Battle of Ulhówek and Rzeczyca
| Battle of Ulhówek and Rzeczyca | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Polish–Ukrainian ethnic conflict during World War II | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
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Home Army Peasant Battalions |
Ukrainian Insurgent Army 1st Galician SS Luftwaffe | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Zenon Jachymek | Marian Łukasiewicz | ||||||||
| Units involved | |||||||||
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Operational Group “Łódź”
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| Strength | |||||||||
| 3,000 | Unknown | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
|
71 killed; 100 wounded[1][2][3] Heavy[3] | Unknown | ||||||||
| 93 Ukrainian civilians killed[4] | |||||||||
The Battle of Ulhówek and Rzeczyca (Polish: Bitwa pod Ulhówkiem i Rzeczycą, Ukrainian: Бої під Ульгувіком і Жечицею; 1–2 June 1944) was fought between the Military Inspectorate “Piotrków Trybunalski” and Military District “Tomaszów Mazowiecki” in the Operational Group “Łódź” of the Home Army and Peasant Battalions under the command of Zenon Jachymek against the 3rd Operational Group “Turiv” in the Northern Operational Group 6th Operational Group “Syan” in the Western Operational Group of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, Third Reich and 14th Grenadier Division of the Waffen–SS “Galicia” of the villages of Ulhówek and Rzeczyca in the Tomaszów County of the Lublin Voivodeship.[5]
Background
In March 1944 the Home Army and Peasant Battalions led by Zenon Jachymek and Stanisław Basaj started the largest anti-Ukrainian action of the Polish Underground State named the Hrubieszów revolution,[6] the result of the event was the killing of 1,969 Ukrainians, according to claims of the Ukrainian nationalists.[7]
On May 21 the UPA tried to attack Narol however the attack failed and UPA attackers had to go back to their positions.[8]
Offensive
Aftermath
As a result of the offensive, the armed units of the Home Army and Peasant Battalions didn’t achieve their military goals and could not break the strong defense of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army and retreated with heavy losses across the Huczwa River. The Polish AK partisans lost 71 killed and approximately 100 wounded.[2][3] Despite the failure of the offensive, it prevented the UPA from making any deep inroads into the Zamość County.[9]
Legacy
In the 50th anniversary of the battle a monument was built for the partisans of the Home Army and Peasant Battalions who took part in the battles from the 2nd to the 5th of April and the 2nd of June. the battle of Rzeczyca was added in 2017, along with 21 other places to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Warsaw.[10][11]
References
- ^ Motyka Grzegorz (2022). From the Volhynian Massacre to Operation Vistula. Brill U Schoningh. p. 197. ISBN 3506795376.
- ^ a b "72 Rocznica walk pod Posadowem, Rzeczycą i Żulicami" (in Polish). 2016-06-08.
- ^ a b c "Walki polsko- ukraińskie na wschodzie powiatu tomaszowskiego- " Bitwa o Ulhówek"" (PDF). p. 5.
- ^ Hałagida, Igor (2017). Ukraińskie straty osobowe w dystrykcie lubelskim (październik 1939-lipiec 1944). p. 387.
- ^ "Uroczystości patriotyczne w Posadowie" (in Polish). 2020-06-15.
W posadowskim lesie 2 czerwca 1944 roku miała miejsce największa na Zamojszczyźnie bitwa z wojskami Ukraińskiej Powstańczej Armii – armii, która zarówno przeważała liczebnie jak również była lepiej uzbrojona niż oddziały AK i BCh.
[In the Posadów forest on June 2, 1944, the largest battle in the Zamość region took place with the troops of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army - an army that was both numerically superior and better armed than the Home Army and BCh units.] - ^ Zajączkowski, Mariusz (2015). Ukraińskie podziemie na Lubelszczyźnie w okresie okupacji niemieckiej 1939-1944 (in Polish). Instytut Pamięci Narodowej--Komisja Ścigania Zbrodni przeciwko Narodowi Polskiemu. Oddział w Lublinie. p. 284. ISBN 978-83-7629-769-9.
- ^ Hałagida, Igor. "Ukraińskie straty osobowe w dystrykcie lubelskim (październik 1939-lipiec 1944) - wstępna analiza materiału statystycznego". Institute of National Remembrance: 385.
- ^ "Lubaczowskie struktury Związku Walki Zbrojnej / Armii Krajowej i ich udział w walkach o Narol w maju 1944 r. – Muzeum Kresów w Lubaczowie" (in Polish).
- ^ Żurek, Stanisław (2019-06-04). "KALENDARIUM LUDOBÓJSTWA. CZERWIEC 1944 ROK". Kresowy Serwis Informacyjny (in Polish).
- ^ "Polacy walczący z banderowcami upamiętnieni na Grobie Nieznanego Żołnierza". polska-zbrojna.pl (in Polish).
- ^ "Nowe tablice Macierewicza na Grobie Nieznanego Żołnierza. Poświęcone są walkom z OUN i UPA". Gazeta Wyborcza (in Polish).