Orthodox Herald, reprinted in Karpatska Rus'

This 1994 Karpatska Rus' piece, reprinted from the Orthodox
Herald*, tells the history of Talerhof -- the internment camp near
Graz, Austria where Austro-Hungarian authorities held and killed
thousands of Carpatho-Rusyns from the Lemko Region and beyond,
suspected of Russophile sympathies at the outbreak of the First World
War.*

Originally published in the Orthodox Herald, republished Karpatska
Rus', August 5, 1994, Vol. LXVII, #16

The people who lived on the northern slope of the Carpathian Mountains
(Lemkovyna), which is now in Poland and was once part of the Austro-Hungarian
Empire, have been subjected to severe and much discrimination throughout
many centuries. They have been forcibly relocated and efforts have been
made to eradicate all elements and traces of their distinctive culture.

Last month we wrote of two parts of a journey during the Holocaust of
1914-1917. After removal from their homes in Lemkovyna, they were taken
to a transferal point, put in sealed cattle cars and taken by train to
a little village, Abtissendorf, which was located near Graz, Austria on
the southern border of Austria.

As they stumbled from the train into the sunlight, they found themselves
surrounded by guards riding on horses. They were forced by whips to walk
in their weakened condition to Talerhof, a concentration camp which was
about a 20 minute walk away. The guards carried whips and did not hesitate
to use them on those who lagged or fell behind. Those who tried to escape
were shot dead and their bodies were pushed into any convenient ditch to
join the bodies of those who had succumbed to the brutal conditions.

They finally arrived at Talerhof. Here families were broken up and assigned
to different barracks. They were segregated....men in one and women and
children in others. The barracks had bare, dirt floors. The roofs leaked
so that when it rained, they were forced to sleep on the floor, which turned
to mud. They were not even given straw to sleep on.

Starvation was ever present as they were given only one meal a day,
which consisted of a clear soup with some rice added and a piece of bread.
The thin watery soup was served in bowls but they were not given any spoons.
As time went on, they whittled spoons out of pieces of wood which they
found.

People died every day from lack of food coupled wit the unsanitary conditions.
They suffered colds from sleeping in the mud or on the cold earth. They
started to bleed from the nose, mouth, fingers and toes. The dreaded typhus
made its regular rounds. They tried to keep clean but could wash the rags
they wore in water only as there was no soap. About ten people died daily
from starvation and disease. The women and children were forced to watch
the men being hung. Many people
lost their minds and others committed suicide.

The bodies of all who died were dumped into a common hole and the ground
was leveled so that no evidence remained. It brings to mind the landfills
we use for dumping garbage in the United States. No Memorial services,
panahidas or prayers were allowed at the grave. In fact no relatives or
friends were allowed to accompany the body of their loved one to the grave.

For every person that died, four more were brought from the Lemko/Galician
region to replace them. This provoked a mixed reaction on the part of those
incarcerated. They were happy to receive news from home but they felt grief
for those who were arriving would now have to endure and many times for
the bad news that was brought. For example, the shooting of Father Maksym
Sandovych, who was recognized as a saint on September 11, 1194 in Gorlice,
Poland, affected them very deeply. For many, this was the last straw [his
death]. They could not bear much more.

What was the extent of this Holocaust? Talerhof records and diaries
show that 30,000 people of both sexes and all ages and from every strata
of Lemko society were interned. Among them were 800 priests of the Eastern
Church (both Orthodox and Greek Catholic). They were not allowed to bring
their robes or anything necessary for services. They were prohibited from
serving Divine Liturgy, but as time went on they held Molebens to the Mother
of God (many times from memory), and at this time they took the opportunity
to give sermons in which they tried to uplift the spirits of their fellow
detainees. It is written that as the services would progress, the singing
of the congregation would become more and more quiet as "many cried
and cried and could not continue singing the responses."

When the camp was finally closed, the knowledge of it having been there
festered. It was leveled to the ground and in 1936, the last evidence of
it was removed when the place of burial was excavated and the bodies were
moved to another village called Feldskirken, Here the bodies of 17,067
men, women and children were reinterred in another common grave far from
their homes in Lemkovyna, which they had been forced to leave. A poignant
phrase says is so well: "Let them walk over their own hills
not on some so far from their home."

Colophon

"The Story of Talerhof — We Should Not Forget" (originally published in
the Orthodox Herald, republished in Karpatska Rus', August 5, 1994,
Vol. LXVII, #16) is hosted at carpatho-rusyn.org (Carpatho-Rusyn
Knowledge Base). Captured 2026-08-05 from
http://www.carpatho-rusyn.org/kr/taler.htm. Published here under
permission held by the New Tianmu Anglican Church for this material,
recorded 2026-08-05; all rights remain with the Orthodox Herald and
Karpatska Rus'. No individual author is credited on the captured page.

🌲