Massacre of Brzostowica Mała occurred on September 18, 1939, during the Polish September Campaign, in the village of Brzostowica Mała, which is now located in Belarus. It was a mass murder of Polish inhabitants of the village who lived there, organized by pro-communist militia, which consisted of local Jews and Belarusians.[1] The event, first described in the Nasz Dziennik newspaper, has been investigated by the Polish Institute of National Remembrance between 2001-2005.[1] The Institute has determined that the massacre did indeed occur and fell within its communist crime jurisdiction, but because all 16 witnesses were only second-hand, most of the details cannot be confirmed with full certainty.[1][2][3]
The witnesses interviewed by the newspaper and later, by the Institute, claimed that many Poles (by 2003 IPN has confirmed 7 deaths) were massacred on that day. Among those killed were local officials (including teachers and post office personnel), as well as the members of the szlachta family of Wołkowicki, including Count Antoni Wołkowicki, his wife and his mother.[3] The IPN describes the murders as having been carried by pro-Communist groups inspired by the Soviet invasion of Poland, which had taken place a day before.[3][4][5]
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