Przebraze Defence
Encyclopedia
The Przebraże Defence was the World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 defence of Przebraże, a Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

 settlement, located in Lutsk
Lutsk
Lutsk is a city located by the Styr River in northwestern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Volyn Oblast and the administrative center of the surrounding Lutskyi Raion within the oblast...

 county, Volhynian Voivodeship, near the village of Troscianiec. Between 1919 and 1939, the settlement belonged to 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...

; it exists no more.

Location

The Przebraże settlement was located 10 km (6 mi) south of Troscianiec and 25 km (16 mi) north-east of Lutsk, the capital of Volhynia. The area was swampy, with numerous peat bogs and forests. The Konopla river was to the west of the settlement. The population consisted of Poles
Poles
thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...

, who had settled there in the 17th century. They were descendants of several szlachta
Szlachta
The szlachta was a legally privileged noble class with origins in the Kingdom of Poland. It gained considerable institutional privileges during the 1333-1370 reign of Casimir the Great. In 1413, following a series of tentative personal unions between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of...

(Polish nobility) families, that came to Volhynia from Mazowsze. However, the surrounding villages were mostly inhabited by Ukrainians
Ukrainians
Ukrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine, which is the sixth-largest nation in Europe. The Constitution of Ukraine applies the term 'Ukrainians' to all its citizens...

. In 1938, Przebraże had 200 houses and some 1,150 inhabitants.

Background

In late 1942, Ukrainian nationalists
Ukrainian nationalism
Ukrainian nationalism refers to the Ukrainian version of nationalism.Although the current Ukrainian state emerged fairly recently, some historians, such as Mykhailo Hrushevskyi, Orest Subtelny and Paul Magosci have cited the medieval state of Kievan Rus' as an early precedents of specifically...

 began attacks on Polish settlements in Volhynia (see: Massacres of Poles in Volhynia
Massacres 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...

). Throughout 1943, these incidents moved westwards from one county to another, reaching the area of Kowel in May. The Polish population and the weak Volhynian units of the Polish Home Army were taken by surprise. After the initial shock, however, the Poles started to organize their own defence. The Polish 27th Home Army Infantry Division
Polish 27th Home Army Infantry Division
27 Volhynian Infantry Division was the World War II Polish Armia Krajowa unit fighting in 1944 in Volhynia region. It was recreated on January 15, 1944 from smaller partisan units of self-defence during the Volhynia massacre and was patterned after the prewar Polish 27th Infantry Division.-...

 was created out of these units.

Creation

Some time in April 1943, Poles in Przebraże under former officers 'Harry' Henryk Cybulski
Henryk Cybulski
Henryk Cybulski was born in 1910 in the village of Przebraze in Volhynia . He died in 1971.He worked as a forester, when in September 1939 the Red Army invaded Eastern Poland. Cybulski was forcibly deported by the Soviets to Siberia on February 10, 1940.In the summer of 1940 he managed to escape...

 and Ludwik Malinowski
Ludwik Malinowski
Ludwik Malinowski , as born in 1887 in the village of Ksawerow near Lodz, was a Polish Resistance fighter. As a teenager he worked in a textile factory in Lodz...

 (a veteran of the Polish–Soviet War), decided to create a self-defence force, which would help them to resist future Ukrainian attacks. The area in question was vast, with several surrounding smaller settlements, such as Cholopiny, Jazwiny, Mosty and Zagajnik. Sentries were posted, armed with weapons found in the fields after the border battles of the 1941 German invasion
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...

 of the Soviet Union and Sten
Sten
The STEN was a family of British 9 mm submachine guns used extensively by British and Commonwealth forces throughout World War II and the Korean War...

 guns made by the Prżebraze gunsmithery. Poles also bought weapons from Hungarian
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

 soldiers stationed in Volhynia, and constructed two anti-tank guns, made from the parts of Soviet tanks that had been destroyed in June 1941.

To avoid clashes with the Germans, a weapon permit from local German authorities in Kiwerce was obtained. According to the memoirs of Henryk Cybulski, the German commander of Kiwerce was bribed with a pig and gold jewelry, after which he signed a document that stated: "Hereby authorized inhabitants of the village of Przebraże are allowed to use weapons to fight forest gangs, which harm [the] interests of the German Reich".

