by Richard D. Custer (1995)

The Lemkos are a small East Slavic people who, before the Second World War, made their home in the Carpathian foothills of what is now southeastern Poland — the area once known as the Lemko Region, or Lemkovyna. Byzantine Christian in faith, speaking a distinct Rusyn dialect, and shaped by centuries of relative isolation in their mountain valleys, they built a culture of wooden churches, painted icons, embroidered dress, and a rich tradition of song and story. Between 1945 and 1947, nearly all of them were forcibly removed from their homeland — most resettled in Soviet Ukraine, the rest scattered across the newly acquired "recovered territories" of western and northern Poland in the Vistula Operation — bringing centuries of continuous settlement to an abrupt end.

This monograph, written by Richard D. Custer in 1995, traces that history and then asks a harder question: what happens to a people's culture once the land that shaped it is gone? Drawing on ethnographic and historical scholarship as well as first-hand Lemko accounts, Custer surveys the traditional material and spiritual culture of the Lemko Region in the early twentieth century — dwellings, dress, crafts, church architecture, icons, church music, folk song, and the ritual calendar — before turning to how that culture has been sustained, reinvented, or lost in the decades since deportation, among Lemko communities in Poland, in Soviet and post-Soviet Ukraine, and in the diaspora congregations that re-established Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic parish life far from the Carpathians.

It remains one of the fuller English-language accounts of Lemko ethnography and post-war cultural survival, useful both as a historical record of a vanished regional world and as a case study in how a scattered people holds on to what it can of itself.

Contents

• Introduction
• Description of the Region
  • Territory
  • Ethnographic Boundaries
  • Population
• History of the Region
  • Early Settlers
  • The Union of Brest
  • Period of Austrian Rule
  • The Talerhof Concentration Camp
  • Two Lemko "Republics"
  • The Interwar Polish Period
  • Ukrainianism and the Orthodox Movement
  • World War II
  • The Vistula Operation
• Early Twentieth Century Lemko Culture
  • The Name "Lemko"
  • Characteristics of the People
  • Language
  • Dwellings
  • Occupations and Industry
  • Folk Arts and Crafts
  • Clothing
  • Influence of Byzantine Christianity
  • The Wooden Church
  • Icons
  • Church Music
  • Folk Song and Dance
  • Holidays
• Literature and Poetry
• Evolution / Preservation of Culture
  • Life in a Polish Environment
  • Early Cultural Activity in the Lemko Region
  • The Lemko Vatra Festival
  • The Rise of Cultural Organizations
  • Folk Ensembles
  • Museums
  • Amateur Theatre
  • Preservation of Monuments
  • Schools
• Lemko Life in Ukraine
  • Adjustment to a New Home
  • The Lemkovyna Choir of Rudno-L'viv
  • The Lemkivshchyna Society
  • Religious Life
• Re-establishment of the Church
  • The Orthodox Church
  • The Byzantine Catholic Church
• Conclusion
• Notes
• Appendixes

Introduction

The Carpathian Mountain area of Southeastern Poland, once known as the Lemko Region, is an area that is today sparsely populated, mostly by Poles, with a few exceptions devoid of much of its previous character, and deprived of most of the remnants of its historical past.[1] However, before World War II it was home to a colorful Eastern Slavic ethnic group known as Lemkos, who are considered Ukrainians by most scholars but who have a distinct language, culture and history. Who are the Lemkos, and why do most of them no longer live in their Carpathian homeland?

The Lemkos of Poland are also known by the regional name "Rusyns" and sometimes among themselves as "Rusnaks." In the last years of World War II, much destruction had been wrought throughout this region and the Lemko population was forcibly removed. Living today almost entirely in diaspora, even within Poland, the Lemkos have shown a remarkable attachment to their native culture though their settlements are dispersed and their organizations are few. The situation of the Lemkos today provides a valuable opportunity to examine how an ethnic group's culture changes and is preserved in the difficult situation of existing almost entirely in small dispersed settlements outside the original homeland.

The purpose of this paper is: to provide a description of the Lemko Region and a brief but thorough account of the history of the Lemko people so that the events critical to their development will be understood; to examine the facets of the Lemkos' traditional material and spiritual culture in the early part of the 20th century; and to investigate how that culture has been preserved and has changed in the years following the Lemkos' deportation from their homeland.

Description of the Region

Territory

The Lemko Region, also Lemkovyna (native), Lemkivshchyna (Ukrainian), Lemkovshchina (Russian) or Lemkowszczyzna (Polish), is a relatively contiguous area about 140 km long and 25 to 50 km wide in the mountain valleys and foothills between the Dunajec River to the west and the San River to the east. The area is marked by the gently rolling hills of the Lower Beskyd (Bieszczady) range and the higher, more rugged Upper Beskyd range of the Carpathian Mountains. The mountain peaks are as high as 3,000 to 4,000 feet in the eastern part of the region. The Lemko population traditionally inhabited the small villages of this area, in the southern portions of the former Austrian counties (povity) named for their administrative centers: Nowy Targ, Nowy Sacz, Grybow, Gorlice, Jaslo, Krosno, Sanok and Lesko.[2] Presently this region belongs to the Krosno and Nowy Sacz palatinates / wojewodztwa.[3] As they are still the best known territorial boundaries, the former counties will be used in this paper to identify Lemko villages, whose names will appear first in the Polish form with the Lemko form, and only in the Lemko form thereafter. A map of the Lemko Region is found in Appendix I.

Ethnographic Boundaries

The southern and western borders of the Lemko Region are not disputed, as the distinction between Poles and Lemkos is quite distinct. The southern border coincides with the Polish state border. The eastern border of the Lemko Region is problematic. Twentieth-century ethnographers (Roman Reinfuss, J. Szemlej, Zdislaw Stieber, Ivan Zilyns'kyj, et al.) generally consider the area between the Oslawa and Solinka rivers to be a transitional Lemko-Bojko territory. The area between the Solinka and San Rivers is ethnographically Bojko, but has historically been considered part of the Lemko Region.[4]

The westernmost part of the Lemko Region extends into Nowy Targ county, where there is an island of four Lemko villages: Czarna Woda/Chorna Voda, Biala Woda/Bila Voda, Szlachtowa/Shljachtova and Jaworki/Javirky. The northern part of Krosno county contains another island of Lemko villages, including Krasna, Weglowka/Vanivka, Bonarowka/Bonarivka,[5] Oparowka/Oparivka, Rzepnik/Ripnyk, and Gwozdzianka/Hvozdjanka.

Population

The population of the Lemko Region on the eve of World War II included approximately 178,000 Lemkos in 303 mostly-Lemko villages[6] and a small number of mixed Polish and Lemko villages. The population density in 1939 was 55 per square kilometer. Fifteen percent of the population was urban, although the city of Sanok and the largest towns, Nowy Sacz, Gorlice, Zmigrod, Dukla and Rymanow, were mostly Polish and Jewish.

History of the Region

Early Settlers

It is known that the White Croats, an early Slavic tribe, lived in the Lemko Region since the 5th and 6th centuries. It is generally accepted that the Byzantine form of Christianity was brought to the region from Constantinople by the Greek missionary brothers Constantine/Cyril and Methodius around 863. Around 899 a Byzantine Christian eparchy (diocese) was established in nearby Przemysl/Peremyshl, which included the Lemko Region.[7] Since 992, political control of the region was split, roughly at the Dukla Pass, between Poland (west of the pass) and the Kievan Rus' principality of Halych (east of the pass).

The principality of Halych fell in the early 1300's. By 1340 the entire region was controlled by the Polish Commonwealth. The Polish government encouraged new settlement in the region, mostly Rus' tribes from the east and the "Vlachs" (who were probably also mostly of Rus' origin) from the south.

The Union of Brest

In 1596, the Byzantine (by then Orthodox, since the Great Schism of 1054) bishops of Poland agreed to the Union of Brest by which they would acknowledge the primacy of the Pope of Rome but would keep their Byzantine tradition of worship and discipline (including married clergy), thereby creating the Byzantine Catholic (also Greek Catholic or Uniate) Church. However, a split developed within the Eparchy of Peremyshl, where there were two bishops, one united with Rome and the other not. The deaneries in the Lemko Region immediately accepted the jurisdiction of the united bishop. This situation continued in the eparchy until 1692, when it was rejoined under the bishop united with Rome.[8] This began the period of the flowering of the Byzantine Catholic Church, during which many new church structures were built throughout the Lemko Region and the Church's influence over the Lemko population grew.

Period of Austrian Rule

From the 15th to the 18th century, the region was relatively prosperous due to sheep raising, light agriculture, Beekeeping, and primitive handicrafts.[9] As a result of the first partition of Poland in 1772, the Lemko Region was absorbed by the Austrian Empire as part of the province of Galicia. By the end of the 19th century, all pastoral lands had been taken over by Lemko farmers. However, the plots were not large enough to support the growing population, plunging the Lemko Region into a state of extreme poverty. This set the stage for a large emigration to the United States, Canada and South America, which began in the 1870's.

Culturally, however, the region progressed under Austrian rule. Two thirds of Lemko villages had elementary schools, and high schools (gymnasia) were established in Nowy Sacz, Gorlice and Sanok. The Kachkovs'kyj Cultural Society based in Lemberg/L'viv was active in the Lemko Region, setting up reading rooms in 109 villages, and promoting the Old-Rusyn[10] ideology among the Galician population. Through the Society's work, the Old-Rusyn (and also Russophile[11]) cultural and political orientation became dominant in the Lemko Region. It was in the early 1900's that the name "Lemko" was introduced in the region, partially to counter the new "Ukrainian" identity that was being promoted among the Eastern Slavs of east Galicia.

The Talerhof Concentration Camp

On the eve of World War I, the Austro-Hungarian government was suspicious of the Russian Empire. The Orthodox movement was gaining strength in Galicia, especially in the Lemko Region, especially as some Lemko immigrants were returning from the United States where the bulk of them had joined the Orthodox Church. The Austrian government suspected these new Orthodox adherents to be Russian sympathizers.

During the war, Russia came to occupy the Lemko Region by March 1915. The region was the scene of many bloody battles during the winter of 1914-15. The Russians were friendly to the Orthodox and Russophile Lemkos they encountered in the region, but persecuted pro-Ukrainian activists. Meanwhile, the Austrian officials had begun to persecute the Russophiles and others (both Lemkos and other Galicians) who simply declared themselves to be of Rusyn (ruskyj) or Russian (russkij) nationality. Many of these "Russian sympathizers" (mostly peasants or clergy) were rounded up and sent to concentration camps in the western part of the Austrian empire, the most notorious of which was Talerhof, near Graz.[12]

The Lemkos, although they were only 2% of the Galician population, made up 30% of the prisoners at Talerhof, that is, about 5000.[13] It is claimed by Lemko activists that between 1914 and 1917, almost all the Lemko intelligentsia perished or had their health ruined at Talerhof or other such camps.[14]

After the war, the Lemko Region was being more strongly affected by the Ukrainian movement. Some Lemkos had fought with Ukrainian units of the Austro-Hungarian army and became sympathetic to the Ukrainian cause. Other Lemkos however, especially the survivors of Talerhof, blamed the Galician Ukrainians for delivering the Rusyn/Russophile Lemkos to the Austrian authorities.[15]

Two Lemko "Republics"

During the interwar period, the Lemkos, as many other East Central European peoples, formed national and regional councils as part of the process of self-determination. There were two such councils in the Lemko Region. In the east, a pro-Ukrainian council at Komancza/Komancha (Sanok county) attempted to unite the region with the Western Ukrainian People's Republic between November 1918 and January 1919. The western council's influence was somewhat longer lived. In December 1918 the Russophiles (later pro-Rusyn) council of Florynka (Grybow county) proclaimed the Lemko Rusyn People's Republic, and advocated union first with Russia, and when this proved to be geographically impossible, attempted union with the Rusyn inhabited Presov Region of eastern Slovakia. This Republic lasted only until March 1920 and like the efforts of the Komancha council, it failed to effect any political change for the Lemko Region which remained part of Poland.[16]

The Interwar Polish Period

During the interwar period, largely in opposition to the Ukrainian movement, the Polish government promoted the idea of Lemkos as a distinct nationality. The Lemko language was permitted to be taught in Lemko schools after 1933. However, Ukrainianism was strengthening among the population, especially in the eastern counties of Sanok and Lesko, and activists in the Ukrainian populist movement took over teaching positions in village schools.[17]

Ukrainianism and the Orthodox Movement

Much of the Ukrainian influence was imported from eastern Galicia in the form of nationally-conscious Ukrainian Byzantine Catholic priests, who by and large were celibate, clean-shaven and proponents of Latinization of the church tradition, many of whom were sent to parishes whose (Russophile or Old-Rusyn) priests died at Talerhof.[18] In reaction to this, the return to the Orthodox Church accelerated among the Russophile and Rusyn-oriented Lemko peasants and clergy. Around 40 villages had forced out the newcomers and invited in married Orthodox priests who tenaciously conserved the Byzantine tradition.[19] By 1935, at least 18,000 Lemkos had become Orthodox.[20]

Under pressure from the Polish government and in response to this alarming loss of membership, on February 10, 1934 the Vatican's Congregation for the Eastern Churches established the Lemko Apostolic Administration of the Byzantine Catholic Church, with Russophile or Rusyn-oriented[21] priests as administrators with near-episcopal powers. The administration had 121 parishes in nine deaneries,[22] and 130,000 members.[23] The Ukrainians saw this as "a Polish attempt to more easily promote the assimilation of Lemkos into the Roman Catholic Church by separating them from their Ukrainian brethren to the east."[24]

The Lemko Region remained poverty-stricken, and much of the population was attracted to left-wing and pro-Soviet parties working to establish communism in Poland.

World War II

The Lemko Region came under German control during World War II. The Germans, accepting the Ukrainian understanding of the population's identity, set up Ukrainian technical schools in Sanok and Krynica, and a Ukrainian teacher's college in Krynica. The Lemko Apostolic Administration received a new pro-Ukrainian administrator. Because of the German's anti-Russian feelings, around 4,000 Lemkos voluntarily emigrated to Soviet territory beyond the San River.

After the Germans were driven out in 1944, a "voluntary" population exchange was set up with the Soviet Union to "repatriate" peoples, including Lemkos, and to make the new Polish and Soviet states ethnically homogeneous. As a result of the agreement, between the spring of 1945 and the summer of 1946 about 130,000 Lemkos (mostly from Ukrainophile Sanok and Lesko counties and the war devastated Jaslo and Krosno counties)[25] were resettled in former Polish villages of Soviet Ukraine (especially in the districts of L'viv, Ternopil, and Sambir).[26]

The Vistula Operation

After these transfers, about 35,000 Lemkos remained in Poland, mostly in the western Lemko Region. Following conflicts between the Ukrainian Insurgent Army and the Polish Army in the area, and the ensuing killing of Polish General Karol Swierczewski in 1947, the Polish government, in cooperation with Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union, removed the remaining "Ukrainian" population (including the Lemkos) from Poland in a military operation known as the Vistula Operation (Ackja 'Wisla"). The official purpose of the Vistula Operation was to destroy the Ukrainian Insurgent Army units and their base of support from the local population. (27) This, from April 28 to July 31, 1947, the remaining Lemkos were resettled to the formerly-German "recovered lands" of southwestern (Silesia) and northern Poland (Pomerania).

