The remains of 55 Poles murdered by CNS-UPA, including 26 children, were buried in the Ostrówka Cemetery in Volyn on 30 August 2026. Victims were found during work in Ostrówków and Wola Ostrowiecka. This ceremony restores their dignity, but about 300 inhabitants of both villages inactive have no grave.
Funeral precisely 83 years after death
The ceremony took place at the old Polish cemetery in Ostrówków, in the place of 1 of the most tragic crimes committed in Poles in Volyn. The Holy Mass was celebrated at the field altar under the leadership of the Łutsk Bishop Vitali Skomarowski. Then the remains were laid in a mass grave, and the participants paid tribute to the murdered.
The date of the ceremony was meaningful. On August 30, 1943, OUN-UPA troops attacked Ostrists and I like Ostrowiecka. IPN estimates the number of murdered in both villages to be around 1050, including about 400 children. Old Polish settlements have been destroyed, and present their place is occupied by fields and forests.
The remains of 55 people extracted in the summer
Exhumation works lasted from 13 July to 7 August 2026. They were conducted by employees of the Institute of National Memory, companies of the “Volynian Antiquity” and specialist in forensic medicine from the Medical University of Wrocław, with the participation of representatives of the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. Burial sites were established during earlier searches.
The remains of 55 people were recovered. Among them were 26 children, and most adults were women. A genetic material was taken from the bone, which can aid identify the victims if researchers receive comparative material from relatives. Previous information on IPN work They showed how tedious and delicate it is to reconstruct names to people thrown into nameless pits.
It wasn't the first burial in Ostrówka. The remains found during erstwhile exhumations were laid there to mass graves in 1992, 2011 and 2015. This year's coffins rested in 1 of the existing quarters, next to the cross commemorating the victims. Each ceremony closes the destiny of circumstantial individuals, but simultaneously reveals the scale of the backlog.
Truth is simply a prerequisite for reconciliation
The ceremony was attended by families of the murdered, representatives of the authorities of Poland and Ukraine, Catholic and Orthodox clergymen, and people who had been seeking memory of the Volyn crime for years. The letter of president Charles Nawrocki was read by his advisor Jakub Banaszek. The president assured that Poland would not halt trying to decently bury and commemorate all the people who were killed by the CNS-UPA.
Deputy president of the IPN Karol Polejowski recalled that about 300 residents of Ostrówków and Wola Ostrowiecka are inactive waiting to be found. History of Bloody Sunday and the full Volyn massacre It teaches that silence does not heal wounds. Poland has the right to request consent for further search, exhumation and worthy funerals.
Russia's war against Ukraine does not invalidate Polish memory. On the contrary, lasting relations between nations request truth, respect for victims, and rejection of the cult of perpetrators. The Ukrainian authorities' agreement to work in Ostrówków was a step in the right direction. Now we request further consent and consistent action, until the last found sacrifice receives a name and a grave.
Source: Institute of National Memory, Radio Maryja
Source: Radio Maryja
