Recently, a good friend of mine from Ukraine (a Ukrainian) who acknowledges me as a Rusyn told me that on the web page www.brama.ca, produced by a Canadian Ukrainian organization, the following question was being posed: Are Rusyns Ukrainians?

The answers were varied. One Ukrainian wrote "it's fine that there are people who call themselves Rusyns, but we're all still Ukrainians...." I was shocked to read that one of "our" guys, a young man from Spis who now lives in America wrote: "It's clear that it's all the same, that our dialects come from Ukrainian...." Ukrainians who had never heard of Subcarpathian Rusyns were writing in responses. Why am I bringing this up? Because recently a message came to my e-mail address, and said the same, but only about Lemkos, that "Lemkos are Ukrainians." And you, dear Rusnak, now don't know who you even are.... But I want to write about new things, and about what's interesting to us Rusyns.

For a few years, I've been following everything on the internet about Rusyns, web pages about Bratislava's ZIRS (The Fellowship of the Rusyn Intelligentsia of Slovakia), about our beautiful religious ceremonies.... A person can learn a lot here. One mistake these pages make is that they are written in English, since the majority is American productions. And you, Rusnak, if you wish to survive, you have to learn English, the same as we once had to learn Russian or Ukrainian.

I was sitting at my computer and I saw a new web page with the name LegacyRus.com. What's this, I thought. My heart was gladdened when the first thing I saw was the Subcarpathian emblem. I read further: "LegacyRus.com explores and presents the questions of history, politics, religion, the Holocaust and the shared experience of the East Slavs. The story of Rus is the story of 4 great peoples: the Russians, Ukrainians, Belorusians and Ruthenians. I have to point out that English terminology frequently calls Rusyns Ruthenians, which has its roots in the Latin term Rutheni, Ruthenorum. LegacyRus.com goes on to say that "concentrates on the Ruthenians, [because they are] the least known of the East Slavs." LegacyRus.com recognizes "the Ruthenian People of the Carpathians and Vojvodina as a separate standing branch of the East Slavic Peoples and Rusyn as a separate language branch of the East Slavic Language Group." It also fully recognizes the United Nation's Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the United Nation's Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, the Council of Europe's Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the Council of Europe's Framework for the Protection of National Minorities, and the Council of Europe's European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.

So what do you think, Ukrainian knowledge-bearers? Are Rusyns recognized throughout the world or not? There are no Rusyn-Ukrainians or Rusyn/Ukrainians, but simply Rusyns, or Ukrainians!

About the term "Rusyn", LegacyRus.com goes on to say that they recognize" no one exclusive name but a multiplicity of name referents for the Ruthenians, each with a unique value and each reveals a different facet of Rus....They are not Ukrainians or Russians. The Ruthenian Language codified as 'Rusyn' in the Slovak republic is not Ukrainian...The Ruthenians share a common legacy, the Rus Legacy, with their brothers and sisters: the Ukrainians, the Belorusians and the Russians." LegacyRus.com recognizes the international term Ruthenian, along with Rusyn. Even though these two terms are the most popular, it recognizes many others used in various times and places by various people.

The site has many parts where you can discover much about the Churches to which the Rusyns belong (Uniate and Orthodox), about the fact that the Rusyns are without their own state. Under the name LegacyRus Christianity, aside from a short historical overview of the Church and information about the Eastern Churches, the Schism, the Unia, etc., you can view beautiful pictures and a map of the Byzantine Ruthenian Eparchial Church in America.

If you're interested in history, you can find the Rusyn Chronicles, which unfortunately only begin with 1646 and the Union of Uzhorod. On a page called "In General Terms" you can learn about the fact that the Rusyns have never had their own state and even color maps showing how the Rusyns have been divided among nations, states and kingdoms.

You'll find a page about anti-Semitism and the Holocaust in the history of the Rusyns. The article about Rusyn identity is also flawless: "The Ruthenian/Rusyn Name Question: Solved? ...The CIA clearly recognizes "Ruthenians" as a distinctive minority in Eastern Europe."

There's a lot more I could write about this website, but it would be better if you check it out yourself, dear reader, and see with your own eyes. Great thanks go to Mr. Matvey, publisher and director of the web site. Comments are accepted. So Rusyns read, learn, and write! While you're there, let your voice be heard. The voice of the Rusyns....

Stefan Kravcak

Prjasiv (Presov)