This action was swift and efficient. Deportees were given at most a few hours to gather what of their belongings they could carry and were taken to their destinations in crowded boxcars. The process was accompanied by considerable violence; some deportees died in transit and others trying to resist were killed or imprisoned. Most were sent to the provinces of Olsztyn, Szczecin, Wroclaw and Gdansk; the "Ukrainian" population was to be dispersed (to make up less than ten percent of the population in any one location) for eventual assimilation into the Polish majority.[28]

The Lemko Region was resettled mostly by Poles, though sparsely, and many villages have ceased to exist or are underpopulated. These newcomers had little respect for their new villages; it was easier to gather firewood by tearing down houses, barns or churches than by cutting trees in the forest. Thus, in the early 1950's, much of the Lemko Region's cultural and material traits were obliterated.[29]

Early Twentieth Century Lemko Culture

The Name "Lemko"

The legend of how this name appeared is that other Carpathian Rusyns (Eastern Slavs) called this group "Lemko" because instead of using the word "lysh" to mean "only, they say "lem" and use it quite frequently. In former times, if asked if they were Lemkos, they would say, "We are Rusyns...(or Rusnaks) the Lemkos live somewhere among the Bojkos."[33] This can be partially explained by the fact that the word "lem" is found in some other Carpathian Rusyn dialects, though not in the Bojko dialect; nevertheless, the name was mostly used only by ethnographers. At the beginning of the 20th century, the name evoloveed from an ethnographic identifier to the equal of "Rusyn" or "Rusnak" as the people's self-identification (much the same as the Rusyns of Eastern Galicia were adopting the name "Ukrainian").

Characteristics of the People

The physical appearance of Lemkos has been described as fair-haired, short of stature, and of dark complexion.[34 35 36] Being mountain people, the Lemkos were distinct from lowlanders in psychology, way of life, and cultural type.[37] Their isolation from other cultures promoted a tradition of conservatism that is typical of mountaineers. This manifests in a reluctant acceptance of anything new, resistance to foreign influences, and rejection of things untried or unknown. The things in life they hold dear are their faith, language, rituals and customs.[38] Attempts to assimilate Lemkos over the centuries were unsuccessful, and these traits may well explain the success with which they have managed to preserve their culture to this day.

The Lemkos, living in the mountains, had only limited contact with the Poles (Roman Catholic, Western Slavs) to the north and with the exception of the villages in the eastern Lemko border areas, quite limited contact with the Bojkos to the east. This explains the marked differences in language and culture between the Lemkos and the Bojkos.

However, the Lemkos have over the centuries developed a strong affinity with their Eastern Slavic (Rusyn) brethren living on the southern slopes of the Carpathians, in the "Presov Region" of present day eastern Slovakia. These Rusyns a classified by ethnographers as part of the Lemko group, although the term "Lemko" is not part of their self-identification - only "Rusyn" or "Rusnak." Because the rise in the mountains' elevation is graded that it was easily traveled by those horse-drawn carriage, contact between the Lemkos and the Subcarpathian Rusyns was rather easy and frequent.[39]

Centuries ago, both groups would go harvesting together on the Hungarian plain, especially in Hajdu county. Also, at the beginning of the 19th century, many larger Hungarian estates employed Lemkos as swineherds. In fact, in the Lemko Region village of Mszana/Mshana (Krosno county), several families had the name Kondash; if a Kondash is asked where the name originated, he or she might say, "One of my forefathers was a swineherd in Hungary; swineherds there are called kondas."[40]

Many Lemko last names are found in villages on both sides of the border, especially near the mountain passes. In the past many Lemkos were married in Hungary as well.[41] Furthermore, names of Hungarian villages and towns are mentioned in Lemko folk songs. The most frequently mentioned is Debrecen, the capital of Hajdu county. This type of song is well illustrated by the following:

Shedding her tears, sobbing was Hanchusha
From Tokaj she didn't get an apple from Andrusha.
Don't cry Hanchusha, don't be sad,
I'll bring you an apple from Nowy Sacz.

(From the village of Olchowiec/Vilchovec, Krosno county)[42]

The Subcarpathian Rusyns frequently traveled to the Lemko Region to buy things and amuse themselves. This activity led to another significant cultural exchange: the purchase of a church. In 1724 the Subcarpathian Rusyns from the village of Venecija (Saros/Sarys county) bought a Lemko wooden church built in 1654 in the village of Nowa Wies/Nova Ves (Nowy Sacz county). The church was dismantled, moved and rebuilt in Venecija where it serves the village to this day.[43]

Although they were cut off from their brethren in Slovakia and Ukraine's Transcarpathian Oblast by geographic and political borders, Lemko writers and political activists since the first national revival in the late 19th century always emphasized their cultural affinity with all Eastern Slavs of Rus', and in particular with those living along the southern slopes of the Carpathians (who even shared with the Lemkos the local name "Rusnak").[44]

Language

The Lemko language is part of the southwestern group of Ukrainian dialects, which include Bojkian, Transcarpathian (Highlander or Verchovyna), Sjan (northeast of the Lemko Region), and Hutsul, commonly referred to (with the exception of the Sjan group) as "Carpathian dialects". The Lemko dialects are very similar to those on the southern slopes of the mountains (the Presov Region), also considered Lemko dialects.

The Lemko dialects are characterized (and distinguishable from most other Ukrainian dialects) by fixed stress on the penultimate syllable of words (as in Polish and eastern Slovak dialects, in contrast to movable stress in all other East Slavic languages); retention of the distinct vowel bl (y). Some verb conjugations are of the Slovak and Polish forms.[45] Lemko dialects contain many unique forms, as well as words of Polish, Slovak, and even German or Hungarian origin.[46]

Dwellings

Lemko villages were frequently built on the banks of creeks. The houses were built along the road, with gardens and fields behind. The windowed length of the house usually faces the road. The traditional Lemko house is a rectangular or row home. They may have their own orchards and kitchen gardens. Living quarters and animal husbandry was typically done under one roof with only a wall to separate the areas, except in some villages in the Ropa river valley and in Nowy Sacz county, where livestock are provided with separate structures.[47] The other sections of the house are the entry way, pantry, grain-storage room and a machinery and wagon barn.[48]

The homes are often made of split, half-round fir logs fitted at the corners using a simple interlock device or fish-tail joint. Dry forest moss was packed between the joints. The horizontal strips were painted white (or colored with white or bright yellow clay), except in Jaslo county where they are painted black (with oil grease) or in Sanok and Lesko county where they are red.[49] Exterior decoration consists of painted motifs: solar signs, sickles, pothooks, angles, the tree of life, braids, and flowers, On flat doors were painted flowers: they were to have as many stems or twigs as there were family members. The home interior was simple: a wide bed, table, cupboard, clothes hangars, and benches against the walls. In a corner stood a large hooded stove. Interior decoration consisted of white-washed walls on which colorful streaks and dots were sometimes painted near windows and around the contour of the stove. These were usually painted by girls or elderly women who believed in the magical protecting powers of such designs.[50] Roofs of older homes in the western Lemko Region are covered with shingles, but thatched with straw in eastern districts.[51] Roofs of newer homes are of tin or tile. Examples of Lemko house architecture and decoration are found in Appendix II.

Occupations and Industry

Farming was the basic occupation in the region, even though most of the area was hilly and had the worst soil. Before 1880, ox grazing and shepherding were also important. After serfdom was abolished and grazing in the forests was restricted, animal husbandry declined, and dairy farming and crop growing expanded.[52] Until World War II, wooden wagons, wooden plows, and wooden harrows were in general use, although machinery and factory made tools were already appearing. Straw and hay were cut with a homemade knife; grain was cleaned of dirth with a blower and thrashed with flails.[53]

Mushrooms were picked in large quantities, dried in the sun or above the stove, strung on thread, and were sold or eaten during the winter. Many of the mushrooms were sold to local health resorts (such as Krynica and Zegiestow/Zhegestiv in Nowy Sacz county) and commanded a good price.[54]

The most important industry after farming was wood and timber based. The village Nowica/Novycja (Gorlice county) was the center for this industry. Products such as utensils, boxes, chests and children's toys were made there. Spoonmaking soon spread to nearby Leszczyna /Lishchyny (Gorlice county) and Banica/Banycja (Grybow county); after World War I these goods were exported to America and elsewhere.[55]

Woodcarving developed in the towns and villages of Sanok county, especially Rymanow, Balucianka/Bavtjanka, Wolka/Vil'ka and Woltuszowa/Voltushova since the second half of the 19th century. A school for Lemko boys in Rymanow offered a three-year course in woodcarving, and produced a number of highly skilled carvers (who taught the generations after them), who produced boxes, trays, chests and plates. These items were sold at the health resorts and marketplaces. Other woodcarvers, especially in the village of Bielanka/Biljanka (Gorlice county), specialized in church furnishings like icon screens and altars.[56]

Stone cutting was another specialty in Gorlice county, but declined in the 20th century. In Bartne/Bortne were made millstones, grain mills, and sharpeners for knives and other tools. The villages of Przegonina/Perehonyna (Gorlice county) and Krempna/Krampna (Jaslo county) were sources of roadside stone chapels with figures of saints.[57]

"Traveling" industries, though not widespread, in some cases provided Lemkos with a relatively large amount of wealth. In villages of Nowy Targ county, "wiredrawers" traveled throughout the region, fixing cracked pots, basins, and pitcher pots. They also sold mouse traps and children's toys. A far more profitable venture was the cart-grease trade. Producing and selling the grease for wagons and carts was the main occupation of the people of Losie/Losje (Gorlice county), and by some in neighboring Biljanka, and Ropki/Ripky. They would travel throughout Europe from May to late autumn; some went as far as the Ural Mountains of Russia or to Germany. The industry was so profitable that Losje became the wealthiest village in the entire Lemko Region and contributed more intelligentsia to Lemko society than any other village.[58]

The village of Pielgrzymka/Peregrymka (Jaslo county) was known for its brooms, sold at local fairs. Chests and cases were made in Shljachtova; the village of Swiatkowa/Svjatkova (Jaslo county) produced juniper bush-root baskets. From Wroblik/Vorobik (Krosno and Sanok county) were exported wagon whips and large baskets pleated from twigs.[59]

Other products from the region included cloth woven on handmade looms -- Lemkos made their own clothing which was of very high quality; making linseed oil for cooking and to feed cattle; and honey from the Beekeeping industry.[60]

Folk Arts and Crafts

The Easter egg or pysanka, was one of the most widely produced items of folk art. Lemko pysanky are created by applying hot beeswax to a raw egg using a pin head affixed to a short stick. Various colors of dye (usually homemade) are applied, alternating colors with applications of beeswax (which resists the dye). The wax is then melted off, revealing the multicolored design. The pin head leaves the wax on the egg in a "teardrop" shape. These shapes are combined in motifs of animals, insects, celestial objects, people and religious symbols. The Lemko pysanky are essentially identical to the Rusyn pysanky of the Presov region in Slovakia.

Various wood objects, mentioned above, were also carved for home use: boxes, chests for storing clothes, tables, cradles, cupboards, small barrels, kitchenware, and toys. Many of these items are decorated with a nature motif representing the local environment; oak and maple leaves, pine and fir twigs, flowers and fruits.[61] See Appendix III for examples of this woodcarving.

Also mentioned previously are homemade fabrics, especially linen. This homespun fabric was used for clothes, tablecloths, sheets and embroidered towels (ruchnyky). The fabrics were colored with local plant or animal dyes (which the Lemkos also made themselves). Most villages had skilled cloth printers who prepared printed cloth women's skirts. Lavish, intricate embroidery was added to cloths and towels, using various techniques, especially satin and cross-stitch and beading.[62] The finest embroidered towels (ruchnyky) were decorative embellishments to icons in the home, or donated to the church to adorn the icon screen and icon shrines.

More specialized crafts included leather products and pottery. The leather workmanship practiced in the region was by tanners who mostly specialized in sheepskin to make winter clothes and footwear (see the section below on clothing). Pottery workshops mostly produced kitchenware; ceramics had to be imported. The pottery was usually glazed brown and painted with white in patterns of the sun, twigs and curves; the motifs were similar to those found in Lemko woodcarving, embroidery, and pysanky.[63]

After the Lemkos were deported in 1945-47, most of their traditional customs were no longer practiced and the folk art connected with those customs was no longer produced. The only craft which is still widespread is the pysanka. To some degree, decorative wall painting and the making of sculpture toys and ceramics have been retained. Lemko communities in Ukraine have especially maintained embroidery and woodcarving; L'viv and Ternopil' have "organized workshops" for both crafts. Lemko folk weaving motifs and patterns have been adapted by modern fashion designers in western Ukraine.[64]

Clothing

The dress of Lemko men was suited to most occasions, whether work or special occasions. The basic dress was thick white cloth pants (or linen trousers for summer) and a shirt. On festive occasions, a man would wear finer blue pants of woolen cloth.[65] The shirt was of hemp or flax, slit down the front, and buttoned in the back or in the western Lemko Region, at the shoulders. It had a narrow collar laced with string or fastened with a button, and was decorated with needlework.[66] On his feet, a man wore either home-treated leather shoes (variously called postoly, kerpci or chodaky) which were laced to the leg, or boots (chboty or skirni) into which the pants would be tucked; the pants were held up with a black leather belt with rows of ornate buttons. Boots were usually only worn on holidays or to village dances.[67]

A man's outer garments were the vest (lejbyk or bruslyk), short jacket (hunka) and cloak (chuhanja or chuha). The vest was typically blue with two or three rows of metal buttons, decorated with richly-colored needlework or, in the western areas, embroidered at the tails and collar in flower, twig, bud, or leaf patterns.[68] The jacket, of coarse wool, was dyed white or black. In colder weather he might have also donned a cloak of black or brown homespun cloth, ornamented with white stripes and shoulder fringes. The cloak had wide sleeves, used as pockets.[69] Finally, the men wore short-rimmed black hats with the rims bent upward, Hungarian-style,[70] or in winter, a round sheepskin cap with flaps covering the ears.

