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Monthly publication of the World Federation of Ukrainian Lemko Associations (SFULO). September 2015 edition.
Citation preview
2
Editor in Chief: Sofiya Fedyna
Editorial Staff:
Taras Rad’
Mykola Mushynka
Mikaela Mushynka
Design: Viktor Dudiak
Translation: Lidiya Kalantyrenko
Herald of SFULO (c) Official edition of the World Federation of Ukrainian
Lemko Associations.
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: [email protected]
Please send us your materials. The Editorial Council, however, reserves the final decision as to what to publish.
The World Federation of Ukrainian Associations (SFULO) is a
nongovernmental international public organization, which unites the Ukrainian Lemko Associations 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
Statement of the head of SFULO on the 71st anniversary of the beginning of the
deportation.........................................................3
Our Affairs
International conference concerning Rusyn-Ukrainians of the Carpathian region in
Poland................................................................5
Presentation of the three-volume edition on the deportation.........................................................7
Migrants and the residents of
L’viv....................................................................9
Ivan Rozkladay: you should search for your roots on your own …………………………………………..10
Our People
We remember, honor and pray …......................17
Culture
Retrospective on the work of Oksana Teodorovych......................................................19
In the USA thieves replaced nine paintings of
Andy Warhol with forgeries................................21
Where to read the weekly Our Lemko................22
The prophecies in the book of a Ternopil’ writer fulfilled.............................................................23
“Return” of M. Horbal is key to the Ukrainian Future..............................................................24
Plunge into the poetic world of our
countryman......................................................28
Events. History. Life.......................................31
Three waves of migration to Serbia and
Croatia.............................................................31
Robber movement in Lemkivshchyna...............32
Advertisements and announcements............35
3 STATEMENT OF THE HEAD OF SFULO ON THE 71st
ANNIVERSARY OF THE BEGINNING OF THE DEPORTATION
OF THE UKRAINIANS FROM THEIR ETHNIC LANDS IN
POLAND
We have to know and remember so that this tragedy does not
occur again.
On September 9, 1944, the infamous agreement between the Polish Committee of
National Liberation and the Ukrainian SSR “on evacuation of the Ukrainian
population from the Polish territory and the Polish citizens from the Ukrainian Soviet
Socialist Republic” was signed, from which began the period of great
exile/deportation of the Ukrainians from their ethnic lands of Kholmshchyna,
Nadsiannia, Pidliashshia, Lemkivshchyna and western Boykivshchyna in 1944-1951.
According to historians, during 1944-1946 alone, 480,000 Ukrainians were resettled,
and in consequence of Operation “Vistula” – more than 170,000. Every second
Ukrainian family in the western lands experienced deportation during 1944-1947.
The last wave of the deportation took place in 1951, when, in consequence of the
agreement of February 15, 1951, concerning the exchange of territory between the
USSR and the Polish Republic, tens of thousands of Ukrainians lost their homes.
Volodymyr Sereda, the head of the “Zakerzonia” Union (and a member of a deported
family) tells: “Everything happened according to a scenario which was worked out in
advance: punitive troops came in the morning, when people were still asleep. At dawn
on the day of the evacuation, all the roads were closed, so that no one could escape.
People had only an hour or two to pack. They only could take some food and
clothing. All the rest – acquired goods, food stocks, seeds harvested for planting,
potatoes, stock and cattle they left on their abandoned homesteads, hoping to return
soon. They had barely walked away from the village when fiery flames rose over their
homes and churches. Women sobbed, understanding that they would never again
return to their homes. Subsequently they all were driven together to railway stations,
and then – to boxcars. The route to the destinations lasted for months. But in most of
the hundreds of devastated villages “the voluntary resettlement” was accomplished
according to another scenario – under the barrel of a submachine gun.” This tragedy
has various euphemisms: repatriation, evacuation, voluntary return to Ukraine; but
in reality it was a forced resettlement, first – to the territories of the Ukrainian SSR,
and then – to northwest Poland, the forcible deprivation of the right of Ukrainians to
live in the lands of their grandfathers and great-grandfathers. The first deportees
were dropped off in the steppe territories of Luhans’k oblast, Donets’k oblast, and
also Poltava oblast, Mykolayiv oblast, Kherson oblast, and Odesa oblast. As it turned
out, they were left without any means of survival, and without any support. But
when these people tried to go back, the border was closed to them. Those who did not
experience the exile of 1944 – 1946 had to survive Operation “Vistula” and the
Jaworzno Concentration Camp … Today not many people want to remember it: it is
not profitable to stir up the past, they are afraid to worsen relations with Poland, it is
4 wartime now – it isn't the right time to speak… But when will it be the right time? In
Soviet times the deportees were forced to remain silent, they were despised and
considered to be second-class people. They did not obtain any support from the State
or any empathy and solidarity from the community. Do we not deserve the truth
today? But again an unrecognized and uncondemned tragedy has happened, both
for the Crimean Tatars and the descendants of the deported Ukrainians. In August,
2014, exactly at the time of the 79th anniversary of the beginning of the deportation,
the Lemko villages in Luhans’k oblast, in particular the village of Peremozhne (where
a Lemko Vatra was even held) were covered with “grad” rockets; several families were
shot for helping the Ukrainian army; and again our people, who have just gotten
used to a new homeland, became exiles… And again, almost without any help…
The Revolution of Dignity was our struggle for truth and for our rights, especially
Human Rights. And the decent thing is to speak the truth – without political
speculation, without aggression, but with a desire to broadly demonstrate, in the
widest sense, the facts of the tragedy, so that it can NEVER and NOWHERE happen
again. September 9, 2015
Sofiya Fedyna the Head of the World Federation of Ukrainian Lemko Unions
In the photo: the head of SFULO Sofiya Fedyna, the head of LOO Lemkivshchyna Stepan Maykovych, the head
of the L’viv Oblast State Administartion Oleh Syniutka with Ihor Zinkevych and Andriy Khomiak, the activists of
public organization VARTA1, laying flowers at the memorial marker of the deported.
5 OUR AFFAIRS
International conference concerning Rusyn-Ukrainians of the Carpathian
region in Poland
On September 24-26, 2015, in the town of Słupsk in Polish Pomerania, occurred the Fifth
International Scientific Conference on the subject,“The history, material and spiritual culture of
Lemkos, Boykos, Hutsuls and Rusyns”, devoted to the 70th anniversary of the deportation of the
Ukrainians of Poland to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. The organizer of the
conference was the Pomeranian Academy in Słupsk, the rector of which is a Ukrainian,
Professor Roman Drozd. He opened the conference. Sofiya Fedyna, the head of SFULO, and the
author of these lines greeted the participants on behalf of the foreign guests.
Eighty-three scientists from Poland, Ukraine, Serbia, the United States, and Slovakia took
part in the conference.
At the plenary session three reports were read, and between them – the joint report of
Bohdan Hal’chak from Zielona Góra and Mykhaylo Shmigel’ from Banská Bystrica, “The
attitude of Czechoslovakia towards the resettlement of the Ukrainian population from Poland to
the Ukrainian SSR in 1944 – 1946.” All other reports were delivered in four thematic sections.
In the historical section there were the following reports: Martyna Shkutova from Nitra,
“Life of the eastern Christians in Šariš in the 16th century”; Stanislav Konechny, “Carpathian
Rus’ and constitutional changes in 1918 – 1945”; Marian Gaydosh, “Political aspects of the
solution of the Ukrainian question in Slovakia after 1945” - both Konechny and Gaydosh are
from the Institute of Social Sciences of Slovak Academy of Sciences in Košice; Mykola
Mushynka, “Resettlement of Rusyns from Romania to the Czech – German frontier in 1947.”
In the section “Material and spiritual culture” (which was the largest), the report of
Yosyf Warhola from Svidnik, named “Bread in the customs and rites of the Rusyn-Ukrainians
in Slovakia” captured the listeners' attention.
There were interesting reports by the delegation of Rusyn scientists from Serbia, which
consisted of five members: Yanko Ramach (“The Writings of the Rusyns of southern Hungary
from the middle of the 18th
century to the end of the 19th
century”); Diura Hardiy (“About
Bishop Dionisiy Niaradiy”); Velimir Poplatsko (“The forced resettlement of the Rusyn-
Ukrainians from Vukovar in 1991”); Sasha Sabadosh (“Activity of the Rusyn section of the
Union of the Cultural – Educational Association in 1948 – 1952”) and Alexandr Mudry
(“Names of hemp products in the language of the Rusyns of Vojvodina”). Almost all the reports
were delivered in the Ukrainian literary language.
The Polish scientists presented mostly in the historic section. Their reports, built mainly
on recently discovered archival sources, dealt primarily with the resettlement of the Ukrainians
of Poland to the Ukrainian SSR in 1944 – 1946 and Operation “Vistula” of 1947. Two reports
by Polish scientists delivered at the plenary session set the direction in this regard: Jan Pisulinski
(“Resettlement of the Polish Population from the Ukrainian SSR and the Ukrainian Population
from Poland in 1944 – 1946”) and Tadeusz Sucharski (“Polish Prose on the Problems of the
Deportation”).
