12 July 1908, Sunday
Our maid, Mariia Linchak, went to the photographer’s at noon at 4. A group of about 100 servants—girls and boys—were photographed together with their guide, Basilian monk, who had been leading them in church, teaching them to sing. He is leaving for America, and the photo was taken in his honor. These Basilians are active people—they know how to attract others. Later, our maid attended the festivals of the worker’s sociaty “Power” [Syla]. Here in Zhovkivska district, a large crowd gathered in front of the fence in the garden. Meanwhile, the Rus’kyi [1] “Sokil” festival was taking place in Zboiska.
6 August 1908, Thursday
Zosia (Hrushkevych’s older daughter Sofia Rakovs’ka, ICh) left at 2 o’clock on a hurried train for Mykulychyn, accompanied by my wife, Mania (Hrushkevych’s younger daughter Maria, ICh), and Marynka (the maid). I stayed at home alone.
27 August 1908
In the afternoon, I said goodbye to Mania, who went to the post office, and then at a quarter to three, my wife and Marynia, who took my belongings, accompanied me to the wagon with my Wife.
26 December 1908
In the evening, Zosia, Ivan (Hrushkevych’s son-in-law, Ivan Rakovs’kyi, ICh), Mania, and my wife went to the Revakovychs’ house, while I stayed with Myros’ (grandson Myroslav Rakovskyi, ICh) and the nurse—Marynia was bedridden, sick [2].
6 January 1909
It is the evening of the Holy Supper. The weather is mild outside, with a slight drizzle and some wind. I sent Christmas cards to Slavko and Melania (son and daughter-in-law, ICh), the Borodievychs, the Horodyskis, Theodore (Feds), my nephew in Stryi, the Tysovetskis, and the Listovetskis.
Mania arrived from the post office at 8 o’clock. Even on Christmas Day, she needs to go to the bureau at half-past seven as usual, and then she has Thursday and Friday off.
We gathered for dinner with my wife, Ivan, Zosia, Mania, Myroslav, and myself. In the kitchen there was Mariia Linchak, the head maid, Lisa B… (who follows the Latin rite), Mariia’s aunt Piekarska, and her son Fransio (a boy from the third public school). The atmosphere at dinner was jovial. Especially Wuncio (grandson Myroslvav Rakovs’kyi, ICh) seemed delighted, devouring almost everything except the fish (although the next day he was a bit hesitant). We upheld our old-world traditions of feasting and merriment. All of us drank a bit of alcohol—wine and vodka—except for me and Wuncio. The menu was the following (noting to remember): borshch with vushka[3], fish stew, holubtsi [4] with porridge, fried fish, apple strudel, kutia [5], oranges, and nuts. Except for wine and vodka (beer and vodka were drunk in the kitchen), tea was served towards the end of the meal. I only drank tea. After our dinner, we sang carols in this good company near the Christmas tree, laden with various treats, much to Wuncio’s delight.
19 January 1909, Tuesday
In the afternoon, Zosia, Mania (who got leave), and Ivan went to visit Mrs. Slyuzarova, so they were away. I stayed behind with Lisa and Wuncio. Marynka went to church for the third time. This is something we do now—giving the maid such freedom—but I’m not sure if I can keep allowing it.
27 January 1909, Wednesday:
Temperature: -5°C. Slavko was writing a card to Mom.
An unfortunate incident occurred in our house early this morning, at half past seven. Marynia Linchak, our maid of nearly three years, had grown increasingly insolent and would lose her temper from time to time. Today, she woke up late and failed to bring water to Mania, who needs to rush to the bureau early. Instead of admitting her fault, she spoke in such a way that my wife broke down, crying uncontrollably. I feel sorry for this maid—she has been quite attached to the household and is decent in that she does not seek lovers. Her only great indulgence is frequently attending the Basilian church. But such religious zeal causes great disruption in the household. It seems that her service may have to be dismissed from February 1, because my wife fell out of favour with her, so to say.
22 February 1909
Last night, our maid Maryna Lynchak left for home after receiving a telegram about her mother’s illness. We suspect that her mother has already passed away.
