As Rusyns, we can do a great deal more with educating ourselves and others about our past national traumas. We cannot fully learn from them nor seek resolutions in the aftermath of what was done until this occurs. So, in this new series, we will be doing just that. As with many things regarding the Rusyn people, traumatic events in our history are often portrayed by non-Rusyns and some of our own scholars alike as mere historical accounts of what happened without overarching motives. Make no mistake that throughout the last 150 years, multiple plans were enacted specifically for the eradication of our people. While this may seem too strong of a statement, it is the truth. The rest of this article will show you why. Refusing to speak publically in these terms stops us from integrating these experiences into our people’s psyche, the step before moving past them. Without loudly stating what was done, other nations can also feel as though they got away with it. It is unacceptable and there must be recognition, no matter how uncomfortable it is for them to live with the actions taken by their predecessors.

What past traumas am I referring to exactly? We can bring up the ethnocide of Lemkovyna, the concentration camps for Rusyns during WWI, the resettlement of over 3000 Pryashiv Rusyns by the Slovak government to make a reservoir, the coup of a legitimate Podkarpatska Rus by Galician nationalists of the Carpathian Sich in 1938, and many more that will be looked at in due time. However today we can focus on understanding a single one of these. It affected every group of Rusyns and plunged our people into a dark age of fear and destruction. What I am referring to is the Decades of Silence.

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. Слобода через думаня, розвій через діяня.