What was the social environment that existed in 1989, when communism was over and the Kychau dances group was founded?

Until 1989, the Lemoneses of Poland had very limited possibilities of expressing identity. We had not made ourselves known as different ethnic minorities. We could only work as a branch of the structures of the Socio-cultural Association of Ukraine, because the lemcos considered us Ukrainians. We didn't have our own schools, the rudder was considered the dialect of Ukrainian. In this situation, the only way we had to develop our identity and carry out our activities was folkloric groups.

In 1989 he brought together the group of dances.

In 1989, in Legnica, I gathered the first group of young people [city of 100,000 inhabitants of the Lower Silesia of Poland]. Since 1991, we have been working under the name of Lemkowskiego Zespolu Piesni i Tanca “Kychau” (Lemko Kantu and Dantza Taldea group). Today, our activity is much broader than artistic activity. We organize exhibitions and scientific conferences, participate in international youth exchange projects, do field work, publish books and also have the largest library in Poland and perhaps in the world on the culture of slogans. We also hosted a great international festival.

In all these years, over 500 people have gone through the dance and singing group. There are now more than 80 people working in the association. Kychau is known. Not only in Legnica, but in the region, in Poland, and abroad.

However, the start was very hard. On the one hand, since in 1947 the Communist authorities deported and dispersed us through Poland in Operation Vistula, from Lemkovyna [the historic homeland of the Lemnians], we did not have the opportunity to make our dances. After 40 years the dances had almost forgotten. We started by asking our elders and we were able to recover our traditional dances.

The young people who composed the group, for their part, feared to recognize their origin, feared the unpleasant consequences at school and at work. We had to build everything from “zero”: the artistic program, the awareness of the group, the promotion of good opinions in the Polish environment. The Ukrainians showed a opposite attitude, because they interpreted our role as a separatist activity. However, the work has been positive and the conclusions are very spectacular today.

How did the Kychara dance group help to strengthen identity and rudder in Legnica and the region?

Kycai was the perfect excuse for young people to meet. Some of the inhabitants of Baja Silesia went to Legnica's essays. The dance group program was presented not only to those of Lemoa, but also to their Polish neighbours. The young people learned the ancestral culture and transmitted it to others. The older Lemoa realized that their actions were framed in events organized by local Polish entities and were no longer afraid. Little by little, they began to feel proud of Kyczer.

Through Kyczer’s performances, the Poles and the Lemnians began to break the stereotypes that separated the smaller ones. By naming Lemona’s in Legnica, they began to say “our lemnies.” When Kychau started going to festivals outside of Poland, not only from the culture of the rudder, but he became an ambassador of Legnica and Poland. And yet, school teachers and teachers often started exposing our children. This gave young people a sense of pride. They stopped being afraid and began to speak in Spanish in public places. Today, no one is ashamed to belong to Kychara.

The singing and dancing group Kychara organizes a music festival.

The Folklore International Festival (The World from Kyczerá) is one of the largest festivals of this kind organized in Poland. Everyone knows that it's organized by them. This year, the Champions League will be held from 28 to 14 June in several locations, including Legnica and Krynica de Lemkovyna. The Festival offers the possibility to speak in the media about the rudder. At the gala concerts held in the market places of the cities, the presenters present their performances in Polish and rudder. The big banner on stage, the invitation signs to the festival are bilingual. The groups participating in the kalejira carry bilingual plates with the names of the peoples. All of this makes the rudder a well-known language.

In the trials with our children we work in Lemkera. We arrange trips to get you to know Lemkovyna, to bring you closer to the history and culture of your ancestors. We teach them the old churches, the cemeteries, we organize a crafts workshop and we take ourselves to the museums. We recently made the film, and we actually lived there like in paradise. The actors are members of our team. The film talks about the loss of the lost Arcadia and is screened at international festivals.

What is the knowledge of the rudder in Legnica and in the region, according to age?

Unfortunately, fewer and fewer people are speaking the rudder. Throughout Poland there is no school that teaches all the subjects in Spanish. Lemera is studied in another center after school hours. My children go to the timeline classes and have the compulsory subject on the timon school certificates. Daniel, the oldest son, did last year the Spanish baccalaureate test. He is the only high school student who has done this in Poland. This course my daughter Olga will do the same and with her another young man from our group, Daniel. I believe that the Kychau group has an influence on the examination of low in her mother tongue, although no one obliges her to do so.

The inhabitants of the villages know better the rudder, especially in the large generations. In Legnica, very few people speak a clear rudder. The problem is not only to polonize, but also to Ukrainian. In Legnica there is a Ukrainian school since the mid-1950s. To learn the literary language of Ukraine, they often forget the language they have learned at home.

The Ukrainization of Legnica’s slogans is also carried out through the Greek Catholic Church. The clergy are Ukrainian and propagate their national identity. They have recognized with great difficulty that the rudder's are different. Many lemnies are believers in the Orthodox Church, and the clergy is of lexical origin. At home visits and in the sermons of parishioners, they are given the rudder. It must be borne in mind, however, that the problem is, above all, a very intense polonization, which is carried out through the school education system, the media and the Polish workplaces.

What are the main challenges and difficulties currently facing the population of Legnica’s motto?

If we had professional organisations of culture, science and education, it would be much easier to maintain our identity. Unfortunately, we have no institution in Poland. It's a big problem, because everything has to be done on a voluntary basis, but still, you have to make a living somewhere. Such organizations could slow down the assimilation process.

For many years now, I have been fighting for this goal. Unfortunately, in vain. The problem is that young people go to big cities and become even more quickly assimilated into Polish culture. Our community is getting older. However, we are recently seeing a phenomenon: more and more of the helm parents are deciding to bring three or more children into the world.

Unfortunately, the prognosis is not optimistic. We live outside our ethnic territory, abroad. We live in the Polish sea. We maintain our identity thanks to the small group of passionate fans. I would say that they are also “crazy”, because they work at the expense of health and family. But everything has its limits. I'm 52 years old and I feel very tired. My wife died seven years ago, and I was left alone with five young children. I'm standing at the crossroads. I try to convey my knowledge and responsibilities to young people. I have around me a number of people like this, but it takes many years to acquire knowledge.