(b. October 9, 1920, in the village of Dovhe, Drohobych District, now Lviv Oblast – d. April 29, 2003, in the village of Vytvytsia, Dolyna Raion, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast)
A religious preacher and martyr for the faith. The son of peasants. He had a fourth-grade education. Disabled since the age of 16, he walked on crutches due to bone tuberculosis. On December 29, 1945, he was sentenced by the military tribunal of the Carpathian Military District under Articles 54-1(a) and 54-11 of the Criminal Code of the Ukrainian SSR to 10 years of imprisonment. He was incriminated for possessing publications of the OUN-UPA (Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists – Ukrainian Insurgent Army), although he was not a member of the national liberation movement. He served his sentence in camps in Kazakhstan (Balkhash). For refusing to work and for his religious preaching, he was subjected to the most brutal torture. "The suffering he endured during his 10 years of imprisonment would be enough for a great martyr" (Vasyl STUS). He was released in 1955 upon completion of his term.
Beginning in 1953, Skalych dedicated his life to the Pokutnyky movement (from pokuta—penance), which emerged in the early 1950s in Western Ukraine as a "unique folk version of Ukrainian messianism" (V. STUS). The Pokutnyky believe that the Second Coming of Christ has already occurred, that a new Gospel already exists on Earth, and they recognize Serednia Hora (Middle Mountain) in the Carpathian region as a holy site where a new Rome is to appear.
On January 30, 1980, he was arrested by the Drohobych prosecutor’s office on charges of conducting "anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda," "creating a group that endangers the health of citizens," and "infringement on the person." During a search, about 700 of Skalych’s poems of a religious and nationalist nature were confiscated—the fruit of his reflections on the world, faith, and Christianity. The court declared 70 of them to be anti-Soviet. On August 19, he was sentenced by the Lviv Regional Court under Articles 62(2), 209(1), 26(1.1), and 42 of the Criminal Code of the Ukrainian SSR to 10 years of imprisonment and 5 years of exile. He was also declared an especially dangerous recidivist, with confiscation of property (which he did not have—even his family home had been flooded by a reservoir).
From September 27 to October 2, 1980, he was in camp ZhKh-385/1 (Mordovia); on October 16, he arrived in transit at VS-389/36-1 (in the village of Kuchino, Perm Oblast). For a year in Kuchino, he refused to wear the prisoner’s uniform, remaining in his underclothes. He later tore off the chest tag with his surname, and when it was burned on with bleach, he cut a hole in his jacket. For religious reasons, he did not recognize his surname (calling himself Semen Pokutnyk) and therefore refused to sign any documents, was denied access to the camp store, and did not write letters, applications, or complaints. As a disabled person, he did not work, nor did he accept any gifts from his fellow inmates—unless it was in exchange for a service. In his dealings with the administration, he conducted himself with exceptional dignity, and with his fellow prisoners, in a highly moral, Christian manner. He spent his time praying for the people, believing that after the destruction of monasticism, political prisoners had taken on its role.
From March 13 to May 14, 1981, he was in Lviv for "re-education," which in no way shook his convictions. Between 1981 and 1987, Skalych was transferred five times to the hospital of camp VS-389/35 (Vsekhsvyatskaya station) for heart, kidney, and stomach ulcer ailments.
In July 1982, an article by Kuroyedov, the chairman of the Committee for Religious Affairs, appeared in Literaturnaya Gazeta, slandering the Pokutnyky, including Skalych.
He was released on October 8, 1987, by a ruling of the Chusovoy City Court on October 6, due to chronic illnesses.
With the proclamation of Ukraine’s independence, the Pokutnyky acknowledged their surnames, received Ukrainian passports, and officially registered their residences. Semen Skalych’s pension was 49 hryvnias (about $10). He lived with fellow believers who had taken him in. He was gravely ill. He died on April 29, 2003, in the village of Vytvytsia, Dolyna Raion, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, where he is buried.
Bibliography:
Visnyk represiy v Ukrayini [Herald of Repression in Ukraine]. Foreign Representation of the Ukrainian Helsinki Group. Ed. and comp. N. Svitlychna. New York. – 1982: 5–9; 1984: 12–3. V. Stus. "Iz taborovoho zoshyta" [From the Camp Notebook]. // Vikna v pozaprostir [Windows into the Beyond]. – Kyiv: Veselka, p. 225. Ibid. in Vasyl Stus. Tvory v chotyrokh knyhakh, shesty tomakh [Works in four books, six volumes]. "Prosvita" Publishing House. – Vol. 4. – p. 502. Ukrayinskyi Visnyk [Ukrainian Herald]. Issue 8–9, 1987. Reprint by the Foreign Representation of the UHG, 1988. – pp. 219, 222–223. KHPG Archive: Interview with S. Skalych on January 25, 2000, in the city of Stryi. https://museum.khpg.org/1121777234 Mizhnarodnyy biohrafichnyy slovnyk dysydentiv krayin Tsentralnoyi ta Skhidnoyi Yevropy y kolyyshnyoho SRSR [International Biographical Dictionary of Dissidents in Central and Eastern Europe and the Former USSR]. Vol. 1. Ukraine. Part 2. – Kharkiv: Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group; "Prava Lyudyny," 2006. – pp. 718–720. Ukr. https://museum.khpg.org/1300956201; Rus. https://museum.khpg.org/1113997278 Rukh oporu v Ukrayini: 1960–1990. Entsyklopedychnyy dovidnyk [Resistance Movement in Ukraine: 1960–1990. An Encyclopedic Guide] / Foreword by Osyp Zinkevych, Oles Obertas. – Kyiv: Smoloskyp, 2010. – pp. 596–597; 2nd ed.: 2012, – pp. 678–679. Vasyl Ovsiyenko, Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group. April 20, 2005. Last read July 23, 2016. V. Stus. "Iz taborovoho zoshyta" [From the Camp Notebook]. // Vikna v pozaprostir [Windows into the Beyond]. Kyiv: Veselka, p. 225. Ibid. in Vasyl Stus. Tvory v chotyrokh knyhakh, shesty tomakh [Works in four books, six volumes]. "Prosvita" Publishing House. Vol. 4, p. 502.