Lemko women had a much more elaborate style of dress with designs and color patterns which varied widely from village to village. Their undergarments were the blouse (oplicha or chachlyk) and underskirt (spidnyk or podolok). The blouse had pleated sleeves gathered up at the collar and cuffs, which were narrow with embroidery at the ends, It was cut waist short and sewn onto the skirt (in the west) or tucked into the skirt (in the east). The blouse was decorated with embroidery at the neck, chest and sleeves. In Jaslo county, the sleeves were broader and had multicolored needlework on the lower parts.[72]

Over the blouse was worn either a sleeveless blouse (lejbyk) or bodice (korset or korsetka). The lejbyk was of factory produced linen, usually black, blue, or navy blue, and richly decorated in red needlework and multicolored laces plus brass buttons.[73] The bodice (more common in the central and western counties), of coarse cloth, silk, or velvet, and lined with homespun linen, was buttoned up the center. It was embroidered with colorful threads and laced with tiny shining plates and flower shaped beads.[74] In colder weather, women would also put on a sheepskin jacket (kozhushanka, worn in the central Lemko Region) made of cherry-colored velvet and decorated with color bouquets and chest embroidery, or a short yellow sheepskin wool-lined jacket (in Sanok county). Winter outerwear was either the unlined wool coat (serdak) or the lined jacket (hunka).[75]

The outer skirt (kabat or fartuch) for winter was made of homespun wool. The summer skirt was made of dyed print cloth with ornamental patterns. These skirts were wide and pleated at the waist and, in central and western villages, trimmed at the bottom with several horizontal rows of colored stripes. By the early 20th century, factory-produced skirts came to replace homemade ones.[76] The smaller apron (zapaska or fartushok) was of white fabric, pleated and decorated with lace and color bands.[77]

Girls and unmarried young women were distinguished from married women in several ways. Girls would keep their hair in a single braid, tied with brightly colored ribbons, and might wear a white linen kerchief (chustka) over their hair.[78] Married women, however, kept their hair in a tightly twisted small bun, clasped with a hazel-nut ring. Their hair was covered with a bonnet (chepec) and then a large shawl (babushka) colored white (or blue for elderly women) and decorated with flower designs. Special polka-dotted shawls were always worn to church, a party, or to a neighboring village.[79] In the eastern villages, the colored skirts worn by unmarried girls were red, blue or pink; married women wore green skirts and widows wore black.[80] The green skirt (menta), lined at the hem with fox fur and adorned with blue colored bands, was also worn by the bride at her wedding as well as by the wedding party.[81]

Jewelry was an important adornment; it usually took the form of strings of beads (krajky), necklaces of real red coral (korali) or imitation (colored glass). In the eastern areas, young women and girls might also wear around their neck a broad strip (gerdan or hardan) of colorfully embroidered cloth and beads. Women's footwear was very similar to that of the males: leather shoes, or yellow or black boots for Sundays and holidays.[82]

Refer to Appendix IV for examples of Lemko folk dress

Influence of Byzantine Christianity

The Lemkos are profoundly spiritual and devoted to God, their Church and its Byzantine tradition. On holy days, all people in the village would attend services; it is only the aged or very young children who ever remained at home. The church liturgical year with its cycle of feast days and fasting periods was the regulating force in Lemko life. Hardly any element of Lemko culture was untouched by the influence of Christian belief. Even the everyday greeting on the street was "Slava Isusu Chrystu!" (Glory to Jesus Christ!) to which was given the response "Slava na viky!" (Glory forever!)

In villages with residents priests, there developed a very strong sense of the village a spiritual family with the priest as the spiritual father and teacher, with the priest's wife as spiritual mother who taught women their domestic responsibilities. The priests organized choirs, reading rooms, and libraries, and helped educate the villagers.[83] This relationship was disrupted wit the introduction of celibate priests and was a motivating factor in the Orthodox movement which swept the region in the early 20th century.

The Lemkos are particularly devoted to a number of saints, for which they name their churches and whose feast days are observed with great festivity or solemnity. The most popular saints' names and patronal feasts of Lemko churches in descending order of frequency are:

• Saint Michael the Archangel (November 8)
• Holy Protection of the Mother of God (October 1)
• Nativity of the Mother of God (September 8)
• Saint Nicholas of Myra (December 6)
• Saint Paraskeva (July 26)
• Saints Kosmas and Damian (July 1) (84)

Other important holy days are those of Saint George (April 23), Saint Elias (July 20) and the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist (June 24), which was the primary summer festival. The Lemkos also named their children for popular saints, including all of the above as well as Dymtrij (Demetrius), Vasyl' (Basil), Kyryl (Cyril), Konstantyn (Constantine), Anna/Anastasija, Helena/Olena, Ol'ga, Varvara (Barbara), and even some of the more exotic, Teofan, Charalampij and Porfyrij (males), Tatjana, Ksenja, Evdokija, Pelagija, and Zenobija (females). In normal circumstances the Lemko father would choose a name for his child, but children of unmarried women were given a name by the parish priest at the time of their baptism. The names given by the priest were most unusual, in order that illegitimate children would always be recognized as such.

The custom of otpust (pilgrimage) was especially popular among the Lemkos. The pilgrimages were typically held on church feast in the spring and summer months, especially the Transfiguration of Jesus Christ (August 6), the Dormition of the Virgin Mary / Uspenije (August 15), and on Pentecost / Rusalja (feast of the Descent of the Holy Spirit, 50 days after Easter). The most popular pilgrimages were across the mountains, at the monasteries in Krasnyj Brid (Zemplen/Zemplyn county), Legnava and Bukova Hora (Sarys county), and even as far as Mariapocs/Marijapovch (Szabolcs county) in present-day Hungary. After the Orthodox movement took root in the Lemko Region, the Orthodox monastic center at Ladomyrova (Sarys county) became a popular destination, as it was situated near the Dukla Pass.

The Wooden Church

The wooden churches of the Lemkos are the most distinctive feature of the region's landscape. Virtually every village had a church at one time, and most were constructed almost entirely of wood. They are usually situated close to rivers and creeks (on the banks) or on hillside slopes, and always on an east-west axis.[85] They are almost always surrounded by a circle of trees, from which the emerging towers and domes present a most dramatic image.[86]

The Lemko church is based on a tripartite design (sanctuary, nave and choir) which evolved from the churches of the neighboring Bojko region to the east. It retained that tripartite plan, each section with a separate (frequently Bojko-style pyramidal) roof but topped with Baroque turrets and cupolas. The most radical departure from the Bojko model is the Gothic borrowing of a tall defensive-like bell tower built over the narthex/choir section. It is reasonable to assume that the Lemko master craftsmen traveled elsewhere in Poland, Hungary and Slovakia and adapted the Gothic and Baroque attributes they saw to the Lemko church.[87]

Each section of the church is basically square (except the eastern wall of the sanctuary; see below). Of the three sections, the nave is usually the largest. The whole church is rarely over 20 meters in length, and is frequently only about 15 to 16 meters. The ceilings are low, contributing to a "very small and cramped" interior which still manages to be "endearingly intimate."[88]

The roofs are an intricate system of overlapping and pointed wooden shingles. Initially, only the bell tower was topped by a dome; only later were cupolas superimposed over the nave and sanctuary. The whole church, including walls, cupolas, and turrets, is typically painted on the outside, even in multicolor designs. This performs an aesthetic function, but more importantly it protects the building materials from the wet mountain weather.[89]

In the eastern Lemko Region (Lesko and Sanok county), the high belfry does not appear. The traditional three-dome design (with the highest dome over the choir section) is retained, although they do not dramatically vary in height. Some churches in this area have even four or more domes depending on the size of the church (e.g. the four domed church in Komancha). Some of these churches even have a separate belfry (e.g. Komancha and Turzansk/Turyns'ke, Sanok county).[90]

Also in Sanok county in the village of Lipowiec/Lypovec was found the only occurrence in the Lemko Region the Svidnyk-area, Presov Region variation of the Lemko church: the sanctuary section of square rather than apsidal (semicircular) shape.[91] Unfortunately the church, built around 1703, is no longer standing.

The churchyard is typically encircled by a fence, either of wooden framework or of stone. Stone, iron or wooden cross monuments are found in the churchyard, and the village cemetery typically is part of or immediately adjacent to the churchyard.

Wrought iron crosses crown the church domes as well as free standing bell towers and church porches. Each one is unique;[92] most are based on the Rus' eight pointed ("three-bar") cross design (of which the bottom bar may or may not be slanted), and many incorporate the inverted crescent symbolizing the victory of Christianity over Islam and the Turks.

The Lemko church interior is dominated by the multi-level icon screen (ikonostas), a wall which separates the sanctuary/altar area from the nave. Like other Byzantine church icon screens, those in Lemko churches follow a strict pattern by which the icons are displayed. The bottom row, from left to right, contains icons of Saint Nicholas( the patron of the Rus' Church) or Saint John the Baptist, the Virgin Mary with the child Jesus, Jesus Christ, and the patron saint of the parish church. The icon screen is pierced by two central ("royal") doors through which only clergy pass, and on each side by side ("deacon") doors through which servers pass. Most wooden Lemko churches contain at least two higher levels of icons, the first level showing the twelve main feasts of the church year with the Last Supper or the Icon-Not-Made-With-Hands in the center, the second level with icons of the twelve apostles with the Virgin Mary and John the Baptist, in supplication to the enthroned Christ (the Deesis) in the center. If a higher level is present (in most wooden churches it is not, except perhaps in a reduced form), it contains icons of the Old Testament prophets with the Crucifixion in the center. The interior walls and ceilings are usually painted, with icon-murals (frescoes) or with decorative elements. Other interior features are icon lamps and chandeliers, free standing icon shrines throughout the church, wood carved candlesticks, and processional banners. Finally, due to western influence, most Lemko churches have pews (other Byzantine churches generally do not).

The oldest wooden church in the Lemko Region is the Church of Saint Jacob at Powroznik/Povoroznyk (Nowy Sacz county) built in 1612.[93] The church was several times close to destruction but successfully restored. Once after a spring flood, it was moved away from the river to higher ground. (94) Most of the surviving Lemko wooden churches were built in the 18th and 19th centuries. Appendix V contains a selection of wooden church and church interior photos.

Icons

The icon is used as an aid to worship in churches of the Byzantine tradition, and are also kept in the houses of believers. The icons found in Lemko churches (and homes and recently, museum collections) for the most part belong to the Galician school of iconography. Today there are thousands of Lemko icon on display in Polish museums. Foremost among these are the collections in Nowy Sacz, Przemysl, Krakow, Sanok (over 600 icons) and Lancut (over 800 icons). Many of the icons discussed in this section are pictured in appendix VI.

Migrants to the region who were already Byzantine Christians brought icons from elsewhere which influenced later iconography.[95] There can now be said to exist a distinct Lemko style of icon painting, though some scholars minimize the differences between Lemko and other Galician icons.[96] The Galician school was influenced by early contacts with Byzantium, Bulgaria, Kiev, and Novgorod.[97] In the 15th and 16th centuries, Serbian and Bulgarian influence predominated. After the Union of Brest, canonical iconography declined as a pronounced Latin influence entered the area. Iconography became realistic and fleshy on the model of western religious art. By the 1700s, what remained of canonical iconography had become "folk" with many stylized and ornamental elements and incorporating certain themes of western religious art.[98]

The bulk of icons in the Lemko Region probably originated in one of three workshops: Peremyshl, Rybotychi (south of Peremyshl, since the 17th century) and Nowy Sacz. Before the Union of Brest, the Peremyshl workshop had a long period of contact with Greece and the monastic center of Mount Athos; thus the Peremyshl icons are closest to the Byzantine prototypes. A smaller number of icons may have been painted by local artists in or near the villages where they are found.

A distinguishing trait of Lemko icons is their subjects. The most popular subjects are the saints Paraskeva, Nicholas, Demetrius, Basil the Great, Barbara, and Kosmas and Damian, as well as the Crucifixion and the Last Judgment.[99] Many of these icons are of archaic saints (e.g., Paraskeva, Kosmas and Damian), are of rare subjects (such as Saint Symeon the Stylite from the church of that name in Kostarowce/Kostarivci, Sanok county), or follow ancient prototypes (especially the Saint Nicholas and Virgin and Child icons).[100] Another characteristic of Lemko icons is an extreme diversity of styles, from restrained simplicity to monumental compositions deriving from the monumental art current in Rus' lands from the 11th to the 13th centuries. They also have certain similarities. They exhibit a distinct emotional character, expressiveness, and bright decorative coloring.

In Lemko icons are often seen red and green backgrounds, as in the murals of Kiev's Saint Sophia Cathedral and the Church of Saint Cyril. The Kievan style is pronounced especially in the church in Vanivka, in the mural of the Nativity of the Mother of God and the Deesis (The Supplication) from the icon screen. The Kievan influence is also reflected in Lemko icons by the frequently-appearing Kievan saints Vladimir, Olga, Boris, and Gleb.[101]

The "classic" Lemko icon representing the Galician school is the "Virgin of Florynka" today in the Sanok museum. It depicts the Virgin Mary enthroned, holding the child Jesus, surrounded by an elliptical mandorla with four red triangles at the corners. This icon is unique because it is typically the adult Christ enthroned surrounded by the mandorla who is represented in this way.[102]

In the villages of Nowy Sacz and Grybow counties can be found some of the best examples of the Lemko folk icon. These and other icons from Lemko workshops favor light, fresh colors, especially red.[103] Some of these are: Saint Michael the Archangel, the Virgin Hodigitria, and the Crucifixion from the church in Szczawnik/Shchavynk (Nowy Sacz county); Saint Michael the Archangel (Stawisza/Stavysha, Grybow county); Saint Demetrius Leluchow/Leljuchiv, Nowy Sacz county); Christ the Ruler of All - Pantocrator and the Annunciation of the Mother of God (Jastrzebij/Astrjbyk, Grybow county).[104]

Church Music

Lemko church music is represented both by congregational singing and by choral music. In churches of the Byzantine tradition, instrumental music is not used; all singing is a capella. Congregational singing, or "plainchant," is typically led by a cantor who is knowledgeable in the intricate system of varied tonal systems corresponding to the Byzantine liturgical year. Because the Lemko Region was always in the jurisdiction of the Eparchy of Peremyshl, the congregational chant of the Lemkos is essentially identical to the chant sung in Ukrainian churches of western Ukraine ("Galician chant"), with some local variations of the melodies. This Galician chant is part of the western Rus' chant tradition which evolved from the Old Bulgarian, Znamenny, and Kievan chant traditions. The Galician chant shares many features with the prostopinije plainchant of Subcarpathian Rus'. This is especially true in the Lemko Region, where many melodies are found on both sides of the mountains.[105]

Choral singing is especially prevalent in Orthodox parishes, following the model of the Russian Church. The compositions sung are typically those of Russian or Ukrainian composers such as Tchaikovsky, Bortniansky, Verbitsky, and others.

Popular, devotional hymns in honor of Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, popular saints, and for liturgical seasons[106] have developed over several centuries, especially since the time of the Union of Brest. These hymns are not part of the chant tradition, as they exhibit the usual structure of western hymns. Many of the hymns are found among Byzantine Christian Eastern Slavs elsewhere, especially in Subcarpathian Rus' and to a lesser extent in western Ukraine. They are typically sung before and after liturgical services, on pilgrimages, and at festive church holiday observances. Here are two examples of these hymns.

Prechystaja Divo Maty (in honor of the Virgin Mary)

Prechystaja divo maty Ruskoho kraju
Purest virgin mother of the Rusyn land,

S anhelamy y svjatymy
With the angels and the saints

Tja velychaju
We magnify you,

Ty hrishnykov v tjazhkoj muki
You ease the suffering of sinners

Cherez tvoji spasajesh ruky,
With your saving hand

Ne daj propasty!
Do not let us perish![107]

O Kto Kto (In honor of Saint Nicholas)

O kto kto Nykolaja ljubyt',
O who loves Nicholas the saintly

O kto kto Nykolaju sluzhyt',
O who serves Nicholas the saintly

Tomu Svjatyj Nykolaj
Him will Nicholas receive

Na vsjakij chas pomahaj.
And give help in time of need,

Nykolaje, Nykolaje!
Nicholas, Nicholas![108]

Folk Song and Dance

Lemkos have been characterized as singing all the time -- singing while they work, and having songs for both ceremonies and for play.[109] Therefore it is not surprising that the number of Lemko folk songs is varied and vast. However, it is usually only women who sing while working. A particular tradition is that when a girl starts to sing, another girl joins in, then many others, until the song is heard over the whole village. Men seldom sing while working; usually only at festivities.[110] Most of the songs are of native origin, especially the wedding and humorous songs. The melodies of the native Lemko songs show a remarkable variety of forms, rich ornamentation, and a wide rhythmic range.[111] Some are variants of widely known Ukrainian songs, and others are of eastern Slovak origin with dialectal changes.

