THE UKRAINIANS FROM THE SOUTH OF BUCOVINA

1. Settlement, demographic situation and organization in the territory

The laborious research of the distinguished historian Constantin Ungureanu shows that in 1774 the Ukrainians formed about a third of the population of Bucovina. Until 1779, many Ukrainians from Galicia settled here, being exempted from military service until 1830. In that year, Ukrainians made up 36.3% of the population of Bucovina.

In 1910, the year of the last Austrian imperial census in Bucovina, 38.4% of the population declared themselves Ukrainian speakers (305,101 people out of a total of 794,929).

The 1930 census recorded the existence of 248,232 Ukrainians in historic Bucovina (29.6% of the province’s population).

Constantin Ungureanu shows that between 1989 (Chernivtsi region) – 1992 (Suceava county), historical Bucovina had a population of 1,157,205 inhabitants, of which 41.6% were Ukrainians (471,345 in Chernivtsi region and 10,069 in Suceava county).

The 2011 Population and Housing Census recorded that 5,916 ethnic Ukrainians lived in Suceava County, with a stable population of 634,810. The Ukrainian language was then spoken as a mother tongue by 6,097 people. Also in 2011, most ethnic Ukrainians in Suceava County declared themselves Orthodox (4,728 people).

Ukrainians from Suceava County are the majority in Bălcăuți, Brodina, Costileva, Gropești, Lupcina, Negostina, Rogojești.

Currently, in 17 schools in Suceava County, located in localities with a numerically significant Ukrainian population and in the cities of Radauti, Siret and Suceava, the Ukrainian language is studied as a mother tongue.

The schools in question are the following: Baineţ Secondary School; Bălcăuţi Secondary School; Brodina Gymnasium; Calafindeşti Secondary School; Grăniceşti Secondary School; Izvoarele Suceava Secondary School; Măriţei Secondary School; Moldova Suliţa Secondary School; “Vasile Cocea” Technological High School, Moldovita; Pârteştii de Sus Secondary School; Rădăuţi Technical College; „Petru Muşat” Gymnasium School Siret; Laţcu Vodă Siret Technical College; Mihai Eminescu National College Suceava; Şerbăuţi Secondary School; Ulma Secondary School; Vatra Moldoviţei Secondary School.

In addition, there is a Ukrainian language department at the Faculty of Letters and Communication Sciences at the “Ștefan cel Mare” University of Suceava.

2. Customs (traditions)

Ukrainian communities in southern Bucovina currently retain two types of customs (traditions): religious and secular. We mention that part of the Ukrainian communities here hold the holidays in the old style, the other part in the new style.

The main religious holidays of the Ukrainians of Bucovina are the Easter holidays, Christmas (December 25 / January 7) and New Year (January 1/14).

The three major national moments celebrated by the Ukrainians of Suceava County within the county are March 9 (the birth of the national poet of Ukraine Taras Shevchenko), August 24 (Ukraine Independence Day) and November – the commemoration of the Holodomor (death by famine, 1932-1933, induced by the Soviet government’s disastrous agricultural policy).

2. Religious customs (traditions)

2.1. Easter traditions

Traditional Bucovinian Ukrainians call the Resurrection “the Great Day” (Ukrainian: Velykden). It is prefaced by Flower Sunday (Nedilia Vedrbna), followed by a week of severe fasting and religious services and completed with the preparation of the famous pysanky (poached eggs), Easter (paska) and the actual religious holiday of the “Great Day”. .

As with the Romanians or the Lipovan Russians, on Palm Sunday, willow branches are blessed at the church, a substitute for the palm branches that were placed in the way of the Savior, at his entrance to Jerusalem.

Pysanky are made on Maundy Thursday, according to a traditional technique, the drawings (mainly floral and vegetable motifs) being made with wax, then dipped in paint. Traditional Ukrainian paska is not prepared with sweet cheese, as in Romanian, and can be considered a kind of cake.

On Easter Saturday, the shells of eggs used for cooking are thrown into running water. Ukrainian popular folk Ukrainian folk show that these eggs arrive, floating on the water, on the fourth Sunday of Easter, to Rahmani, a mythical population that lives somewhere, underground, overseas.

On the night of the resurrection, Ukrainians go to church with holy eggs, Easter, greens, pork or lamb. These foods are consecrated, then consumed in the family on the first day of Easter. In the morning of that day, it is customary for men to wash their feet while sitting on an ax, so that they become hard as iron.

2.2. Christmas traditions

The most important Ukrainian traditions related to the birth of Jesus are related to the preparation of the meal on Christmas Eve, the walk with the “Star” and the carol.

As with the Poles from Bucovina, the housewives prepare 12 fasting dishes for Christmas Eve dinner. These dishes vary from one Bucovina settlement to another, but everywhere you can find the following: pancakes, honey compote, beans cooked in different ways, boiled wheat, sarmale, mushroom stew.

The symbolism of the 12 dishes is obvious: the number of apostles and the number of months of the year.

On Christmas Eve, younger children go with the “Star”, made of a wooden frame with this shape, on which is attached an icon, various ornaments of colored paper and fir satin. These children sing short religious carols at the households. On the eve of the eve, teenagers and households go with carols to acquaintances, where they are served with wine and cakes.

