On July 13, 1943, the troops of the Western and Bryansk fronts broke through the enemy's defenses in the Bolkhov, Khotynets and Oryol directions to a depth of 8 to 25 kilometers. Having cut the Staritsa-Ulyanovo road, the troops of the Western Front inflicted on the enemy occupying Staritsa,

July 14, 1943 Western Front: units of the 11th Guards Army (I.Kh. Bagramyan) continued to develop the offensive to the southeast in the direction of Yagodnaya, covering the left flank of the enemy's Bolkhov grouping. By noon, they broke the resistance of the Germans and went to the Vytebet River.

July 15, 1943 More than 2,000 soldiers and officers were taken prisoner in three days of fighting. During the same time, according to incomplete data, our troops took the following trophies: tanks - 40, guns of various caliber - 210, mortars - 187, machine guns - 99, warehouses of various - 26. Destroyed: tanks - 109, aircraft -

July 16, 1943 For 5 days of the offensive, the troops of the Bryansk Front broke through the enemy defenses to a depth of 17 to 22 kilometers and, expanding the breakthrough front to 36 kilometers, reached the Oleshnya River. The German command gave the order to end the offensive and began to withdraw its

On July 22, 1943, the Mginsky offensive operation of the troops of the Leningrad Front began (until August 22), the purpose of which was to defeat the 18th German army, blocking Leningrad, and prevent the transfer of enemy troops to the Kursk region. Soviet troops only

On July 23, 1943, the troops of the Bryansk Front defeated the enemy group in the Mtsensk region and reached the Oka and Optukha rivers. Here was the last rear line of the Germans, covering the Oryol. The positions were occupied by German units, including those pulled up from the rear or

July 24, 1943 On all fronts, our troops on this day knocked out and destroyed 64 German tanks, according to the report of the Sovinformburo. 56 enemy aircraft were shot down in air battles and anti-aircraft artillery fire. * * * In Stalin's order to Generals Rokossovsky, Vatutin and Popov

July 26, 1943 On the Oryol direction, the troops of the Bryansk Front liberated over 70 settlements. * * * Following the order of the commander of the Western Front (V.D.Sokolovsky), the 8th Guards Rifle Corps formations in the morning resumed the offensive on Bolkhov and began

July 27, 1943 In the Oryol direction, our troops continued the offensive, advanced from 4 to 6 kilometers and occupied over 50 settlements. * * * In the Khotynets direction, the 31st Guards Rifle Division (Western Front) decisively attacked the enemy.

July 28, 1943 On the Oryol direction, our troops continued their offensive and advanced from 4 to 6 kilometers, occupied over 30 settlements, including the Stanovoy Kolodez railway station (18 kilometers southeast of Orel). * * * Parts of the 61st Army (P.A.Belov)

July 29, 1943 On this day, on all fronts, our troops knocked out and destroyed 21 German tanks. In aerial battles and anti-aircraft artillery fire, 37 enemy aircraft were shot down.

July 31, 1943 On all fronts that day, our troops knocked out and destroyed 70 German tanks, 50 of them in the Donbass region. In air battles and anti-aircraft artillery fire, 97 enemy aircraft were shot down. * * * As noted in the report of the Sovinformburo, our troops on Orlovsky

July 27, 1943? On the Leningrad Front, our troops fought local battles in areas north and east of Mga, during which they improved their

July 29, 1943? The 25th anniversary was celebrated by the war veteran Vladimir Dmitrievich Dudintsev (1918–1998), seriously wounded in 1942 near Leningrad and until the end of the war worked in the military prosecutor's office in Siberia. Then he wrote essays for the newspaper "Komsomolskaya Pravda", in 1952 he published the first

July 31, 1943 On the Leningrad Front, in the areas north and east of Mga, intensified searches were conducted

After five days of defensive battles south of Kursk, the command of the Voronezh Front reported to Headquarters that the German offensive was running out of steam and the moment had come for the transition to active operations.

In the evening, the command of the Voronezh Front received an order from Headquarters to conduct a counterattack against a large group of German searches. Accumulated in the Mal. Lighthouses, Ozerovsky. To carry out the counterstrike, the front was reinforced with two armies, the 5th Guards, under the command of A. Zhadov and the 5th Guards Tank, under the command of P. Rotmistrov. transferred from the Steppe Front. The plan for the counterstrike, developed at the headquarters of the Voronezh Front with the participation of the representative of the Headquarters A. Vasilevsky VI of the army commanders, was as follows. The main core of the 5th Guards Tank Army, reinforced by two breakthrough tank regiments, was supposed to, with the support of two self-propelled artillery regiments and a regiment of guards rocket launchers and all available assault aviation, cut the SS tank corps in two, whose forces seemed to have dried up in the previous laziness. At the same time, it was planned to reach the Pokrovka-Yakovlevo line. then turn to the East and West, cutting off the German troops' escape routes and encircling solvable groupings with the assistance of units of the 5th Guards Army, as well as the 2nd Panzer Corps and the 2nd Guards Tank Corps.

However, the preparation of the counterstrike, which began on July 10-11, was thwarted by the Germans, who themselves inflicted powerful blows on our defense in this sector of the bottom. One - in the direction of Oboyan, and the second - to Prokhorovka. The first blow, according to the Germans, was more of a distracting nature, and nevertheless, its strength and surprise led to the fact that some parts of the 1st Panzer and 6th Guards armies retreated 1-2 km in the direction of Oboyan.

In different sectors, an offensive began in the direction of Prokhorovka, when the 2nd Battalion of the SS Panzer Regiment "Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler" (LSSAH), together with the 3rd Battalion under the command of I. Peiper, took a sudden blow at height 252.2, dominating the Teterevino-Prokhorovka road. After 10 minutes, the Tigers company of the Totenkopf division began to cross the Psel River, trying to expand the bridgehead between the villages of Krasny Oktyabr and Mikhailovka.

Southwest of Prokhorovka in the direction of the village. Yasnaya Polyana led the offensive with the SS Division Das Reich. Due to the sudden disorganized withdrawal of some infantry units of the 5th Guards Army and the 2nd Panzer Corps, the artillery preparation of the Soviet counteroffensive, which began on July 10, was disrupted. Many batteries were left without infantry cover and suffered losses both in deployment positions and on the move. The front was in a very difficult position.

Only the quick introduction of the 42nd Rifle Division into battle, as well as the transfer of all available artillery to direct fire, made it possible to stop the advance of German tanks.

The Kempf Group consisted of the 6th and 19th Panzer Divisions, which included about 180 tanks, which were opposed by 100 Russian tanks. On the night of July 11, the Germans launched a surprise attack from the Melekhovo area to the north and northwest with the aim of breaking through to Prokhorovka. The infantry units of the 9th Guards and 305th Infantry Divisions, which had not expected such a powerful blow, retreated, defending in this direction. To cover the exposed section of the front on the night of July 11-12, 10 IPTABr were deployed from the Stanki reserve. In addition, the 1510th IPTAP and a separate ATR battalion were involved in this area. These forces, together with the infantry units of the 35th Guards Rifle Corps, did not allow the development of an offensive in the direction of Art. Prokhorovka. In this area, the Germans managed to break through only to the Sev. Donets near Novo-Oskonnoye.

July 12, 1943. The decisive day.

Opponents' plans for the decisive day.

The commander of the SS Panzer Corps Paul Hausser assigned his three divisions the following tasks:

LSSAH - bypass the village. Guard from the north and go to the line Petrovka - st. Prokhorovka. while strengthening their positions at a height of 252.2.

Das Reich - push back the opposing Soviet troops to the line east of Ivanovka.

Totenkopf - lead an offensive along the Prokhorovka-Kartashevka road.

It was an offensive in the direction of st. Prokhorovka from three directions in order to overcome the last line of the Soviet defense and prepare the "gate" for the introduction of the reserves of the Army Group "South" into the breakthrough.

At the same time, the Command of the Voronezh Front, considering the German offensive to be thwarted and the crisis overcome, was going to launch a planned counteroffensive against Luchki and Yakovlev. By this time, the 5th hectare, the tank army began to concentrate two tank corps, which had about 580 tanks, P. Rotmistrov chose the line of deployment of the first echelon of the army to the west and south-west of the station. Prokhorovka at the front 15 km. Units of the 2nd Guards Tank Corps and the 5th Guards Tank Corps were also prepared for the ular.

By 5 o'clock in the morning. Distracting blow of the Germans from the south.At this time, the German forces of the Kempf group, trying to develop their offensive in the northern direction, struck in the defense zone of the 69th Army. By 5 o'clock in the morning, units of the 81st and 92nd Guards Rifle Divisions of the 69th Army were driven back from the defensive line near the river. Northern Donets - Cossack and Germans managed to capture the villages of Rzhavets, Ryndinka, Vypolzovka. There was a threat to the left flank of the deploying 5th Guards Tank Army and, by order of the representative of the Headquarters A. Vasilevsky, the front commander N. Vatutin ordered to send the mobile reserve of the 5th Guards Tank Army to the defense zone of the 69th Army.

