On 21 May, the main building of the Ivan Franko Drohobych State Pedagogical University hosted a presentation of the book “Essays on the History of the Village of Nyzhni Hai in Drohobych Region”, authored by a number of historians: Leonid Tymoshenko, Ihor Smutok, Daniel Krzysztof Nowak, Yurii Stetsyk, Mykola Haliv, Mykola Stefanskyi, Volodymyr Hanas, Vasyl Ilnytskyi, and Uliana Haliv.
The collective monograph, based on archival materials, press publications, and historical research, explores the history of the village of Nyzhni Hai from ancient times to the present.
The presentation began with a minute of silence for the fallen heroes, and then Father Ivan Pankiv addressed all those present with a call to preserve their history, language and culture as the nation’s most valuable asset.
The opening remarks were made by Mykola Pantiuk, Vice-Rector for Research, Professor of the Ivan Franko State Pedagogical University, who stressed the importance of researching the history of Nyzhni Hai village by Drohobych historians in the context of the history of our region. At the same time, Mykola Pantiuk noted that today, in times of war, it is very important to write the history of villages, as many settlements are disappearing from the face of the earth due to military operations.
said Mykola Pantiuk.
According to the moderator of the event, Ihor Rozlutskyi, PhD in Philology, Associate Professor, the book on the history of Nyzhni Hai is quite research-intensive, as it explores the history of the village from ancient times to the present. Each chapter can be considered a separate monograph. The authors cover such aspects as: the earliest period of the village’s history, the functioning of the parish church, schooling, the activities of the Prosvita reading room, the village during the First World War and the ZUNR, the Ukrainian national liberation movement, the latest heroes and prominent natives of the village. The book is filled with a large number of photographs by Ihor Fetsiak.
Mykhailo Kravets was the founder of the book and the main initiator of its writing. A number of donors also contributed to the publication of the book.
Mayor Taras Kuchma called on the participants to preserve the history of their native land and collect data about the villages and settlements that are part of our community.
Every person is a cell from which the Ukrainian nation is formed. The book “Sketches of the History of Nyzhni Hai Village in Drohobych Region” is a book about history, a book about memory, about those villagers who created new milestones in their lives, built, taught, and sowed the eternal. So, I thank the authors for jointly creating a new era of our country on the basis of the old history. We must remember the important thing that people who create the history of their village are simultaneously creating the history of their region and their country as a whole. The historical memory of our nation must be preserved and enhanced,” said Taras Kuchma, head of the community.
The tome has already been handed over to numerous libraries in both our community and the city. So the book is already available for reading.