÷èñ. 2RUSYNS IN THE WORLD
No. 2A VISIT TO THE RUSYN AREAS OF NORTHERN HUNGARY AND VOJVODINA
Parvensky
(Nazareth,
PA, USA)
THE PEOPLE CRAWLED
ON THEIR KNEES
TO MARIAPOVCH
Even though my Rusyn roots originate from the former Zemplyn and Uz counties of the Hungarian Empire, I am interested in every region where our people lived and still continue to live.
My first visit to stari kraj was in 1997 to eastern Slovakia. The purpose of this trip was to photograph the wooden churches of our people and also to find my relatives. Two subsequent trips with the Carpatho Rusyn Society took me into Lemkovyna and Zakarpathia. They also opened the way to find and photograph more wooden churches in these two areas. However, from my parents I had learned about Ruski Kerestur and the large Rusyn community in Yugoslavia. In the 1970’s, there was a diocesan tour to Rusyn areas in Croatia and Yugoslavia. For the first and unfortunately only time, our people learned about other Rusyn communities in Europe besides those in Poland, Ukraine and Slovakia. After reviewing several web sites, I was hooked on visiting not only Ruski Kerestur but also Rusyn villages and Greek Catholic churches in Hungary.
The Church In Mucsony Is The Real Jewel
Thanks to my friend Gabriel Koljesar from Kitchener, Ontario, these visits became a reality. During the summer of 2001, I visited Miron Ziros, the great Ruski Kerestur historian who now resides in Kazinbarcika Hungary. Since he wasn’t at home when we arrived, my friend and I decided to head to Muscony in order to visit the Rusyn museum. I enjoy viewing old embroidery and farm tools that were used by our people, however, something needs to be done to preserve the artifacts in the place. It is very damp and musty due to the building being closed all the time. One has to go to the town hall to find someone to open it. The Rusyn community outside of Muscony needs to see that this treasure which depicts the living conditions of our people in Hungary needs to survive.
The church in Muchony, altar
Example of the phrase in Old Church Slavonic which is visible on the ceiling of the church
I think the jewel in Muscony is the church. We had noticed the building from the museum and walked over to it. It is certainly one of the most beautiful masonry Greek Catholic Churches that I have visited in Europe. The interior was being restored and many of the icons had been removed to Budapest for restoration. However, several new paintings and phrases in Old Church Slavonic were visible on the ceiling. Locals were redoing the pews. Just the size of the church for a small village is what overwhelms you as you enter the edifice. Presov and Uzhorod cathedrals have nothing over the Muscony church. The grounds are impeccably groomed. You don’t see many grassy lawns around our wooden churches; instead, one finds a plethora of wildflowers. Here was a church surrounded by beautiful flowers with a lush green lawn. As I left the church to walk around the grounds, Mr. Ziros was coming up to meet me. He spoke no English, me my poor Rusyn, but we understood one another. Listening to him brought back memories of my grandmother, because the Vojvodinian dialect is virtually identical (except for the Serbian influence) to my grandparents’ dialect.
Rusyn museum in Muchony, entrance
As we walked to the cemetery, Mr. Ziros pointed out the tombstones of several individuals. We recognized family names that are found in America. We then returned to his apartment in Backsbarka where he presented me with his history of Ruski Kerestur. It is too bad that his books cannot be translated into English so that more of the non- Vojvodinian Rusyn population can become acquainted with his works.
We also paid a visit to Mariapoch where many of our people went for otpusts. My mother’s mother told of the people crawling on their knees to Mariapoch. I don’t know the distance covered, but this is what our old people have stated.
It was a holyday – Sts. Peter and Paul – and there was liturgy going on. However, while I could sing along because their tones where identical to what I grew up with, the language was not. The liturgy was in Hungarian, as Rusyn is only spoken in a few villages. Again, the size of the church was impressive. Of course, these villages and towns were under the influence of the Hungarian Empire and the architecture is indicative of this. Once you get inside the church, there is no doubt that it is a Greek Catholic Church with its massive iconostasis and icons on the walls. Greek Catholic churches in Nyiregyhazy, Satoraljauhely, Sarospatek and Hajdudorog also have massive edifices, however, the church in Nyiregyhazy is in desperate need of repair (especially the outside façade). Compared to our little churches in Slovakia and Zakarpathia, these structures seem gigantic. (While Lemkovyna has several small wooden churches, most are very large due to the great numbers of people who attended the church).
The Large Rusyn Community in Vojvodina
During the summer of 2002, I decided that political conditions were favorable to visit Ruski Kerestur. Thanks again to Pan Koljesar, I had become acquainted with the physics teacher, Evgenije Medjesi, from Petro Kuzmjak High School and had been sending school supplies for the chemistry and physics department. Henc and his brother Paul were to be my guides and interpreters while in Vojvodina. I was going to drive to Ruski Kerestur from Kosice, Slovakia and decided to do it on their big holiday of St. Cyril and Methodius. Everything in Slovakia would be closed and I figured that the traffic would be light. I left before 7 A.M. and headed for the border at Milhorst. The year before there had been no wait at the border. This year was a different story. It took over an hour to get through the border crossing. Part of the problem was due to an event that had occurred two weeks prior to this at the Ukrainian/Slovak border. A Slovak border guard had let a car through customs but it was stopped later on by Slovak police because they thought something was fishy about it. It turned out that the car had contraband cigarettes and alcohol. The border was closed for five hours (this was the day that I was going from Slovakia into Zakarpathia so my ride from Uzhorod was delayed). The Slovak customs officer was fired on the spot but repercussions from this event occurred for quite some time.
