Exterminations in Polish Kresy. (Eastern Border Lands)
During the night of 22 February 1944, Ukrainian Nationals murdered over 100 residents of the village of Berezowica Mała in the Tarnopol province. Over 20 Polish homesteads were on fire. The following day on Ash Wednesday those Poles who were still alive hurriedly buried all the victims and fled from the district. They then shared the fortunes of millions of their countrymen in the Eastern Border Lands.
The murders in Berezowica Mała were typical of the murders by the Ukrainian Nationalists on Polish people during 1944-45 in the “Kresy” region. During the attacks on individual villages the number of victims was counted in hundreds, sometimes in tens but single and often forgotten victims were seldom found.
It is estimated that in the Volhynia and Podole province Ukrainians murdered over 100,000 Poles. In Berezowica Mała alone during one night by the hands of the UPA (Ukraińska Powstańcza Armia) there were 131 people and of this number 30 were burnt alive.
In the Eastern Lands of Poland it was not permitted to talk loudly about the martyrdom of “Kresy” population during the rule of the PRL (Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa) or Polish Peoples’ government. After 1989 just like mushrooms there was a flood of associations of people from “Kresy” who were able to show documentations about the life in Kresy and the Ukrainian murders. Through the memories of many who came forward with their recollections, Kresy is no longer a blank spot on our map of martyrdom.
In this somewhat “black serial” documenting the extermination of Polish Kresy in the years of 1940’s of last century there appeared many situations which described the life and tragic end of Polish life in the village of Lozowo such as the many books like “Polacy I Ukraincy w Berezowicy Małej koło Zbaraża” written by Władyslaw Kubów, “Wspomnienia z Ihrowicy” by fr.Białowas, “Zaglada Huty Pleniackiej” by Wladysław Bąkowski and “ Podolskie Korzenie” by Jan Kanas.
Tired and surrounded
In the first months of 1944 the winter in Kresy was particularly severe, lots of snow and cold. For the local population this was a period of heavy work and all they could think about was rest. In the meantime in the near neighbourhood the significant might of the Ukrainian Freedom Fighters (UPA) started to gather. To this end night patrols were established in the village. Some of the friendly Ukrainians gave Poles a warning of the approaching danger. To this end there in the village were night patrols established . However this particular night partly due being tired and also partly relying on the proximity of some units of the German army the patrol underestimated the danger.
During the night when the tired residents of Berezowica Mała were already asleep the Banderowcy came. There were a few hundred of them. They approached the village quietly planning an element of surprise. The first attack took place in the neighbouring village about a kilometre away from Berezowica. People in the village were being murdered without a single shot being fired. Piotr Szewczuk was killed by dividing him into 3 pieces with axes. Widow Katarzyna Tomków and her 7 children were killed with bayonets. Jan Nowakowski was killed by being hit with an axe in the head. There was also his neighbour Józef “Slunka” and his mother and sister. Others that were nearly killed were the family Kurylczuk who had to go to a funeral and were away from the village.
Kurylczuk ran through the village yelling “Rizut, Rizut”( they are butchering ) thus saving many lives of the residents in Berezowica. By the time the village people were able to organize some resistance, there came Ukrainian Banderowcy. There was panic in the village; people were running in all directions and the forests , local orchards and private Ukrainian residences became good hiding place.
UPA often locked up corpses in underground bunkers and sheds and set them alight. A similar misfortune fell upon 30 people who hid themselves in the barn of Mikolaj Sesiuk. Banderowcy first removed all the farm machinery and then fired a machine gun at the people who were gathered in the barn sitting against the wall. In spite of the fact that the barn was set alight, some people managed to escape. Among the survivors were Michal Budnik, Hrynko Panczyszyn and Maria Dzygala.
Mass grave
The brothers Kubowów returned to Berezowica the next day. They were met by the burnt corpses. “When we walked through the village there were corpses” remembers Władysław Kubów. In front of his house lay the dead body of Jan Szymkow, the father of our friend Tadzik. Some of the corpses were so badly burnt that it was impossible to identify the individual. During that night there were 131 Polish people killed by the UPA. They were all being buried hurriedly. Those who survived had to bury the dead during the day so that they did not have to spend the night at the cemetery. Jan Mędrzak said they all the dead should be buried in a mass grave which will serve as a memorial for these tragic events. I made a big box for my wife and four children says Michał Bydnik who was injured himself. We did not manage to bury them, it was getting dark so we left the box at the cemetery and had to flee for their own safety.
Exodus
Majority of population from Berezowice found a safe place in Tarnopol. Many had family and friends there. Soon there were the Soviets who tried to take the city. The place was being bombed from the air also a lot of artillery fire and tanks. The fight for Tarnopol lasted 5 weeks. We lost everything, horses, cattle, bags of wheat,sleighs and also a bicycle, adds Kubow.
In November in broad daylight there was a murder which shocked the people of Berezowica Mała. “I was standing by the window looking at the street” remembers Maria Kozibroda. There was a person being led and he was begging for his life. This was Franek Kubów. They executed him by hanging. On 14 December there were more killings, one was Paweł Wiśniowski and Piotr Kubów.
Uncondemned terror
“My ancestors lived in these lands since 1608” says professor Mieczysław A.Krąpiec. There are church records which can confirm this. In Kresy we always felt at home. According to the professor there was a plan to systematically exterminate all Poles on a grand scale. The world knew about this genocide but said nothing. The Ukrainians engaged in this ethnic cleansing convinced themselves that this is a good way to achieve political objectives. It is only now after the attack on the USA that such acts are classed as terrorism.
The UPA was a terrorist organization in today’s understanding of the language. In the view of many historians and also citizens of Kresy this constitutes a lie and a distortion of historical facts.
There is a lot of sense to return to those acts of murder says prof. Krąpiec. We must make the world aware so that such violent acts will not happen in the future. Ukraine should take it upon itself to condemn such actions and not erect monuments and name streets after
them.
