Dominopol massacre

{{Infobox civilian attack

| title = Dominopol massacre

| image = {{Location map many | Poland 1939 |float=center |caption={{center|Location of the Massacre on the map of interwar Poland}} |label1=Dominopol |label1_size=75 |position1=left |lat1_deg=50 |lat1_min=55 |lon1_deg=24 |lon1_min=34 |mark1=Coffin.svg |mark1size=12 |label2=Łuck |pos2=right |lat2_deg=50 |lat2_min=45 |lon2_deg=25 |lon2_min=20 |mark2=City locator 5.svg |mark2size=6 |label3=Brześć |pos3=top |lat3_deg=52 |lat3_min=6 |lon3_deg=23 |lon3_min=42 |mark3=City locator 5.svg |mark3size=6 |label4=Lwów |pos4=top |lat4_deg=49 |lat4_min=51 |lon4_deg=24 |lon4_min=0 |mark4=City locator 5.svg |mark4size=6 |label5=Kraków |pos5=right |bg5= |lat5_deg=50 |lat5_min=4 |lon5_deg=19 |lon5_min=56 |mark5=City locator 5.svg |mark5size=6 |label6=Poznań |pos6=right |bg6= |lat6_deg=52 |lat6_min=24 |lon6_deg=16 |lon6_min=55 |mark6=City locator 5.svg |mark6size=6 |label7=Warsaw |pos7=bottom |bg7= |lat7_deg=52 |lat7_min=14 |lon7_deg=21 |lon7_min= 1 |mark7=City locator 5.svg |mark7size=6 |label8=Wilno |pos8=right |bg8= |lat8_deg=54 |lat8_min=41 |lon8_deg=25 |lon8_min=17 |mark8=City locator 5.svg |mark8size=6 |label9=Stanisławów |pos9=top |lat9_deg=48 |lat9_min=55 |lon9_deg=24 |lon9_min=42 |mark9=City locator 5.svg |mark9size=6 |border=none}}

| location = Dominopol, Volhynian Voivodeship, occupied Poland

| coordinates= {{coord|50|55|00|N|24|34|00|E|source:plwiki_region:UA_scale:10000|display=inline,title}}

| target = ethnic Poles

| date = July 11, 1943

| type = Shooting and stabbing

| fatalities = 490 with 250 victims confirmed

| perps = Ukrainian Insurgent Army

| weapons = Rifles, axes, bludgeons and pitchforks

| motive = Anti-Catholicism, Anti-Polish sentiment, Greater Ukraine

}}

Dominopol ({{langx|ru|Доминополь}}; {{langx|uk|Домінопіль}}) is a defunct village located in the present-day area of Volodymyr-Volynskyi Raion of Volyn Oblast in Ukraine. On July 11, 1943, at the height of the Massacres of Poles in Volhynia, the village was attacked by a death squad of Ukrainian Insurgent Army aided by the Ukrainian peasants, and all ethnic Poles regardless of age and gender were tortured and murdered.{{citation needed|date=June 2020}} Before World War II, Dominopol was a village in the Eastern regions of the Second Polish Republic, located in the Gmina Werba, Powiat Włodzimierz of the Wołyń Voivodeship.{{cite web |title=Wieś Dominopol, gmina Werba, powiat Włodzimierz, woj. wołyńskie |publisher=Wolyn.ovh.org |author=Strony o Wołyniu |id=Including location map and names of prominent individuals |url=http://wolyn.ovh.org/opisy/dominopol-10.html |date=January 2009 |access-date=January 1, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161012133352/http://wolyn.ovh.org/opisy/dominopol-10.html |archive-date=October 12, 2016 }} The area was invaded by the Soviet Union in 1939 and during Operation Barbarossa annexed by Nazi Germany into Reichskommissariat Ukraine in 1941.

The massacre

The Dominopol massacre was unique in that it was preceded by the forest execution of several dozen young Polish partisans (15 to 20-years-old) trained by the former Polish Army officers including Stanisław Dąbrowski, who were tricked into believing in the joint Polish-Ukrainian resistance under the umbrella of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA).{{cite periodical |title=Nie drażnić Ukraińców. Historia lubi się powtarzać |author=Bogusław Szarwiło |author2=Sławomir Tomasz Roch |periodical=Kresowy Serwis Informacyjny |url=http://btx.pl/numer65.pdf |volume=10 |issue=65 |date=October 1, 2016 |pages=25, 30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161012030827/http://btx.pl/numer65.pdf |archive-date=October 12, 2016}} Most civilian victims in Dominopol were killed by axes and knives. Their number remains the subject of debate. Some sources estimate that approximately 60 Polish families have been murdered in the village by the Ukrainian nationalists, which is around 490 people including children.{{cite web |url=http://www.kki.pl/piojar/polemiki/rubiez/niedziela/niedziela.html |title=Najkrwawsza niedziela w dziejach polskiego narodu, 11 lipca 1943 |publisher=Kki.pl (Internet Archive) |work=Nasz Dziennik, nr 29/1998 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021015172400/http://www.kki.pl/piojar/polemiki/rubiez/niedziela/niedziela.html |archive-date=October 15, 2002 }} Other sources put the number of victims at 220–250 based on existing documentation.Ministerstwo Spraw Zagranicznych Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej (2005), [https://web.archive.org/web/20091213143440/http://www.luckkg.polemb.net/index.php?document=29 Dominopol – Obwód równieński.] Cmentarze polskie na terenie łuckiego okręgu konsularnego. Internet Archive. Afterwards, possessions of murdered Poles were looted by Ukrainian peasants who also participated in the massacre, and the village was burned.

In 2002, due to efforts of Association of Poles Murdered in the East from Zamość, a commemorative cross was erected where once Dominopol was.Stowarzyszenie Upamiętnienia Polaków Pomordowanych na Wołyniu (September 2009), [https://web.archive.org/web/20090923181358/http://www-kresy.pl/wolyn/wlodzimierski/53.htm Kresy.pl w Zamościu.]