The Ukrainians murdered 29‑year‑old Stanisław Sulikowski.

source: Żurek Stanisław, „75th anniversary of the genocide – March 1943”; in: portal: Volhynia — web page: wolyn.org [accessible: 2021.02.04]

The Ukrainians kidnapped Wacław (Władysław?). Dziekański, 19 years old, after whom the trace was lost, but his sister managed to escape.

source: Żurek Stanisław, „75th anniversary of the genocide – April 1943”; in: portal: Volhynia — web page: btx.home.pl [accessible: 2021.02.04]

The Ukrainians deceptively kidnapped and murdered the commander of self–defense, Jan Skiba, 30. „I was born on August 9, 1912 in the village of Siedlisko, in the Stepań commune, Kostopol county, to father Antoni and Kamila née Domalewska  […] . In Siedlisko the commander of self–defense was Władysław Wiatr (Gracjan Wiatr – ed), in Wyrka – Lucjan Feliński – a reserve sergeant, and in Huta – sergeant Hieronim Konwerski. We needed the chief commander and at the general meeting at the school in Wyrka, Jan Skiba, the lieutenant of the reserve teacher in Wyrka, was unanimously elected. He did not want to accept this position, but at the urgent request of the gathered people agreed. Well, the same Jan Skiba began to apply for a weapon, and having found out that there was some weapon with a Pole in the village of Brzezina, he went there with Bolesław Brzozowski. When they passed Wyrobki, Szymonisko and approached Brzezina, they were arrested by 5 people who explained that they were Soviet partisans and wanted to lead him to their command in order to establish cooperation. There was a fire at which several women were sitting, returning to their homes to Wyrobki where they went for the night. Whoever later passed or passed the fire was arrested. Towards evening they began to slowly release the detainees, and when it was time for B. Brzozowski, he took advantage of the bandits' inattention, as it turned out that they were not Russian partisans and offered Skiba to escape. He replied that he did not feel strong and that it was his death. Before B. Brzozowski returned to Wyrka and informed about Skiba's abduction, it was night, and at night no one had the courage to search for him. On the second day, it was barely dawn, a unit of our boys under the command of Ł. Feliński went to Brzezina. Skiba's friend Michał Lewicki, also a teacher, joined them. There were no traces, they reached the buildings near Police, where pits had been dug before the war in order to search for a stone. When they started asking the local Ukrainian farmers, they testified that yesterday evening some armed men were walking next to them, and that they did not see or hear anything. Next to these quarries stood a large oak tree with tall grass underneath it. It was noticed that the grass was trampled there, when people started looking on that grass, M. Lewicki noticed Skiba's tie, then everyone was convinced that he had died there, he was down there. A long pole was taken from the fence, and the body of Jan Skiba, previously crucified upside down on that oak, was pulled out with this pole, for his hands and feet were pierced with nails, and a double–sized head was proof that they had murdered him this way. He had a Nazi swastika cut out on his cheek that they supposedly had caught a German spy, that Russian partisans had done it. He had the birthplace of Westphalia in his ID, as his parents were deported from Poznań to Germany for forced labor during the First World War. After the murder, they tied a large stone with barbed wire and threw it into these pits. It later turned out that they were local The Ukrainians under the command of the s/o a pope from Czartoryska. This is how our commander died, he was buried in the Catholic cemetery in Wyrka”.

source: Żurek Stanisław, „75th anniversary of the genocide – April 1943”; in: portal: Volhynia — web page: btx.home.pl [accessible: 2021.02.04]

source: Gutkowski Antoni, „Volhynia. My Memories from 1916-1943”, in: 2004 – written 1983/84 - the author died in 1986 without having been published - they were published in 2004, thanks to the family, Halina Poros, the author's niece

