June 11, 2015
Jackson, NJ: 70th Anniversary of Lienz Massacre Commemorated

On June 7, the Sunday of All Saints, worshippers gathered at St. Vladimir’s Cemetery in Jackson, NJ for a panihida at St. John the Baptist Chapel to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Massacre of Cossacks at Lienz. Protopresbyter Valery Lukianov (pastor emeritus of St. Alexander Nevsky Diocesan Cathedral in Howell, NJ) was co-served by Eastern American Diocesan secretary Archpriest Serge Lukianov (chaplain of the Kuban Cossack Voisko Abroad), Archpriest Alexey Bocharnikov (chaplain of the Cossack Congress in America), Archpriest Boris Slootsky, Protodeacon Leonid Roschko, and Deacon Paul Drozdowski (clerics of St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral).

On June 1, 1945, at the conclusion of the Second World War, over 20,000 Cossacks were rounded up by the British Army near the town of Lienz, Austria, and handed over for deportation to the Soviet Union. This action was in accordance with agreements at the Yalta and Tehran Conferences of the Allied Powers, which determined that all Soviet refuges and prisoners of war be repatriated if found within other Allied-controlled zones. As many of the Cossacks at Lienz were White émigrés and their children, they refused repatriation on account of the fact that they had never been Soviet citizens. This led to an organized forcible removal, which began while the Cossacks had gathered to celebrate the Divine Liturgy in an open field. The resulting operation left hundreds of Cossack men, women, and children dead, while hundreds more were sent to certain death in the Soviet camps. By tradition, the Kuban Cossack Voisko Abroad commemorates the victims of this tragedy every year on the nearest Sunday to June 1, and St. John the Baptist Chapel – built in honor of the Holy Passion-Bearer Tsarevich Alexis, Most August Ataman of All Cossack Hosts – likewise commemorates those fallen at Lienz.

To further commemorate this event, a memorial chapel dedicated to St. Alexis was erected and consecrated at the Cossack Memorial-Cemetery outside Lienz a week prior. Ataman Alexander M. Pewnew was absent from the Jackson commemoration in order to attend that ceremony.

At the end of the service, Fr. Valery delivered a sermon on the spiritual importance of this panihida:

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit!

We have gathered here today at this chapel, commemorating the memory of those who died for their Faith, for their homeland. And today, we remember all those massacred dead who suffered in those days there in Lienz.

But our memory is not limited to only this: we truly mourn, with hope for eternal salvation – but believing that the people who suffered in the name of God will be saved in eternity – and we remember not only those people. We remember those helpless people who were left alive, who have since died; but who suffered and languished for all of their lives in memory of those who were taken from them. These were parents, friends, a wife, a husband, children… these particular people suffered for decades, reminded of that was torn away from them: the core, so to say, of what every person has for the duration of his life. This particular tragedy, through which many suffered, many hundreds of people around the world, who were later scattered everywhere. But the memory remains, the woe remains. We remember them.

We remember today the good memory of those priests, deacons, and clergymen, who in the last minutes there saved the people spiritually: gave Communion, offered their pectoral crosses, supported them in every way. They are martyrs for the Orthodox Faith. They fulfilled their duty to the very ends of their lives, giving their lives for their spiritual children. This is a remarkable example for the entire world, but the world did not see this, unfortunately. We undoubtedly understand that, in those moments and those days, those hours in which the slaughter occurred, when that horror resounded across the whole world, how many were heroes were there? How many of the people there who secretly, quietly, saved someone? Hid small children under their skirts, took to the mountains with them, hid in trees, what they wouldn’t have done only to save them… how many such people were there? Today is their commemoration. Today we remember them. Maybe they escaped, didn’t suffer death, but I have already said that the memory of these people is dear to us, who tried to save those who were to die totally innocent.

