2

Editor in Chief:

Sofiya Fedyna

Editorial Staff:

Taras Rad’

Vitaliy Levchenko

Mykola Mushynka

Design: Viktor Dudiak

Translation: Lidiya Kalantyrenko

Copy Editing: Michael Hnatyshyn

Herald of SFULO (c) Official edition of the World Federation of Ukrainian

Lemko Organizations.

Published once a month.

The main goal of the magazine is to dynamically illuminate the activities of all the subjects of SFULO.

You can download issues of the Herald from the SFULO site: www.sfulo.com/biblioteka

Editor’s E-mail: visnyk.sfulo@gmail.com

Please send us your materials. The

Editorial Council, however, reserves the final decision as to what to publish.

The World Federation of Ukrainian

Lemko Unions (SFULO) is a nongovernmental international public organization, which unites the Ukrainian Lemko Unions of Ukraine,

Poland, Slovakia, Serbia, Croatia, Canada and the USA.

The main goal of its activity is to secure

and protect the legitimate social, economical, creative, ethnic, national-cultural and other interests of Lemkos; to develop and popularize Lemko

cultural heritage and spirituality according to the principles of legality, democracy, voluntarism and self-government.

Official website:

www.sfulo.com.

CONTENTS

Our affairs

Anniversary of the mass removal of Ukrainians to Siberia.....................................4

Operation “West” in western Ukraine in

October, 1947…………...................................5

Historians from Poland and Ukraine renewed

cooperation ………………………......................12

Poland published its history in the Ukrainian language…………………………………………….14

Our people

Lemko forests and the great success of the

Lemko Organization......................................15

In Humenné a boarding school with more than a half century of history was finally

eliminated …………………………………………..15

Divine service at the Family Tree....................16

Visiting Antonyches………………….................18

Culture

Dedication of the monument in Khorostkiv....21

In Lviv second international Festival “The

Feast of the Protection” was held....................23

Lemko culture under bondage………………….24

Events. History. Life

Lemkos in Diaspora. Part 2. Migration of the Lemkos to Serbia and Croatia........................25

Religious oppression of the Ukrainian population in Lemkivshchyna throughout the 16th and 18th centuries............................28

Advertisements and announcements.........31

3 Opening remarks…

Before you start reading the Herald, pay attention to the cover. It shows the

fighters of the 80th airborne brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which for more

than a year have protected the Ukrainian border from the Muscovite mercenaries and

Muscovite regular troops. The young men in the photo are from Luhansk

Lemkivshchyna. In particular, one of them lost a lot of relatives – the terrorists simply

shot them because they were Ukrainians. The most important thing for these young

men is that their families, their wives and children are alive and healthy and are

protected. But there is a problem with that… They are forced to wander in alien towns

and villages, searching for shelter…

For these soldiers, returning home is a victory. We managed to buy a

thermovision camera for them, a device which allows them to see heat signatures and

thus to protect themselves from their attackers. In the photo, the guys are holding it

in their hands. The device costs a minimum of €2,800 … This is the money which

the head of SFULO, Sofiya Fedyna, collected during her volunteer concert tour in

Edmonton this summer. Many Lemkos complained that they did not see her at

zabavas and Vatras… But we think that trying to save the lives of our Lemkos is her

most important task. And that is what she is doing every day.

We hope that all of these soldiers return home alive, healthy, and victorious, and

that they are able to tell us a lot of things afterwards…

Today we have another situation to analyze – the results of the Parliamentary

elections in Poland. The Law and Justice party, which is the legacy of the Kaczynski

brothers, won. The party has two wings, the so-called western and eastern. For us the

eastern one is of considerable interest, since it has quite a radical position toward

Ukraine: the day after the elections it already made a statement about the need for

restitution, that Lviv is a Polish city, and that Ukraine would not survive without

Polish guardianship. The party has a strong pro-Polish position concerning the Volyn

tragedy, and it is in vain to hope that they will contribute to the dialogue on the

question of the crime of the deportation of the Ukrainians. Our goal is clearly to fight

for historical justice, which will only be possible only when our people know about the

tragedy and are not silent about this crime.

Regards,

Editorial committee

4 OUR AFFAIRS

ANNIVERSARY OF THE MASS REMOVAL OF THE

UKRAINIANS TO SIBERIA

In 1947, the mass removal of the Ukrainians to Siberia began. Operation “West”

started on October 21st, at 6 a.m. The Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of the

Ukrainian SSR, Diatlov, commanded this operation. For 24 hours 26,644 families (in

total 76,192 people) were evicted: 18,866 men, 35,152 women and 22,174 children.

Forced labor awaited them all in the mines and collective farms of Siberia.

During the long journey to the North, 875 deportees tried to escape from the trains,

but 515 of them were captured. These data come from the official reports of the

Ministry of State Security (MGB). However, the documents of the Ukrainian

underground report that there were 150,000 deportees.

The punishers also disguised their actions with the slogans of the struggle

against the kulaks. The property of the deportees was transferred to the collective

farms. Even the Soviet statistics show that, for instance, people who were deported

from Drohobych oblast, had one cow (or rarely two) per property; 22% of these farms

had two horses, only one third had a pig, and only a quarter had plows and harrows.

Ordinary peasants were made into “enemies of the working people.”

The main task of the operation was to weaken the Ukrainian liberation

movement in western Ukraine. Within one day over 76,000 people were deported from

western Ukraine.

5 On September 10, 1947, the Council of Ministers of USSR adopted the decree

“On the expulsion of the family members of members of the OUN and active criminals

who were arrested and killed in the fighting, from western oblasts of the Ukrainian

SSR to the following oblasts: Karaganda, Arkhangelsk, Vologda, Kemerovo, Kirov,

Molotov, Sverdlovsk, Tyumen, Chelyabinsk and Chita.”

Source:

http://galinfo.com.ua/news/sogodni_richnytsya_pochatku_masovogo_vyve

zennya_ukraintsiv_do_sybiru_209117.html

OPERATION “WEST” IN WESTERN UKRAINE IN OCTOBER, 1947

Operation “West” was one of the most massive and rapid of Stalin’s deportations. For

the population of western Ukraine, it was a real ethnic and demographic disaster. The

idea of conducting a repressive deportation action emerged from the Soviet state

security authorities at the beginning of 1947. The planning was conducted at the level

of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of State Security of the USSR. In

this way, the Soviet leadership hoped to finally destroy the social base of the

Ukrainian underground in the region and, eventually, the underground itself.

Planning and preparation

The decree of the Council of the Ministers of the USSR “On the eviction of the family

members of OUN members from the western oblasts of Ukraine” significantly

accelerated the implementation of this plan. According to this decree, deportation was

supposed to provide the coal industry of the USSR with a labor force at the expense of

the families of the members of the Ukrainian underground movement and the

members of UPA, who were sent to mines deep in the Soviet Union. The historian T.

Vronska has stated that it was only necessary to repress the families of the members

6 of the underground at the direction of the Soviet government because the industry of

the empire needed another large party of “ostarbeiters.” The immediate needs of the

industrial complex were enough for Stalin’s regime to unreasonably punish a large

number of people. The armed resistance of the Ukrainian rebels was not the reason.