At the end of July 1943: „The Horoszkiewicz family, like many other Polish families, was led out of the forest by the Germans in exchange for cows and pigs confiscated for the army  […] – How I remember those killed people in Wyrka today – says Mr. Szczepan with excitement. – First, we came across a man lying in the middle of the road. My father and another man dragged him to the side of the road because there was no time to bury the body. A little further, on a meadow on the left, the Ukrainians placed the dead man on a dead cow. In order not to fall over, he was supported by sticks. On the other side, a similar view – a dead man, supported by sticks, was sitting on a pig. After twenty meters, another terrible scene. By the way, we saw the swollen, brown body of a woman (it was a hot July) with a baby lying on top of it. It, in turn, was very bright, pale, as if asleep. The column was walking, everyone was scared, no one approached them. Szczepan Horoszkiewicz cannot forget the view of the burnt half of the building with the corpse of a partially charred man hanging from the window. When they left Wyrka, more bodies of the dead were lying next to the bridge on the river. Mr. Horoszkiewicz does not know what happened to the bodies they saw on the way. The Germans led a group of Poles to the village of Rafałówka, from where most of them were deported to Germany”.

source: Żurek Stanisław, „75th anniversary of the genocide – July 1943”; in: portal: Volhynia — web page: wolyn.org [accessible: 2021.02.04]

source: Kruczek Adam, „Volhynia crosses around Huta Stepańska”; in: „Nasz Dziennik”, in: July 24-25, 2010

On the way between Wyrka and Police villages Antoni Kobylański was apprehended in an ambush, when he was traveling with his daughter Genowefa, Feliksa Kobylańska, Andrzej Socha and Józef Zakrzewski from Rafałówka, and brutally murdered (cut to pieces) by the Ukrainians.

source: Żurek Stanisław, „75th anniversary of the genocide – July 1943”; in: portal: Volhynia — web page: wolyn.org [accessible: 2021.02.04]

source: „Brzezina grange”; in: portal: Volhynia pages — web page: free.of.pl [accessible: 2021.04.11]

It probably took place near the Temne Stepańskie colony, county Kostopol.

source: Żurek Stanisław, „75th anniversary of the genocide – July 1943”; in: portal: Volhynia — web page: wolyn.org [accessible: 2021.02.04]

The Ukrainians murdered 2 Poles: Felicjan Feliński, 40, and Stanisław Krasinkiewicz, 35.

source: Żurek Stanisław, „75th anniversary of the genocide – July 1943”; in: portal: Volhynia — web page: wolyn.org [accessible: 2021.02.04]

Upowcy and local Ukrainian peasants murdered about 50 Poles. On July 16, 1943, around 11 PM, the village was set on fire on three sides at once and shot at with shouts of hurray, rizat 'lachiw. At the same time, on a pre–arranged signal, there was a massive circular attack by predominant Ukrainian forces on other estates concentrated in the self–defense of the Wyrka and Huta Stepańska regions.
The attackers set fire to the buildings and murdered the people they encountered. Despite the strong resistance of the defenders, it was not possible to fight back or stop the enemy's attack, and the Polish population gathered there was forced, under the fire of the attackers, to retreat mostly to Huta Stepańska overnight until the morning of 17 July, suffering significant losses in the dead and missing – it is estimated that about 50 people (in total in the villages of Wyrka and Perespa in the Stepań commune and in the towns of the adjacent Sarne district: Hały, Soszniki, Tur, Użanie – about 300 people) and wounded. In a panicked escape, people were killed by fire from weapons, and the wounded and infirm old men and women with children were then murdered in a terrible way.
While repelling the attack on the night of July 16–17, 1943, Bronisław Pietrołaj, 43, an active member of the Wyrki self–defense leadership, died. The following were also murdered: cripple Helena Felińska, approx. 38 years old with two daughters aged 6 and 3 (inhabitants of Siedlisko, commune of Stepań); grandmother of Janina Mokrzycka (burned alive); Józef Libera, around 65, whose eyes were pierced and stabbed with bayonets; Bronisław Piotrowski, s. Piotr and Józefa née Bankowski, 43; Dioniza Wawrzynowicz, 51, wife of Anastazy (stabbed with a bayonet). During this evacuation, Franciszek Dziekańska, 50 from Wyrka, was fatally hit by a bullet carrying her 6‑year‑old daughter Jadzia, while the bullet itself injured a child in the leg. For 10 days, the child survived with the killed mother, feeding on grain ears and drinking water from a puddle. A Ukrainian from the village of Werbcze found her, who came to mow grain from the abandoned Polish fields and took it with him. In July, the village council of Werbcze passed a resolution to kill Jadzia. The family of that Ukrainian and a local teacher, also a Ukrainian, saved her from the execution of the sentence, who took her up to raise her. In 1944, the child went to Kazimierz Karpiński, a teacher in Wyrka, and was later given to his father, who had returned from German captivity.

