Just as people are shaped by the traumas they have endured, nations are also permanently altered. It is especially important to understand these events, for they open up a window to realities that are often obscured. A web of competing interests between nations becomes defined; ideology is tested not through debate but through clashes of iron; promises and sworn loyalties are ultimately tested. For a multitude of reasons Rusyn elites in the revival era (1989-present) have downplayed what could be considered our own natural traumas. This is not to say they have not been acknowledged as existing, however they are often treated as mere historical events that do not require any underlying political analysis past the need for greater adherence to democracy and “European values”. Suffice it to say, this is not enough. Those who desire a more extensive review of this period should read the Osnova Rusynii.

This article is an amalgamation of a series of posts that were published in 2023 outlining the three major historical traumas of the Rusyn people. There is also a video version embedded for those who prefer to watch and learn instead. Each of these events occurred within the last 150 years, and all three aimed at eradicating either a part, or the entirety of our people. While this may seem too strong of a statement, it is the truth. And without loudly stating what was done, and aiming to rectify these grievances, other nations can continue to feel as though they got away with it. There must be recognition, no matter how uncomfortable it is for them to live with the actions taken by their predecessors.

1. The Decades of Silence

May 22, 2023

The Decades of Silence was the period between 1945 and 1991 when all countries Rusyns resided in besides Yugoslavia outlawed the Rusyn identity and language. The ties between us and our heritage were torn away without regard for the consequences. Any communication between those in the homeland and the diaspora was cut off, and the same was true even between Rusyn regions. Hard borders between the USSR and the various Soviet satellite states meant that any dialogue stopped completely. The Greek Catholic church was also prosecuted, with many of our religious leaders being executed by Soviet authorities with the rest having to work underground if they wanted to survive.

During this time our people were forced to take on new ethnic identities and go to specific schools for these that were created to foster their artificial conversion. For example, it was not uncommon for Pryashiv Rusyns to have to choose whether they identified as Slovak or Ukrainian, with most choosing the first option. In Subcarpathian Rus Ukrainization was a matter of state policy and has been ever since the annexation of Podkarpatska Rus in 1945. The Rusyn language became the Zakarpattian dialect, and the Rusyn culture to Transcarpathian culture. In Romania, where a small section of Hutsulia exists, these people were also by default assigned as Ukrainians. Anyone that stood up against these conditions or spoke the truth of the situation was quickly jailed or fined. Only after the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1991 did this begin to change for the better.

As you can see, it is something of a miracle that we have even survived through this period. It is a testament to the will and faith of the Rusyn people. You can also probably tell that many of the issues that we face today are linked to this era too. The most important thing though in understanding this time, is that it shines a light on the illegitimate. When Ukraine tells us that the people living in Subcarpathia are Ukrainians we know this is false and that they were complicit in a heinous program of forced silence that began at the top of the Soviet apparatus. When the Slovak government attempts to act as though they didn’t have their own part in our oppression, we know that it is false.

As a Rusyn, just knowing about all of this is not enough. Now that you have been given an introduction, continue to do your own research, and when you feel confident try to inform other people or even create your own content to spread awareness. It is through things like this that our nation continues to rebuild itself. Every person that does so helps to spread awareness of our history and condition.

2. The Lemko Ethnocide

June 23, 2023

The plight of the Lemkos in Poland does not just equate to “Aksja Wisla”, the operation that instituted the forced resettlement of Lemkos to western Poland. Merely labeling it as this removes the purposeful campaign to erase the idea of Lemkovyna altogether, never mind the stories of the crippling trauma and permanent cultural erasure that occurred. In fact, one could argue that the crimes committed by the Polish and Soviet governments rose to a level far greater than forced relocation. In a short span of just a few years, there is a list of heinous actions that not only has the Polish government largely denied responsibility for, but has done nothing to change to make up for their actions. But what exactly do we mean when we say there is more to the story?

The Lemko Ethnocide was the ethnic cleansing and forced assimilation policy conducted by the Polish government against the Lemko people that began in 1945 and ended in 1947 when the last Lemkos were exiled to western Poland. After this period was the Decades of Silence where the Rusyn identity and language were banned until the fall of communism in 1991.

When understanding why we date the start of this ethnocide in 1945 instead of 1947, it’s important to understand that Operation Vistula (Aksja Wisla) was not the only displacement event that occurred in the region. As was common in the 20th century, a policy of Rusyn erasure occurred where Lemko-Rusyns were labeled as Ukrainians even with plenty of evidence to the contrary. Lemko-Rusyns would be grouped with those in the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) by local authorities even though their population had little to do with this foreign force. It was instead the remnants of the Galician and Volhynian ultranationalists aligned with the OUN-B and OUN-M. Dozens of massacres involving Polish civilians would occur with entire villages being burnt down in the process. When it became clear to the Polish and Soviet governments something must be done to neutralize this army, they refused to make any distinction between us and them.

