„I kindly ask for information on whether any of you have information about my great–grandparents who lived in the former Volhynia voivodeship.
I am looking for:
Michał Świerzewski (born 1895, Wojniłów);
Karolina Świerzewska née Zastróżna (born 1898, Wojniłów).
They probably lived in Tomaszowce (today's Ukraine). The birth certificates show the surname SWIERZEWSKI (without the Polish sign ś).
Both and their children were murdered by UPA gangs in 1943 (no information is available).
I will be very grateful for any help and information.
Yours sincerely,
Bartosz Świerzewski, PhD”

source: Mr Świerzewski Bartosz, PhD, 17.03.2022, private correspondence

28.I.44. Tomaszowce. Two people were kidnapped.

source: Żurek Stanisław, „Calendar of the genocide – January 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

On January 28, 1944, two people of NN were murdered.

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

source: prof. dr hab. Jankiewicz Leszek S., „Supplement to the list of losses of the Polish population provided by Stanisław Jastrzębski for the Lubelskie Voivodeship (2004)”; in: Listowski Witold (ed.), „OUN-UPA genocide in the South-Eastern Borderlands”, in: Kędzierzyn-Koźle 2016, vol. 8

At the beginning of March, the Ukrainians robbed horses, carts and grain, and murdered 3 Poles on the road from Kałusz town to Tomaszowce village, n. Kopanki village. .

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

The Banderites burned alive two Polish women: Rozalia Rymar with her 20‑year‑old daughter Stanisława.

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

The Ukrainians murdered 37 Poles and burnt 470 farms.

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

source: prof. Sowa Andrzej Leon, „Polish-Ukrainian relations 1939-1947”; in: Society of History Supporters, in: Krakow 1998, p. 236

In April 1944, about 5,000 Jews were recorded in the area of the Home Army in Lviv. victims of the massacres committed by Ukrainian nationalists. It was in April, inter alia, that the UPA unit attacked the villages of Hałyń, Tomaszówka, Dębina, Sygnały and Ziemianka, killing the defending population and burning villages. Then „Samostijna Ukraine” was announced, with its headquarters in the village of Wojniłów.

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

source: Jachniewicz Mieczysław, „East of the Bug”, in: Warsaw 1985, p. 180

Easter Sunday – UPA „Hajdamaki” and Ukrainian peasants from this village and the surrounding area, in the strength of 2,000–3,000 attackers, burned down 470 Polish farms, a school and a church, and murdered 107 Poles, mostly women and children. „Nobody in Tomaszowce honestly believed in the possibility of mass action, because the Ukrainians constantly assured the Polish people that no harm would happen to them, and even were outraged that Poles were leaving with their belongings to Kałusz. However, when the Polish population in Dąbrowa, Dubowica, Pawlikówka and Dołsze Wojśmieowska was burnt and partially murdered, the inhabitants of Tomaszów finally stopped deluding themselves. The attack itself was carried out on the night of April 9–10, on Easter at 9. Already from the south, a lot of traffic between The Ukrainians was noticed. In the evening, at a given sign, crowds rushed to Polish homes, you could hear the cries of bandits in Polish: hit, pal, Kuba, Wojtek, etc., they wore white bands on their sleeves. The attackers were in the uniforms of the German military, Ukrainian police, but most of them were civilians. There were a lot of teenagers around the age of 14. At the same time, fires broke out from all sides. About 470 households were burned, and at the same time the neighboring Polish parish, Pniaki, was set on fire. One sea of fire was visible over a distance of 7 x 6 km. The attacked were murdered in a cruel way, burned in the fire, whoever did not escape was killed  […] Among the murderers was a police officer of the Ukrainian police from Tomaszowiec Horbowy, who shot Antoni Paćkowski, 53. Mielniczuk Michał, Sister Hrynia, who killed Tarnawski, Michał, 56. Łabacy Sławko shot Kwaśnik Jan 52. Also known was Michajluk Wasiel, Łukowy Michael, Litwinica, Cherry, Sztudra and others  […] The church in Tomaszowce was plundered and partially burned down, as well as three Polish” elementary schools.

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

source: „1944, April - Information from PolKO Kałusz concerning attacks on the Polish population of the Kaluski district by Ukrainian gangs”; in: National Ossoliński Institute, Wrocław, in: No. 16722/1, p. 199

My parents, father Antoni and mother Rozalia Krasucki, and Waleria Stefanko née Krasucka, my father's niece, were murdered in their buildings, in the manure. They died in terrible torments, their limbs, arms, breasts and genitals were cut off in their lifetime, they were strangled and beaten with blunt tools  […] They died for a few hours in agony, buried under manure after their death  […] Dufrat Wincenty, 55, (his belly was cut open, salt was poured inside, and he was left in torment until he died)  […] Krasucki Tomasz, 76 (abducted from home, tied to a horse and dragged on the ground to dying)  […] Majdańska Stanisława, d/o Wincenty, 20 (murdered on the road, returning from Kałusz to her home for food). Ryman Stanislawa, 20 (burned alive in her home). Pikuła Wojciech, 45 and daughter Genowefa.

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

source: Krasucki Leon, recollections; in: Siekierka Szczepan, Komański Henryk, Różański Eugeniusz, „The genocide committed by Ukrainian nationalists on Poles in the Stanisławów voivodeship”, in: Wroclaw 2008, p. 202—203

After this attack, a group of Ukrainian nationalists attacked the convoy of Poles evacuating from Tomaszowiec, Dąbrowa and Niegowce to Kałusz, protected by Hungarian and German soldiers. Despite the defense, the attackers managed to kill a few or a dozen Poles, destroy a few cars and take the property they were transporting. The refugees in Kałusz were also not safe – 18 people died during the UPA gang attack on the suburbs, including two people from Tomaszowiec.

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

Myrosław Onyszkewycz „Orest Karat” gave the order: „I order you to purge your area immediately from the Polish element and Ukrainian–Bolshevik agents. The purge should be carried out in riverside hostels sparsely populated by Poles. To this end, create a militia near the area, composed of our members, whose task would be to eliminate the above–mentioned. Our larger hostels will be cleared of this element by our military units even in broad daylight  […] The clearing of the area must be completed before our Easter so that we can celebrate it without Poles. Remember that when the Bolsheviks find us with Poles in our territory, they will slaughter us all  […] Make a hard, ruthless fight with them. Not to spare anyone, even in mixed marriages. To take Lachs out of their houses, but The Ukrainians and children in these houses should not be liquidated  […] Get the gun. Death to the Poles. Stop, April 6, 1944. Glory to the heroes! Orest, Karat” This order is in the files of the investigation against Myroslav Onyshhevych.

source: Miszko Przemysław, Matkowski Krzysztof, „Crimes of genocide committed by Ukrainian nationalists in Eastern Lesser Poland in 1939—1945 against persons of Polish nationality - in the light of investigations by OKŚZPNP in Wrocław”; in: „Crimes of the past, studies and materials of IPN prosecutors”, in: Warszawa 2008, vol. 2 — web page: ipn.gov.pl [accessible: 2021.02.04]