Dominopol (russian: Доминополь; uk, Домінопіль) is a defunct village located in the present-day area of Volodymyr-Volynskyi Raion of

Volyn Oblast Volyn Oblast ( uk, Воли́нська о́бласть, translit=Volýnsʹka óblastʹ; also referred to as Volyn or Lodomeria) is an oblast (province) in northwestern Ukraine. Its administrative centre is Lutsk. Kovel is the westernmost town an ...

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 ...

. On July 11, 1943, at the height of the

Massacres of Poles in Volhynia The massacres of Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia ( pl, rzeź wołyńska, lit=Volhynian slaughter; uk, Волинська трагедія, lit=Volyn tragedy, translit=Volynska trahediia), were carried out in German-occupied Poland by the ...

, the village was attacked by a

death squad A death squad is an armed group whose primary activity is carrying out extrajudicial killings or forced disappearances as part of political repression, genocide, ethnic cleansing, or revolutionary terror. Except in rare cases in which they are ...

Ukrainian Insurgent Army The Ukrainian Insurgent Army ( uk, Українська повстанська армія, УПА, translit=Ukrayins'ka povstans'ka armiia, abbreviated UPA) was a Ukrainian nationalist paramilitary and later partisan formation. During World ...

aided by the Ukrainian peasants, and all ethnic Poles regardless of age and gender were tortured and murdered. Before World War II, Dominopol was a village in the Eastern regions of the

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 1918 and 1939. The state was established on 6 November 1918, before the end of ...

, located in the

Gmina The gmina (Polish: , plural ''gminy'' , from German ''Gemeinde'' meaning ''commune'') is the principal unit of the administrative division of Poland, similar to a municipality. , there were 2,477 gminas throughout the country, encompassing over 4 ...

Werba,

Powiat A ''powiat'' (pronounced ; Polish plural: ''powiaty'') is the second-level unit of local government and administration in Poland, equivalent to a county, district or prefecture ( LAU-1, formerly NUTS-4) in other countries. The term "''powia ...

Włodzimierz of the Wołyń Voivodeship. The area was invaded by the Soviet Union in 1939 and during

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after ...

annexed by Nazi Germany into ''

Reichskommissariat Ukraine During World War II, (abbreviated as RKU) was the civilian occupation regime () of much of Nazi German-occupied Ukraine (which included adjacent areas of modern-day Belarus and pre-war Second Polish Republic). It was governed by the Reich Min ...

'' in 1941.

The massacre

The politics Poland pursued during 1920 to 1939 towards locals, by destroying Ukrainian churches, promoting Polish language politics and giving land to Polish peasants, so that the local people had to scrum to survive. The Dominopol massacre was unique in that it was preceded by the forest execution of several dozen young Polish partisans (15 to 20-years-old) trained by the former Polish Army officers including Stanisław Dąbrowski, who were tricked into believing in the joint Polish-Ukrainian resistance under the umbrella of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA). Most civilian victims in Dominopol were killed by axes and knives. Their number remains the subject of debate. Some sources estimate that approximately 60 Polish families have been murdered in the village by the Ukrainian nationalists, which is around 490 people including children. Other sources put the number of victims at 220–250 based on existing documentation.Ministerstwo Spraw Zagranicznych Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej (2005)
Dominopol – Obwód równieński.
Cmentarze polskie na terenie łuckiego okręgu konsularnego. Internet Archive. Afterwards, possessions of murdered Poles were looted by Ukrainian peasants who also participated in the massacre, and the village was burned. In 2002, due to efforts of ''Association of Poles Murdered in the East'' from

Zamość Zamość (; yi, זאמאשטש, Zamoshtsh; la, Zamoscia) is a historical city in southeastern Poland. It is situated in the southern part of Lublin Voivodeship, about from Lublin, from Warsaw. In 2021, the population of Zamość was 62,021. ...

, a commemorative cross was erected where once Dominopol was.Stowarzyszenie Upamiętnienia Polaków Pomordowanych na Wołyniu (September 2009)
Kresy.pl w Zamościu.
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References

{{Massacres of Poles 1943 crimes in Poland Massacres in 1943 World War II crimes in Poland Massacres in Ukraine Massacres of Poles in Volhynia War crimes committed by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army July 1943 events pl:Zbrodnie w Dominopolu

The massacre

See also

References