Kisorycze
Encyclopedia
Kysorychi is a village located in Rivne Oblast
, Ukraine
. Before the 1939 Nazi German and Soviet invasions of Poland
, the village was named Kisorycze and was located in Gmina
Kisorycze, Sarny
County, Wołyń Voivodeship in the eastern part of the Second Polish Republic
. The biggest employer in the area was a glass factory in Rokitno
(Рокитне) 8 km north of town, employing 400 workers.
between 1942 and 1945. Polish families were murdered there by UPA death squad
s aided by the local Ukrainians; as in the case of the Żołnowski family, choked to death with a rope by their own neighbors. The eye-witness account was provided by the Żołnowski wife, who survived by pretending to be dead. The local Polish teacher Felicja Masojada, with Kasper Koziński and his Ukrainian wife Hanka and maid Cita, were ambushed on the road. Hanka (the Ukrainian) was sent home, but the rest were led into the forest by a death squad (sotnia) of Hryćko Kaszkieciuk, Jan Kulpacz "Tryhub", Jan Szeluk, Jan Wołoszyn, and, Konstanty and Semen Kowalczuk, where the women were hanged upside down and dismembered.
Rivne Oblast
Rivne Oblast is an oblast of Ukraine. Its administrative center is Rivne. The area of the region is 20,100 km²; its population is 1.2 million...
, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
. Before the 1939 Nazi German and Soviet invasions of Poland
Invasion of Poland (1939)
The Invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign or 1939 Defensive War in Poland and the Poland Campaign in Germany, was an invasion of Poland by Germany, the Soviet Union, and a small Slovak contingent that marked the start of World War II in Europe...
, the village was named Kisorycze and was located in Gmina
Gmina
The gmina is the principal unit of administrative division of Poland at its lowest uniform level. It is often translated as "commune" or "municipality." As of 2010 there were 2,479 gminas throughout the country...
Kisorycze, Sarny
Sarny
Sarny translated as Deer, is a small city in the Rivne Oblast of western Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Sarny Raion , and is a major railway node on the Sluch River.The current estimated population is 27,700....
County, Wołyń Voivodeship in the eastern part of the Second Polish Republic
Second Polish Republic
The Second Polish Republic, Second Commonwealth of Poland or interwar Poland refers to Poland between the two world wars; a period in Polish history in which Poland was restored as an independent state. Officially known as the Republic of Poland or the Commonwealth of Poland , the Polish state was...
. The biggest employer in the area was a glass factory in Rokitno
Rokitno
Rokitno may refer to the following places:*Rokitno, Biała Podlaska County in Lublin Voivodeship *Rokitno, Lubartów County in Lublin Voivodeship *Rokitno, Tomaszów Lubelski County in Lublin Voivodeship...
(Рокитне) 8 km north of town, employing 400 workers.
World War II
The village was one of hundreds of sites of mass killings during the wave of massacres of Poles in VolhyniaMassacres of Poles in Volhynia
The Massacres of Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia were part of an ethnic cleansing operation carried out by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army West in the Nazi occupied regions of the Eastern Galicia , and UPA North in Volhynia , beginning in March 1943 and lasting until the end of...
between 1942 and 1945. Polish families were murdered there by UPA death squad
Death squad
A death squad is an armed military, police, insurgent, or terrorist squad that conducts extrajudicial killings, assassinations, and forced disappearances of persons as part of a war, insurgency or terror campaign...
s aided by the local Ukrainians; as in the case of the Żołnowski family, choked to death with a rope by their own neighbors. The eye-witness account was provided by the Żołnowski wife, who survived by pretending to be dead. The local Polish teacher Felicja Masojada, with Kasper Koziński and his Ukrainian wife Hanka and maid Cita, were ambushed on the road. Hanka (the Ukrainian) was sent home, but the rest were led into the forest by a death squad (sotnia) of Hryćko Kaszkieciuk, Jan Kulpacz "Tryhub", Jan Szeluk, Jan Wołoszyn, and, Konstanty and Semen Kowalczuk, where the women were hanged upside down and dismembered.