2.3. New Year traditions

The most important Ukrainian tradition, taken over by the Romanians from southern Bucovina, is “malanca” (folk theater). “Malanca” is a polymorphic term that covers both the dances with the goat, the bear, the old men (the oldest), and the scenes with voivodes or outlaws (the newest). In this respect, the most important popular theater scenes in southern Bucovina are “Ștefan cel Mare”, “Brâncoveanu”, “Jianu”, “Gruia lui Novac”, “Palenciuc” etc.

3. Secular traditions

3.1. Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko’s birthday (March 9, 1814 – March 10, 1861). Painter and illustrator, romantic poet, folklorist and ethnographer, initiator of modern Ukrainian literature and supporter of Ukrainian independence. The day is celebrated both at the central level of the Union of Ukrainians in Romania (UUR) and at the level of county and local branches.

3.2. Ukraine Independence Day. Celebrated especially at the level of the central organization and the county organizations of the UUR. Ukraine’s Declaration of Independence from the Soviet Union is celebrated.

Until 2014, when there was still a Consulate of Ukraine in Suceava, this institution organized the Independence Day of Ukraine. Folklore groups of Ukrainians from Suceava County, leaders of county and local UUR organizations, representatives of ethnic communities in southern Bucovina, local and county authorities, people of culture, etc. were invited.

3.3. Commemoration of the Holodomor (death by famine). It is organized annually in November, mainly at the level of the UUR county organization. At the headquarters of the county organization of UUR Suceava are presented various scientific communications on the genocide by famine, organized by the Soviet authorities against the Ukrainian population, in 1932-1933, which led to the death of 10 million people.

3.4. “Coexistence” interethnic folk festival

Initiated by the Suceava county organization of UUR in 1994, reached its XXVI edition in 2019. Due to the pandemic situation, no editions were organized in 2020 and 2021. Participates folk ensembles, choirs, vocal groups, etc., representing all ethnic communities from Suceava County (including the Romanian majority).

The most important folk ensembles of the Ukrainians from southern Bucovina are “Kozaciok” from Bălcăuți, “Kolomeika” from Siret. In addition, the vocal group “Soacrele” from Suceava, the vocal-instrumental group “Strunele Negostinei” from Negostina and the taraf “Huțulca” from Ulma also stand out.

4. Proverbs and stories

Ukrainians in southern Bucovina have an inexhaustible treasure of proverbs and stories. The children of this community can either hear them directly from the village elders (personally, over the years, I have heard many Ukrainian proverbs in the village of Radauti), or they can consult them through the courses on History and tradition of the Ukrainian minority, taught in 17 schools mentioned above.

We continue to insert a bouquet of significant Ukrainian proverbs, along with two stories.

4.1. Sayings

1. The crow will never be a hawk.

2. The fire starts with sparks.

3. The hungry wolf is always stronger than the hungry dog.

4. Wisdom lies in the head, not in the beard.

5. No matter how much you do, the bull does not give milk.

6. The earth covers the doctor’s mistakes.

7. Borrowed bread falls hard on the stomach.

8. The too-insistent fool is worse than the enemy.

9. Black souls wear white clothes.

10. Keep the fire away from the straw.

3.2. Fairy tales

The old dog

There was once a man who had a dog. When he was young, the dog was pampered, when he got older he was always beaten and kicked out of the house. So he went and stretched himself outside the fence, and a wolf approached him and said:

– Puppy, why are you so upset?

“When I was young, they pampered me.” Ever since I got older, I’ve been fighting all the time!

The wolf then said:

– I see your master in the field; go to him and maybe he’ll give you something!

“No,” said the dog. Now he doesn’t even let me out of the yard, he just beats me all the time.

– I’m sorry about you and I want to help you. I see your mistress put her baby under that cart. I’ll steal it and they’ll make me run with it. Run after me and bark and, you really don’t have teeth anymore, pretend to bite me, so that your mistress can see that you want to get rid of the child!

The wolf grabbed the baby and started running. The dog followed him and pretended to bite him. His mistress saw them and followed them with a hoe, shouting at the same time:

– Man, the wolf took our baby! You do not see? The wolf grabbed the baby!

The man followed the wolf and rescued his boy.

“Brave old dog!” he said. You are old and you have no teeth but you jumped to our aid when needed and you did not let our boy be stolen!

From then on, the woman and the man fed the old man every day.

The story of the mole

Once upon a time, a rich man and a poor man had a field in common and sowed it – at the same time – with wheat. God blessed the work of the poor and made the seed grow, but the seed of the rich man did not multiply.

Then the rich man claimed that part of the field where the wheat had sprouted and said to the poor man:

– Look, my wheat has become yours and not yours! The poor man denied it, but the rich man would not listen, but said to him:

“If you don’t think I’m poorer, come to the field tomorrow morning, before dawn, and God will judge between us.”

The poor poor man went home. The rich man dug a deep hole in the poor man’s field, put his son in it and said: My son, when I come here tomorrow morning and ask whose field it is, you say it belongs to the rich man, that is, mine. Then he covered his son with straw and went home.

In the morning, all the people gathered and went to the field, and the rich man shouted, “Speak, Lord! Whose field is this, the poor or the rich?

“Of the rich, of the rich!” Cried a voice from the middle of the field.

But the Lord Himself was among the people gathered there, and He said:

– Do not listen to this voice, because the field is really the poor man’s.

Then he told all the people how it had happened and said to the rich man’s son:

– Stay where you are and stay underground all your days, as long as the sun is in the sky.

Immediately, the rich man’s son became a mole and, therefore, the mole always runs away from the light of day.