The Mukacevo city branch of the Society of Subcarpathian Rusyns and the city council held the first Cervena Ruza (Red Rose) Festival of Rusyn Culture on November 19, 1995. The program included professional and amateur folk ensembles from five districts of Subcarpathian Rus' (Transcarpathia), choirs from the Holy Dormition Greek Catholic Pro-Cathedral of Mukacevo and the city's Musical Academy, dancers from the Transcarpathian National Choir (directed by Klara Balog), soloists from the Uzhorod Philharmonic Orchestra, and a group of performers from the Ruska Matka society in Ruski Kerestur, Vojvodina (Yugoslavia).
It is hoped that it will become an annual event; we look forward to hearing of many more Rusyn cultural events in Subcarpathian Rus' in the near future!
In March of 1995 the Ruska Bursa in Gorlice, Poland was :returned" to the Lemko Rusyn community. The timing of the decision was probably influenced by the fact that a hospital facility using the property relocated to larger accommodations. At the present time "ownership" is confined to the right to use the building and property without having to pay taxes. Actual legal title still resides with government authorities.
Since before the First World War, pro-Rusyn (Rusynophile) and pro-Russian (Russophile) cultural organizations had built and maintained boarding schools (called Rusky bursy) to help Rusyn school children attending school away from their home villages keep in touch with their Rusyn culture and co-ethnics. Other such boarding schools were at one time maintained in Sanok and Nowy Sacz.
After the resettlement of the Lemkos in 1947, ownership of these properties passed to the Polish authorities. In 1991, all Lemko Rusyn (not the Ukrainophile Lemko) organizations in Poland united to petition for the return of the Ruska Bursa properties under the rubric of "Friends of the Ruska Bursa."
The return of the Ruska Bursa fulfills a great need by the Lemko Rusyn community for a permanent home at which to host cultural and educational functions. At present, the Lemkovyna Song and Dance Ensemble uses a large room on the second floor of the three story property for rehearsals. Each of the Lemko Rusyn organizations also maintains an office. Pavel Stefanovskij plans to use a spacious second floor room across from his office to set up a permanent Lemko ethnographic exhibit. He envisions a time when the exhibit would be open to the public. For the time being, a wooden hop chest belonging to his great-grandmother stands in the exhibit room. Stefanovskij plans to draw on his own extensive private library and personal collections of folk costumes, icons and cultural artifacts to enrich the ethnographic exhibit
Two obstacle prevent the Lemko Rusyn community from proceeding more quickly
to revitalize the property:
(1) The absence of funds to pay the salary of a
much needed full-time property manager to oversee the entire facility (as with
so much else in Lemko community life, the Bursa will need to rely on part-time,
unpaid volunteers) and
(2) The property itself is in need of physical repairs.
Those readers interested in corresponding with the Friends of the Ruska
Bursa, or in donating to the Friends Building Renovation Fund, should write to:
Stowarzyszenie "Ruska Bursa" w Gorliclach
38-300 Gorlice
ul.
Sienkiewicza 28
Gorlice 1, skr. poczt. 4a POLAND
The Federation of Lemko Organizations (Federacyja Lemkivskych Orhanizacyj) was established at a November 11, 1995 meeting at the Ruska Bursa in Gorlice. This umbrella organization of Rusyn-oriented Lemko groups includes the Lemkovyna Song and Dance Ensemble, the Rusyn Democratic Circle "Hospodar" (founded in 1989 by Pavel Stefanovskij, it petitions Warsaw for the return of Lemko properties, or in the event that this is no longer possible, for financial compensation), the Society for the Development of the Museum of Lemko Culture in Zyndranova, the Ruska Bursa Society and the Association of Lemkos.
The Fellowship of Rusyn Intelligentsia of Slovakia (ZIRS - Zdruzinja Inteligenciji Rusyniv Sloven'ska) was founded in Bratislava by Mychal Fecenko, Mychal Stenjo, Milan Andras, Stefan Ladyzin'skyj and Elena Hajdova-Zydovska, assisted by Jan Lypin'skyj. All are members of the Regional Club of Rusyn'ska Obroda in Bratislava.
Its goals include the complete rejuvenation of the Rusyn language in
Slovakia - in primary schools, on radio and television, in churches, and in
print media and to bring together highly-educated Rusyns from all parts of
Slovak society to work for the revival of the Rusyn people. At present their
financial resources are near zero; membership dues are only 50 Slovak koruny
(about $1.75) per year. They would appreciate any ideological and / or financial
support. Their address:
Elena Hajdova-Zidovska pre ZIRS
Kupeckeho 4
821 09 Bratislava
Slovakia
Ukraine's Ambassador to Slovakia, Dmytro Pavlycko, opened a Ukrainian Consulate in the city of Presov, Slovakia on March 8, 1996. Consul Volodymyr Boholjubov will provide daily services to the public.
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Last modified on September 27 1997
URL:http://www.carpatho-rusyn.org/crs/europe6.htm
Greg Gressa
[ggressa@carpatho-rusyn.org]
The Carpatho-Rusyn Knowledge Base