An example of the latter is the lyrics and music of "rjadovyj", the "bridal dance." The Slovak and Lemko melodies are extremely similar, by variation of the lyrics is more evident.

Radovy (Eastern Slovak) / Rjadovyj (Lemko)

Nasa mlada recec (2)
Nasha mlada jak sosna (2)
Our young bride is like the sun

Nechcela jejs pere ce. (2)
Lem pre tebe vyrosla. (2)
She was raised only for you

Nasa mlada jak babka(2)
Vozmi ty ko sobi(2)
Come close to her

Za cepila ju svatka (2)
A myluj ju do smerty. (2)
And cherish her till death.

Jak se Pan Boh raduje (2)
Nja sja Pan Boh raduje(2)
Let the Lord God rejoice

Ket starosta tancuje.(2)
Mlada z mladym tancuje. (2)
The bride is dancing with the groom

A ket svatka ne moze (2)
Na taniri shcherbyna (2)
The gift is on the plate

Ta jej druzhba pomoze (2)
Naj daruje rodyna (2)
Let the family donate.

Many of the songs sung while dancing come from the Presov Region (either of Rusyn or Slovak origin), and much of the dance music is of Hungarian origin.[112] The most common Lemko folk dances are the chardash (similar to the Hungarian csardas) and polka, but there are many types of specialized girls' dances (such as the karichka variety of circle dances, commonly accompanied by singing) and boys' or mens' dances (such as "shepherd's dance," axe dances, and the Hungarian verbunk).

The theme of Lemko folk songs of recent origin is frequently the mountains, the Lemko Region itself, and the tremendous psychological loss the people suffered when they were forced from their land. The most well known example of this type is the following.

Oj vershe (O my mountain)

Oj vershe, mij vershe,
O mountain, my mountain

Mij zelenyj vershe.
My green mountain.

Juzh mi tak ne bude, (2)
It will never be to me

Jak mi bylo pershe.
As it was before.

Bo pershe mi bylo,
For as it seemed to me before,

Barz dobri mi bylo,
It was so good to me

Od svojej mamychky, (2)
From my mother's time

Ne chodyty bylo.
It was not to be any longer.

Holidays

Lemko folk traditions, especially those related to the sun, the seasons, and the harvest, still contain many elements of pagan belief and superstition, but most (even the non-liturgical) celebrations have assumed an overtly Christian character. Most of the major observances common to all Lemkos included numerous local variations, many of which were based on superstition.

After Easter, Christmas was the most festive and endearing holiday in the Lemko villages. A very special dinner was served on Christmas Eve; the Holy Supper (svatyj vechur or velyja). The women spent the day cleaning the house and preparing the food. For all winter holidays, a special bread (krachun) made with beans, corn, poppyseed, or garlic, was baked in every home. For Christmas, the krachun with a candle representing the star of Bethlehem served as the centerpiece on the dinner table, on which hay had first been placed, then covered with a cloth upon which seeds and garlic were scattered.[113] As the culmination of the forty-day fast before Christmas, the Christmas Eve Holy Supper was free of both meat and dairy products. The meal consisted of up to twelve separate foods: fish, mushroom soup, meatless stuffed cabbage, sweetened dumplings (bobal'ky), stewed plumbs, honey, garlic, and others. After the meal, carols were sung and the family proceeded to the church.[114]

Beginning Christmas Eve and continuing for twelve days thereafter, processions of young people dressed as angels and shepherds (sometimes the adults had their own separate procession) went from house to house singing Christmas carols, exchanging greetings and wishes for the new year. The children would usually receive treats at the homes they would visit; adults would receive a drink. A large star on a pole was carried at the head of the procession (these groups were referred to as zvizdary - "star carolers"). In villages closer to the Presov Region, the procession may have included a miniature church and nativity scene (these groups were called jaslychkary - "visitors to the manger"). The carols of the Lemkos are generally of native origin, though some are also found among the Poles and Slovaks. Of western European carols, only "Silent Night" and "O Come All Ye Faithful" were widely sung in the Lemko Region.

The following Christmas carol shows how a song concept and lyrics are shared among neighboring cultures. The Lemko melody differs from that of the Presov Region Rusyn and Slovak carols, but the common origin is obvious:

Kedy jasna hviezda (Slovak) / Koly jasna zvizda (Rusyn - Preson Region)

Kedy jasna hviezda
Koly jasna zvizda
When the brilliant star

Z neba vychodila
Z neba zasvityla
From heaven shone

Vtedy Paneka Maria
Tohda Prechistaja Diva
That is when the Most Pure Virgin

Syna porodila.
Syna porodyla.
Gave birth to her son.

Ked' ho porodila
Jak ho porodyla
As she gave birth,

Krasne mu spivala
Krasno mu spivala
She sang beautifully to him

L'ul'aj buvaj sam syn Bozi
Ljuljaj syne Bozhij
Lullaby, lullaby o Son of God

Bo ja by tak spala.
Bo ja by barz spala.
For I really must sleep.

Pockaj mamka moja
Pochekaj mamochko
Just wait mother,

Za jednu hodinu
Od jednu hodynu
For only an hour

Dokial ja ti pojdem priniest'
doky ja ti ne prynesu
I'll bring back for you

Az z raju perinu.
Iz raju perynu.
A blanket from heaven.

V hlubokij dolyni (Lemko)

V hlubokij dolyni
In a deep valley

Zvizda sja javyla,
A star appeared,

De Prechysta Diva Maty
Where the Most Holy Virgin Mother

Syna porodyla
Gave birth to a son.

Jak jeho zrodyla,
As she gave birth to him,

Tak jemu spivala:
She sang to him:

Ljuljaj, ljuljaj, mij synochku,
Lullaby, lullaby my son,

A ja budu spala.
And then I will sleep.

Zasnyj mamcju zasnyj,
Fall asleep mother, fall asleep,

Choch by na hodynu,
Even for an hour,

A ja pidu ta j do raju,
And I'll return from heaven

Prynesu perynu.
Bringing a blanket (for you).

The feast of Theophany / Jordan (the Baptism of Jesus Christ, January 6) was observed, in addition to church services, with the entire village gathering at the local stream of lake. The priest blessed the body of water, which was also then carried home in containers by the people for use throughout the year; the priest also visited the homes to bless them with the "Jordan water."

The "Great Fast" of forty-day Lent before Easter was observed with a restricted diet free of meat and dairy products. Church services were held frequently during the week. The Great Fast would end the day before Holy Week. On Palm Sunday (Kvitna Nedilja - - "Flowery Sunday") the churches and villages would be filled with the newly-blooming pussy willows, since palm leaves were impossible to obtain. The dramatic church services of Christ's passion and death in Holy Week were mournfully observed. However, on Holy Saturday, the families would prepare the pysanky and foods (meats, cheese, and a richly decorated sweet bread - paska) to be taken to church in a basket the next morning. The midnight services would last several hours, and the people would return in the morning for further Resurrectional services. Easter (Pascha - "Passover" or "Velykden" - the "Great Day") was the most festive observance of the entire year. The baskets blessed after morning services were taken back home to break the long fast with a veritable feast of kolbasa sausage, ham. Eggs, cheese, and the paska bread. The usual greeting became "Chrystos voskres!" ("Christ is risen!") and for the whole Easter season every activity was begun with the singing of the anthem / tropar' of the resurrection. The Easter season ended fifty days later with the feast of Pentecost / Rusalja / Zelenyj Svjat (the Descent of the Holy Spirit, "Green Holyday"), at which the church and every home were adorned with branches of linden trees.

Other important church holidays with which were integrated the themes of Lemko life were the Transfiguration of Christ, at which the first fruits of the harvest would be taken to church and blessed; and the Dormition of the Virgin Mary, at which the same was done with the late-summer flowers.

The most elaborate tradition not tied to a Christian festival was the wedding. Weddings were usually held in the fall when the homes were well stocked with food. The festivities lasted for several days, perhaps even a full week.[115] The most important person. Aside from the bride and groom, was the starosta (elder, master of ceremonies), who wielded a special authority, symbolized by his holding of the marsalka (a staff decorated at the top with a bouquet of periwinkle flowers and colored ribbons). The starosta supervised all the groom-related wedding rituals, which included the betrothal and dowry settlement (usually three months before the wedding), and processions to and from the parent' homes. The women's activities were guided by the svasky (matrons of honor), who helped to invite the guests, to weave the special "crowns" (used in the church wedding ceremony) of periwinkle leaves (barvinok) and the wreath (riscka) symbolizing the groom and the family's well-being, and to bake the round bread (korovaj) which symbolized the bride and the family's prosperity and harmony.

The day of the wedding began with the groom and his attendants (druzby, carrying ceremonial axes / topirci) summoning the guests, musicians, and "matchmakers", after which the wedding party visited the homes of the bride and groom's parents to receive their blessings. Afterward, the bride and groom met at her home, at which time they exchanged a bouquet and kerchief (the cepec) respectively. The svasky then sewed bouquets on the lapels of the druzby; the riscka and korovaj were brought together at the table, a vodka toast was made by the starosta, and all sang (save the young couple who must remain silent). The procession then went to the church for the liturgical marriage ceremony; it was there that the "crowning" of the bride and groom was performed. After the church ceremony, everyone returned to the bride's home to begin the celebration. The next day, the festivities moved to the groom's parent's home. The following day began with the pocepyny ritual of putting on the bride's cepec signifying her married status, after which the korovaj was cut and distributed, gifts exchanged, and singing and dancing continued through the night.[116]

Upon the death of a Lemko, the entire village would participate in the funeral. From the time of death until the burial, the village church bells would ring three times a day. The deceased would be laid out on straw, in the home, dressed in his finest clothes with a candle placed in his hands. Lighted candles were placed around him with a wooden crucifix in the center. As a sign of mourning, girls unbraid their hair and women wear black dresses. The evening before the burial, the Psalter (book of Psalms) would be read continuously during and after the evening vigil, at which the priest would celebrate a wake service (parastas). The next morning, the funeral services were held in the church, with the deceased in an open casket in the middle of the church. The body was then carried to the cemetery by the pallbearers or in a wagon (summertime) or by sleigh (wintertime). After the burial, a meatless meal, usually of bread, cheese, cabbage and barley was served at the home of the deceased. One week later, another meal, this time of veal and lamb, was held; the priest would have a memorial service (panachyda) at which all present would sing "vichnaya pamjat" (eternal memory) for the soul of the deceased.[117]

The custom of kermes (celebration of the patronal feast of the village church) was observed in most villages, as an all-village celebration of food, song and dance. This custom was so popular that it survived in the emigration to America.[118] This custom seems to have been superceeded in recent years by the annual "Vatra" festival, likely as a result of the virtual disappearance of the phenomenon of the "Lemko village."

An interesting season custom is called the vecirka, or "spinning evening." In a Lemko village, women and young girls would gather together during autumn and early winter evenings in homes to do spinning, feather teasing, and other such domestic chores. They would sing songs, tell tales, play games, and even perform short plays with masques.[119]

Literature and Poetry

The Lemko Region produced a number of poets in the late 19th and early 20th centuries whose work became known to Lemkos all over because of their use of native dialect. Among these were the priest Vladymyr Chyljak[120] and the teacher and artist Ivan Rusenko.[121] Rusenko's poetry appealed to the common man, steeped as it was with the images of Lemko life; he wanted to teach his people of the value of their cultural inheritance while inspiring them to become educated, honest individuals. After being deported to western Ukraine in 1947, he continued to work as a teacher, and his poetry took on the theme of the Lemko's loss of his homeland. These later works have become anthems for the "resurrection' of the Lemko Region and have been set to music and performed by the leading Lemko folk ensembles. Following are some of these very popular woks.

Lemkovyna (1934)

Ja rodylsja tvoim shynom - dolja moja bidna,
I was born your son - my fate is to be poor,

Y ljublju tja Lemkovyno, moja maty ridna!
And I love you Lemkovyna, my native mother!

Y chic zemlja nasha bidna, dolja nezavydna -
And although our land is poor, nothing to desire -

Ne zabudut moi ochy tychtch horskych nochej,
My eyes will not forget the quiet mountain nights,

Any serdce ne zabude, poklja zhyty bude.
Nor will my heart forget, till the end of time.

Tozh shanujme ridne slovo
From the oldest to the youngest

od velyka azh do mala
Respect your native language

vshytko inshe zme stratyly
While we've lost everything else

lem besida nam ostala.
Only our language we've retained.

Uchte sja, vy rusnaky
Learn you Rusnaks,

Jak inshy vchat sja narody
Like other peoples learn.

To budeme y my maty
Then we will also have

Svoich vchenych dakoly
Our own scholars someday.

Moja Otchyzna Lemkovyna zaraz
My fatherland Lemkovyna is beyond

za Sanom, jak za plotom
the San River, as if on the other side of a fence

Lem nja ne pustjat bez pashportu,
Only they don't let me go there without a passport,

zahorodyly bramu drotom.
Having closed the gate with barbed wire.

Teper na Lemkivshchyni (1959)

A teper smutno, tam v Karpatach,
And now it's sad, there in the Carpathians

Nygde ne zvonyt v cerkvach zvon,
The church bells never ring,

Ne vydno tam nashoho brata,
Our brother there is never seen,

- any v Vysovi,
- not in Vysova,

- any v Labovi,
- not in Labova,

Vshytyk von!
Everything is gone!

Narod Voskres / Na Lemkovyni

Na Lemkovyni, v starom kraju (122)
In the Lemko Region, in the old country

Shumjat smereky y jalycy -
Murmur the evergreens and fir trees -

Pobidnu pisnju ony hrajut
A victorious song they play

Ot Uzhhoroda so Shchavnycy:
From Uzhhorod to Szczawnica:

Bo y v Karpatach dnes
For in the Carpathians today

Narod voskres!
The people resurrect!

Y hremyt chor Karpatskych hor,
And the choir roars of the Carpathian hills,

V daleku dal' - - het plyne --
In a far off place -- [the news] carried afar --

V Karpatach dnes narod voskres
In the Carpathians today the people resurrect

Y pravo jeho ne zhyne
And their right will not be taken away.

Mohuchyj chor Karpatskych hor,
The mighty choir of the Carpathian hills,

Naj viter nese vo vsi strany --
Let the wind blow to all corners --

Naj pryde chas -- naj uzh y v nas
Let the time come -- and now for us

Zdoptana pravda vstane!
The forgotten truth rises up!

Na Lemkovyni y Talerhofi
In the Lemko Region and Talerhof

Nevynna krov' proljata --
Innocent blood was shed --

Naj v nashych serdcach na vse ostane
Let it all remain in our hearts

Pamjatka -- vichna y svjata!
The memorial - eternal and holy!

