__NOTOC__ Gmina Besko is a rural gmina (administrative district) in

Sanok County __NOTOC__ Sanok County ( pl, powiat sanocki) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Subcarpathian Voivodeship, south-eastern Poland, on the Slovak border. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the ...

Subcarpathian Voivodeship Subcarpathian Voivodeship or Subcarpathia Province (in pl, Województwo podkarpackie ) is a voivodeship, or province, in the southeastern corner of Poland. Its administrative capital and largest city is Rzeszów. Along with the Marshall, it i ...

, in south-eastern

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

. Its seat is the village of Besko, which lies approximately west of

Sanok Sanok (in full the Royal Free City of Sanok — pl, Królewskie Wolne Miasto Sanok, rue, Санок, ''Sanok'', ua, Cянік, ''Sianik'', la, Sanocum, yi, סאניק, ''Sonik'') is a town in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship of south-eastern ...

and south of the regional capital

Rzeszów Rzeszów ( , ; la, Resovia; yi, ריישא ''Raisha'')) is the largest city in southeastern Poland. It is located on both sides of the Wisłok River in the heartland of the Sandomierz Basin. Rzeszów has been the capital of the Subcarpathian ...

. The gmina also contains the villages of Mymoń and Poręby. The gmina covers an area of , and as of 2006 its total population is 4,242. Ethnic groups in the region include

Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in C ...

and Pogorzans.

Neighbouring gminas

Gmina Besko is bordered by the gminas of Haczów, Rymanów and Zarszyn.

Massacre during Second World War

During the German

Invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week aft ...

in 1939, German forces on 11 September murdered 21 villagers. The victims include Poles and Ukrainians, one woman, and a priest.Szymon Datner "55 dni Wehrmachtu w Polsce" page 355

References

{{Sanok County Besko Sanok County Massacres in Poland Germany–Poland relations World War II crimes in Poland