The name “Lemko”
In a Polish-language newspaper “Tygodnik Legnica” (25/1405), issue of August 5, 1999, one reads under “Łemkowski gazda i polski kupiec / Lemko farmer and a Polish merchant”:
How did the name “Łemko” (Łemkini/a female Lemko, Łemkowie/Lemkos in plural) originate? It originated most likely in the early 19th century along the Lemko-Boiko border. At first it applied to a Rusin who did not speak clearly “po rusku/Ukrainian”. With time this label became neutral, and started to be used in scholarly and popular literature. The term was used by O. Lewickij in “Gramatik der ruthenischen oder kleinrussischen Sprache in Galizien” (Grammar of Ruthenians or Little Russians Spoken in Galicia) in 1834, then by P. J. Szafarzyk in “Słowianskie Starożytności” (Slavic Antiquities) in 1844, and by Wincenty Pol in a Slavic description of the Carpathians in 1851.
To Lemkos themselves, who described themselves by the term “Rusnak” or “Rusin”, “Łemko” was almost unknown until the days of World War I. During the interwar period (1918–1939) it started to be commonly used by Lemko activists, demonstrated by the titles of periodicals “Łemko” and “Nasz Łemko / Our Lemko”. After World War II the term “Łemko” started to dominate and pushed out use of “Rusnak”.
Lemkos
The Lemkos (Łemkowie), also referred to as Rusyns, Rusnakys or sometimes Ukrainians (depending on their own awareness of national identity), belong to the eastern Slavs who have inhabited the northern sides of the Carpathian Mountains in Poland.
The territory recognized by the Lemkos as their local motherland, referred to as Lemkovyna by the Lemkos themselves, reaches to the Pieniny Mountains in the west (the villages of Sztachtowa, Jaworki, Biała Woda, Czarna Woda), and to the place where the Osława River joins the San River in the east.
Before World War II, the Lemkos in Poland constituted a dense population in over 300 villages. They are believers of Eastern Christianity, and many take pride in adopting the Christian faith from Saints Cyril and Methodius in the 9th century.
The winding roads of history divided them into Orthodox and Greek Catholics. Orthodox churches, eastern rites, the Julian calendar, chants, and liturgical books written in the Cyrillic alphabet remained lasting traits of their individuality.
After World War II, the Lemko population was displaced to Soviet Ukraine in 1945–1946. In spring 1947, the remaining Lemkos (approximately 40,000 according to this historical text) were deported to Poland’s western territories and dispersed. Those who resisted could be imprisoned at the Jaworzno camp during Operation “Vistula.” After 1956, limited opportunities to return emerged; relatively few returned, and many homes, farms, churches and villages had been lost or transformed.
For many years Lemko activists worked to preserve culture and tradition. By the 1980s this activity became increasingly visible: the Folk Ensemble “Lemkovyna” was established and Lemko-Polish volumes of poetry by Petro Murianka, Władysław Graban, Stefania Trochanowska and Paweł Stefanowski were released.
The first “Lemkovska Vatra” — a celebration of Lemko culture and a reunion of Lemkos from around the world — was organized in 1983.
The original essay describes multiple Lemko organizations and orientations, including organizations emphasizing a distinct Rusyn national identity and others identifying Lemkos with Ukrainians, as well as the reactivated Ruska Bursa cultural and educational association.
The essay closes by emphasizing preservation of churches, cemeteries, literature, language, culture and tradition, alongside unresolved historical and property questions connected with Operation “Vistula.”