Ostroh and Rivne
in the Second World War
The Second World War began for Ukraine on September 1, 1939, with the Luftwaffe bombing of Lviv. On September 11, parts of the Wehrmacht entered Galicia, but according to secret agreements between Hitler and Stalin, the German troops retreated to the west in two weeks. Ukrainian parties represented in the Polish Sejm called on Ukrainians to forget past misunderstandings and fulfill their civic duty to Poland.
Hundreds of prisoners, who at that time were in the ranks of the Polish Army, faced the war from its first hours. Cavalrymen of the 19th regiment of the Volyn Lancers, which was stationed in Ostrog before the war, took part in the battle of Mokra, which took place on September 1, was one of the first battles of the Second World War and one of the few Polish victories, as well as the first defeat of the German troops.
People of War
Residents of Ostroh and natives of the city fought in the ranks of the Red Army, formations of the Polish Army, the Czechoslovak Corps, and other military formations of the Allies.
Oleksii Antonov, a graduate of the Ostroh Men's Gymnasium, was Chief of Staff of the Southern, North Caucasian, and Transcaucasian Fronts, Deputy Chief and Chief of the General Staff of the USSR Armed Forces from 1941 to 1945.
Bolesław Drobinskyi, a native of Ostroh, took part in the Battle of Britain, the largest air battle in human history. In total, from June 18, 1941, to March 13, 1942, during the Battle of Britain, pilot Boleslaw Drobinskyi shot down 7 German planes. In addition, he has three believable, although not documented, aerial victories on his account.
In 1942–44, Boleslaw Drobinskyi held instructor and command positions in units of the Air Force of the Polish Army in Britain, worked in the Ministry of Defense of his country's government-in-exile in London, and from September 26, 1944, he headed the 303rd Aviation Division, which included received in 1941-42 all his aerial victories. He was demobilized in 1948 with the rank of major of the Polish Army and the corresponding rank of major (squadron commander) of the British Royal Air Force.
Valerii Syniutchev is a priest who hid prisoners of war during the Second World War. The archives of Ostroh Castle - the State Historical and Cultural Reserve of Ostroh - contain information that he had two daughters.
In 1939-41, the 791st regiment stood near Ostroh, which held the defense near Buh and Lutsk and then moved to Zdolbunov and Ostroh. Here they received reinforcements, went to Shepetivka, and then to Kyiv. Then the regiment was broken...
In 1942, soldier Zalutskyi was thrown with a parachute near Rivne. He mentioned that Father Valerii from Rozvazh kept 13 soldiers, treated them and released them one by one. After all, the Soviet authorities could punish the priest himself. Interestingly, the Union considered traitors even those who were captured by the Nazis.
