Księdza Stanisława Szatko kronika parafii rzymskokatolickiej Firlejów w archidiecezji lwowskiej z lat 1939–1944
Fr Stanisław Szatko, Chronicle of the Roman Catholic Parish of firleje in the Archdiocese of Lviv, 1939–1944

Summary/Abstract: From 1573–1945, the parish of Fierleje belonged to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lviv consecutively within Kingdom of Poland, Austrian Empire and Republic of Pol then under Soviet and German occupation. In 1946–1991, it ceased to function as a result of a decision by the Soviet communist authorities, but was reactivated in 1991. The most difficult period in its history was that of the Second World War, when both Catholics of Polish origin and the ecclesiastical structures suffered repressions at the hands of both German and Soviet occupiers. The parish was affected by severe personnel losses at the very beginning of the war, when the Soviet authorities deported dozens of Poles deep within the USSR. Afterwards, restrictions were imposed on education conducted in Polish, the scope of religious freedoms was curtailed, and the status of the Polish population depreciated. Many Catholics in Firleje were killed as part of the genocidal programme carried out by Ukrainian nationalists. Increasingly, there were armed attacks against Poles, their property was destroyed, and many of them lost their lives. The height of the crimes was reached on 15–17 February 1944, when Ukrainians attacked the village, brutally murdering 74 people, and devastating the church, parish buildings and private buildings. In the days that followed, other nearby villages suffered the same fate. These events forced the parish priest, Fr Stanisław Szatko, to flee the parish, and not long afterwards there was a mass westward deportation of the Polish population. The small groups of Poles who remained suffered further repressions, and eventually forced Ukrainification. The Church no longer held a religious function, and the national social life of the Polish minority died out entirely. A renewal was begun by a decision of John Paul II in 1991 that reactivated the structure of the Latin rite of the Lviv diocese in the new reality of an independent Ukraine.

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