At the same time, the needs of the Gulag coincided with the interests of both the

authorities of the Ukrainian republic and regional communist authorities in western

Ukraine who sought to destroy as many relatives of the rebels as possible to reduce

the number of their sympathizers. A researcher, Y. Nadolsky, thinks that there was

also another reason – a need to accelerate the collectivization of western Ukrainian

villages, as under famine conditions in Ukraine during 1946-1947 the authorities

faced the problem of sovietization of

agriculture in the western oblasts.

Excerpt from the final report concerning

preparation, execution, and the results

of Operation “West” on the territory of

Lviv oblast. 21.10.1947, p. 117. –

Branch State Archive of the Security

Service of Ukraine

“The action plan of the MVD (Ministry

of Internal Affairs) of the USSR on the

transportation of special settlers from

the western oblasts of the Ukrainian

SSR” and “The plan of operational

actions for the execution of the orders

of the MVD of the USSR № 38/3-7983

on the departures of 50 trains of the

special contingent from the western

oblasts of Ukraine” were compiled for

the implementation of the

governmental decree.

The Ministry of State Security (MGB) and the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD)

conducted the deportation. Already at the beginning of October, 1947, the MVD of

USSR gave out an indication to send “the special contingent” of 50 trains of the

members of the rebels’ families (25,000 families, totaling 75,000 people) to the remote

regions of the USSR. The thoroughness of the preparation of the mass deportation in

Kyiv and Lviv is reminiscent of the planning of a large strategic military operation.

Each step and every detail were planned: from the creation of the lists of the

candidates for exile to the preparation of transports, the distribution of military units

in the inhabited localities and the determination of the relocation routes. The local

raion committees of the CP (b), the district departments of the MVD and the MGB were

involved in the planning. Operatives of the MGB and the MVD from other oblasts were

dispatched to the western oblasts of Ukraine. In particular, the head of the convoy of

MVD troops, Lieutenant General Bochkov, came to the western oblasts of Ukraine

7 with a group of officers to organize the loading and guarding of the migrants. To

undertake this process, all vehicles, including horse-drawn transports, and all means

of communication were mobilized.

List of the leadership of the MGB of the Ukrainian SSR in connection with the conduction

of Operation “West” 1947, p. 16, Branch

State Archive of the SBU

The organs of the MVD for the Railways,

consisting of 10 – 25 people per village,

formed lists for the eviction and, with

the support of the commissioners of the

raion departments of the MGB,

systematically reviewed the locations of

people who were subject to the

deportation. At the beginning of October,

operative plans were ready for each

district. At the insistence of the

secretaries of the oblast committees, the

approved quotas of the MGB for the

eviction of the families of the

participants in the armed underground

were increased, as, for instance, in

Volynska oblast - from 2,500 to 2,700

families.

To direct the activities of the mass

deportation, an operative staff was

created, headed by the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of the Ukrainian SSR, M.

Diatlov. The staff was stationed in Lviv. A clear timetable was set for the receiving of

people and dispatching trains according to the routes which had already been

established. Some 13,592 employees of the organs of the MVD and military personnel

were involved in this operation. On average, there was one armed man for each

deportee. The population was transported from 87 railway stations in western

Ukraine. Six special assembly points were created beforehand: in Lviv, Chortkiv,

Drohobych, Rivne, Kolomyia and Kovel’ (10,500 people could be assembled in each

assembly point at one time). In particular, the assembly point in Lviv, at the station

Klepariv, covered Shchyrets, Pustomyty, Vynnyky, Novy Yarychiv and Briukhovychi

regions. The preparation of this operation was carried out secretly. Those who were

secondarily responsible for its implementation found out about it only before its start.

In addition to the Party, the MGB and the MVD, economic and komsomol assets and

“jumps” (participants of fighter battalions) were involved in the operation. The “jumps”

did a census of the homesteads and inventoried the peasants' possessions before the

deportation, explaining that this was necessary because of the tense international

situation.

8 Taking into account the previous experience of resettlement actions, to prevent

attacks of OUN fighters on the trains carrying deportees, MGB troops patrolled roads,

intersections, railway stations and railroads before the operation.

Course of the operation

The eviction was conducted on the basis of the decrees of the operational staffs and

special councils of the MGB of the western oblasts. At two o’clock in the morning, on

October 21, 1947, many residents of Lviv were forced to wake up. The military,

wearing overcoats, broke into the apartments of the sleepy people and after a brief

search allowed them to hastily pack their personal things and, after that, drove them

in trucks to the railway station. At 6 a.m. such raids began in the villages. Armed

soldiers of the internal troops of the MGB and the MVD surrounded the village and

took the families of those who were rebels, according to the lists, conducting searches

of farms to identify bunkers and other hiding places for the underground, and to seize

weapons, anti-Soviet literature, print media etc.

The members of the underground warned about the planned action, including by

distributing leaflets: “Hide, you will be evicted.” However, the exact date of the eviction

was unknown till the end, which is why few people managed to escape from the

deportation. For example, at the time of the eviction in Rivne oblast on October 21, the

organs of the MGB did not find 338 families (2,310 people) which were planned to be

deported. Before the operation some families had tried to flee into the forest, but most

of them were seized by the punitive Soviet troops.

Extract from the final report on Operation

“West” in Rivne oblast. October, 1947,

p.17. - Branch State Archive of the SBU

According to our calculations, about

37,000 people from the operative staff,

MGB/MVD troops, and border guards,

about 8,000 “jumps,” and 34,000

members of the Soviet party apparatus

and the komsomol took part in the

operation.

The people did not have an opportunity

to prepare any food or warm clothing.

They were quickly loaded on wagons or

trucks and driven to the railway

stations. The people were allocated two

hours to pack, but in reality the

prescriptions of the leadership were

often ignored in attempts to fulfill the

plans in record time.

9 During the eviction, the soldiers found underground bunkers, confiscated weapons,

nationalist literature and anti-Soviet leaflets, captured members of the underground

and destroyed “bandits.” There were incidents of armed resistance during the eviction

operation, but they had little success.

The Minister of State Security, General S. Savchenko, and the Minister of Internal

Affairs of the Ukrainian SSR, General T. Strokach, were informed about the course of

the operation every six hours. At 10 a.m., the loading of “the special contingent” began

at 53 out of 87 stations. The first reports contained information about “minor

difficulties” related to weather conditions. In particular, in Stanislaviv and Ternopil

oblasts a strong blizzard raged. There was a heavy fall of snow; the thickness of the

snow layer was more than a meter in some places, telephone connections with many

regions in the oblasts were damaged, and 500 cars were stuck in traffic jams and

could not get to the train stations. In such areas tanks and armored vehicles cleared

the road for the special squads. Because of this, in other oblasts horse-drawn

transport was mostly used, and the allocated transport was only partially used.

Extract from the final report on Operation

“West” in Rivne oblast. October, 1947, p.49. -

Branch State Archive of the SBU

Subsequent reports told of incidents of looting

among the local population, in which the

employees of MGB and MVD took part. In

particular, an emissary of the district

department of the MGB from Rokytne raion

forcibly took a barrel of meat away from a

man, although he had been permitted to take

it on his long journey. Many participants tried

to gain an advantage by confiscating property

of the deportees and failing to record it. Other

officials also plundered the property of the

resettled people. In total, in Rivne oblast, 70

cases of looting were recorded. Functionaries of various ranks in Lviv oblast also

abused their positions of authority. They stole all that they could steal. But there were

even worse cases. In particular, in the village of Novosilky, Zdolbuniv raion, one of the

operatives of the MGB killed the six-year-old child of a local peasant who had not been

evicted. The child was just killed in cold blood.

