Roman Catholic parish
St Sigismund
05-507 Słomczyn
85 Wiślana Str.
Konstancin deanery
Warsaw archdiocese
Poland
GENOCIDE perpetrated by UKRAINIANS on POLES
Data for 1943–1947
Site
II Republic of Poland
Tartak
Włodzimierz Wołyński pov., Volhynian voiv.
contemporary
Volodymyr-Volynskyi rai., Volyn obl., Ukraine
general info
locality non—existent
Murders
Perpetrators:
Ukrainians
Victims:
Poles
Number of victims:
min.:
12
max.:
83
events (incidents)
ref. no:
01603
date:
1943.07.11
(„Bloody Sunday”)
site
description
general info
Ukrainians murdered several Polish families, at least 13 victims are known. „About a week after the pogrom, Michał and Bolesław Roch and Tadeusz or Roman Roch went to Zastawa at night in the three to see what had happened to our family. I remember that the widow Amelia was persuaded by Michał Roch to flee, but despite the fact that her two sons Tadeusz and Roman wanted to, she decided to stay at home. On July 11, 1943, on Saturday night, their house was attacked during which the widow, Amelia, aged around 60, and her youngest daughter Zosia, aged around 14, were murdered. That night, Tadeusz Roch slept in his barn, between the straw and the wall, and his brother Roman in the cabbage garden, near the meadow. Romek Roch told me personally that in the morning it was getting dark, he heard some voices, and a moment later some loud, almost terrifying screams coming from Grzegorz Roch's house. However, he decided not to run there, because on the basis of what he heard, he learned that they were the screams of murdered people. He quickly hid in the nearby rushes and spent the whole day there. Romek also told me that Tadek also woke up in the barn when the Ukrainians started banging on the door of Grzegorz's house. Through the cracks in the wall of the barn, he could see how the Ukrainians were let into the house and after a while the whole family was led out into the yard. The children of Grzegorz and his wife were leading the way. At that moment it was still quiet and peaceful, everything indicated that the hosts did not expect the worst. They certainly hoped it was an ordinary incursion that would end with an interrogation, or at best with beatings and threats, but this time it was different. When the children were already outside, the Ukrainians suddenly hit them in the head with axes, and they died immediately: a son, around 16, and two daughters, around 25 and younger, around 20. When the mother realized that the children had been attacked, only then did she start screaming hysterically, and it was these screams that Roman heard in the garden. It is possible that one of the children also managed to scream before their death. After hacking the children, they took Grzegorz and his wife, the first one was the wife of around 60. Then the bandits began to wonder what death should be imposed on the farmer and then Tadek heard clearly such words of one of the Ukrainians to the others: «Oh, he went to hide in the town, and now he is back. You have to give him an easy death!» Soon after, Tadek saw how they had hung him on an apple tree, right next to their family home. This is how Grzegorz died in around 60. Tadeusz also saw his mother die, he told everyone that the same group of Ukrainians, after the murder of Grzegorz's family, went to the door of his house and started hitting inside. Eventually they managed to get inside and after a while he heard dimly as his mother pleaded with several torturers to spare her life. Then everything went quiet, but after a while he saw the men leaving the house and walking away. Tadek also mentioned that he recognized one of the attackers, but today I don't remember who he was talking about. I know for sure that it was a Ukrainian from Kohylno […] Michał, Bolek and Romek or Tadek Roch from Zastaw went to Barbarówka, and then they entered the Sawmill, where many Poles were murdered on the same day of the pogrom. In one of the houses they met a living Pole who told them the names of the murdered and the events that took place here not long ago. When they returned, they told us all that the Ukrainians had murdered a lot of people at the Sawmill there. The robbery took place on the same Sunday as the entire pogrom in the area. From the sawmill they went to Teresin, which was not far away. Michał Roch also told me that he was after the pogrom in Kohylno, where he met a Ukrainian who was a neighbor of Drabików. Whether it was the same trip or another, I don't remember anymore. It was this Ukrainian who told Michał how their whole family was murdered. On July 11, 1943, on Sunday morning, the Bandera followers came to Drabiki and entered the house. After a while, they began murdering those who were at home. They killed a mother and two daughters in the cottage, while the two sons slept in the barn. When the Ukrainians discovered their hideout, they killed one boy on the spot, and Józek ran away through the fields. However, he did not manage to escape and when they caught him, they also killed him”.
