Second Marmarosh-Sighet Process

The Carpathian-Russian village of Iza in the Marmarosh capital in the second half of the 19th century gained fame as a center for the spread of Orthodoxy in Ugric Rus . This was facilitated by the fact that after the death of the rector of the Uniate parish of the village, father John Rakovsky , one of the main ideologists of the transition from the union to Orthodoxy , the peasants began to leave the union en masse. Due to the rejection of this phenomenon by the Austrian authorities in Isa, the persecution of residents was unleashed, resulting in a lawsuit against 22 peasants, the so-called " First Marmarosh-Sighet Process " of 1903 .

Repressions did not stop the Rusyns' craving for the Orthodox faith. People themselves made demands , and they sent the children to baptize in Bukovina , to the Romanian Orthodox priest. With the funds raised, they built a common house of prayer, but it was soon destroyed by the Hungarian gendarmes, whose team was stationed in Izy since 1904 . Orthodox peasants began to gather for prayers in the forests and mountains, hiding from the police. But all these hardships only strengthened people's love for Orthodoxy, many residents of neighboring villages (such as Velikiye Luchki , Osa , Ilnitsa , Gorinchevo , Bedevlya , Egresh , Lipcha , Tereblya , Koshelevo , Nankovo , Nizhny Bystry , Veliatino , Bushtino , Bilki , Saldobosh , Coal , Yasinya , Keretsky , Rakhovo , Veliky Bychkov , Volovoe , Neresnitsa , Krichevo , Dubovoi , Olkhovtsy , etc.) also began to declare themselves Orthodox.

Many Carpathian patriots worried about the situation prevailing in Isa, but could not help the peasants in any way, since any attempts to change the situation were suppressed by the authorities. The idea to help the flaws, especially for them raising a priest, came to the dean of the village Yasenie Bachinsky. Through the well-known Carpathian activist A. Yu. Gerovsky, he managed to send to Russia a young, deep- believing Orthodox Carpathians, Alexander Kabalyuk . In the Yablochinsky monastery, he became a monk and was ordained a priest . Having visited a number of holy places and received a letter from the Patriarch of Constantinople allowing him to serve in his homeland wherever he needed, in 1911 hieromonk Alexy returned to his native village of Yasenie. There he arranged a home church, equipping it with a folding iconostasis and other necessary utensils brought from Russia. Father Alexy repeatedly tried to get into Izu, but each time he was detained by the police and returned. He eventually made his way to Izu, disguised as a Jewish merchant. When the news of the appearance in the village of an Orthodox priest spread throughout the district, huge masses of people began to flock to Izu. Hieromonk Alexy confessed , communed , baptized , married and buried hundreds of people. Soon he was arrested and sent to Khust to the district chief, who, apparently, was a Protestant . He went to meet his father Alexy, giving him three days: while the head corresponded with Budapest , the priest performed treasure and sacraments (Father Alexy's arrival came on the feast of the Meeting of 1912 ). Three days later he was arrested and sent to Yasenya.

All these events related to the spread of Orthodoxy in Ugric Rus caused another wave of reprisals from the authorities. A raid was arranged for Alexy Kabalyuk, all his relatives were arrested, he was forced to hide with the peasants, and at their insistent request, eventually flee from Carpathian Russia. He made his way to the Yablochinsky monastery, where he told everything about the situation of the Orthodox in the Ugorshchina, then he went to Moscow, there he met with Metropolitan Vladimir and Archbishop Plato , who had arrived from America, who recommended that he move to the United States . In the meantime, a real terror was unleashed against the Orthodox peasants of Iza - they arrested everyone for the slightest continuation, even for receiving a letter with an American stamp. According to some testimonies, the gendarmes even resorted to torture - they hung the Orthodox by the legs on the tree, and kept it until blood began to pour from the throat, nose and ears. But believers did not renounce Orthodoxy and did not intend to return to the union. And in 1912, the Hungarian authorities initiated a trial of the Rusyns. About two hundred people were arrested on suspicion of treason in favor of the Russian Empire. It was alleged that the Rusyns receive "Russian rubles" for their activities. Two Jewish henchmen testified against the peasants, who claimed that one of the arrested people saw a thousand-ruble note (despite the fact that denominations of this denomination were not issued).

Initially, the hearing of the case was planned in Debrecen on November 5, 1913, but by coincidence, the trial took place in Marmarosh-Sighet , the center of Marmarosh , from December 29, 1913.

In total, 188 people were put on trial, apart from father Alexy (Kabalyuk), who came from America and surrendered to the court as soon as he learned from a letter from A. Gerovsky that a trial was instituted against him and himself. During the investigation, the prosecutor refused to charge half of the suspects, and 94 peasants and father Alexy were tried. The investigation was conducted for several months, and the process aroused great interest in society not only in Austria-Hungary , but also beyond its borders. A similar process took place several years ago in Zagreb , Croatia , where 54 Serbs charged with high treason were tried. Serbian lawyers from southern Hungary came to Marmarosh-Sighet to defend Orthodox Ruthenians, among whom was the famous lawyer from the New Garden Hadzic, as well as the Slovaks Lyudovit Mitachek and Yurko Janoshko.

