Home > Massacres of Poles in Volhynia
| Historian
| Volhynia alone
| Whole Ukraine
|
| Norman Davies
| 60,000
| 500,000
|
| Jan P. Gross
| 60-80,000
|
|
| Ewa and Wladyslaw Siemaszko
| 50-60,000
| 100,000
|
| Wiktor Poliszczuk
| 50-60,000
| 120,000
|
| Ryszard Torzecki
| 40,000
| 100,000
|
| Michal Fijalka
| 40,000
|
|
| Józef Turowski
| 60,000
| 300,000
|
| Grzegorz Motyka
| 35,000-60,000
|
|
| Antoni Szczesniak , Wieslaw Szota
|
| 100,000
|
| Bogumila Berdychowska
| 34,647-60,000
|
|
During World War II, approximately 100.000 Poles were massacred in Volhynia by units of the Ukrainian Uprising Army (Ukrainska Povstanska Armiya).
Volhynia was a largely Ukrainian region under Polish rule during the interwar period. After World War I, the Polish government promised to grant local autonomy to these Ukrainian territories; however, Polish government forces suppressed the Ukrainian language locally and tensions over the local Ukrainian Orthodox Church arose.
During the Polish Defence War of 1939 at the start of World War II saw Volhynia occupied by the Soviet. Then, Operation Barbarossa put it under Nazi German rule. The local Ukrainians began to form a local resistance army to fight the occupiers. However, in February 1943 local elements of this Ukrainian army began to attack the civilians of the local Polish minority, killing many in an attempt to drive the Poles out of Volhynia. Actions were made by many units coordinating their actions. When Polish delegation from the Armia Krajowa (lead by delegate of the Polish government-in-exile) tried to negotiate with UPA leaders, it was murdered on July 8, 19431943 is the common year starting on Friday. Events January January 4 End of term for Culbert Olson, 29th Governor of California. He is succeeded by Earl Warren. January 11 The United States and United Kingdom give up territorial rights in China. January 1. On July 11July 11 is the 192nd day (193rd in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 173 days remaining. Events 1302 Battle of the Golden Spurs Guldensporenslag in Dutch) the Flemish cities beat the king of France. 1346 Charles IV of Luxembourg elec another round of massacres started, with reports about UPA units marching from village to village killing civilians of Polish nationality. The massacres lasted until July 16July 16 is the 197th day (198th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 168 days remaining. Events 622 Beginning of the Islamic calendar. 1769 First performance of Mozart's opera The Abduction from the Seraglio. 1769 Father Junipero Ser. UPA continued the genocideGenocide has been defined as the deliberate killing of people based on their ethnicity, nationality, race, religion, or (sometimes) politics, as well as other deliberate actions leading to the physical elimination of any of the above categories. There is especially in the rural areas until all Poles were either deported, killed or expelled, though after 1944 the scale was much more limited.
German armyThe Wehrmacht (literally defence force or means/power of resistance was the name of the armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It replaced the old Reichswehr and was succeded by the former West German Bundeswehr, and the East German Nationale Vol and police forces largely ignored the matter; there are reports about Germans supplying weapons to both Ukrainians and Poles, but since such reports are usually based on hearsay, they are not really reliable. Also some special German units from collaborationist Ukrainian or Polish police were going around, and some of their crimes were attributed either to Polish Armia Krajowa or Ukrainian UPAThe abbreviation UPA has several meanings: United Productions of America, USA-based animation studio Ukrainian Insurgent Army Ukrayinska Povstanska Armia , an Ukrainian nationalist partisan organization during and after the World War II Uralic Phonetic Al.
Some have raised the question whether these actions were ordered by the authorities of the UPA or were independent decision of local commanders; to date there is no evidence of such an order, and any documents found by Polish historians are considered to be falsificates by Ukrainian ones.
In the end, the Soviet and Nazi invasions, the UPA campaign and post-war Soviet expulsions all contributed to the virtual elimination of any Polish presence in the region.
