17‑year‑old Stanisław Zarębiński died in the fight against the UPA (the date on his grave in Zasmyki is August 13, 1943).

source: Żurek Stanisław, „The 75th anniversary of the genocide – August and the summer of 1943”; in: portal: Volhynia — web page: wolyn.org [accessible: 2021.02.04]

The Ukrainians murdered 2 Poles.

source: Żurek Stanisław, „75th anniversary of the genocide – September 1943”; in: portal: Volhynia — web page: wolyn.org [accessible: 2021.02.04]

On Christmas morning, the UPA and local Ukrainian peasants attacked the Polish population, murdering the Polish population with axes, knives, pitchforks, bayonets, etc. at dawn, the attack took place almost simultaneously on three of the above–mentioned villages and simulated Home Army AK partisan units stationed in Kupiczów. The attackers used a trick to disguise the first line of attackers in German uniforms to obtain the effect of surprise, which actually succeeded. They gathered so much strength that they were sure of victory, as evidenced by the Pope who was going to celebrate a thanksgiving mass in Zasmyki. Polish self–defense, however, undertook an unequal fight. Below are excerpts from the accounts of participants and witnesses of this event. Janina Gruszka: „Together with my father, they watched as my mother and siblings, shot in the back of the head, died. Józia, badly wounded in the head and legs, was watching, how a 9–month–old baby cries while lying next to her deceased mother. The bandit hitting them with a rifle butt added: «You are torturing our brother». Lying still did not turn out to be an ideal solution, it did not save everyone, because Ukrainian thugs ran from person to person lying in the snow and shot in the back of the head. This is how my loved ones died: my mother's sister and her three children, grandmother and a neighbor. My sister Czesia was hit in the head while running towards the forest, how long she lived, it is not known, the next day she was found dead. They approached my father three times and the third time they shot him. The bullet hit the collar and shoulder. after some time he got chills from cold and blood loss. Lying in the snow, he thought that when they came the fourth time, they would recognize that he was alive, but fortunately they did not make it”  […] a small, perhaps 12–person armed unit was stationed in Lublatyn since September, and the commander of this unit was Malinowski Józef. This unit and a few people from the self–defense of Lublatyn were the first to help the attacked Radomla  […] Malinowski's unit ran straight into the open area outside the buildings, from where it received heavy fire from hidden Ukrainian positions. Undoubtedly, Malinowski's unit helped a lot for Radoml, because in this part of the village the Ukrainians did not burn down the buildings and prevented them from plundering farms and catching people. They were already involved in fighting the Poles. However, their forces were much greater and their weapons were better, they had a lot of machine weapons, which the Poles did not have. In Malinowski's unit, four soldiers were killed in combat in Radoml and commander Malinowski Józef was wounded. The rest of Malinowski's soldiers and some of Lublatyn's self–defense continued to defend themselves effectively and kept The Ukrainians from entering the buildings. The Ukrainians tried to approach them from the side, from where they were visible, but one of the self–defense of Lublatyn, and it was Bielecki antoni, a military peasant and a good poacher, from his good position somewhat behind, anyone who tried to kill himself. He also shot their commander and prevented those who wanted to take him. They obtained a pepeshka, a Walter pistol, a map holder, notes and a razor  […] .
Janina Gruszka: „They pull me into a nearby ditch. There are already a few people in the ditch – self–defense, a few soldiers and two of us, I was 16 at the time. No one can lean out of the ditch because we are under fire, the bandits hiding behind trees aim at us. Someone said: «We cannot wait to die», one takes risks, leans over, gets right in the middle of the forehead – a young boy. after some time, the second one, with an automatic machine in his hand, leans out too much, hits the heart and falls next to me. This is the first time I see a young soldier die. Zosia, more conscious, runs up to him to save him, but in vain, the boy dies. Sometimes I think that maybe his mother never found out that her son was buried in the Zasmyki cemetery. Mr. Ostrowski took over the command of our self–defense group, he ordered the gun to be taken from the dead, so I took the machine, which was dropped by the dying boy. I don't know how long it all took, we are beginning to realize that we won't get out of here alive. The commander's decision is to defend himself to the end and not surrender alive, and the bandits are getting closer. «God, save us» – I thought – «this is the fourth time I am facing death, is there no rescue, hope for survival?»”.
Monika Solecka–Nowicka tells us what happened in the middle of the village at that time: „Some scenes from the attack on Radomle were terrible. For example, in the Kowalewski house: the young ones fled, Stasiek and Janek fought, and the two elderly parents – their parents – stayed of their own free will. They were sure that the Ukrainians would respect their age. at the moment when the bandits were breaking the door, my father was sitting in the room by the window, the mother was hiding behind the door that was pushed with all her might. The torturers rushed to the helpless old man. First they started beating him mercilessly, then stabbing him with their bayonet and knives. Barely alive with horror and horror, the old man's wife watched the bloody scene from her hiding place. Finally, she half passed out with fear and shock, so as not to see the cruel torture anymore, jumped out of her hiding place and, surprisingly quickly for her age, ran down to the basement. The crowd of thugs was so busy tormenting the unhappy defenseless old man that they did not notice the presence and then the escape of the witness of the degenerate deeds. The woman shocked by the macabre sight could not recover for a long time. Only many hours later, when the attackers were left with only dead bodies and fires, and they themselves were already somewhere behind Turia, she told an old, blood–breaking scene of her husband's death. a handful of charred bones of the unfortunate old man were later excavated from under the ashes of the burnt house. In one of the houses, the attackers burned a teenage girl alive. Witnesses who were observing the event from hiding, told with complete disbelief about the animal joy of the ryzuns who looked at the burning torment. It is also difficult to describe the experiences of my father who came to the site of the fire after a few hours and stood petrified above the pile of ashes of his beloved child”  […]
