Fights for Pshebrazh

In the early spring of 1943, Ukrainian nationalists began mass ethnic cleansing in Volyn. The Polish population and the weak Volyn units of the Craiova Army were taken by surprise. However, soon afterwards, the Poles began to organize their own detachments in order to attack the Uplans in revenge. The Polish 27th Infantry Division of the Home Army was created from these units ^[1] .

When news of the massacres of the Poles spread throughout Volhynia, up to 28,000 Poles from neighboring villages and settlements came to Pjebrazh. The number of refugees grew day by day; several houses housed up to five families; others had to live in barns. A field hospital was organized, and since skirmishes with the guardians were frequent, beds were usually full.

In June 1943, Polish units from Pzhebrazh conducted reconnaissance in the area, telling all Poles to leave their homes and move to a fortified settlement. Unfortunately, not everyone agreed to move, and their reluctance later turned out to be fatal.

First UPA attack

On July 5, 1943, UPA units attempted to attack Pshezhrazh, burning nearby villages and killing their inhabitants. Then the line of defense was attacked in several places, and the battle lasted all night. The next day, July 6, it was as restless as the Upov units surrounded the village and attacked it from all sides. A few hours later they surrendered, 10 Poles died.

As soon as the rebels retreated, mounted scouts combed the area. They counted 550 killed Poles who refused to evacuate. Nearby villages, such as Maidan Yezersky, Dermanka, Budy, Guta and Dobra, were burned ^[2] .

Subsequent UPA Attacks

The second attack took place on July 12 , the UPA concentrated its forces in the village of Rafalovka. The Polish side managed to force the enemy to retreat, but that was not all. As Henryk Tsibulsky wrote in his memoirs, throughout the summer of 1943 the "War for the Grain" continued. The number of Poles in Pzežraž was too large, and his defenders understood that it was impossible to feed so many people. So, in April and July 1943, Polish peasants under the protection of AK patrols harvested, transported it to the village. UPA attacked the peasants, killing several ^[3] .

Another major attack took place on August 31, 1943 . Ukrainian rebels totaled about 10,000 people, including 4,000 people from the Lviv region and 5,000 local peasants armed with axes and scythes .. They developed a detailed plan of attack (code name "Kublo"), their headquarters was created in the village of Svozie ^[4] .

With the help of artillery, the UPA attacked from the south. The defenders of Pshezhrazh asked for help from the Soviet partisan detachment Nikolai Prokoplyuk. They joined the Poles. As a result, the UPA, attacked from the rear, retreated, losing more than 100 people and leaving a large number of weapons ^[5] .

UPA base raids

Self-defense forces launched counterattacks on UPA bases located in neighboring villages to prevent further attacks on Pjebrazh. On July 12, 1943, after the first attack on Pshebrazh, Henry Tsibulsky led 3 companies into a raid on the UPA base in the village of Trostyanets, 7 km to the north, destroying it and dispersing the UPA garrison. On August 2, 1943, as a result of the raid, the UPA base in Yaroml was destroyed, which was located 5 km to the north-east ^[6] .

At the end of September 1943, an AK unit of 100 people from Przhevraž with self-defense soldiers Rafalovka and Komarovek carried out a joint counterattack, which destroyed the UPA base in Kaučice, 8 km south of Pžebraž. On October 5, 1943, together with the Soviet partisans, a raid was carried out against the UPA training camp in Omelno. 300 Akovtsy and 150 Soviet took part in it. The camp was defeated, but the UPA lost only more than 10 people. A similar action was taken on the night of October 27-8, 1943, when a joint party with the partisans of Prokoplyuk attacked the Slovatits. The losses of the UPA amounted to several dozen people. 100 Uzbek collaborators from the German army, who served in the UPA forces, were captured and transferred to the Soviet partisans ^[7] .

On November 26, 1943, another raid against the UPA was launched in the Zhuravich area. He had a significant impact on the food supply in Prebarazh. After receiving intelligence reports that Ukrainian nationalists in Zhuravich kept more than 1000 requisitioned cattle, a large group of about 740 defenders of Pjebraž struck the village, capturing livestock and large quantities of flour and grain. On December 31, 1943, having received intelligence information about the upcoming attack on Pzhebrazh, the same unit ambushed a large UPA detachment, moving south along the road to Pshezhrazh. Caught by surprise, the UPA forces fled in disarray, suffering numerous losses ^[8] .