At 8 a.m.A reserve group under the command of General Trufanov launched a counterattack on the penetrated units of the German forces of the Kempf group.

Thanks to the persistent defense of the Red Army units, the German 3rd Panzer Corps (300 tanks and 25 assault guns) did not manage to break through to Rotmistrov's positions from the south.

At 7:45. Immediately after dawn on July 12, a light rain began, which slightly delayed the start of the German offensive on Prokhorovka, but did not prevent the Soviet 18th Panzer Corps of General Bakharov with the forces of one tank brigade to launch an attack of the 2nd LSSAH battalion on the outskirts of the Oktyabrsky state farm. Up to 40 Soviet tanks launched an attack on the village of Mikhailovka but were repulsed by a division of assault guns and withdrew.

From 8 am Luftwaffe aircraft began intensive bombardment of Soviet positions near Prokhorovka.

AT 8:30 the main forces of the German troops as part of the tank divisions "Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler", "Das Reich" and "Totenconf". numbering and singing up to 500 tanks and self-propelled guns (including 42 tanks "Tiger"), went on the offensive in the direction of Art. Prokhorovka in the lane of the highway and railway. This group was supported by all available air forces. However, in the first ular of this offensive, only half of the armored forces at the disposal of the German troops were involved - one battalion of the LSSAH and Das Reich divisions, two Tiger companies and one T-34 company, a total of about 230 tanks. 70 assault guns and 39 anti-tank self-propelled guns "Marder".

At 9:00 after a 15-minute artillery barrage, the German group, in turn, was attacked by the main forces of the 5th Guards Tank Army. General Bakharov's 18th Panzer Corps broke through at high speed into the Oktyabrsky state farm, and despite heavy losses, captured it. However, near the villages of Andreevka and Vasilyevka, he met an enemy tank grouping, in which there were 15 Tiger tanks and a battalion of assault guns. Two platoons of "Tigers" (H. Wendarf and M. Wittmann) opened fire on Soviet tanks from the spot from a distance of 1000-1200 m. The assault guns, maneuvering, fired from short stops. Having lost about 40 tanks, parts of the 18th since. were able to capture Vasilyevka, but they were not able to develop the offensive further and at 18 o'clock went on the defensive. From their fire, the Germans lost one Tiger and seven assault guns burned out, as well as three "Tigers", six medium tanks and up to 10 self-propelled guns destroyed and damaged.

At about 11:30 The 29th Panzer Corps began the battle for Hill 252.5, where it was met by tanks from the SS Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler. Throughout the day, the corps fought a maneuvering battle, but after 16 hours it was pushed back by the approaching tanks of the SS Totenkopf division and with the onset of darkness went on the defensive.

At 14.30 The 2nd Guards Tank Corps, advancing in the direction of Kalinin, suddenly faced the advancing SS Panzer Division "Das Reich" for command. Because. that the 29th Panzer Corps got stuck in the battles for the height of 252.5. the Germans struck the 2nd Guards Tank Corps on the exposed flank and forced it to retreat to its original position. In the course of these battles, the 2nd Guards Tank Corps lost 24 of the 41 tanks put into battle, knocked out and damaged. 12 of them burned down.

The 2nd Panzer Corps, which provided the junction between the 2nd Guards Tank Corps and the 29th Panzer Corps, was able to push the German units in front of it somewhat, but came under fire from assault and anti-tank guns pulled from the second line, suffered losses and stopped.

12 a.m. German attack from the north.

By noon on July 12, it became clear to the German command that the frontal offensive on Prokhorovka had failed. Then they decided, the Psel was forced, to leave part of the forces north of Prokhorovka in the rear of the 5th Guards Tank Army, for which the 11th Panzer Division and the remaining tank units of the extra SS Totemkopf * (96 tanks and self-propelled guns, motorized infantry regiment, up to 200 MOTORCYCLISTS). The grouping broke through the combat formations of the 52nd Guards Rifle Division and by 13 o'clock had captured the height of 226.6.

But on the northern slopes of the heights, the Germans stumbled upon stubborn resistance from Colonel Lyakhov's 95th Guards Rifle Division. The division was hastily reinforced with an anti-tank artillery reserve, consisting of one IPTAP and two separate DIVISIONS of captured guns (one division was equipped with 88-mm anti-aircraft guns). Until 18:00 the division successfully defended itself from advancing tanks. But at 20:00. after a massive air raid, due to the lack of ammunition and large losses of personnel, the division, under the blows of the approaching German motorized rifle units, withdrew for the village of Polezhaev. Artillery reserves were already deployed here and the German offensive was stopped.

The 5th Guards Army also failed to fulfill the assigned tasks. Faced with massive fire from German artillery and tanks, the infantry units moved forward a distance of 1-3 km, after which they went over to the defensive. In the offensive zones of the 1st Tank Army, the 6th Guards Army. The 69th Army and the 7th Guards Army did not achieve decisive success either.

July 13-15 German units continued to conduct offensive operations, but by that time they had already lost the battle. On July 13, the Fuehrer informed the commanders of Army Group South (Field Marshal von Manstein) and Army Group Center (Field Marshal von Kluge) that he had decided to abandon the continuation of Operation Citadel. This decision was also influenced by the successful landing of the allies in Sicily, which took place during the days of the Battle of Kursk.

CONCLUSIONS:

The battles near Prokhorovka and the post-war years were declared "the largest tank battle of the Second World War." At the same time, most of the authors, describing it, agreed that "in a small field not far from Prokhorovka, more than 1000 tanks" met in hand-to-hand combat ". Today, this field is even shown to passing tourists, but an analysis of even domestic wartime documents proves that this legend correlates with them, to put it mildly, very approximately.

The so-called “tank battle near Prokhorovka did not take place on any separate field, as was commonly believed. The operation was carried out on a front with a length of more than 35 km (and taking into account the southern direction - even more) and was a series of separate battles with the use of tanks by both sides. In total, according to the estimates of the command of the Voronezh Front, 1,500 tanks and self-propelled guns from both sides participated. Moreover, the 5th Guards Tank Army, which operated in a 17-19 km strip, together with the attached units at the beginning of the battles, numbered from 680 to 720 tanks and self-propelled guns. and the German grouping - up to 540 tanks and self-propelled guns.

The main events here took place on July 12, which accounts for the maximum loss of materiel and personnel by both sides. In the battles of July 11-13, the Germans lost to the west and south-west of Prokhorovka, according to the reports of the front command, about 320 tanks and assault guns (according to other sources - from 180 to 218) knocked out, abandoned and destroyed, the Kempf group - 80 tanks, and the 5th Guards Tank Army (excluding the losses of General Trufanov's group) - 328 tanks and self-propelled guns (see table). For some unknown reason, the front report does not contain accurate information about the losses of the 2nd Guards Tank Corps and the 2nd Tank Corps operating here, which are estimated at 55-70 vehicles damaged and destroyed. Despite the large concentration of tanks on both sides, the main losses were inflicted on them not by enemy tanks, but by enemy anti-tank and assault artillery.

The counterstrike of the troops of the Voronezh Front did not end with the destruction of the German grouping wedged in and therefore immediately after completion was considered unsuccessful, but since it allowed to disrupt the German offensive bypassing the town of Oboyan on Kursk, its results were later recognized as a success. In addition, it is necessary to take into account the fact that the number of German tanks participating in the battle and their losses, given in the report of the command of the Voronezh Front (commander N. Vatutin, member of the war council - N. Khrushchev), are very different from the reports of the commanders of subordinate units ... And from this we can conclude that the scale of the so-called "Prokhorov battle" could be greatly inflated by the front command. to justify the large losses of personnel and materiel of the front units during the failed offensive.

Edition "Map" (No. 46, 2005). Pages 98 - 121.

WILD. SUMMER 1943.

Barbara Odnous.

Since 1991, an investigation has been underway on the crimes committed in Volyn in 1939-45. It is conducted by the Lublin Branch of the Commission for the Investigation of Crimes against the Polish People of the IAS. At present, the documents of the case number 57 volumes (about 200 pages in each) and documents are constantly being added: protocols of interrogation of witnesses, reports and memoirs (also published), letters from private individuals, reports of underground organizations and a few photographs. We present some materials collected at the Institute of National Remembrance in Lublin.

The escalation of the conflict in Volyn took place in the summer of 1943, therefore they also relied on the texts of that period, focusing on the testimonies and stories of the direct participants in the events. The collected stories reveal the image of not only those neighbors of the Ukrainians who turned out to be enemies, carrying out the planned act of genocide, but also those thanks to whom many Poles survived. * However, we cannot reveal their identity. Using prosecutorial cases, we pledged not to disclose data that would allow identifying not only the perpetrators, but also victims and witnesses. This also applies to Polish surnames.

* Approx. szturman - it is for this reason that the accusations of the UPA supporters, who say that "the accusations of the crimes committed by the UPA, offend the entire Ukrainian people, are untenable."
Decent Ukrainians researchers of the topic DO NOT burden them with crimes committed by Ukrainian nationalists... And they even oppose the Banderites, since these Ukrainians often paid with their lives for their disobedience, help to Polish neighbors and mercy.

