Background
The stated goal of the operation was to suppress the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), which had been fighting the communist Armia Ludowa units and murdering ethnic Polish civilians in those southeastern territories since 1944. The direct pretext for Operation Vistula was the March 28, 1947, assassination of the Polish communist General Karol Świerczewski in an ambush which had allegedly been set up by the UPA's Chrin and Stach sotnias. About 12 hours after the incident, the Polish communist authorities took the official decision to deport all the Ukrainians and Lemkos from the southeastern territories of the People's Republic of Poland (1944–1990). It is known, however, that preparations for Operation Vistula had started already in January 1947, if not earlier.
Read more about this topic: Operation Vistula
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