Exhumations in Ostrówki and Wola Ostrowiecka reveal 1943 mass grave

The Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) confirmed that archaeological work is underway at the sites of Ostrówki and Wola Ostrowiecka in Volhynia, where a mass murder of Polish civilians took place on 30 August 1943. Ukrainian nationalist units of the UPA, led by Iwan Kłymczak and Iwan Zareczniuk, killed an estimated 1,050 men, women and children, many of them burned alive or slain with axes.

An interdisciplinary team comprising IPN experts, the company Wołyńskie Starożytności, a representative of the University of Medical Sciences in Wrocław, the Ministry of Culture and Heritage, and the Polish Consulate in Lutz has begun exhumations. Dozens of skeletons of varied ages have been uncovered, some bearing mechanical injuries and personal items such as jewellery and clothing. The first week of work ends tomorrow, and the excavations are scheduled to continue until 7 August.