Thursday, March 19, 2009

My authorized translation of original arcticle "9.02.1943. Parośla - krwawe preludium".: by Dymitr Bagiński from His blogsite.







One frosty winter morning settlement Parośla on Wołyń1 has been “visited” by “sotnia”2 of OUN-B (Bandera's)3 guerrillas “Dowbeszka-Korobka” under command of Hryhorij Perehijniak. Sotnia brought over six captured Cossacks 4 (in German forces service),that were apprehended the previous day during an attack on nearby city Włodzimierzec. In a fight one German and three Cossacks were killed.

Inhabitants of Parośla offered no resistance at all - in the settlement were not present organized forces of self-defense, as they has not been needed before. Newcomers tried to pass as soviet partisans, but did it so inapt, that it only raised suspicions of Poles. “Soviets” spread out through all homes, and demanded that dinner would be prepared for them. Nobody refused - “partisans” terrified people by their appearance and weaponry - including axes and hunting knives. Inhabitants were not allowed to leave their homes without an escort of a guard.

Just before a dinner guerrillas “settled matters” with Cossacks, that were held prisoners in home of Kołodyński family.

From the relation of Witold Kołodyński: “At this time commander (…) went to bedroom, to Cossacks. After a while they have lead one out into main (living) room. One could hear sounds of chopping and inhumane scowls. After few minutes went another Cossack, and we heard again sounds, similar to the previous ones. And so it went to the last of Cossacks (…)

After dealing with Cossacks, aggressors sat down to dinner. We heard laughing, discussions, and sounds of eating” - W. Kołodyński gives an account.

After dinner, at about 1500 hour into our bedroom came commander with very content grin on his face, and with him few of the bandits undressed to shirts, laughing. Commander told us: you have to lay down, so we can bind you, in order to protect you form German reprisals, so they would not blame you for hiding and feeding partisans”.

Poles accepted this explanation, as customary protection against German repraisals. Germans were known often not to punish so “protected” peasants 5.

Binded Poles were then murdered by assailants from sotnia “Korobka” by hacking with axes. There were 149 person killed6, it means all inhabitants and some passing through Parośla visitors. Only 12 gravely wounded survivors, including at that time only 12 years old W. Kołodyński and his sister Lila.

Once more W. Kołodyński: “We were chilled to the bone, stiffened, soaked with blood. Lila got herself up and helped me to stand. View, that presented before our eyes was horrible. Almost impossible to ccomprehend by human mind, especially by child's mind. Our parents heads were chopp-opened in halves. Mom's long braid was cut off. In Fathers head was still buried an axe (…) In the cradle our youngest sister Bogusia, 1,5 year old, lied down hit in her forehead by axe. For a long time she was convulsive, rocking the cradle.”

That's how in reality it looked like “the first action of UPA” - so glorified in ukrainian nationalistic documents. Of course they are telling only about attack on Włodzimierzec. German losses suddenly are swelled up to improbable number of 63 killed.

This action convinced headquarters of Bandera's OUN-B, that their kohorts are able to independent carrying actions of ethnic cleansing, comparable to fascist pacifications.


Killed habitants of Parośla were put in one common mass grave. Digged excavation turned out to be too small to accommodate every victim, so it was necessary to heap tumulus, to cover all the bodies. It was third tumulus in Parośla. First was a burial place of Tatars invasion, second spanish influenza. After this last assault Parośla ceased to exist.


Hryhorij Perehijniak, bastard son of servant from Galicia, without any formal education, self-educated peasant, outlived his victims for less then 2 weeks. Frebruary 2nd 1943 he was killed in skirmish with German troops.


Bibliographic sources:

Grzegorz Motyka, “Ukraińska partyzantka 1942-1960, Warszawa 2006

Władysław Siemaszko, Ewa Siemaszko, “Ludobójstwo dokonane przez nacjonalistów ukraińskich na ludności polskiej Wołynia 1939-1945, Warszawa 2000.




1 Polish Wołyń (Volhynia) Voivodeship in eastern part of II Republic of Poland - 1918-1939

2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurin Sotnia was a traditional division of the Cossack regiments from earliest records of the Zaporizhian Sich, and means 'a hundred'.(...) During the Second World War, the basic combat unit of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) was a kuren or kurin (literally a village; also used for the 11th lowest Cossack rank[1]), equivalent to a battalion of four to eight hundred members, divided into three or four sotnias (companies - of about 120-150 combatants each). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukrainian_Insurgent_Army

3 More about Bandera and UPA (Ukrayins’ka Povstans’ka Armiya – ukarainian: Українська Повстанська Армія – english: Ukrainian Insurgent Army) as “armed arm of OUN-B” and other fractions: OUN-UNR, and OUN-M, as well as their leadership one can find in Wikipedia article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukrainian_Insurgent_Army .

4 Cossacks had long history of cooperation both with czar's army. and Austro-Hungarian and German armies as well - during First World war they formed Ukrainian Sich Riflemen - ukrainian: Українські cічові стрільці (УСС), Ukraїnski sichovi stril’tsi (USS) – see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukrainian_Sich_Riflemen .

5 As they appeared to be forced to powide and help partisans.

6 According to documents in Władysław Siemaszko, Ewa Siemaszko, “Ludobójstwo dokonane przez nacjonalistów ukraińskich na ludności polskiej Wołynia 1939-1945, Warszawa 2000. Other sources claim number of victims as 173 killed. (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massacres_of_Poles_in_Volhynia )





Link to original Article (in polish)



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