Today, August 30, the remains of 55 Poles — victims of the Volhynia tragedy in Ostrówki and Wola Ostrowiecka — were buried in the village of Ostrówki, Volyn region. This was reported by Poland’s Institute of National Remembrance, UNN writes.
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It is noted that they were discovered during exhumations conducted this summer, which aimed to locate and subsequently rebury the remains of residents who died in August 1943. Archaeologists also found buttons, clothing remnants, footwear remains, a medallion, and Roman Catholic pectoral crosses.
The remains were buried in a collective grave where victims exhumed in 1992, 2011, and 2015 had already been buried.
The ceremony was attended by Deputy President of the Institute of National Remembrance Karol Polejowski, representatives of the Polish authorities, the families of those who died, and members of the local community. It is known that Ukraine was represented by Deputy Minister of Culture Ivan Verbytskyi.
The remains of Poles, including 26 children, were found in three locations. The remains of 48 people were discovered in a mass grave at a former farm in Wola Ostrowiecka. The remains of six more were found in a mass grave near the former school in Ostrówki, while the remains of one woman were found in an individual grave in the forest.
The exhumations were conducted from July 13 to August 7, 2026, by specialists from the Institute of National Remembrance together with the Ukrainian company "Volyn Antiquities" and a forensic medicine specialist from Wrocław Medical University, with the participation of representatives of Poland’s Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.