Massacre of Brzostowica Mała
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Location of Brzostowica Mała (Малая Бераставіца in Belarusian) on the Soviet map of Polish territories (yellow) incorporated into the Soviet Belarus (pink) after the 1939 invasion of Poland |
The Brzostowica Mała massacre occurred on 18 September 1939, the day after the start of the Soviet invasion of eastern Poland. During that period, a number of anti-state, communist led revolts took place resulting in the mass murder of inhabitants of Grodno County in eastern Poland by Communist militias which largely consisted of Belarusian and Jewish communists and included peasants, criminals, and prisoners released from incarceration on account of the German invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939. Among those killed were landowners, county-administration workers, teachers, foresters, and peasants, and most were ethnic-Poles.[1] The most prominent case was the torture-murder on 18 September 1939 in Brzostowica Mała (Belarusian: Malaya Berestovitsa) of Count Antoni Wołkowicki and his family.[2][3]
Revolts[edit]
A number of anti-state revolts took place around the time of the Soviet invasion of Poland, which began on 17 September 1939. Along with Brzostowica Mała, the revolts in Grodno district took place in Jeziory, Wiercieliski, Wielka Brzostowica, Dubno, Wołpa, and Indura and in other districts across Poland's Białystok Voivodeship which includes parts of modern day Belarus.[2] Ethnic Poles, who were the ruling class, were a minority in this region, and the invasion was welcomed by local committees. Entering Soviet troops were showered with flowers. Indeed, Soviet's had sent agents into the region to organize receptions.[4]
However, receptions weren't the only thing being organized. In one instance before the invasion, a "revolutionary committee" of the Communist Party of Western Belorussia (KPZB) led by Józef Gawryluk organized in Wielka Brzostowica and carried out attacks against landowners in the village of Danilka. On the night of the 16th, Gawryluk began a series of attacks and executions of landowners in the area.[5][6] The incident was one of a number of similar killings, generally related to the KPZB, including nobility, landowners, government officials, engineers, policemen, clergy, and wealthier peasants in many towns in Grodno County.[7][8] The murders reportedly included beatings and live burials.[8][9][10][11]
Massacre[edit]
In 2001 Poland's Institute of National Remembrance, invested with criminal-prosecutory powers, investigated the murders of Count Antoni Wołkowicki and his wife Ludwika and brother-in-law Zygmunt Woynicz-Sianożęcki, and Mayor Kazimierz Wieliczko and four others; confirmed that murders had been committed by a communist gang on Polish citizens and in violation of Poland's sovereignty; and that the atrocities fell within the purview of Poland's communist-crimes legislation. IPN's investigators established the names of two leaders of the attack on the Wołkowicki family, Isaac (Ajzik) Zusko (shot by the Germans during Operation Barbarossa), and a Belorussian Brzostowica Mała resident named Sergiej Koziejko. No living eyewitnesses to the torture-murder of the Wołkowickis were found. The investigation remains open.[9] [p.52][12]
Aftermath[edit]
A significant number of people were murdered during this period in Grodno County in villages near Brzostowica Mała, including Parchimowce and Brzostowica Wielka. According to historian Marek Wierzbicki, as many as 250 may have been killed in revolts and by the Soviets - although such estimates could not be verified and may be subject to a considerable margin of error.[13][14] The nature of the violence in the region changed on 22 September, when Soviet soldiers stopped Gawryluk from continuing executing a group of people near the estate of Parfimowce having already killed the estates owner.[15] However, in spite of Soviet presence, killings may have continued until the 25th.[16]
Legacy[edit]
After the Soviet annexation of eastern Poland and the end of World War II, the Brzostowica Mała massacre was hushed up. The "Skidel revolt" in what is now Skidzyel’, Belarus, was mythologized by Soviet propaganda as a liberation movement.[8][17]
In 2001–2005 Poland's Institute of National Remembrance investigated the incident.[18] The Institute determined that the murders had occurred and fell within Poland's communist-crimes jurisdiction. The Institute interviewed all 16 witnesses—persons who had lived in the community—but, due to the passage of time, was unable to establish the names of the murderers of Ludwika Wołkowicka and her family.[9][18][19]
See also[edit]
Notes[edit]
- ↑ Wierzbicki, Marek (2000). Poles and Belarusians under the Soviet Partition: Relations 1939-1941 [Polacy i białorusini w zaborze sowieckim: stosunki polsko-białoruskie na ziemach północno-wschodnich II Rzeczypospolitej pod okupacją sowiecką 1939-1941]. p. 70-74. ISBN 8372331618 – via Google Books.