The report of Andriy Ksenych “The Church in the Poetry of Jerzy Harasymowicz” also
had a literary aspect.
6 Almost 30 speakers came to Słupsk from Ukraine, the majority of whom were scientists
from the Institute of Ethnology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine in L’viv.
Almost all of them presented in the ethnographic section. The report of Yaroslav Taras
“Belltowers of the Ukrainian Carpathians” was dominant. Sofiya Fedyna from the L’viv
National University spoke about the manipulative aspects of the so-called “Rusyn question,”
Natalia Kliashtorna – about the Lemkos of Luhans’k and Donets'k oblasts during the present
military events, Roman Piniazhko – about the Hutsul and Komańcza Republics. Several
speakers came from Kyiv, Chernivtsi, Uzhhorod, and Kharkiv. Paul Best arrived from the USA
with a report on the representation of the Polish – Ukrainian conflicts of 1944 – 1946 in the
pages of the American press.
After each block of reports there were discussions, which sometimes grew into separate
supporting reports.
All the reports will be published in a separate digest.
28. 09. 2015.
Mykola Mushynka
7
A comment from Sofiya Fedyna, the head of SFULO
In Pomerania Academy, in Słupsk,
occurred the International
Scientific Conference “Lemkos,
Boykos, Hutsuls, Rusyns – history
and modernity,” devoted to the
70th anniversary of the deportation
of the Ukrainians. Despite the
discussion title, the scientific
reports were on a high level. The
scientists did not let themselves
descend to an offensive level, but in
fact, they aspired to seek for the
truth. I gave the report on the
manipulative aspects of “the Rusyn
question.” Meeting old and new friends was my biggest joy: Mykola Mushynka with
his wife, Bohdan Hal’chak, Roman Drozd, friends from Serbia and the great scholars
of this Conference.
IN KYIV THE THREE-VOLUME EDITION “FROM
DEPORTATION TO DEPORTATION” WAS PRESENTED ON
THE ONE HUNDREDTH
ANNIVERSARY OF THE FIRST
DEPORTATION OF UKRAINIANS
On September 19, in the Mykhaylo
Hrushevs’ky Memorial Historical Museum in
Kyiv, a Memorial Academy, “From
Deportation to Deportation,” was held. The
participants honored the 800,000 Ukrainians
who were deported from Kholmshchyna,
Pidliashshia, Nadsiannia, and
Lemkivshchyna in the 20th century.
During the First World War, the
Government of Tsarist Russia forcibly
removed over 300,000 Ukrainians from
Kholmshchyna and Pidliashshia to the
8 depths of Russia. During the Second World War, the Polish Committee of National
Liberation, together with the Government of the Ukrainian SSR, deported about
500,000 Ukrainians from Kholmshchyna, Pidliashshia, Nadsiannia, and
Lemkivshchyna to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic.
The witnesses of those events took part in this Memorial Academy, together
with prominent researchers of the history of Ukraine and in particular the
deportations of ethnic Ukrainians – Serhiy Kul’chytsky, Yuriy Shapoval, Volodymyr
Borysenko, Ihor Zhaloba, and Volodymyr Yevtukh.
“The deportation of the Ukrainians is a tragic page from history which should
not be forgotten. It is a crime, too, and it must receive a proper evaluation. After all,
hundreds of thousands of people have been deprived of their homes and forcibly
moved to other territories, where they often had to fight for survival. The history of
every deported family is a stream, which fills a strong river of national memory,” –
said Volodymyr Tylishchak, Deputy Director of the Ukrainian Institute of National
Memory, and a participant of the Academy.
The three-volume edition, “From deportation to deportation: Socio-political life
of the Ukrainians from Kholmshchyna and Pidliashshia (1915 – 1947), Research,
Memories, Documents” contains stories of the deported families and memories from
those who are still alive, and also photographs and copies of archival documents. The
epigraph of the entire large-scale research work is: “For the memory of the dead, for
the education of the living.” The book was published in the Bukrek publishing house
in Chernivtsi, supported by the Teodota and Iwan Klym Memorial Endowment Fund
from the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Alberta.
Publication of the third volume finished this large-scale research project, which
lasted for more than a decade (the first volume was published in 2011, and the
second one – in 2014). The authors are: Yuriy Makar, doctor of historical sciences,
author of more than five hundred historical works, and a native of historic
9 Kholmshchyna; Mykhaylo Horny, Deputy Head of the All-Ukrainian Public Union
“The Congress of the Ukrainians of Kholmshchyna and Podlasie”; Vitaliy Makar, the
director of the Ramon Hnatyshyn Center of Canadian Studies.
The main question, which cuts like a knife through the book as well as the
events commemorating the deportees, is why it was that in the first half of the 20th
century the westernmost branch of the Ukrainian ethnos lived in their native land as
if it were a transit point? The authors also discuss the imperial policy of Russia,
which in the struggle to extend its influence in Polish territories did not stop attempts
to assimilate the local Ukrainians, and sometimes saw them as a threat; the
complexity of Ukrainian-Polish relations; and the level of Ukrainian national identity.
The research of this painful page of history and the fact that Polish historians
take part in events devoted to this subject allows us to speak about progress in
mutual understanding between Ukraine and Poland. But the special tragedy and
symbolism of this history is that presently it is being repeated in Donbas: the
descendants of the families who once were deported to the East from Kholmshchyna
and Pidliashshia have now become the deportees.
Source: http://www.memory.gov.ua/news/u-kievi-prezentuvali-tritomnik-vid-
deportatsii-do-deportatsii-do-100-richchya-pershoi-deportats
MIGRANTS AND THE RESIDENTS OF L’VIV
We are a nation!
“The Festival of the Migrants and the Residents of L’viv,” which was held in L’viv from
the 1st to the 13th of September, served as a means of building cultural bridges as
well as a platform for dialogue, where both migrants from the east of the country and
Crimea, together with local residents, took part. Such an event took place in Ukraine
for the first time. Through this cultural exchange, the citizens of L’viv and the
migrants were able to learn more about each other. After all, during the period of the
occupation of Crimea and the war in Eastern Ukraine, more than 11,000 migrants
have had to resettle to L’viv oblast, and this number is only based on official
statistics. Along with social issues, one main concern is the question of integration
into a new environment and the building of mutual respect and trust between
residents of different regions of Ukraine who know very little about each other's
cultural traditions and peculiarities.
***
Already on September 1, in Muliars’ka Street, Victoriya Polishchuk opened the photo
exhibition "Faces of Migrants.” The exhibition included photographs taken during
the year in L’viv which are portraits of people whose faith has been changed by the
circumstances in Ukraine. The heroes are young families, children, adults, and
progressive youth. Born in Donets'k, Kyiv, Yalta or in Western Ukraine – all of them
have a common home – the city of Lev. On September 4th, one could attend a master
10 class in pottery by the Crimean Tatar ceramist, Rustem Skybin. He created his style
of polychrome painting of ceramics products, which includes the best features of the
traditional culture of the Crimean Tatars. He perfectly mastered the technique of
creating ornamental structures and created a series of unique products with
exquisite calligraphic compositions.
***
On the same day, on the square in front of Ivan Franko L’viv National University, all
could see the performance of “DzhanDuet” (Ukraine, Crimea, Azerbaijan).
“DzhanDuet” is a joint project of accordionist Shevket Zmorka and percussionist
Orhan Ahabeyli, who combine different styles, traditions and genres, taking as their
basis the Crimean Tatar and Azerbaijani folk styles combined with modern jazz. The
citizens of L’viv very warmly greeted the performance of the joint project of one of the
brightest singers of Crimean Tatar folk music, El’vira Sarykhalil, and the jazz team
“Acoustic Quartet” (Crimea, Kharkiv, Donets'k). I observed that the young singer (as
well as her countrywoman and colleague Dzhamala) in addition to her native
Crimean Tatar songs, gladly performed one or two Lemko songs. Is it a coincidence?
Or perhaps there is a certain logic? I was very grateful to El’vira, because as I always
emphasize, we will not have a better moment for combining efforts by these citizens
of Ukraine, deported in different times and from different territories. No man is an
island, and combining our efforts will give us a more significant result. The
experience of those formerly deported (the Lemkos and the residents of
Kholmshchyna and Nadsiannia) should be combined with the energy of youth - the
well organized Crimean Tatars and the residents of Donbas; the value of the latter is
that they know better than all the rest what a modern war is.
***
On September 5, unfortunately, due to the rain, they had to shift the scheduled
meetings from Lesia Ukrainka Street to the Museum of Ideas on Valova Street. I
immediately paid attention to a remarkable photo: a large lake against a background
of mountain scenery. It looks like Crimea, but where in Crimea are there such big
lakes? I talked with the photographers, Ihor Sal’nykov and Victoria Temna. They
explained that it was a reservoir (they named the location, but I have forgotten it)
where a lot of water accumulates in spring. And it turned out to be such a good
photo. Almost a Crimean Baikal! Unfortunately, the pond becomes almost dry in
summer. It turned out that Ihor and Victoria are also migrants from Crimea. They
departed Crimea immediately, but the atmosphere on the sunny peninsula still
seems unbearable. Although they visited their native places not long ago, they
returned again to L’viv. “The sensible Crimeans left, and the rest have 'Kiseliov TV' in
their heads…”, says Victoria. She believes that such meetings as today's provide a
lot: “Now we need communication and mutual support very much. If people have
moved far away, they must live among strangers, and they almost do not know their
environment. But here, at the Festival, we will take a closer look at people and find
good friends."
