The Ukrainians murdered the married couple Władysław and Katarzyna Kraszewski.

source: Żurek Stanisław, „Calendar of the genocide, February 1944”; in: portal: Volhynia — web page: wolyn.org [accessible: 2021.02.04]

The Banderites robbed and burned Polish farms and murdered over 100 Poles, including three nuns in the church (they were: sister Agnieszka, sister Wiktoria and sister Józefa), and 20 other Poles, and they burnt the interior of the church (Siekierka., P. 755); stanisławowskie). „Our delegation in Siemianówka informs us that on the night of May 9 this year. a gang of Ukrainian bandits who had been camping in the surrounding forests for 2 days, attacked at 10 a.m. Derżów [Żydaczów], simultaneously from three sides, burned Polish houses and murdered not only men, but women and children, or burned alive in their houses, meeting no resistance. About 100 people died there – and the houses were all burnt, although the Polish population constituted almost 50%. According to the accounts, there were 3 Religious Sisters of Charlotte and about 20 people in the church, which were murdered, and then straw was brought to the church and the entire internal device was burned, as well as the roof and the rectory with buildings. Most of the population was saved by escaping into the woods, then to Uncle”.

source: Żurek Stanisław, „Calendar of the genocide – May 1944”; in: portal: Volhynia — web page: wolyn.org [accessible: 2021.02.04]

source: „1944, May 15 - PolKO Lwów-poviat letter to the RGO Delegate in Lviv on the murders of the Polish population by Ukrainian gangs”; in: National Ossoliński Institute, Wrocław, in: No. 16721/1, sh. 257

Grzegorz Motyka (From the Volhynia Massacre to action „Wisła”; Kraków 2011, pp. 249–250) confronts the Polish document with the Ukrainian one. „In Polish we read: «the gang murdered 65 people, mostly old people, women and children. The men defended themselves by killing 2 attackers  […] about 20 people and 3 nuns were murdered in the church, while the entire interior of the church was burnt», and in the Ukrainian one: «Jawor's group from the local district militia circled the village of Derżów, where many Poles lived, to start the purge of the Polish element. The Poles started to flee to the church and shut up there. Others were sitting around the houses, it was hard to get inside. For this reason, the huts were burned down, and the church was burnt, where the Poles had locked themselves up and it was impossible to take them alive. The fleeing Poles were shot at  […] , a few The Ukrainians who escaped with Poles were also killed. 60 Poles were shot during the action». another sixteen Poles from Derżów were killed by the Bandera followers in the nearby forest, where they tried to hide”.

source: Żurek Stanisław, „Calendar of the genocide – May 1944”; in: portal: Volhynia — web page: wolyn.org [accessible: 2021.02.04]

source: Motyka Grzegorz, „From the Volhynia massacre to the 'Vistula' action”, in: Krakow 2011, p. 249—250

Witness Stanisława Kraszewska: „as it was noon, we already knew what would happen that night. Some villages in front of us were burnt down and attacked. People talked about kidnapping someone and shooting them, getting their fingernails off. apparently, they learned what to do with Poles in the forests near Lviv. There was this Władek, a talented boy, who made arrangements with the better ones and advised what to do here. Then he and his girlfriend found him buried in the woods. They would have murdered even more here, but one had a wife from a neighboring village. She went to her parents and when she came back she saw that there were some people in the forest. They have weapons, poles. She came home and said. and somehow they let one another know. There was a list of Poles to be murdered, 36 names from our village were on it. and the Poles knew who were on this list and who were not. But everyone thought: what am they for? They will take the active ones, and I don't need me. That day my husband says: «I will be staying at home tonight». He didn't spend the night all winter – either with his grandparents or in the attic. He was carrying a pitchfork and two grenades. and that was it. «I am so tired that I will not go anywhere. But remember, if someone comes, even uncle, don't stand at the window, because then I can throw a grenade. and if they call me, you will say that I went where they make vodka and I haven't come to yet» – he said. People were already scared then. I gave the children the rags they go in every day to keep them fastened at night, fasten them when they run away. and boots on the feet. at night I hear dududududududu on the footbridge. I say to my daughter: «Marysia, get up, someone is». and this is my husband's brother Mikołaj and a neighbor. «Where is your man?» – they ask. and they did it more than once – they put the bayonet on and ordered it to be fired. So I say he hasn't come back. and they said: «That's how much you've seen him. There they already murdered». Who? – I ask, because before that, German soldiers – and these were the Ukrainians in disguise – would walk around the village and say that a soldier from the front had deserted and he must be in the village. It was such a trap. I thought maybe it was the Germans who were murdering them. But Mikołaj says: «The Ukrainians are smoking!». Neighbors. Finally, I told him that my husband was upstairs. and this one says that he will not run away, but will go and kill the Ukrainians. He supposedly had two grenades, but more than once they bought a rifle, and he had nothing. They wanted to defend such Władek Najborowski, who burned him alive. But it didn't fire and nothing happened. This Najborowski came home, the children went to undress the horses, milk the cows, and he went to eat supper. Wife just had a bread. When he saw that the children were already being murdered and that their daughter Stasia was being smoked alive with the cow, he knew that he would do nothing. He climbed the ladder, but he did not leave the ladder. When my wife saw that the ladder was missing, she tore the plank from the other side and ran behind the hedge. When she ran away, her thigh was shot. «Run to the forest, save your children, because you can see that my blood is bleeding, and my children and husband are already murdered» – she cried. and her husband screamed in the flames «We resort Under Your Protection». Quieter and quieter… We took some things, duvets and clothes. We released the cattle from the barn, and the horses. Everything turned out terrible. and my husband went to murder the Ukrainians. Three were wise to defend themselves. He didn't know what was with me and the children. He had only seen fire coming out of the apartment three times. I told my children and two of my neighbors to go to the meadows, behind the bush and into the ditch. and we stayed there until the morning. We still saw their silhouettes. When they pull everything out, burn. We had a dog that ran from us to the fire and barked all the time. It could not be maintained. He showed us the way. I was praying all the time: Mother of God, save me! They killed 100 people over. Three nuns were murdered and their scalp torn off. after that, they later recognized that their hair had been cut. and they burnt the church. Only the walls remained. In the morning the silence is dead. The sun rose high. It is not known whether they have already left or are still waiting. The husband came back and rummaged in the ashes with the stick. He was looking for children's bones in the site of the fire. The next day we went to Stryj with the Hungarian army. They had rifles, they guarded us. and we never returned to the village. Stanisława Kraszewska lived to almost a hundred. When rheumatism approached her, she plucked fresh nettle and rhythmically hit her legs with it for her health. To earn money for children, she went to the market to sell cheese and fruit – 20 kilometers one way and 20 kilometers back. always slightly stooped. always strong. always with a rosary. The most beloved great–grandmother. If she hadn't hid her children from the Bandera followers that day, today I wouldn't be”.

