The remains of about 30 Ukrainians were found — victims of the 1944 massacre in Poland
Searches in Laskovi will continue; exhumation and reburial are planned next
A Ukrainian search expedition has discovered the remains of around 30 people in the Orthodox cemetery in the village of Laskiv, in Poland’s Lublin Voivodeship. They were victims of the mass killing of the local Ukrainian population in March 1944. Researchers found both individual and mass graves.
The massacre in Laskiv took place on March 10, 1944, during an attack by units of the Polish Home Army and Battalions of Peasants. According to various historical accounts, more than 300 local Ukrainians were killed, though the final number of victims has yet to be established.
Ukrainian and Polish researchers have documented 327 residents of the village who died in 1944. At the same time, some historians believe the death toll may have reached 350 people.
The current research is being conducted under agreements reached by the Ukrainian-Polish Working Group on Dignified Burials. The work was commissioned by the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory, and the search itself is being carried out by the Dolya municipal enterprise. The enterprise received official permission from the Polish side on August 31, 2026.
“The preliminary results of the search confirm the accounts given in the memoirs of former residents of Laskiv who managed to escape during the horrific events of March 1944. We plan to continue searching for burial sites, and then, as the next stage, conduct exhumations, rebury the victims, and pay tribute to their memory with dignity,” said Sviatoslav Sheremeta, head of the Dolya municipal enterprise.
The expedition in Laskiv was the second Ukrainian search mission in Poland after a lengthy break. Such work resumed in autumn 2025 in the village of Yurechkova, after the Polish authorities granted official permission. Earlier search expeditions, during which human remains were found, took place back in 2016.
“Our shared task is to ensure that the memory of all those killed is honored with dignity, regardless of their origins or nationality. True reconciliation begins with respect for everyone’s memory, recognition of the other side’s pain, and a shared commitment to mutual understanding,” emphasized Oleksandr Alfyorov, head of the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory.
He also thanked the Polish side for allowing the research to be carried out.
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