Peter V. (born 1928)

In the village of Górna, there were no conflicts between Poles and Ukrainians, let alone clashes [...]. Ukrainians, as Orthodox Christians, went to church in neighboring Gubkov, and Poles to the church in Ludwipol, about seven kilometers away. On our way to Ludwipol, we passed through the Ukrainian Gubkov, but we never met there with any signs of hostility or nagging. […]
It was already heard about the murder in Polish villages north-west of Ludwipol. We were afraid of attack and hid in the fields for the night. On July 3, they were also going to sleep in the field. […] Everyone was ready, we just wanted to eat some more dinner (standing on the table) and were waiting for Brother Romuald, who was about to drive the cows.

Almost as the sun went down, a shout rose and shots were heard. Mother ran to the window, shouted that the Banderaites were already here and they needed to run away. Through the window they jumped out with my father into the front garden and began to run up the hill along the road between the loaves. Mother did not have time to pick up my younger sister, which I did not notice at first.
I ran out into the yard, and there were many Ukrainians. They ran, shouted, set fire to buildings, carried property out of houses. They probably mistook me for a Ukrainian, because I was wearing a jacket with a belt that looked like an army one, and they dressed the same way.

I ran around the yard in search of shelter and saw how the Ukrainian lay down on the road and began to shoot towards the fleeing parents. […] Mother fell down, thought that she was amazed and she was no longer alive, my father ran on. I also noticed cows, therefore, there must be a brother somewhere nearby.
At that moment, my five-year-old sister ran up to me, grabbed my leg and started crying. I told her to be silent, and we ran into the nearest vegetable garden, where we lay down in high beans. However, one of the Ukrainians, scouring the yard or dwelling, must have noticed something, because two or three came running into the garden and found us. They claimed that I was a Pole. I denied, as a proof I began to pray as an Orthodox. One of the Ukrainians hit me hard in the chest with the butt of a rifle, and I lost consciousness.

When I woke up, twilight had already passed into night. Acrid smoke was everywhere. I noticed that my brother was running away from the garden. He was severely beaten and bloody, had no strength, but he took his sister in his arms and ran after his brother in the direction of the nearby pond for geese and the forest stretching beyond it [...] Every minute he stopped for a break or fell under the weight of his sister. I ran to the forest, fell down there again, I didn't have enough strength. […]

However, instead of hiding in that forest, he ran through it. When I ran out onto a wide gravel road to Ludvipol, a Ukrainian rode up on a horse and hit me on the head with something hard. I fell, and the Ukrainian drove on. He got up with the remnants of his strength and ran to the forest on the other side of the path. Immediately after me came my sister, who was no longer strong enough to carry. They hid under the trunk of a fallen tree. After a while, the Ukrainians began to ransack the territory near us. However, they did not find us and left. Soon he lost consciousness.

I woke up when it was already light. My sister lay next to her and, surprisingly, did not cry. I decided to go to the village of Gurba, several kilometers away from Gurnaya, to the house of my father's sister [...] I did not find anyone there. Residents, hearing the echoes of the attack on our village, fled into the forest. He took bread and milk and was going to return to his sister, whom he had previously hidden in the forest. Then my brother called me, he was lying in the hay in the barn.

It turned out that he spent the night on a tree in the forest. The brother said that he saw some people in the next house. I crawled over the wheat in that direction and noticed several people from our village. They told me that my mother was alive, but my father was killed. They took us on carts to Guta Staraya, where the Polish self-defense units were stationed.
Kolonia Górna, gmina Ludwipol, Powiat Kostopol.

Regina F. (Born 1929)

In the evening we were going to have dinner, and then go to the nearby fields [...] I went to our vegetable garden (500 - 700 meters from the house) to pick vegetables for dinner. The vegetable garden was located on a hill overlooking the neighboring farms. At some point, she heard screams and shots. She straightened up and froze, despite the bullets whistling around me. A nightmare broke out below. A horde of Ukrainians set fire to houses and outbuildings, and killed people. […]

Soon she regained consciousness and decided to run away. I noticed Uncle Jan V. living next door. I ran in the direction of the hill on which I was standing and called my son. We decided to run together in the direction of the Sluch River, which is a kilometer away. When we had already crossed the river, and were approximately in the middle of its course, I saw that a Ukrainian was standing on the other bank and was aiming at us with a rifle. We turned around, and he shot at us, but did not hit. We decided to hide in the nearby ravines.

When we approached the ravines, another Ukrainian came out of them, aiming at us with a rifle. […] Seeing the directed muzzle, she jumped to the side and hid in the cliffs not far from the enemy. The Ukrainian shot and killed his uncle. Then for several minutes he walked around the cliffs, wanting to find me. Then he left, but I was sitting in the hall until noon the next day, when I left and ran to my village.

Alina D .:

That evening my mother sewed a dress for me and for this reason did not go to sleep in the shelter, which was constantly done in view of the night attacks by UPA gangs and the round-ups organized by the Germans to work in Germany. When I finished sewing, she said that the gang probably wouldn't come today, and went to bed with me. However, fate turned out to be merciless, and at midnight the killers from under the OUN-UPA sign thundered at the door. When grandfather Jan R. opened them, they immediately shot him on the doorstep.

Mom, hearing the shot and groan of the grandfather, jumped out of bed and started screaming. I also got out of bed, ran to my mother and held on to her skirt. Suddenly, both fell to the floor, because a bullet hit my mother through the shattered window. When the shots died down, I began to call my mother and shake her. Then I heard the voice of grandmother Maria R.: “Don't call Mommy, Mommy is killed! Look, aunt Danusya is also killed! " It was already morning. I looked closely and saw my mother's younger sister lying near the loom, she was covered in blood, and my grandmother, sitting on the bed, also bloody. Grandma said: "Alinko, go to your uncle's family, just be careful, and tell them what happened here."

She ran out of the dwelling and, seeing that no one was there, she ran to her uncle and aunt on the other side of the street. The killed Uncle M. lay in the kitchen, the dead Aunt Domitsela, stabbed to death with bayonets or a knife, sat leaning on the chest and the wall. As I found out later, my aunt slept, hiding in the barn, but in the morning she returned to the house, thinking that there would be no attack, and ran into the killers. After inspecting the house of her uncle's family, she ran to P. There she saw P.'s young son with a baby in her arms, both were dead. Nearby lay her dead father-in-law.

I returned to my grandmother, told everything that I saw. At her request, she brought from another room a curtain with which the grandmother wrapped her wounds. They took a pillow and a baking sheet with yeast rolls baked the previous day and went to hide in the wheat behind the garden.

After a while, two of my grandmother's sons, who were sleeping in the attic above the stables, came to us, fifteen-year-old Florek and a little older than him Csesek. Grandma told them to bring a sheepskin coat so that they could lie on the ground. They ran in the direction of the house, and a minute later they ran near us, pursued by the Ukrainians on horseback. When my grandmother saw this, she told me: "Run away, Alinko, and quickly, run to Aunt Yaziya." My aunt lived in the village of Bogudzięka. I just had time to ask: "Grandma, what about you?" Having hesitated, the grandmother said: "Run away, I will stay here with your mother and your grandfather," and fell on the pillow.

I ran the gap in a different direction than my uncles. Running up to Bogudzenka, I had to pass near the Ukrainian economy. There was a group of women and children. We looked at the road along which carts with stolen property were traveling, and the UPA gang was driving a herd of cows.

I entered my aunt's house unnoticed. There was no one in it. I ran further to the unfinished house of Aunt Wanda J. There I saw my aunt's father-in-law covered in blood. I thought he was killed, but as it turned out later, he was only wounded. She got scared and ran to V.'s grandmother in Vitoldovka. […]

When I was running through the fields, Uncle Csesek saw me sitting on a field oak. […] A group of Poles who survived the pogrom were sitting in the loaves. Also among them was Aunt Wanda Ya. With children.
At night, Uncle Csesek went to bury his grandmother, who was finished off by the Ukrainians, and Uncle Florek, who was shot while fleeing. He buried them under a field pear. […] Grandfather, my mother Anela V. and aunt Danusya R. were not buried, and no one knows where their remains are.
Uncle Chesek took out a horse and a cart, onto which our crowd plunged, and in streams of rain, along field roads and forests, we drove towards Sokal.

Gurów, gm. Grzybowica, pow. Włodzimierz.

Natalia O. (Born 1936)

On Saturday, July 10, my father and sister Alya were [...] in the village of Romanovka. When we were returning by carriage, we passed a cart with Ukrainian bandits. […] Fearing that he might be taken to the so-called cart, my father went to bread for the night. […]
When I woke up on July 11 at three in the morning, there were six Ukrainian bandits in the house. Everything was ruined, things were scattered in the center of the room. The Ukrainians shouted all the time: "Where is the owner?" At the same time they beat my mother, demanding an answer. Mom knelt down and said that her husband had not returned from Romanovka. Then one of the bandits started shooting at her. She was hit by seven bullets, died in blood on the floor. Stanislav B.'s grandmother, who slept with us that night, was also shot.

