Funeral of victims of the Volyn crime in Ostrówka

A letter from president Karol Nawrocki was besides read. The president stressed that Poland does not forget the victims Volyn crimeAbout those who died just due to the fact that they were Poles. And he added that all the murdered should be found and decently commemorated.

Exhumations in 3 places

The remains of the people buried on Sunday were found during work conducted from 13 July to 7 August this year. They were attended by employees of the IPN, the Ukrainian company “Volynian Antiquity” and specialist in forensic medicine from the Medical University of Wrocław. The work was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. Burial sites were established during the search conducted in April.

A full of 55 people were found, including 26 children. The largest of the graves was located on the site of the erstwhile farm of Alexander Guardyc in Wola Ostrowiecka. It contained 48 people, including 24 children. In a collective grave close the erstwhile school in Ostrówka, the remains of six more people were found, and in a single grave in the forest, the remains of a woman.

Over 300 individual items were besides found and secured during the work, including medals, crosses and rosary. The remains were taken from bone material for DNA testing. The IPN announced that a genetic recognition test would be carried out.

Over a 1000 murdered

Ostrowki and Wola Ostrowiecka were before planet War II Polish towns located in Lubomel district. There were about 900 people surviving in Wola Ostrowiecka and about 670 in Ostrówków.

On 30 August 1943, both villages were attacked by troops of the Ukrainian Insurgency Army, supported by any of the inhabitants of the surrounding Ukrainian towns. In both towns more than a 1000 Poles were murdered. After the construction crime, they were looted and destroyed. The villages have ceased to exist, and their erstwhile lands are increasing fields and forests today.

The search and exhumation of the victims was conducted in 1992, 2011 and 2015. The remains of 674 people were found, exhumed and buried.

Work will continue

This year's work does not finish the search of residents of Ostrówków and Wola Ostrówecka. According to the IPN, more than 300 people stay unknown. This year's investigation on alleged The dead Pole didn't lead to the discovery of any more remains.

The ceremony in Ostrówka is another fresh consequence of renewed cooperation between Poland and Ukraine on the search and exhumation of victims of crimes committed by UPA during planet War II. Last year, among others, was conducted. exhumation in Puźniki in Tarnopolskie region, where the remains of Poles murdered in 1945 were found.

Consent to this year's work in Ostrówka and Wola Ostrowiecka was given to the Institute of National Memory in June. It was the first authorisation to exhume victims of the Volynsk crime issued on the basis of an application made straight by the IPN.