Stanley BejdaPublished: September 8, 2025 It took me thirty years of wandering around the world to realize how important it is for me to be a Rusyn, and how important it is for my children to know that Rusyn blood flows in their veins. Let me tell you why; but, first, I must start with where I was born. Being a Rusyn in an environment where everyone around you is Rusyn is nothing special. That’s how I grew up in Medzilaborce. At school, we were taught all subjects in Slovak. At home; with friends; in shops; the doctor’s office; the post office; or at grandma’s, we always spoke only po našomu—Rusyn. These were the 1980’s. In socialist Czechoslovakia, the stores were empty, bread had to be ordered in advance, and if you came late, you were out of luck. But, for us kids it didn’t matter, we lived our simple childhood lives. Being Rusyn was so natural back then that I didn’t see it as anything special. When I left to study music in the wider world, everything changed. Whenever I told someone I was Rusyn, I often heard “Šalený Rusyn” (crazy Rusyn). It wasn’t pleasant, but over time I got used to it. Whenever I met another Rusyn, it always brought me joy. Deep inside I felt a secret sense of kinship, something hard to describe in words. I believe this feeling is known only to those who live abroad, and perhaps for us Rusyns, it is even stronger, since we never had our own state. After finishing high school at the military conservatory, I worked as a volunteer with the Union of Rusyns and Ukrainians in Košice. I felt like I was in heaven—among my own. We laughed, worked, celebrated together, always on the same wavelength. We helped each other selflessly and with joy. I met Rusyns in many places, and there was always respect and dignity in how we treated each other. If someone needed help, others simply helped, and never asked for anything in return. After all, we were all Rusyns. I have never experienced such solidarity anywhere else in the world as I did among Rusyns. At that time, however, I still did not realize how important it was for me to be Rusyn. Life went on. Today I am fifty, living with my family in Denmark. Here, I am alone, without a community. Here, […]
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Remembering the Staryna villages destroyed by dam construction
by Roman Rokytka, Korzár (Prešov, Slovakia), 21 September 2004translated by Bohuslav Harvil’ak (C-RS, Bratislava, Slovakia)Published as “Expelled Residents of Staryna Valley Still Returning to Their Native Villages After Many Years”, New Rusyn Times 2005, Vol. 12, No. 2 Prepared from the original by Peter Simkins Sluk (C-RS, Cleveland, OH) Modern social development sometimes requires individuals to conform to the so-called public interest. Such a situation occurred in Slovakia with the construction of factories, huge water works, highways, etc. Such projects brought thousands of jobs, brought fresh drinking water to dozens of villages and cities, and improved infrastructure. On the other hand, these projects changed the lives of people who, though compensated, were forced to abandon their homes. One of the greatest forced resettlements in Slovakia’s history occurred during the construction of the Staryna Dam in the Snina district. Seven villages were destroyed From 1980 to 1986, seven Rusyn villages were removed from the area around the Bukovsky Highlands (Bukovsky Verchy). According to official data, 3,500 residents were displaced. The Staryna reservoir was then constructed and is now the largest source of drinking water in Slovakia and in all of central Europe, supplying drinking water to all of eastern Slovakia. Those who were displaced now live in other places, most in the cities of Snina and Humenne, the rest scattered throughout eastern Slovakia. New housing tracts were created for the displaced upon their arrival, and the people built their houses or moved into apartments allotted to them. In the city of Snina, the tract is called “Brehy”; the one in Humenne is called “Dubnik.” Although the people adjusted to their new surroundings and have associations and folklore ensembles, to this day they continue to remember their lost homes with a heavy heart. They still come back The abandoned villages come alive on summer weekends. Not wishing to forget their lost homes, the displaced people return to the area of their birth. About a hundred cars comethrough the gate every day, according to a security guard. People visit the places where theirhouses stood; they show their children who lived where, where the school was, a pub, a church… In over grown gardens they get their bearings from surviving fruit trees and the remains of building foundations. They visit the cemeteries where their close relatives are buried. The cemeteries did not have to be destroyed, except for the cemetery in the village of […]
