The Banderites murdered 40 Poles.

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

The Banderites and Ukrainian peasants from nearby villages murdered over 80 Poles, including 50 people after they were taken out of the church, mainly women and children.

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

source: Jastrzębski Stanisław, „The genocide of the Polish population by the OUN-UPA in the province stanisławowski in 1939-1945”, in: Warsaw 2004, p. 309—310

In Sniatyn, during meetings with Poles fleeing from other villages, I learned about crimes in other villages. Just like in Firlejów, where while Poles left the local church, armed with scythes and axes, a gang of The Ukrainians massacred over 100 Poles (women, children and men) in front of the church. The arrival of the German gendarmes prevented further slaughter.

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

source: Janusz Stanisława, recollections; in: Siekierka Szczepan, Komański Henryk, Różański Eugeniusz, „The genocide committed by Ukrainian nationalists on Poles in the Stanisławów voivodeship”, in: Wroclaw 2008, p. 430

On Tuesday, February 15, 1944 and Wednesday, February 16, 1944, on the first day in the evening, on the second afternoon, Ukrainian terrorists attacked the village of Firlejów and murdered entire families. The following afternoon, terrorists smashed the entrance to the church, dragged people from there and murdered them in front of the church. Overall, 75 people were murdered by terrorists, 15 of whom were men, the rest were women and children. The attackers also set fire to the presbytery and robbed priest Szatka's horse, cow, household appliances, underwear and clothes, and the same happened to other Polish farmers in Firlejów.

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

source: „1944, February 23 - Protocols written in PolKO in Brzeżany on Ukrainian attacks on the Polish population in the Rohatyn district. Protocol written with Kochman Wojciech, 24, a construction technician from Ludwikówka, commune rural Bursztyn, pow. Rohatyn. In Brzeżany on February 23, 1944.”; in: National Ossoliński Institute, Wrocław, in: No. 16722/2, p. 77—78

16.II. Firlejów, county Rohatyn. Two raids on the countryside. The Poles who were sheltering in the church were murdered by bandits after breaking the door. 80 people were killed, including 15 men – the rest were women and children. The victims were led to the barn where the haidamaks killed their lives with a shot in the neck. Many local peasants were identified in the perpetrators.

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

source: „1944, March - Report on the wave of Ukrainian murders that engulfed the Galicia District from mid-February 1944”; in: National Ossoliński Institute, Wrocław, in: No. 16722/2, p. 121—123

15.II.44 Firlejówka the first attack took place during the night. +/– 40 people were murdered. About 70 people fled to the church. At 4 pm, a gang surrounded the church, the door was blown up with hand grenades, people were led out in front of the church and lined up. Then they led them across the field to the barn where they were shot in the back of the head. Local and local peasants were present. The latter ones dug the grave where the bodies of the murdered were buried, once again drove the open grave KM, then it was covered. +/– 72 people were killed, including 15 men, the rest women and children.

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

source: „1944. February - March - Lists of murders and attacks on the Polish population drawn up in the RGO in Lviv on the basis of reports from the area”; in: National Ossoliński Institute, Wrocław, in: No. 16722/2, p. 219—253

I was a witness – says Zofia Ziemba née Kossakowska: „On February 16, 1944, on Wednesday morning I was with my mother at the Wence house, I saw four corpses of the murdered, Maria, her daughter–in–law Katarzyna and her granddaughter Stanisław, three generations of Wence, were lying in the house. Katarzyna Wenc was pierced with wooden pitchforks, and a newborn baby lay between her legs. Little Staś's bloody hand was imprinted on the wall above the bed. From people's stories, it was rumored that this trace was visible for a long time, despite constant scraping. Eventually, the Polish stone houses were pulled down and the stone was used to build the road. Local Ukrainian authorities ordered the murdered to be buried, they were buried without coffins. My mother, Franciszka Kossakowska, then 36 years old, was shot under the mission cross, Zofia Kossakowska and other inhabitants of Firlejów died with her. The murders under the mission cross were watched by Józef, Kazimierz and Jan Wence, who were hidden in the church tower. When a few days later, the Germans, in search of the body of their officer, ordered the Ukrainians to dig the pits, we found my mother's body, she was stripped of her clothes, only wearing a shirt, we buried her in a manger taken out of the barn, because there was no time to make an” coffin.

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

source: Czesława Tarnawska wrote down; in: „In the Outlands”, in: No. 17/1996

I was a witness – Gracjan Adamowicz: „I saw the Bandera followers burst into the yard of my neighbor Stanisław Kord. When they saw him, they told him to lie down on the ground. However, he hid into the house, and his wife Anastasia came to them with her two‑year‑old daughter in her arms. One of the Banderites shot her with a rifle, after which she fell, and the child jumped up from the ground and began to run towards her older siblings, the Banderites shot the older children, and the two‑year‑old Genowefa cut the throat with a knife. Their father, through the attic and a hole in the roof, escaped into the bushes and, unnoticed by the attackers, survived. The Banderites burnt the buildings and believed that no one was saved. After dealing with our neighbor, the Bandera followers surrounded our house. Father locked the door. I jumped out the window and crawled through the flower beds to the fence, then I climbed over the fence to hide in a thick lupine in the field of my Ukrainian neighbor. One of the Banderites noticed me and shot me at close range, but missed. Further shots were also not on target, I miraculously managed to escape. My older sister saved herself in a similar way. The father and brother also ran away from the house, the brother was shot about 150 meters from the house, and already more than half a kilometer from the house, a Banderite horse caught up with his father and murdered him. Mom stood in the hall with a small child in her arms. Banderites fired through the closed door, one of the bullets hit the baby in the chest and the mother in the hand. Mom jumped out the window, put the dead baby on the ground and crawled into the rose bushes next to the house. After breaking the door, the Banderites ransacked the flat and set fire to the buildings. When the roof collapsed, the rubble fell down to the rose, so that my mother was badly burned. Using the smoke screen, she crawled to further bushes, and at night she got to Stara Huta. This is how the tragedy of our family ended. Father died, 10‑year‑old brother Eugeniusz, grandfather Franciszek and little sister, surviving mother, older sister and me”.

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

source: „In the Outlands”, in: No. 17/1996