source: Żurek Stanisław, „75th anniversary of the genocide – July 1943”; in: portal: Volhynia — web page: wolyn.org [accessible: 2021.02.04]
source: Roch Sławomir Tomasz, „Recollections of Roman Szymanek from the village of Kohylno in the district of Włodzimierz Wołyński in Volhynia 1939-1944”; in: portal: Volhynia, in: 2009 — web page: wolyn.org [accessible: 2021.04.11]
perpetrators
Ukrainians
victims
Poles
number of
textually:
few families, at least 13
min. 13
max. 54
ref. no:
02524
date:
1943.08.16
site
description
general info
The UPA massacred 29 Poles, including families of 6 and 5. „About a week after the pogrom, Michał and Bolesław Roch and Tadeusz or Roman Roch went to Zastawa at night in the three to see what had happened to our family. On July 11, 1943, on Saturday night, their house was attacked during which the widow Amelia [Roch], aged around 60, and her youngest daughter Zosia, aged around 14, were murdered. That night Tadeusz Roch slept in his barn, among the straw against the wall, and his brother Roman in the garden in the cabbage, near the meadow. Romek Roch told me personally that in the morning – it was getting «gray» – he heard some voices, and a moment later some loud, terrifying screams coming from Grzegorz Roch's house. However, he decided not to run there, because on the basis of what he heard, he knew that they were the screams of murdered people. He quickly hid in the nearby rushes and spent the whole day there. Romek also told me that Tadek also woke up in the barn when the Ukrainians started banging on the door of Grzegorz's house. Through the cracks in the wall of the barn, he could see how the Ukrainians were let into the house and after a while the whole family was led out into the yard. The children of Grzegorz and his wife led the way. At that moment it was still quiet and peaceful, everything indicated that the hosts did not expect the worst. They surely hoped it was a normal incursion that would end with an interrogation, or at best with beatings and threats, but this time it was different. When the children were already outside, the Ukrainians suddenly hit them in the head with their axes, and they died immediately: a son, approx. 16 years old, and two daughters, approx. 25 years old and approx. 20, younger, when the mother realized that Only then did she scream hysterically that the children had been attacked, and these were the screams that Roman heard in the garden. It is possible that one of the children also managed to scream before their death. After hacking the children, they took Grzegorz and his wife out, the wife of about 60 was the first to be chopped up. Then the bandits began to wonder what death should be imposed on the farmer and then Tadek clearly heard the words of one of the Ukrainians to the others: «He escaped from us to the city and came back. Let give him an easy death!» Soon after, Tadek saw how they hung him on an apple tree next to their family home. This is how Grzegorz died, around 60. Tadeusz also saw his mother die, he told everyone that the same group of Ukrainians, after the murder of Grzegorz's family, went to the door of his house and started hitting inside. Eventually they managed to get inside and after a while he heard dimly as his mother pleaded with several torturers to spare her life. Then everything went quiet, but after a while he saw the men leaving the house and walking away. Tadek also mentioned that he recognized one of the attackers, but today I don't remember who he was talking about. I know for sure that it was a Ukrainian from Kohylno. The bandits did not set fire to the buildings and they almost certainly did not take anything out of the house. After about two hours, the second group of The Ukrainians came to Zastawa and began to hide the bodies of the murdered. They threw the entire family of Grzegorz into the potato pit, right next to their own cottage. They threw the body of the widow Amelia Roch into a potato dungeon and collapsed it […] Michał Roch also told me that he was after the pogrom in Kohylno, where he met a Ukrainian who was a neighbor of Drabiki. It was this Ukrainian who told Michał how their whole family was murdered. On July 11, 1943, on Sunday morning, the Bandera followers came to Drabiki and entered the house. After a while, they began murdering those who were at home. They killed a mother and two daughters in the cottage, while the two sons slept in the barn. When the Ukrainians discovered their hiding place, they killed one boy on the spot, and Józek ran away through the fields. However, he did not manage to escape and when they caught him, they also killed him. He was probably supposed to ask the bandits to spare his life before he died. Michał also learned that the bodies of the murdered the Ukrainians had thrown into a dungeon, a mound of wooden stakes for potatoes, which was located between Drabików and the Jew Moszko Bejder possessions, then they collapsed and levelled everything”. .
source: Żurek Stanisław, „The 75th anniversary of the genocide – August and the summer of 1943”; in: portal: Volhynia — web page: wolyn.org [accessible: 2021.02.04]
source: Roch Sławomir Tomasz, „Memoirs of Roman Szymanek”; in: portal: stankiewicze.com — web page: www.stankiewicze.com [accessible: 2010.01.01]
Grandfather Bolesław Roch, a year before his death, told me how his close family, his cousins, were killed. He said that an old Ukrainian woman from Kohylna, who was called Koteluczka, told the Rochów family in Kopyłów near Hrubieszów that the Ukrainians were transporting Rochów from Zastawia to Kohylno, right next to the church, and hung them there on linden trees by the church.
source: Żurek Stanisław, „The 75th anniversary of the genocide – August and the summer of 1943”; in: portal: Volhynia — web page: wolyn.org [accessible: 2021.02.04]
source: Roch Sławomir Tomasz, „Recollections of Kazimierz and Antonina Sidorowicz née Turowska from the village of Dominopol in the district of Włodzimierz Wołyński in Volhynia 1930-1944”; in: portal: Volhynia, in: Zamosc, May 1, 2003 — web page: www.wolyn.org [accessible: 2022.04.06]
perpetrators
Ukrainians
victims
Poles
number of
textually:
29
min. 29
max. 29
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