Evolution / Preservation of Culture

Life in a Polish Environment

The most significant factor to impact Lemko cultural development was going from an environment where they were surrounded by other Lemko villages and were essentially "the majority", to one devoid of Lemko cultural institutions (churches, schools) and where there were few other Lemkos around them, in a sea of Poles. Many Lemkos in the Polish environment of western or northern Poland have either come to accept the official "Ukrainian" identity, or have found it easier to be a Lemko only "at home" and have assimilated either partially (in public) or completely with Polish culture. Nevertheless, Ukrainians in Poland, along with a few Lemkos in 1956 organized the Ukrainian Socio-Cultural Society (UKST).[123] The society's newspaper Nashe slovo (Warsaw, 1956-present) has included material dealing with the Lemkos and a supplement (Lemkivske slovo, 1957-64) or a page (Lemkivska storinka, Lemkivska besida) in Lemko dialect. UKST also has a "Lemko section" for two years, but it was dissolved because it failed to adequately serve the Lemkos' cultural need.[124]

The following is an excerpt of an account of Lemko life in western Poland as experienced by a young Lemko born and raised there:

I do not remember at all when I learned that I was a Lemko. We lived in the country, somehow off the beaten track. I was three, perhaps four years old when we, my sister and I, came into contact with a neighborhood boy by the name of Leszek. We were surprised and amazed that he used different names than we did for some objects. In spite of this, we understood each other fairly well, and those differences did not hinder us at all when we played. This idyll was short-lived, however, for when I was already five we moved to a small town, and it was only then that I became aware, rather quickly, of my "otherness". I remember how the children laughed when I called my father njanju [Lemko for daddy] from the yard.

I began to feel ashamed...Then I learned to be afraid.

We were all alone in the town. Father forbade us from using njanju and introduced tato [ Ukrainian for daddy]. The latter has remained with us to this day. And today it is precisely the one that I am ashamed of!

For a very long time I knew nothing about ourselves. At home they said that we were Lemkos simply in the ethnic sense, yet at the same time there prevailed a strange sort of attraction to Rus' ( as a whole) which automatically spread to us, the children. Father sometimes said that he used to give his nationality as Rusyn.

Meanwhile, I had to learn Russian in basically the same way as my fellow pupils [ in Polish schools]. I thought at the time, like all Poles probably, that a Rusyn (or Rusnak, as father said) was the same a s a Russian.

......Meanwhile, the children of my parents were growing up. I began "frequenting" dances, parties and discotheques. At home I was never told outright "Don't associate with a Polish girl." Yet on such occasions I always saw a hidden tension and disquiet in my mother's eyes. Father kept silent and did not even look at me, and yet I knew!

Don't go there, don't go DON'T GO!! Those words hung, almost sounded in the air. But I did go, laughing --I won't marry a Polish girl after all -- that's obvious. They should trust me.

It was perhaps a year ago that the following people were sitting around and chatting. There was Nina, whom the authorities did not want to register by that name (since it was not on the Polish calendar) and who therefore had a different identity on her card; Olja (with the same name on her card); Kasia (her name was in the calendar); a few Janeks, Wlodeks and others. I don't remember all of them. They were students and graduates of higher learning institutes of learning. Some could not speak Lemko at all. Also, they knew rather little about themselves. But today these same people form a strong group with a Lemko national consciousness. In consultation with Polish cultural and educational activist, the group wants to form a Lemko folklore ensemble in Wroclaw, to publish a Lemko song-book, and it dreams of producing a dictionary of the Lemko language. This is a true mark of the rate of change occurring in the national consciousness of Lemko youth.

.....[In response to Polish and Ukrainian fears about Lemko 'separatism' and reclaiming the Lemko Region:] Lemkos have already put down roots in their new places of habitation, and they are not even thinking on returning to the Beskyd Mountains. This is because for the most part younger Lemkos are neither shepherds nor farmers. What would they do there?

....It is sad to look at those Lemkos who choose the "undignified but convenient" way out. They are afraid of their own shadows! They change their first and last names (like one man who had changed his name twice to Bazyli and Waclaw, although the Poles still called him Vasyl').. They no longer speak Lemko even at home. They are teaching their children only Polish, for which, however, they achieve the exact opposite of what they wish. In the end, Poles despise them instead of respecting them (always mindful of their own several million strong Polish diaspora abroad which similarly should preserve its national identity within a foreign environment). At the same time, fellow Lemkos look down with pity on those who are so desperately trying to become Polish. Couples who are in such mixed Polish-Lemko marriages are isolated from both groups; hence they are attempting to create social groups of "mixed people," who seem to think they are being "assimilated." Yet, at times the Lemko speech of their parents is heard and it grates unpleasantly. It could be at a baptism party, where hearing a Lemko song will gnaw at one's insides. At the same time, the pain of guilt from trying to run from one's own culture will arise and then be soothed by drowning in alcohol.[125]

Lemko cultural activists have lamented the undeniable effect of "foreign" cultures on Lemkos in Poland, especially the younger ones:

Speaking of foreign cultures which have been imposed on Lemko Rusyns, I have in mind Polish culture -- understandable considering where the Lemkos live -- and Ukrainian culture, which does not fit organically into the picture. Contrary to common opinion, the bigger threat, especially for the contemporary young intelligentsia, is the influence of Ukrainian culture, because with it, as with any close fellow minority culture, comes a natural but not always concious solidarity. This is especially true in big university towns. Lemkos and Ukrainians go to the same churches and meet in the same clubs -- Ukrainian clubs, because there have been no Lemko clubs and at present only one city has one. We are told that it is impossible to organize Lemko clubs because of the housing problem. The Ukrainians have clearly flourished for a long time according to the tenets of the "good" socialist times. Coming into Poland more often than before are professional Ukrainian song ensembles and theaters. Among our youth more and more Ukrainian music and video recordings circulate. And young people cannot live without these.[126]

Early Cultural Activity in the Lemko Region

The village of Zyndranowa/Zyndranova (Krosno county) was the site of the first Lemko cultural organization since the Vistula Operation: a folk song and dance ensemble. The ensemble, founded by Fedor Goch[127] in 1954, was featured a year later in a Polish TV program "With the Lemkos in Zyndranova."[128] In 1955 a film, "The Lemko Wedding," was produced there, based on Goch's script. The village of Biljanka became an early center of cultural activity among other Lemkos returning to their native villages. A new school was built there in the early 1960's and a Lemko Song and Dance Ensemble was organized under the direction of Pavlo Stefanovskij. The Ensemble performed in various Lemko villages such as Barwinek/Barvinok (Krosno county), Ucie Gorlickie/Ustje Ruske (Gorlice county), Krynica (Nowy Sacz county), and the Presov Region (Sarys county) villages Dubova and Krajnja Poljana in Czechoslovakia. A school was also constructed in Kunkowa/Kunkova (Gorlice county) whose school children were also engaged in folk song and dance activities. Other performing ensembles were organized in the late 1950's and early 60's in Komancha, Grab/Hrab (Jaslo county), Vilchovec, Tylawa/Tylova, and Polany/Poljany (all in Krosno county). Orthodox church choirs were active in a few villages. Other villages of early cultural importance were Bortne, Hanchova, Konieczna/Konechna, and Zdynia/Zhdynja (all in Gorlice county).[129] Several of these early folk ensembles are pictured in Appendix VII.

The Lemko Vatra Festival

The Lemko Vatra ("Bonfire") is a tradition with origins outside the Lemko Region. The first festival was held in 1979 in Michalow near Legnica, to showcase the traditions of the local Lemko population.[130] This festival evolved into an annual event in the Lemko Region in villages where the Lemkos have returned in large numbers, including Krynica, Hanczowa/Hanchova, and Bortne (1987-89). Since 1990, the Vatra has been held in Zdynia/Zhdynja (all these except Krynica being in Gorlice county).

The first Vatra in the Lemko Region took place August 12-14, 1983 between the villages of Czarna/Charna (Grybów county) and Ustje Ruske with just under 500 attendees.[131] In conjunction with the 1984 Vatra, the first independent Lemko-language publication in post-war Poland appeared: Holos Vatrý.[132]

The 1989 Vatra was held in Bortne, which then with 50 Lemko families and only three Polish families, was the "most Lemko" of all villages in the homeland. The festival was begun in the traditional way on July 21 with the lighting of the bonfire. Olena Duc'-Fajfer, a cultural activist and "Lemko of the Year, 1988." Before putting the torch to the wood, she recited: "You burn, o sacred fire. You warm our hearts which are thirsty for the native culture. Unite by love all Lemko people. Let the prophetic and inspired words of the poet Ivan Rusenko come true: "There came the day in the Carpathians for the people to resurrect!" at which point the Biljanka Lemkovyna Ensemble sang the Rusenko poem Na Lemkovyni. Like the 1988 Vatra, approximately 5000 Lemkos attended, from Poland, Ukraine, Czechoslovakia, Australia, Austria, Canada, France, Germany and the United States.[133] The weekend included sports competitions, a Miss Lemkovyna beauty pageant, "quiz shows" testing contestants' knowledge of Lemko language, history, and culture and impromptu speeches by anyone who wished to pick up the stage microphone. The audience was moved by the Theatre of the Society of Lemkos' performance of "Severed Roots," a dramatization of the deportation of Lemkos in the 1947 Vistula Operation.[134] The final day was one of church services, a procession to the grave of the Lemko poet Melanija Sobyn and to the monument to the victims of Talerhof. A final concert was given by the Biljanka Lemkovyna Ensemble, the "Veselka" ensemble from the Presov region and other groups. The bonfire was extinguished by Andrij Kopcha with these words: "I put you down, o sacred fire! I put you down but not for long. May you burn in our hearts until next year!" again to the strains of Na Lemkovyni.[135]

The program of the 1993 Vatra included the Lemkovyna Choir of L'viv (which opened the festival), the Kychera ensemble of Legnica, a children's choir from Drohobych, Ukraine, other village ensembles from Poland, Slovakia and Ukraine. The event was widely covered in the press by Polish radio and TV, Kiev TV, a reporter from the Nashe slovo newspaper, and many others.[136]

The Vatra has proven to be the premier Lemko event in Poland and has done much to boost the Lemkos' pride in their heritage and to build a sense of community despite the fact that they are scattered across the country. A moving account of the emotional character of the Vatra is given in a letter from a Lemko who attended the 1990 Vatra:

One could see the Lemko youth begin its day with rehearsals and preparations for the concerts of the day. The Lemko dialect could be heard everywhere -- the language of their parents and grandparents. Tea and eggs cooking over fires could be found everywhere! Nothing could be better!

Saturday's Vatra was held especially for youth. The smallest child was enchanted by the Lemko song and dance that was being presented especially for them....One of the most popular groups to perform during the children's' concert was the children's group "Barvinok" from Kamjunka in Czechoslovakia. Our brothers and sisters from across the border brought our songs with them and performed them with the utmost perfection.

The festival brought alive everything our parents and grandparents worked for. Now it is time for the children of these people to travel to the Carpathians and live and feel what their forefathers felt. It is only in our native land that we can feel true happiness....The Rusyn Carpathians heard their native tongue, their songs and music and saw their dances.[137]

Scenes from various Vatra festivals are found in Appendix VIII.

Michalow, the site of the first Vatra, continues to host what is known today as the Lemko Vatra in Exile. This festival features ensembles from Poland and Ukraine and Rusyn ensembles from Slovakia. The 13th Lemko Vatra in Exile was held August 6 and 7, 1993. Five thousand Lemkos attended, and performances were given by the ensembles "Kychera" (Legnica), "Lemkovyna (Biljanka), "Zaruba" (Njagiv, Slovakia), and the Lemko Theater of Legnica. There were also readings of Lemko/Rusyn poetry, and sports and music events.[138]

The Rise of Cultural Organizations

The two leading Lemko organizations in Poland today are the Society of Lemkos (Stovaryshynja Lemkiv --SL) and the Union of Lemkos (Ob"jednannja Lemkiv --OL). The Society of Lemkos was founded April 15, 1989 in the town of Legnica in southwestern Poland (where a large Lemko community has existed since 1947). Today the organization has branches also in the Lemko Region. As of late 1990, it had 270 members organized in 14 branches. Its leaders have been for the most part, of the post World War II generation, in contrast to the pro-Ukrainian Union of Lemkos (formed (1990), whose directors are mainly of the prewar generation.[139] The Union of Lemkos is most active in the Lemko Region itself. The Society of Lemkos feels that the Lemko culture can be preserved and promoted among the younger generation of Lemkos without having to tie it to the Ukrainian nationality. Members of the Union of Lemkos have criticized SL for this view, stating that its "organizers have abandoned their mother -- former Kievan Rus', present day Ukraine."[140] These organizations have made the sponsorship of the festivals their primary activity; OL the Lemko Vatra, and SL the Vatra in Exile.

With the rise of pro-Rusyn organizations elsewhere, particularly in neighboring Slovakia, the Society of Lemkos has moved from just a Lemko-specific to a more broadly based pro-Rusyn viewpoint, actively participating in events like the World Congress of Rusyns and the "First Congress of the Rusyn Language." A primary goal of SL is the codification of the Lemko language. The Society of Lemkos began to publish in 1989, on an irregular basis, the magazine Besida mostly in Lemko with a few articles in Polish. SL has expanded its publishing activities, especially since 1992. It has published Lemko-language cultural booklets, such as Vasyl' Chomyk, Charodijsky hushli: Lemkivsky legendy, trans. Petro Murjanka (1992); Olena Duc'-Fajfer, Lemky v Pol'shchy / Lemkowie w Polsce (1992), a popular historical survey of Lemkos in Poland; and the annual cultural / historical journal, Lemkivskij kalendar (1993).

Poland's Lemko activist include a number of prolific poets who have worked for many years in their own language. The foremost of these is Petro Trochanovskij-Murjanka ( a founding member of the SL), who has published two anthologies of his Lemko and Polish poetry.[141]

A new Lemko organization was founded in 1991 in Biljanka - the Hospodar Rusyn Democratic Circle of Lemkos in Poland. Its goal is to lobby the Polish government to return property to the Rusyns who were forced to leave their homes during the Vistula Operation of 1947. Its leader, Pavlo Stefanovskij, started a new Lemko-language bulletin, Lemko, in January 1993.

Folk Ensembles

The premier Lemko folk ensemble in Poland has been the Lemkovyna folk ensemble of the village of Biljanka. It was formed by Fedor Goch and R. Sobolevskij in 1969 from local choirs and dance groups. Its repertoire is mainly Lemko folk songs and includes a folk instrument orchestra, and its performances include native Lemko folk dances. The group's director, Jaroslav Trochanovskij, is a founding member of SL. It has performed in the Lemko Region, in many Polish cities, at the Svidnyk festival in Slovakia, and in Ukraine. The group toured in the United States and Canada in 1987.[142]

The group encountered financial difficulties after the dissolution of Communist power in Poland. The Polish government could no longer give funding to cultural groups like Lemkovyna. The group had been rehearsing in the Trochanovskij home, but they obtained an abandoned school building which they renovated to use as a rehearsal hall. In November 199, Jaroslav Trochanovskij lost his job and it was feared that he would have to leave the Lemko Region if he could not support his family.[143] Because of conflicts within the group over the Rusyn or Ukrainian identity of Lemkos, and the active opposition of Ukrainophile Lemko organizations to the existence of a "non-Ukrainian" Lemko ensemble; the group disbanded after their August 10, 1992 performance at the Lemko Vatra in Exile.[144] However, the group was reorganized in time to perform at the same event on August 6-7, 1993.[145] The Lemkovyna ensemble is pictured in Appendix IX.

