Pavlivka (, formerly Poryck, ) is a town now located in northwestern

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

, in Volodymyr Raion of

Volyn Oblast Volyn Oblast () or simply Volyn (), is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) in northwestern Ukraine. It borders Rivne Oblast to the east, Lviv Oblast to the south, Poland to the west and Belarus to the north. Its Capital city ...

, near

Volodymyr Volodymyr (, ; ) is a Ukrainian given name of Old East Slavic origin. The related Ancient Slavic, such as Czech, Russian, Serbian, Croatian, etc. form of the name is Володимѣръ ''Volodiměr'', which in other Slavic languages became Vladimi ...

, on the

Luha The Luha (, ) is a river in Ukraine and a right tributary of the Bug. Its source is located near the village of Kolpytiv in the Horokhiv Upland. In its upper reaches, the Luha runs mainly in a western, northwestern direction, and later northwar ...

river. For centuries, Poryck was property of several noble Polish families. The town is the birthplace of a Polish statesman Tadeusz Czacki (born 1765). On 11 July 1943, the

Ukrainian Insurgent Army The Ukrainian Insurgent Army (, abbreviated UPA) was a Ukrainian nationalist partisan formation founded by the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) on 14 October 1942. The UPA launched guerrilla warfare against Nazi Germany, the S ...

, supported by local nationalists murdered here more than 300 Polish civilians, who had gathered in a local Roman Catholic church for a Sunday ceremony (see also the

Volhynian Genocide The Massacres of Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia (; ) were carried out in German-occupied Poland by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), with the support of parts of the local Ukrainian population, against the Polish minority in Volhyni ...

History

Poryck was first mentioned in the first half of the 15th century. In 1557 the town burned in a fire, and King

Zygmunt August Sigismund II Augustus (, ; 1 August 1520 – 7 July 1572) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, the son of Sigismund I the Old, whom Sigismund II succeeded in 1548. He was the first ruler of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and ...

allowed its owner, Aleksander Porycki to exempt residents from taxes for the period of 10 years. Poryck belonged to several

szlachta The ''szlachta'' (; ; ) were the nobility, noble estate of the realm in the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Depending on the definition, they were either a warrior "caste" or a social ...

families, including the

Koniecpolski The House of Koniecpolski (plural: Koniecpolscy) is the name of an old and once powerful Polish noble family. History The Koniecpolski was a magnate family. The family appears in the historical annals beginning in the 15th century. The family ...

and Czacki families. In 1806, Tadeusz Czacki built here two

empire style The Empire style (, ''style Empire'') is an early-nineteenth-century design movement in architecture, furniture, other decorative arts, and the visual arts, representing the second phase of Neoclassicism. It flourished between 1800 and 1815 duri ...

palaces. Located at the lake, one palace housed a large library (the so-called Poryck Library), in which a number of Polish national treasures was kept. Also, Czacki had a rare collection of fine china. Second palace served as a family residence. In 1816, Poryck was visited by

Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz ( , ; 6 February 1758 – 21 May 1841) was a Polish poet, playwright and statesman. He was a leading advocate for the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth's Constitution of 3 May 1791. Early life and education Julian Ursyn Ni ...

, who described his stay here in his “Historic Travels”.A. Mielcarek, T. Brożbar (2003)
KOWEL - WŁODZIMIERZ - PORYCK
''Ilustrowany przewodnik po Wołyniu''. During the

November Uprising The November Uprising (1830–31) (), also known as the Polish–Russian War 1830–31 or the Cadet Revolution, was an armed rebellion in Russian Partition, the heartland of Partitions of Poland, partitioned Poland against the Russian Empire. ...

, Poryck was one of targets of General Jozef Dwernicki's raid over Volhynia, Podolia and Ukraine. On 11 April 1831, a Polish-Russian battle took place here. After a Polish victory, Dwernicki issued an appeal to the local residents, urging them to join the rebellion. In 1916, during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, the library was ransacked, and the china collection was destroyed, together with Czacki family archive. The residence was burned down, and what remained of the library was transported to Pulawy.

