Places

At the beginning of the 20th century many cultural, educational, and also social institutions were founded in Jarosław. Among them, we can mention, i.a.: ‘Rodyna’ Society of Townsmen and Craftsmen or a branch of ‘Prosvita’, the largest Ukrainian educational organization in Galicia. A co-founder of these institutions was Father Cyprian Chotyniecki, the parish priest and Dean of the Greek Catholic parish in Jarosław in the years 1906–1942. Father Chotyniecki served many functions, was, inter alia, a lower secondary Greek Catholic catechist (in the years 1899–1906), as well as a diocesan visitor (the years 1928–1931).

It was also his intent to establish the Society of Ruska Bursa (in English ‘Russian dormitory’). According to some sources, in the year 1893 the Greek Catholic parish in Jarosław had approximately 4,000 faithful (one year before the outbreak of World War II, their number decreased to 1,947), of which 335 people was the youth studying at different Jarosław schools. His pupils often came from outside the village and due to the urgent need for their accommodation father Chotyniecki initiated the construction of a boarding school. In this way, the foundation of the Society of Ruska Bursa in 1904 commenced the construction of a large building intended to act as a boarding school at 6 Poniatowskiego Street (former Rejon Dróg). The boarding school was called ‘St Onufry’s Dormitory’.

In addition to this dormitory, there were two more in Jarosław: Nicolaus Copernicus’ Dormitory which was founded in 1873 at the initiative of father Franciszek Wojnar for the Polish youth, and ‘Talmud Thora’ dormitory which was founded in 1880 for the youth of the Jewish faith.