Posted on 08/08/2005 3:39:35 PM PDT by jb6
PASSAIC - There are few Lemkos left, and even fewer who speak their original Slavic dialect.
Most of those who do remember have gray hair. But over dill chicken soup in the meeting room of Saints Peter and Paul Russian Orthodox Cathedral on Sunday morning, the dozen or so members of the Lemko Association agreed on one thing:
They were proud to be Lemkos, even if they always have to explain themselves.
"We're a people without a country," said Maryann Bacsik, 53, of Little Falls, whose grandfather came here from Eastern Europe in 1907. "Many people my age have no idea what their nationality is."
The Lemkos are a Russian Orthodox minority who lived in the Carpathian Mountains, which run through what is now Ukraine, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. Their people were persecuted during World War I by the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and again in 1947, when they were displaced after the Soviet Communists took over Poland. Although estimates on the number of Lemkos remaining differ, about 60,000 are said to live in Poland today.
On Sunday, the members came together in Passaic to commemorate relatives who died during World War I. At the Divine Liturgy service, candles burned and the Rev. Andrey Kovalev said a blessing in honor of these victims of years ago.
Afterward, over a hearty lunch, a few members spoke about the cruel ways their relatives were treated.
Alex Heranchak's grandmother was shot because the Roman Catholic Hapsburg dynasty ruling the Austro-Hungarian Empire suppressed the Russian Orthodox. Mary Dubowchik said her grandfather was interned for months in a camp in Graz, now a part of Austria.
At one time, there were more than 10,000 Lemko Association members throughout the United States who would attend such commemorations. Now, only a few hundred are left.
Still, the remaining members of the American diaspora continue to celebrate their heritage. Some grew up thinking they were Russian or Czech. They later traced their roots to the mountains and learned about the dialect and the culture. Some, like Larry Garrahan, 69, made trips to the home villages of their Lemko forebears.
"I wanted the sense of knowing about my ancestors," he said. "I walked on the dirt streets my grandparents walked on."
Victoria Windish, 76, the Lemko Association's treasurer, was told as a girl that the Lemkos' dialect was "low Russian."
Now she calls it po naszomu - "our language." When she said the words, even the non-Lemko speakers in the room laughed. Everyone understood.
E-mail: kremenm@northjersey.com
If you took a neutral point, you'd note several things about that.
1. 6 thousand Serbian civilians were butchered in the hills surrounding that region.
2. At first after the battle, many of the male survivors admitted they were fighting their way out.
3. Only males were killed and most had battle wounds not executionary marks.
Maybe, I don’t know. And even if this is truth, you are still biased cause you already started to apologize the Serbs...
Well, that's not what you said before. In fact, when I pointed out that the Bush administration didn't endorse yushchenko, you sarcastically replied: "No no direct endorsement, just funnling money to one particular candidate and bringing him for "training". Nothing more. Nope that's not direct interference, not at all." - 30 posted on 12/14/2004 9:44:59 AM CST by jb6
Which of these statement reflect the Voice of Moscow's true thoughts? It's hard to tell sometimes. When one tells so many lies it must be hard to keep up with them.
I'm not apologizing for the Serbs, I'm placing the facts out on Sebrencia and yes, I'm backing the Serbs in Kraina, where they were expelled and many were butchered and the Canadians even fought a battle with the Croats, before they were pulled back.
First statement sounds to me like pitiful complains of the defeated loser. Second like planed campaign to discredit his opponents.
never heard of them until I saw this article.
So now that we've got Lemko all sorted out, what's a Kashub?
The failed candidate for the President office, Donald Tusk is a Kaszub.
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