• President of ODLWU Z. Halkowycz meets with SFULO President V. Ropeckyi in Lviv
• President opens festival in Poland
• Newly-constructed Lemko Chapel Blessed during 5 th Annual Lemko Vatra
• What is the OOL?
• Etnic lemko wins precedent case over nationalized property

While visiting Lviv in May on a private matter, I telephoned Mr. Volodymyr Ropeckyi and Mr. Olexander Venhrynovych to extend my respects, and requested a meeting with both gentlemen.  I suggested we meet for an exchange of views about where the Lemko movement is heading, as well as current issues. The meeting took place on May 13, 2008. I was invited to the offices of the " Vseukraiinske Tovarystvo Lemkivshchyna " (VUTL). Present at the meeting were O. Venhrynovych, president of the VUTL, Mrs. Agnesa Ropeckyi and two members of the newly-created SFULO Executive Board, with Mr. Ropeckyi chairing the meeting. Our discussion was frank; both sides expressed their strong opinions on many topics, especially the issue of Rusynstvo , which is creeping into our Lemko organizations and is being promoted by Mr. Ropeckyi and Venhrynovych. After a short assessment of the meeting, I made the suggestion that we need to meet with all the SFULO member organizations to discuss the new proposed by-laws for SFULO, as well as the resolution of the issue at hand, which is Rusynstvo . I made the following offer: the World Congress of Ukrainians (CKY) will hold its convention in Kyiv during August 20 to 22, 2008 and, since all the SFULO member countries will be present at CKY, the board of SFULO should convene a Lemko executive board meeting in Kyiv to discuss our issues. Mr. Olexander Venhrunovych and Mr. Ropeckyi agreed that this venue would be the best way to bring both sides to the table. I suggested that they contact Professor Ivan Shcherba (former President of SFULO) for help in organizing this Lemko conference, since Prof. Shcherba has experience in organizing this type of meeting. He organized a similar meeting for all Lemko representatives at the last CKY convention in 2003.

Zane Halkowycz , President of ODLWU, Inc.

President Victor Yushchenko and First Lady Kateryna Yushchenko on Saturday attended a ceremony to open the 25th festival Lemkiwska Watra (Lemko Bonfire) in the Polish city of Gdynia .

“I am very happy to be firing this twenty-fifth bonfire together with you,” he said in a speech to the Lemkos from Poland , Ukraine , Croatia , Serbia , Canada , the United States of America and many other countries.

Yushchenko praised Ukraine 's partnership with Poland , saying both countries “restore historical justice, remembering the victims of the Communist terror.”

“Today we are honoring the victims of many severe challenges. One of them is Operation Wisla,” he said. “In our joint statement with President Lech Kaczynski of Poland, Operation Wisla has been condemned as totalitarian crime for the first time.”

Yushchenko's speech also focused on developments in Ukraine . He described early parliamentary elections on September 30 as an “important step to build a modern European state.”

The president called on the Ukrainian diaspora to preserve unity, assuring the Ukrainians living abroad his government will spare no effort to protect their cultural, educational and national rights and needs. Then he honored several Lemko leaders with state awards.

Yushchenko also attended a ceremony to consecrate the Bells of Peace to mark the 60th anniversary of Operation Wisla and pray for its victims.

Newly-constructed Lemko Chapel Blessed during 5 th Annual Lemko Vatra

The annual “Lemko Vatra” in the U.S.A. blazed for the fifth year in a row from June 24-26, 2005 at the resort of the Ukrainian Youth Organization, Inc. (CYM) in Ellenville, NY. Each year, this Vatra blazes with bright rays amid a constellation of others around the world -- in Lemkivshchyna, Ukraine, Slovakia, Serbia and Canada – where fate has dispersed Lemkos from their never-forgotten homeland.

The Organization for the Defense of Lemkivshchyna (known by the acronym OOL) conducted this festival in order to show participants at least a small portion of original Lemko culture and traditions.

At the official opening of the Vatra, the “ starosta” (or traditional “village elder”) Vasyl Harhaj welcomed all those present, and invited on stage such leaders of the Ukrainian-Lemko community as: Ivan Fil, representative of SFULO (World Federation of Ukrainian Lemkos); Natalia Kravchuk, deputy editor of the newspaper “ Nashe Slovo ;” Bohdan Harhaj, head of CYM; Steven Howansky, head of the Lemko Research Foundation; Stefan Zhuravsky, head of the Committee for the Building of the Lemko Chapel; and Zenon Halkowycz, head of OOL.