Leon Karłowicz: „The Ukrainians were shooting fiercely. More and more people were falling – killed or wounded. The dead were left, the wounded were taken with them so that they would not fall into the hands of the torturers. at one point, an elderly woman was injured, a refugee from the eastern territories of the Kovel district. Two of her daughters ran beside her. The older one was the wife of one of our soldiers «Lion» Kazimierz Stępowski. Seeing the mother falling down, both daughters tried to grab her by the arms and help her escape. To Janówka! There will already be some rescue, but the wounded woman was not even able to move her legs, because the shot turned out to be very dangerous. The old woman could only be carried, and it was not allowed by the conditions. The Ukrainians were right there. Then the mother began to beg her children: – Run! You can't help me anymore. But you cubs run away! as soon as possible! The three women were rushing past the others. They heard the old woman's pleas and called both daughters to hurry. Let them survive! They both stayed with their mother. When our people found them in the evening  […] they saw a tragic picture of cruelty. One had its head cut in half with an ax, and all three bodies were perforated like a strainer. They were abused in a brutal way. and people did!  […] J. Turowski: The attack from the Zielona outpost under the command of Sgt. Józef Cienkusz «Leaf», who attacked the attackers from the side of Zadyb. This unit, although it was not large, used the surprise effect by attacking in a place where the bulwarks did not expect at all, from the rear, i.e. from Zadyb. The determination of the Poles who came to help was great, because they still heard the fight of Radomel's inhabitants in several places and saw the burning part of the village. This attack surprised the Ukrainians who were tormenting the inhabitants of Radomel and caused panic in the rear attacking Janówka”.
K. Doliński: „About 12 o'clock we started to attack, and from Zasmyk to the side along the entire length we started an attack from Zasmyk. and Zasyczanie were not only seasoned in battle, but they went to help their neighbors and relatives living in Janówka. Bolek Gissyng, a nice and cheerful boy, was moving forward, because his girlfriend lived here, almost fiancée Lodzia Czechowska, a beautiful girl. and he died almost near her house, mowed with a burst from a Ukrainian automaton. The counterattack of the Poles turned out to be very effective”.
K. Doliński: „The Banderites started to retreat quickly, burning everything. They burnt half of Janówka. Part of the lake was taken by Zasmyki, and the Bandera followers fled through the field. My fight ended in the buildings of Mazury by the lake. I was lying behind the pieces of wood into which the missile was hit, a canister fired from the windmill. I woke up in the hospital in Zasmyki at the farmer of Brzózka. I know from the stories that help from Kupiczów came when our people were already behind the lake”  […]
Bogusław Szarwiło: „Czesiek Lenkowski told me: In the fields of Batyn near Zadyby we caught up with a group of The Ukrainians pulling a sleigh on which the pope was sitting. Since the horses had been slaughtered beforehand while riding, Ukrainian peasants pulled the sledge. «Flaps and your Batiuszka» shouted at us from afar, thinking that we were bulwarks. On the sledge, boys from other villages found looted chasubles and one of them couldn't stand it, a burst hissed. The Polish rescue flew like a whirlwind through Batyn, Radomle, Zadyby and only stopped on the Turia River, through which the Ukrainian survivors crossed or crossed the buoy”  […]
F. Budzisz: „After returning to Zasmyki, I ran to the church square where they were brought murdered and fallen. Several dozen bodies were already lying on the bloodied snow. People walked by, recognizing dead relatives and friends. Others knelt or sat next to the bodies in the snow, mourning their death. I remember four bodies lying side by side with their heads covered. They were two, maybe ten–year–old girls, their mother and grandmother, who was said to have come to them for Christmas. During the escape, Grandma was injured – a rifle bullet shattered her knee. She begged her granddaughters and their mother to escape, but they did not want to part with their grandmother. The Banderites caught up with them in the field and, saving their ammunition, smashed their heads. Kolbami”  […]
J. Gruszka: „This cruel havoc that the Bandera followers caused in our family was unbearable. Seven coffins, sick, wounded, we lost everything. We stayed in what was on us. Only my brother–in–law Piotr Szewczyk survived the bullets, and so did I. Funeral – two daughters of my parents, Wanda Raczyńska–Szewczyk from 1922, 21, Czesława Raczyńska from 1930, 12, Wiktoria Raczyńska, 74, Helena Wałęga, 40, Józefa Wałęga, 16, antoni Wałęga, 7 years old, Stefania Wałęga, 9 years old and Krystyna Dobrowolska, my second grandmother. These are the victims of my family, killed by the furious UPA gangs on December 25, 1943, Christmas Day in Radomel, Volhynia”.
A. Mariański: „The attackers did not get to Zasmyki. In these three villages, they managed to murder 57 people, mainly children, mothers and elderly”.
B. Szarwiło: „There were probably about two thousand The Ukrainians attacking us, including over ten sotni of trained soldiers, not ruled out by the Germans, it was indicated by both weapons and uniforms. It was a holiday that cannot be forgotten. The day after the holidays, 48 coffins from Janówka and Radom were laid to rest in the frozen land of Volhynia. Seven partisans were killed, Stanisław Grochowski, Stefan Dulba, Bolesław Gissyng, the rest I did not know. My wife's brother also died, antoni Romankiewicz actually after the battle. Four were injured, Bonek Sakowicz, antoni Kwiatkowski and two young boys (including Kazimierz Doliński – ed.). It was proof that «Rudyj» didn't forget about us. L. Karłowicz; The news that reached Kupiczów spoke of a huge number of The Ukrainians who had committed the attack. Supposedly, they dragged like the proverbial locusts  […] I was wondering, and not only me – why did the command of our group, which was then serious at that time, left those villages; Batyń, Janówka, Stanisławówka, Radomle almost without defense, almost at the mercy of fate? Sixteen boys in the crew of Radomel, about thirty in Janówka and Stanisławówka, a small branch of «Malinowski», quartered in the vicinity of Lublatyn. And it was not an ordinary attack of «czerń» [«blackies»] marching with a priest (pop) in front as someone wrote somewhere, it was a military action of the UPA. among the attacked villages there was no Lublatyn (Turzysk district), from which first aid came for the attacked Radomel. This error is repeated many times by those who did not explore the topic, but only limited themselves to the «online rule copy paste». Radomle, Batyń, Janówka, Stanisławówka and Zasmyki, the villages of the Kovel poviat, the commune of Lubitów were attacked by a selected UPA on December 25, 1943 in order to finally destroy and thus implement the order of «Ktym Sawur» issued in June of the same year”. .