source: Żurek Stanisław, „Calendar of the genocide – May 1944”; in: portal: Volhynia — web page: wolyn.org [accessible: 2021.02.04]

source: Cicha Dominika, „The husband was looking for the bones of children in the ashes” — web page: www.wykop.pl [accessible: 2021.04.11]

„Auntie has just baked bread. It was the evening of May 9, 1944 – remembered her niece, Anastazja Barszczewska. – My aunt's two older sons went to the stables to get dressed. Their teenage sister followed them. To milk a cow. Uncle was sweeping the yard. The two youngest children were already in bed. Aunt was bustling in the kitchen. Suddenly there was a terrifying scream from the stables. The Banderites forced their way into the farm. – They poured gasoline over the buildings and set them on fire – says Anastazja. – A cousin milking a cow burned alive, while cousin brothers dragged out of the stable and murdered. Uncle hurriedly ran to the attic, dragging the ladder behind him. From there, he called to the village for all Poles to save themselves. Then he fervently began to say «Beneath Thy Protection». At last he fell silent, engulfed by the flames. At home, meanwhile, the fire immediately occupied the room where the youngest children were sleeping. Auntie didn't have a chance to get them out of there, says Barszczewska. – She herself escaped from death and hid in the room next to the kitchen. When the smoke finally choked her, she knew there was no way out – she had to get outside. She got out through the floor to the court, the woman continues. – The Banderites shot her thigh, but didn't kill it. Auntie ran towards the garden, hid in the corn. From afar, she watched as she lost everything she loved”. On the day that Justyna Najborowska's family died, in the village of Derżów, Rozdół commune, Jewish district, eight Polish families were murdered, including the families of Justyna Najborowska's brothers – Mikołaj and Teodor Szajnowski. The Polish church was also set on fire. In total, over one hundred people died in the crime.

source: Żurek Stanisław, „Calendar of the genocide – May 1944”; in: portal: Volhynia — web page: wolyn.org [accessible: 2021.02.04]

source: web page: hiberni.blox.pl [accessible: 2011.08.01]

On the night of 8/9 May 1944, the „Jawira” group [together] with the local county militia surrounded the village of Derżów, in which there were many Poles, in order to liquidate the Polish element. [Some] Poles escaped to church and locked themselves up there. Others sat in the huts, closed so that it was difficult to get inside. Therefore, houses were burned down, and the church was also burnt down. The escaping Lachs were shot at. During this confusion, several The Ukrainians who fled with the Poles fell victim to this. 60 Poles were killed during the action. As a result, all Poles moved out of the village. The police did not interfere in this matter. Hungarian units were stationed in a nearby village, and Poles turned to them for help and advice on what to do. The Hungarians replied: „Leave the Ukrainian lands as soon as possible, you will live, otherwise you will all die”.

source: Żurek Stanisław, „Calendar of the genocide – May 1944”; in: portal: Volhynia — web page: wolyn.org [accessible: 2021.02.04]

source: „Information by the Ukrainian underground from June 14, 1944 regarding anti-Polish actions in the area of Stryj”; in: „Poland and Ukraine in the 1930s and 1940s”, in: Warsaw-Kiev 2005, vol. 4, part 2, p. 183 — web page: zbrodniawolynska.pl [accessible: 2021.04.11]

source: „OUN Political Report of July 4, 1944”; in: State Archives of the Security Service of Ukraine, in: F. 13, case 376, vol. 13, sh. 376

On May 10, the county militia of my friend Iskra liquidated in an ambush 16 Poles who escaped to the forest from the burnt Derżów.

source: Żurek Stanisław, „Calendar of the genocide – May 1944”; in: portal: Volhynia — web page: wolyn.org [accessible: 2021.02.04]

source: „Information by the Ukrainian underground from June 14, 1944 regarding anti-Polish actions in the area of Stryj”; in: „Poland and Ukraine in the 1930s and 1940s”, in: Warsaw-Kiev 2005, vol. 4, part 2, p. 183 — web page: zbrodniawolynska.pl [accessible: 2021.04.11]

source: „OUN Political Report of July 4, 1944”; in: State Archives of the Security Service of Ukraine, in: F. 13, case 376, vol. 13, sh. 376