Country Poland Gmina Bircza Voivodeship Podkarpackie Voivodeship | County Przemyśl County Local time Sunday 5:02 AM | |
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Weather 12°C, Wind S at 21 km/h, 46% Humidity | ||
Brzuska [ˈbʐuska] (Ukrainian: Березка) is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Bircza, within Przemyśl County, Subcarpathian Voivodeship, in south-eastern Poland. It lies approximately 9 kilometres (6 mi) north of Bircza, 21 km (13 mi) west of Przemyśl, and 46 km (29 mi) south-east of the regional capital Rzeszów.
Map of Brzuska, Poland
Brzuska (Berezka/Bereska in Ukrainian) was a large village 10 km (6.21 mi) north of Bircza with approx 1500 inhabitants before World War 2.
The inhabitants were mostly originally Rusyns, who then became Ukrainian. There were also some Poles (80) and Jews (50) who lived in the village. All were farm workers.
The main land owner was a Jewish family, surname Ringel, who was taken away by the Russians during or after the war.
Originally, a Greek Catholic church once stood on the hill - Saint Nicholas the Miracle Worker, which was destroyed. There was also a masonry church called Transfiguration of Our Lord. It was erected in 1868, renovated in 1920. It was also destroyed.
During the 1944-1947 expulsion of the Ukrainian inhabitants, approximately 250 were killed including Rev. Oleksa Bilyk (1892–1944) and his family. It is reported the killings were a revenge attack for the massacre of Poles in Volhynia. After the expulsion, it is reported the UPA burned the village so they could not be inhabited by the Polish population.
A Ukrainian cemetery still exists on the hill in the village, but the access road has been removed and it can only be reached by foot. Rev. Oleksa Bilyk's grave is there and is still tended to. A local Ukrainian lady, who still lives in the village, sold a cow to pay for a headstone.