On a 1990 sojurn to Ukraine, Lemkovyna played a concert in Boryslav (near L'viv), supposedly the place with the largest concentration of relocated Lemkos in all of Ukraine. The Friday evening, August 3 concert opened with three local Lemkos, Marija Demska (b. Dosznica/Doshnycja, Jaslo county), Mychajlo Dragan (b. Rozdilje, Gorlice county) and Kostja Prystash (b. Wapienne/Vapenne, Gorlice county) greeting the choir with flowers and words of welcome. The concert began with the song Hory nashy (Our Mountains), followed by modern Lemko songs like Tjazhko zhyty na chuzhyni (It's hard to live in exile) and traditional songs like Ej, krochkom koni, krochkom and Kazala mi mama.

Among the many selections written by director Jaroslav Trochanovskij was Molytva Volodmyrova (The Prayer of Vladimir), a hymn in honor of the Millennium of Christianity in Kievan Rus'. The songs were interspersed by performances of Lemko folk dance, such as Pastryskij tanec (Shepherd's dance), Lemko-vals (Lemko waltz), and Lemkivskij chardash (Lemko csardas). The finale was Rusenko's Na Lemkovyni.[146]

The Lemko Region and the Lemko-inhabited towns in western Poland have a number of local village-based folk ensembles. One such ensemble id the Kychera" Ensemble of Legnica, which performed at the 1993 Lemko Vatra in Zhdynja[147] and the Vatra in Exile in Michalow. Another, the "Oslavjany" ensemble from Mokre (Sanok county), recently marked its 20th year of existence. The "Kychera" Ensemble is shown in Appendix VIII at the 1993 Lemko Vatra.

Museums

The Museum of Lemko Culture, in existence for twenty-five years, is located in the village of Zyndranova (Krosno county). The museum is owned and operated by Fedor Goch, an executive officer in the Union of Lemkos. Goch's museum has become on of the most visible symbols of, and a monument to, Lemko culture in Poland.[148] It depicts life on a Lemko farm before the Vistula Operation, in a traditional dirt-floor cottage with a thatched roof which in several rooms are displayed turn-of-the-century artifacts such as furniture, utensils, and a hooded stove, as well as Lemko costumes, photographs, coins, paintings of Lemko churches, religious objects rescued from ruined churches, documents and publications on the Lemko Region.[149] The museum also has a war memorial section, with relics from the 1944 battle at the Dukla Pass which Goch obtained while farming and scavenging the area: helmets, shell casings, canteens, etc.[150] In conjunction with the museum, Goch began a religious festival, "Od Rusal' do Jana" (From Pentecost to St. John's Day) which highlights the Lemko culture of this festive period of the year. At the first festival, held June 20, 1992, Lemko folk ensembles from Ukraine ("Konar Lemkovyny" of Zhovtneve) and Slovakia ("Makovycja" of Svidynk) were among the participants.[151] In 1993, a full slate of cultural activity was hosted by the museum. Besides the folklore/religious festival, there were exhibits: "the Lemko icon screen," "Lemko church artists," a celebration of Lemko poets[152] on the occasion of the museum's 25th anniversary, and an exhibition of the works of famous Lemko painter Nykyfor Drovnjak on the 25th anniversary of his death.[153] Various scenes of the museum are found in Appendix X.

There is also a Polish-run museum in the city of Sanok with a recreated Lemko village including a wooden church, and a significant collection of folk artifacts from the Lemko Region, and the outdoor Ethnographic Museum in Nowy Sacz contains a Lemko section.[154]

Amateur Theatre

The Society of Lemkos recently established an amateur theatre group (Teater Stovaryshynja Lemkiv) in Legnica; this group performed excerpts of a new Lemko-language play Poslidnja hodyna (The Final Hour), a dramatization of the 1947 deportation of the Lemkos, at the Second World Congress of Rusyns on May 23, 1993 in Krynica.[155]

Other Lemko community cultural activities have included New Year's Eve dances (malanky), dances, campfires and poetry readings.[156]

Preservation of Monuments

At the Lemko Vatra festivals, the Society for Preservation of Monuments, headquartered in Ustje Ruske, has put up bulletin boards with photos showing the precarious condition of various Lemko wooden churches. The Society's director, Igor Prych, a Lemko living in Kwiaton/Kvajaton' (Gorlice county), spoke at the 1989 Vatra, asking those present to inform the Society about the condition of such cultural monuments in the region, and to assist the Society in any way possible.[157]

Schools

The first Lemko-language school in post-Communist Poland was established in September 1991 in the village of Kunkova to serve that village and the neighboring village of Lishchyny. The school at that time had nine students (ages 6 to 10) who were taught once per week by Myroslava Chomjak. She used xerox copies of an elementary Lemko grammar from 1935. This school has gained attention from the national Polish press, even as the subject of a popular children's television news magazine program.[158]

Since then, six other such schools have been established (including Ustje Ruske and Legnica), and new instructional materials have been printed. The grammar for children, Lemkivska grammatyka dlja dity (Lemko Grammar for Children), was written and illustrated by Chomjak in close collaboration with Dr. Henryk Fontanski of the University of Silesia.[159]

Lemko Life in Ukraine

Adjustment to a New Home

Several years ago an elderly Lemko resident of the village of Uvisla (Ternopil' district) gave an account of Lemko life in the village.

We used to live separate lives, estranged from the rest, after moving here after the war. Time has changed all that. Among the deputies of the village council, Lemkos are in the majority. The principal of the school is a Lemko, so is the head of the collective farm board, the head agronomist, the head engineer. All are Lemkos. Lemkos don't feel restricted anymore. They have the right to an education, for example....

In the days of my youth, it was a rare thing for a Lemko older than thirty to be able to read. None of them joined the library, or subscribed to the newspapers. None of them had books of their own. Today when everyone gets a free education, the village boys and girls for a number of years have matriculated from secondary or high school. If they want to continue their education at a university or other higher institute or technical college, they can go right ahead. Every third resident in our village continues his education after matriculating.

[During the interview, night was falling and music was heard:] Those are the real 'disturbers'.' Till late at night the rehearsals of the ethnographic amateur group kept on.[160]

The Lemkovyna Choir of Rudno-L'viv

The Lemkovyna Choir was founded in Fall 1969 in the village of Rudno (now part of the city of L'viv) by Lemkos born in Poland who had been settled in L'viv and the villages of Rudno and Zymna Voda. Among the organizers were the groups' longtime starosta (elder), Pavlo Jurkovskij (a retiree, born in Skwierzyn/Skvirtne, Gorlice county); the composer Roman Sobolevskij, and singers Stefanija Hurej and Stefanija Kuzjak. The group's conductor and artistic director since 1974 is Ivan Kushnir (born in Bonarivka, Krosno county), who began working with the group soon after graduating from the Conductor's Department of the L'viv State Music Conservatory.[161] Its early days were difficult, as the group had to rehearse in homes. Thanks in part to the work of Kushnir, the group has become very successful and has won awards including a diploma at the Soviet Union's First Nationwide Festival of Amateur Creative Workers' artists.[162]

The group today has over 70 members, most of whom are of Lemko descent, and includes a 16-piece orchestra of violins, cymbaly (hammer dulcimer), clarinet, cello, flute, musical glasses, and bandura.[163] The choir has a repertoire of over 70 Lemko songs, and also performs liturgical music, music written by Ukrainian composers to the words of Ukrainian poets Taras Shevchenko and Ivan Franko, Ukrainian songs from the shores of the Dnieper, and songs from the Carpathian Bojko, Hutsul, and Transcarpathian regions. The choir also performs songs of Russian, Belarusian, Latvian, Georgian, and Polish origin. Its concerts include reading of sketches, verse and stories in the Lemko language, and a dance group has recently formed to complement the choir.[164]

In 1989 the ensemble made its first tour abroad, a three day trip to Poland. They came at the invitation of Volodymyr Nazar, chairman of USKT. They were greeted in Gorlice by members of the Lemkovyna choir of Biljanka. A first-hand account of the experience was given by Terezija Kyshchak (born in Rostajne, Jaslo county), a teacher of Ukrainian language and a member of the group since its founding:

While we were having our dinner the local Lemkos were playing and singing for us. We were deeply moved by such a heartfelt welcome. None of us knew what to do: to eat, to listen or to cry with tears of joy....

That same day we staged a concert. The hall was packed to capacity. There were even some Lemkos who came to see use from the western regions of the country, in particular from Legnica. We were told later that our concert tour was advertised in advance, and on Sunday the priests of the Greek Catholic and Orthodox churches informed their flocks about our performances. Every number of our concert program was received with an ovation. There were many flowers. We felt especially moved when a little boy, the son of poet Petro Trochanovskij, appeared on the state and, facing the audience, on behalf of those present, thanked our Lemkovyna group for the concert.

The Lemko families from Gorlice and the Biljanka and Losje villages invited our group members to spend the night at their places. This enabled us to establish personal contacts and aquatint ourselves with the mode of life of our fellow-countrymen. Besides, we had a chance to exchange our presents.

I was a guest of Zenovija Cherhonjak. She lives with her daughter, son-in-law and little granddaughter. Till late at night we sat at the table and talked. Our hosts were in possession of several early creations by a gifted Lemko woodcarver, Mychajlo Orysyk.

The choir members attended services in the local churches on Sunday, where they sang traditional koljady (Christmas carols) and the Mnohaja lita (the church prayer "Many years" for blessing, health and happiness). Afterward, the group visited the Museum of Lemko Culture in Zyndranova, where they were received by local Lemko activists Fedor Goch and Mychal Don'skij.[165]

In a recent concert, Lemkovyna played to an overflow crowd in the hall of the L'viv Veterinary Academy on Sunday June 20, 1993. The professor and music critic Jaroslav Mychal'chyshyn gave his opinion on the concert: "[the combination of] the choir's folk dress, the faces of the singers, and the execution of the songs have some kind of special effect on me....[especially to hear] the choir's enthusiasm, this is an experience that can't be repeated. When you watch the stage, your heart rejoices."[166] A photo of this performance is found in Appendix X.

Lemko culture has become widely known in Western Ukrainian society, especially through the medium of folk songs. Lemko folk songs are played on Ukrainian radio, heard in concerts, and released on record albums.[167] The songs are performed by leading vocalists, professional groups, vocal capellas, and amateur performing groups. Some of Ukraine's most renowned scholars and composers, including the famous Lemko composer Ivan Majchyk of L'viv, have studied and arranged Lemko folk songs.[168]

The Lemkivshchyna Society

On April 1, 1989, the Lemkivshchyna Society was established in L'viv by cultural activists Petro Kohutov and Ivan Krasovskij. The L'viv branch voted to become a member of the World Lemkos Federation, a blanket organization of Ukrainophile Lemko societies, based in Syracuse, New York.[169] In the Fall of 1993, the World Congress of Lemkos was held in L'viv and hosted by the Lemkivshchyna Society.

A branch of the Society was founded in Ternopil' on January 20, 1990, of which Volodymyr Barna was elected chairman.[170] Its objective is to stop the process of assimilation by popularizing the cultural and historical past of Lemkos for the next generations, and by strengthening contacts with Lemkos abroad, especially at the Lemko Regions Vatra folk festival. It hopes to establish a museum of Lemko culture, folk dress, and way of life. It now sponsors the Lemko choral ensembles in Loshniv, Zhovtneve, Hutyns'ko, Pidzamochok, and Ridoduly.[171] Its local activities have included a celebration in honor of poet Ivan Rusenko, and its youth section visits member families on the Saint Nicholas and Christmas holy days.[172] In an effort to involve more people in its activities, the Ternopil' branch has discussed forming a Lemko dramatic company, organizing new vocal ensembles, and reviving folk traditions.[173]

The Lemko activist from Poland, Fedor Goch visited Lemkos in the Ternopil' district, including the village of Zhovtneve, most of whose inhabitants were (or are descendants of) former residents of Myscowa/Myscova (Krosno county). He attended a concert of Zhovtneve's Lemko folk choir "Konar Lemkovyny", visited the city of Terebovlja's Lemko community, and addressed the Ternopil' Lemkivshchyna Society, at which a concert was given by a Lemko ensemble from Pidzamochok, Buchach district.[174]

The Ternopil' branch has been very successful in organizing regional cultural events. One such endeavor was "Lemkovyna, My Beloved Land, We Remember You and Cherish You in Our Hearts", an evening of "Lemko culture" in Jahil'nycja, Chortkiv district. The master of ceremonies opened the program saying:

My beloved Lemkovyna, the verdant Carpathians, Whenever a Lemko travels, he will remember you, For the Lemko mountains, the beautiful valleys, Cannot be forgotten, neither in joy, nor in sorrow.

The emcee then spoke of the 1945-1947 deportations from the Lemko Region. The program continued with folk songs by a choir, poetry readings, and Christmas carols by a children's group. The success of the program and the excitement it generated among those in attendance led to the establishment of a Lemkivshchyna Society village branch in Jahil'nycja.[175]

The only branch of the Society outside Western Ukraine was formed in Kiev, Ukraine's capital city, in December 1990.[176]

Religious Life

Lemkos do not have their own churches in Ukraine. In addition, most of the Orthodox churches in western Ukraine have, since 1990, returned to the jurisdiction of the Byzantine Catholic Church under the Major-Archbishop of L'viv Myroslav Ivan Cardinal Lubachivsky. In any case, the customs of the western Ukrainian churches are very similar to those of the Lemko Region, and the services are identical. In a move to use the vernacular in liturgical services, the Byzantine Catholic Church in western Ukraine has introduced the literary Ukrainian language along with the traditional Old Church Slavonic.

On April 7, 1991 (Easter Sunday), Major-Archbishop Lubachivsky, assisted by retired L'viv Archbishop Volodymyr Sternjuk and Metropolitan Maxim Hermaniuk of Winnipeg, Canada blessed the foundation of a Lemko church to be constructed in "Shevchenko Haj," the outdoor museum of Folk Architecture and Culture in L'viv.[177]

Re-establishment of the Church

The Orthodox Church

The Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Poland has a Metropolitan resident in Warsaw, and most of its faithful are of Belarusian or Ukrainian nationality and concentrated in eastern Poland. When in the late 1950's Lemkos returned to their native villages in significant numbers, some Orthodox parishes were reestablished, although most of the former Lemko churches had been taken over by the new Polish settlers and are used as Roman Catholic churches. In response to the "new" Orthodox population in the region, the Orthodox Church established the Eparchy of Przemysl/Peremyshl' and Nowy Sacz in 1983 with its see in Sanok.[178] Its bishop, Adam Dubec' is a native of the Lemko Region. Church services in the Lemko Region are generally conducted in Old Church Slavonic, whereas some Orthodox churches in Poland use the Polish language.