Already in the fourth report, at 8:00 p.m., on October 21, 1947, the quantitative

indicators of the operation significantly increased, although the loading of the trains

was going very slowly. It was completed only at 9 of 87 stations. None of the trains

which were prepared for departure to the North of the Soviet Union had started for its

destination. Only on the next day, October 22, 1947, did the movement of deportees

by rail begin. At 6:38 a.m. the first train departed with 1,293 people from the Kovel

10 station to the Usiatyn station in Tomsk oblast. After 20 minutes, the second train

departed with 1,878 people in the same direction from the Lviv – Klepariv station.

Then, at intervals of two to four hours, trains departed one by one from the railway

stations of Chortoryisk, Lutsk and Kovel. The course of the operation gradually

followed its planned direction. Local party officials sought to demonstrate to the senior

management of the Party their good faith fulfillment of their task, and overfulfilled the

planned numbers for the eviction of the relatives of the participants in the

independence movement.

The deportation in Rivne oblast was conducted at lightning speed. In most villages the

deportation took only three to four hours. In Volyn oblast and Lviv oblast the forced

eviction was conducted over 24 hours. Ternopil oblast and Drohobych oblast also were

considered “advanced” in the conduction of the deportation.

In the afternoon, on October 23, 1947, 24,799 families were loaded on the trains;

73,428 people were shipped in 34 of 44

planned transports. After that, for three

days, trains with smaller numbers of

relatives of the Ukrainian rebels and

members of the underground went to the

North of the USSR. Operation “West”

ended on October 26, 1947.

Information about the number of families,

evicted from the western oblasts of Ukraine

as of 24:00, 23.10.1947, p.10. - Branch

State Archive of the SBU

Results and consequences of the

deportation

In general, 26,332 families (77,291

people, including 18,866 men, 35,441

women and 22,279 children) were evicted

from the western oblasts of Ukraine

(except Zakarpattia oblast). In particular,

from Rivne oblast 3,367 families (11,347 people) were deported, from Volyn oblast –

2,711 families (9,050 people), from Lviv oblast – 5,233 families (15,920 people), from

Ternopil oblast – 5,000 families (13,508 people), from Stanislav oblast – 4,512 families

(11,883 people), from Chernivtsi oblast – 613 families (1,627 people) and from

Drohobych oblast – 4,504 families (14,456 people). As to classes, peasant families with

an average level of prosperity dominated among the deportees. These constituted the

economic basis of the western Ukrainian village, and their removal led to the

destruction of the traditional social structure.

11

Extract from the final report on Operation

“West” in Rivne oblast. October, 1947, p.54. -

Branch State Archive of the SBU.

Most of the deportees, 21,197 families

(61,066 people) were assigned to work in the

coal industry in the eastern regions of the

USSR, the rest – 5,264 families (15,202

people) were sent to Omsk oblast, where they

were used in industrial enterprises and

agriculture. Hundreds of evicted elderly people

and children died during the transportation to

the northern USSR. During the long journey to

the East, 875 deportees attempted to escape

from the trains, but 515 of them were grabbed

by the security guards.

Among

the

resettled there were many widows and orphans,

whose husbands and parents died in the years of

fighting against the totalitarian regime. Stalin’s

leadership already implemented repressions

against them during the “Great Terror” of 1937-

1938, and also in 1939-1941 during the

“Sovietization” of western Ukraine. After the war,

the principle of collective responsibility was yet

again tested on the relatives of deceased UPA

soldiers and OUN members. Its goal was to

completely destroy the whole family, even if only

one of its members participated in armed

resistance to Soviet authorities.

Extract from the final report of the operational

group of Internal Troops of the MGB of the USSR on

the eviction of the special contingent from Volyn

oblast, p.22. - Branch State Archive of the SBU

The mass deportations of October 1947 from

western Ukraine were among the largest of those conducted by Stalin’s regime with

the purpose of “pacification” of the region in the post-war years. This criminal action

against humanity caused a significant decrease in the rural population and distorted

the gender and age demographics of the residents of western Ukraine. In an

atmosphere of fear and terror peasants began to more actively sign up for the

collective farms to protect themselves from possible repressions. The deportation

12 accelerated the collectivization of the western Ukrainian village and weakened the

social base of the Ukrainian nationalist underground.

Oleksandr Pahiria, Museum Fellow

Source:

http://www.territoryterror.org.ua/uk/publications/details/?newsid=299

HISTORIANS FROM POLAND AND UKRAINE RESUMED

COOPERATION: WHAT THEY WILL DISCUSS

The Institute of National

Remembrance of Poland and the

Ukrainian Institute of National

Remembrance initiated the

establishment of a joint forum of

historians, which will discuss the

events of 1939-1947, as the

representatives of the

organizations emphasized at a

briefing in the Ukrainian Crisis

Media Center, on Wednesday. They presented the first results of the work of the

Ukrainian-Polish forum of historians, which convened for three days in Kyiv.

The Vice Chairman of the Institute of National Remembrance of Poland, Paweł

Ukielski, emphasized that the problem is urgent, because the historians have not

conducted a dialogue for a long time.

- After a seven-year break, the Polish and Ukrainian Institutes of National Remembrance

have restored a dialogue between their historians. At the first meeting they discussed

the principles of interaction and the rules of cooperation so that future cooperation is

more effective, - said Ukielski.

According to Ukielski, there are now many manifestations of sympathy in Poland for

the Ukrainian people, “who fight for their territorial integrity, so now is the time to

discuss the harshest subjects, as there has not been a more favorable atmosphere and

there may not be again.”

For his part, the head of the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance, Volodymyr

Viatrovych, pointed out that the purpose of the forum is “the search for truth,” and

one of the problems with which the historians of both countries face is an “asymmetry

of memory.” Professional dialogue among historians is a tool to overcome this

problem, emphasized Viatrovych. According to him, in the questions of the Polish –

Ukrainian past “more and more political statements are heard,” while at the same time

“one of the main lessons of the Polish – Ukrainian conflict is that it will never happen

again in the future.”

13 The members of the forum are 12 historians, six from Poland and six from Ukraine

(see the list below), but other historians will also be involved in the work of this forum:

- Our task is not only to discuss and talk with each other. Our goal is to launch a wider

discussion involving many more historians than those twelve who are included in the

Ukrainian – Polish historians' forum, - he noted.

The forum will meet twice a year, in spring and in fall, once in Poland and once in

Ukraine. Each meeting will have two topics, on which the historians will prepare their

reports.

The parameters of the meetings in 2016 have been set. In March a meeting will be

held in Poland, at which the historians will discuss the issue of the Polish and

Ukrainian underground on the territory of the Second Polish Republic, and in October

they will discuss the Volyn’ tragedy of 1943.