Leading the traditional ritual of lighting the Vatra bonfire were Halkowycz, Howansky, as well as OOL branch representatives Ivan Zavada, Stefan Kosciolek, and Michael Khalupa, while a choir of singers from the U.S.A., Canada and Ukraine, under the direction of Alla Kutsewycz, performed the Lemko hymn, “ Hory Nashi Karpaty .”

In his welcome speech, Halkowycz underlined both the importance of conducting the annual Lemko Vatra and the historical meaning of the 5 th Vatra, saying, “On this Sunday will take place the blessing of the Lemko chapel dedicated to the memory of victims of “ Akcja ‘Wisla ' – victims whom we should not forget.” (Akcja “Wisla,” a campaign conducted by the Polish government in 1947, forcibly resettled approximately 150,000 Ukrainians from southeastern Poland.)

Sunday, June 26, 2005 will go into the annals of OOL and CYM, as well as into the history of the whole Ukrainian diaspora in the U.S.A., as the day on which Archbishop Antoniy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and Bishop Basil Losten of the Ukrainian Catholic Church blessed the newly-built St. Michael the Archangel chapel, constructed at the CYM resort in Lemko style as a memorial to the victims of Akcja “Wisla.”

On a beautiful Sunday morning, the heads of OOL and CYM, carrying flags, met near the entrance of the Ellenville resort and, together with the spiritual leaders of both rites of the Ukrainian Church, walked to the field where the new chapel now and forevermore stands.

Bishop Losten delivered a speech dedicated to St. Michael the Archangel, who is the patron saint of CYM and the city of Kyiv, before he and Archbishop Antoniy endorsed a statement blessing the chapel. This was followed by a mass, conducted by Bishop Losten and, at his side, Fathers Ivan Bura, Ihor Mydziak, Bohdan Danylo, Yaroslav Kostyk, Volodymyr Piso and Bohdan Kudleychuk. Sitting with Archbishop Antoniy in places of honor before the chapel were Fathers Yuriy Bazylevskiy and Daniel Zelenskiy. The choir “ Akollada ” from Philadelphia, PA sang during the mass. Afterwards, Archibishop Antoniy also delivered a spiritual speech, and the church hymn, “ Bozhe Velykiy Yedyniy ” concluded the blessing ceremony.

Throughout the Vatra, the sizeable Ukrainian-Lemko community from the United States, Canada, Ukraine, Poland and other corners of the world, was also treated to a concert program, led by mistress and master of ceremonies Anna Pregner and Stepan Sheryliv. A stream of Lemko songs flowed. There were tears of nostalgia in the eyes of those born in verdant Lemkivshchyna, flashes of joy on the faces of festival guests, and shouts of “bravo” accompanying the performances of artists – professional and amateur, singers and dancers, grey-haired and young – all, who, with sincere hearts and souls, responded to the invitation of the festival organizers. And there were a lot of artists. Although it is not possible to name them all in a short article, a heartfelt bow of thanks goes out to all those who made the annual Vatra so rich with cultural performances.

Lviv-born artist Anna Cheberenchyk, known as “Anitchka,” (whose parents from the village of Owczar in Lemkivshchyna were relocated to Soviet Ukraine in the WWII period) began her performance with the song, “ Tam na Lemkovyni .” Now residing in California, she came to brighten the hearts of viewers at the Lemko Vatra in the U.S.A. for a second year in a row. The quartet “ Metelytsya ”; dance group “ Mria ” from Passaic, NJ; the sisters Lida and Gabriella Oros; Roman Tsymbala; “ Hurt Suzir'ya ”; and Vika from Ternopil, Ukraine also performed. And, from Saturday evening to early hours of the morning, participants danced to the music of the bands “ Halychany ” and the quartet “ Karpaty .”

The program on Sunday continued in the large hall of CYM's main building, where Vatra participants listened with interest to the keynote speech of Nashe Slovo deputy editor Natalia Kravchuk, titled, “The Situation of Ukrainians in Poland from Resettlement until Today.” (Following this speech, a short welcome was also given to the Ukrainian Vice-Minister of Agroculture, Ivan Denko, whose father was from the Lemko village of Brunary.)

