Hirka Polanka (Hirka Polonka) | Volyn

Hirka Polonka is located about 7-8 km southwest of Lutsk. There is no information regarding whether or not there were Jews in the village before the war; according to the local residents, there were not. The big Jewish community of this area lived in the town of Lutsk. Lutsk is an administrative center of the Volhyn region, located on the banks of the Styr River in the northwestern part of the Ukraine. Between the two wars, Lutsk was under Polish rule. Then, in1939, it was annexed by the Soviet Union. The first records of the Jewish community date back to early 15th century. The Jews suffered from several waves of pogroms conducted in 1648-1649 and 1919-1920.  In 1662, almost half of population was Jewish. In 1802, there were 1,297 Jews in the town and it climbed to 5,010 by 1847. In 1897, they were 9,468 comprising 60% of the population. The majority of Jews lived off of small scaled trade and handcraft, some owned food and beverage factories, pharmacies, or hotel. Several political organizations, for instance the Bund and Zionists, operated in the town in 1920s-30s. There were several Jewish schools including Talmud Torah, Yeshiva and one high school. However, under the Soviet rule all Jewish organizations were forbidden and institutions were closed.  In 1939, about 16,000 Jews (40% of total population) lived in the town. In 1941 the Jewish population reached about 20,000 as many refugees from the West settled down in Lutsk.  Lutsk was occupied by the German army on June 25, 1941. Less than 5% of the prewar Jews managed to flee the town by that time

The majority of Jews from Lutsk were shot behind the sugar factory, not far away from the village of Horodyshche, in the trenches dug by the Jewish men themselves.  The majority of the sources refer this site as Hirka Polanka, however during the field research we found that it is located close to the modern day neighborhood called Polonka, which in fact is closer to the village of Horodyshche. That is why Yahad identifies this execution site under the name of Horodyshche.

Besides that, it is also done in order to distinguish the site of the isolated killings identified by Yahad, with the help of the local witness, which occurred in the field in Hirka Polanka. According to a witness they were Jews who worked at the camp, located at the Polish manor, in Horodyshche. The Jews were shot in spring 1943. A dozen of Ukrainians, including the witness’ father, was murdered along the Jews. The corpses of the Ukrainians were reburied after the war in a mass grave at the cemetery, however the corpses of the Jewish victims remain there. There is no memorial at this site.

For more information about the killings in Horodyshche please refer to the corresponding profile

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