Listen to the full briefing of Volodymyr Viatrovych and Paweł Ukielski:

http://prostir.pl/2015/11/04/04111501/

Ihor Isaiev

Participants of the Ukrainian-Polish forum of the historians from the Polish

side:

Prof. Grzegorz Gritsyuk (Wrocław University)

Prof. Grzegorz Mazur (Jagiellonian University)

Prof. Grzegorz Motyka (Polish Academy of Sciences)

Prof. Jan Pisuliński (Rzeszów University)

Prof.Waldemar Rezmer (Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun)

Dr. Mariusz Zajaczkowski (Institute of National Remembrance in Poland)

Dr. Dorota Lewsza, Secretary of the Delegation from the Institute of National

Remembrance in Poland

Participants of the Ukrainian-Polish forum of the historians from the Ukrainian side:

Candidate of Historical Science Volodymyr Viatrovych (Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance)

Prof. Bohdan Hud (Lviv National University)

Prof. Ihor Ilushyn (Kyiv Slavonic University)

Prof. Leonid Zashkilniak (Lviv National University)

Prof. Ivan Patryliak (Taras Shevchenko Kyiv National University)

Prof. Yuriy Shapoval (I. Kuras Institute of Ethno-Political Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine)

Candidate of Historical Science Olena Humeniuk, Secretary of the Delegation from the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance

14 POLAND PUBLISHED A HISTORY IN THE UKRAINIAN

LANGUAGE

The Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) of

Poland has prepared and published a book in the

Ukrainian language on Polish history: “Poland: A

Historical Sketch,” designed specifically for the

Ukrainian reader.

The director of the Bureau of Public Education of

IPN, Andrzej Zawistowski, discussed it with the

Ukrinform correspondent in Poland.

“This book is not a translation – it was specially

prepared with the Ukrainian reader in mind. The

book is written in such a way so that it will be

interesting both for a secondary student who is

interested in the history of neighboring countries

and also for adults – history teachers, museum

workers, university professors and others. In short,

we want to make it interesting and attractive for

everybody,” said Zawistowski.

According to him, the exposition of historical material in the book focuses on the

common history of the Ukrainian and Polish peoples, as it is closely intertwined.

“For example, opening the first chapter, we see the family tree of the Piast dynasty and

that the blood of this lineage is tightly linked with Kyivan Rus’. This shows what has

united us from time immemorial and what has separated us, and how closely we are

linked with our common history,” emphasized the Director of the Bureau of Public

Education of IPN.

Zawistowski specified that from November the book will be distributed in Ukraine for

free through Polish institutions – the Embassy of Poland in Kyiv, the Consulates of the

Republic of Poland, the Polish Institute, etc. The representatives of Poland desire

primarily that school, public and academic libraries in Ukraine will receive this book.

At the same time, the IPN does not exclude also the possibility of the commercial

distribution of the book in Poland and in Ukraine, if it is of interest to distributors.

According to him, the price of the book in Poland may not exceed 20 złotys (120 UAH).

Three hundred sixty-five pages of the book “Poland: A Historical Sketch” cover the

period from early Middle Ages to the present time, including Euro 2012 which was

jointly conducted by Ukraine and Poland. The book, which is richly illustrated, is

written under the editorship of Professor Włodzimierz Mędrzecki and the teacher

Jerzy Bracisiewicz; the reviewer from the Polish side was Zawistowski and from

the Ukrainian side – Prof. Leonid Zashkil’niak.

Source: http://www.ukrinform.ua/rubric-culture/1895664-u-polschi-vidalisvoyu-istoriyu-ukrajinskoyu.html

15 OUR PEOPLE

LEMKO FORESTS AND THE GREAT SUCCESS OF THE

LEMKO ORGANIZATION

On October 12, 2015, in Warsaw, the

representatives of the Lemko Organization –

the head Emil Hoysak and the deputy head

Shtefan Klapyk, of the one part, and the

Deputy General Director of State Forests

Janusz Zaleski and the Vice-Minister of the

Environmental Ministry of Poland, Katarzyn

Kempk, signed an agreement on restoring

property to its former owners, to whom the

court by relevant resolution decreed the

return of unlawfully taken property.

Below you will see the link where you can

read the text of the agreement. There are

listed the rules on the returning of forest

land by the bureau of “State Forests” on

behalf of the State Treasury.

See the text of the agreement here: http://www.lemkounion.republika.pl/dokumenty%20organizacji/porozumienie_t

ekst.pdf

IN HUMENNÉ A BOARDING SCHOOL WITH MORE THAN

HALF A CENTURY OF HISTORY WAS FINALLY ELIMINATED

The new 2015-16 academic year began in a joyful and

festive atmosphere in Ukrainian-language schools in

Prešov, Jarabina, Údol and Ubľa. The new school year

did not start as joyfully in Humenné.

During the last academic year, with the decision of the

town government in Humenné (headed by Jana

Val’ova) and with the consent of the Ministry of

Education of the Slovak Republic, the Ukrainian-

language primary boarding school (director Mykola

16 Petrashovs’ky) was relocated from its own building to the building of the primary

school in Kudlovska street in Humenné on the condition that it would preserve the

national character of the school.

But this did not happen. After the relocation, parents did not express any interest in

sending their children to first grade at the school, although the school management

attempted to draw in the parents (in different ways) long before the 2015-2016

academic year, even with the promise that at the school their children would study the

Rusyn language together with the Ukrainian language. The parents nevertheless did

not enroll any child in the first grade. As a result, the boarding school completely

ceased its existence and was merged with the Slovak-language primary school in

Kudlovska Street in Humenné. Here we have to add that the elimination of the school

in Humenné did not occur without the influence of the radical wing of the Rusyn

movement. Thus, the last page was written for the national boarding school which was

founded in the early 1960s for the children in the whole area of Humenné region and

Snina region.

Source: http://zakarpattya.net.ua/Special/144854-U-Humennomu-

ostatochnolikviduvaly-ukrainsku-shkolu-internat-z-ponad-ivstolitnoiu-istoriieiu

DIVINE SERVICE AT THE FAMILY TREE (VIDEO)

On a fine fall day, on October

18, the public organization

“Family Tree” which unites

natives of Lemkivshchyna,

Kholmshchyna, Nadsiannia,

etc., invited all interested

persons to a Divine Service. The

reason to get together was the

fifth anniversary of the

dedication of the monument

honoring the Ukrainians who

were deported from their ethnic

lands now located in Poland.

For five years already Jesus Christ – the central figure of this complex, stretches out

His hands over Zolochiv, blesses and protects all citizens of the town.

Six priests of different denominations agreed to take part in the service: Fr. Mykhaylo,

Fr. Ihor, Fr. Stepan, Fr. Yuriy, Fr. Vasyl and Fr. Vitaliy. They harmoniously and

reverently led the joint prayers. After the service, the head of the organization,

Svitlana Mykolaivna Nalyvayko, delivered a speech. She thanked the clergymen, who

during the year had agreed to take part in the various activities undertaken by the

“Family Tree.” She emphasized that this symbolic tree, which is located behind the

figure of Jesus Christ, never loses its leaves, because it feeds on the past; we all are

tied to our parents’ land. Our native houses, the well and the pear tree still fill our

dreams and, touching the strings of memory, do not let us forget our roots.

17 Then, the narrator, Lesia Sydorovych, introduced some honored guests from Lviv.

These were the representatives of the association “Kholmshchyna,” L. M. Kvitkovs’ky,

O. O. Voloshynsky, H. I. Voloshynska, L. Maksymiak and I. Hryn.

The performers' songs resounded. Ihor Voytovych and Ihor Kurach excellently sang

“Prayer for Ukraine,” “Turkovytska Mother of God” and others. The folk vocal ensemble

“Seasons” sang the Lemko song “When the Draft Summons Came.”

