Massacres of Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia

The massacres of Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia were a campaign of ethnic violence carried out by Ukrainian nationalist forces, in particular the Ukrainian Insurgent Army and the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, against the Polish civilian population in regions that were then under German occupation. The violence began in 1942, peaked in the summer of 1943, and continued into 1944. Villages were attacked, and tens of thousands of people were killed, though estimates vary widely among historians. Polish forces carried out reprisals in which Ukrainian civilians were also killed. The events remain deeply controversial, with Poland recognizing them as genocide while Ukrainian authorities have used different terms, and they were a factor in the postwar expulsions of both peoples.

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