source: Żurek Stanisław, „75th anniversary of the genocide – July 1943”; in: portal: Volhynia — web page: wolyn.org [accessible: 2021.02.04]

source: Siemaszko Władysław, Siemaszko Ewa, „The genocide perpetrated by Ukrainian nationalists on the Polish population of Volhynia 1939 - 1945”, in: Warsaw 2000, p. 303, 305

Halina Gidel: This is a few years old child, wounded in the leg, who stayed with her dead mother for several days – this is my Aunt Jadzia, née My mother's dean's cousin. She survived the war and started a family. She has 2 wonderful daughters and grandchildren. „The church was set on fire on July 17, 1943. When the next day at dawn, part of the population was fleeing Huta Stepańska, she saw the tin roof of the church, which looked like a nightmarish, smoking tent. Looking for their relatives, they would go under the metal plate, into the fire, checking if sometimes they were not there”.

source: Żurek Stanisław, „75th anniversary of the genocide – July 1943”; in: portal: Volhynia — web page: wolyn.org [accessible: 2021.02.04]

source: Horoszkiewicz Janusz, „Wyrka in Volhynia -–the site of the church”; in: portal: Fr Tadeusz Isakowicz-Zaleski — web page: isakowicz.pl [accessible: 2021.04.11]

A group of Poles who fled to Huta Stepańska the previous day came to their farms for food and was attacked by the Ukrainians. A dozen or so Poles were murdered; a few escaped. Before the UPA attacked this group: „  […] the extent of the bestiality was seen. In the village there were people with broken hands, gouged eyes that penetrated the ants, nailed to the ground (also children) with stakes through their stomach. Still alive, they begged to be killed before the Ukrainians arrived and continued to bully. One of the self–defense members fulfilled this request by firing”.

source: Żurek Stanisław, „75th anniversary of the genocide – July 1943”; in: portal: Volhynia — web page: wolyn.org [accessible: 2021.02.04]

source: Siemaszko Władysław, Siemaszko Ewa, „The genocide perpetrated by Ukrainian nationalists on the Polish population of Volhynia 1939 - 1945”, in: Warsaw 2000, p. 305

In total, at least 161 Poles died in the village. „I dedicate this photo essay to Bronisław Piotrowski, who died in defense of Wyrka, called Petrołaj, whom nobody buried. The church was built thanks to the efforts of the population in 1934. In 1939, the Soviets expelled Father Jan Szarek and arranged an idyll, while the Germans were still used by szucmen. The church was set on fire on July 17, 1943. When the next day at dawn, part of the population was fleeing Huta Stepańska, she saw the tin roof of the church, which looked like a nightmarish, smoking tent. Looking for their relatives, they would go under the metal plate, into the fire, checking if sometimes they were not there”.

source: Żurek Stanisław, „75th anniversary of the genocide – July 1943”; in: portal: Volhynia — web page: wolyn.org [accessible: 2021.02.04]

source: „Wyrek, the place of the church of Exaltation of the Holy Cross”; in: portal: Fr Tadeusz Isakowicz-Zaleski — web page: isakowicz.pl [accessible: 2021.04.11]

