WHAT IS A CARPATHO-RUSYN?

Ким надано:

Ann Postak

The People From 'No Mans Land'

The Carpatho-Rusyns of Austria-Hungary

by, Thomas A. Peters, C.G.R.S.The Carpathian Connection would like to thank Mr. Thomas A. Peters, for offering this essay. He has extensive knowledge of the Carpatho-Rusyn people and is a guest speaker on this subject. Mr. Peters also performs professional genealogy services regarding this heritage and the regions they inhabited.

INTRODUCTION

Have you ever been asked the question: "What is your ethnic background?" Most of us, I am sure, have been asked this question many times, particularly be fellow genealogists. We all have the ready answers: "I’m German; I’m Irish; I’m English;" ad infinitum. Yet, there are about one million descendants of an ethnically distinct people from the Carpathian Mountains region of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire who have a confused or non-existent sense of ethnic identity. These descendants of late 19th and early 20th century immigrants know that they are of Slavic ancestry but are unsure to which specific ethnic group they belong to. This is understandable when you examine the origins of the Carpatho-Rusyns. They came from a specific geographic area with defined ethno-linguistic boundaries in the northeast region of Austria-Hungary.

This area encompassed the western part of Galicia and the old Hungarian counties of Saros; Zemplen; Szepes; Abauj; Ung; Ugocsa; Bereg and Maramaros. This area is now occupied by the countries of Poland; Slovakia; Ukraine; Hungary and a few villages in Romania. These immigrants originated in a small area of a very large empire. They did not come from a specific country. Furthermore, they were members of the Greek (Byzantine) Catholic Church (also called Uniate) and the Russian Orthodox Church, both of which were totally unfamiliar to native born Americans. Their clergy were not required to be celibate. It was indeed a difficult thing for Americans to comprehend. Even the Roman Catholic bishops in the United States, in some cases, refused to believe that Catholic priests could be married! As you might imagine, this caused many an unpleasant incident when Eastern Rite Catholic priests came to America and presented themselves to the local Roman Catholic bishop as per the custom. In some cases, communications between the two sides were strained to the point that Roman Catholic bishops refused to grant faculties to the Greek Catholic priests. These priests often were insulted and angry because they were refused permission to exercise their religious rituals which were allowed by the Holy See and many converted to Orthodoxy along with their congregation. This "conversion" required no change in their religious rituals.

Confusion extended to the secular life as well and it was no small wonder then that the Rusyns did not know how to respond to their American friends and neighbors to the question: "What is your ethnic identity?" Some of the immigrants responded that they were Austrian or Hungarian because they came from Austro-Hungarian Empire. Some said that they were Ukrainian (these were few in number). These persons of Ukrainian national orientation came primarily from the eastern reaches of Galicia, the area east of the San River, where ethnic Ukrainians were numerous and very nationalistic. This Ukrainian identification was reinforced by Metropolitan Syl’vester Sembratovyc. Some countered that they were Russian because they were members of the Russian Orthodox church. The Orthodox priests reinforced this identity. This was a very confusing situation to say the least!

The immigrants within their own ethnic community called themselves: Rusyn; Rusnak; Ruthene; Ruthenian; Carpatho-Russian; Carpatho-Ruthenian; Carpatho-Ukranian and Lemko. These terms have a religious connotation signifying membership in either the Greek Catholic or Russian Orthodox Church. Some of the immigrants and their offspring called themselves "Slavish" which is a slang term meaning "like Slovak but not quite!" The Rusyns have a phrase in their own Rusyn language in which they refer to themselves as the "Po-nasomu" People. This in effect meant to them: people who look like us and speak like us. These words were often used in response to the question: "Who are you?" Such an answer leads one to the conclusion that a nationalistic identity problem did exist and still does, for this East Slavic group of people.