Starobilsk
Encyclopedia
Starobilsk is a town near Luhansk
in Ukraine
. The settlement has been known since 1686. The city status was given in 1938. Population is 22,040 (2006).
During World War II
, it was the site of a Soviet
prison camp for Polish
prisoners of war
(POWs), especially officers. 48 of them died in the camp and were buried in Chmirov cemetery. A very large proportion of the prisoners from the camp were massacred during the Katyn massacre
in the Kharkiv
NKVD building, later buried in Pyatykhatky
forest.
Luhansk
Luhansk also known as Lugansk is a city in southeastern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Luhansk Oblast . The city itself is also designated as its own separate municipality within the oblast...
in 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...
. The settlement has been known since 1686. The city status was given in 1938. Population is 22,040 (2006).
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...
, it was the site of a Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
prison camp for Polish
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...
prisoners of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
(POWs), especially officers. 48 of them died in the camp and were buried in Chmirov cemetery. A very large proportion of the prisoners from the camp were massacred during the Katyn massacre
Katyn massacre
The Katyn massacre, also known as the Katyn Forest massacre , was a mass execution of Polish nationals carried out by the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs , the Soviet secret police, in April and May 1940. The massacre was prompted by Lavrentiy Beria's proposal to execute all members of...
in the Kharkiv
Kharkiv
Kharkiv or Kharkov is the second-largest city in Ukraine.The city was founded in 1654 and was a major centre of Ukrainian culture in the Russian Empire. Kharkiv became the first city in Ukraine where the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed in December 1917 and Soviet government was...
NKVD building, later buried in Pyatykhatky
Piatykhatky, Kharkiv
Piatykhatky is a village on the outskirts of Kharkiv, Ukraine.On the territory of a pansionat for workers of the NKVD, children discovered hundreds of buttons of Polish officer uniforms that had risen to the surface. After investigation, a mass burial site was uncovered containing the remains of...
forest.