Search work in Rivne Oblast ends without finding mass graves of Poles

Search work by a joint Ukrainian-Polish expedition in the village of Uhly in Rivne Oblast ended on 27 March without finding mass graves of victims from World War II.

Source: Ukraine's Ministry of Culture; European Pravda

Details: During the search, experts from the Lviv Oblast Council municipal company Dolia, together with researchers from Poland's Pomeranian Medical University, examined all the planned sites, covering more than 1,000 sq m in total.

In particular, they surveyed the area of the former German Evangelical cemetery and nearby plots. According to local accounts, this was where residents of the village of Uhly who were killed in 1943 might have been buried.

The research made it possible to identify the site where the village chapel once stood and to uncover civilian German burials dating from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. During the work, experts also recorded a single male burial, though the circumstances and date of his death remain unknown and will be studied further. No mass graves were found.

Quote from Ukraine's Deputy Culture Minister Ivan Verbytskyi: "Ukraine and Poland are working together to establish the truth about difficult moments in our shared history and to honour the memory of the victims. This cooperation helps strengthen trust between our peoples."

Background:

• The work began on 23 March on the basis of a permit issued by Ukraine's Ministry of Culture following agreements reached by the Ukrainian-Polish working group on historical memory.
• This was also confirmed during a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Polish President Karol Nawrocki.
• Over the past two years, Polish citizen and civic activist Karolina Romanowska initiated search and exhumation work in the village of Uhly. She submitted a corresponding request to the Ukrainian authorities and received approval from the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance.

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