In the summertime of 1943, Huta Stepanska in Volyn was 1 of the largest Polish self-defense centers. In July, respective 1000 people from surrounding villages took refuge there. Between 16 and 18 July, UPA troops, supported by local militants, broke their defenses and the survivors moved in a few-mile column towards the railway line. respective 100 Poles did not escape with their lives.
Poland fortress in Volyn
Huta Stepańska was located in Kostopolska County, Volynska Voivodeship. After a wave of attacks on Polish villages, the local population began organizing defences. Formally, self-defense was created on February 9, 1943, after the Butejki crime. The command changed respective times: initially led by Władysław Kurkowski, since April by Sergeant Jan Szabelski, and in May 1943 the command over the combined defence was taken over by Lieutenant Władysław Kochanski. The hotel included Stepanska Huta, neighboring Wyrka and surrounding towns.
At the beginning of July 1943, about 3 1000 people were sheltered in the Stepanska Huta and nearly 2 1000 in Wyrca. They were mostly runaways from smaller villages that no longer had the strength to defend themselves. The hotel became their last chance of survival.
Three days of assault
The decisive hit came on the evening of July 16, 1943. The attack was led by Ivan Lytwynczuk, 1 of the UPA commanders in Volyn, and insurgent forces supported local SKW militias, or Self-defence Kuszczowe Widdyły. On the first day, smaller defensive points fell on the outskirts of the resort. About 300 people were killed.
On July 17, the main attack began. Wave attacks on the center were repulsed many times, though the defenders ran out of ammunition. 50 to a 100 people died that day. It became clear that a fistful of armed men could not hold a position covering thousands of civilians.
Impact and evacuation
On the morning of 18 July, it was decided to leave the lap. The defenders hit the northern section and opened the way towards the Kowel-Sarny railway line. Under the cover of thick fog, a column of wagons and pedestrians moved, stretched for nearly 3 kilometers. She was covered by armed men walking on the sides and at the end of the rolling stock.
Not everyone got away. According to Polish estimates, about 600 Poles were killed in fighting for the Stepansk Huta and Wyrka. The UPA study of July 27, 1943 spoke of more than 500 people killed on the Polish side. Both villages burned down, and brick buildings were blown up.
The Devotion of Ruins
The epilogue of these events is the most moving. On July 19, 1943, the day after the last Poles left, before the ruins of the destroyed temple in the Stepanian Huta Orthodox clergy celebrated a thanksgiving service for the demolition of the Polish centre. The burning of the village and the death of its inhabitants were celebrated with a prayer of gratitude.
The defence of the Stepansk Huta belongs to the most crucial episodes of Polish self-defense in Volyn. For 3 days a tiny group of people covered the escape of thousands of civilians and gave them a chance to survive. The memory of those days is not a question of historical curiosity, but of simple honesty toward the victims of the Volyn massacre, whose destiny has been marginalized for decades.