***
11 Here is Khalil Khalilov (co-founder of the Crimean Tatar Culture Center “Crimean
Home” in L’viv. In the past he conducted his own musical program in Crimea, on the
“ATR” channel). I asked him, “What benefit will there be from this meeting? There
are not many people yet…” “We do not have many people here, but we had to prepare
thoroughly,” says the organizer. “There were difficult organizational moments, acts of
God – the rain… If it had been sunny, the event would have been held on Lesia
Ukrainka Street. Here, in the Museum of Ideas, it is cramped, and I think that this
will affect attendance in some way. In L’viv we have held the Festival of Crimean
Tatar Culture for eight years now. For two years I have personally taken part in it.
After the tragic events of the past year, many people were forced to leave Crimea, and
we realized and felt that people trust us here. Our previous festivals played a
significant role. We realized that these are a very good mechanism by which to
integrate into the life of L’viv. After all, the residents of L’viv will see clearly that the
Crimean Tatars are a creative people; in effect, they have the same values as the
Galicians do. We are all Ukrainians, and we live in one big country; we have common
troubles and common joys. This year we do not hold the Festival of the Crimean
Tatars, but “The Festival of the Migrants and the Residents of L’viv”. Many people
from Donbas are here, and the Crimeans are not only Crimean Tatars… The Festival
will last for a few days. Yesterday there was a very interesting concert, where the
people from many regions of Ukraine – Donets'k, Kharkiv, and Crimea – joined their
forces; they presented a very good program…”
Here I interrupted Khalil Khalilov and reminded him that yesterday El’vira Sarykhalil,
besides Crimean Tatar songs, also sang a Lemko song. And Dzhamala also likes to
perform the well-known “Oj, Vershe, mij Vershe.” Lemkos and Tatars are united by
the fact that they have both experienced a brutal deportation. Now they better
understand each other. Isn’t it worth it to establish closer contact now? After all,
contacts between creative youth give rise to interesting ideas. Khalil agrees: “Yes,
there is very much in common. The difference is only in the fact that Crimean Tatars
are the southernmost, and Lemkos are the westernmost children of Ukraine…” To
please my companion, I emphasize that despite the fact that there are many more
refugees from Donbas than from Crimea, the Crimean Tatars are the ones who have
obtained the most benefit from the organization of this event. Khalil replied: “Our
culture looks very bright, because we could preserve our deep identity. That is why it
seems that we dominate in a cultural sense. The slightly increased activity of the
Crimean Tatars can be explained by the fact that it is not the first such tragedy (the
involuntary resettlement of a part of the people), and that is why we almost
automatically activate the mechanisms of preservation of our native culture and our
identity…”
I asked Khalil’s opinion about whether the Crimean experience also reflects that of
the people from Donets'k. He responded: “Donets'k and Luhans’k oblasts are regions
of Ukraine which were inhabited and formed in their present state only relatively
recently. It is difficult to talk about some profound identity there. It has to be sought
and found, but… it is important to understand that, despite everything, we are truly
united by only one fact: we are Ukrainians. So, the Donets'k inhabitants should
12 preserve primarily Ukrainian values. All the deportees (both now and in the past) –
Lemkos, natives of Kholmshchyna and Nadsiannia, Crimean Tatars, people from
Donets'k and Luhans’k oblasts, have to communicate with each other. Each has his
own bitter experience and his own model for solving the problems, and it should be
shared…”
***
When the ethnic duet “Olenky” (Marichka Chychkova and Victoria Titarova) sang,
people from the street began approaching the event. That was perhaps because even
casual passers-by felt a certain exoticism. After all, the girls perform both Ukrainian
songs (Lemko and Polissia), and songs from the Balkans – Serbian and Macedonian. I
talked a little with Marichka Chychkova. I asked her if she has been to the republics
of the former Yugoslavia? She answered that it is possible to fall in love with the
Balkans in absentia. After all, the musical culture of these lands is extremely rich. At
the same time, this lover of Balkan folk music emphasized that, despite everything,
she cares about Ukrainian affairs most of all. And she stressed that there is a
tendency in Ukraine to focus attention on one region and forget about the others.
Polissia now is in such a shambles! Old women do not sing; nobody records anything.
The younger generation does not want to sing these songs, and the old women
gradually depart… She mentioned that there are basic “folklore points”:
Hutsul’shchyna, Lemkivshchyna, and Central Ukraine. But Ukrainian collectors of
folklore somehow forget about Polissia. Oh, well… It is good, though, that while we
are worried about the faith of the people from Crimea and Donbas, we at the same
time recall some of the cultural problems of other regions.
***
Many people approached the scene when Refat Chubarov showed up. The journalists'
questions immediately took the conversation outside the cultural context. The
subject of modern politics was broached. One of the reporters put the question
bluntly: Will Crimea be a part of Ukraine again during the lifetime of our generation?
The well-known politician, answering the question, said, at first glance, a strange
phrase: he would not like to see so many displaced Crimean Tatars in L’viv. To visit
friends among Galicians is another matter. And the more, the better! But they have
to think about returning home. As for the timing of their return, he said the
following:
“It depends on many factors. I will name the main ones: the strengthening of
international sanctions and the weakening of Russia; strengthening of the defense of
Ukraine; solving questions of internal development, including the question of the
economic development of Ukraine…”
Everybody was listening with great interest to what Refat Chubarov said about the
efforts of the world community to return Crimea. The politician said that Crimea
should be returned without weapons, and in a legal way, with the help of the
international community. Refat-aga told about the role of the Crimean Tatar Diaspora
in the world, including in the USA, Canada, Turkey, and Western Europe; some
aspects of the law; for example, who can be classified as traitors in Crimea; the
13 summoning of some criminals to the Office of Public Prosecutor, for instance,
Aksionov. Though it is impossible to fulfill them now, still such subpoenas are important. After all, it is
a signal for patriots: Crimea is not forgotten… The head of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar nation also
spoke about the events in Eastern Ukraine; the fact that Europe and the USA can be tired of our
troubles, that not only we need their support, but they also need something positive from our side,
and clear messages that we are taking wise and ordered steps. People listened to Refat Chubarov with
pleasure, and he, completing his presentation, said that he likes to visit L’viv and the audience there.
***
Later I met a painter, Serhiy Zaharov, who for six weeks was under the bondage of the separatists,
survived beatings and tortures, and was several times taken out to be shot… At the Festival in L’viv
Serhiy presented “a card house” (the characters of the cards were caricatures of the personalities of
DNR and LNR); and about the event he said the following: “It is good that the resettled came together,
and even more so, in such a beautiful city, with which they frighten the Russian speakers in eastern
Ukraine. L’viv is great! And the joint activity of the residents of L’viv and the resettled from Donbas and
Crimea is also extremely good. Despite the heavy destruction and economic losses, now we have a
chance to unite the nation. And what happens in the so-called “republics” tells us about the
approaching collapse of their house of cards. They consume each other like spiders in a jar. But the
ordinary people who have remained there are well aware that these pseudo-state “entities” have no
future…” At the conclusion I took a few pictures and admired a rapidly built wall (or symbolic
“fortress”), which parents made with their children from small wooden bars. Of course, there was
meaning in this action, because the whole process reminded us of the building of our common
Ukrainian House.
Serhiy Lashchenko
L’viv
Source:
http://www.svitlytsia.crimea.ua/index.php?section=article&artID=15909
“YOU SHOULD SEARCH FOR YOUR ROOTS ON YOUR OWN”
– IHOR ROZKLADAY
“My passion for genealogy began at school. There we
drew family trees, but there were no relatives further back than three or four
generations. These memories of my childhood are deep inside of me,” says
the lawyer Ihor Rozkladay.
Author: Yaroslav
Tymchyshyn
Ihor began doing genealogy research eight years ago. In
this time work on the law “On access to public
information” started. This law opened access to the government and the archives.
“At first I applied to the Central State Archive in Kyiv. There I got a different date of
birth for my great grandmother. That was the beginning of my search,” says Ihor.
14 During eight years he has been able to explore his family to the tenth generation, including lateral branches.
According to Ihor, the search should be started, first of all, with a birth certificate or metrical record. All data on births and deaths for the last 75 years are stored in the organs of civilian registrars. Older documents are kept in the state archives in oblast centers. However, there may be surprises: in particular, the documents may be not transferred at the correct time, or the archives may not have any free space to store them. We can speak about the congestion of the archives.
But the hindrances do not end here. For example, in the 1930s archives were destroyed, especially in Eastern and Southern Ukraine. In such cases we have to appeal to secondary sources. These may be court cases, land records and so on.