Together with Sister Alya, seized with horror, they asked for the preservation of life. I wrapped myself in a feather bed and shrank all over. The executioner fired. The bullet easily grazed the temple and pierced the left shoulder. She was also hit with a butt and lost consciousness. Ala screamed, hiding behind her hands. She was shot in the right palm, beaten with a rifle butt, and she also lost consciousness. Seventeen-year-old Yadiya was shot.

I don't know how long the massacre lasted. When I came to, Ala was sitting over me, covered in blood and on a red bed. We got up and went to the house of Boleslav B.'s grandfather, who lived some 150 meters further. Shooting was heard around. On the road, they noticed a cart with an armed Ukrainian. Seeing him, we hid in a thick strip of blooming poppy. When the cart drove off, they entered the grandfather's dwelling. The dead man lay, and next to him was his son Zygmunt with his wife Victoria and their sons Vacek and Leszek. The pharmacist G. and her daughter Giza, Jewish women, who were hiding with their grandparents, were also killed. (Nine-year-old Galek G. fled, wandered for two weeks and was shot by a German on the train).
From the house of the grandfathers we went to the house of the shoemaker V. There they saw the bodies of V., his wife and two children - Bolek (8 years old) and Adeli (15 years old) […].

They could not go further, as they were noticed by a Ukrainian who was chasing a young man and shooting at him. We stealthily returned to the house, went to bed there. [...] Then three women came with Ruzhanians * and took us away.

Cheslav S. (Born 1918)

At three o'clock in the morning I was in my barn, where a shelter was organized. I heard a cart approaching. Through the gap between the boards I saw two men with rifles, who jumped from the cart towards the house. The third was sitting on a cart. Next to her I saw a guy (16 - 17 years old) [...] of Ukrainian nationality, who lived in Witoldów not far from me. My dog \u200b\u200bbegan to bark terribly, the killers pointed rifle barrels at it.

They entered the dwelling through an open door. They shot in the heads at close range. The brain was on the walls of the room. All the people were lying in blood on the floor. Cheslav Z. was killed on the couch. My wife Janina was on her knees with crossed arms. She probably knelt down, begging for her life. Mother-in-law fell under the table, knocking over the dishes and bottles.

After the murder in my family's home, the killers entered the barn looking for me. They said - "Nema yogo, vtik"... […] I heard the departure of a cart drawn by two horses. I wanted to run away to my neighbor Constanta S., but came back, because the killers drove in the direction of his farm. I managed to see that S. was leading two horses and a one-year-old foal to the meadow near the garden. […] A few minutes later I saw the killers grab him by the horses and take him into the house. Frightened, he returned to his yard and hid in a hiding place - a cellar next to the barn, where he sat until ten o'clock.
[Then] saw killed S., shot and chopped with axes. Konstanty was lying on the floor with a crushed head [...], next to [...] Balbina S. and their daughter Veronica (11 years old) were lying.

[…] For three days after the tragedy, silence reigned, I saw no one. Hiding in the wheat, peeping out from time to time what was happening around the house, I managed to meet with my neighbors, the Ukrainians [...]. They made coffins from planks and dug a pit for a grave [...]. Three of those killed were buried in the garden near the house, with a cross made by the Ukrainians on the grave. The Ukrainian woman brought me a loaf of bread on the road and burst into tears, saying: "We are not at all to blame for you, if you stay alive, you will show who killed." […]

On the day when my family was buried in the garden [...], some armed men in railway uniforms came to S.'s farm. The Ukrainians left the coffins and fled, fearing that something bad might befall them. Hearing that the Poles had really arrived, he ran to say hello and, with tears in his eyes, saw the Polish railroad workers with weapons who had arrived from Vladimir-Volynsky. […]
Julian S. with his brother Felix [sons of killed S.] and nephew Zygmunt M. [...] prepared a grave in the yard of the farm, not far from the well. They put three coffins in it and set up three crosses. Immediately after this funeral and the departure of the Poles [...], the Ukrainians ran from one Polish farm to another, setting fires. Remains of ashes and burnt-out gardens.

Witoldów, gm. Poryck, pow. Włodzimierz.

Zygmunt M. (Born in 1925):

When he secretly entered the dwelling [S.], he found a terrible sight. The doors were open, the chickens were walking around the kitchen and pecking at the bread baked by their grandmother, there were cartridges from fired cartridges. Found bodies in a large room. Grandfather [Constant S.] was lying in a pool of blood on the floor, in a sheepskin coat, barefoot and practically without a head. On the walls and ceiling I saw the remains of a brain. Part of the head was driven into the neck with the butt of an ax, so that only a fragment of the chin was visible. He had gunshot and ax wounds all over his body. Nearby lay my grandmother and Veronica, both in a pool of blood. They had bullet marks and stab wounds to the head and legs. The grandmother was cut along the chest with an ax. […]

On a sunny day on July 14, in the hours before lunch, by field borders among grain fields, a group covertly approached the grandparents' farm to bury their bodies in the yard. […]. They carried my grandfather's headless body. The sheepskin coat was soaked in blood and brain fluid. We were in a hurry, because the first shots of the UPA bandits were heard from the direction of the Gromosh forest.

Maria B.-Ch. (Born in 1923):

We lived in Volyn from generations. […] I was already married and I had a one-year-old daughter, Reginka. We lived with my husband in my parents' house. We also had Tamarka, an eight-year-old girl who was abandoned by the Russians in 1941, retreating from the Germans. Didn't know my last name. They sheltered her [...].

In early 1943, dark rumors began to circulate in Teresin. […] I didn’t want to believe it […], but when the scythes, axes, shovels, pitchforks were consecrated in the church in Svojczów, […] the inhabitants of the Swojczów parish were seized with anxiety. During the day we worked in the fields and on the estate; nights we spent in breads, in haystacks, barns, or, gathering in several families and setting up a watch to prevent the bandits from catching us by surprise. […]

July 11 came in the morning. At about three o'clock I heard the shrill barking of dogs. With her husband and father they ran out into the yard. From the side of the Ukrainian villages of Gnoino and Mogilno across a wide field in the direction of our village there was like a cloud of people. The thud of footsteps was heard. […] We returned to the house. She grabbed her daughter and hid with her under the kitchen floor - in the cellar, behind a row of barrels. At that time, Reginka suffered from whooping cough and coughed very loudly; was afraid that the cough would give shelter, but the child felt danger and sat quietly. I heard the crying and terrible screams of my relatives, who were dragged out of the house and killed in the yard. I also heard the screams of the executioners. Not a single shot was heard - they killed with axes, pitchforks. Frightened, waiting for my turn. When the crying and requests of my relatives stopped, I saw the hatch into the cellar open and [heard] a man's voice: "There is not anyone".

After a while, when the voices of the Ukrainian bandits had completely died down, I looked out through the kitchen window. A terrible picture appeared before my eyes. Mom, father, sister, husband, children: Krisya and Tamarka - lay in the yard in the sea of \u200b\u200bblood with their heads severed. Returned to the shelter. […] I sat there all day […]. When at dusk I looked into the courtyard for the second time, the corpses of my relatives were gone, they were buried on the estate. All our property was plundered.

At night, with my daughter in her arms, I left the house as I was, in one dress, without a piece of bread for the journey. At one point, she lost everything - her home, relatives [...]. Crawling away towards the field. At night she went through the swamps, called ruins, during the day she sat in a vine. She knew in order to live, she had to overcome 17 kilometers of the road to Volodymyr-Volynsky.

Teresin, gm. Werba, pow. Włodzimierz.

Wieslav Witold G. (Born in 1937):

My mother and I went to the service in Greenov by 11.00. In the forest, a Ukrainian came out of the bushes and began waving his hands: "Come back, come back!"... Mom asked: "So, you can't go to the church?"; answered: "Don't talk, just come back." At about 11.30, shots and explosions were heard from the direction of Greenov.

Chrynów, gm. Crzybowica, pow. Włodzimierz.

Powiat łucki. Fot. Jakub Radziewanowski, zbiory Lutosława Stachowskiego

Zygmunt A. (Born in 1925):

At 9 in the morning he conducted a festive divine service [in Grynov]. Xiondz, worried about the situation, conducted the service quickly, without preaching, and returned to the house. People left, and soon they began to return, afraid that the posts of the Banderaites were turning them into a chapel. In addition, believers began to arrive for the liturgy at 11 o'clock.

Meanwhile, Mrs. P. from Stasin (a farm located nearby) came to the parish priest's house, inviting the priest to confess her seriously ill husband. Xiondz took vyatyk * and we went three of us. Not far from the chapel, Bandera's people came out of wheat and did not want to let us through. However, at the request of Mrs P. and after I explained that we would immediately return to the service, we were allowed to pass. After receiving communion with the sick, the priest and I returned to the house, no longer detained by numerous Ukrainian posts.
Xiondz began the liturgy. Along with the people from the previous service, there were about two hundred people in the chapel, mostly women and children.