Polish units in Przebraże numbered some 500 men, they were divided into four companies and a mounted scouts platoon. In mid-1943 their number grew to 1,000. Reconnaissance patrols would check the surrounding area by day and at night, so that the settlement would not be caught by surprise. A defence line was created around Przebraże and neighbouring settlements, which consisted of foxholes and barbed wire. The length of barbed wire totalled around 20 km (12 mi) and the size of the “camp” - 6 km (3.7 mi) from east to west and 7 km (4.3 mi) from north to south.

The Poles were often warned of future attacks by friendly Ukrainians - two men from Troscianiec and a man named Demczuk from Jaromle.

Population in 1943

As news of atrocities spread across Volhynia, up to 28,000 Poles from neighbouring villages and settlements came to Przebraże. The number of refugees grew day by day; several houses accommodated up to five families, others had to live in temporary mud huts. A field hospital was organized and as skirmishes with Ukrainians were frequent, beds were usually full.

In June 1943 Polish units from Przebraże scouted the area, telling all Poles to leave their houses and move to the fortified settlement. Unfortunately, not all agreed to move and their reluctance later proved to be fatal.

Ukrainian attacks

At the beginning of the summer of 1943, local Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) commanders suggested that Henryk Cybulski, Ludwik Malinowski and their men should meet and talk. Delegates of both sides met four times, the Poles grew suspicious. Reportedly, the talks were a trap, the Ukrainians wanted to kill Cybulski. Thus, negotiations were terminated.

July 5 1943 attack

On July 5 1943, UPA units tried to attack Przebraże, burning nearby villages and murdering their inhabitants. Shocked refugees would come to the settlement, often only dressed in their underwear. The defence line was then attacked in several places, the battle lasting throughout the night. The next day, July 6, was just as hectic, as Ukrainian units surrounded the settlement and attacked it from all sides. After several hours they gave up, 10 Poles died.

As soon as the Ukrainians had left, mounted scouts scoured the area. They counted as many as 550 massacred Poles, those who had refused to move to Prżebraze. The surrounding villages, such as Majdan Jezierski, Dermanka, Budy, Huta and Dobra, were burned.

Other attacks

A second attack took place on July 12, the UPA concentrated its forces on the village of Rafalowka. The Polish side managed to force the enemy to flee, but this was not the end. As Henryk Cybulski wrote in his memoirs, throughout the summer of 1943 the "war for grain" persisted. The number of Poles in Przebraże was too high and its defenders realized that it was impossible to feed so many people. Thus, in April and July 1943, Polish peasants, guarded by patrols, were harvesting crops, transporting it to the settlement. The Ukrainians would attack the peasants, killing several.

The last major attack took place on August 31 1943. Ukrainian forces of Stepan Bandera
Stepan Bandera
Stepan Andriyovych Bandera was a Ukrainian politician and one of the leaders of Ukrainian national movement in Western Ukraine , who headed the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists...

, numbered around 10,000 men, including a 4,000 strong unit from the area of Lwów  (now Lviv). They worked out a detailed plan of attack (codename "Kublo"); their headquarters were established in the village of Swozie.

Helped by artillery, they attacked from the south. The Przebraże defenders asked local Home Army units and the Soviet partisan forces of Nikolay Prokopiuk for help, (the latter were numerous in the area and themselves threatened by Ukrainians). They joined the Poles. As a result, the UPA, attacked from the rear, withdrew, losing more than 100 men.

Aftermath

In February 1944, Volhynia was liberated by the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...

. As the UPA was considered an enemy of the Soviet regime, the authorities stopped the attacks by the UPA.

In 1945 Poles from this part of Volhynia were forced to move to the area of Niemodlin
Niemodlin
Niemodlin is a town in Opole County, Opole Voivodeship, Poland, with 6,911 inhabitants .It was first mentioned as Nemodlin in a 1224 deed and received town privileges in 1283. Originally a part of the Duchy of Opole, after the death of Duke Bolko I Niemodlin became the capital of a duchy in his...

, in Opole Voivodeship
Opole Voivodeship
- Administrative division :Opole Voivodeship is divided into 12 counties : 1 city county and 11 land counties. These are further divided into 71 gminas.The counties are listed in the following table .- Economy :...

, the land that had belonged to Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 before the war.

In 2004 Ukrainian authorities cleaned the Polish cemetery. A victory flag, woven by women from Przebraże in September 1943, can be seen in the Museum of the Polish Army in Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...

