Andrica in Czechoslovakia

by Theodore Andrica

Names of Barovjan Club Members Here Duplicated Many Times in Village of Barovce, Writer Finds

  Presov, Czechoslovakia (By Mail) -- My visit to Bishop Gojdich, head of the Presov Greek Catholic Rusin diocese was preceded by a call at the diocesan palace at Uzhorod, the seat of Bishop Alexander Stojka, head of the Uzhorod diocese.

  Bishop Stojka received me most cordially and I extended to him the greetings of the many Cleveland Rusins who keep in touch with the old country affairs. During the afternoon Bishop Stojka took me riding to the vineyards and in the evening I had the honor of being his dinner guest.

  Bishop Stojka knows many stories of the Rusin peasants' struggles and told me some of the difficulties the Greek Catholic authorities experienced when they reclaimed their property following the establishment of the Orthodox, or "Pravoslav," parishes in Podkarpatska Rus.

  Last year I visited the theological seminary in Uzhorod where 11 American-born students completed their studies for the priesthood. This year I found that all have gone back to America except one and he was somewhere on vacation.

  Before leaving the Episcopal palace I asked Bishop Stojka to give me a message for the Cleveland and American Rusins, to be published in The Cleveland Press. He wrote an address of greetings and gave his blessings to the American Rusinists.

  Coming to Presov, I visited Bishop Gojdich who was my host last year. He told me that the orphanage the diocese has erected is almost complete and that the number of children sheltered there will be increased shortly.

  From Presov, on a Sunday afternoon, I went to Barovce, some 40 miles northwest. My companion was Alexander Ladizinsky Jr. of Presov, a senior law student at Bratislava University. His brother, John, is choirmaster and teacher at the Russian Orthodox Church, 10000 Union avenue.

  In Cleveland I had heard much of this village, Barovce. Michael Lucak Sr., 3525 East boulevard; Andrew A Kormos, 8611 Frederick avenue, and others from this village assured me in Cleveland that at least 200 Cleveland families can call Barovce their home village. At this rate, I thought, everyone in the village must have parents, children, brothers or sisters in Cleveland.

  Well, it was a good and fortunate thing that it did not rain on this particular Sunday afternoon when we went by auto to Barovce. There is a steep climb over a hill just before the village is reached and the condition of the road is such that in heavy rains, an auto trip is less than practical.

  We arrived in the village just in time to see the people go to vesper services in the little Greek Catholic village church. The Rev. Fr. Alex Cisarek, for many years pastor of the parish, was getting ready to go to church when we reached the parish house. His son, Nicholas, a theological student, was at home on vacation.

  Soon the word spread around the village that a Cleveland newspaperman was there and from many windows of the small cottages eager eyes followed our movements.

  A man, dressed in "city clothes," came toward us with outstretched hands. He was glad to see a Clevelander. His name was John P. Sekerak and he arrived in Barovce only a few months ago. His Cleveland address was 1110 Greenwich avenue.

  We accompanied the Rev. Fr. Cisarek to the church, which was crowded to the very doors. Once the service was over the yard was rapidly filled with young and old.

  My companions explained to the assembled population the purpose of our visit and sought out the people for whom we had personal messages to deliver. Then the whole village group came on the small elevation between the cemetery and the church, in order to be photographed in family groups.

  For the sake of my Cleveland friends from Barovce I sincerely hope my motion pictures of their relatives will turn out well.

  Everyone was dressed in his or her Sunday best, the costumes were colorful; only the sun was not cooperating 100 per cent.

  We took pictures for a full hour. It was work but fun, too, for when I heard their names, I immediately associated them with the Cleveland members of the Barovjan Club whose yearly entertainments are among the most popular Carpatho-Russian events.

  The village is full of Sekeraks, Kormoses, Lucaks, Lashs, Pehas and Mackos. The names read like the list of the Barovjan Club members in Cleveland.

  After photographing practically the entire village we exchanged news. They wanted to know how and what their relations were doing in Cleveland; if business had improved in America since President Roosevelt took the helm.

  In turn they told some of the important village news. Two of the village elders, Mike Kormos Sr., 79, and Elias Macko, 77, died a few weeks before.

  The village is still without a teacher and no one knows when there will be one, although Barovce always had a school. It seems that there was a conflict between the village people and the authorities concerning the use of the Rusin language in the school.

  A score of men were arrested following this incident but were later freed. The members of the arrested group formed a separate unit when time came to be photographed and Clevelanders of Barovce origin may see the picture later.

  Among the younger men of the village was an American-born peasant boy. He was John Lucak and his story is that he wants to return to America but cannot prove with documents that he was born in the United States.

  The records of the parish were lost in a fire and so far all efforts to get other papers prove futile. From the village priest to everyone in the village, the Barovce people tried to aid him to obtain his papers, but without results.

  The head of a branch of the Lucak family, Nicholas Las, invited me to the little inn he owned. We drank to the health of the Cleveland Barovce folks and after many, many handshakes, we left Barovce to return to Presov.

  In Presov I made arrangements with Dr. Stephen Gorvich, director of the Greek Catholic Seminary and with Rev. Fr. Joseph Klzek, professor at the school, to make motion pictures of the students dressed in national costumes. The following day I returned to Presov and made the pictures in the hope of showing them to Cleveland Rusin audiences.