At the beginning of 1943, rumors started reaching the inhabitants of Przebraż that the Ukrainian hordes were murdering Poles in Volhynia, but no one believed it. And in fact - this small village survived the slaughter. Polish self-defense managed to fend off the UPA attacks, although it bloodily paid for this victory.
For years, two nations have inhabited this land and lived in harmony. Polish children played with Ukrainian children, went to the same schools. At first they changed their minds that it didn't concern them, they wouldn't, such things always happen somewhere else, somewhere far away. You just need to stay calm and nothing bad will happen.
And it started
On Easter 1943, about 20 young men went to a nearby church for resurrection. Neither of them came back, which worried the disguised:
We started looking for them. It soon turned out that they were all murdered in a cruel way . The oldest of them only had his head turned the other way. However, the Ukrainians tormented the younger ones in a more sophisticated way. Their tongues were cut off, their genitals were skinned.
The group that found the murdered brought the bodies to the village so that all residents could see how cruel their former neighbors were. After this event, the village elders made a decision to organize self-defense.
Defense organization
Transformation along with the inhabitants of nearby smaller villages began to create defensive structures. The most important thing was to get weapons. The Poles had to obtain the consent to possess it from the Germans. They received the permit, in addition, the Germans threw in seventeen old Soviet rifles. Thanks to the official permit for Poles to possess weapons in Przebraż, peasants could start using weapons hidden in barns, cellars and under the floors.
Self-defense centers in the Volyn voivodeship in 1943 (photo:Lonio17, license CC BY-SA 4.0)
However, there were not enough weapons. The methods of obtaining it were different. Weapons were bought from Hungarians and Germans. The guns from the wreckage of Soviet tanks were dismantled. Of course, not everyone had firearms. Some men only had scythes or clubs. Sometimes the boys managed to get a few grenades from the German guards for a bucket of apples.
In addition to weapons, people were needed to use them. These were organized into four platoons, later renamed companies. Additionally, Przebraże had foot and horse reconnaissance. Mounted reconnaissance turned into cavalry during the clashes.
The inhabitants marked out the defensive lines, on them they placed firing positions for machine guns and cannons, secured them with fortifications and barbed wire. They also built shelters for the population. The fortification belt around the village was about 20 kilometers long.
First UPA robbery
At the beginning of July 1943, the villagers noticed more and more UPA units in their neighborhood. On July 5 Przebraże was surrounded by them. At 3:00 a.m., the Bandera followers launched the first reconnaissance attack from the Northeast. The Ukrainians started several fires, the group defending this episode had to withdraw. However, after a while my friends came to the rescue and together they managed to repel the attackers. At the same time, the remaining Ukrainian troops started attacking from other sides. These were quickly chased away by machine gun fire.
The Rudnicki family murdered by Ukrainians in the village of Chobułtowa (photo:public domain)
Around 11.00 the Banderites attacked for the second time. They started firing mortars. The main Ukrainian forces were stumbled upon by mounted reconnaissance, which immediately started shooting at the chaotic enemies, forcing them to flee. After this incident, beyond the defensive line, Polish patrols encountered one more UPA group, which was also successfully liquidated.
Food Action
Over time, more and more Polish people came to Przebraż, wanting to avoid extermination at the hands of the Banderites. In addition, the self-defense organized the evacuation of Poles from the areas occupied by the Ukrainians. The largest action of this type was the evacuation of the town of Kółka. However, it was not always possible to save everyone.
Coming back, we went to Grobelnia to take one more Polish family from this town. She did not want to take us to Kółki, saying that she would collect her possessions and take with us when we returned. Unfortunately, she was brutally murdered. The landlord was chained, his wife nailed to the door with knives and the torn child was thrown on the table.
Due to the dizzying pace of the population of Przebraż (the population increased tenfold), Poles needed food. In 1943, the peasants were harvesting their crops under an armed escort. Ukrainians often attacked Poles working on the land.
However, the harvested grain was a drop in the ocean of needs. At the end of November, the Polish refuge began to be acutely short of food. The Poles established that in the village of Żurawicz, about 20 kilometers from Przebraż, the Banderites gathered a thousand cows that were stolen during the murder of the inhabitants of Polish villages.
A trip for the cows was organized. About 700 people set off for it. The march to Żurawicz lasted five hours. The Ukrainians did not defend the village, they clearly did not think that Poles could sneak up on the cattle. Cows grazed in the meadows near the forest, and huge amounts of flour and grain were found in Żurawicz itself. Poles were amazed at Ukrainian recklessness.
After bringing cattle to Przebraż, many Poles recognized their cows. People called them by name, and these - like dogs - came to their rightful owners. About 100 cows remained stray, they were distributed among the most deprived inhabitants of the settlement.
General attack of the Ukrainians
In the second half of August 1943, the UPA began mobilization. The goal was to liquidate the Polish refuge - Przebraża. Ukrainians in the surrounding villages were recruiting; men from 16 to 50 years of age were subject to her. The most experienced in battle from Eastern Małopolska came to help the bandits. The UPA collected a total of around 12,000 to attack Przebraże. people. Half of them were armed with firearms, the other - usually with axes. The Ukrainians had fire support, consisting of 66 heavy machine guns, 26 manual machine guns, 17 mortars and two cannons.
The importance of the issue of the Crossroads for Banderites is evidenced (apart from the mobilization carried out and the sending of sotnias from Małopolska) by the establishment of the Ukrainian Assault Staff on Przebraże.
The bandits deployed their forces to the north, east and west. The attack began on August 30, 1943 at 4.45 am with a cannon volley. Then the horde of Ukrainians rushed towards the village. Initially, the Bandera followers were attacking from the west, there they found the 2nd Punch Company, which, reinforced with cannons, repelled the invaders. However, it was an attack intended only to distract the Poles from the main strike.
From the south-west, the situation was different. In the section defended by the First Company, the Ukrainians rushed to storm and, to the surprise of the Poles, began to dig in. The Poles neutralized them with a decisive counterattack, before they finished building their fortifications.
The Ukrainians tried from all sides. Their superiority in numbers began to take its toll on the Polish defenders. The Transfiguration pushed back another attack, this time from the north. However, they lacked strength more and more.
Salvage the Soviet
The Przebraż defense command had to make some decisions, otherwise the Polish refuge would collapse. It was decided to seek help from the Soviet partisan unit of Prokopiuk. The Russian agreed to help Poles in need.
The Przebraża command discussed the action plan with Prokopiuk. It was decided that the Soviet partisan would attack the Banderites from the rear. His forces were not large, they numbered about 150 infantrymen and 60 cavalrymen. However, they had one very big advantage - they were a total surprise , Ukrainians had no idea about them.
As planned, Prokopiuk attacked the Banderites from the rear, the Poles went on the offensive, and the cavalry cut off the bandits from retreat. The Ukrainians have suffered a complete defeat. Not only did they fail to capture Przebraż, but also suffered enormous losses. Four hundred Banderites were killed, and another as many were taken prisoner. Many of the invaders were wounded.
Monument to Ludwik Malinowski, commander of guerrilla self-defense Przebraż in Volhynia. The facility is located in Niemodlin, Obrońców Przebraża Square (photo:IMnext, CCA SA 4.0 I license)
In this clash, the Poles captured seventeen heavy machine guns, six manual machine guns and six mortars. A disguise reinforced with captured weapons became an impregnable fortress and the Red Army entered in January 1944.