With a friend Janek J. stood outside the doors that opened inward. After the offering, I noticed a suspicious movement near the door. Several Banderites set up a light machine gun and started shooting at people; also threw two grenades, which fortunately did not explode. We hid with a friend behind the thick doors of the chapel. Panic began, loud screams of the wounded were heard. People fled through the side doors next to the sacristy and the choir. However, the chapel was closely surrounded, shots rang out continuously. The screams continued, [heard] the groans and heartbreaking screams of children.

Xiondz, together with the women, fled from the altar through the sacristy, but outside everyone was killed. My father, who was an organist, ran away with others through the door near the choir. The Bandera bandit ran up and fired four shots, but there were misfires and the father was able to escape.

After a while, when only the dead and wounded were left in the chapel, the Banderaites, apparently frightened by something, retreated to the nearest forest. We managed to escape to the organ room next to the chapel. Many corpses lay around, the wounded crawling into the wheat. We hid in the basement of the organists' room, but were afraid that the Ukrainians might come back and find us. A dead silence reigned outside. After making sure that there were no rezuns near, they ran into the bread, alternately crawling and running got to Octavin, two kilometers distant.

* Wiatyk (Vyatyk) (Lat. - viaticum - supplies, supplies for the journey) - the sacrament of the patient (most often dying), who is threatened with death at any moment. It is interpreted as food on the road to eternal life. (Note szturman).

Jan B. (Born 1936):

They lived in the village of Olin, located four kilometers south of Poritsk. On Sunday we went by cart to our parish church in Poricka. There were six of us: grandfather Jozef B., father Kazimierz, sisters Valeriya (9 years old), Genovefa (11 years old) and brother Jozef (15 years old). […]
When we got there, the horses and the cart were tied to a tree next to the fence in the courtyard near the church, and we ourselves entered the church. […]

Ksiondz Boleslav Sh. Began the service. Suddenly we heard the echoes of machine gun shots coming from the side of the main entrance. Dad put me in a niche with lightning speed from the figure of the Mother of God stolen by the Soviets. […] He knelt down next to the confessional, but one of the Bandera people spotted him. The bullet hit him in the cheek. He died before my eyes, without saying anything. He sat petrified. Bandera threw grenades between the benches. They caused a terrible devastation, tearing apart the bodies of believers, the flowing entrails exuded a disgusting smell [...]. The entire floor between the benches was covered in blood. The Ukrainians, unable to throw grenades to the chorus, fired at him with rifles. The Poles opened the main door, the living ran to the exit. But a machine gun was installed in front of the church. Within a minute, a mountain of killed and wounded had formed in the passage. […]

I left the niche and ran to my grandfather, who was lying between the benches. He was wounded in the knee and told me to run away to aunt Valeria V., who lived near the church.

Kościół w Porycku. Fot. Ze zbiorów Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej Oddział w Lublinie.

Made my way through a bunch of dead people in the main doorway. Going out into the courtyard, I froze, because I saw two Ukrainians near the machine gun. Suddenly one said to another: "Let go, the wolves will eat him anyway." Even in the morning my white clothes were soaked with blood from the bodies, through which I had to make my way to get out of the church. I ran to my aunt's house, but did not enter the dwelling, because immediately behind the threshold lay a woman with a smashed head. Brain and blood were sprayed all over the vestibule. I retreated to the woodshed.

Downpour began. In the meantime, the Bandera members left the territory near the church, began to beat and rob the residents of Poritsk. Hiding behind the doors of the wood shed, he watched our horses and the cart, waiting for someone to come up. After a while, my brother Yuzek appeared with a neighbor. He survived by hiding in a tomb [catacombs under the church]. I ran out to them and told them who was lying where.

Heading to the church, they found Toshka, the son of aunt Valeria. We carried him to our cart, which the Ukrainians left after seeing the drawbar broken by the frightened horses. The neighbor decided that we would not take my dad, because the Ukrainians could return at any moment, so they took only my grandfather, after which he told us to move quickly. A girl from our village also ran up to the cart. Yuzek sat on the broken drawbar and steered from there. We lay on the cart, as it seemed that the horses were frightened. So, driving through fields and meadows, we got to the house.

In the village of Olin, houses were abandoned. Someone who was late for the service returned to the village and reported the massacre in Poritsk. Therefore, we did not find either grandfather and grandmother Sh., Or mother and other children [...]. They fled in the direction of Sokal, because the Germans had a post there, on the Bug. But we met with our uncles [...], who watched the village and, surprised by our appearance, shouted: "So you are alive, but you said that the rezuns killed everyone in the church!"

Uncle Kostek ordered the wounded to change the bandages at once. Yuzek intended to help change the drawbar, and it fell to me to heat the stove to warm up the water for washing the wounds. However, they could no longer wash and dress the wounds. At the sight of smoke coming out of our chimney, a crowd of Ukrainians from a neighboring village headed in our direction.

Uncle Kostek shouted: "On the cart!", and Uncle Cuba carried Toshka. Grandpa did not allow himself to be taken away. He said that he was already old and wounded, they would not do anything to him. Stayed at home on the bed. Juzek finished changing the drawbar and straightened the harness. Uncle Kostek also loaded a sack of peas onto the cart, covered us with hay and ordered us to go to Sokal, only by forest roads. Both uncles stayed, hiding in the garden, to observe the fate of buildings and property.

The forest was nearly 50 meters away, so the Ukrainian peasants could not catch up with us. Knowing the forest roads, which he often used to go to Sokal, Yuzek safely drove us to the Bug. The Germans [...] sent us to a medical aid station. […] What was our surprise when we found Aunt Valeria there. Overcame 22 kilometers running, dividing Poritsk from Sokal. Delighted, she took the wounded son in her arms and took him to the doctors. Those, seeing that an operation was needed, since a grenade splinter was stuck in Toshka's head, the next day they sent him by the first train to Lviv, 100 kilometers away. After the operation, he lived for another month. The two-day presence of the shrapnel caused blood poisoning.

Yuzek and I waited in the area of \u200b\u200bthe [Bernardine monastery in Sokal], hoping that one of [our] sisters would get there, for none of them had been seen alive or killed. Two days later we went to Varyazh (Waręż), where uncle Adam B. lived. They told him about the rezuns. He told us to wait, and he went to convince two Germans to go with him to the village of Olin. […] He managed to negotiate for the appropriate fee. My uncle found in the village only burnt houses and buildings, and in the place where the bed stood, the charred bones of his grandfather.

Poryck, pow. Włodzimierz.

Ryshard J. (Born 1930):

On July 11, a lot of people came to the service in Poritsk. I participated in that divine service together with my father and grandfather Józef J. [...]
My father stood in the corridor, while I, in front of the altar, with other children. During the service, at some point the main doors opened and we heard shots. People began to fall to the ground and scream, others rushed to the side doors. There was such a hubbub and bustle that practically nothing could be seen or heard.

Like others, he ran in the direction of the side doors. Also, my father ran out of the corridor there, who grabbed my hand and dragged me towards the church tower. We got to the height of the galleries that passed around the church. The entrance to the attic was walled up with a thin layer of brick. My father knew about it and with a penknife he picked out the bricks. Downstairs, shots and shouts were heard all the time. When my father made a hole in the wall, we entered the attic. There were about 10 of us there. We ran around the church to another tower, where there were no stairs. They hid there. All the time they heard shots and an explosion inside the church. […]

At some point, we saw two men with rifles. They spoke Ukrainian. We wanted to go further, but saw that there was no staircase on the other side, and refused it. They didn't see us. We sat in that shelter for about four hours until sixteen in the afternoon. Meanwhile, a thunderstorm and downpour began. Downstairs in the church no more shots were heard, only groans. We decided to get off.

On the stairs passed the corpse of a woman, which had to be dragged away in order to go down. There were many women and children in the main post of the church. Some were still moving and calling for help. He was so scared that he slipped on the blood spilled on the floor. Passing further along the corridor, I saw two girls in white dresses lying and a woman covered in blood. Had to jump over them. […] Coming out of the church from the side of the sacristy, we met Grandpa Ya outside the door. He had burnt hair and a jacket. Was stunned, stood motionless. I asked my father where we were going. The father told grandfather to return home to Stary Poritsk, and told his brother Genka to take the whole family with him and run away to Sokal. […]

My father and I did not return home and also fled in the direction of Sokal. In the evening we got to the buildings of our old neighbor - Ukrainian Kirik M. He gave us food and sleep. The next day, Kirik M. went to our house in Poritsk and brought suitcases with things that had been prepared just in case, as well as hidden money and documents. On the evening of July 12, we went to Sokal.

Zofia Yanina S. (Born 1930):

On Sunday morning, a group of armed Ukrainians came, went door-to-door and told the men to go to the forest in carts. They said that they had something to transport for the Ukrainian partisans. […] No one came from our house, because that day guests came to us, the wife of K. with her thirteen-year-old nephew.