As has become a Lemko Vatra tradition, following the concert program, all participants of the festival also had the opportunity to taste a piece of roast pig. And for those who preferred other Ukrainian dishes, there was no lack of pierogies, kielbasa with cabbage and hot borshcht.

At the end of the Vatra, all of the musicians together performed the Lemko song, “ Oy vershe miy, vershe ,” and, as thanks for their participation, received a 5 th Annual Lemko Vatra T-shirt as a souvenir from the Vatra organizing committee. Following words of thanks for all of the organizers of the festival, the administration of the CYM resort, volunteers and participants, the festival came to a close. “ Do pobachennya za rik ” [Goodbye until next year], read the sign above the CYM resort exit, inviting all for the next, 6 th Annual Lemko Vatra, which is planned for June 23-25, 2006.

Source: The Ukrainian Weekly, July 24, 2005, No. 30, Vol. LXXIII; Article written by Steven Howansky and Andriy Khomyk

What is the OOL?

CLIFTON, N.J. - What is the Organization for the Defense of Lemko Western Ukraine Inc., (known by its Ukrainian acronym as OOL)? We are an organization of Ukrainian Lemkos who came to America in the early 1900s and settled in Western Pennsylvania and the tri-state area. The organization was formally created by a congress of Lemko immigrants in 1936 in Philadelphia in response to a need to unite, and to help each other publish a newspaper by Lemko editors for the Lemko readership.

As time passed, the organization grew and expanded and the by-laws were changed to meet the times. The current by-laws state that the organization's responsibilities are: to organize Lemko Ukrainians in their respective communities, to conduct cultural and educational work among them, and to foster Ukrainian culture, language, music, embroidery, religious, secular and national traditions.

Most importantly, the organization and its members are obliged to give moral and material support to the Lemkos living in Ukraine, Poland (Lemko lands) and wherever else Lemkos reside and are in need of help.

The national executive sponsors various traditional Lemko activities and programs for its members and the public at large. The national executive and its branches have over the last 50 years donated and organized financial help for our brothers and sisters living in the traditional Lemko lands, as well as helped those Lemkos who were forcibly resettled beyond the borders of traditional Lemko lands starting in 1944 and ending with the infamous " Akcja ‘Wisla '" in 1947.

Also of great note is the continuous publication of our magazine Lemkivschyna , which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, and the tireless effort the organization puts forward in maintaining the Lemko museum in Stamford, CT.

In 1997, a group of young Lemko members discussed the commemoration of victims of the 1947 Akcja “Wisla” and an idea emerged to build a chapel in honor of their memory. The project was started with modest donations, and eventually the national executive decided to assist these young members in their efforts.

When a request was made to form a national committee, the Ukrainian American Youth Association (SUM) came forward and, together with OOL, the project became reality. Stefan Zurawsky was elected chairman, Bohdan Harhai from SUM and Zenko Halkowycz from OOL became vice-presidents, and the committee chose Teodor Bodnar as its architect. During the 2003 Vatra at the SUM Oselia in Ellenville, NY, a parcel of land was consecrated for the chapel that will be dedicated to the memory of the victims of Akcja “Wisla” in the name of Archangel Muchjila.

The national board of OOL and SUM announced that the tentative dedication and consecration of the Lemko chapel will take place during the IV Lemko Vatra at the SUM Oselia on June 25-27. The committee projects the actual blessing for noon time on June 27.

The organization is in the process of raising funds; as always, Ukrainian credit unions were the first to generously respond. The New York Self Reliance Federal Credit Union, Yonkers CYMA Federal Credit Union and Clifton-Passaic Federal Credit Union, as well as 1st Security Savings Bank of Chicago were the first to graciously donate to this cause. A traditional bell tower will be erected along with the chapel if funds permit.

The chapel will be opened to all Catholic and Orthodox church-goers. Its educational emphasis will be on display during SUM summer camps, when campers will have an opportunity to learn about Lemkos, their culture and traditions. Traditional wedding ceremonies will be performed in the chapel, and Sunday liturgies will be celebrated for summer campers, their parents and guests.

Source: The Ukrainian Weekly, June 13, 2004, No. 24, Vol. LXXII; Article written by Zenko Halkowycz