Stabbings.

Genocide in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia (1943-1944)

From February 1943 to February 1944 in the region of Volhynia, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) carried out a campaign of ethnic cleansing against the Polish population (and to a lesser extent- other ethnic groups), in which 60,000 Poles were slaughtered. The genocide continued into the region of Eastern Galicia- claiming another 40,000 lives. Overall, around 100,000 Poles were killed at the hands of the UPA during World War II.

For understanding of these events, one must look back to the interwar era. After the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Poles and Ukrainians both had claims to the city of Lviv, sparking the Polish-Ukrainian War (1918-1919) and resulting in the newly-formed Second Polish Republic gaining Eastern Galicia. After the Polish-Soviet War (1920), Poland gained Volhynia while the rest of Ukraine fell to the Soviet Union- Ukraine ceased to exist as an independent state.

Ukrainian culture, language, and religion was supported by the Polish state, in hopes of achieving loyalty from the population. Regardless, Ukrainians still yearned for independence, and conflicts occurred between Polish authorities and western Ukrainian communists and nationalists. In 1929, the extremist Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists was formed- who would be responsible for terrorist activity and assassinations of both Polish and Ukrainian politicians. After the death of Józef Piłsudski in 1935, minority-tolerant policies were abandoned, and Ukrainians were subject to harsh repression and forced Polonization- that, combined with the influx of Polish colonists in the eastern territories, escalated ethnic tensions and led to wide support for the OUN.

After the German-Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939, the Soviets cracked down on the population- in the eastern territories, most of the Polish colonists and other intelligentsia were deported to Siberia, leaving behind the Polish peasant population in an increasingly hostile environment. Similarly, democratic Ukrainian organizations were crushed by the Soviets, leaving only the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists as a major influence among western Ukrainians.

The OUN would soon split into two opposing factions: the OUN-M, led by Andriy Melnyk, and the OUN-B, led by the more violent and radical Stepan Bandera. During the German invasion of the Soviet Union, the OUN-M worked closely with the Germans, while the OUN-B went to form the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. The Poles, firm in their goals of re-establishing Poland’s pre-war borders, were considered the primary threat to Ukrainian independence, and in February 1943, the decision was made to eliminate the Polish minority as a means to prevent Polish claims to Ukrainian territory as well as fulfill the goal of an ethnically pure Ukrainian state. The main initiator behind the decision was Dmytro Klyachkivsky.

The first large-scale murder occurred in the village of Parośla on February 9, 1943. The Ukrainian Insurgent Army, disguised as Soviet partisans, murdered 149-143 Polish inhabitants. From there began the organized campaign of ethnic cleansing throughout Volhynia that would claim the lives of around 60,000 Poles. In 1944, the terror spread to the neighboring area of Eastern Galicia. The UPA, under the command of Roman Shukhevych, killed around 30,000-40,000 Poles- in some instances, Poles were notified of having the option to leave or be killed.

Attacks were thoroughly planned, and often involved the mobilization of local Ukrainian peasants to take part in the slaughter, usually armed with nothing more than knives, axes, and other tools. Orthodox and Greek Catholic clergy often played a role in encouraging the violence. Atrocities were marked with exceptional brutality, with victims often being cruelly tortured before death- people were crucified, dismembered, beheaded, mutilated, sawed in half, and burned alive. After the killing was over, villages were looted and burned. Surviving Poles usually fled to German-occupied territories, or in some cases, took shelter with friendly Ukrainians. While it wasn’t a widespread phenomenon, some Ukrainians risked their lives to protect their Polish neighbors, friends, and family members. There are 1341 documented cases of Ukrainians saving Poles, and 384 Ukrainians were known to be murdered by the UPA for such assistance.

As a response to the massacres, Poles organized self-defense organizations, which were sometimes armed by the Germans and aided by the Polish Home Army and Soviet partisans. The 27th Home Army Infantry Division was created in 1944 to fight the UPA. Reprisal attacks on Ukrainian villages sometimes occurred- in Volhynia alone, 2,000-3,000 Ukrainians were killed by Poles. The Germans often played a role in escalating the conflict- both Ukrainians and Poles serving under the Germans (see: Ukrainian Auxiliary Police, Schutzmannschaft Battalion 202) would attack villages, creating the opportunity for both sides to paint each other as Nazi collaborators.

After the end of World War II, most of Volhynia and Eastern Galicia became part of the Soviet Union. The new communist Polish government began to relocate Ukrainians to the Ukrainian SSR to remove any remaining support base for the UPA within Polish borders. The Ukrainian Insurgent Army, now seeking to cooperate with the Polish anti-communist underground organization Freedom and Independence (WiN), finally called for an official end to actions against Polish civilians.

On July 22, 2016, the Polish Sejm passed a resolution declaring July 11th as a national day of remembrance for the Polish victims, and formally recognized the massacres as a genocide. In western Ukrainian historiography, the so-called “Volhynia tragedy” is portrayed simply as a violent conflict between Ukrainians and Poles that claimed civilian lives on both sides- sometimes described as “mutual ethnic cleansing”. The topic remains a debate between Polish and Ukrainian historians. 

Sharp thorns stretched and climbed up above the roofs.

Friedrich Wegener, from Dornröschen (Sleeping Beauty), by The Brothers Grimm, Berlin, 1901.