After eleven o'clock, shots were heard from the direction of Poritsk. […] We thought it was partisan training. We left the house for a minute and went back inside. A minute later the doors opened, and several armed men entered / One was in a helmet, the others had caps on their heads. The one who wore the helmet had a machine gun over his shoulder. He told us to leave the house. When my father asked why, he answered that Germans were approaching from Grushov, and they would protect us. To which my father asked - from whom. Then the man loaded his weapon and said that if we didn’t leave, he would shoot. We left the house. There were other neighbors in our yard, some were on the road.

Mr. K. went up to the man in the helmet and talked to him for a minute. I guessed that he had passed himself off as a Ukrainian (no one knew him in the vicinity), because a minute later this one in a helmet allowed him to harness the cart. I ordered him to go to Samovol, stop there and go to the soltys. When our guest was getting on the cart, taking his wife and nephew, my father approached the Ukrainian and asked him to allow me and my brother to be taken on the cart. He thought for a minute, after which he allowed. I also told Mr K. to stop at the figure [roadside cross] on his way to Samovol and leave us there. He said that our parents would come there.

Set off. When we reached the figure, I asked Mr. K. to drop us off, but he replied that we would not land anywhere, and that they would not speak at all. When we reached the first building behind the cross (it was another part of Oreshin), Ukrainians came out of the building and surrounded the cart. They asked Mr. K. who he was and where he was going. He answered that he was Ukrainian and was going to the soltys in Samovol. Then they noticed a large group of people walking from the side of Samovoli. I also saw that people from our part of Oreshin were gathered in one place.

The Ukrainians told us to get off the cart and unharness the horses. They said they had to check who we were. They watched us all the time. When the people coming from Samovol approached, I saw that they were carefully guarded by armed Ukrainians. We turned towards the forest. The Ukrainians who were inspecting us began to rush. They told us to go to Samovol and wait for soltys there. When we drove a little, we heard shots and terrible screams from the forest.

We drove quickly along the already empty road. Approximately in the middle of the path separating Oreshin from Samovol, two armed Ukrainians emerged from the wheat. We were again detained and asked where we were going. Mr K. replied that their foreman ordered him to go to the soltys in Samovol, and that everyone had let us through before. I spoke Ukrainian all the time. They told us to go, but she saw that they were watching us. When we reached a small line, Mr. K. turned to Sokal. On the way, we met people who fled from Volyn, mostly women and children. Some were injured. They took the fugitives to the cart.

Orzeszyn, gm. Poryck, pow. Włodzimierz

On this day, units of the UPA and the so-called "axmen" - Ukrainian peasants, armed with axes, pitchforks and whoever found what, surrounded churches in 100-150 Polish settlements in Eastern Galicia and began massacring Poles. It is unknown how many Poles died on that day, but the total victims of the Volyn massacre are estimated by Polish historians at 35-80 thousand people.

How should Russia relate to this period in the history of neighboring states? No way. Exclusively in the "Plague on both your heads" paradigm. Ukrainians and Poles have been dogging for many centuries and who is right there, who is to blame and who killed whom for what - absolutely on the drum. Both Poles and Ukrainians are nations with a purely tribalist ideology, in principle incapable of sensibly assessing the realities of the world around them.

Judge for yourself. Yes, the Bandera were bad, they killed Poles, but what happened before that? And before that (let's take only the events of the interwar decades) there was the victory of Pilsudskaya Poland in the war in Western Ukraine, the "pacification" of the Ukrainians in the lands newly seized by the Poles in 1930. They pacified them so passionately that even the League of Nations was outraged. Then there was the famine of 1932-33 in Western Ukraine, when, unlike the terrible bloody Stalin, the Polish authorities did nothing to alleviate the suffering of the local Ukrainian population, there was an imposition - the resettlement of Polish peasants to Eastern Galicia (in all fairness I will say that there are Poles there and there was a lot), there was the closure of the largest theater in Western Ukraine - the Lviv Bolshoi due to lack of funding, there were Jewish pogroms, which were organized by the Poles with a benevolent attitude to what was happening by the German occupation authorities, there was violence perpetrated against the Ukrainian peasants by AK soldiers (before the Volyn massacre they killed up to 2 thousand Ukrainian peasants). But does this all mean that the Bandera supporters were in their own right when they killed peaceful Poles? Of course not. The killings of civilians cannot be justified at all.

But, as you can see, both sides were good, so to hell with them. Moreover, the relations between Poles and Ukrainians clearly fall into the mainstream of the principle "cute scold only amuse themselves." No matter how much they cut each other, officials constantly emphasize the fraternal relations of these two God-forsaken countries. Here the Russians, yes, they are their main enemies for a couple. Probably because Russia is a country which has, albeit unpredictable, but a future, and these are so ... little pieces. And the fate of these peoples is now in life - to work as guest workers for more successful (in terms of mentality) neighbors. The Ukrainians and the Poles understand this very well. And rage with impotent envy.

The fate of nations incapable of accepting the reality that they are not the main and not the only ones in this world is the same.

The exaggerated number of attacks on Polish villages became a false message, from which it was concluded that there was a large-scale operation throughout Volyn. From there, it was concluded that there was an order that prescribed the complete destruction of Poles and ethnic cleansing.

The approach of the seventieth anniversary of the tragedy of the Polish-Ukrainian conflict in Volyn intensifies not so much historical as political discussions.

A hot topic of discussion in the media was the draft resolution of the Senate on the establishment of July 11 as the Day of Remembrance and Martyrdom of Kresovians. That is - about honoring the victims of the conflict only from one side.

Such a proposal is not new for the Polish parliament - in June 2011 a similar idea was voiced by the deputy of the Seimas Franciszek Jerzy Stefanyuk. The justification indicates that it was on July 11, 1943 that a massive anti-Polish action took place, which covered about a hundred settlements.

How historically correct this thesis is, I will try to figure it out in this article.

What exactly happened on July 11, 1943?

The answer is important not only for clarifying the details of the course of the confrontation between the Ukrainians and Poles, but also for its general assessment.

After all, the conceptual conclusions of many historians that the anti-Polish action of the UPA was coordinated and aimed at the destruction of the entire Polish population are based on the thesis that on the night of July 11-12, a large-scale operation took place, which simultaneously covered dozens or even more than a hundred populated points.

Moreover, the scope of the operation in historiography is constantly growing: in the book by Grzegorz Motyga "Ukrainian Partisan", 96 settlements are mentioned; in the introductory remarks to the collection of documents published by the Institute of National Remembrance of Poland and the Security Service of Ukraine in 2005 - about 99; in the work of Vladislav Filyar - 150, about more than one and a half hundred in the monograph by Igor Ilyushin, and finally, the American historian Timothy Snyder gives the largest number so far - 167 [24 207].

In particular, these figures and the conclusions of historians became the basis for legal substantiation of the anti-Polish actions as genocide - and, therefore, the basis for the preparation of the relevant political decisions of the Seim and the Senate [lower and upper chambers of the Polish parliament - IP].

Verification of certain historical facts always begins with verification of sources. Therefore, it is necessary to find out what sources the conclusions about the large-scale operation of July 11, 1943 are based on.

After analyzing Polish historiography, it is easy to see: the main source of information for such conclusions was the memoirs published in the collection of Vladislav and Eva Semashko.

In my works, I have repeatedly emphasized: memories, especially those recorded decades after the events described, are a rather vague source, and therefore historians should use them carefully, necessarily comparing them with other types of sources.

As for the materials specifically collected by Semashko, sometimes we still deal with deliberate attempts to adjust oral evidence to suit our own concepts.

Memories collected by Ukrainian local historians Yaroslav Tsaruk, Ivan Pushchuk and Ivan Olkhovsky from the same places often provide a diametrically opposite picture of the events of seventy years ago.

Historian Roman Kutovoy made an interesting comparison of readings recorded in 607 settlements of 11 districts of the modern Volyn region, mentioned by Semashko and named by Ukrainian search engines.

The number of victims, cited by Polish and Ukrainian researchers, is the same or insignificantly different only by about 20%; for approximately the same number of cases, the discrepancy in the estimate of the number of victims ranges from 20 to 100%.

In about 60% of cases, the differences in information are enormous: in the number of Ukrainian victims it reaches a difference of 50 times, and in the number of Polish victims - even 150 times.

Therefore, there are serious reasons to doubt the reliability of the memories (regardless of whether they are discovered by Polish or Ukrainian researchers) as an objective source.

Let's try to find out what information the documents of that time contain about July 11, 1943. First of all, the materials of the main participants in the confrontation - the Polish and Ukrainian underground fighters, as well as, additionally, the materials of the German occupation administration and Soviet partisans.

The deployed network of the Polish underground in its reports carefully described the growth of the Polish-Ukrainian conflict, starting in the spring of 1943.