A poetic word was also heard on this day. “My parents’ land, distant Lemkovyna,” “My

Lemko village” – these poems were read by the author, Lesia Sydorovych. Here is one

of them:

It was long ago… Time flies indefatigably,

Erasing villages from earthly strongholds.

You lose your children, mother – Lemkovyna!

Fly to them, at least, in your thoughts.

How Crimea shines like an orphan now,

Imploring: “Ukraine, protect us!”

Once the strong body of Lemkovyna

Was lacerated by tyrants – executioners.

They tore the body, chafed the soul

And drove out to all the winds…

Enough to stay silent, I have to say here:

If you are Lemko – do not erase this memory!

Do not be untethered or a cosmopolitan,

For whom every bush is a native home.

You can travel all over the world,

But you will perish in it without roots.

At the end everyone had a chance to tie colored ribbons with the names of their

villages to the leaves of the big Family Tree – the Tree of our lineage, our memory, our

past and future. As it was said in one of the poems:

As long as we remember – we will not admit death:

All of these Lemko villages will not dare to die.

A member of the organization “Family Tree,” a teacher of the Ukrainian language

and literature of the Trostianets’ School of I-II degrees, L. Sydorovych (Varianka)

Source: http://zolochiv.net/moleben-bilya-rodinnogo-dereva-video/

18 VISITING THE ANTONYCHES

On this sunny day everything is just right for a festival: many good guests, painters,

artists, writers, an interesting program of events

and even warm and sunny fall weather. Everything

was suited for the acquaintance with the works of

an eternally young poet, Bohdan – Ihor Antonych,

whose poems smell of spring in Lemkivshchyna.

The residents of the village of Bortiatyn already felt

the spirit of the festival on the first of October, when

painters from Lviv and Myrhorod arrived here to

participate in the art project “Praise for all that

grows, praise for all that exists” (B.-I. Antonych),

which lasted for three days. During this time, the

artists painted the landscapes and religious

buildings of the villages of Bortiatyn, Dmytrovychi

and Sudova Vyshnia. On Sunday there was a

presentation of the paintings by these artists;

Natalia Ivzhenko and Natalia Volkova delivered a

speech on behalf of the artists.

On October 3, on Saturday, poetry readings were

held with the participation of the students of the children’s literary studio “Friends of

Antonych” at the Antonych Family Estate

Museum. Such young talents as Vira Kushyk,

Natalia Sahaydak, Maria Lutsak, Natalia Lutsak,

Maria Ivasko, Daryna Hlabus, Ilona Tokazhevska,

Nastia Hadoms’ka, Halyna Shalovylo, Kateryna

Dats, Mariana Kurach, Natalia Pomirko, Lilia

Nakonechna, Olia Kozak, Yaryna Nazar, Nazar

Boliak and Maria Babiy received memorable gifts.

The children heard poetry put to music by

Bohdan from Myrhorod, who paints, writes

poems, plays guitar and sings.

On October 4, the guests and residents of

Bortiatyn held a procession to the courtyard of

the Antonych Family Estate Museum together

with the Greek Catholic church choir, carrying

banners, and Father M. Petskovych started the

festival with a joint prayer for the Antonych

family and for peace in Ukraine. Here the choir

“Lemkovyna" appeared on the stage. This group

always comes for the Antonych Festival. This

time they sang Lemko songs, and the poetry of the Lemko poet V. Homyk served as an

epigraph for the entire performance.

19

Further the narrator of the festival, Iryna Senechko, invited everyone to the opening of

the exhibitions “Vladyka for All” (dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the birth of

Andrey Sheptytsky), the curator of which was Ruslana Bubriak and “War in Ukraine,”

photographed by Andriy Artym, volunteer from Lviv, who has been documenting the

events in western Ukraine and together with the Lviv community collecting money for

the Ukrainian army for the past year. This exhibition has already been in Nowica

(Poland), Nin and Zadar (Croatia) and Zdynia (at the Lemko Vatra). Among the photos

was one of a resident of Bortiatyn, I. Sydor, who died in the ATO. The poems by B.-I.

Antonych “A word to those who were shot” and V. Humeniuk about the events in the

ATO were read at the opening of the exhibition, “War in Ukraine.” The Parliamentary

Deputy, Yaroslav Dubnevych, greeted the participants of the festival. He emphasized

that in this difficult time for Ukraine, we have to be strong and united to jointly bring

order in the country. Everybody was captivated by the folk song and dance ensemble,

“Velvet,” from Zaporizhzhia. The members of “Velvet” invited everyone (who was

interested) to learn how to dance common dances and join the ritual of “marrying of

chimney.” Everyone could try pumpkin porridge. “I stick a singing blade into the root

of a word, to the bottom.” These words by B.-I. Antonych lent their name to the literary

readings which were attended by Ms. Bohdana Taranina from the Pavlo Tychyna

Literary Memorial Museum in Kyiv and Mr. Vasyl Horbatiuk from the Lviv Oblast

Literary Museum. Sofiya Fedyna, the head of the Federation of Ukrainian Lemko

Organizations and a singer, charmed us with Lemko songs. The church choir of the

village Zymna Voda completed the festival with the song “The Duck is Swimming” and

Ms. Hanna Voloshynska read the poem, “O Lord, Return our Father to us,” devoted to

the memory of a resident of the village of Bortiatyn, Ivan Sydor, who died in the ATO

zone.

At the festival we listened to the kind, wise

and healing words of poets laureate of the

Shevchenko Award, Ihor Kalynets and Roman

Lubkivsky. The staff of the Antonych Family

Estate Museum expresses their gratitude to

the Parliamentary Deputy, Yaroslav

Dubnevych, and his team: M. Lishchynsky,

V. Lishchynsky, O. Stankevych and R. Shust,

for financial support for the hosting of the

festival.

We express words of gratitude to the

entrepreneurs, Mr. Yevhen Buba, Mr. Ivan

Luts, Ms. Halyna Bibiak and Ms. Ruslana Stepaniak. We are glad to have friends in the

persons of M. Petskovych, regent Ihor Pavliv, O. Pavliv (the head of the village council), Maria

Bishko (methodologist of the regional education department), and M. Lutsak.

On October 5, in Yanivske cemetery, in Lviv, at the poet B.-I. Antonych’s grave a requiem was

held, attended by the workers of our museum, the representatives of the Lviv oblast

organization “Lemkivshchyna,” the poet Ihor Kalynets, and the creative intelligentsia of Lviv.

20

Khrystyna Dyhdalo

The Antonych Family Estate

Museum

The village of Bortiatyn

Photos by Sofiya Fedyna

Source: http://www.museum.lviv.ua/filii-muzeiu/muzei-sadyba-antonychiv/416-na-hostynakh-

u-antonychiv

21 CULTURE

DEDICATION OF THE MONUMENT IN KHOROSTKIV

“I miss you, my native land” - these words are

engraved on the monument which was dedicated

and consecrated in Khorostkiv on October 14. This

is a monument to the Ukrainians who were

forcibly evicted from their ancestral lands of

Poland.

The monument was erected by joint efforts of the

Organization “Lemkivshchyna,” the community

and philanthropists. It will not let us forget one of

the tragic pages of the history of the Ukrainian

people. Every passerby will remember what the

settlers had to experience, as the Husiatyn Raion

State Administration reported.

