The Lemko Region in the Second Polish Republic. Political And
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
THE LEMKO REGION IN THE SECOND POLISH REPUBLIC JAGIELLONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY Editor in chief JanJacek Bruski Vol. 2 Jarosław Moklak THE LEMKO REGION IN THE SECOND POLISH REPUBLIC Political and Interdenominational Issues 1918-1939 Jagiellonian University Press The publication of this volume was financed by the Jagiellonian University in Krakow - Faculty of History REVIEWER Paul J. Best, Ph.D. Professor Emeritus, President and CEO Carpathian Research Institute SERIES COVER LAYOUT Jan Jacek Bruski COVER DESIGN Agnieszka Winciorek Cover photography: The celebration of the Feast of Jordan, Sanok, 1935. At the head of the procession, the Lemko apostolic administrator, Fr. Vasyl Mastsiukh [Courtesy of the National Digi tal Archives (Narodowe Archiwum Cyfrowe) in Warsaw] © Copyright by Jarosław Moklak & Jagiellonian University Press First edition, Kraków 2013 All rights reserved Translated from the Polish by Timothy Williams No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any eletronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers ISBN 978-83-233-3438-5 ISSN 2299-758X !wydawnictwo UNIWERSYTETU JAGIELLOŃSKIEGO www.wuJ.pl Jagiellonian University Press Editorial Offices: Michałowskiego St. 9/2, 31-126 Krakow Phone: +48 12 631 18 81, +48 12 631 18 82, Fax: +48 12 631 18 83 Distribution: Phone: +48 12 631 01 97, Fax: +48 12 631 01 98 Cell Phone: + 48 506006 674, e-mail: [email protected] Bank: PEKAO SA, IBAN PL80 1240 4722 1111 0000 4856 3325 Contents List of im portant abbreviations ...................................................................................... 7 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 9 Chapter I: Galicia and Lemkos. The formation of regional politics in the years 1849-1919 .............................................................................................. 11 1. The origins of pro-Russian sympathies........................................................... 12 2. Old Rusyns, Moscophiles, and national movement activists, 1 9 0 7 -1 9 1 4 .................................................................................................................... 17 2.1. Russian Orthodoxy ........................................................................................... 19 3. The World War and the Lemko Republics..................................................... 24 Chapter II: Moscophiles and Old Rusyns.................................................................... 35 1. Formation of the pro-Russian party .................................................................. 35 1.1. The Russian National Organization, 1923-1928 .................................. 36 1.2. The Russian Peasant Organization, 1928-1939 .................................... 39 2. Transformations in the Old Rusyn movement............................................. 53 2.1. The Rus Agrarian Party, 1928-1931, and the Rus Agrarian Organization, 1931-1939 ............................................................................ 54 2.2. Lemko Association (Lemko Soiuz), 1 9 3 3 -1 9 3 9 ................................... 59 3. The Kachkovsky reading rooms - developing local structure ............... 65 4. Orthodox faith and political consciousness................................................... 72 Chapter III: The Ukrainian national movement...................................................... 83 1. The P rosvita Society and the Lemko Commission ..................................... 83 2. The local intelligentsia and other community organizations ................. 98 2.1. The Ukrainian Pedagogical Society (Ridna Shkola)........................... 101 2.2. The Farmers’ Society (Silskyi Hospodar)................................................. 104 3. The Ukrainian National Democratic Alliance and Ukrainian Parliamentary Representation in view of government policy in the Lemko region ................................................................................................. 106 3.1. Against “regionalization” - with hope for “normalization” 109 Chapter IV: The Lemko region in the nationality policy of the Second Polish Republic ............................................................................................. 121 1. The immediate postwar period .......................................................................... 121 5 2. Assimilation: state or national............................................................................. 126 3. In the realm of educational and extracurricular issues ............................ 