The earliest known message about anti-Polish actions in Volhynia in July 1943 is dated July 31. An unknown underground worker under the pseudonym "Sobol" informed the Minister of Internal Affairs of the emigration government Vladislav Banachik:

“Murders of the Polish population of Volyn, carried out by Ukrainians, are increasing. In the period from 13 to 18 July, massacres took place in: Gurov, Gurov Velikiy, Gurov Maly, Vygnantsi, Zdziary, Zabolotsi, Sadoviy, Novyny, Zagai, Portsk, Oleni and Ozheshin. In the Lutsk diocese, 40 priests have been killed since July 11 this year. "

The events described in the document do not relate to the day that interests us - after all, according to the report, they occurred next week, however, in later documents of the Polish underground, most of the named settlements will be attributed precisely to those that were attacked on the night of July 11-12.

But in the report of General Tadeusz Komorowski, commander of the Home Army, dated August 19, 1943, anti-Polish actions are mentioned on these days. It says: "On July 11 and 12, 60 Polish villages in the Vladimir and Gorokhov regions were slaughtered."

This short sentence in the report, in fact, is the only documentary evidence of the large geographical scale of the action. The general does not give any details, although a lot of time has passed since the events described - more than a month. The document does not contain an emphasis on a simultaneous attack on one night, but rather on the results of attacks over two days - on July 11 and 12.

On August 20, 1943, Minister of Internal Affairs Vladislav Banachik reports on the situation in the former territories of the Second Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth occupied by the Germans over the past six months:

“Recently, these formations,” he writes about the departments of the Bandera and Melnikov OUN, as well as the units of Taras Borovets “Bulba”, “heavily influenced by Soviet agents, have begun the massacre of the Polish population.

The action was initially directed against the Poles involved in the German administration, rural and forestry, and then spread to local Polish peasants. In the Kovel district, in the villages of Goloba, Melnitsa, Poritsk, Velitsk, Zhmudche and other Ukrainian gangs, about 150 Polish families were extinguished.

In the Volodymyr district, 360 families were affected by Ukrainian killings. The bloody massacres of the Ukrainians against the Poles also took place in the Kostopil district. In total, about two thousand people of Polish nationality became victims of Ukrainian crimes. "

This message does not contain any specific chronological links, it is only clear from the context that we are talking about the summer of 1943 as a whole. It is important that, recalling the same territories as Komorovsky (Vladimirsky district), Banachik does not write about any large-scale simultaneous action during July 11-12.

In December, the Minister of the Interior, having received additional reports from the field, developed a detailed account of the events in the eastern territories in July-August 1943. Here, in the Volyn section, we find specific information about the destroyed Polish settlements.

Banachik already writes that "in mid-July, simultaneously in a number of localities, Ukrainian gangs attacked the Polish population in the western districts of Volyn, namely Volodymyr and Gorokhovsky, in which there was still relative calm in the past months."

Further, relying on the testimony of refugees from Volyn who ended up in Galicia, he gives a list of areas attacked in Gorokhovskoye (25 villages and colonies), Lutsk (8 villages and colonies), Dubenskoye (17 villages and colonies) and Vladimirskoye (27 villages and colonies). colonies) counties.

The bodies of the killed UPA poles in the village of Lipniki in the Kostopolsky district of Volyn, March 26, 1943 (Photo by Mark Skorupski / FORUM)

So, we are talking about 77 settlements (a figure close to that given by Komorowski), but no precise information about the time of these attacks is given, and again, from the context, it can be understood that we are talking either about July and August 1943, or in general about settlements destroyed since the beginning of the conflict in August 1943.

“In this field, on July 11-13, gangs simultaneously carried out attacks on a number of localities. These gangs included, among other things, Ukrainian peasants from the villages of Samovolya, Grushev, Pechikhvosty, Streltsy, and in these gangs there were many women and teenagers.

The Ukrainians were armed with a variety of weapons, from automatic carbines and grenades to shovels and pitchforks. The firearms were of both Soviet and German origin. The action began massively and almost simultaneously on July 11th.

In the area of \u200b\u200bOzheshin, out of the 350 Poles there, hardly 60 remained alive. Mainly those who were outside the house at the time of the attack survived, and only they were able to escape beyond the borders of Volyn.

The gang arrived at 9 o'clock in the morning under the leadership of Grzegorz Wozniak, known to the local Poles, dressed in some kind of Soviet uniform, at their disposal had a heavy "machine" (? - "A") carbine and 6 automatic carbines. The Polish population was taken from their homes and killed at the edge of the forest.

In the town of Poritsk, on July 11, at about 11 o'clock, a large gang appeared in German uniforms. The Polish population at that time was in the church for Sunday services. At the people who left the church, fire was opened from carbines and hand grenades were thrown at them.

About 100 Poles were killed, seriously wounded in front of the priests' altar, and the altar was also destroyed by the explosion of a cannon under it. The gang robbed the town and went into the woods at about 5 pm.

In the area of \u200b\u200bZabolotsi, a Ukrainian gang tortured 12 Poles, including one priest.

In the Zdziar colony, about 17 Polish families were killed by local Ukrainians.

About 400 Poles were killed in Sadovaya. It was perpetrated by a gang of 100 people armed with shovels and pitchforks. The gang walked around the neighborhood, for a long time catching the Poles, who first managed to hide in the neighboring forests.

35 Poles were killed in the area of \u200b\u200bNowy.

In the Zagai area, out of about 300 Poles who lived there, only five survived. The gang, which consisted of 100 people, was guided by Ukrainians Fedak and Zhuk known to local Poles. "

Information about the anti-Polish demonstrations on July 11 in the Vladimir region is confirmed by the report of the Home Army command of the Lvov region. Here we are talking about an attack on six settlements, which included all those mentioned in the Banachik report (the colony of Zdziara is not included).

The anti-Polish action on July 11, 1943 is mentioned in the Polish leaflet “Ukrainians for Zbruch”, published in July 1944.

It should be recalled that the same settlements, according to the already cited report of July 31, are indicated as being attacked between July 13 and 18.

Additional information about the anti-Polish actions that took place on the night of July 11-12 in two southern communes of the Vladimir district, contains the recollection of an unnamed eyewitness, provided by the Ministry of Internal Affairs as an attachment to a report to London from October 1943.

This story reveals important details: according to the author of the memoir, preparations for the action started the day before, July 10, when the mobilization of Ukrainians in the villages began. In the evening, a veche was held at the places of assembly, where it was announced to the mobilized that an action against the Poles would take place at night.

“At 2:30 pm on July 11, 1943,” we read in the testimony, “the massacre began. Each Polish house was surrounded by at least 30-50 peasants with cold weapons and two with firearms.

They ordered to open the door, and in case of refusal they chopped down the doors. They threw grenades inside houses, chopped people down with axes, stabbed them with pitchforks, and shot those who fled with automatic carbines. "

The killings continued until 11 am. After that, the plunder of the property of the defeated colonies began. In addition to the seven settlements listed in other testimonies, five more appear here: Gurov Velikiy and Maly, Vygnanka, Zygmuntivka, Vitoldivka. In this case, again, three of them in the report for July 31 appear as destroyed between July 13 and 18.

In general, according to an eyewitness, more than a thousand people died as a result of this action. A similar attack, in his opinion, took place in the north of the Vladimir region, but he was not a witness to it, so the recollection does not contain any details about this.

In a somewhat later report of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, written in early 1944, these events are called an organized "national revolution", which resulted in the murder of the Polish population in "several villages of the Vladimir district on July 11-12".

So, in the Polish documents of that time, we find rather detailed descriptions of several (that is, from 11 to 19) actions that took place on the night of July 11-12, 12 localities are precisely named (although the period between 13 and 18 is also named as the date of destruction of some of them. July).

However, there is no evidence of the scale given by Komorowski - 60 settlements - so it can be assumed that the general's report spoke of the results of anti-Polish operations during the whole July 1943.

Moreover, nowhere in Polish documents is there any confirmation of more than 150 villages attacked in one night.

Obviously, the operation, which would provide for the simultaneous attack of at least 60 settlements, required serious coordination, and therefore had to leave at least some documentary traces in the materials of the UPA, in the reports of its various territorial divisions. But such information (at least not yet) has not been found.

There are only two Ukrainian documents detailing the anti-Polish actions on July 11. One of them is the appeal to the Poles of the headquarters of the UPA unit "Sich" (operated on the territory of the Vladimir district) on July 15.

Here we are talking about an attempt to establish agreements between the Ukrainian underground and the headquarters of any of the Polish partisan detachments. From the monograph by Rafal Vnuk and Grzegorz Motyka, we learn that we are talking about Zygmunt Rumel - "Krzysztof Poreba" and Krzysztof Markevich - "Chart". The version of the Polish authors lacks details of this incident, it is only indicated that the Polish commanders were killed by the Ukrainians during the negotiations.

These agreements were thwarted by an attack by the Poles on the night of July 10-11 at the Ukrainian headquarters. The Ukrainian insurgents repulsed the attack and in response "decided to punish the Polish headquarters with the greatest severity, which they did, and the Polish population, on whose territory this headquarters was located, suffered."