Formally, the defendants were charged with “incitement” (paragraphs 172 and 173 of the Magyar criminal law). The indictment drawn up by the Magyar royal prosecutor Illes Andor indicated that they were in relations with Count Vladimir Bobrinsky (who was for some reason named a member of the Synod ), with Bishops Evlogy Kholmsky , Anthony Zhytomyro-Volynsky , Orthodox Athos , Kholm , Moscow , Kiev , Pochaev and Yablokiv monks, the All-Russian National Union and the Galician-Russian society and received financial support from them. They were also accused of having entered into an agreement with these individuals and, in addition, with Roman , Alexei and Georgy Gerovsky in order to convert the Uniate inhabitants of Hungary to Orthodoxy and subordinate them to the “Kiev Orthodox Patriarchate”. All this was allegedly done with the aim of subordinating Marmarosh , Ugoch and Perea to Russia. Church books published in Russia, brochures such as “A Word to Orthodox Christians about the New and Old Calendar” and “Where to Look for the Truth”, as well as the issues of the Chernivtsi newspaper “ Russian Truth ” (editor Illarion Tsurkanovich ), etc. were confiscated from the defendants. n. The annex to the indictment contained a list of 247 names of people whom it was supposed to bring to the case as witnesses. The evidence of the agent provocateur Arnold Dulishkovich, who slandered people whom he never knew, was added to the case materials.

The real sensation, according to newspapers, was the appearance in Marmarosh-Sighet of Count Bobrinsky himself as a witness. The count learned from the newspapers about the process, in which his name also appeared, and decided to go to court (he managed to get through only Romania , because at the Austrian embassy, ​​where he applied for a visa, he was informed that he would be arrested in Austria). He was interrogated by the court, and found most of the questions naive and even ridiculous (for example, they asked him if he was a member of the Synod). The interrogation of Bobrinsky and his answers revealed the complete failure of the prosecution.

On March 3, 1914, the verdict was announced: father Alexy Kabalyuk was sentenced to 4 years and 6 months and a fine of 100 kroons from six months, father Nikolai Sabovok to three years, the rest (about 30 people) received from 2.5 years to 6 months conclusions.

The process was widely covered in the world press: by the Russian newspapers Novoye Vremya , Golos Moskvy , Russkoe Slovo , Svet , the Austrian Carpathian Rus , Russkaya Pravda , Czernowitzer AIIg. Ztg. ”, Yugoslav“ Novosadskaya Zastava ”,“ Agramer Tageblatt ”, French“ L'echo de Paris ”,“ Figaro ”, Italian“ La Tribuna ”, German“ Vossische Zeitung ”,“ Kolnisehe Zeitung ”, Czech“ Narodni Listy ”,“ Čas ”,“ Samostatnost ”,“ Ceske Slovo Vecernik ”and others. Immediately after the trial, Nicholas II gave Father Alexy (later glorified in the face of saints) a golden altar cross; prayers were served in many churches. Upon his arrival in Russia, Count Bobrinsky made reports on the process at the Club of Public Figures and at the congress of the national party. In St. Petersburg, under the leadership of D.N. Vergun , a meeting was held in the Galician-Russian society, at which Bobrinsky also read the report. At a meeting in Kiev , with the participation of Yu. A. Yavorsky , a telegram was drawn up covering the issue and sent to the Chairman of the Council of Ministers Kokovtsov . In Minsk, Bishop Mitrofan of Minsk and Turov held a meeting on the situation in Carpathian Russia. In Lvov A.M. Gagatko organized a meeting protesting against Magyar arbitrariness. In Prague, a large rally gathered at which MPs Klofach and Hotz spoke, as well as Galician-Russian deputy Dmitry Markov . In Vienna, Czech Popular Socialists organized a pan-Slavic rally to protest the process, and then a second Slavic rally was organized by the "Club of Austrian Nationalities." Vienna "conscious Ukrainians" expressed their dissatisfaction with these Slavic rallies, and even intended to disperse the meeting, but were stopped by the willingness of those gathered to stand up for themselves.

The abuse of Orthodox Rusyns in Iza did not stop after the process. Magyar gendarmes grabbed Orthodox women and girls, tried by torture to force them to renounce Orthodoxy. Three Orthodox hieromonks who arrived in Izu from Russia were arrested (among those who went to study with Alexy Kabalyuk). The persecution of the Orthodox did not stop until the front line approached and the Hungarian army retreated.

Brothers Alexei and George Gerovsky in December 1913 were also arrested in connection with the Marmarosh-Sighet case. The process, called the “ Gerovsky Brothers Process ”, ended with the imprisonment and escape of the brothers from prison to Russia.

• The process of Olga Grabar
• The case of Maxim Sandovich and Semyon Bendasyuk
• First Marmarosh-Sighet Process

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