All the community joined in the installation of the

monument, since a significant part of the

population of Khorostkiv are natives of

Lemkivshchyna. “Everyone in Khorostkiv

remembers those terrible years of the

deportation. The people lost everything; they

22 came here with only the most necessary things.

But they did not lose themselves and their

culture. They have raised their children and

grandchildren here. And this monument will also

remind the next generations about the horrible

tragedy of our people,” – said the head of the

town of Khorostkiv, Hanna Oliynyk.

People’s Deputy Mykola Liushniak contributed to the

erection of the memorial sign. “A rosary of boxcars

came to Ukraine, and only the Birthgiver of God

covered them with Her veil, only the Birthgiver of God

met them in our land. Today this is not only the

opening of the monument of the deported Lemkos,

this is history, because the mountains, valleys and

rivers are brought over here – the places where the

Lemkos lived for centuries. Dear Lemko family, dear

Ukrainians, only with faith, prayer and unity we will

build today our great state – Ukraine. Nobody will do

it except us. So remember that we are a united

nation. Many times we were beaten and resettled, but

we won in any case!” said People’s Deputy Mykola

Liushniak.

Source:

http://teren.in.ua/article/u_husyatynskomu_rayoni_vidkryly_lemkivskyy_pamyatnyk_foto

http://zz.te.ua/u-horostkovi-u-pamyat-pro-deportovanyh-vidkryly-monument-foto/

23 IN LVIV THE SECOND INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL “THE

FEAST OF THE PROTECTION” WAS HELD

PreviousNext

On October 18, on Sunday, after the Feast of the Protection, the parish of the

Protection of the Birthgiver of God of the UAOC of Lviv, which is on Shchyretska

Street, a festival “the Feast of the Protection” of Lemko and spiritual song was

organized for the second time.” Traditionally, the event started with a prayer for the

victims of the repatriation, the deportation, and operation “Vistula.”

Fr. Mykhaylo Kravchyk, a grandson of deported Lemkos and a priest from the village

of Malchytsi, Yavoriv region, delivered a sermon in which he remembered his

grandparents' fear of deportation and their preparation of dried food in the attic,

which was stored in the house till their last days there.

The priest drew attention to the plight of the Ukrainians of Zakerzonia, who

experienced destitution both in northern Poland and in Ukraine, where they also were

strangers.

The Orthodox choir from Lviv, “Stavros,” of the Brotherhood of the Holy Apostle

Andrew the First Called, two parish choirs, the choir of the Church of the Holy

Apostles Peter and Paul and the choir “Family” from the Ukrainian Greek Catholic

Church of the Transfiguration of Our Lord Jesus Christ came to the feast. The group

“Radotcyna” arrived from Pustomyty.

The most important guests were “Only us” of the circle of the Ukrainian Association in

Poland from the village of Komańcza, led by Mr. Volodymyr Kopylets and Ms. Mariana

Yara, who presented authentic Lemko singing.

24 The known litterateur Bohdan Pastuh read Lemko poetry. The festival was also

dedicated to the two hundredth anniversary of the birth of Fr. Mykhaylo Verbytsky.

His works were read together with Lemko song.

The parish priests Fr. Mykhaylo Sadovsky and Fr. Bohdan Manchur gave words of

greeting and thanks. The event was attended by the founder of the church, the famous

philanthropist Mr. Petro Pysarchuk, whose roots are from the village of Ovchary and

who tries to save the original spirit of the Church of the Protection, and also numerous

faithful from Lviv and nearby villages.

The group “Radotsyna” from the town of Pustomyty completed the festival with the

anthem “Our Carpathian Mountains,” and after the awarding of the certificates of

appreciation, all the singers sang a prayer for Ukraine, “God, the Great, the Only.”

A lot of positive emotions were felt on the grounds of the Church of the Protection in

Lviv; and the weather, which was sprinkling with rain, during the prayer “God, the

Great, the Only,” turned to sunshine and pleased everyone with a rainbow.

Source:

http://uaoc.lviv.ua/index.php?id=28&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=310&cHash=bc

2efd8d627dd5efb12de53b08e58f1a

LEMKO CULTURE UNDER BONDAGE

On November 4, 2015, as part of

“Lemkoclub,” the staff of the Art and

Literature Department of the I. Franko

Oblast Universal Scientific Library of

Ivano-Frankivsk organized a viewing

and discussion of the movie “Lemko

Roots.”

The head of the “Lemkoclub,” Anna

Kyrpan, started the meeting with a brief

discussion of Lemko culture. Then,

everyone present watched the video film

“Lemko Roots.” Lemkos, as well as

Boykos and Hutsuls, are indigenous inhabitants of the Carpathian region. Divided

among three states, through the centuries they preserved their distinct culture,

fragments of which the author showed in the movie. The characters in the movie

spoke the living Lemko language and sang Lemko songs.

Also, Anna Kyrpan briefed the audience on a monograph by the Candidate of

Philosophical Sciences and Assistant Professor of the Sociology Department of I.

Franko Lviv National University, Halyna Shcherba, “The Blossoming and Tragedy of

Lemkivshchyna,” which will be presented at the next meeting of the “Lemkoclub.”

Source: http://lib.if.ua/news/1446814441.html

25 EVENTS. HISTORY. LIFE

LEMKOS IN DIASPORA. PART 2. MIGRATION OF THE

LEMKOS TO SERBIA AND CROATIA

Continuation. The first part is in № 9 (2015)

In the middle of the 18th century a large group

of Ruthenians (Rusnaks) of the Greek Catholic

religion from the territory which is now

Slovakia (Zemplin county) (see “Three waves of

the migration of the Lemkos to Serbia and

Croatia”) colonized the nearly empty lands of

modern Vojvodina in Serbia, which Austria

seized from the Ottoman Turks and joined to

the Kingdom of Hungary. Their centers were

the villages of Velyky Krstur (later renamed to

Rusky Krstur) and Kotsur. From these two

villages the Ruthenians settled in other

localities in Serbia (Verbas, Kula, Diurdievo,

Berkasova and Bachyntsi) and Croatia

(Petrovci, Mikluševci and Vukovar). They were

and they still are united by the Greek Catholic

religion (the Ruthenian Faith). Already in 1751,

in Rusky Krstur, the first Greek Catholic

parish with a church was founded, and two

years later (in 1753) – a Ruthenian school. The Lemko dialect had a strong influence

on the language of the Ruthenians from Vojvodina; some of the West Slavic linguists

consider it as a dialect of the Slovak language. The Ruthenians of Vojvodina (Bačka)

gave this dialect the status of a literary language (Bachvano-Rus’ka besheda), with

credit due to a native of Rusky Krstur, Havryil Kotelnyk (1886-1948). Now it is one of

the five official languages of Vojvodina. Over 800 books have been published in this

language. And there are newspapers, magazines, daily radio and television programs in

this language.

In 1919, from the example of the “Prosvita” (“Enlightenment”) Society in Lviv, in Novi

Sad was established the Ruthenian Folk Enlightenment Association (the “Prosvita”

Society) in order to publish and distribute religious, educational and entertainment

books, brochures and newspapers in the spoken Ruthenian language. The first head

of the organization (1919-1936), Mykhaylo Mudry (1874-1936) also initiated the

establishment of the printed organ of the society – the weekly “Ruthenian News”

(1924-1941).

