From 1938 ministered in the parish of Kobylnica Ruska, located in the so‐called physicogeographical mesoregion of the Tarnogród Plateau, in the Yavoriv district of the Lviv voivodeship. The schematism of the Przemyśl eparchy states that the parish was inhabited in 1939 by c. 1,482 Greek Catholic Ukrainians, c. 169 Poles and 32 Jews; while the schematism of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lviv states that in the parish of Potok Jaworowski, located in the former Fehlbach colony, founded in the 18th century for Roman Catholic German colonists on the grounds of Kobylnica Ruska, in 1939 there lived c. 343 Roman Catholic Poles. Estimates, based on the 1921 and 1931 censuses in Poland, and taking into account the population development of the Yavoriv district, indicate that in 1939 Kobylnica could have had c. 1,600 inhabitants, of whom Greek Catholic Ukrainians prob. constituted over 70%, Roman Catholic Poles c. 20%.

After the German attack on Poland on 01.09.1939 (the Russians attacked Poland 17 days later) and the start of World War II, arrested by the Polish authorities on suspicion of supporting the nationalist Ukrainian organization OUN — which was planning to start an anti‐Polish uprising — and the Germans, and held in custody at the Bakończyce station in Przemyśl. The Polish authorities issued the relevant order on 01/02.09.1939, but most of those arrested were soon released on the basis of the powers held by Polish starosts.

Returned to his parish, whose territory was captured by the Germans on c. 14.09.1939, advancing towards Lviv. Nobody knew at that time that the German attack had been agreed upon — by virtue of the genocidal Ribbentrop–Molotov Pact of 23.08.1939, i.e. Fourth Partition of Poland — with the Russians. The Germans began the encirclement of Lviv, c. 70 km to the east. Fierce fighting for the city was still ongoing when, on 17.09.1939, fulfilling the obligations of the bandit pact, Poland was attacked by the Russians. The Russians reached Lviv on 19.09.1939, and the siege of the city began. However, on 20.09.1939, the Germans received orders to withdraw from Lviv. The city was to fall to the Russians. On 22.09.1939, Lviv surrendered. After a few days, the Russians began to advance westward, taking over the areas vacated by the retreating German troops. On c. 28.09.1939, they reached Kobylnica Ruska. The Russian occupation began.

Arrests began among the intelligentsia, teachers, doctors, landowners, government officials, foresters, policemen, and even the families of Polish servicemen. In 1940‐1941, many other Poles fell victim to four large waves of deportations „to Siberia”. Accounts often mention that „they came at night, without warning, and took away entire families, from infants to the elderly”. „When we went out into the yard, they allowed my mother to look into the chest — unfortunately, it was empty, because our neighbors had already emptied it. We took practically nothing with us, because they didn't let us move around the house […] There were heavy snowdrifts and heavy frost”. In addition, 150,000–200,000 men were conscripted into the Russian army, and c. 100,000 were forced to work for Russian industry, mainly in the mines of the Donets Basin, in heavy industry plants in the Urals and in Siberia. Then the surveillance of priests and monks began. High taxes were imposed on the clergy. The fate of the Greek Catholic clergy did not differ from the experiences of the Polish clergy during this period.

After the German attack on 22.06.1941, on their erstwhile ally, the Russians, and the beginning of the German occupation, his parish found itself in the Germ. Kreishauptmannschaft Lemberg (Eng. Lviv county) in the Germ. Distrikt Galizien (Eng. District of Galicia), part of the German‐occupied and run quasi‐state called the Germ. Generalgouvernement (Eng. General Governorate), i.e. GG. Witnesses recalled that „Ukrainian nationalists were the most delighted with the new situation. In marches and demonstrations, manifested the creation of a free Ukraine and proclaimed anti‐Polish and anti‐Jewish slogans”. As Jewish sources describe in Yavoriv, the Germans „were greeted with flowers and great enthusiasm by the Ukrainians”. A few days later, still in 06.1941, Ukrainians carried out a „pogrom against Jews” in Yavoriv, robbing houses and „killing about 12 Jews”, according to the same Jewish source. They were accused — very likely with justification — of collaborating with the Russians. He was then supposed to have participated in a rally in his parish, where local Ukrainian nationalists organized the Ukrainian police to „remove the Jews and protect the population”.