Multiple population exchanges occurred with populations of Lemkos and Ukrainians in the border regions further north being sent into Soviet Ukraine as far as the Donbas region (Radio Free Ukraine amounts to being little more than an arm of the American propaganda machine, but the video is worth viewing). The majority would be settled in Western Ukraine though, and with it become accustomed to Ukrainian culture and life. By the time the final events of Aksja Wisla occurred, there had already been severe depopulation of the native Ukrainian and Lemko-Rusyn ethnographic areas. It was at this point merely an effort to finish the job.

In the aftermath of Aksja Wisla, there was a purposeful purge of any Lemko heritage visible to the land. Entire towns are now missing any buildings or structures to show where they had been, and the churches that still remained were forcefully converted from Orthodox and Greek-Catholic denominations. Still today many are Roman Catholic and attended by the descendants of new Polish immigrants. The Lemkos thrown west were not even kept together either as the population would spread out across many provinces. With the passing of time, the majority of Lemkos have forgotten the Rusyn language. No official government programs or assistance has been made to help undo what was done.

With all of these facts known, a simple acknowledgment of what happened cannot ever be enough. It is mere words without any substantive difference to the outcome. The bare minimum that can reasonably be accepted from the state is the repossession of all Lemko churches that were converted into Catholic Polish ones, and the offer of land to the descendants of emigrants with the option of returning to Lemkovyna. Until this occurs this blatant act of Rusyn erasure will continue to be a black mark on the country of Poland, which in the past thirty years has attempted to greatly improve its image of being a democracy and bastion of European values.

3. The Austrian Terror

November 17, 2023

Thirty years before the Lemko Ethnocide and the Decades of Silence, a different horrific era in Rusyn history befell Lemkovyna. It began in 1914 and only ended in 1918 with the destruction of Austria-Hungary itself. Lemkos were assigned blame for things they never did, and punished with little care or thought to how it would affect them. Peasants, educators, activists, and members of the Lemko intelligentsia would be subjected to some of the worst actions ever committed by Austrian authorities due to this.

The era I am referring to is known as The Austrian Terror, and it is marked by the destruction of Lemko life in the years between 1914 and 1918. For decades leading up to 1914 there had been a pervasive skeptical view of the Lemkos in Lemkovyna and the Ruthenians in Eastern Galicia amongst Austrian officials. One can even go back as far as 1882, when Adolf Dobriansky, his daughter, and Ivan Naumovych were put on trial for treason in Lviv for their views. To those in power in Vienna, our people were a potential fifth column with the capability of aiding their Russian enemy. In the months leading up to the war, plans were set out to “contain” the Lemko population. And in 1914 as the war was going horribly for the Austrians, these feelings of paranoia would only begin to grow.

What were calculated strategic moves in theory turned out to be something of a coordinated mass fury by the army against the Lemko population. Searches of entire villages and the practice of being executed without trial for being a suspected spy or for holding “unpatriotic views” became commonplace. One of the people murdered in this way was the legendary priest Maxim Sandovych, who committed no crime and was murdered in Gorlice in 1914 at the start of the war. These would continue throughout the following years with little regard for legitimacy or rule of law.

Those who survived extrajudicial killings but unlucky enough to be selected by Austrian soldiers were taken to railway stations and put into cattle cars. Eventually, after days in these, people would reach barren fields near the town of Graz in Austria. This would turn into the Thalerhof Concentration Camp, but the first of those who arrived would have to sleep on the ground for months in the cold and rain. Nearly the entirety of the Lemko intelligentsia would pass through this camp at some point in the three years it was open. Two thousand Lemko educators alone would be brought within that time span, with some estimating over 7,500 Rusyns in total. Though being sent to Thalerhof was not a death sentence in itself, a significant percentage of these Rusyns would die during their stay. This camp was a prototype to the Nazi concentration camps of WWII, yet instead of a monument to remember what happened, an airport was built on top of the camp and graves of the victims. Austria has never offered any apology for their crimes.

The camp was eventually shut down by the Austrian Emperor, the mass displacement and destruction of Lemkos communities eventually stopped, and the Lemkos lead by Jaroslav Kacmarcyk would eventually declare their Lemko-Rusyn Republic in 1918, but the wounds left by these events would never fully heal. Not only were thousands of Lemkos unjustly murdered, their children were also left as orphans without the aid they needed. In some ways, even we today have not fully recovered in both mind and spirit. And like all the other times of horror in our history, this terror is another example of unrestrained brutality against the Rusyn people.