The escape [from the Soszniki colony]  […] was taking time  […] Mieczysława Kotowska, [nee Bugajewska,] 86‑year‑old resident of Pyrnik [recalls:]
„By 3:00 in the morning it was almost light. We got out of the cart and bent down. But the water had strange redish color. We managed to move on. Zosia's godfather had his own water mill in Wyrka”, says Mieczysława.
They hoped that maybe there would be a chance to start, breathe, gather strength and think what to do next. Fix something. What did they see?
„We got there and we saw a murdered woman lying there, with a dead child on her breast, with a head split open. They had to hit it with an ax.
People hung from the railings of the bridge. Some had their heads cut off and their hands broken.
We, little ones, have seen it all, it is indescribable”, says Mieczysława with such intonation as if she herself did not believe what she was saying.
The unusual color of the water in the stream also became clear.
In a normal journalistic conversation, when you are unsure about something, you want to clarify something, insert a question. On Thursday, we didn't even think to wink during this monologue, we rummaged later. The miller's name in Wyrka was Antoni Bortnowski, his wife's name was Maria, they had one child.

source: Grzelka Marek, Pojnar Mariusz, „Miraculously saved from the Volhynia massacre”; in: „KRĄG weekly”, in: 2016 — web page: tygodnikkrag.pl [accessible: 2019.07.11]

[The Ukrainians] attacked a column of refugees from Huta Stepańska and murdered over 100 Poles. On July 18, in the morning, one of the refugee columns, while withdrawing from Huta Stepańska, was attacked by armed The Ukrainians in Wyrka near the bridge. There were over 100 dead and many wounded. He died min. Zbigniew Libera. Some of the people rushed to flee, leaving their carts and single–handedly made their way towards the Kovel–Sarny railway line through forests and swamps (a child drowned in the swamp during this escape), and the remaining part of the column immediately returned to Huta Stepańska. at that time, a group of about 60 refugees, mostly women, children and elderly people, were captured and kidnapped by a Ukrainian militia to the nearby Ukrainian village of Werbcze. The unburied bodies of those murdered in Wyrka remained on the spot, incl. in large numbers near the church and on the Wyrka river. „We have reached Wyrka, the mill is on fire. a friend tells Mom [that] it is a bad sign that it will still be a massacre. We walked a few hundred yards more, a shot from the front so that the whole column stopped. and we were on the road, on one side there was bushes and a meadow, on the other there was grain and rye. as they started shooting, shouting «Lachs», the scream and groan of the wounded got amazing. This whole gang was going to Huta, but when they heard that Poles were coming, they made a trip, started shooting at the back to have these defenseless people in their hands faster. It was my mother and I who entered this rye, there was a small piece. We lay down in the furrow and lie down. around us you can hear Ukrainian speech, «rubaj, derżyj Lachów» was heard. How lucky they were that they did not get into that rye. We were the ones who stayed at night, this gang went to Huta, we could hear the moans of the wounded, people and animals ”.

source: Żurek Stanisław, „75th anniversary of the genocide – July 1943”; in: portal: Volhynia — web page: wolyn.org [accessible: 2021.02.04]

source: Szpringel Edward, „God saved us”; in: portal: Volhynia – letter from Edward Szpringel / Szpryngiel /, former inhabitant of Balarka colony to Ewa and Władysław Siemaszko, dated October 2, 2001 - found and inserted by Bogusław Szarwiło — web page: wolyn.org [accessible: 2021.04.11]

In the second half of September, they murdered 5 Poles who were hiding in the forest after the July massacres: Franciszka Maszkowska with her 10‑year‑old son; siblings: 10‑year‑old Bolesław Basiński with 13‑year‑old sister Janina Basińska, 70‑year‑old Honorata Sulikowska and 20‑year‑old paralyzed son Franciszek Sulikowski.

source: Żurek Stanisław, „75th anniversary of the genocide – September 1943”; in: portal: Volhynia — web page: wolyn.org [accessible: 2021.02.04]