The Germans quickly dissuaded the Ukrainians from their hopes for a „free Ukraine”. But they exploited the revealed anti‐Polish and anti‐Jewish sentiments. For the years 1941‐1943 were marked, in particular, by the extermination of Jews and the participation of collaborative Ukrainian units in it. The center of Jewish concentration in the area was Yavoriv. There, immediately after the beginning of the German occupation, in the summer of 1941, the Germans established the Germ. Judenrat (Eng. Jewish Council), which was to represent the interests of the Jewish population before the occupation authorities. The Germ. Judenrat was supported by the new Germ. Jüdischer Ordnungsdienst (Eng. Jewish Order Service) subordinated to it, responsible for maintaining order among the Jews. From 25.10.1941, the decree of Hans Frank, the Germ. Generalgouverneur (Eng. General Governor) of the GG, came into effect, according to which „Jews who leave their assigned district without authorization are subject to the death penalty. The same punishment applies to persons who knowingly provide such Jews with a hiding place”, and „Instigators and accomplices are subject to the same punishment as the perpetrator; an attempted act will be punished as the deed accomplished”. Strict observance of the ban was enforced by members of the collaborative Germ. Ukrainische Hilfspolizei (Eng. Ukrainian Auxiliary Police), in some regions also referred to as the Germ. Schutzmannschaft (Eng. Protection Battalions), i.e. Schuma. From his parish, Jews were deported to Yavoriv in 06.1942.

From the beginning of 1942, the Germans implemented the genocidal plan Germ. «Endlösung der Judenfrage» (Eng. Final Solution of the Jewish Question), which in the GG was codenamed Germ. «Aktion Reinhardt» (Eng. Operation Reinhardt). The first large groups of Jews — c. 1,000 — were sent to forced slave labor camps in Yaktoriv, Vynnykyand Pluhiv, from where — in 1943 — were transported back to Yavoriv. C. 800‐900, deemed „fit for work”, were transported to the Germ. Zwangsarbeitslager für Juden (Eng. Forced labor camp for Jews) in Lviv at Janowska Street, i.e. the so‐called the Janowski ZALfJ Lemberg camp, providing slave labor for the German Deutsche Ausrüstungswerke DAW company, owned by the genocidal Germ. Die Schutzstaffel der NSDAP (Eng. NSDAP Protection Squad), i.e. «SS» — a paramilitary formation subordinate to the ruling National Socialist German Workers' Party NSDAP in Germany — which supplied the German war machine with uniforms, timber, metals, and repairs to war equipment. Jews were subjected to daily terror, arrests, and beatings by members of the collaborative Ukrainian Germ. Ukrainische Hilfspolizei. Instances of robbery and rape were not uncommon. On 07‐08.11.1942, the Germans, with the help of the Germ. Ukrainische Hilfspolizei and the participation of the Germ. Jüdischer Ordnungsdienst, carried out a Germ. Aktion (Eng. Operation), in which 1,000‐1,800 Jews were deported to the Germ. Vernichtungslager (Eng. Extermination camp) VL Belzec, where they were all murdered. C. 200 Jews were murdered during the Germ. Aktion in Yavoriv alone. The next day, i.e. 09.11.1942, the same groups of murderers searched the town for hiding Jews. C. 200 were murdered in the Jewish cemetery. The following day, the Germans established a ghetto in Yavoriv, enclosed by a barbed–wire fence, where c. 6,000 Jews were soon gathered. In the winter of 1942/1943, over 1,500 people died of hunger and typhus epidemics in the ghetto. On 16‐18.04.1943, the ghetto was liquidated, and 3,500‐4,000 Jews were driven to a forest c. 5 km away, towards the village of Porudno. All were murdered there. Several hundred who remained were murdered later or deported to other camps. The Germans were able to declare that Yavoriv and the surrounding area were Germ. „Judenrein” (Eng. „free of Jews”).

Only a few survived. Jewish sources state that „local Poles were more willing to help and hide Jews than Ukrainians”.

