Settlements of East SLOVAKIA

Kolbasov (Vegaszo)

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Highlights

History

Initially the village was owned by the Humenne estate, later to the Stropkov estate.  Later it came under the possession of the Paulin monks of Trebišov.  In 1830, ownership passed to the Prešov Greek Catholic Church Archibishopric.  Through its history, its residends were occupied as woodmen and seasonal workers.

Source: Vlastivedný Slovník Obcí na Slovensku Bratislava 1977

Liberated by the Red Army on 26 November, 1944.

The Tragedy of the Ulič Valley

In the summer of 1945, following the end of World War II, "bandits" or "Banderovci" began to roam Czechoslovakia.  They wandered mostly in the Slovak mountains, primarily remote places and village.  These groups went by names of "Iron", "Karmeluk", "Sokil", "Peryh" and "Browsko."  The "Banderovci" robbed people primarily of food, cattle, clothing and medicine. [Banderovci were independent brigades, named after their founder, Stefan Bandera, who led the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA).]  In the fall of 1945, 11 people became victims of their raids, ravaging and looting of the villages.  They traveled from Nova Sedlica to Zboj then to Ulic on December 6th, murdering people.  They arrived in Kolbasov the night of December 6th, the last night of the Jewish Holyday Chanukah.

 

In 1941, Hungarian officials came to Kolbasov, arrested the Jakubovic family, who were forced to work for the Nazis n Poland.  They escaped and miraculously made it back to Kolbasov by foot.  In 1943, they were re-arrested by the Nazis.  Three sisters, one brother and parents.   Two of the sisters survived Auschwitz and Nuengamme Saldzwedel, liberated by Americans in 1945.  The two sisters were the only survivors.  But again, they made it back to Kolbasov.  Helena Jakubovicova explains that the bandits came looking for Jews.  Someone in the village disclosed that 12 young Jews were living in the house of Mendela Pollaka.  When the bandits burst into the house and began killing the occupants, Helena Jakubovicova, then eighteen years of age, slid down behind a bed, unseen by the bandits, but a witness to the massacre.  After the massacre Helena moved to the U.S.A.  She has never been back.

 

The government sent four battalions, along with police and other guards to put down the bandits.  The military forced these bandits to leave the country and go "back to" Poland when several tens of thousands of them were still operating.

 

The victims were buried in the Jewish burial graveyard in Kolbasov, but later exhumed and moved to a graveyard in Snina.

 

In a ceremony 50 years later, a plaque was placed on the municipal building.  Today, no Jews can be found among the population of Kolbasov or neighboring villages.  To this day the locals cannot agree on who the "bandits" were.  Some say former Nazis, some say Ukrainian nationalists, some say the Banderovci, some say hooligans, and, there are others.  It seems as if it will always remain a mystery.

 

Sources:

• Jakubovicova Family

• Kolbasovska tragedia, SME 16-11-1996 EVA COBEJOVA

• ODKUD SE VZALI BANDEROVCI NA MORAVĚ, Ministerstvo vnitra České republiky, 2002  FUTURE ADD

1548 Kolbasa, Kolbazo, Vegazo, 1773 Kolbaso, 1808 Kolbazo. Mewntioned for the first time in 1548, the village belonged to the Humenné town and the Stropkov town dominion. After it passed under the dominion of Paulin monks of Trebišov. In the 1830 century belonged to the Greek –Catholic Prešov Archibishopric. During the History, its inhabitants were occupied as woodmen and seasonal workers.    Source: Roberto Cannoni, Italy

Greek Catholic Church - Troch Svätiteľov (Three Saints / Holy Trinity) 1880 (KP) .  The church is affiliated (managed) by the church in Ulic.

Photos

Kolbasov from the fields	Jewish Cemetery	Jewish Cemetery	1945 Jewish Massacre Plaque	Village Office, Kolbasov
Kolbasov Panorama Photo Credit - Vasil Fedic, 2002.

Kolbasove War Memorial	Kolbasove from the Fields (near Jewish Cemetery)	Kolbasov Church	Kolbasov Fields, near Jewish Cemetery	Kolbasov from a field
Kolbasov Fields on a rainy day	Kolbasov Houses	Kolbasov WWII War Memorial (Soviet Tank)	Kolbasov Jewish Cemetery on hillside Tombstones are to the left of the farthest individual in the photo.	Kolbasov Jewish Cemetery on Hillside Enlargement
Tombstone Kolbasov Jewish Cemetery	Tombstone 2 Kolbasov Jewish Cemetery	Tombstones Kolbasov Jewish Cemetery	Tombstone circa 1920's Kolbasov Jewish Cemetery	Kolbasov Village Office

 

Surnames

Demyan, Jakubovic

JUDKOVIC (2007, R. PALEFSKY)

Photo Credit: Bill Tarkulich, 2001

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Last Update: 15 November 2020                                                    Copyright © 2003-2021, Bill Tarkulich