Shadow Lands South Of Krakow, Przemyśl, and Lviv: The Carpatho-Rusyn Society’s Oral History Research Project

[Click on map for enlargement.]

The Carpatho-Rusyn Society’s Oral History Research Committee seeks to preserve the oral histories and artifacts of the Lemko people, and to explore the post-World War II expulsion campaigns that resulted in the destruction of their settlements in Southeast Poland.

In order to obtain and preserve firsthand perspectives of the events, C-RS is conducting extensive fieldwork, including recorded interviews with eyewitnesses in North America, Ukraine and Poland. The research team is seeking individuals to participate in the study who meet one or more of the following criteria:

1.Lemkos who recall life in their villages before or during World War II;
2.Lemkos who experienced the post-World War II expulsions from their homeland, and who were resettled in either Soviet Ukraine from 1945-1946, or in Western Poland (former German territories) in 1947 (Operation Vistula/Akcja Wisla.);
3.Lemkos who were displaced in Allied-occupied Germany during the time of the expulsions in the Lemko region, and who became separated from their relatives as a result;
4.Former members of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) who witnessed or had knowledge of the expulsion operations of Lemkos;
5.Polish civilians who lived in the Lemko region at the time of the expulsions and bore witness to these events; and
6.Others with relevant, first-hand information about the events.

Source

Additional information

According to Ukrainian estimates, during the Second World War about 3,000,000 Ukrainians were sent to Germany and Austria to work in factories and as forced labor.

Image credit: Lemko style church in the Museum of National Folk Architecture, Lviv, Ukraine. (c) Copyright controlled. Map is copyright controlled as stated on image. (c) Copyright controlled.