Father Kassian bogatyrets at the second viennese trial

Among the numerous punitive measures taken against the Rusin population of Austro-Hungary by the Austro-Hungarian authorities during WW1, the First and Second Viennese Trials stand out in that well-known activists of the Rusin Movement were prosecuted because of the idea of the unity of the Russian peoples. During the Second Viennese Trial, accused were those who adhered to Orthodoxy. One of the main personalities of the Trial was the Orthodox priest from Bukovina, a leader of the Rusin Movement, Father Kassian Bogatyrets. At the Trial he presented an argumentative speech and concluding statement. Prophetic were his words: "It is easy to see that the military court will condemn us to death, but I am convinced that this Austria, I will outlive for sure". In reality, of the 24 convicted only 7 were acquitted, 1 of the accused died in prison. The others, including Father Kassian, were condemned to death. Upon amnesty in the Spring of 1917, all of the convicted were released. After the war and the fall of Austro-Hungary, Father Kassian was the rector of the parish in Kitsman and Dean of the Kitsman and Zastavna decanates in Bukovina. He helped in the rebirth of Orthodoxy in Subcarpathian Rus'. In 1940 he went on pension, settled in Chernovtsy where from 1944 to 1953 he was father confessor of the Convent of the Holy Entrance. He did scholarly work and wrote a history of the Bukovinian Diocese which was published in the Rusin Journal Library (2015, 1).

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