136 4. Religious issues in nationality policy ............................................................... 143 5. The elections of 1928, 1930, 1935, and 1938 ................................................. 151 Final remarks ........................................................................................................................... 161 Sources and bibliographies............................................................................................... 165 Index for proper nam es ...................................................................................................... 171 List of important abbreviations AAL - Apostolic Administration of the Lemko Region AAN - Central Archives of M odern Records in Warsaw ABGK - Archives of the Greek Catholic Bishopric in Przemyśl AKL - Archives of Father Lukashklavich AP K - State Archives in Kraków AP P - State Archives in Przemyśl AP R - State Archives in Rzeszów BBWR - Non-partisan Bloc for Cooperation with the Government BJ - Jagiellonian Library BP-U - Polish-Ukrainian Bulletin (Biuletyn Polsko-Ukraiński) CDIAL - Central State Archives in Lviv DALO - State Archives of Lviv Province HRNO - Halych-Russian National Organization KGPP - Chief Government Police Headquarters KOS K - District School Board of Kraków MSW - Ministry of the Interior MSZ - Foreign Ministry MWRiOP - M inistry of Religious Affairs and Public Education n.d.p. - no date of publication n.p.p. - no place of publication OOL - Organization for the Defense of Lemkivshchyna OOLZU - Organization for the Defense of Lemko Western Ukraine PKPP - County Government Police Headquarters p.n.n. - pages not numbered PPP - Government Police Post(s) RP - Polish Republic PRM - Presidium of the Council of Ministers RAO - Rus Agrarian Organization RAP - Rus Agrarian Party RNO - Russian National Organization RSO - Russian Peasant Organization RSRK - Auditing Union of Rusyn Cooperatives RSUK - Auditing Union of Ukrainian Cooperatives RZN - Russian National Union 7 SeJm RP - SeJm of the Polish Republic. Stenographic transcripts Senat RP - Senate of the Polish Republic. Stenographic transcripts SN - Nationality Affairs (Sprawy Narodowościowe) SP G - County District Office in Grybów SP NS - County District Office in Nowy Sącz TSL - Popular School Association ULM - Ukrainian Lemko Museum UNDO - Ukrainian National Democratic Alliance URP - Ukrainian Parliamentary Representation UWKr - Kraków Province Office ZUNR - Western Ukrainian National Republic Introduction As a result of the displacements of 1944-1946, and in particular Operation Vis tula in 1947, the demographic structure of the previously existing Lemko Region was destroyed, and the repressed population found itself in a difficult social and moral situation. Stalinist propaganda disseminated in socialist Poland took away the Ukrainian sense of dignity, conferring an inferior status on them. This culminated in their feeling ashamed of their origins and avoiding national self-definition. The power of family traditions was not always able to overcome this barrier. For a part of the population this gave rise to certain forms of behavior which included a prefer ence for a particular ethnographic designation. In other words, it was easier to be a Lemko than a Ukrainian. On the other hand, there were political traditions from before the war which also ruled against the use of the name “Ukrainian”; for some, there was no need to avoid the term, since they had never used it. Political changes which took place in Poland during the “Solidarity” era awak ened the political engagement of national minorities, long hidden from the realms of culture and education. Gradually this led to the rebuilding in the Lemko com munity of the two ideologically opposed camps which had put roots down in the Lemko region in the 19th and first half of the 20th century: the Union of Lemkos with headquarters in Gorlice, one of the Ukrainian minority organizations, and the As sociation of Lemkos, headquartered in Legnica, which declared the Lemkos’ affinity with the modern Rusyn nation (neo-Rusyn/Carpatho-Rusyn). This polarization in attitudes bears witness to the complicated process by which the political conscious ness of the Lemko population in Poland was formed. The question of the national identity of Lemkos has given rise to much contro versy. The fundamental reason for the divergence of views is the lack of thorough studies of the political history of the Lemko region. This allows many myths, legends and stereotypes to freely function, which the historian has a duty to demystify. The lack of scholarly literature means not only a gap in historiography and an open field for action toward filling it, but also ensuing difficulties in the research of the related