Är något överaskad att det i en så här lång tråd ännu inte nämnts något om de ukrainska nationalisterna UPAs uppseendeväckande aktiviteter på landsbygden i Volhynien och Galicien under andra världskriget.
Citat:
In June 1943, Dmytro Klyachkivsky head-commander of the UPA-North made a general decision to exterminate Poles in Volhynia. His secret directive stated: "We should make a large action of the liquidation of the Polish element.
Citat:
As the German armies withdraw, we should take advantage of this convenient moment for liquidating the entire male population in the age from 16 up to 60 years.
We cannot lose this fight, and it is necessary at all costs to weaken Polish forces. Villages and settlements lying next to the massive forests, should disappear from the face of the earth".
Den massivaste attacken genomfördes den 11 Juli 1943.
Citat:
The following day, July 11, 1943, is regarded as the bloodiest day of the massacres with many reports of UPA units marching from village to village, killing Polish civilians. On that day, UPA units surrounded and attacked Polish villages and settlements located in three counties – Kowel, Horochow, and Włodzimierz Wołyński. Events began at 3:00 am, leaving the Poles with little chance to escape...
After the massacres, the Polish villages were burned to the ground. According to those few who survived, the action had been carefully prepared; a few days before the massacres there had been several meetings in Ukrainian villages, during which UPA members told the villagers that the slaughter of all Poles was necessary....
Altogether, on July 11, 1943, the Ukrainians attacked 167 towns and villages...
This wave of massacres lasted 5 days, until July 16. The UPA continued the ethnic cleansing, particularly in rural areas, until most Poles had been deported, killed or expelled. These actions were conducted by many units, and were well-coordinated and thoroughly planned...
Antalet mördade polacker uppskattas till 80 000-100 000 totalt
Den etniska rensningen kännetecknades av extrem brutalitet.
Citat:
Villages were torched. Roman Catholic priests were axed or crucified. Churches were burned with all their parishioners.
Isolated farms were attacked by gangs carrying pitchforks and kitchen knives. Throats were cut. Pregnant women were bayoneted. Children were cut in two. Men were ambushed in the field and led away...
Ukrainian partisans burned homes, shot or forced back inside those who tried to flee, and used sickles and pitchforks to kill those they captured outside.
In some cases, beheaded, crucified, dismembered, or disembowelled bodies were displayed, in order to encourage remaining Poles to flee".
A similar account has been presented by Niall Ferguson, who wrote: "Whole villages were wiped out, men beaten to death, women raped and mutilated, babies bayoneted. Ukrainian historian Yuryi Kirichuk described the conflict as similar to medieval rebellions
En ökänd företeelse var att spika upp barn runt trädstammar (detta kallades för "polska buketter").
Grafisk bild 1
http://www.koreywo.com/pamietaj.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volhynian_massacres