Some Orthodox communities, denied the use of the former Lemko village churches, have constructed new places of worship. The first of these was begun in the village of Zyndranova I 1982 and completed in 1985. Saint Nicholas Church of Zyndranova was the first new Lemko church built in the Lemko Region since World War II. The church's icon screen is made up of icons and framings Fedor Goch saved from destroyed Lemko churches in the area. An iron plaque in the church indicates that it was built to commemorate the 1100th anniversary of the Cyrillo-Methodian mission in the Lemko Region and the Millennium of Christianity in Kievan Rus'. The second church was begun in Krynica in august 1982, but is still unfinished. Some churches have been renovated, such as in Rozilje, Gorlice county, begun in 1986; the interior renovation (including the new icon screen and icons) was completed in February 1993.

A new Orthodox church was constructed in Gorlice in the late 1980's to sever the local Lemko population. The church, named Holy Trinity, is dedicated to the memory of Father Maksym Sandovych, a Lemko Orthodox priest who was killed by Austrian government authorities in 1914. The completed church was consecrated September 8, 1991 in an impressive ceremony officiated by Metropolitan Vasylij of Warsaw and Bishop Adam of the Przemysl/Nowy Sacz Eparchy. The interior of the church contains the icon screen which was transferred from the church in Poljany (Krosno county) which is presently used as a Roman Catholic church. At the end of the rite of consecration, a commemorative plaque was blessed and placed by the church. The inscription on the plaque was in Lemko language and reads as follows: The Orthodox Church of the Holy Trinity the monument to honor the martyrdom of the Priest Maksym Sandovych 1886-1914 a great son of the Lemko Region murdered for the Orthodox faith by the gendarmes of the Austrian regime on September 6, 1914 in Gorlice[179]

The Orthodox Church of Poland intends to canonize Father Sandovych on September 11, 1994.[180] Sandovych will thus become the first Lemko saint of the Orthodox Church.

The tradition of otpust was revived on July 12, 1992 on the hill "Javir" in the village of Wysowa/Vysova (Gorlice county); Bishop Adam was present along with Orthodox Lemkos from the Lemko Region.

The churches in Krynica, Zyndranova, and Poljany are shown in Appendix XI; for a list of Orthodox parishes in the Lemko Region, see Appendix XII.

The Byzantine Catholic Church

The Byzantine Catholic Church was never officially liquidated in Poland as it was in neighboring Czechoslovakia and Soviet Ukraine. This Church was illegal in Poland from 1947 until 1957; most of its properties were given to the Roman Catholic Church or abandoned. The Byzantine Catholic Church began to revive itself in 1957 after the deported Ukrainians and Lemkos were permitted to return to Poland. However, the government made it very difficult for the church to operate, and any activity was permitted only under the auspices of the Roman Catholic hierarchy. The Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Peremyshl was vacant until January 1991, when Bishop Ivan Martynjak (consecrated 1989 by Polish Cardinal Jozef Glemp to serve as auxiliary bishop and "vicar" for Byzantine Catholics) was named its Eparch (ruling bishop and ordinary).[181]

The first parish to be reestablished was Komancha (1962), followed by Novycja/Pryslop (1967), Ustje Ruske (1967), and Losje, Gorlice county (1968). The main parishes are Komancha and Krynica (1982), from which other localities are served on a periodic basis. The wooden church in Komancha is in use by the Orthodox parish; therefore, a church from the village of Szybistów/Dudynci (built in 1802 and probably the oldest wooden church in Poland of the Greek cross floorplan) was to be transferred to Komancha to serve the Byzantine Catholic parish. Instead, the church was demolished sometime in 1984[182] so the Komancha parish constructed a new wooden church in 1987, pictured in Appendix XI. A similar fate befell the Church of Saint Paraskeva built 1872-74 in Rajskie/Rajs'ke (Lesko county); it was blown up with dynamite by the local authorities in 1990 when the few Byzantine Catholic Lemkos in nearby Wolkowyja/Volkovyja requested that it be opened for their use.[183] The wooden cedar church in Stavysha built in 1818 was intentionally burned down in 1966.[184] Tragically, many other historic Lemko churches have similarly been destroyed; many others are abandoned and falling into decay. In fact, of all Byzantine Catholic and Orthodox wooden churches in southeast Poland (both Lemko and Bojko territory) as of 1956, 164 had been destroyed, 101 of which had been designated "monuments of architecture".[185]

Byzantine catholic services in the Lemko Region are conducted generally in the Old Church Slavonic language (whereas the church in Ukraine is adopting modern Ukrainian as a liturgical language).

For a list of Byzantine catholic parishes in the Lemko Region, see Appendix XIII.

Conclusion

We have seen the remarkable resiliency with which the Lemko people have clung to their native culture and the spirit of their native land. Many of their traditional means of expression (poetry, folk songs) have become outlets for expressing the tremendous loss they suffered at the end of World War II and the enormous difficulty they have had in reestablishing their Lemko identity. The circumstances of modern life dictate that many older ways of life be abandoned: certain elements of material culture -- farming implements, woodcraft, pottery -- have been superseded by factory-produced items and the tremendous technological advances of the twentieth century. Many old customs and rituals, especially those tied to farming and the harvest, for most Lemkos are no longer relevant today.

Some formerly common occurrences, such as the elaborate wedding celebrations, do today retain some of their traditional elements (though significantly reduced in scope); the "full" weddings of days gone by are the preserve today of folklore ensembles and are usually only done for special reasons (e.g., filmed for movies or television shows). Traditional dress is generally worn only by the folk ensembles, or on special occasions. Still, the primary institution driving the Lemko culture has been and is the church. It is the culture surrounding the church which has changed the least. Holy days are still observed with excitement and hosts of customs, songs and foods comparable to days gone by. With the re-establishment of Byzantine Catholic and Orthodox churches in Lemko-inhabited communities, the Lemkos have again a base for the balance of their cultural development: strengthening of ethno-national identity, preservation of the native language, and establishment of native schools.

An important issue which has impeded their cultural development in the 1990's and hindered the attainment of group unity, only touch upon in this paper, is the conflict between those Lemkos who believe they are part of the Ukrainian nation and those who feel that they form a separate east Slavic nationality called Rusyn. The Vatra festival, that great manifestation of Lemko culture and the source of great happiness for so many, has also been the scene of conflict between Ukrainian and Rusyn oriented Lemkos. Such conflicts have taken the form of displaying (and subsequent removal) of the Ukrainian national symbol (tryzub or trident), polemic speeches extolling or attacking one viewpoint or the other, and even fistfights among the more passionately nationally-conscious. Other intragroup conflicts have been waged over whether the Byzantine Catholic or Orthodox church is the more suitable spiritual affiliation for Lemko believers. Nevertheless, when the community does unite in such positive ways as the Lemko Vatra, it instills great hope in those present that the Lemkos will survive.

Everywhere one looked Lemko youth could be seen. What a joy it was to see all those young Lemko faces -- many of whom visited the Carpathians for the first time in their life.

My heart was filled with happiness. The Vatra is our Lemko youth, and youth is our life. There is hope that our people in Poland will not perish. If we return to our villages and begin to live together again, the life of our people will flourish.[186]

In many ways, the cultural development of the Lemkos during the past four decades is analogous to the path taken by many ethnic groups in the western hemisphere, particularly in the United States. They have formed organizations whose specific purpose is the maintenance of the group's identity, to promote group cohesiveness, and to preserve their native language. These organizations sponsor festivals, seminars, scholarly research, and other activities in an attempt to achieve these goals. Likewise, with their organizations as advocates for the establishment of Lemko-language schools, another critical tool of cultural development is being obtained. These parallels are likely due to the Lemkos being in a situation in Poland and Ukraine similar to that of many ethnic groups in America, widely dispersed in rather small local communities. There are no "Lemko ghettos" in either Poland or Ukraine, and the Lemko Region itself is still largely Polish or uninhabited.

Whereas the breadth of Lemko culture was once a way of life, today much of that culture is relegated to holiday, when Lemkos who may otherwise be completely incorporated into modern Polish or Ukrainian society can "be ethnic" for a while. This is the same way of life observed by most "hyphenated Americans," whose "ethnic ways" are irrevocably bound to the past. Whether the Lemko culture that has been preserved to this day can evolve along with the Lemko way of life remains to be seen. For now, it is enough for the Lemkos to regain whatever they can of all that was taken away.

....I remember how my parents cried when they watched the Lemkovyna Song and Dance Ensemble on television. "Dear God, after the war we though that everything was finished, that we would no longer hear the Lemko tongue, that we would disappear completely in five or ten years."

However, with a most admirable stubbornness and a desperate hopelessness that flies in the face of all logic, these people taught their children the Lemko language. They transmitted to us all that they knew and remembered whenever they had a moment of rest.

GLORY TO YOU, FATHER AND MOTHER.

Your hearts will forever shine for me like road signs on the road from which I will never stray![187]

Notes

1. One modern Lemko author similarly characterizes the region: "As an ethnically homogeneous land where a unique folk culture had developed and which had been striving to determine its ethnic identity through the active struggle of various political orientations and movements, the Lemko Region ceased to exist." Olena-Duc' Fajfer. "The Lemkos in Poland," in Paul Robert Magocsi, ed., The persistence of Regional Cultures: Rusyns and Ukrainians in their Carpathian Homeland and Abroad (New York: East European Monographs, 1933). 94.

2. Magocsi, "The Lemko Rusyns: Their Past and Present," Carpatho-Rusyn American X, no. 1 (Spring 1987): 5

3. Ibid., 6.

4. Duc'-Fajfer, 85. The inhabitants of this area have referred to themselves as Lemkos as well.

5. This village is actually in former Rzeszow county.

6. Magocsi, 6.

7. Oleh Wolodymyr Iwanusiw, Cerkva v rujini / Church In Ruins (St. Catharines Ont.,: St. Sophia Religious Association, 1987), 18.

8. Ibid., 20.

9. Paul J. Best, "The Lemko-Rusnak Mountaineers and the National Question in People's Poland," in Best ed., Carpatho-Rusyn Studies I (New Haven Ct.: Carpatho-Rusyn Studies Group, 1990) 89.

10. The Old-Rusyn (or Old-Ruthenian) ideology was based on the cultural unity of all Rus' (eastern Slav) peoples, but its proponents were generally loyal Habsburg subjects and were generally satisfied with the Byzantine Catholic Church; for the activities of the Old-Rusyn proponents in the Lemko Region, see Jaroslaw Moklak, "Political Orientations Among the Lemkos in the Interwar Period (1918-1939): An Outline," Carpatho-Rusyn Studies, 18-21.

11. The Russophile ideology was based on the concept of all eastern Slavs being branches of the Great Russian nation, looked to the tsar for political "liberation", and held up the Orthodox Church as the eastern Slavs' true spiritual home. Russophilism in Galicia evolved from Old-Rusynism partially under the influence of the Orthodox movement. For the activities of the Russophiles in the Lemko Region see Best, " Moscophilism amongst the Lemko Population," in Carpatho-Rusyn Studies, 75-84; and Moklak, 16-17.

12. Magocsi, 7; Best, "Moscophilism," 81.

13. Duc'-Fajfer, 91.

14. Petro Trochanovskij, "Lemko Rusyns: The Kurds of Central Europe," Carpatho-Rusyn American XV no. 2 (Summer 1992): 5; Duc'-Fajfer, 90. A number of memorials have been erected throughout the Lemko Region in memory of those Lemkos who perished at Talerhof. Two of these monuments are at Bortne (Gorlice county) and Peregrymka (Jaslo county).

15. Magocsi, 7; Best, "Moscophilism," 81-82.

16. Magocsi, 8. On The Lemko Rusyn People's Republic and Political Thought in Western Rus' - Ukraine," Nationalities Papers XXI, no 2 (Fall 1993), 95-105

17. Duc'-Fajfer, 91.

18. Ibid.

19. Best, "The Lemkos as a Micro-Ethnic Group," in Carpatho-Rusyn Studies, 69.

20. Encyclopedia of Ukraine, s.v. "Lemkos," by V. Kubijovych. Orthodox sources give a figure of 25,000. See Duc'-Fajfer, 93.

21. Ukrainians refer to the administrators as "pro-Polish" and "anti-Ukrainian"; see Encyclopedia of Ukraine, s.v. "Lemko Apostolic Administration."

22. Ibid.

23. Best, 69.

24. Iwanusiw, 21.

25. Magocsi, "The Lemko Rusyns," 9.

26. Encyclopedia of Ukraine, s.v. "Lemkos."

27. Ibid., "Operation Wisla" by J. Jaworsky

28. Ibid.

29. Magocsi, 10.

30. Peter Hardy (1897-1989?) was a native of the Lemko Region village of Jurivci, Sanok county. For his biography, see Vasili Romanovich, " A Brief Outline of Galician-Russian Literature: Peter Semenovich Hardy, " The Truth (Philadelphia, Pa.), September 1977, 4.

31. Magocsi, 11.

32. Magocsi, "Zrod dovoha naroda, abo navertanja staroho problemu?," Narodny novynky (Presov, Slovakia, 1 September 1993, 1.

33. Alexander Bonkalo, The Rusyns / Rutenek (Ruszinok), trans. Ervin Bonkalo (Budapest: Franklin-Tarsulat, 1940; New York: East European Monographs, 1990), 77.

34. Y. F. Lemykn, Ystorija Lemkovyny (Yonkers, N.Y., 1969), trans. Alexander Vostok, in Karpatska Rus' (Yonkers, N.Y.), 5 April 1991, 3.

35. Lemkyn, 14 June 1991, 3.

36. "On the Subject of Lemkos," Karpatska Rus' (Yonkers, N.Y.) LXIV, no. 43, 2.

37. Duc'-Fajfer, 88.

38. Ibid., 89.

39. Bonkalo, 77.

40. Ibid., 78.

41. Ibid.

42. Ibid.

43. Ibid.

44. Magocsi, "The Birth of a New Nation, or the Return of an Old Problem?," Canadian Slavonic Papers XXXIV no. 3 (September 1993): 217.

45. The best example is the simple present tense of maty (to have):

Lemko: mam, mash, ma(t), mame, mate, majut;

Slovak: mam, mash, ma, mame, mate, maju;

Polish: mam, masz, ma, mame, mate, maju

Ukrainian: maju, majesh, maje, majemo, majete, majut'.

46. Encyclopedia of Ukraine, s.v. "Lemko dialects," by O. Horbach.

47. Lemkyn, 5 April 1991, 3.

48. Archyp Danyljuk, "Traditional Lemko Domestic Architecture," Carpatho-Rusyn American X, no. 2 (Summer 1987): 9.

49. Lemkyn, 19 April 1991, 3.

50. Danyljuk, 9.

51. Encyclopedia of Ukraine, s.v. "Lemkos," by V. Kubijovych.

52. Ibid.

53. Lemkyn, 10 May 1991, 3.

54. Idem, 5 April 1991, 3.

55. Idem, 17 May 1991, 3.

56. Ibid.

57. Ibid.

58. Idem, 24 May 1991, 3.

59. Ibid.

60. Ibid.

61. "Lemko Folk Crafts," Lemkivskyj narodnyj kalendar' na 1984 rik (Yonkers: Lemko Association, 1983): 202-203.