Older documents are stored in oblast archives, except in Kyiv and L’viv. Here, in addition to the oblast archives, there are Central State Historical Archives. But sometimes documents can be located in several archives. For example, documents from Pidliashshia are located in the archives of Poland, Belarus, and Russia.
“Actually, genealogy is a reconception of history. When you go down to the level of these people, you stop dividing history into black and white,” continues Ihor. “For instance, one of my ancestors fought in the Russian Imperial Army, and another one fought against him. So the vicissitudes of human life are more difficult.”
Parish registers are universal, but in different parts of Ukraine they had unique features. For example, Catholic parish registers contain a house number, but Orthodox ones do not have it.
Regional peculiarities influence archival work today. In particular, in modern Polish archives it is permitted to take pictures of the documents for free. It makes research work much easier. At the same time, in Ukrainian archives photographing is a paid service.
In addition, the Polish archives are actively being transferred to a digital format. For the researcher, the search should begin with the portal szukajwarchiwach.pl. It is a consolidated portal of Polish archives, which contains a description of all books and gives an idea of where they are located. Some documents concerning Volyn’, Podillia and L’viv oblast are in a digital format: www.agad.gov.pl/inwentarze/testy.html.
However, Ihor says that we have to work with these documents very carefully. First, he advises that we should conduct the search ourselves, as the archives can provide incorrect information; and, secondly, several variants of writing Ukrainian last names are possible. So, we should try all possible variants.
If the parish registers are not preserved, we should turn to the confession lists. In the Russian Empire all the inhabitants had to go to
church for confession. In the confession lists they may often have written down the family members of those who confessed: a wife, children. It makes the search much easier. This group also includes revision lists - descriptions which were drawn up for
15 taxation. Here you can find information about family members. Extremely valuable sources are also “marriage searches.”
Ihor Kulyk speaks about the Internet as an important source of genealogical
research, especially for the 20th century.
Photos by Yaroslav Tymchyshyn
In Ukraine the state
oversees issues
concerning the
organization of the
information about
the repressed; in
Russia this is an
initiative of public
organizations.
Ihor Kulyk notes
that this information
can be scattered and
located in many archives,
but first he advises to
consult the Archive of the
Security Service of
Ukraine.
16
Source: http://gazeta.ua/articles/history/_svoye-korinnya-treba-shukati-
samostijno--igor-rozkladaj/648027
Author: Natalia Miniaylo
17 OUR PEOPLE
WE REMEMBER, HONOR AND PRAY…
On September 19-20, 2015, occurred a trip by a
delegation of the “Lemkivshchyna” L’viv Oblast Union to
the village of Krasna (Korostenka), powiat Krośnieński,
województwo Podkarpackie, Poland. The purpose of the
trip was to raise and consecrate the Cross of
Remembrance on our Greek Catholic cemetery.
The delegation consisted of about 25 people, including
one of the most respected residents of the village of
Krasna – Eugenia Les’kiv (from the Uhryniak family),
who was born in 1932; Mitred Protopresbyter Fr.
Anatoliy Duda – Kvasniak, Svitlana Savych from
Luhans’k oblast with her daughter Anhelina, presently
resettled and who lives in Krakow (from the family of
Dmytro and Yustyna Kobasa); the family of Ivan Syn’ko:
daughter Halyna and son-in-law Taras Khrushch and
others.
These people, natives of the village of Krasna, visit the
land of their ancestors every year: they remember,
honor and pray for them; and they involve their children and grandchildren on these trips.
In 1945, before the mass resettlement of our people, the village of Krasna had 320 numbered
houses, and now, on the 70th anniversary of the deportation, there are about 190 of them.
When we arrived in Krasna, our priest, Anatoliy Duda-Kvasniak, served a panakhyda and
consecrated the memorial cross in the cemetery; the attendees prayed at the tombs of four
priests who are buried near the cross, including Alexandr Pryslops’ky, the builder of our
church, where he served as pastor for more than 55 years (1885 – 1942).
I want to emphasize once again that only Greek Catholic parishioners were buried in the
cemetery at Krasna,
and the Roman
Catholic villagers were
buried in the parish
cemetery in the village
of Lutcza. They did
not have a Roman
Catholic Church in
the village of Krasna.
18
After the consecration in the cemetery, everybody came to the church where Fr. Anatoliy
recited a litany. Our Mitered Archpriest, Anatoliy, is a pastor of the true Ukrainians of Lemko
origin and it is not for the first time that he has visited the village of Krasna, prayed in the
church, called for tolerance, love and unity.
At a communal dinner the natives of Krasna and their
descendants shared their memories, remembered
their families and their parents’ homesteads; Dr.
Lukáš Uram, who was present there, told Svitlana
Slavych and her daughter Anhelina, who were there
for the first time, about their great-grandfather and
great-grandmother who had lived in Krasna.
On Sunday morning, all the members of the
delegation went to the village of Korczyna to the grave
of Stanislav Sheptytsky, a brother of Andriy
Sheptytsky, where the priests Anatoliy Duda and
Myron Mykhalyshyn served a panakhyda. After that,
all came to the church in Krasna, where they recited
a litany and all of us stayed for the Sunday service to
God.
During the trip, rain constantly accompanied us, but
when we were consecrating the memorial cross in the
cemetery, or walking among the village, it stopped.
This trip will stay in our memory for a long time,
especially, for those who were there for the first time.
Till we meet again! Myroslav Dmytrakh
19 CULTURE
RETROSPECTIVE ON THE WORK OF OKSANA
TEODOROVYCH
Oksana Teodorovych
The art form of enamel managed to
develop in the Diaspora due to the efforts of
the Ukrainian artist, Oksana Teodorovych.
The Ukrainian National Museum for the first
time presents the paintings, “Born of Fire.” I
speak of their retrospective on enamel,
created during the different periods of the
artist's life, who managed to transfer the
noble tradition of the aesthetic environment,
once widespread in Ukraine, to a new land.
In the history of fine art there are few
people with awareness of the technology and method of creating works in enamel.
With this exhibition the poetic emergence of an extraordinary personality comes to
light, as well as an artistic perspective on the research of this subject.
Fifty years have passed since Oksana
Teodorovych, with a Bachelor of Arts from the
University of Chicago and the School of the Art
Institute of Chicago, presented her graduate
work at the graduate exhibition. This success
of the young artist was the first step in her
Ukrainian modernism, which was
simultaneously so universal. She dabbled in
various techniques, but she settled on
enamels. “I do not know how it began. Did
somebody come and persuade me?” – as if the
poetess Oksana Liaturyns’ka in the collection
“Enamels of Princes” had her in mind. In
“Carpet of Flowers” and “The Virgin of
Tenderness” the imagery is consonant with the
language of Liaturyns'ka's poetry, as well as
with the enamels of Olena Kul’chyts’ka, Maria
Dol’nyts’ka, and Yaroslava Muzyka. “Night in
the Meadow,” “After the Font,” and “Fantasies
of the Sea” are saturated with femininity.
20 These little masterpieces capture the physical dimension of beauty.
Many of them are in private collections, and the enamel work “The Mother of
God with Child” was presented to the Blessed Patriarch Josyf Slipyj in 1974, and is
now kept in the collection of the gallery of the Ukrainian Catholic University in Rome.
Together with other Ukrainian artists she took part in the group exhibitions which
took place in Detroit, Cleveland, Chicago and Philadelphia. Some emphases are
consciously made on the aesthetic of Biblical themes, which are drawn out with the
talent of an icon painter. Not many people know that Oksana Teodorovych, with
Lialia Kuchma, helped the head master Ivan Dykyj, a native of Kharkiv oblast, paint
the SS. Volodymyr and Ol’ha Cathedral in Chicago. Composite and stylistic features
of the decorative-applied arts of Old Rus' are emphasized in her works: “Silent Night –
Holy Night,” “Blue Fish” and “Under the Cross.” The enamel “On the Shore of Life”
can be called autobiographical. Here green colors dominate, gilded with the rays of
hope. These are the colors of childhood; the green Sambir region and
Lemkivshchyna's unforgettable landscapes, which continue to awaken the
imagination of this Boyko.
Oksana Teodorovych was born in a family of teachers in the town of Sambir,
L’viv oblast. Here she passed her childhood. During the first Bolshevik occupation
(1939-1941) she was in Lemkivshchyna. The nature, environment, and Lemko
traditions influenced the character formation of the young Ukrainian woman.
She used to go to May Day, celebrated Christmas and Malanka…
“Unforgettable mornings
in the silence of the forest,
when we wandered all together
among the trees as if in some
sacred place, looking for
mushrooms. The din, the
singing, the entertainments at
the fire and the expectation of
a freshly-baked potato. During
long fall evenings our hostesses
were spinning, and we made
straw decorations for the
Christmas tree. Even to this
day the wonderful fairy tales
from Lemkivshchyna move me
to tears, and it seems that I
can see those events and people. In front of me there are the smiling faces of my
Lemko friends; Ol’ha Yarema with her brother Levko is among them. What happened
to them? I want to believe that they did not become victims of the brutal “Operation
Vistula”, says Ms. Teodorovych, remembering the village of Gludno (Glidno), where in
1939 she went to primary school.