And now, see how quiet it is? Do you hear how the little birds are singing? This chapel rightly portrays that quietude: peace, the Lord’s peace. It is good that it exists. It is good that they put it here. A person can come here, reflect, place a candle, and pray. This is good. Thank God! But there, the same thing has happened. One can simply say, to a certain degree, a miracle. And it so happened that I was to have dealings with the chapel in Lienz not only in my profession as a priest. Those people who erected it contacted me. I see that this was a miracle of God. A marvelous chapel! Beautiful, made so well out of logs in such a completely breathtaking spiritual form. It’s as if it goes heavenward: up toward God – and this is that commemoration that the people there have erected today after 70 years. Glory to the Lord God!

Of course, it remains there at that cemetery and will always give the opportunity to those who want to come and pray for their loved ones. And such quiet is there at that cemetery, and the birds also sing there, and the widows and grandmothers and grandfathers and children also cry there. And also laying there quietly are those who gave up their lives for the Orthodox Faith, for their homeland, for their principles: truth, honor, integrity. This feat of theirs will never be extinguished. Never! And today, the only sorrow that remains in the heart is that the world did not understand these Cossacks and other people who were doomed: they were absolutely not understood in any way whatsoever. And who assaulted them? Their own, more or less! This was Europe massacring innocent people.

After the war, this was all in some sort of "aura," you know, some sort of stand for democracy. And quite unfortunately, there were also talks at that time with the Soviet Union in order to complete this. Some principles of mutual decision making – what decision was there? Truth should have prevailed to abstain and say, "No! We will not annihilate these innocent people!" But nobody said this. There were some, of course, Englishmen, who said this. They left because they weren’t tolerated.

And so everything that encompasses this uniquely historical moment, which none of us, and nobody in the entire world, must forget. Thank God! Thank you, that people have gathered today in order to pray, give them their due, commemorate them; and what should we do? We must always be approximately that same example for righteousness, faith, and truth. We must teach our children, grandchildren, and great-grandchild, so that they know what sort of people we had, what remarkable ancestors we have! How truly remarkable and valorous were our champions for truth! If we will thus raise our next generation, then there will remain some significance to human history, and some justification for the divine forgiveness of our sins.

May the Lord God help us by their sacrifices, their prayers and our common prayer. Ask the Lord God for help that we may hold fast. Hold on to the Lord God, hold on to the Mother of God, hold fast with all your strength with your arms and legs for Christ’s Church, hold on with your whole mind, and don’t forget that it is our sacred duty to give this over to those that follow us and come after us. A sacred duty! This should never be forgotten. I know that are many of those who have gathered here, and also many thousands of people around us, who likewise want to share in our fervor and eagerness to preserve those memories.

May they acquire the Heavenly Kingdom! May they acquire eternal rest! And may the Lord God allow them to be remarkable (and they already are) examples. And we will pray here in the chapel, and in Lienz they will pray in the chapel, and in this way the memory will continue across all nations from generation to generation. Amen.

Also in attendance were other representatives of the Cossack Congress in America, Kuban Cossack Voisko Abroad, six of the remaining survivors of Lienz, and many descendants of survivors. One such descendant, Don Cossack Aleksei S. Shoomiloff, said of the event’s personal significance:

"My grandfather, Peter A. Overt, was a survivor of Lienz. His father had been a lieutenant in the Imperial and White Armies; his brother died holding the line at Lienz while he escaped into the forest with the rest of our family, climbing to the top of an evergreen for safe haven. They could hear whistles blowing, dogs barking, and people yelling down below while they held tightly onto the tree and prayed for their lives. He eventually immigrated to the United States, where he was drafted for the Korean War, fighting hand-to-hand at the Battle of Pork Chop Hill, and became a citizen while stationed in Hawaii. He was a true patriot to this country, but he never forgot where he came from and made sure that his children knew about their ancestry. This panihida is a chance to give our respect to the people who passed before us, comfort those who have remained, and a chance to make sure what happened is not forgotten by the youth. This is why I made sure to come with my wife and our one-year-old daughter."

Afterwards, a group photo was taken with the clergy and survivors or Lienz. A memorial luncheon was then held at the Kuban Cossack Hall in Howell, at which time guests were also invited to visit the conjoining Cossack Museum.

Media Office of the Eastern American Diocese