26 In 1939, in contrast to the Ruthenian Folk Enlightenment Association, in Stary Vrbas,

the pro-Russian Cultural and Educational (national) Union “Dawn” was founded, which

promoted the idea that the Ruthenians are a part of the Russian people. The Union

“Dawn” published a newspaper “Russian Dawn” (1934-1941; editor – Yevhen

Kochysh). During World War II, the Ruthenians of Yugoslavia actively engaged in the

anti-fascist national liberation struggle, which in the postwar period contributed to the

state's support of their work in the field of national culture.

Despite their small numbers (in the census of 2002 – there were 15,905 people), the

Ruthenians of Serbia still enjoy strong support from the state. They have their own

state schools and even a Ruthenian gymnasium with a dormitory in Rusky Krstur and

a Department of Ruthenian Language and Literature in Novosadski University. The

"Rusnaks" consider that Serbia is their Fatherland, Hornytsia (Zakarpattia oblast) is

their grandfather’s land and Ukraine is their “mother country.” The use of their native

tongue and their Greek Catholic religion contributed to the preservation of their

national identity.

The highest self-governing body of the Ruthenians of Vojvodina is the National Council

of the Ruthenian National Minority, consisting of 17 people with numerous committees

and sections. The Council distributes public funds for certain subjects. In the field of

culture, it oversees the Plant of Culture of Vojvodinan Rusnaks, the semi-professional

Ruthenian National Theater, the Union of Ruthenian-Ukrainians of Serbia, Ruthenian

Mother and a dozen other organizations. The state budget finances the publishing

house “Ruthenian Word,” with a staff of 30 employees. It publishes the weekly

newspaper “Ruthenian Word” of 16 pages (circulation 2400 copies), the quarterly

“Shvetlosts” (160 pages), the bimonthly “Poppy” for youth, the monthly “Zahradka” for

children (both 24 pages) and the annual “Ruthenian Orthodox Calendar” (400 pages).

In radio and television editorial offices, 40 more employees are financed by the state.

A few more private radio and television stations exist which broadcast programs in the

Ruthenian language. A number of publications in the Ruthenian language are

published with sponsors’ money.

In almost every area where a large number of Rusnaks live is a Greek Catholic church,

legally subordinated to the Apostolic Exarchate of the Greek Catholics of Serbia and

Montenegro with its center in Rusky Krstur (the Apostolic Exarch is Đura Džudžar). At

the present time the Exarchate has 19 parishes and three monasteries.

In the second half of the 19th century, a large group of Lemko Ruthenians from

Bardejov county (the villages of Snakov, Lukov, Petrová, Gerlachov, Kružlov, Malcov,

Hrabovec, Livi, Kurov and others) and Gorlice county of western Poland (Nowica,

Gładyszów, Muszynka, Regietów, Barwinek, Małastów, Klimkowka and others) settled

in the Srema region, the larger part of which (the eastern part) is now part of Serbia

and the smaller part (the western part) of which belongs to Croatia. Their largest

clusters of settlement are in the town of Sremska Mitrovica (735 people) and in the

villages of Laćarak (35), Stara Bingula (35) and Shashyntsi (32). There, already in the

first generation, they assimilated linguistically with the Serbian population, but the

majority of them preserve their sense of the Ruthenian nationality to this day.

27 According to the census of 1991, in 26 localities of Srema 1,695 Ruthenians (Rusnaks)

lived, but their number is actually much larger there. With their diligence and

industriousness, the Ruthenians became the richest national minority of Srema.

Today, there are wealthy businessmen, artisans, teachers, doctors, etc., among them.

Their cultural center is Sremska Mitrovica, where in 2001 there was a majestic

celebration of the 150th anniversary of the arrival of the Ruthenians in Srema. At the

beginning of the 21st century, the Ruthenians established a relationship with their

original homeland – Priashivshchyna, mainly with Bardejov county.

In the late 19th and early 20th century (1894-1914) quite a large group of Lemkos

settled in Croatia from Jaslo, Krosno and Gorlice counties (the villages of Ciechania,

Polany, Desznica, Grybów, Żydowskie, Żmigród, Pielgrzymka, Rodniwka, Bednarka,

Zubrzyk and Długie). They settled with their families in the villages of Lipovljani, Nova

Subotska and Antunovka. Part of their men died on the front during the First World

War and in the concentration camp of Yasenov (because of their sympathies to

Russia). In 1909, the Lemko newcomers founded a Greek Catholic parish, and in 1913

they started to build a church, around which the spiritual and social life of the

migrants united. The first priest in Lipovljani was Toma Severovych (1909). The parish

was served for the longest by Bohdan Myz (1933-1968), who was the father of the

present pastor of Novy Sad, Roman Myz. A mixed choir operated in the church. In the

interwar period this group was replenished with Lemkos from the villages of Mszana,

Świątkowa Mała, Grab and Świerzowa.

Some Lemkos from Lipovljani achieved outstanding positions. For example, Teodor

Frytsky from Żydowskie achieved the rank of General of the Yugoslavian Army, was a

Deputy in the Croatian Parliament, the head of the Union of Firefighters of Yugoslavia,

and, after the war, the head of the Union of Ruthenians and Ukrainians of Croatia.

The Lemkos from Jaslo and Gorlice (the villages of

Berest, Bednarka, Zdynia, Żydowskie, Závadka,

Zarwarnica, Zyndranowa, Zubrzyk, Kotań and

Krempna) settled in the village of Antunovka,

which parish belonged to Lipovljani. From there

they went in different directions, and some of them

went across the sea (to America).

Before the collapse of Yugoslavia, in the early

1990s, the Ruthenians (Rusnaks) of Croatia, who

were related to the Ruthenians of Serbia by a

common origin, history, language and culture, also

had favorable conditions for the development of

their culture. The main centers of their

settlements were Miklashevtsi, Petrovtsi, Vukovar

and the capital of Croatia, Zagreb. Branches of

the Ruthenian organizations and institutions of

Vojvodina existed in each area. The Ruthenian

printed word from Vojvodina was widespread here.

28 However, there were fewer Ruthenians in Croatia than in Serbia. According to the

census of 2001, there were 2,300 people, which is a thousand fewer than in 1980.

In 1968, in Vukovar, they founded the cultural and educational organization The

Union of Ruthenians-Ukrainians of Croatia (headed by Vlado Kostelnyk), which united

the Rusnaks of “mountain” (Transcarpathian) origin with the Ruthenians of Bosnia

and Slavonia of “Galician” origin. Later, a “split” manifested in the name of the

organization – “The Union of Ruthenians and Ukrainians of Croatia.” The present head

is Slavko Burda. There was not and still is not any confrontation between these two

directions. On the contrary, there is cooperation and mutual understanding. The

printed organ of the URUC is the magazine “New Idea,” which is published six times a

year with a circulation of 1000 copies (the founder and first editor in chief was V.

Kostelnyk, and the current editor in chief is Vlado Tymko). It publishes its articles in

the Ruthenian, Ukrainian and Croatian languages.