source: Żurek Stanisław, „75th anniversary of the genocide – December 1943”; in: portal: Volhynia — web page: wolyn.org [accessible: 2021.02.04]

source: Szarwiło Bogusław, „«Bloody Jołka» for Radomel, Batyn, Janówka, Stanisławówka and Zasmyk”; in: „Borderlands Information Service”, in: No. 55

In Volhynia, there were 9 partisan units of the Home Army:
1. Division „Suns” (then „Blood Moon”). – had 107 partisans, he was in Przebraż. On November 6, 1943, the commander of Sec. Jan Rerutko „Drzazga” was murdered by Soviet partisans. On November 10, Lt. Sigismud Kulczycki „Olgierd” became the commander, the unit increased to 170 partisans and moved to Pańska Dolina.
2. Branch „Jastrząb” – consisted of about 150 partisans and operated in the area of the village of Zasmyki – Kupiczów.
3rd Unit „Sokol” – consisted of about 120 partisans and operated together with „Jastrzębie”.
4. Unit „Cord” – consisted of about 80 partisans and operated in the area of the village of Rymacze – Jagodzin.
5. Detachment of „Peter” – had about 80 partisans and operated in the area of the village of Spaszczyzna – Bielin.
6. Unit „Bomba”, „Wujek” – had about 500 partisans and operated in the village of Stara Huta.
7. Unit „Gzyms” – consisted of about 80 partisans and operated in the area of the village of Stójło – Witoldówka.
8. „Strzemien” unit – had about 100 partisans and was active in the village of Rudnia Lwa, at the end of 1943 it merged with „Bomba” unit.
9. „Ryszard”'s unit – consisted of about 80 partisans and operated in the area of the village of Lubomirka – Klewan.
The troops totaled about 1,200 partisans, Polish self–defense in Volhynia had about 3,600 poorly armed people. UPA units numbered over 30,000 armed shooters.

source: Żurek Stanisław, „75th anniversary of genocide – November and fall of 1943”; in: portal: Volhynia — web page: wolyn.org [accessible: 2021.02.04]

After almost 70 years, Maguza is able to recite a list of relatives who died in Volhynia. It is long, it contains several dozen names. The second grandfather, Ignacy Girgilewicz, the godparents hacked with an ax and their three children thrown into the well are shot there. The youngest victim is only a few months old".The child was ripped open and placed on the table in a derision to Lachom.

source: Żurek Stanisław, „Calendar of the genocide – January 1944”; in: portal: Volhynia — web page: wolyn.org [accessible: 2021.02.04]