The better known, included the murder of Ludwika and Antoni Wołkowicki, along with his brother-in-law Zygmunt Woynicz-Sianożęcki; killed by a communist band made up of Jews and Belarusians, in most part, former political as well as common prisoners. Translate this page.
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- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Wierzbicki, Marek (2007). Barkan, Elazar; Cole, Elizabeth A.; Struve, Kai, eds. Western Belarus in September 1939 – Polish-Jewish Relations in the 'kresy'. Shared History, Divided Memory: Jews and Others in Soviet-occupied Poland. Leipziger Universitätsverlag. pp. 139–140. ISBN 3865832407. Search this book on
- ↑ Szawlowski, Richard (1995). Polish-Soviet War 1939: Monograph [Wojna polsko-sowiecka 1939: Monografia]. p. 370. ISBN 8386842024.
Translation: In Brzostowica Mała the landowner Antoni Wołkowicki and his wife Ludwika née Sianożęcka were beaten with cudgels, had barbed wire wrapped around them, and were buried alive in a potato ditch.
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- ↑ Gross, Jan Tomasz. Revolution from Abroad. Princeton University Press. p. 28-30. Search this book on
- ↑ Wierzbicki 2000, p72
- ↑ Wybranowski, Wojciech (October 2, 2002). "Inconvenient investigation" [Kłopotliwe śledztwo. Dochodzenie w sprawie mordu na Polakach w Brzostowicy Małej utknęło w martwym punkcie]. Nasz Dziennik Daily. Reprint by NaszaWitryna.pl. ISSN 1429-4834.
- ↑ Łaptaszyńska, Iwona (2008). "Belarus - The "Free for all" Days" [Białoruś - "Dni swobody"]. Massacres in the Kresy. Stankiewicze.com – via Internet Archive.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Wierzbicki, Marek (1997). "Powstanie skidelskie 1939" (in polski). Białystok: Białoruskie Zeszyty Historyczne, nr 7. Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved December 13, 2012 – via Internet Archive.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) (November 2003). "The IPN Annual Report 1 July 2002 – 30 June 2003" [Informacja o działalności Komisji Ścigania Zbrodni przeciwko Narodowi Polskiemu w okresie 1 lipca 2002 – 30 czerwca 2003] (PDF). Investigation: Sygn. akt S 50/01/Zk (in polski). Warsaw: 52 – via Internet Archive.
- ↑ Dangerfield, Elma (1946). Beyond the Urals. T. Lyster. p. 17. ISBN 9781871482126.
In the locality of Brzostowica Mala the local landowner, Antoni Wolkowicki, aged 70, was shot, while his wife, aged 60, was buried alive
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- ↑ Wierzbicki, Marek (2002) Czystki kresowe (Ethnic cleansing in Kresy Borderlands), Wprost, 38/2002 (1034) – via Internet Archive. (in Polish)
- ↑ Wierzbicki 2000, p71
- ↑ Wierzbicki 2000, p86
- ↑ Chodakiewicz, Marek Jan (2002). Ejszyszki: Epilogue of Polish–Jewish Relations in Kresy 1944-1945 [Ejszyszki: kulisy zajść w Ejszyszkach : epilog stosunków polsko-żydowskich na Kresach, 1944-45] (in polski and English). Fronda Publishing. pp. 88, 242. ISBN 9788391106334.
