Pawłokoma massacre

The Pawłokoma massacre was a massacre on the 3rd March 1945 of Ukrainians by Polish forces in the village of Pawłokoma 40 km (25 mi) west of Przemyśl. The Polish Home Army (AK) unit was commanded by Lt. Józef Biss and aided by Polish men from surrounding villages.[1] Between 150[2] to 500 people were executed.[3]

Monument in memory of Ukrainians killed on 3 March 1945 in Pawłokoma by members of the Polish Home Army and local men
Lt. Józef Biss, commander of Polish troops who perpetrated the massacre

Background

The background to the event was a four-way struggle between Ukrainian, Polish, Nazi, and Soviet forces in the then predominantly Ukrainian region of Volhynia. Mass executions and violence led to the death of 30,000 Ukrainians and between 70,000 to 100,000 Poles between February 1943 and July 1944.[2]

Massacre

The Polish troops commanded by Lt. Józef Biss herded the Ukrainian villagers to the local church where they were shot. Following the mass shooting, the Poles dumped the bodies in pits at the village cemetery.[1] According to Polish historian Zdzisław Konieczny the AK killed 150 men.[2] Other estimates of those killed range from 366 to 500.[3]

Aftermath

In 1947, the Polish government launched Operation Vistula that deported Ukrainian residents of the area en masse. Propaganda in schools depicted Ukrainians as traitors, fascists, and "natural enemies" of Poles.[2][3]

Commemoration

During Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yushchenko's visit to Poland in May 2006, a monument in memory for 366 victims was dedicated in the village.[4]

References
  1. Rapawy, Stephen (3 May 2016). The Culmination of Conflict: The Ukrainian-Polish Civil War and the Expulsion of Ukrainians After the Second World War. Columbia University Press. p. 220. ISBN 978-3-8382-6855-2.
  2. Dembinska, Magdalena (2010). "Building Trust: Managing Common Past and Symbolic Public Spaces in Divided Societies". Ethnopolitics. 9 (3–4): 311–332. doi:10.1080/17449050903564845.
  3. Lytvyn, Mykola; Khakhula, Liubomyr (2019). "The Ukrainian Memory Community in Poland (The second half of the XX – beginning of the XXI centuries)". Східноєвропейський Історичний Вісник (12): 178–191. doi:10.24919/2519-058x.12.177553.
  4. Szeptycki, Andrzej (2007). "Relations between Poland and Ukraine". Yearbook of Polish Foreign Policy (1): 160–173.
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