62. Ibid., 205.

63. Ibid..

64. Ibid., 207.

65. "More on the Subject of Lemkos," Lemkivskyj narodnyj kalendar' 1988-1991: 27.

66. "Lemko Garments," Forum: A Ukrainian Review no. 70 (Summer 1987): 16.

67. "More on the Subject of Lemko," 27.

68. "Lemko Garments."

69. Lemkyn, 31 May 1991, 3.

70. "More on the Subject of Lemkos," 27.

71. "Lemko Garments"

72. Ivan Krasovs'kyj, "Traditional Lemko Women's Clothing, " Carpatho-Rusyn American X, no. 3 (Autumn 1987): 6; "Lemko Garments," 13.

73. "Lemko Garments," 13-15.

74. Krasovs'kyj, 7.

75. Ibid.

76. Ibid., 6.

77. "Lemko Garments," 13.

78. Ibid., 15.

79. "More on the Subject of Lemkos," 27.

80. Krasovs'kyj.

81. "More on the Subject of Lemkos."

82. "Lemko Garments," 15-16.

83. Lemkyn, 14 June 1991, 3.

84. Oleh Wolodymyr Iwanusiw, Cerkva v rujini / Church in Ruins (St. Catharines, Ont.: St. Sophia Religious Assn., 1987) , 22.

85. A Byzantine church's altar is oriented toward the east.

86. Ryszard Brykowski, "Wooden Orthodox Church Architecture of the Lemko People in Poland, Slovakia, and Carpathian Russia, " Karpatska Rus', 13 July 1990, 2.

87. David Buxton, The Wooden Churches of Eastern Europe: An Introductory Survey (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981), 121.

88. Ibid., 143.

89. Masterpieces In Wood: Houses of Worship in Ukraine (New York: The Ukrainian Museum, 1987), 68.

90. Ibid.

91. This is another example of cultural communion with the Presov Region Rusyns; Lypovec is very close to the Dukla Pass, on the other side of which is the cluster of villages containing this variation of the Lemko-style church.

92. Brykowski.

93. Some sources date this church only from 1643.

94. Iwanusiw, 35.

95. Janina Klosinska, Icons From Poland (Warsaw: Arkady, 1989), trans. Magda Iwinska and Piotr Paszkiewicz, 5.

96.. E.g., Sviatoslav Hordynsky, The Ukrainian Icon of the XIIth to XVIIIth Centuries (Philadelphia: Providence Association, 1973), trans. Walter Dushnyck.

97. Klosinska, 9.

98. Ibid.

99. Hryhoryj Lohvyn, "Icon Painting in the Lemko Region," Carpatho-Rusyn American X, no. 3 (Fall 1987): 6.

100. Hordynsky, 24.

101. Lohvyn.

102. Hordynsky, 15.

103. Lohvyn, 4.

104. Klosinska, 15.

105. For a discussion of the Galician chant tradition, see Joseph Roll, "The Liturgical Music of the Ukrainian Catholic Church," Pastoral Musician, February/March 1988, 20-25. On the Subcarpathian Rus' chant tradition and its relation to Znamenny and other chants, see Joan L. Roccasalvo, The Plainchant Tradition of Southwestern Rus' (New York: East European Monographs, 1986).

106. I.e., the Great Lent before Easter, the Easter season, and Christmas.

107. This is a literal version of the typical English translation of the hymn as sung by Lemkos in the United States.

108. This is the free English translation of the hymn, as sung by Lemkos in the United States.

109. Bonkalo, 83.

110. "More on the Subject of Lemkos," 25.

111. Encyclopedia of Ukraine, s.v. "Lemkos."

112. "More on the Subject of Lemkos."

113. "Lemko folk Rites and Traditions," Lemkivskyj narodnyj kalendar' 1988-1991: 48-49.

114. Michael Roman, "Christmas Eve in the Carpathian Highlands," GCU Messenger (Homestead, Pa.0, 15 December 1988, 16.

115. Lemkyn, 28 June 1991, 3.

116. A full account of the Lemko wedding ceremony is given in "Traditional Lemko Weddings," Karpatska Rus', 31 August 1990, 1-2.

117. Lemkyn, 28 June 1991,3.

118. Emigrants from the village of Losje (Gorlice county) had one of the longest-lived kremesh traditions; the largest colony, that of Pricedale, Pennsylvania (near Charleroi, south of Pittsburgh) held an annual "Losjanskyj kermesh" for several decades since 1944.

119. A comprehensive analysis of the custom of vechirka is found in Zofia Ciesla-Reinfussowa, "Weczyrky' na Lemkowsczynie, "Materialy Muzeum Budnownictwa Ludowego w Sanoku no. 27 (Sanok, Poland): 73-89.

120. Chyljak (1843-1893) was a native of Wierchomla Wielka / Virchovnja Velyka, Nowy Sacz county and is buried in Litynja, Drohobych district of western Ukraine. For his biography, see Olena Duc, "Volodymyr Chyljak," Carpatho-Rusyn American X no. 3 (Autumn 1987): 3.

121. Rusenko (1890-1960) was born in Krasna, Krosno county and is buried in Korolivka, Ternopil' district of western Ukraine. For his biography, see Olena Duc, "Ivan Rusenko," Carpatho-Rusyn American X no. 4 (Winter 1987): 3.

122. It is interesting to note that the Lemkovyna Folk Ensemble when singing this poem, changes "v starom kraju" (in the old country) to "v nashym kraju" (in our country) -- perhaps in a sense reclaiming what is theirs.

123. After the Revolution of 1989 it was renamed the Union of Ukrainians in Poland, (Ob''jednannja Ukrajinciv Pol'shchy).

124. Magocsi, "The Lemko Rusyns," 10-11.

125. Jaroslav Hunka, "The Lemkos Today," Carpatho-Rusyn American X, no.4 (Winter 1987): 4-8.

126. Trochanovskij, 5.

127. It seems that Goch was one of the very first Lemkos to return to the region. When he returned there in 1954, he found many of the houses, including his grandfather's, in ruins. Financed with donations, he built a new house near the site of the family's old residence and converted his father's house to a museum. (see the text below). His story is detailed in Kvetoslave Koporova, "Z toho tista bude chlib...," Narodny novynky, 14 July 1993, 3.

128. Antonij Kroh, "A Village Museum and the Problems of Lemko Culture in contemporary Poland," Carpatho-Rusyn American X, no. 2, (Summer 1987): 4-5.

129. Ibid.

130. This festival, known today as the Lemko Vatra in Exile, continues to the present time; see the text below.

131. Volodymyr Gula, "A Holiday of Lemko Culture: The Opening Day," The Truth, December 1989, 5.

132. Magocsi, 11.

133. Gula.

134. Idem, "A Holiday of Lemko Culture: The Second Day," The Truth, January 1990, 5.

135. Idem, "A Holiday of Lemko Culture: The Concluding Day," The Truth, February 1990, 6.

136. Ivan Fil', "Odyn den' z Lemkivs'koju 'Vatroju' na ridnij zemli. Zhdynja, 1993," Lemkivshchyna (Clifton, N.J.), XV, no. (Fall 1993): 24.

137. Mychal Hajtko, "Dorohyj brat Aleksander.....," Karpatska Rus', 13 December 1991, 4.

138. Jan Kalynjak, "XII. Lemkivs'ka vatra na chushyni," Narodny novynky, 1 September 1993, 2.

139. Carpatho-Rusyn American XIV, no. 1 (Spring 1991): 6.

140. Mychaljo Donskyj, "Lemky v novij orhanizacii, Nashe slovo (Warsaw), cited in Karpatska Rus', 13 July 1990, 3.

141. Duc'-Fajfer, 97.

142. Encyclopedia of Ukraine, s.v. "Lemkovyna."

143. "Lemkovina in Poland Needs Assistance," Karpatska Rus', 5 April 1991, 1.

144. Carpatho-Rusyn American XV, no.1 (Spring 1992): 8.

145. Narodny novynky, 1 September 1993, 2.

146. "Koncert choru 'Lemkovyna' v Boryslavi," Lemkivshchyna XIII, no. 2 (Summer 1991): 23-24.

147. Fil'.

148. Kroh.

149. Ibid., 7.

150. John T. Zubal, "The Land That Time Forgot or In Search of the People Who Say 'Lem'," Carpatho-Rusyn American XV, no. 3 (Autumn 1992):4-5.

151. Mykola Hyrjak, "Litnij den' Lemkivshchny," Nove zhyttja (Presov), no. 27, 1992, 6.

152. Marija Mal'covs'ka, "Syla lemkivskoho slova," Narodny novynky, 27 October 1993, 1.

153. "Plan dijanja Muzeju Lemkivskoj Kul'tury v Zyndranovi na 1993 rik," Karpatska Rus', 23 July 1993, 3.

154. Magocsi, 11.

155. "The Second World Congress of Rusyns," Rusyn (Presov), no. 3 (1993): 22.

156. Duc'-Fajfer, 97.

157. Gula, "A Holiday of Lemko Culture: The Opening Day."

158. Carpatho-Rusyn American XV, no. 1 (Spring 1992): 9.

159. Magocsi, "Rusyn Culture and Scholarship: Present Status and Future Perspectives," Trembita (Plymouth, Minn.), no. 4 (September 1993): 1.

160. About thirty years before this interview, a small collective ensemble was formed there; the village council purchased costumes and musical instruments for it. V. Hnatenko, "Lemkos Make Their Mark: The Story of a Lemko Village in the Ternopol Region," Karpatska Rus', 21 June 1991. 1-2.

161. Osyp Lab''jak, "Novyny z Ukrajiny: Bravo dlja 'Lemkovyny, ' "Lemkivshchyna XV, no. 3 (Fall 1993): 21.

162. A. Hulak, "The Creative Credo of Lemkovina,' "Karpatska Rus', 13 September 1991, 1.

163. The bandura, the "national instrument" of Ukraine, was unknown in the Lemko Region.

164. Hulak.

165. "Unforgettable Impressions," The Truth, September 1989, 4.

166. Lab""jak, 22.

167. Among these is the recent Spivaje Lemkovyna recording of the Rudno-L'viv Lemkovyna Choir.

168. Petro Kohutov, "Songs Never Stop in the Beskids," Karpatska Rus', 14 June 1991, 1.

169. Gula, "Lemko Guests in Ukraine, " Karpatska Rus', 17 May 1991, 1.

170. Carpatho-Rusyn American XIII, no. 2 (Summer 1990): 4.

171. "Lemkos in Ternopol Organize," Karpatska Rus', 31 May 1991, 1.

172. I. Ivanciv, "Lemkivshscina Rallies People," Karpatska Rus', 15 November 1991, 1.

173. Gula, "Lemkivshchyna Society in Monastyrsk," Karpatska Rus', 2 August 1991, 2.

174. M. Ivanciv, "Fedor Goch Visits Ternopol Region," Karpatska Rus', 9 August 1991, 1.

175. "Lemko Cultural Soiree," Karpatska Rus', 1 November 1991, 1.

176. Gula, "Lemko Guest in Ukraine."

177. Idem. "Posvjacheno misce dlja cerkvy," Lemkivshchyna XIII, no. 3 (Fall 1991): 16-17.

178. Encyclopedia of Ukraine, s.v. "Peremyshl Eparchy," by W. Lencyk.

179. Tatiana Sandowicz, "In Memory of Rev. Maksym Sandowicz, a Martyr of Talehof," Karpatska Rus', 6 March 1992, 3.

180. "Canonization Set for Martyred Priest, The Church Messenger (Johnstown, Pa.), 24 October 1993, 7.

181. Encyclopedia of Ukraine, s.v. "Peremyshl Eparchy".

182. Nashe slovo, 6 November 1986.

183. Masterpieces in Wood: Houses of Worship in Ukraine, 95.

184. Hordyns'kyj, Ukrajins'ki cerkvy v Pol'shchi (Rome: Bohoslovia, 1969), 19.

185. Hordynsky, The Ukrainian Icon of the XIIth to XVIIIth Centuries, 23.

186. Hajtko.

187. Hunja, 8.

Appendixes

The 1995 monograph refers throughout to appendixes of photographs, maps, and illustrative material (Appendixes I through XI) that accompanied the original paper. Those images are not part of the web pages preserved here; only the two textual appendixes below (parish lists) survive in the source pages captured from carpatho-rusyn.org.

Appendix XII. Orthodox Parishes in the Lemko Region, 1988

Eparchy of Przemysl/Nowy Sacz, listed by former Austrian counties:

• Nowy Targ: None.
• Nowy Sacz: Krynica (chapel, church under construction).
• Grybów: None.
• Gorlice: Biljanka, Blykhnarka, Bodaky, Bortne, Gladyshiv, Gorlice, Hanchova, Konechna, Kunkova, Lishchyny, Regetiv Vyshnij, Rozdilje, Volovec, Vysova, Zhdynja.
• Jaslo: Peregrymka.
• Krosno: Poljany (no church), Zyndranova.
• Sanok: Komancha, Morokhiv, Sanok, Shchavnoj, Turynske, Zahirje.
• Lesko: Dzjurdziv.

With the exception of Krynica, Gorlice, Poljany, and Zyndranova, each parish has obtained the use of the original church in the village. The Poljany parish holds its services on the church steps but is not permitted to enter the church building. As of May 1993 the Krynica church was still unfinished.

source: Oleh Wolodymyr Iwanusiw, Cerkva v rujini / Church in Ruins (St. Catharines, Ont.: St. Sophia Religious Association, 1987).

Appendix XIII. Byzantine Catholic Parishes in the Lemko Region, 1987

Eparchy of Peremyshl' (Deanery of Przemysl), listed by former Austrian counties:

• Nowy Targ: None.
• Nowy Sacz: Krynica (1982).
• Grybów: none.
• Gorlice (served from Krynica): Gladyshiv, Gorlice, Losje (1968), Novycja* & Pryslop* (1967), Pankna, Rozdilje, Ustje Ruske* (1967).
• Jaslo (served from Krynica): Krampna*.
• Krosno (served from Komancha): Vilkhovec.
• Sanok (served from Komancha): Komancha**(1962), Kuljashnoj, Repid'*.
• Lesko: None.

* The parish has obtained the use of the original wooden church in the village.

** The Komancha parish offers children's religious instruction in the villages of Mokroj, Vilchovec, Radoshyci, Repid', and Shchavnoj.

source: Demetrius Blazejowskyj, Schematism of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Diaspora (Rome, 1988), 930-985; and Oleh Wolodymyr Iwanusiw, Cerkva v rujini / Church in Ruins (St. Catharines, Ont.: St. Sophia Religious Association, 1987).

Colophon

Richard D. Custer's monograph "Culture and Culture Evolution Among The Lemkos Of Southeastern Poland In The 20th Century" (February 21, 1995, copyright Richard D. Custer, all rights reserved) is hosted at carpatho-rusyn.org (Carpatho-Rusyn Knowledge Base). Captured 2026-08-05 from http://www.carpatho-rusyn.org/rich/index.htm and its 44 constituent section pages (full URL list available on request). Published here under permission held by the New Tianmu Anglican Church for this material, recorded 2026-08-05; all rights remain with the original author, Richard D. Custer.

Prepared for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, with AI-assisted research and preservation.

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