Kolky (), also Kolki (; ; ; ), is a

rural settlement The definition of a rural settlement depends on the country, in some countries, a rural settlement is any settlement in the areas defined as rural by a governmental office, e.g., by the national census bureau. This may include even rural towns. ...

Lutsk Raion Lutsk Raion () is a raion (district) in Volyn Oblast in western Ukraine. Its administrative center is the city of Lutsk Lutsk (, ; see #Names and etymology, below for other names) is a city on the Styr River in northwestern Ukraine. It is the ...

Volyn Oblast Volyn Oblast () or simply Volyn (), is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) in northwestern Ukraine. It borders Rivne Oblast to the east, Lviv Oblast to the south, Poland to the west and Belarus to the north. Its Capital city ...

, western

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. It is located in the historic region of

Volhynia Volhynia or Volynia ( ; see #Names and etymology, below) is a historic region in Central and Eastern Europe, between southeastern Poland, southwestern Belarus, and northwestern Ukraine. The borders of the region are not clearly defined, but in ...

. Kolky has a population of Kolky is located on the confluence of the

Styr The Styr (; ; ) is a right tributary of the Pripyat, with a length of . Its basin area is and located in the historical region of Volhynia. The Styr begins near Brody, Lviv Oblast, then flows into Rivne Oblast, Volyn Oblast, then into Brest ...

and Rudka rivers, 51 kilometres north-east of

Lutsk Lutsk (, ; see #Names and etymology, below for other names) is a city on the Styr River in northwestern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of Volyn Oblast and the administrative center of Lutsk Raion within the oblast. Lutsk has a populati ...

History

First time mentioned in 1545. The place has the urban-type settlement status since 1940. The Jewish population was important before World War II, around a third of the total population (724 members in 1921, 860 in 1937). The German army occupied the city at the end of 1941. 50 Jews were murdered by the Ukrainian police during the summer of 1941. In October 1941, Jews were forced to live in a

ghetto A ghetto is a part of a city in which members of a minority group are concentrated, especially as a result of political, social, legal, religious, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished than other ...

. In July 1942, the Jewish population was massacred by an

Einsatzgruppen (, ; also 'task forces') were (SS) paramilitary death squads of Nazi Germany that were responsible for mass murder, primarily by shooting, during World War II (1939–1945) in German-occupied Europe. The had an integral role in the imp ...

of Germans, members of

Sicherheitsdienst ' (, "Security Service"), full title ' ("Security Service of the ''Reichsführer-SS''"), or SD, was the intelligence agency of the Schutzstaffel, SS and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. Established in 1931, the SD was the first Nazi intelligence ...

and Gendarmerie and by Ukrainians, members of the local police. The Kolky Republic, a wartime state, was organized in Kolky by Ukrainian partisans during the Second World War. Kolky Republic had its own currency, the Bofon, and public services and lasted from May to November 1943. The

Ukrainian Insurgent Army The Ukrainian Insurgent Army (, abbreviated UPA) was a Ukrainian nationalist partisan formation founded by the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) on 14 October 1942. The UPA launched guerrilla warfare against Nazi Germany, the S ...

, which liberated the town from German troops, defended the local population from the Russian and German occupiers for more than six months. After several unsuccessful attempts to capture the town, the occupiers managed to do so by joint efforts. On 3-4 November, the

Soviet army The Soviet Ground Forces () was the land warfare service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces from 1946 to 1992. It was preceded by the Red Army. After the Soviet Union ceased to exist in December 1991, the Ground Forces remained under th ...

launched an offensive against the town from the Tsuman forests. On 4 November, five planes arrived and bombed the settlement to the ground. More than five hundred residents were killed. The Polish

Armia Krajowa The Home Army (, ; abbreviated AK) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) established in the ...

also assisted the German and Soviet forces in this massacre. The

heraldry Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, Imperial, royal and noble ranks, rank and genealo ...

and the

gonfalon The gonfalon, gonfanon, gonfalone (from the early Italian ''confalone'') is a type of heraldic flag or banner, often pointed, swallow-tailed, or with several streamers, and suspended from a crossbar in an identical manner to the ancient Roman v ...

are adopted in 1997. The bell is a symbol of the defensive role of the city throughout history. The

linaceae Linaceae is a family of flowering plants. The family is cosmopolitan, and includes about 250 species in 14 genera, classified into two subfamilies: the Linoideae and Hugonioideae. Description The leaves of the Linaceae are always simple; arran ...

is a local resource. Until 26 January 2024, Kolky was designated

urban-type settlement Urban-type settlement, abbreviated: ; , abbreviated: ; ; ; ; . is an official designation for lesser urbanized settlements, used in several Central and Eastern Europe, Central and Eastern European countries. The term was primarily used in the So ...

. On this day, a new law entered into force which abolished this status, and Kolky became a rural settlement.

Notable people

* Tadeusz Piotrowski, Polish mountaineer, was born in Kolki * Family of Esther Safran Foer, writer and mother of

Jonathan Safran Foer Jonathan Safran Foer (; born February 21, 1977) is an American novelist. He is known for his novels '' Everything Is Illuminated'' (2002), '' Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close'' (2005), '' Here I Am'' (2016), and for his non-fiction works '' Eat ...

References

External links

*
Official website
*
Topographic map
*
Road map
* {{Authority control Rural settlements in Lutsk Raion Lutsky Uyezd Holocaust locations in Ukraine

History

Notable people

See also

References

External links