21 And then – the war, the camps for the displaced people, the school in
Regensburg, PLAST, the migration to the USA, the completion of secondary education
here… She easily found a common language “with fire”; studying enamel practically,
she experimented with metal, paints, and struck a hit with her creation. Each
product must be heated in the oven at a temperature of 600-800 degrees Celsius. To
achieve the desired result, you have to do it several times. In 2005, in Chicago, MB
Financial Bank published a calendar with reproductions of the enamel paintings of
Oksana Teodorovych.
History tells us that the
Eastern Slavs produced various
ornaments with color and precious
metals. Golden tiaras, necklaces,
hryvnia necklaces, kolts (parts of a
headdress), and book casings
decorated with filigree cloisonné,
came to us from the epoch of
Kyivan Rus’. In the times of the
destruction of Kyiv by the Tatars
(1239-1240), metaloplastics
underwent irreparable damage.
Only after many centuries, in the
modern epoch, the technique of hot
enamel was revived in Europe; in particular, the term “art of fire” spread from France
(French “Groupe des arts du feu”). This is a very complicated form of art, which both
men and women can practice. The most important thing is to feel positive energy
which gives optimism for the future. The exhibition “Retrospective on the work of
Oksana Teodorovych” will be held from the 6th to the 29th of November in the
Ukrainian National Museum in Chicago. We invite admirers to the opening on Friday,
November 6th, at seven o’clock in the evening. With this exhibition we will add to the
history of the development of the art form of enamel in artistic Chicago and will
personally greet the artist.
10/08/2015
Author: Maria Klymchak, Chicago, the curator of the Ukrainian National
Museum. Special for “Time and Events”
Source: http://www.chasipodii.net/article/15939/
IN THE USA THIEVES REPLACED NINE PAINTINGS OF
ANDY WARHOL WITH FORGERIES
September 11, 2015
Nine paintings of Andy Warhol were stolen from the office of a cinema company in
Los Angeles and replaced with forgeries.
22 The stolen prints and stamps on silk, signed by Warhol, belonged to the series “Ten
portraits of Jews of the 20th century” and “The species which disappears” and cost
about $350,000.
The theft remained undetected for several years, because the paintings of Warhol
were replaced with forgeries.
The crime was detected only when one of the paintings was sent to change the frame.
The experts found that the image was blurred and the artist's signature was not on
it.
The police assume that at least one of the works was sold at auction.
Andy Warhol, who was born in the USA, in a family of migrants from Ukraine
(Lemkos), became famous in the 1960s; he became one of the key figures in the
history of the pop-art movement in modern art.
Source:
http://www.bbc.com/ukrainian/news_in_brief/2015/09/150911_ak_pictures_wa
rholl_fake
WHERE TO READ THE “OUR LEMKO” WEEKLY?
Source: http://diasporiana.org.ua/ukrainica/12058-dvotizhnevik-nash-lemko-
1934-1939-rokiv-vibrana-publitsistika/
23 THE PROPHECIES IN THE BOOK OF A TERNOPIL’ WRITER
FULFILLED
In Ternopil’, as it was already
reported by “Teren,” the
presentation of Mykola
Horbal’s book “Return”
occurred. With this novel our
countryman causes a 180-
degree change in many
people's world views, or at least
makes them think.
This is, first of all, about
atheists and religious fanatics.
The time in which events
happen in “Return” is post-
Soviet Ukraine, distorted with communist propaganda and clogged with KGB
collaborators and imperial agents. One of the main characters, the journalist Oleh,
receives a mystical task: to clear the land from filth with the light of truth.
In the novel there is another character – Father Valerij. Through him, the writer
transmits the prophesies of God’s providence to the readers. They are impressive if
we take into account the fact that the book was written before the Revolution of
Dignity. I quote: “Ukraine has become an epicenter of the clash of demonic forces
with God’s providence … God entrusted to Ukraine some universal mission of light.
What the current President of Ukraine (Yanukovych) does is definitely marked with
the seal of the Evil One, because the commandments of God 'Do not steal,' 'Do not
kill,' and 'Do not bear false witness' are violated. Judicial proceedings are
transformed into the obedient executive organs of the criminal President. The
criminal President appoints the general public prosecutor, and this prosecutor is his
owner's faithful dog. The Minister of Defense is an agent of Moscow, the head of the
Security Service is a Moscow KGB officer and the Minister of Education is a Kremlin
servant. In such circumstances the life of Ukrainians becomes unbearable.
…Ukrainians of God’s essence… cannot stand it for long. The people will rise. And we
will be the witnesses, when the millions of people come to the squares with prayers to
God. Obviously, the people’s need to clean the filth from the state will activate all of
the evil spirits against them. To frighten the people, the crowds of heartless
organisms, with the support of the authorities`, will do terrible things: kidnap the
activists of the resistance, torture and kill them, shoot at people. They will execute
Satan’s orders. The entire world, surprised and delighted, will observe the Ukrainian
uprising against the Evil One. And all the Russian worlds are demonic structures.”
The writer and political prisoner, Mykola Horbal’, during his communication, said
that Ukraine has already passed the time of repentance and redemption. Now the
next process of transformation is happening – the process of ablution. Ukraine is in
the epicenter of opposition to planetary evil. The next phase is God’s blessing.
24 By the way, the novel ends with the fact that all of those who ever migrated from
Ukraine (and these are millions of people) start returning to their homeland. If these
above-mentioned predictions have already come true, and some are being fulfilled
now, then there is hope that everything predicted by the author in his book will come
true as well. It gives peace and inspires optimism.
Valentyna Semeniak
Source:
http://teren.in.ua/article/prorotstva_u_knyzhtsi_ternopilskoho_pysmennyka_zd
iysnylysya
“RETURN” OF M. HORBAL IS KEY TO UKRAINIAN FUTURE
Recently I had the pleasure to
read a fascinating artistic-
documentary novel by Mykola
Horbal, a native of
Lemkivshchyna, a former
dissident and political
prisoner, later a politician,
and now a writer. In contrast
to his previous books, this is
not an autobiographical story.
This is an exciting story about
a group of young Kyivan
nonconformists, who have
been searching for their place
in a world which is deeply
imbued with sin.
The book, which has 358 pages (which is traditional for book publications in a B-5
format) and was published at the beginning of this year in the Kharkiv publishing
house “Human Rights,” is read from the first pages in one breath. Even such flaws (or
rather features of our times) as attempts to squeeze the maximum amount of text on
the minimum amount of pages, cannot stop it. This is not only my impression.
Accordingly, this book deserves the attention of those who are looking for the key to
the future of Ukraine.
The tension, inherent in detective stories, begins at the scene when a pretty girl, who
is wet through and barefoot, and who looked like an angel, was running along the
Andriivs’ky Descent during a hard rain. But “Return” by Mykola Horbal is not a
detective story. It is not a memoir either, as Oksana Zabuzhko wrote in a brief article
where she mentioned that lately she had to read many memoirs “for work,” among
which she referred to the novel “Return.”
25 To the category of memoirs belongs Mykola Horbal’s first book, “One of the Sixty”,
which was published in 2001. His second book, “Presentation of life,” can also be
partly called a memoir. And this book is a profound touchstone for reflections on the
cause and source of evil which prevails in the world now. It was given not in the form
of a philosophical treatise, which is usually boring for the reader, but as an artistic
canvas. In the dialogues the heroes, who are tired of a lack of spirituality, are looking
for their place in the Ukrainian world. Their conversations contain short excerpts
from documents, scientific and philosophical works. That is why I attribute Horbal’s
“Return” to the category of artistic and documentary novels.
In this book, the author mentions the name of the Russian writer-mystic and
philosopher Daniil Andreyev, who now is almost unknown in Ukraine. In Russia his
books started being published in 1991. He was the first who brought the term
“demon of great power” into Russian philosophical use! This term permeates the
novel “Return,” which shows that all sorts of Russian worlds are demonic ideas which
will be overcome by truth. To show that the demons of great power and the forces of
truth are not a figment of human imagination or an abstract philosophical concept,
but rather a part of human beings, Horbal mentions the Swedish scientist and
politician, Emanuel Swedenborg, who later became a mystic of the 18th century, with
his clairvoyance, with which he was able to see in dreams the evidences of the
existence of the soul.
The novel “Return” shows that at first glance the random people who gather for the
Kyivan actress Roksoliana (as it is written by the author) Lukashevych’s party
already had a specific role, often a very unexpected one, which was assigned to them
by Providence. As an example which confirms this view, the author writes about the
painter Petro Zabarylo. On the first pages of the novel he is shown as a cynical and
dismissive person for whom nothing is sacred. Cheating was his way of life. During
the last years of Soviet power, the district propagandist, pretending to be an
instructor of the District Committee of the Communist Party, forced the village
councils to buy his “heads” (Lenin busts). Under the influence of Roksoliana’s party,
however, this man becomes entirely different – he realizes that the Lord has given
people talents to serve their nation. And this is not only the author’s dream. Life
shows that the course of a person’s existence depends on the environment in which
he or she lives. But it is another thing whether small groups of nonconformists will
be able to change a world which has been destroyed for decades?
