| Conflict: | Battles for Prehoryłe |
| Place: | Prehryołe, Polish People's Republic |
| Date: | April 1943 - March 1944 |
| Result: | Polish victory |
| Combatant1: | Ukrainian Insurgent Army Ukrainian Auxiliary Police and SS Galicia |
| Combatant2: | Peasant Battalions Home Army |
| Commander1: | Unknown or lack of a unified commander |
| Commander2: | First Attack Unknown Second Attack Unknown Third Attack Stefan Kwaśniewski Zenon Jachymek Fourth Attack Feliks Dżygała Stanisław Basaj Feliks Zwolak |
| Strength1: | unknown |
| Strength2: | unknown |
| Casualties1: | unknown |
| Casualties2: | unknown |
| Partof: | Polish-Ukrainian ethnic conflict |
Battles for Prehoryłe fought between Polish Partisan forces and German-Ukrainian forces, skirmishes took place over months in the village of Prehoryłe[1] [2]
After the massacre of Polish civilians in 1943, there were growing fears of a repetition of the events in Volhynia. So Poles organised self-defences as in the villages located between the Bug River and the strip of villages Bereść. The conflict escalated after that .in villages located between the Bug River and the strip of villages: Uchanie, Bereść, Hostynne, Werbkowice, Wronowice, Miętkie, Telatyn, Chodywańce. In these villages, to increase the effectiveness of the UNS troops, bunkers were built and trenches dug. However, in January there were only isolated mutual assaults, with a few casualties on both sides. Also from Volhynia, a throng of Polish people who were fleeing the terror began to arrive.[3] [4]
The course of events was sharper in the Hrubieszów area, where, on the initiative of the commander of the Hrubieszów District of the AK under Antoni Rychel, pseud. "Anio³", Poles acted simultaneously against the Ukrainian intelligentsia and those Ukrainians who, after the attack of the USSR on Poland, sided with the Soviets. The latter were denounced to the Hrubieszów Gestapo. Against the first group, the tactic of attacks on pre-designated persons was used. By June 1943 alone, 150 people had been liquidated in this way. Polish units (a detachment of Battalion of Stanisław Basaj "Ryś"[5] In view of the development of the situation, the Zamojski Inspectorate of the Home Army decided to evacuate the Polish civilian population to the districts of Bilgoraj, Zamojski, Chelm, Krasnostawski and the western part of Tomaszowski, to strengthen Polish self-defence in the remaining area and to launch a coordinated attack on the area occupied by the Ukrainians. At the beginning of March, the evacuation plan was launched, but was only partially carried out due to the reluctant attitude of the Polish population[6]
In April 1943, another defence of Malkov against the onslaught of Ukrainian nationalists. The battle in the village of Prehoryłe ended with the victory of the Polish self-defence, the Upovars did not manage to take the well-defended Holubia.[7] [8]
See main article: Battle of Małków. For the following months, the village was quiet, until the forces of the Home Army and the Peasant Battalions began fierce fighting with the local UPA forces. The Ukrainian forces then began to take up arms against the Poles with the Germans. Skirmishes were reported in Małków, where the forces of the Rysia Battalion under the command of Karol (Kaczała) defeated Ukrainian forces. This was not the end of the successes, the Battle of Zablocie was fought next, which brought Stanislaw Basaj fame. On 17 February the Germans directed their own and Ukrainian forces to Prehoryłe, but without success; fortunately, the forces of the Peasant Battalions arrived on time and gave an idea of why the Rysia battalion is considered not to have been defeated.[9]
On 5 March, a clash with the Ukrainian SS Galizien and Ortschutz was recorded, in which 1 BCh soldier was killed and 1 wounded. When, on 9 March, two AK battalions under the command of Stefan Kwaśniewski and Zenon Jachymek took action against the Ukrainians with a broad front from Prehoryłe to Sahryń, initially the BCh units did not take part in the battle, except for a small detachment that served as a guide in the vicinity of Modryń. However, as the action unfolded, BCh units joined the action on the eastern wing of the battle, where Stefan Kwaśniewski was in command. I am writing more about this because Wojciech Sulewski in his publications attributes the whole of this battle to the 'Rysia' battalion, which is not true.[10]
On 8.III.1944, the combined detachments of the Galizien-SS, the Ostschutz from Szychowice and Holubia and the UPA units from across the Bug River, supplying the local "Striltsiv" from Holubia, attacked the mixed Polish-Ukrainian village of Prehoryłe at dawn. It was adjacent on the eastern side - the flowing Bug River - to the Kryłów-Hołubie (now Golubie) route. The attackers burned and murdered the Polish population. The BCh platoons of "Rysia", who were quartered closest to Prehoryły, decided to come to the aid of the murdered population. A fierce battle ensued and the enemy troops were driven out, partly.Some went to Holubia, others to Bug and still others to Szychowice. This action is called name in partisan nomenclature - Prehoryłe I.
On the second day: on 9.III.1944, around 11 a.m., an alarm was raised in Górka. From the direction of Prehory one could hear the rustling of machine gun series and single rifles. Still in the morning soldiers of "Rysia" in the strength of 2 platoons under the general command of "Bruchalski" (Feliks Dzygala), went to Prehoryłe burnt the day before, as a protection of the team that was to bury murdered Poles.
And then an attack by UPA forces came from Holubia. A second battle broke out. This battle is called - Prehoryłe II, on 9.III.1944. To help the forces of "Bruchalski" rushed the platoon of "Szczygiel" (Feliks Zwolak). When the platoon reached Prehoryłe, the action was already coming to an end. After setting fire to a shed, "Bruchalski" managed to leave the encirclement under cover of smoke. The participation of our platoon came down to the fact that it thwarted the pursuit of "Bruchalski's" retreating partisans. The Uprising's men, seeing that the Poles were with the help of new forces, they abandoned the pursuit.[11]
This was followed by preparations for the Hrubish Revolution, these victories were of great significance as they discouraged the UPA forces from continuing to fight hard for every scrap of land.
See main article: Hrubieszów revolution. After the action on Prehoryłe II (day), the platoon of "Szczygła" returned to temporary quarters in the part of the unburned Gorki. In the evening everyone was electrified by the news that on the night of 9/10 III.1944 the following were to be liquidated: Sahryń, Turkowice, Szychowice Łasków. Sahryń, Turkowice,Malice and the like. were to be done by units from the Tomaszów Lubelski district, specifically the AK Battalion of Tomaszów "Wiktor" (Zenon Jachymek). It was to be supported by BCH platoons:,,Leaf" (Antoni Furmaga),,Visa" (Tomasz Flis) and Moscow - these two platoons (the latter two) still belonged to the AK at the time - of the Hrubieszów "Wiktor" (Stefan Kwaśniewski). In Sahryń the Independent Modrin Section of Henryk Ratyna, from the composition of the 4th platoon of "Szczygiel" of the 1st Battalion of the BCH "Rysia", took part. At the same time the combined forces of the BCh and AK of the Hrubieszów district, i.e. the 1st Battalion of the Hrubieszów Division of the BCh "Rysia" and the 5th Battalion of the AK "Wiktor", were to strike at the base of the Ortschutz and the "SS" from the Galizien-SS in Szychowice and the USN-UPA base in Łasków-village.[12] [13]