The Ruthenians (Rusnaks) of Serbia and Croatia, despite their small number, are the

most nationally conscious Ruthenian-Ukrainian national minority in Europe. They

have firmly held to their Ruthenian national identity and have not been susceptible to

assimilation for 260 years. The governments of these countries (Serbia and Croatia)

get a lot of credit for this, because they give the Ruthenians their full material and

moral support (in contradistinction to the governments of other counties, where

Lemko-Ruthenians live).

Because of the civil war in Yugoslavia (1991-1995) many Ukrainians of Bosnia

(Galician origin) settled in Vojvodina. According to official statistics, in 2001 there were

4,632 of them. In Vojvodina they mostly joined the Ruthenian communities and

quickly assimilated with them, but they also founded Ukrainian organizations. The

largest is the Society of Ukrainian Language, Literature and Culture of Vojvodina, which

was founded in 1989 in Novi Sad, with the printed journal “Ukrainian Word.” Such

figures in Ruthenian culture as Symon Sakach, Roman Myz, Yuliyan Tamash and

others actively take part in the work of the Society. They try to unite these two

currents into one.

The civil war in Yugoslavia, at the end of the 20th century, greatly affected the

Ruthenians. Thousands of them were forced to leave their homes, and hundreds

became victims of terror. The war contributed to the intensification of migration to

Europe, America and even to Australia. In almost every country the Ruthenians of the

former Yugoslavia founded patriotic societies to help them preserve their national

identity and transmit it to posterity.

Author Mykola Mushynka

Source: Mushynka M. Lemkos in Diaspora // Scientific Digest of the Museum of

Ukrainian Culture in Svidnik, Issue No. 27. History and culture of Lemkivshchyna, editor in chief and compiler M. Sopolyha. – Svidnik, 2013. – pages 419-421, 423-424

29 RELIGIOUS OPPRESSION OF THE UKRAINIAN POPULATION

IN LEMKIVSHCHYNA THROUGHOUT THE 16TH AND 18TH

CENTURIES

In the eyes of the Polish and Hungarian authorities and the feudal lords, the Ruthenian

(Ukrainian) people were pagans or “schismatics.” Accordingly, Roman Catholics set up various

obstacles for the Ruthenian believers, according to the beliefs of high church authorities that

they needed to be led to the “right path,” i.e. to force them to become faithful of the Latin Rite.

However, in the midst of the Reformation, the Protestants, particularly in Hungary, also

had their plans according to the slogan “whose rule, his religion.” In 1530, the townspeople

who were mainly of German origin forbade Slavs to settle in Bardejov at all.

It is understood that this order concerned the people of the Ruthenian faith, too.

According to the historian S. Pap, the population of the entire neighborhood of Bardejov was

forced to create their center in the village of Rešov, which is ten kilometers away from the

town; the believers of the Eastern Rite came there from the surrounding villages to baptize a

newborn child or to crown a young couple in marriage.

The same fate befell the Orthodox Ruthenians in Prešov and Košice, who established

their religious centers not far from these towns – in the villages of Ruská Nová Ves and Zdoba,

respectively. The Reformation and Counter Reformation led to the fact that the Ruthenian

population was forced first to accept Protestantism, and then, when the area was re-

Catholicized, only part of the Ruthenian people returned to their “old faith.” A certain number

of them, particularly in Hungary, remained in the dominant Calvinist religion or, closer to the

Beskids, they were enticed to become Roman Catholics.

In 1550, in Sanok, the St. Demetrius Church was forcibly dismantled to please King

Zygmunt August’s sister Isabella, who wanted to live in Sanok castle. The representatives of

the town thought that it would be better to remove the church from the sight of the king's

sister, so that it would not remind her of the era when Ruthenian princes possessed Sanok, or

about the presence of the Ruthenian (Ukrainian) population in the town. In 1612, the Roman

Catholic Bishop of Tylicz allowed the construction of a Greek Catholic Church in the town, but

he warned that the faithful had to live in obedience to the Roman Catholic Church. This

meant that the Ruthenian believers were obliged to celebrate religious holidays according to

the Latin Rite. Additionally, the Orthodox faithful were forbidden to settle in the town. The

arbitrary orders of the bishop drove the population to protest. Thereofore, it was decided to

expel all the Ruthenians (Ukrainians) from Tylicz, to take their church away from them, and to

reconstitute it as a Roman Catholic Church.

At the beginning of the 18th century the Ruthenians in Spiš suffered terrible religious

oppressions. The historian of Zakarpattia, Mykhaylo Luchkay, quite extensively writes about it

in his six-volume work in the Latin language “History of the Carpathian Ruthenians.” By the

way, in his second volume, Luchkay includes the text of the “Project of the Eradication of the

Greek Rite in Poland” from 1717, in which the following goal is illuminated in 13 paragraphs:

“We, Poles, who wish to remain in possession of our own and in safety, must take the utmost

care to promote the unity of faith among our citizens.” The Project says that “people of the

Greek Rite, though they are Uniates, but still schismatics, should not be admitted to any

positions, particularly those in which they could gain allies, increase their property, and

obtain for themselves some authority…”

30 This was a very insidious project, the detailed study of which is beyond this

investigation. We can agree with the statement of the Polish historian, E. Likowski, who at the

end of the 19th century admitted that despite the guarantees of equality with the Latin clergy,

the Ruthenian priests had only crumbs of these rights and privileges.

The statement of Likowski that the Greek Catholic priests were ignorant and did not

care about elementary education is not entirely true. Admittedly, there is very little

documentary material about schooling in Lemkivshchyna during the 16th through the 19th

centuries, so we cannot nit-pick at the historian who devoted his work to the history of the

Greek Catholic Church in Lithuania and in Rus’. Today we know, for example, that already

before 1772 there were thirty-six parish schools of the Eastern Rite within Slovakia. In the

village of Powroźnik, in Lemkivshchyna, a parish school existed already in 1636. Since in 1720

the Synod of Zamość decreed that the Greek Catholic bishops had to regularly visit all of the

parishes in their eparchies, it is clear that before that time they were oblivious to educational

data.

In the southern (Hungarian) regions of Lemkivshchyna slightly more information about

the church schools of the Ruthenians survives. The Slovak historian of Ukrainian origin, Yosyf

Shelepets, implies the possibility of the existence of parochial schools in the villages of Lukov

(1500), Jastrabie in Zemplin and Litmanová in Spisz (1590), Poráč (1593), Rešov and Sukov

(1600), and also in the villages of Jakubany, Oľšavica, Brusnica and others. However, we

know almost nothing about the nature of these schools, their students or teachers.

An entry in the handwritten Gospel Book from Nižný Orlík near Svidnik from 1594 gives

us interesting information; in this Gospel, a teacher-priest or his agent left a notation in his

own hand that he rewrote the book during the time (from 17 January to 26 March) “when boys

were studying.” Obviously, this references a church school which rural children attended,

usually, from November to March.

Despite various military devastations, the enslaved population of Lemkivshchyna on

both sides of Beskids with all their strength sought to preserve their faith, their Eastern Rite

and, together with that, their Ruthenian (Ukrainian) essence.

Author Ivan Hvat’

Source: Hvat’, I. Historical development of Lemkivshchyna until 1918, Scientific Digest

of the Museum of Ukrainian Culture in Svidnik, Issue No. 27. History and culture of

Lemkivshchyna, editor in chief and compiler M. Sopolyha. – Svidnik, 2013. – pages 73-

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