Specialists began search work on Monday in the village of Ugły in Volhynia to locate the remains of Poles murdered there in May 1943, in a massacre carried out by a Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) unit led by Nikon Semeniuk, known as “Jarema”.
Ugły, now in Ukraine’s Rivne region, lay in interwar Volhynia province and had a large Polish population, including military settlers. After the Soviet annexation of eastern Polish territories in 1939, some settlers and their families were deported.
In 1943, as the Red Army approached German-occupied territory, Poles in the area became targets of UPA attacks. Ukrainian nationalists accused them of collaborating with “red” Soviet partisans.
The attack on Ugły began at dawn on May 12, 1943, when the UPA company struck from three sides under Semeniuk’s command. It opened with incendiary fire that set the village ablaze, then moved into an assault that broke weak local self-defense.
Some residents were killed in their homes, others while trying to flee into a nearby forest. In all, 100 people were killed.
According to Ukrainian sources, some Ukrainians from mixed Polish-Ukrainian families were also among the victims.
Semeniuk, who was believed to be about 24 at the time, had served in the Red Army after the Soviet annexation, was captured early in the German-Soviet war, and later joined the Ukrainian auxiliary police collaborating with the occupiers. At the turn of 1942 and 1943, he enlisted in the UPA.
On April 23, 1943, he also took part in the killing of Polish residents of Janowa Dolina, where 500 to 600 Poles were killed, and four UPA fighters. It said many victims there were burned alive, while others died from axe or knife blows.
By November 1944, Semeniuk commanded more than 260 men and had been promoted to major. Polish Press Agency (PAP) reported that he was likely already an NKVD agent by then, citing a report from a local Soviet security chief: “Jarema is a dangerous thug, but we must shield him with all our strength”.
Semeniuk was arrested and executed in October 1945 after suspicions arose within OUN-UPA counterintelligence over heavy underground losses in his area of operations.
The search in Ugły is being carried out by specialists from the Pomeranian Medical University together with representatives of the Lviv regional council utility company Dola. It is financed by Poland’s culture ministry and is expected to last about a week, according to the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance, which commissioned the work.
(jh)
Source: PAP