For more information on the situation described in the document, see Ivan Olkhovsky. The researcher points out that in April 1943 the soldiers of the insurgent detachment "Sich" liberated several villages of the Turia region from the German occupation presence. Among these settlements was the Polish village of Dominopol.

Despite the fact that the war between the Ukrainians and the Poles was already raging around, there did not come to confrontation. Moreover, the command of the "Sich" appealed to the local population with a proposal to form a military detachment, which, together with the UPA soldiers, would hold the defense against a possible German offensive.

Such a detachment of 90 people was created, but peaceful coexistence was short-lived and ended in bloody events in Dominopolis.

According to the command of the Sich detachment, Polish soldiers began to transmit information about the rebel headquarters, its location, security features and plans of the German police, and on the night of July 10-11 they tried to capture the headquarters itself. In response, the Ukrainian rebels destroyed the Polish department and the entire village of Dominopol, which was its base the next day.

So, we have information about the anti-Polish action held on July 11, the recognition that the civilian population suffered during it. But in this document we will not find evidence that the mentioned event was part of a broader anti-Polish operation launched on the same day.

On the contrary, it contains a justification for the murder of the civilian population: “... we explain that we do not intend to liquidate the Polish population, and what happened was necessary for our own defense. We do not encroach on the blood of the peaceful Polish population. "

Another document of the Ukrainian underground “Report on the battles of the Sich detachment” tells about these events. In it we read: “11.VII. 30 people went to Biskupchin in the battle of Ch. 6 in order to liquidate the sexotes recruited mainly from the Polish population. About 2 thousand people were killed.

There were no casualties on our side. 12.VII. 150 riflemen left for Dominopol, where they carried out the liquidation of the Polish headquarters and Polish clerks. About 900 people were killed, including 10 Polish partisans in this headquarters. "

So, on the territory of the Sich detachment, for two days, on July 11 and 12, anti-Polish operations were carried out, the victims of which were about three thousand people, among them the civilian population. According to the Ukrainian historian Ivan Patrylyak, these actions “fit into the general outline of the so-called. the fight against Polish "sexots" and Polish self-defense cells, which terrorized the surrounding Ukrainian villages and were "bases of attack" for the German-Polish police and Soviet partisans.

However, the rather large-scale losses suffered by the Polish population during these attacks, and the outright reluctance of the rebels to figure out who was a "sexot" and who was not, gave rise to subsequent ideas about the special scope of the action. "

A similar explanation for their actions was then given by the command of the Sich detachment, while trying to calm down the Poles who lived in the territories under their control.

In the leaflet "To the Polish population" of July 17, 1943, it was noted: "The measures that were applied to the Poles of some communities were a means of protecting the Ukrainian population from planned betrayal, and will not apply to Polish citizens who are on the basis of cooperation with us [ ...].

We call on the loyal Polish population not to succumb to enemy agitation and not to leave their homes, but to work quietly on their farms. "

UPA documents from other parts of Volyn, which would tell about the actions on July 11 and 12 and were supposed to confirm the thesis of a large-scale operation, have not been found, at least so far.

The report of the Crow commander for the period from June 11 to July 10, 1943 mentions the anti-Polish actions already carried out at that time, as a result of which “it is rare to find some kind of Lyashka on the territory. They, like the Germans, have rallied into large district cities in regional centers and only from time to time make attacks on the territory. "

Unfortunately, it is impossible to reproduce the scale of the actions or any details of their implementation from this limited data. Probably, we are talking about the results of many months of confrontation with the Poles since the early spring of 1943. The chronological framework of the report itself is limited to the period from June 11 to July 10 - respectively, the date that interests us most was out of sight of the compiler of the report.

Other reports refer to promotions in the second half of July, while providing detailed information on their progress. The testimony of Yuri Stelmashchuk tells about large-scale anti-Polish actions carried out by his troops, but not in July, but in August 1943. There is no mention of a "general anti-Polish offensive" on the night of July 11-12.

A lot of information about the Polish-Ukrainian confrontation in the summer of 1943 can be found in the archival criminal case against the UPA platoon Stepan Redesha. In particular, he tells in detail about the destruction of Polish villages in the Luboml region in August.

Neither in this case, nor in dozens of others brought against former insurgents, which the author reviewed in the SBU archives, will there be information about a large-scale operation on July 11-12.

Despite the prejudice of the author of these lines to such documents as an objective source, it is difficult to assume that the Soviet investigating bodies for some reason would have hidden such information. Rather, on the contrary, it would have been used not only by investigators, but also powerfully promoted by Soviet propaganda as proof of the crime of Ukrainian nationalism.

No German documents on this day's shares have yet been found. It is obvious that the German occupation administration could not fail to notice the big operation.

As, incidentally, the Soviet partisans, who informed their leaders in detail about the events in Volyn, in particular, about anti-Polish actions. For example, among their reports one can find quite detailed information about the tragic events that took place on July 18 in Vladimir-Volynsky.

“In the city,” we read in the message from the Shukov partisan unit, “there was a massive beating of Poles by Bandera (Ukrainian nationalists) who had gathered for Sunday services.

Poles were beaten in churches and on the streets, as a result of which 18 priests and up to 1,500 citizens were killed. The Germans did not interfere with these beatings, and only a few days later they issued an appeal to the Poles to join the police and gendarmerie to fight the Bandera men. "

Another report from the Begma squad for July 28 is less detailed and contains the following information:

“From 10 to 20 July, several thousand Bulbo men launched an offensive against the Polish villages of Chutaetev, Vafy, Goly, Pisochna, Tur, Soshnykino [the names of the villages were distorted by the compiler of the report - V.V.] and others. On the way, they burned everything, brutally tortured the population, and subsequently retreated to the north.

The main resistance was given by the armed Poles of the village of Byt, under the leadership of the priest. The loss of the Poles - 400 people killed. The detachment of commander Doroshenko, who came to the rescue from the Rivne region, together with the Poles, destroyed a hundred nationalists. 6 machine guns captured.

We sent 3 partisan detachments to assist the Poles in the fight against Bulbo and to withdraw the Polish population. "

So, the message says about the anti-Polish action with the participation of a significant number of rebels, which took place at about the time that interests us. But even here we do not find confirmation of the operation, which was supposed to cover more than a hundred villages and was carried out within one night.

So, the thesis of a large-scale coordinated action, which on July 11-12 covered significant territories of Volyn, has not yet found documentary confirmation.

Doubts about the ability of the rebels to carry out such a large-scale operation were substantiated in his research by Ivan Patrilyak.

“If we assume,” he writes, “that for an attack on a village it would be necessary to allocate at least one couple (30-40 armed men) and a hundred peasants mobilized and armed with axes and pitchforks, then we get a figure of 1.8-4 thousand insurgents , who were supposed to participate in the action on July 11-12. This is too many for several districts.

Considering what forces the UPA had in the south of the Volyn region in July of that year, obviously, we could talk about an attack on 20-25 settlements, but no more. Even under such conditions, it was a rather complicated operation from a technical point of view. "

Let's try to summarize the information found about the events of July 11-12, 1943. Obviously, on this night (as in many previous and subsequent ones) anti-Polish demonstrations took place, which led to losses among the Polish population. They were especially significant in two settlements on the territory of the operation of the unit of the UPA "Sich".

However, information on the geographical scale of the actions (the thesis that they covered almost all of Volyn, while the documents speak only of the southern part of the Vladimir district; references to more than one hundred and fifty Polish settlements attacked, although the Polish documents mention several) is significantly exaggerated ...

It was the exaggerated number of attacks on Polish villages that became a false message, from which the conclusion was drawn about a large-scale anti-Polish operation, a "general anti-Polish offensive", which, allegedly, was supposed to take place simultaneously almost throughout the territory of Volyn.

And from there, again, a conclusion was made about the existence of an order that attributed the complete destruction of the Poles, prescribed the well-thought-out nature of large-scale ethnic cleansing to the anti-Polish demonstrations.

Public discussions around issues of the past often become acute, especially in states that for a long time have been deprived of the right to an objective, non-ideological view of their history.

Of course, professional researchers also take an active role in them. Their task in such disputes is to contain excessive politicization and bring them closer to the facts. In doing so, historians should use their professional skills in working with primary sources and special research methods.

Unfortunately, in assessing the events of July 11, 1943, some researchers who dealt with this issue played a completely different role. The hypotheses put forward by them, despite the fact that they did not rely on a reliable base of sources, served as the basis for various political speculations around the difficult pages of the past.

The victims of the Polish-Ukrainian confrontation deserve to be remembered, and the best display of respect for them on the part of historians is scrupulous research into the truth about the causes, course and scale of this tragedy.

And its scale was significant and without exaggeration. Sufficient to understand the price paid for today's friendly relations between our peoples. And in order to be ready to protect them from the attempts of stupid politicians to destroy these relations.

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Volodymyr Vyatrovych, historian, director of the branch archive of the SBU (2008-2010), chairman of the Academic Council of the Center for Research on the Liberation Movement, head of the Center for the History of the State of Ukraine in the 20th century. NaUKMA; "Secondary truth"