Immediately afterwards, in 02.1943 Roman Shukhevych, nom de guerre „Taras Chuprynka”, the chief commander of the Ukrainian, genocidal OUN/UPA organisation, who in 1941 was a member of the Ukrainian Germ. Sondergruppe Nachtigall (Eng. Special Group Nightingale) — a unit of the Germ. Wehrmacht (Eng. Armed Forces) that took part in the German attack on Russians in 1941, accused of participating in the Jewish pogrom in Lviv in 1941 — and later a member of the Germ. Schutzmannschaftsbataillon 201 (Eng. 201st Protection team Battalion) — responsible for the murder of Jews and civilians in the territory of Belarus — issued an order: „The extermination operation should be carried out according to the following principles: Polish villages are to be burned, and their populations massacred. Attacks on towns will take place in broad daylight, not at night. In mixed villages, the Polish population alone should be liquidated, and farmsteads should be burned only if they are 15 meters away and when there is no risk of the fire spreading to neighboring Ukrainian buildings. The Ukrainian population will receive instructions as to where to gather during the attack […] For every Ukrainian murdered, whether by Poles or Germans, 100 (one hundred) Poles will be executed”.

It was the de facto signal for the commencement of the «Genocidium Atrox» — i.e. the genocide perpetrated by Ukrainians, known as „Volyn genocide”.

Immediately thereafter, in 03.1943, the UPA issued an appeal to members of the Germ. Ukrainische Hilfspolizei to desert and join the UPA ranks. Perhaps as many as 10,000 Ukrainians did so.

Volyn was drenched in Polish blood. Tens of thousands of Poles were murdered by the Ukrainians — with German passivity — in an extremely barbaric manner. Hundreds of villages were burned.

Although Shukhevych's order and the UPA appeal were not formally addressed to the units of the Germ. Ukrainische Hilfspolizei in the Germ. Distrikt Galizien and Germ. Distrikt Krakau — for there, in 1943, the genocidal OUN did not establish an armed wing under the name UPA, but formed armed units under a euphemistic name, to „confuse” the Germans, of Ukr. Українська Народна Самооборона (Eng. Ukrainian National Self–Defense), i.e. UNS. De facto however also there the Ukrainian genociders, „unemployed” after the end of the Germ. «Aktion Reinhardt», deserted and joined the UNS, whose main goal, like the OUN/UPA, was the extermination of the Polish population, although its internal documentation and reports ostentatiously stated „defense against the terror of the German authorities”. When at the turn of 1943/1944 it became clear that the Germans were losing the war in the East, the OUN/UPA decided to extend the «Genocidium Atrox» to the Germ. Distrikt Galizien and Germ. Distrikt Krakau. I.a. the Ukrainian génocidaires formed the OUN/UPA operational group „UPA‐West”, under the command of Vasyl Sydor, nom de guerre „Shelest”, a degenerate with a similar career path as his genocidal superior, Roman Shukhevych — from the Germ. Sondergruppe Nachtigall, through the Germ. Schutzmannschaftsbataillon 201, where they gained experience exterminating Jews, to the UNS — who ordered „to strike the Poles continuously until they are exterminated to the last one from these lands”.

In the vicinity of his parish, the genocidal OUN/UPA began attacks on Poles just before the arrival of the Russo‐German front. E.g., on the night of 19‐20.07.1944, the „Siromantsy” sotnya, i.e. „Poor‐grey wolves” — whose members were deserters from Ukrainian police formations collaborating with the Germans, commanded by Dmytro Karpenko, nom de guerre „Yastrub”, a former soldier of the Russian Red Army who, captured by the Germans in 1941, escaped from a POW camp, sent to the vicinity of Yavoriv by the commander of the UPA Military District WO‐3 „Lysonya”, Emilian (Omelian) Polowy, nom de guerre „Ostap”, a degenerate who had drifted to the UPA the same way as Shukhevych and Sydor, i.e. his superiors —attacked Wielkie Oczy, c. 7 km east of Kobylnica Ruska, murdering a dozen or so Poles and burning the village.

