Zawadka Morochowska massacres

On 23 January 1946, a force of the People's Army of Poland, numbering around 80 soldiers, which was tracking down partisans of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) encountered and destroyed small groups of UPA partisans in the area. However, when they tried to enter the village of Zawadka Morochowska they were met with stiffer resistance from the Ukrainian partisans who had withdrawn to the village. As a result, the Polish Communist forces had to retreat. In the process they abandoned two supply wagons as well as several mortars. Additionally, some of the sources related to the massacre emphasize that the casualties suffered by the unit were part of the reason for the killing that took place two days later.

On 25 January, at which point the UPA partisans had left the area, the Polish forces surrounded the village and then proceed to burn it down while murdering from 56 to 78 of its inhabitants, including women and children. There is no evidence that any of the villagers had been part of, or had any connections to the UPA. Records from interwar Poland indicate that the ethnic Ukrainians of the village had friendly contacts with the local Poles and the nearby Polish villages. Some of the victims were tortured before their death.

The unit of the communist Polish army responsible for the massacre was the 34th Regiment of the LWP, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Stanisław Pluto. According to UPA sources, subsequently some of the Polish soldiers from the 2nd battalion of the 34th regiment were captured by the UPA and gave statements to the effect that the majority of the killings were carried out by the 3rd battalion of the 34th Regiment of the LWP. This information was published in underground Ukrainian pamphlets shortly thereafter.