Everyone was angry because it was a holiday plus the beginning of the weekend and they wanted to be on their way. I was also angry because originally I was planning to enter the border at Satoraljauhely, which is what I should have done because the traffic is so light at that border crossing. Unfortunately, the dastardly deed was done! I finally got through customs and headed on my way. I had several Hungarian maps and knew how to get to the Yugoslav border. Henc and his brother would meet me at customs.
Nothing is as easy as it seems. I had figured on no more than a six hour drive from Kosice, doing a little sightseeing along the way. Gabriel stated that the distance was no more than 200 km. Well, I got into Nyiregyhaza and recognized everything as soon as I entered the city because I had been there the summer before, however, I couldn’t find my way out. I kept stopping to ask directions but everyone was sending me where I didn’t want to go. I wanted to head south to Debrecen and then to Szeged. In the U.S., one would see road signs for cities even if they were 100 miles away. I soon found out that all roads lead to Budapest. I finally stopped at another gas station and a McDonalds and they got me headed in the right direction. This is when I found out about the road signs to Budapest. If you head in the direction of Budapest, you will eventually find a sign to the city you want to drive to. I was on my way after losing at least thirty minutes running or I should say driving all over Nyiregyhaza.
You can’t make much time on Hungarian roads. Outside of the main highway into and out of Budapest, roads in western Hungary are only two lanes. You soon realize why there is a law for cars to have their headlights on. With all the hills and dales along the road, it helps when passing, especially all the truck traffic. I got lost again in the afternoon, about 2 P.M.; someone turned the route numbers around. I thought that I was following the road I wanted, but said to myself that this couldn’t be the main highway. I kept looking for someplace to ask directions but I was out in the countryside. Finally, I came to a small health resort where I found a person that spoke English and they gave me directions to Szeged. This fiasco cost me at least 20 minutes of my precious time, but at least I was finally headed for Szeged. When I reached Szeged, a sign ahead said Route 55 to Beograd. I quickly checked my map – no Route 55 anywhere. Instead of heading south, I headed east. I quickly came to a gas station and asked where the border was. Luckily, I didn’t lose more than 5 minutes before I was headed to Yugoslavia. The six hour drive became an eleven + hour nightmare when I finally reached customs. I had never seen such a large customs area. It reminded me of one of our large turnpike interchanges in Pennsylvania. To top it off, considering that it was a Friday night, there were only two lanes open to the border – one for cars, one for trucks which I didn’t know at the time. I couldn’t believe the long line of cars and was starting to lose it. Henc and his brother were supposed to meet me at the border. I had told them 3 P.M. and it was now past 6 P.M. I had directions to Ruski Kerestur but no directions to Henc’s house so I was getting apprehensive. I saw people squirting around the traffic so I followed them, only to come to a concrete barrier which had a small opening thus allowing cars to squeeze through. What a mess! Of course, no one wanted to budge! I got out of my car and wanted to find out what the problem was and walked over to the line of cars and started to ask a gentleman. He was not very kind so I returned to my car and waited my turn. I hoped that my nice rental car wouldn’t get scratched going through the opening. Finally, I had my chance and made it to the customs people. They saw that I had an American passport and sent me right through. They didn’t even check to see my visa (although I found out that during the months of July and August, American tourists don’t need visas). Hallelujah! Henc and Paul were waiting for me and had only been there for an hour or so. I was exhausted! We headed to Subotica for something to drink and eat. After a brief respite, we headed to Ruski Kerestur with Paul describing things to me as we went along. The first thing I noticed was how flat the land is –a phenomenon that I am not used to, even in my home state of Pennsylvania. I am used to hills and mountains. Vojvodina was flat as a pancake. As we approached Ruski Kerestur, I noticed fires along the way. I asked Paul what these were about. He stated that they burn the straw after the wheat is harvested because they have no animals that will benefit from its use. It seems that during communist times, the animals were taken from their owners; even goats were destroyed because they were found to be chewing on the trees. These blazes were everywhere and so was their resultant pollution. Black particles of soot and straw were flying everywhere. I kept thinking of our poor people in the mountains of Zakarpathia who farm from sunrise to sunset. They do everything by hand. The wheat and hay is cut, stacked, dried, put on horse drawn wagons or carried on the peoples’ backs into the villages. What they wouldn’t do with all of this straw for their animals. What an ecologically unsound response to the straw problem! Straw can also be used for building very energy efficient homes, barns, etc. Plus with the soil cover destroyed, soil loss during periods of high wind will be prevalent (this is coming from a soil scientist). It didn’t seem to me that the people cared about the mess that they have created, possibly because they have lived with it for so long. This was the only negative aspect of my entire trip to Yugoslavia, however, I feel it is a serious problem which needs to be addressed.
(To be finished in the next issue)
