Leonówka massacre
| Massacre in Leonówka | |
|---|---|
Location of Leonówka on an Austro-Hungarian military map from around 1910 | |
| Location | Leonówka, Volhynian Voivodeship, (occupated Poland- Reichskommissariat Ukraine) |
| Coordinates | 50°45′25.8″N 26°37′5.2″E / 50.757167°N 26.618111°E |
| Date | 1-3 August 1943 |
Attack type | Shooting and stabbing, massacre part of Volyn genocide |
| Weapons | Rifles, grenades, bayonets, axes, bludgeons and pitchforks |
| Deaths | approximately 190 |
| Perpetrators | Ukrainian Insurgent Army |
| Motive | Anti-Catholicism, Anti-Polish sentiment, Ukrainian nationalism, Genocidal intent |
In early August 1943, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army killed approximately 190 Polish people in Leonówka, a colony in Tuchyn, Rovensky Uyezd, Wołyń Voivodeship, as part of the larger campaign of massacres of Poles, considered as a genocide.
On the night of August 1-2, 1943, Leonówka, which was home to about 300 Poles and several Ukrainian families, was surrounded by a 100-strong UPA unit arriving from the village of Żelanka. The UPA insurgents threw grenades into houses, entered homes, and murdered their inhabitants. Those who tried to flee were shot; all buildings were set on fire. It is estimated that about 150 people were killed. Around 2 a.m., the Ukrainian unit left the burned-down village.
On August 2 or 3, 1943, a group of UPA insurgents on horseback stopped Polish refugees from the village of Kudranka passing through Leonówka. The Poles were robbed of their belongings, taken to a nearby forest, and murdered there. 42 people were killed.