By Bogdan Horbal ©1996 all rights reserved.
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Since World War II and the imposition of Soviet-dominated Communist rule throughout East Central Europe, the Rusyn language was banned in all countries where Rusyns live, except in Yugoslavia. In the Soviet Ukraine, Czechoslovakia and Poland, Rusyns were administratively declared to be Ukrainians and all publications and education intended for them had to be carried out in Ukrainian. Any efforts to have some form of Rusyn used in publications, schools, or public life was considered to be illegal ("counterrevolutionary"). This was supposed to be the end of the so called "language question" among Carpatho-Rusyns.
The collapse of Communism, however, underscored what many had for some time suspected. The repressed but unresolved question of national identity and language among Rusyns returned. In the mid 1980's Lemkos in Poland led the way in linguistic developments. They published a few collections of poetry in Lemko vernacular. In the late 1980's, Rev. Frantishek Krajnjak (b. 1952) set up a small "language commission" to help with his work of translating religious texts into local Rusyn dialect (Medzilaborce, Slovakia). When, after 1989, Rusyn language newspapers appeared in Poland, Slovakia and Ukraine, and the Rusyn cultural movement was becoming stronger, it was obvious that its primary goal would be the codification of a standard Rusyn literary language. In an attempt to put some order and coordination into this effort, a working seminar of the Rusyn language was convened in Bardejovske Kupele, Slovakia on November 6-7, 1992. Rusyn writers and editors from: Ukraine, Poland, Slovakia, Yugoslavia and Hungary joined with scholars from those countries and from the United States, Sweden, Switzerland and Monaco to discuss theoretical issues and practical ways in which the Rusyn codifers can coordinate their efforts. This First Congress of the Rusyn Language allowed the development of four standards based on dialects in the countries where Rusyns live: Ukraine, Slovakia, Poland, and Yugoslavia. The participants also agreed to meet periodically to exchange views on their own codifying work as well as to agree on as many as possible principles that will form the basis of an eventual "fifth" Rusyn literary standard, or koine that would be common to all regions. One of the results of the Congress was also the creation of the Institute of Rusyn Language and Culture in Presov. Since January of 1993, this Institute has been serving as a coordinating center for the work of Rusyn language codifiers in all countries where they live. The institute has published Rules for Rusyn Orthography, as well as a primer and a reader for elementary schools in Slovakia. This activity culminated with the recognition of Rusyn as an literary language. The event marking this remarkable change in the status of Rusyn language took place on January 27, 1995 at the capital of Slovakia, Bratislava. 1
The Most Reverend Michael J. Dudick, D.D., Bishop of the Byzantine Catholic Diocese of Passaic, New Jersey began to aquire materials for the Episcopal and Heritage Institute Museum and Library some twenty-five years ago. In 1986, the Institute moved into a new building, occupying part of the Episcopal residence and Diocesan center in West Patterson, NJ. Bishop Dudick's primary concern was for the preservation of the rich ethnographic and religious cultural tradition of the people under his jurisdiction, both in the United States and the homeland. Carpatho-Rusyns make up the overwhelming majority of the members of the diocese. Hence, the greater portion of the valuable objects in the museum and library materials related to the history and religious experience of Carpatho-Rusyns. 2
One of the highlights of Bishop Dudick's library is the collection of language books written for Carpatho-Rusyns. This collection was microfilmed, deposited and made avai