Chodaczków Wielki massacre

The Chodaczków Wielki massacre (Polish: Zbrodnia w Chodaczkowie Wielkim) occurred on 16 April 1944 when 862 Poles were killed by the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Galician) in the village of Chodaczków Wielki in German occupied Poland (now Velykyi Khodachkiv, Ternopil Oblast, Ukraine.)[1]

Chodaczków Wielki massacre
Part of World War II
Monument in Gajków to the victims
Native nameZbrodnia w Chodaczkowie Wielkim
LocationChodaczków Wielki
DateApril 16, 1944
Attack type
arson attack
Weaponsgrenades, firearms
Deaths862
VictimsPolish villagers
Perpetrators14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Galician)

The massacre started when the perpetrators, a division composed of ethnic Ukrainian volunteers, arrived to the town of 2,800 people in order to turn the settlement into a base to supply reinforcements for the then-ongoing siege of Ternopil.[2] Once they entered, they began setting the houses of ethnic Poles on fire. Soldiers tossed grenades into burning houses and shot anyone who tried to flee.[3] The bodies of the victims were buried in a mass grave outside the local church.[2] An estimated 862 Poles were killed (including children and elderly),[4] making it one of the largest massacres of Poles.[5]: 15 [6]: 6 [7]

See also

References
  1. "Zapytanie nr 4641 - tekst - Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej". www.sejm.gov.pl. Retrieved 2022-05-11.
  2. "862 zamordowanych Polaków w Chodaczkowie Wielkim". Studio Wschód. 2016-04-17. Retrieved 2022-05-11.
  3. Redakcja (2022-04-15). "15 lub 16 kwietnia 1944 roku ukraińscy żołnierze z 4. Pułku Policyjnego SS dokonali masakry od 250 do 862 Polaków w miejscowości Chodaczków Wielki w dawnym województwie tarnopolskim » Historykon.pl". Historykon.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2022-05-11.
  4. "Chodaczków Wielki, Encyklopedia PWN: źródło wiarygodnej i rzetelnej wiedzy". encyklopedia.pwn.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2022-05-11.
  5. Naleźniak, Paweł (2013-12-30). "Genocide in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia 1943–1944". The Person and the Challenges. The Journal of Theology, Education, Canon Law and Social Studies Inspired by Pope John Paul II. 3 (2): 29. doi:10.15633/pch.493. ISSN 2391-6559.
  6. "Ludobójstwo nacjonalistów ukraińskich na Polakach na Lubelszczyźnie w latach 1939-1947 / Stanisław Jastrzębski. - Collections Search - United States Holocaust Memorial Museum". collections.ushmm.org. Retrieved 2022-05-11.
  7. "Wieś na kresach południowo–wschodnich pod dwiema okupacjami". Martyrologia wsi polskich (in Polish). Retrieved 2022-05-11.


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