Chodaczkow Wielki massacre
Encyclopedia
Velykyi Khodachkiv - a selo in the Kozivskyi Raion
, Ternopil oblast
, Ukraine
. It lies on the banks of the Rudka
river, on the rail line from Ternopil
to Rohatyn
. The population is 1394 people (2003 census).
From 1944-46 210 Ukrainian families from Poland
were resettled there.
According to some Polish sources an ethnic cleaning operation called the Chodaczkow Wielki massacre (Chodaczkow Wielki is Polish for Velykyi Khodachkiv) took place there during World War II
. According to Polish historian, Grzegorz Hryciuk on April 16, 1944, the village have been destroyed by the Ukrainian 4th SS Police Regiment. The estimates of victims range from 250 to 854. One former Polish resident of Chodaczkow Wielki mentions that the Ukrainians told them to leave but did not mention any Poles being massacred or killed and did not mention the involvement of Ukrainian soldiers. Chodaczkow Wielki massacre is alleged to have been one of the biggest massacres of Poles in the region of Eastern Galicia.
Poles who escaped the massacre buried the dead in a communal grave, in front of the local Roman Catholic church. After the World War II
, Polish survivors were forced to leave the village, deported by the Soviet authorities to new communist Poland
. They settled as a group around Gogolin
and Niemodlin
in the Opole Voivodeship
.
However, Soviet sources state that the village was the site of heavy fighting between Soviet Army
and Wehrmacht
precisely on the very same date of the alleged massacre.
Kozivskyi Raion
Kozova Raion is district in Ternopilska oblast of western Ukraine. The adiministrative center is the town of Kozova. Its area is 694 km².-Population:...
, Ternopil oblast
Ternopil Oblast
Ternopil Oblast is an oblast' of Ukraine. Its administrative center is Ternopil, through which flows the Seret River, a tributary of the Dnister.-Geography:...
, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
. It lies on the banks of the Rudka
Rudka
Rudka may refer to the following places:In the Czech Republic:*Rudka In Poland:*In Greater Poland Voivodeship #Rudka, Czarnków-Trzcianka County#Rudka, Szamotuły County...
river, on the rail line from Ternopil
Ternopil
Ternopil , is a city in western Ukraine, located on the banks of the Seret River. Ternopil is one of the major cities of Western Ukraine and the historical region of Galicia...
to Rohatyn
Rohatyn
Rohatyn is a city located on the Hnyla Lypa River in the Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, in western Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Rohatyn Raion .The current estimated population is around 8,800 .-History:...
. The population is 1394 people (2003 census).
History
The fist mentions of the village date back to 1758. On April 15, 1944 the Nazis killed 365 villagers, and almost totally razed the village. Of the 710 houses in the village only 30 were left standing.From 1944-46 210 Ukrainian families from Poland
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...
were resettled there.
According to some Polish sources an ethnic cleaning operation called the Chodaczkow Wielki massacre (Chodaczkow Wielki is Polish for Velykyi Khodachkiv) took place there during 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...
. According to Polish historian, Grzegorz Hryciuk on April 16, 1944, the village have been destroyed by the Ukrainian 4th SS Police Regiment. The estimates of victims range from 250 to 854. One former Polish resident of Chodaczkow Wielki mentions that the Ukrainians told them to leave but did not mention any Poles being massacred or killed and did not mention the involvement of Ukrainian soldiers. Chodaczkow Wielki massacre is alleged to have been one of the biggest massacres of Poles in the region of Eastern Galicia.
Poles who escaped the massacre buried the dead in a communal grave, in front of the local Roman Catholic church. After 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...
, Polish survivors were forced to leave the village, deported by the Soviet authorities to new communist Poland
People's Republic of Poland
The People's Republic of Poland was the official name of Poland from 1952 to 1990. Although the Soviet Union took control of the country immediately after the liberation from Nazi Germany in 1944, the name of the state was not changed until eight years later...
. They settled as a group around Gogolin
Gogolin
Gogolin is a town in Poland, in Opole Voivodeship, in Krapkowice County. It has 6,116 inhabitants .-External links:*...
and 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 the 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 :...
.
However, Soviet sources state that the village was the site of heavy fighting between Soviet Army
Soviet Army
The Soviet Army is the name given to the main part of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union between 1946 and 1992. Previously, it had been known as the Red Army. Informally, Армия referred to all the MOD armed forces, except, in some cases, the Soviet Navy.This article covers the Soviet Ground...
and Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
precisely on the very same date of the alleged massacre.
See also
- Massacres of Poles in VolhyniaMassacres of Poles in VolhyniaThe 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...
- Huta Pieniacka massacreHuta Pieniacka massacreThe Huta Pieniacka massacre was a punitive military operation against the inhabitants of the ethnically Polish village Huta Pieniacka, located in western Ukraine, which took place on February 28, 1944. Estimates of the number of victims range from 500 to 1,200.Polish and Ukrainian historians...
- Pidkamin massacrePidkamin massacreThe Pidkamin massacre 12 March 1944 was the massacre of Polish civilians committed by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army under the command of Maksym Skorupsky , in cooperation with a unit of the SS Freiwilligen Division "Galizien"...
Sources
- War crimes of Ukrainian soldiers SS-Galizien
- Memoirs of Teofila Kolodenna, born in 1929 in Chodaczkow Wielki
- Table with number of victims in Tarnopol poviat
External links
- Chodaczków w Słowniku geograficznym Królestwa Polskiego
- Великий Ходачків