The Lemkos’ Great War: Wartime Experiences of the Lemko People, 1914–18

• Authors: Piotr Szlanta
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

The First World War imposed a severe stigma on the Lemko people, the Ruthenian mountaineers residing on the northern mountainside of the Carpathians. Military operations, political repressions, malnutrition, and epidemics of contagious diseases caused severe damages and losses in the population and materials. In the late 1914 and early 1915, the front-line was set through the Lemko Land. The area’s eastern part was occupied for several months by the Russians. The occupational authorities planned to annex the area after the war, as they recognised the Lemkos as part of the Russian nation. On the other hand, the Lemko people were generally treated by the Austro-Hungarian authorities with suspicion, as allegedly favouring Russia. They were accused of sabotage and collaboration with the occupiers. Many a Lemko was executed, often without any proof of guilt whatsoever. Some 2,000 were sent to an internment camp in Thalerhof, not far from Graz. The war facilitated the split among the Lemkos into those who considered themselves members of a Ukrainian nation and those who recognised themselves as a separate ethnic group.

Keywords

EN

First World War; Lemko people; Thalerhof camp; political repression; occupation; Greek Catholic Church; national identity; Spanish flu

PL

• Publisher: Polska Akademia Nauk. Instytut Historii im. Tadeusza Manteuffla PAN w Warszawie
• Journal: Acta Poloniae Historica
• Year: 2016
• Volume: 113

Dates

published

2016

online

2016-07-01

Contributors

author

Piotr Szlanta

Identifiers

DOI

10.12775/APH.2016.113.01