September 17, 1939. Revolutionaries and common criminals chiefly of Belorussian (in villages) and Jewish (in towns) origin began assaulting, robbing, arresting, and killing chiefly ethnic Poles: Polish soldiers, landed nobles, government officials, members of the intelligentsia, wealthy farmers, and military settlers.
Search this book on Also in: Chodakiewicz, Marek Jan. "The Last Rising in the Eastern Borderlands" (DOC). Polish American Congress. Washington Metropolitan Area Division: 43. Belorussians and Jews, attacked the estate of Brzostowica Mała near Grodno and the nearby village Brzostowica Mała, where the administrative authorities were located. [p.43]
Also in: IPN (November 2003) - ↑ Wierzbicki 2000, p73
- ↑ Milewski, Jan; Pyżewska, Anna (2005). Polish-Belarusian Relations in Bialystok Voivodeship [Stosunki polsko-białoruskie w Województwie Białostockim]. Institute of National Remembrance. ISBN 8389078953.
1/Zk - investigation into the killings committed between 17 and 25 September 1939 in Brzostowica Mała (Grodno County), specifically the murder of landowners Ludwika and Antoni Wołkowicki, Zygmunt Woynicz-Sianożęcki, voight Kazimierz Wieliczko and four other persons by a communist band.140
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- ↑ Strzembosz, Tomasz; Wierzbicki, Marek (1996). The Soviet Occupation (1939-1941) in Secret Documents [Okupacja sowiecka (1939-1941) w świetle tajnych dokumentów: Obywatele polscy na Kresach północno-wschodnich II Rzeczypospolitej pod okupacją sowiecką w latach 1939-1941] (in polski). Warsaw: ISP PAN (Polish Academy of Sciences). Search this book on
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 Instytut Pamięci Narodowej, PRZEGLĄD MEDIÓW 24 February 2005. Paragraph 28. Decision of the public prosecutor Dariusz Olszewski from the IPN branch in Białymstok. (in Polish)
- ↑ PRZEGLĄD MEDIÓW - 22-24 September 2003. "IPN nie znalazł zabójców hrabiny Ludwiki Wołkowickiej." (in Polish)
References[edit]
- Żaroń, Piotr (1994). Polish POW Camps in USSR in 1939-1941 [Obozy jeńców polskich w ZSRR w latach 1939-1941]. p. 92. ISBN 1870886143. Search this book on
- Żaroń, Piotr (1998). Soviet Invasion of Poland September 17, 1939: Fate of Prisoners [Agresja Związku Radzieckiego na Polskę 17 września 1939: los jeńców]. ISBN 8371741642. Search this book on
- Jasiewicz, Krzysztof (1997). Annihilation of Polish Kresy [Zagłada polskich kresów]. Instytut studió́w politycznych PAN (Polish Academy of Sciences). p. 85.
Translation: Antoni Wołkowicki purchased Brzostowica on June 14, 1907 for 45,777 Rubles
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- Strzembosz, Tomasz (1997). Studies from the History of Soviet Occupation, 1939-1941 [Studia z dziejów okupacji sowieckiej, 1939-1941]. Instytut Studiów Politycznych PAN. p. 68. ISBN 8390716801.
Translation: Murder of Wołkowickis was unusual and irrational
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- Jasiewicz, Krzysztof (1995). List of Casualties among Polish Nobility 1939–1945 [Lista strat ziemiaństwa polskiego 1939–1945]. Warsaw: Pomost-Alfa. pp. 927, 1136–1137. Search this book on
Coordinates: 53°16′22″N 23°55′32″E / 53.27278°N 23.92556°E
Massacres of ethnic Poles in World War II | ||
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| Pre-war Polish Volhynia |  | |
| Eastern Galicia | ||
| Present-day Belarus | ||
| Present-day Lithuania | ||
| Present-day Russia | ||
| Present-day Poland | ||
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