At first, the banal social gathering at Roksoliana’s eventually transformed into
regular, intellectual weekly meetings of the nonconformists, which attracted greater
and greater numbers of people. As we can see in the novel, the reason that the
meetings developed into an intellectual club was a dream of the Kyivan painter Vasyl’
Rozputenko; he had a dream in which his grandfather, a loyal follower of Stalin, had
a fatal heart attack. The attempt to understand whether this was just a coincidence,
or a sign from the world of souls, develops into a discussion among Roksoliana’s
society, and encapsulates a greater range of historical moral and spiritual problems.
Furthermore, the protagonist of the novel also had a strange dream which changed
her. In the dream, she saw her groom, Denys, who was killed by Russian jingoists.
26 He told her that in her life she would play a different role than she currently played
in the theater. According to his words, three rains are predicted for the Ukrainians.
The first, heavy rain of expiation is already over. The second one is going to come
soon – the rain of clearance from filth. And the third one will be the rain of the joy
and grace of God. The heroine reminds everybody about the third rain during the
entire novel. At first, this mysterious term was not very clear, not only to the reader,
but even to the heroine. However, the last chapter of the novel depicts an image of
Ukraine during the third rain.
The attempts to understand the meaning of the third rain and the words from the
dream “about the entirely different role” in preparing for this rain lead the members
of the society to the conclusion that they should align their lifestyles with those of the
great figures in their dedication to the service of Ukraine. All the company which
gathers at Roksoliana’s concurs that they want to emulate Metropolitan Andrey
Sheptytsky. Just like Metropolitan Andrey, at first, they all were indifferent to
Ukrainian affairs; they all came by different, often complicated roads, to sacrificial
service to Ukraine. This, in fact, also applies to the protagonist, Roksoliana, who
naively agreed to become a beautiful addition to the wealth of a mysterious
businessman (who was, in reality, a Russian spy). However, she did not have
happiness in a marriage in which she was assigned the role of an appendage and was
ordered not to interfere in affairs which were not her business. But, as her late groom
Denys said, she had to play an entirely different role…
There is a nuance in the novel, which, at first glance, may seem to have been
adjusted for the current situation. This is the prophecy of one of the main characters
of the novel, Fr. Valeriy Lukashevych, that the time will come when prayer will be
heard on the squares, and with the power of this prayer the criminals in power will
flee to godless Russia. We all were witnesses as this prayer sounded during the
Maidan of Dignity, especially, in its most dramatic moments; and as Yanukovych and
his henchmen fled to Russia. The author of “Return” assures that there are not any
substitutions here, because the book was finished before the start of the Maidan of
Dignity. Why more than a year was needed for this book to be published, is a
question which goes beyond this review…
It turns out that the story about the Fr. Valeriy’s prophecy concerning the prayer on
the squares and the flight of the thieves from the government to godless Russia is
based on a real fact. Although, in the novel, the author describes it as occurring
during the time of independence, it actually refers to the mid-1980s. During his
imprisonment for human rights activity, Mykola Horbal’s life path crossed with that
of a deeply religious man who was punished for his faith, because he openly spoke
out that evil would fall, and Ukraine would be free and cleansed with the rain of the
grace of God, and that the forces of evil would be overcome, because it is the
Providence of God. So, it is not surprising that the author reproduces for the reader
many of these prophetic thoughts (the prayer on the squares and the flight of the
authorities are only two of them), which were heard in prison, as historical and moral
precepts of Fr. Vasyl’.
27 Mykola Horbal ends the novel with a chapter from the not too distant future. With
the collapse of Russia, all the threats hanging over the world will recede into the past.
Ukraine will rise from her decay; many of those who in their time left Ukraine will try
to return. Hence, the title of the novel, “Return,” for which the Minister Liana
Rozputenko (Roksoliana Lukashevych) is responsible.
A lot of people, based on current realities, can say that this is fiction. In the
announcement of the book, the author wrote: “The prophecies of the Providence of
God give the author a reason to finish the novel optimistically.” After all, if we use the
law of God as the basis of earthly law, then that which seems to be fiction can
become reality in the nearest future.
The book has two illustrative storylines. The events of both stories occur in one of the
district centers of Kharkiv. The first one is in the mid-1980s. A Ukrainian teacher has
done everything to educate students to hate the Ukrainian language, demonstrating
to the students its “second-class status”, “artificial status” and “uselessness” in life.
Her successor, the daughter of a Kharkiv scholar who had to flee to Leningrad before
the repressions, radically changes the situation with her work, faith and love. Those
who made the most fun of the language eventually become its greatest defenders.
However, this story ends tragically. The punitive machine of Russian jingoism
brutally kills first the teacher, and later – her most consistent student.
The second story, which shows that faith and love can work wonders, concerns the
construction of a church. In the same town which was the subject of the preceding
paragraph, at the turn of the century, the people were able to mobilize; they built a
new church and protected Father Valeriy, though at first glance it seemed that the
initiative had no chance for success, because both the church and political power
there were non-Ukrainian.
Since it is presently a very easy and quick matter to label people as “traitors,” I would
like to address this question, too, because it is raised in the novel “Return.” The hero
of the novel, Father Valeriy, who graduated from the Leningrad Theological Academy,
is the son of a Greek Catholic priest from Galicia, whose spirit was broken and forced
by the authorities to associate with the official Russian Church. Valeriy often faced a
dilemma as to whether his father was a traitor. He never found the answer to this
question. The author of the novel shows that without his father’s “betrayal” Fr.
Valeriy could not have done that which he subsequently had to do. He revived the
Ukrainian Church and language in a very difficult environment. He looked for ways to
unite the Churches. By the example of Fr. Valeriy’s faith, the author shows us how
astonishing can be the paths along which the Lord leads a man.
The novel of Mykola Horbal “Return” is closely related to his previous novel
“Presentation of Life”. Those who had an opportunity to read it will have a fuller
picture of the era about which the author writes. Especially in the stories which
illustrate the subversive activity of KGB agents who, from the first day of the
proclamation of the Independence of Ukraine, acted under the guise of “Ukrainian
businessmen.” Father Valeriy, his daughter, the actress Roksoliana Lukashevych and
the Russian spy Vladimir are the main characters of both books. Vladimir, posing as
28 a patron of the arts, is assigned the task to spy, or rather overhear, Ukrainian
intellectual conversations. How he does it and when he is exposed is one of the
intrigues of the book “Return.”
In conclusion I want to say that now there are a lot of books in the book stalls.
Unfortunately, some of these books cannot even be one-third read, because they have
neither a light thought, nor do they describe a path forward for modern humankind.
These are books such that you have to force yourself to read through to the end.
Reading Mykola Horbal’s novel “Return,” I also had to force myself… to take a break
for lunch and dinner. The book shows not only the sources and the nature of evil,
but also a deep belief that it can be defeated. I responsibly declare: those who will
begin reading this novel will have a unique intellectual and moral pleasure, and will
better understand from where these “Russian worlds” come from…
Myroslav Levyts’ky
Source: http://litforum.com.ua/index.php?r=18&a=6920
PLUNGE INTO THE POETIC WORLD OF OUR COUNTRYMAN
“Since that time a lot of water has flowed in the river of time. Roman Varkhol
became a member of the National Union of Writers of Ukraine, the author of 40
digests of poetry and the laureate of the prestigious Panteleimon Kulish and Markian
Shashkevych awards… 2015 can be considered as a productive year for him, too.
Earlier this year his book of poems “Sea of Rus’” was published, which was warmly
received by the magazines “Golden Pectoral” and “Bukovyna Journal” and one of the
sites. And now “Children of Cyrillic” came to the readers…”
Recently I received in the mail a peculiar greeting from my friend from student
years; it was a book of poems “Children of Cyrillic” by Roman Verkhola from Zymna
Voda near L’viv. And right away my memory flew back to the fall in distant 1957,
when we first met at one of the meetings of the literary studio “Franko’s Smithy” in
L’viv University. He was then a sophomore of philology, and the author of these lines
was beginning to study journalism. It seems that from the first communication we
found a common language. And not only because at that time we both were young.
We had a common place of birth, too, because we considered ourselves natives of
Ternopil’ oblast. (Roman was born in the Chortkiv region in a family of natives of
Lemkivshchyna, and I – in the Zboriv region.)
And also we were both captivated by a thirst for knowledge of the poetic
universe. His first poetical book “Mosaic,” which came to readers in the totalitarian
era, demonstrated that. Incidentally, it showed the author’s concern for poetic
miniature and Lemko motifs, which were noticed by literary critics.
Since that time a lot of water has flowed in the river of time. Roman Verkhola
became a member of the National Union of Writers of Ukraine, the author of 40
digests of poetry and the laureate of the prestigious Panteleimon Kulish and Markian
29 Shashkevych awards… 2015 can be considered as a productive year for him, too.
Earlier this year his book of poems “Sea of Rus’” was published, which was warmly
received by the magazines “Golden Pectoral” and “Bukovyna Journal” and one of the
sites. And now “Children of Cyrillic” has come to readers.
