TCC would like to express our gratitude to Kevin Sirotnak 

for offering us the Sulín history and photos.

PAST HISTORY

The Village of Sulín is situated within a deep valley of the L'ubovanianskej highlands which has been formed by the river Poprad and other mountain waterways. This river creates a natural dividing point between Slovakia and Poland. The village lies approximately 380 to 500 meters above the sea level. There are hills and mountains which surround Sulín that are 780 meters or more. The size of the area of Sulín is 2016,5 ha. The village of Sulín is among the largest villages in this territory. The distance between the two furthest points of Sulín is about 10 kilometers. In 1998 there are at the present time 457 inhabitants in village of Sulín. Sulín has three parts to its territory. Velky Sulín (Big Sulín), Maly Sulín (Little Sulín) and Zavodie. The Mayor (Starosta) of Sulín as in 1998 is Miroslav Tyliscak. The history of the village of Sulín is historical and very variable.

The first mention of one part of the village, Velky Sulín, comes from the year 1306 when it belonged under the protectorate of the gentry of Plavec. In one document from the year 1338 the village is mentioned as Villa Zolonk. When the town of Stara Lubovna was awarded the title "the rights of a town" in 1364 the boarders were marked where along the stream called Sulín. This settlement was founded along the stream Sulín and between 1412 to 1772 the village was reserved for Poland, together with 16 towns of the Spis area. During 1828 there were 101 houses and 735 inhabitants in Sulín. People worked in agriculture and they bred cattle and worked in the forests. Poverty and starvation forced many of the inhabitants to emigrate to the United States and Canada. The largest amount of people of this place emigrated before the course of World War I. In the year of 1850 the poet, Julius Ivanowic Stavowsky Popradov, was born in this village. He named himself Popradov after the river, Poprad. He died in the year 1899 in Certizne. In the year 1891 a glassworks production was built in Sulín and since this time in history the part of the village where this production used to be is called Huta.

The section of the village called Maly Sulín is first found in historical documentation of the year 1600. This section of the village is located near the river Poprad. During the era of the Austro-Hungarian Empire Monarchy, Velky Sulín belonged to the Spis district and Maly Sulín to the Saros district. The third part of Sulín, Zabodie, is found as late as 1700 in documents. This section was administered under Mnisek nad Popradom and as late as the year 1960 it was incorporated to Sulín when all of the three sections were combined. This is how the village Sulín finally developed. In the year of 1961 Sulín had 787 inhabitants. 

In former years in this village an important mineral spring was discovered and this water (named Sulínka) was a good cure for medical conditions with major assistance for heart and digestion problems along with regular drinking enjoyment. It was exported to various places and also to United States and Canada in the Eighteenth century. A label with the Sulínka name for this product was preserved that states its age at 1836. In the year of 1958 a portion of this village was flooded and the mineral spring located here was partially damaged.

     

The church in Sulín was built in the year of 1879 in neo-classical style with baroque features. Prior to this church was of wood and wood products. The Iconstanis and holy altar of this church were from the year 1837. The refurnishing and upgrading of the Iconstanis and interior architectural paintings were completed by Jana Bogdanskeho from Dobromilu in 1896. The interior ornamentations were completely renovated and additions made in the year 1995 by Michael Hutnik, inhabitant of Sulín. The religion in this place was always Greek Catholic but in 1950 the Russian religion (i.e. Orthodoxy) was enforced. The people of Sulín resisted the Communist Russian religion for 18 years. At this time they had no priest but continued to practice their religion for which they were discriminated against. Several priests from the Russian religion tried to convert the people of Sulín but this did not succeed. In 1968 under Alexander Dubcek the people were permitted to return to their Greek Catholic religion. The church of the Greek Catholic faith and is under the holy protection of the Archangel Michael. During the prior twenty years the church has seen timely reconstructions of the Iconstanis, fresh painting of the interior and other important additions including the new roof covered in metal. This was all paid for by Greek Catholic members of this church. The Greek Catholic priest who serves as of 1998 is Father Jan Mindas.

Anna Knap was born in December of 1869 in house #17 to Joannes Knap and Catharina Hriczenyak. Joannes was a fisherman who fished in the Poprad river were fish are plentiful.

Anna married Joseph Krafchak of Maly Lipnik at St. Michael the Archangel Greek Catholic Church in Sulín on June 04, 1886. They lived in her husband's village of Maly Lipnik after they were married and had two children while living in Maly Lipnik: Anna born on March 23, 1889 and Joseph born on February 12, 1892.

Her husband, Joseph, immigrated to America in 1892 with his cousin. In 1898, Anna and her two children immigrated to America joining her husband in Old Forge, PA. In the mid-1900's Anna's brother, Joannes (John) Knap, and his family moved to Old Forge.

Anna spoke mostly in Rusyn and was never fluent in English. She also disliked modern machinery opting for more simple life that she lived in Sulín and Maly Lipnik. While in America, Joseph and Anna had five more children. In the 1940's Anna, now a widow, moved with the majority of the family to Detroit, MI. This was caused by the decline of the coal industry in PA and the lure of the automotive industry in Detroit.

Anna died in 1950 in Detroit. She is buried next to her husband in St. Nicholas Byzantine Catholic Church Cemetery in Old Forge, PA.

 

The Cicak Family

(Standing) Maria Cicak Romanik, Michael Cicak, Stefan Cicak & Verona Cicak Petrilak

(Sitting) Maria Oleksak Cicak, Stefan Cicak & Anna Cicak

The Sirotnak Family

Michael Sirotnak, wife Anna Czicak, son John(L), son Michael(R)

Index: Andreas Soltis; Henricus Soltis; Franciscus Kolov; Joannes Havrilik; George Gajdics

Thank You to Rudo Pavlovic