A few days later, around 23.07.1944, both Wielkie Oczy and Kobylnica Ruska were occupied by the Russians as part of a major Russian offensive, known as the Lviv–Sandomierz Operation. The Russian occupation began. Since the Russians had stopped their offensive on the Vistula River, de facto entering into a strategic alliance with the Germans, which enabled the latter to crush the Warsaw Uprising and murder c. 200,000 Poles, Russian rear forces were stationed in the vicinity of his parish until 01.1945. This, in turn, enabled the Russians — given the saturation of the area with Russian front–line troops — to prepare for the creation of a new border c. 2 km east of Wielkie Oczy — between the territories directly controlled by the Russians and the area to the west, which was to be handed over to Polish Commie‐Nazis and traitors, and to function as de facto Russian Polish republic, known as prl. It enabled the creation — within the prl — of Polish, collaborative armed structures, such as the Citizens' Militia MO, the Border Protection Troops, and the Internal Troops, intended to combat the agencies of the Polish Clandestine State and the genocidal OUN/UPA. It also enabled the arrests of many Poles suspected of collaboration and membership in Polish independence organizations, as well as Ukrainians suspected of collaboration with the OUN/UPA. Finally, it enabled the commencement of the standard Russian method of resolving social and national problems and conflicts — large–scale deportations: Ukrainians from the territories granted to the „prl” to the east, and millions of Poles from the east to the territory of the prl. Since German occupation continued in most of the future prl, the operation started from the deportation of Ukrainians to the east, beyond the newly demarcated border.

Russian front‐line troops left the area around his parish on c. 12.01.1945, when the great Russian offensive began, known as the Vistula–Oder Operation, which was to de facto lead to the defeat of Germany and the end of World War II in Europe. OUN/UPA units were then activated — his parish found itself in the area of operations of the UPA Military District WO‐6 „San”, at that time, it seems, without command, and in particular of the Ukrainian sotnya/kuren Ukr. „Месники” (Eng. „Avengers”), commanded by Ivan Shpontak, nom–de guerre „Zaliznyak”," a deserter from the Germ. Ukrainische Hilfspolizei from Rava Ruska, which participated in the murders and transports of Jews from the local ghetto to VL Belzec. At the same time, the remaining Russians — mainly members of the genocidal Russian NKVD supervising the occupied area — and Polish collaborationist prl armed units began the second stage of deportation of Ukrainians from the prl to the east (the first, „voluntary” one did not bring the expected results).

And then, at the beginning of 02.1945, the genocidal OUN/UPA began attacks on both the Polish collaborationist Commie‐Nazi prl formations and other Russian units, including Russian border guard forces near the newly established border. The Polish Commie‐Nazis and Russians responded by attacking villages suspected of supporting the OUN/UPA and/or resisting the deportations.

E.g. Kobylnica Ruska was attacked.

According to sources, „on February 15, 1945, militiamen from the village of Wielkie Oczy murdered the local priest, Father Leo Sohor, in the rectory”.

These „militiamen”, i.e. members of the aforementioned MO, allegedly killed him in the bedroom of the parish rectory, in the presence of his mother.

On 26.02.1945, soldiers from the 2nd Independent Battalion of Internal Troops — a unit later transformed by the prl into the murderous Internal Security Corps KBW — pacified Kobylnica Ruska. „They shot at whoever they could”, recalled one resident. Another reported: „I saw them dragging Dmytro Mylian out of the cottage. The children embraced him by the legs. His wife ran out of the house, and the Polish villain killed him in front of the children”. Thirty‐three people were murdered then — one woman and 32 men.

Today, Ukraine honors the memory of those murdered in a specific way. On 12.10.2007, the génocidaire Roman Shukhevych was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine. On 10.12.2017, on behalf of the „Coordination Council for the Commemoration of Decorated Knights of the OUN and UPA”, génocidaire Vasyl Sydor was posthumously awarded in Lviv the Silver Cross of Military Merit of the UPA, 1st Class (No. 009). Much earlier, on 14.01.1945, during World War II, Emilian Polowy was supposed to receive the Bronze Cross of Military Merit of the UPA. In several locations, monuments and commemorative plaques have been erected to these Lat. „hostis humani generis”, the schools were named after them.

Lat. „O Tempora! O mores!”