Poryck 1943 massacre of Poles

In the

interbellum In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...

period (1918–39) Poryck belonged to

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. It was a town in the Wołyń Voivodeship inhabited by almost 2000 people, half of whom were Jewish and the remaining part mostly Polish and Ukrainian. The residents had lived peacefully together for the most part. At the beginning of WW2 in this region, the Soviet authorities deported primarily political figures as well as all Polish officials, civil servants, police, and Polish citizens who had fled from the Germans. The exact number of Poles deported to Siberia or Central Asia between 1939 and 1941 remains unknown, and has been estimated at from under 500,000 to over 1,500,000. Additionally, tens of thousands of German-speaking people from Volhynia were also moved to German-controlled territory. (

Soviet annexation of Eastern Galicia and Volhynia On the basis of a secret clause of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, the Soviet Union invaded Poland on September 17, 1939, capturing the eastern provinces of the Second Polish Republic. Lwów (present-day Lviv), the capital of the Lwów Voivodeshi ...

) After Hitler's attack on the Soviet Union in 1941, both the Polish government-in-exile and the Ukrainian OUN-B considered the possibility that in the event of mutually exhaustive attrition warfare between Germany and the Soviet Union, the region would become a scene of conflict between Poles and Ukrainians. The Polish government-in-exile, which wanted the region to return to Poland, planned for a swift armed takeover of the territory, as part of its overall plan for a future anti-German uprising. That view was compounded by OUN's prior collaboration with the Nazis and so by 1943, no understanding between the Polish Home Army and the OUN was possible. ( Massacres in Volhynia) On 11 July 1943, units of the

and OUN nationalists took first steps and murdered Polish inhabitants of the town. Most people were killed during a ceremony in a local Roman Catholic church. The Ukrainian sotnia of 20 men surrounded and entered the church filled with people. They threw grenades at the faithful most of whom were women and children. Then they shot at them with machine guns and finally set fire to the church with survivors in hiding. Altogether 300 persons were murdered. Later on, Ukrainian nationalists burned what remained of the Czacki palace. Their plan did not succeed, as the town was captured by Soviet

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

on 18 July 1944. On the 60th anniversary of the massacre, Presidents

Aleksander Kwaśniewski Aleksander Kwaśniewski (; born 15 November 1954) is a Polish politician and journalist. He served the maximum two terms as the president of Poland from 1995 to 2005. His tenure as President was marked by modernization of Poland, rapid economi ...

of Poland and

Leonid Kuchma Leonid Danylovych Kuchma (, ; born 9 August 1938) is a Ukrainian politician who was the second president of Ukraine, serving from 19 July 1994 to 23 January 2005. The only president of Ukraine to serve two terms, his presidency was marked by demo ...

of Ukraine unveiled a monument commemorating the event. Both presidents called for forgiveness and reconciliation, with Kuchma saying "''In this place where Polish victims rest, on behalf of all Ukrainians who want peace and justice, I wish to express my deep sympathy to all the wronged Poles, all those who suffered as a result of this disaster. We issue a strong condemnation of the violence committed against the Polish civilian population."'' — Pavlivka Krzysztof Renik
Road to Reconciliation.
Pavlivka, Ukraine.

Notes

References

* Zygmunt Stanski, Witold Stanski. "PORYCK miasteczko kresowe symbol tragedii Polakow na Wolyniu". Wydawnictwo A. Marszalek 2005; . * Wladyslaw Siemaszko, Ewa Siemaszko. "Ludobojstwo dokonane przez nacjonalistow ukrainskich na ludnosci polskiej Wolynia 1939-1945, Wydane przy pomocy finansowej Kancelarii Prezydenta Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej", Warszawa 2000;. * Grzegorz Motyka. "Ukrainska partyzantka 1942-1960". Rytm Oficyna Wydawnicza. Warszawa. 2006; .
Poryck
in the

Geographical Dictionary of the Kingdom of Poland The Geographical Dictionary of the Kingdom of Poland and other Slavic Countries () is a monumental Polish gazetteer, published 1880–1902 in Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns ...

(1887)
Poryck
in the

(1902)

History

Poryck 1943 massacre of Poles

See also

Notes

References

External links