Soviets after the fighting in 1941. In order to legalise the possession of firearms in front of the Germans, a delegation from Przebraż went to Kreislandwirt Jeske in Kiwerce with a request to allocate weapons for defence against the forest gangs. Written permission for the weapons was obtained. The settlements around Przebrza were incorporated into the defence system. A self-government was established in the village with a Council of Elders headed by Civil Defence Commander Ludwik Malinowski. The military commander of the self-defence was initially Zygmunt Nestorowicz, a retired sergeant of the Polish Army, and from 20.04.1943. - Henryk Cybulski "Hary" a non-commissioned officer in the WP. Administrative agencies were also set up, mainly in the areas of victualling, health and security. A hospital and a medical clinic were organised. Gunsmithing workshops were organised under the leadership of Kazimierz Olszewski "Setka". The basis of self-defence was the combat troops. They were stationed in barracks and were on continuous duty, maintaining constant combat readiness. A reconnaissance on foot and on horseback (also fulfilling the role of a combat cavalry unit) was organised. Military training was provided. A defensive line was established around the village with elements of field fortification, consisting of trenches and shooting ditches, wood and earth bunkers, barbed wire entanglements and embankments of felled trees. Due to the increasing attacks of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) on Polish settlements, Polish people began to arrive in Przebrza in large numbers. A few families were added to each homestead, the newcomers also lived in all other buildings and in hastily constructed huts and dugouts. In total, more than 10,000 people found shelter here. The Ukrainian Insurgent Army's first attack on the fortified town of Przebraże took place on the night of 4-5 July 1943 and ended with the defeat of the attackers. The second attack, with the same result, took place on 31.08.1943. After this attack, apart from sporadic skirmishes and a few offensive operations by the self-defence, there was no major fighting in the Przebraże area. At the end of August 1943, the AK "Luna" unit of Second Lieutenant Jan Rerutka "Drzazga" arrived here to reinforce the local self-defence. Unfortunately, "Drzazga", together with the unit's doctor Slawomir Steciuk "Fifth", who accompanied him, and the wagon driver Jan Linik "Elephant", were viciously murdered by Soviet partisans on 6.11.1943 (he had been invited to the Soviet partisans' quarters to celebrate the anniversary of the October Revolution and shot dead in the nearby forest; after this event, the Soviet unit quickly moved away from the area, although they intended to spend the winter here). All three murdered were buried in the cemetery in Przebraż, established in 1943. The self-defence in Przebraż survived until the entry of the Red Army in February 1944. At that time, arrests were made among the leadership of the self-defence and many young people were conscripted into the 1st Polish Army. The Polish population was repatriated westwards in 1945. The cemetery in Przebraż (some say it is located on the territory of the Chołopiny colony) was established in 1943, due to the fact that the nearest Catholic cemetery was in an area controlled by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. In this new necropolis the soldiers of the self-defence who died in the battles near Przebraż were buried, as well as the civilians from the neighbouring villages murdered by the UPA: Chaitówka, Chołopiny, Dermanka, Dobra, Gruszwica, Jaromel, Jaźwiny, Jezioro, Józefin, Marianówka, Mosty, Ostrów, Siekierzyce, Sławatycze, Trościaniec, Tworymierz, Wertepy, Zagajnik. Also buried here are the inhabitants of Przebraż (natives and newcomers) who died as a result of disease, hunger, cold or during attacks by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. Approximately 140 people were buried here, including a three-member Ukrainian family murdered for helping Poles. For many years after World War II, the cemetery was neglected and overgrown with wild vegetation. In 1996, with funding from the Council for the Protection of Remembrance of Struggle and Martyrdom, a commemoration was arranged on about 1/3 of the cemetery's area - now a walled cemetery with a central commemoration and symbolic graves of the fallen, the dead and the murdered. A plaque on the cemetery fence reads "Polish military cemetery". On the plaque under the central cross there is an inscription: "Here rest the soldiers of the Home Army and the inhabitants of Przebraż and the neighbouring villages / who died, died and were murdered during the Second World War. / Poland and Ukraine remember them". A point of disagreement with the Ukrainian authorities was the inscriptions on the 14 crosses - symbolic stations of the Way of the Cross, on which the names of villages pacified by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army in 1943 were engraved. - The Ukrainian authorities demanded in 1996 that these names be removed from the crosses. This wish was granted. The following names were placed on the crosses: Jozefin, Zofiówka, Przebraże, Kholopiny, Marianówka, Wilcze, Wólka Kotowska, Balarka, Mosty, Jaźwiny, Majdan Jezierski, Rafałówka, Chmielówka, Trościaniec, Ostrów, Czetwertnia, Ołyka, Wiszenki, Wydranka, Huta Marianówka, Hermanówka, Kiwerce, Zagajnik, Tworymer, Dobra, Łyczki, Taraż, Kołki, Hołodnica, Vertepa and Nesześć. In 2001. The OPWiM Council renovated the cemetery because the stonework had been done poorly in 1996. In 2004 and 2005, scouts from the ZHP troop from Zgierz carried out cleaning and minor restoration work at the cemetery. In 2022, already after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the local population cleaned up the cemetery in Przebraż as a token of gratitude for the support received from the Poles. 14.10.2007 in Poland - a monument commemorating the figure of the commander of the partisan Samoobrona Przebraża - Ludwik Malinowski - and two plaques listing: 1) the armed units participating in the Samoobrona and 2) the towns from which the defenders and people who took refuge in Przebraż came.

Publikacja:
22.06.2022
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