It would be reasonable to demonstrate the considerations underlying this
publication in two commonplace remarks. As to the first one, I will remark as follows.
“Sea of Rus” as well as “Singing Bird in the Tree of Thoughts” and “Scribe of the
Great Hors” show that the author tends to describe the princely epoch and the
Cossack era. I will recall that in her time Oksana Liaturyns’ka, who is also a native of
Ternopil’ oblast, devoted her work to this theme, too. Perhaps there is some
commonality in their coverage of this subject. At least, it may seem so when we
compare the texts. But this is not the point. Speaking about our countryman’s poetry
on this subject, we can affirm, based on an analysis of achievements of his modern
versification, that Roman Verkhola certainly found his true self through constantly
digging into the given subject. And it may seem that with this background the
author should not dive into other poetic worlds. You must agree that there is a
certain logic here. But our countryman, remaining true to himself, tried his hand at
other subjects and convinced everybody with his logical mixture of the ancient and
modern. It is a strange symbiosis, isn’t it? I do not deny that there is some generality
in these thoughts. But is it a problem? It should be! Certainly! But along with it
should be at least a little something that is concrete.
Thus, the book “Children of Cyrillic” begins with the chapter “Legend of the
Danube Sich.” It is a kind of homage to the memory of Lemkivshchyna. Such
thoughts arise when you read only the first verse “Perhaps, I am the Last Lemko
Poet.” The phrases “grey stones” and “nest of wasteland” here strike the reader. I bet
that your heart will begin to beat faster when you stumble on the phrase
“Grandfather’s spirit will tell us this.” Let us do some simple arithmetic. The section
has 195 works. And all of them express the poet’s longing for his lost homeland as a
result of unfair historical cataclysms, because every moment the reader stumbles
across lines such as “voice and bird are halfway frozen,” “the moon will bloom as a
silver tulip,” “the stars serve the enamored mountains” etc. Thank God, we could
continue this list, because there are plenty of them here. But I think that the story
about this chapter would be incomplete without mentioning one concept from the
poem “Antonych.” These lines strike: “the wind leaned as an old man leans on a
stick,” “the morning is as fine as a Lemko in a straw hat,” “the guilty look of a song,”
“young foxes momentarily turn into fireflies.” As we can see, the work does not lose
its charm and originality despite its background in the famous poems by Roman
Lubkivs’ky, Ihor Kalynets, Mykola Petrenko, Pavlo Hirnyk, Mykhaylo Levyts’ky and
other authors of poems about Antonych.
Why am I talking about all of this? I think that the aforesaid is another
reiteration of the importance to strive for that which is native. The Lemko
interpretations of Roman Verkhola would not be so fascinating if the author had not
written the poems about his Podillia roots. This is what I thought when I saw the
chapter “Podillia Elegies.” It consists of 56 works. “I will give a memory to my soul to
30 drink,” "I transport my sadness, I transport my joy from the right bank to the left,”
“grey millstones are tired of grinding the harvest of the years…” It should be noticed
that the “Podillia Elegies” are unique because they contain the theme of the grief of
the Lemko who is forced to live in Podillia. This charm can be seen from the poems,
“My Parents are from the Lemko Carpathians” and “To the country of childhood
memories.”
The third chapter of the book, “On the Black Horse” is notable. If the first two poems
are written in the modern Ukrainian literary language, this one contains the Lemko dialect.
Is it originality? We can say so, certainly, together with the fact that this dialect is not very
widespread in literature. Let us recall that Bohdan-Ihor Antonych (of Lemko origin) wrote in
the Ukrainian literary language, though he knew the Lemko dialect very well. With the
benefit of hindsight we have reason to affirm that he did this to try to prove that Lemkos
belong to the Ukrainian nation. Today we have a radically different situation: we sincerely
welcome every attempt to use dialects, considering this as a step towards self-identity.
Clearly, this idea can be developed further. But let us not speak in a circumlocutory manner
about obvious things regarding this subject. Moreover, this is a very interesting moment. We
have received an opportunity to think about the importance of dialects in the modern
Ukrainian literary process. But now we should leave aside theoretical thoughts and instead
appeal to examples. For some reason the names of Vasyl’ Shkurhan and Petro Midianka
came to mind, each of whom is self-sufficient. If the poems of the first one (perhaps even all
of them) are written in the Hutsul dialect, then the second poet remains true to the literary
language, though he often uses the dialect of Zakarpattia in his poems, which gives his
rhymes a unique charm. And Roman Varkhol against this ground is special, because he has
shown that in his poetry he can masterfully manage both the literary language and the
dialect. In my opinion, the idea of that this method is organic to the structure of this author's
poems seems expedient. Frankly speaking, nothing else comes to mind when I read the
poems “Letter,” “Hey, Olena, Olena” and “Conversation.” The miniatures from this chapter
charm the reader. But I also have some suggestive remarks after engaging with this chapter.
The dialecticisms in the poetic language will be surely understood in western Ukraine, where
Lemkos and people from Lemko families remain, who in their time were forcedly resettled
from their native land. But still it would be good to put in the book a small glossary of these
infrequent words for readers from Western Ukraine. And it is needless to say that this should
be done for the sake of enthusiasts of this poetry from other regions.
…A new book by the poet. It is interesting. It is authentic. And shows that the author
puts his heart and soul into his poems. And we believe that we will have an opportunity to
be certain of this many more times. In his new books. Isn’t it his calling?
Ihor Faryna, a member of the National Union of Writers of Ukraine, the town of
Shums’k http://zolotapektoral.te.ua/zanuryujmosya-v-poetychnyj-svit-krayanyna.html
31 EVENTS.HISTORY,LIFE.
THREE WAVES OF LEMKO MIGRATION TO SERBIA AND
CROATIA. PART 1
The natives of the Lower Beskid region (in Eastern Slovakia and Southern
Poland), who since the 18th century began to settle in Bachka, which is now in
Serbia, and in Srima, which now belongs to Croatia, also must be considered as
Lemkos. After the expulsion of the Turks from the southern borders of Austria-
Hungary in 1718, the Viennese court decided to settle these abandoned regions, to
strengthen them not only economically, but also politically.
The resettlement of Ruthenians (Ukrainians) to the East began already in the
1730s along the Tisza River. In the town of Mako the Ruthenians founded a church
organization already in 1728. The chronicles say that the people moved here from
Hajdúdorog, Szabolcs and Zemplén counties. In the course of time, however, these
settlers, spread in many villages among the Magyars, quite quickly assimilated.
Princess Maria Theresa provided the main impetus for the colonization of the
abandoned lands in southern Austria-Hungary. In the mid-18th century, according to
a program developed by the Viennese court, a certain number of free peasant families
(not serfs) who were Greek Catholic Ruthenians received an opportunity to settle in
the empty villages of Velyky Kerestur and Kotsur in Bachka (Vojvodina). These
settlers were from Zakarpattia oblast (now Ukraine), from southern Lemkivshchyna
and from the village of Múcsony, which is near Miskolc in northeastern Hungary.
The greatest number of people from the lands of Lemkivshchyna, on both sides
of the Beskids, who moved to the southern borders of the Austro-Hungarian Empire –
to Vojvodina in Serbia and Srima in Croatia, did so during the second wave – in
1848-1880. According to M. Zhyrosh, a researcher of the history of the Ruthenians of
former Yugoslavia, these migrants came from such villages in the Šarišská region as
Malcov, Kurov, Livov, Kružlov, Lukov, Bogliarka, Krivé, Snakov, Lucina, Ruská Voľa,
Petrová, Gerlachov and others.
The third wave of the migration of Ruthenians (Ukrainians) to the South took
place in 1890-1914 from the regions of northern Lemkivshchyna and from Galicia in
general. They settled in Srima, Slavonija, which is in Croatia and in Bosnia. The
settlers were from the villages of Leluchów, Męcina Wielka, Bartne, Myscowa,
Krempna, Pielgrzymka, Małastów, Muszynka, Bednarka, Klimkówka, Uście Gorlickie
and others. It was the first time in history when a population migrated from
Lemkivshchyna. We should add to this that the Ruthenians on the southern borders
of Austria-Hungary preserved their Ruthenian-Ukrainian national consciousness and
their Greek Catholic religion. They even now proudly recognize the heritage of their
ancestors in the Carpathians and the common origin of all Ruthenians – from the
territory of modern Ukraine. However, among the settlers in Serbia and Croatia the
name “Lemkos” did not develop. This is understandable, because even among the
Ruthenian population throughout Lemkivshchyna the name “Lemkos” was first
32 mentioned only in 1831 and was accepted reluctantly at first. It was established only
in the early 20th century and then mainly in Poland. Instead, the Ruthenian-
Ukrainian population of Slovakia did not take this name and remained true to the
initial name – Ruthenians/Rusyns.
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 59-60
THE ROBBER MOVEMENT IN LEMKIVSHCHYNA
One of the forms of the peasants' struggle against the growing exploitation by the
owners of manors and estates was the spontaneous rioting by the enslaved peasants,
their escape from the feudal lords (szlachta) and the robber movement - the movement
of the "opryshky."
