Wierzchowiny massacre

Wierzchowiny massacre
Location	Wierzchowiny, Poland
Date	6 June 1945
Target	Ukrainian and Polish villagers
Attack type	Shooting
Deaths	50-196
Perpetrator	National Armed Forces (NSZ)
Motive	Retaliation for alleged murder by Ukrainian and Polish villagers

Wierzchowiny massacre refers to the events in Wierzchowiny, the location of a massacre carried out on 6 June 1945 in which approximately 50–196 inhabitants of the village (mostly Ukrainian, but also Polish) were killed in an aura of considerable controversy. Incriminating documents, including the signature of the NSZ officer accused of being responsible for the murder, Mieczysław Pazderski nom-de-guerre "Szary" (1908–1945), were presented by the communist MBP secret service actively engaged in anti-partisan raids and extrajudicial killings.[1] Pazderski was an avid anticommunist who commanded a partisan unit which used to liquidate Soviet agents (including Poles) in the region between October 1944 and May 1945. His unit of PAS NSZ was involved in the fight with the Ukrainian OUN-UPA during the massacres of Poles in Volhynia. The action in Wierzchowiny resulted from a death sentence issued by NSZ against 17 Ukrainian and 2 Polish men suspected of retaliatory murders.[1] Mieczysław Pazderski stationed in Wierzchowiny with the retreating Polish Army in September 1939 and witnessed the killing of several Polish soldiers ambushed by the local Ukrainian men.[1]

References

Mariusz Zajączkowski, Spór o Wierzchowiny. Działalność oddziałów Akcji Specjalnej NSZ w powiatach Chełm, Hrubieszów, Krasnystaw i Lubartów na tle konfliktu polsko-ukraińskiego (sierpień 1944 r. – czerwiec 1945 r.) (PDF file, direct download 1.19 MB) in: Pamięć i sprawiedliwość. Pismo Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej nr. 1(9)2006, Warszawa, 2006, ISSN 1427-7476 s. 283-284.

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[Zajączkowski-1] Mariusz Zajączkowski, Spór o Wierzchowiny. Działalność oddziałów Akcji Specjalnej NSZ w powiatach Chełm, Hrubieszów, Krasnystaw i Lubartów na tle konfliktu polsko-ukraińskiego (sierpień 1944 r. – czerwiec 1945 r.) (PDF file, direct download 1.19 MB) in: Pamięć i sprawiedliwość. Pismo Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej nr. 1(9)2006, Warszawa, 2006, ISSN 1427-7476 s. 283-284.