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Website about Destruction of Ukrainian Orthodox Churches in Kholm and Pidliashshia Regions Created
12.11.2008, [21:45] // Foreign relations //

Lublin—This year, the 70th anniversary of the destruction of Orthodox churches in Kholm and Southern Pidliashshia regions by Polish authorities is marked. For two months in 1938, 127 Orthodox churches were disassembled within the framework of the so-called polonization-revindication action. To present the events of that time, the Lublin and Kholm Orthodox Eparchy created a website called The Destruction of Orthodox Churches in Kholm and Southern Pidliashshia regions.

The new website contains information about the course of the event of destruction and about the position of Ukrainians in Poland. One can get acquainted there with recollections of witnesses, press publications of that time, historians’ thoughts and also one can view a number of unique photos from that time.

According to the initiators, that tragic page in the history of Polish-Ukrainian relations of the 20th c. is one of the keys to understanding later Polish-Ukrainian conflicts, especially, during WWII.

Address of the new site:
http://www.kholm1938.net

Yes, Poland did that in 1938; Metropolitan Andrew protested vehemently in one of his most famous pastoral letters (which the Poles did not allow to be published at the time).

Also, one must remember that in 1875 the Greek-Catholic Eparchy of Kholm was forcibly suppressed and involuntarily aggregated to the State Church of Tsarist Russia. When Poland regained independence in the wake of World War I and the Russian Revolution, the Polish State and Church created the most incredible impediments for both the faithful and the parishes who wished to return to their Greek-Catholic Church.

Fr. Serge

Fantastic. I will forward this to the church secretary to put in the next issue of the bullletin.
I wonder if the "Volyn Research Institute" in Winnipeg knows about this.

Great News.

Dear Halia,

I don't think the Volyn Research Institute would be interested in how Poland was AGAINST the Greek-Catholic Church (!)

They are more interested in how Poland (historically) used the Greek-Catholic Church (and the cult of St Josaphat) to Polonize the western Ukrainians.

UOC of Canda Metropolitan Ilarion Ohienko (+memory eternal) spent a lot of energy going after the "Uniate traitors" in his writings.

The fact that the UGCC became a Ukrainian national bastion in the 20th century with the coming of Metropolitan Andrew Sheptytsky and Patriarch Josef Slipyj is not a high priority with the Insitute!

Alex

I think the Volyn Research Institute will be interested in this new web site about the destruction of Orthodox churches in Kholm and Southern Pidliashshia regions by Polish authorities.

As the article states it is the 70th anniversary. Both in Toronto and in Winnipeg there are Orthodox people who are from Volyn.

I will forwarded the article.

The purpose of the Volyn Research Institute is to concentrate on Volyn and not on Galicia or any other part of Ukraine for that matter.

I agree, Alex - they will probably not spend too much time worrying about such things as Aktsia Wisla. I believe it was in Volynia where St. Josaphat was venerating the three-bar cross that he later recounted issued a divine "spark" that enflamed his heart.

Have you looked at a map recently? The Volyn Research Institute deals with events in Volyn.

Here is a web site about Aktsia Wisla:
http://marichka2.multiply.com/photos/album/144/BRUSNIANSKI_KAMINIARI_BRUSNIANSKI_TSVYNTARI_

Several authors have written about similarities and potential connections between Wisla and the Volyn tragedies. I doubt the Volyn Research Institute would do that (especially since Wisla concentrated on Greek Catholics). That's basically my point in agreement with Dr. Roman.

Aktsia Wisla also deported about 50% of the village and parish of Kostomloty (quite close to the border between Poland and Belarus, just south of the main road between Warsaw and Moscow). Nonetheless, Saint Nicetas the Martyr Greek-Catholic Church in Kostomloty managed to survive, and for quite a few years was the only functioning Greek-Catholic Church in Poland. Much of the credit belongs to Father Alexander Prylucki of holy memory, who served the parish during these most difficult years.

Fr. Serge

I am probably wading right into the deep-end (and over my head) on this one...

But lest it seem (at least to me) that this forum is (at least to my way of thinking) possibly being used (once again) or co-opted to foment disenchantment, despair, ill-will and polemic... Well some discussion or thought to the animosity (some of it well earned!) against the Russians who historically treated Poland like a chess piece might be warranted.

In the wake of liberation, minorities associated with a former oppressor NEVER do well.

Come to think of it, if anyone had a mind to do so, (if it has not yet been done) a similar website of photographs Catholic Churches in Russia (where Catholics numbered 3,000,000 in 1917) could be made. Many destroyed, many turned into buildings such as factories... One in Far Eastern Russia (which has not yet been returned, though now it is a roofless pile of stone) was used a cow-barn.

Isolating any one (remarkably regretable) episode of animosity and considering it apart from a sad history of animosity that is a tragic soap-opera of conflict is likely to create only more (surprise, surprise!)... animosity.

Hmmm.... good website idea!

I have never understood the hostility of the Poles to the Ukrainian Greek Catholics, their brothers in the Catholic faith. As late as 1997, the Polish hierarchy tried to expel married UGCC priests from Poland. Why?

I understand that there were also efforts in 20th century Poland to baptize (!) Greek Catholics (!) into the Roman Catholic Church. Or is that just another exaggeration?

What is Aktsia Wisla?

No, alas, it is not an exaggeration. I suggest that there are two factors to keep in mind:

a) the majority of Poles are convinced that one must be a Polish Roman Catholic to be Polish.

b) the Roman Catholic Church in Poland never received the Council of Florence.

Fr. Serge

How sad to see all those Orthodox churches destroyed.