We have information about the robber movement in Lemkivshchyna on both
sides of the Beskids from the first half of the 15th century. The Polish researcher K.
Peradzka cites a document from 1413, which speaks not only about the obligation to
defend from Tatar invasions, but also from latrones Beskidenses in montibus
Carpathicis (robbers of the Beskids from the Carpathian Mountains). However, we
cannot conclude from this that she was writing about an organized movement. More
likely, it was the case that these were predatory attacks of groups of the Czech
Taborites (the United Brethren), who settled in Slovakia. They fought against the
Hungarian landowners, the Catholic Church and German patricians from the cities.
In the mid-15th century the scattered and demoralized Brethren established
independent bands which were engaged in robbery in Lemkivshchyna.
Rather, according to the sources, the movement of the “opryshky” in the
Beskids started growing in the middle of the 15th century and gathered momentum at
the end of that century. The Ukrainian historian B. Barvins’ky, who is cited by O.
Stavrovs’ky, writes that in the Sanok mountains the robbers (he calls them the
“beskydnyky” of the Beskid Mountains) appeared in 1452. There is a reference from
1456 about gangs of robbers in the neighborhood of the Castles of Kamenice near
Sabinov and Plavcha near Stará Ľubovňa.
The robber movement or the movement of the Carpathian opryshky particularly intensified at the end of the 15th century. According to historians, a big impetus for
its escalation in the Carpathians was a peasant uprising, led by Mukha in Galician Pokyttia in 1490-1492, in which about 10,000 peasants participated. After the bloody
suppression of this rebellion, gangs of robbers began to function throughout the
33 territory of the Galician-Polish-Hungarian border. Most robbers were of local origin – from the Makovytsk, Humenné and Stropkov areas on the Hungarian side, and in the North –peasants from the Sanok and Przemyśl areas. There were Orthodox priests
among them. This was due to their socio-legal condition which did not differ from that of the dependent peasants. Overall, the national structure of the robber units was very diverse.
In the historical literature there is a "Threatening letter from the opryshky to the town of Bardejov” dated July 25, 1493. The authorship of the letter is ascribed to
the leader of the opryshky, Fedir Holovaty (in Latin sources Fedur Hlawathi, Fedor Hlavati or Hlavata), who was born in the village of Ruská Volová (now in Snina district of the Prešov region.) His group of robbers, numbering 50 members, operated
throughout Lemkivshchyna. With this letter, Holovaty declared vengeance for the death of his brother Vasyl’, who was executed, probably in Bardejov.
The letter, as Mykola Mushynka demonstrates, is an artifact of the Ukrainian
language and an important document of Ruthenian customary law. In short, the
letter has the following form: “You are evil and unjust, people of Bardejov, you
permitted our brothers to hang, good and innocent people, who did not do any harm
to you or anyone else. If you do not put 400 golden coins in the Monastery … near
Krakow or… in Lechnica, then … we will avenge them… The letter is from the
mountains, on the Day of St. Jacub.” The Day of St. Jacub (Jacob) is on July 25th.
Among other famous robbers we can find the names of Vasyl’ Pitrovs’ky, Vasyl’
Chepets, Vasyl’ Bayus, Marko Hatal and in particular, Andriy Savka, a native of the
village of Stebnik near Bardejov.
Already in the 1690s, the Polish szlachta required the founding of a joint
commission with the Hungarians to resolve the disputes and armed attacks on the
territory of the Polish-Hungarian border; however, the activity of this commission did
not have any success.
The movement of the “opryshky” grew considerably during the 16th and the
17th centuries and received support from the peasants of Lemkivshchyna. In the first
half of the 17th century, the robber band of Sypko from Męcina Wielka, near Gorlice,
was popular around the Polish-Hungarian border. In 1635-1648, in Lemkivshchyna
the band of Vasyl’ Bayus from Leszczyny was well-known. Ivan Krasovs’ky,
Lemkivshchyna researcher, writes that when in Muszyna V. Pitrovs’ky and his son
Ivan were condemned as members of the Bayus’ band, the defendants admitted that
“the robbers threaten to burn Muszyna – the place where their brethren were harshly
treated.” In mid-1648 the robbers committed two attacks on the Nowotaniec and
Sanok Castles. In both cases, a lot of inhabitants from the surrounding villages took
part together with the robbers.
In the 16th century, correspondence between the Polish border towns became
more frequent, in particular between Sanok and Bardejov, the purpose of which was
to rectify the growing armed attacks of the robbers on the estates of the szlachta. The
collections of materials, called Regestr zloczyncow grodu Sanockiego 1554-1638,
Cirna kniha mesta Levoce or, for instance, “Kronika” of the town of Sabinov, contain
rich material on the robberies in the territory of Lemkivshchyna. These records show
34 that the majority of the accused robbers came from Šariš, Szepes and partly Zemplén
counties. These materials contain requests and petitions for the prosecution and
punishment of the guilty peasants and reports of interrogations of robbers who were
caught. The Polish documents show that the Polish citizens who chose the path of
robbery came from different villages in Lemkivshchyna and Pidhallia. The robberies
on the territory of the Polish-Hungarian border stopped at the end of the 18th
century. This was also the time of the first partition of Poland (1772).
If the sources of that time (Polish and Hungarian) and, thus, the researchers of
the 19th century interpreted robbery as the activity of ordinary criminal gangs, then
the historians of the second half of the 20th century, who were forced to adhere to
the canons of Marxist-Leninist ideology, idealized the robberies to some extent and
showed them as a manifestation of class struggle. But the truth is somewhere in the
middle. Perhaps Yulian Tselevych, a Ukrainian ethnographer and historian of the
second half of the 19th century, approached it the most closely; O. Stavrovs’ky writes
that Tselevych distinguished between idealistic and predatory robbery. He considered
that the main reason for the rise of robbery was serfdom and exploitation by the
managers, podstarości and feudal lords, and also misfortune – the hunger and
captivity of the peasant masses. The robbery had an apparent social character, but at
the same time, it often was simple thievery.
In 1557, in the Sanok Court the Orthodox priest, Roman from Karlików,
testified about a band which contained 24 people, including three Orthodox priests,
including himself. They robbed the “cerkiew ruska” (Ruthenian Church) in
Nowosielce (Sanok region) and brought the stolen loot to an Orthodox priest in the
village of Svetlice. According to O. Stavrovs’ky, there were more of these cases. In
fact, they show the typical criminal actions of some of the robber bands.
The history of the robber (opryshky) movement demonstrates the sense of
social solidarity among its participants in the Carpathians. Among other things, their
bands were united by a common language and belonging to the Ruthenian
(Urkainian) people. In addition to social enslavement, a religious factor also played a
significant role – the long and sometimes rough oppressions of the believers of the
Eastern rite. In the territory of Lemkivshchyna there was a national enslavement of
the Ruthenian Orthodox people, and then (after the Uzhhorod Union of 1646) – of the
Greek Catholic religion. The Polish historian A. Kersten noticed that the complaints
of the Polish szlachta often contain the mention of the fact that the peasants who
rebelled belonged to the “Greek religion” or that they were against the people of the
“Catholic religion.”
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 71-73
35 ADVERTISEMENTS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church: The Parish of the Protection of the Most Blessed Theotokos,
Second Festival, "The feast of the Protection," Sunday, October 18, 2015, 3:00, 36 Shchyrets'ka street, L'viv
36
THE EXHIBITION OF THE WORKS OF NIICHOLAS
BERVINCHAK IS OPEN TILL NOVEMBER 6!
For all interested – the Lemko art exhibition, “From Black Diamonds to Church Art: Unusual Work of the Coal
Region” of the work of the realist Nicholas Bervinchak.
Where: The Ukrainian Museum and Library in Stamford
161 Glenbrook Rd, Stamford, CT 06902 Time: Wednesday – Friday from 13:00 to 17:00. Free entrance.
Nicholas Bervinchak was born in northeastern Pennsylvania (the coal region) in a family of migrants
from the Lemko village Rzepedź. He was a miner who became an artist, and his works were exhibited all over the world, including the Whitney Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Art, the Smithsonian Institution and the White House.
The exhibition is organized by the Lemko Museum and the guest curator Michael Buryk in coordination with the Lemko Research Foundation, the Ukrainian Museum and Library in Stamford, the Ukrainian Museum in New York and the Ukrainian Historical and Educational Center of New Jersey.
For additional information contact Diana Howansky-Reilly at [email protected] or 347-992-9038.
On October 22, at 5:00 - Nikifor from Krynica - Epifaniy Drovniak, Dedicated to the 120th anniversary of his birth, with the participation of Father Ivan Pipka from Krynica (Poland), Volodymyr Tymets, Roman Varkhol, Natalia Kuhar, and others. Religious History Museum, 1 Muzeyna Square, L'viv. Free Admission. Organizer “Etra – Public Association of Natalka Krynychanka, ” Petro Kohut Club of the patriots of Lemkivshchyna,” telephone 097 323 11 93