.

Sources

  • Władysław Filar
    Władysław Filar
    Władysław Filar - soldier of 27th Home Army Infantry Division, Polish historian, professor.Born in Iwanicze Nowe in Volhynia, Ukraine, then under Polish administration...

    , Przebraże bastion polskiej samoobrony na Wołyniu, Rytm Oficyna Wydawnicza, 2007. ISBN 83-7399-254-2
  • Henryk Cybulski
    Henryk Cybulski
    Henryk Cybulski was born in 1910 in the village of Przebraze in Volhynia . He died in 1971.He worked as a forester, when in September 1939 the Red Army invaded Eastern Poland. Cybulski was forcibly deported by the Soviets to Siberia on February 10, 1940.In the summer of 1940 he managed to escape...

    , Czerwone noce "O powstaniu i przetrwaniu organizacji samoobrony ludnosci polskiej we wsi Przebraże na Wolyniu w latach 1943-1944". Wyd. MON, Warszawa 1969 r., wyd. I. stron 377
  • Grzegorz Motyka. Ukrainska partyzantka 1942-1960. Rytm Oficyna Wydawnicza, 2006. ISBN 83-7399-163-8. Przebraze: strony 328-329, 339, 349.
  • Józef Sobiesiak, Prżebraże. Wyd. MON. Warszawa 1969 r. Wyd. I,. wyd. II 1971.
  • Filip Ozarowski, Gdy plonal Wolyn, Chicago 1996, ISBN 0-9655488-0-5
  • Apoloniusz Zawilski, Polskie fronty 1918-1945, t. 1, Warszawa 1997, ISBN 83-86857-23-4

See also

  • Ludwik Malinowski
    Ludwik Malinowski
    Ludwik Malinowski , as born in 1887 in the village of Ksawerow near Lodz, was a Polish Resistance fighter. As a teenager he worked in a textile factory in Lodz...

  • Henryk Cybulski
    Henryk Cybulski
    Henryk Cybulski was born in 1910 in the village of Przebraze in Volhynia . He died in 1971.He worked as a forester, when in September 1939 the Red Army invaded Eastern Poland. Cybulski was forcibly deported by the Soviets to Siberia on February 10, 1940.In the summer of 1940 he managed to escape...

  • Kuty (Kąty) defence
    Kuty (Kąty) defence
    Kuty defence – was a skirmish between Polish self-defense units and Ukrainian Insurgent Army unit under commander Ivan Klymshyn and Andriy Melnyk's supporters in the village of Kuty located in Volhynia, Krzemieniec county, Shumsk commune 3 or 4 May 1943...

  • 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS Galizien (1st Ukrainian)
  • 27th Polish Home Army Infantry Division
  • Operation Vistula
  • Anti-Polonism
  • Huta Stepanska
    Huta Stepanska
    Huta Stepańska was an ethnic Polish village, located in prewar Kostopol county, Wołyń Voivodeship, in the Second Polish Republic. In 1943, during the Massacres of Poles in Volhynia, it became an important Polish self-defence centre, captured by the UPA between 16 and 18 July 1943...

  • Janowa Dolina
    Janowa Dolina
    Bazaltove was a model settlement for workers of the Polish State Basalt Quarry, located in the Volhynian Voivodeship, in the Kostopol County of the Second Polish Republic. The name comes from Polish king Jan Kazimierz Waza, who reportedly hunted in the Volhynian forests, and after hunting — rested...

  • Koliyivschyna
    Koliyivschyna
    Koliyivshchyna 1768-1769 was a Ukrainian Cossack and peasant rebellion against Poland, which was responsible for the murder of noblemen , Jews, Uniates, and Catholic priests across the part of the country west of the Dnieper river...

  • Nachtigall
  • Operation Tempest
    Operation Tempest
    Operation Tempest was a series of uprisings conducted during World War II by the Polish Home Army , the dominant force in the Polish resistance....

  • Pawłokoma massacre
  • Poryck Massacre
    Poryck Massacre
    Pavlivka is a town now located in northwestern Ukraine, in Volyn Oblast, near Volodymyr-Volynskyi, on the Luga river.-History:In the interbellum period it belonged to Poland, and was a town in Wołyń Voivodeship, inhabited by almost 2000 people, half of whom were Jewish and the remaining part...

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK