Posted by Joe on August 21, 2000 at 03:24:14:
In Reply to: Re: Where is mr.Joe? posted by Ukie on August 08, 2000 at 12:15:47:
: Shkoda, shcho Rusyny gubliat' svoyu movu u krayinah svogo prozhyvannia, sumna sprava. Treba by bulo yakos' tomu zapobigty, ale yak? Ya dumayu, shcho na Ukrayini yihnia mova zberezhet'sia nazavzhdy, a ot v Amerytsi vzhe maizhe zagublena. Mozhe isnuyut' yakis' shliahy yiyi vidrodzhennia, Joe maye znaty. Hey, Joe, where are you?
: Where is Mr. Joe?
: I'm missing him.
: It's a sad story that Rusyns
Where is Mr. Joe? I'm missing him.
It's a sad story that Rusyns
To Ukie and others from Joe
RE: I’m flattered. However, as you may guess, I have to earn my living and therefore, I do not have sufficient time to hang on to this web site, as I would like to, in order to respond to the biased and distorted information about Rusyns propagated by Ukrainian nationalists. The question of Slovakization of Rusyns that started by a very brutal Ukrainization of Rusyns by Stalin as well as Bolsheviks from Kiyev, has been addressed on this web site several times. Yanko brought up the article that is written in the “best traditions of Soviet political sciences”, although he knows, that this issue has been addressed here using information not from nationalistic newspapers, but from well researched scholarly publications. ( see for instance, P. R. Magochi: National Assimilation: The Case of the Rusyn – Ukrainians of Czechoslovakia. Pp. 242-289. In Of the Making of Nationalities There is No End. By P.R.Magochi Vol.I.Part.I. Carpatho-Rusyns in Europe. East European Monographs, distributed by Columbia University Press, New York. 1999.).
I do not think that knowledge of Rusyn language is critical for Rusyn-Amerikans. It is far more important that Rusyns in Europe can learn English. It would be of an enormous help for them if Rusyn-Americans can facilitate the learning of the English language in Subcarpathia and help to preserve the peaceful way of life and tolerance of Rusyns in Subcarpathia. I think that Rusyn-Americans should be aware and proud of the fact that their Rusyn brothers in Europe have been functioning for centuries as a sort of a buffer between East and West Europe, between Russian, Ukrainian nationalists on one side and Hungarian, Polish, Slovak, Romanian and German nationalists on the other side. The history of Europe would not have been so bloody and its prosperity would have spread to more countries, at least in Central and East Europe, if the ability of Rusyns to live together with other ethnic groups have had a broad basis. Interestingly, after the collapse of the Berlin wall the Scandinavians, particularly experts for minority issues from Denmark, have noticed this considerable capacity of Rusyns to coexist peacefully and cooperate with other ethnic groups. Ukraine would help itself substantially if the official policy of the current Ukrainian administration towards Rusyns in Subcarpathia would be the same, as for instance, towards the Hungarians.