Dem'ianiv Laz ( uk, Дем'янів Лаз, pl, Demianów Łaz)Robert Nodzewski
"Demianów Łaz"
''IV Rozbiór Polski'', 1939. Retrieved 1 December 2014. is a mass burial site of victims of the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

extrajudicial killings committed following the

Soviet invasion of Poland The Soviet invasion of Poland was a military operation by the Soviet Union without a formal declaration of war. On 17 September 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east, 16 days after Nazi Germany invaded Poland from the west. Subse ...

near Stanisławów (modern Ivano-Frankivsk,

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

). At least 524 captives (including 150 women with dozens of children) were shot by the

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (russian: Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних дел, Naródnyy komissariát vnútrennikh del, ), abbreviated NKVD ( ), was the interior ministry of the Soviet Union. ...

and buried in several mass graves dug by the prisoners themselves in a small gorge outside of the city.

Killings

The

mass murder Mass murder is the act of murdering a number of people, typically simultaneously or over a relatively short period of time and in close geographic proximity. The United States Congress defines mass killings as the killings of three or more pe ...

site was located in the vicinity of a small village called Pasieczna in Soviet-occupied Poland, in a gorge called Demianów Łaz at the outskirts of Stanisławów (Ivano-Frankivsk since 1962). Some of the earlier victims were killed in the infamous

prison in Stanisławów; others were brought to the site ahead of time in order to dig mass graves prior to their own execution. Among those executed, a majority were of Ukrainian origin and locals of the area and the horrors of these mass executions are still present in the minds of the Nation today. The mass graves of the Germans and the Soviets were in close proximity to each other in Dem'ianiv Laz. The excavators were able to identify who was responsible for each mass grave by the weapons used on the people and the markings they left behind on the remnants. The excavation of the bodies showed that the people were not only executed, but tortured before death. Both parties targeted a similar group of people: the educated (and their families), the rebellious, Jewish, homosexuals, and the disabled. The site is marked by a church where mass regularly takes place. Below the Church is a museum where visitors are able to learn more about the history of the site and the people affected.

Cover up

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

the grave site was first discovered by the German forces. After the war, in the 1960s the Soviet authorities tried to bulldoze the area in order to cover all traces of the crime. In 1970, following the

Radio Liberty Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

broadcast about Dem'ianiv Laz, the site's landscape was changed by heavy machinery to hinder any future attempts to excavate it. The cover-up continued almost until the end of the Soviet Union, as in 1984 and 1985 the site was further covered with rubble and debris of several demolished buildings. Despite these efforts, in 1989 remains of more than 500 men, women and children were uncovered during excavation performed by a local branch of the

Memorial A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects or works of a ...

society. Only 22 victims were identified by name and all were Polish citizens of either Polish or Ukrainian ethnicity. The memorial complex "Dem'ianiv Laz" was opened near the excavation site in 1998. After the invasion in 1941, the German authorities under ''SS''-''

Hauptsturmführer __NOTOC__ (, ; short: ''Hstuf'') was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that was used in several Nazi organizations such as the SS, NSKK and the NSFK. The rank of ''Hauptsturmführer'' was a mid-level commander and had equivalent seniority to a ...

Hans Krueger Hans Krueger (also spelled Krüger) (1 July 1909 – 8 February 1988) was a German captain of the Gestapo in occupied Poland during World War II, involved in organizing the string of massacres after the commencement of Operation Barbarossa behind ...

perpetrated another ''Aktion'' against Polish intelligentsia called the Czarny Las Massacre. It was committed near the village of Pawełcze (''Pawelce'') several km away.Tadeusz Kamiński,
Tajemnica Czarnego Lasu
' (The Black Forest Secret, Internet Archive). Publisher: ''Cracovia Leopolis'',

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

, 2000. Book excerpts.

Notes

References

Dem'ianiv Laz. Age and number of victims found in separate burial places.Мемориальный комплекс «Демьянов Лаз» : г. Ивано-Франковск, урочище Демьянов Лаз
УКРАИНА : Памятники и памятные знаки жертвам политических репрессий на территории бывшего СССР :: База данных :: Программа Память о бесправии :: Сахаровский центр. (Russian)

(Russian)

(Ukrainian) {{Authority control NKVD Political repression in the Soviet Union Massacres committed by the Soviet Union Soviet World War II crimes Mass graves in Ukraine Mass murder in 1941 Massacres in Poland Massacres in Ukraine Massacres in the Soviet Union Buildings and structures in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast Memorials to victims of communism

Killings

Cover up

See also

Notes

References