25 March 1909, Thursday
Later, the child (grandson, IC) cried loudly and was very unsettled. There was no maid at home, so the grandmother had to take the child outside herself.
4 April 1909, Friday
At 4:45 in the afternoon, I walked with my wife to the station with Slavko, Melania, and Tarasko (Hrushkevych’s grandson, son of Slavko and Melania Hrushkevych, ICh). The train arrived precisely at 5:15, and we brought a maid with us. The women and the baby left by fiacre, while I took the tram with Slavko to the station near St. Nicholas. We stopped there and went to St. Nicholas Church.
April 11, 1909, Sunday
The weather is chilly outside. I headed to the Voloska church early at 9 o’clock, catching the tail end of the Divine Liturgy. Communion was being served. Inside, I encountered my friend Kolessa Lev, Revakovych, Pidlasheckiv, Pollnuk (illegible, IC), Turchmanovych, and Onyshkevych. Afterward, I returned home and remained indoors until noon. We had breakfast and waited with Easter eggs for Mania, who was alone at the post office; it wasn’t until nearly quarter past two that we finally fetched her. We all shared the blessed eggs together, including our immediate family. There was no distinction in the ritual, as it was also the time of Latin Easter. So, my wife as well participated, and we all celebrated: my wife, Slavko and his wife, Zosia and her husband, Mania, and myself. My son-in-law tends to see these customs in what some might deem less formal attire—without a jacket and tie. It’s becoming less common to follow church rituals, though perhaps someday it will be the norm; for now, it still remains surprising. I dined the blessed food with my maid Marynia and Slavko’s maid, who came to look after the kid.
We departed at 4 o’clock in the afternoon. Slavko and his wife, followed by Zosia and Ivan, headed to the Revakovychs. The two of us elderly folks remained with the grandchildren and Tarasko’s nanny. Later in the evening, around 9 o’clock, the Revakovychs sent a maid to escort us elderly folks to their home. Our children had already returned home. While Slavko, Melania, and Mania went to Urania (cinema, ICh), Zosia and Ivan stayed home, and we elderly folks accepted the invitation…
19 September 1909, Sunday
Zosia, Mania, and Ivan left early for Stryi to attend a Ukrainian economic and industrial play.
[…] We, the two old folks, stayed home with our grandson. Our maid, Marynia Linchak—who had been with us for more than three years and whom I had thought to be so kind—caused us trouble once again with her fanatical piety. She insisted on attending a major service in the presence of our children and wanted to leave us alone with the child at noon for vespers. I was forced to use harsh words, as she began crying and lamenting her fate. In the end, she did not attend the service that day, neither in the morning nor in the afternoon, even though we had already given her permission.
21 September 1909, Tuesday
My wife, Zosia, and Wuncio sent me to the station. Meanwhile, our Marynka had gone to church, and since there was no one to carry the things to the fiacre, we had to ask the watchman for help.
References:
[1] The use of the word Rus’kyi means Ukrainian here. In German language, Ruthenen was the official name of the Ukrainian population of the Habsburg monarchy. Ukrainians themselves called themselves Rusyns or Galician Rusyns. The self-name Ukrainians was finally established before the First World War. More (Pacholkiv Svjatoslav, Ukrainska inteligentsiia v Habsburzkii Halychyni: osvichena verstva i emansypatsiia natsii. Lviv: Piramida, 2014, 12.)
[2] According to the diary, Mariia Linchak probably was ill because of the cold kitchen where she slept.
[3] Small dumplings, usually filled with flavorful wild forest mushrooms and/or minced meat.
[4] Cabbage rolls, stuffed with pork and rice or porridge.
[5] A ceremonial grain sweet dish, served mostly by Eastern Orthodox Christians and some Catholic Christians.
Suggested Literature:
Hartman Saidiya, Venus in Two Acts, Small Axe, Indiana University Press, Number 26 (Volume 12, Number 2), June 2008, 1-14.
Kuciel-Frydryszak Joanna, Służąca do wszystkiego. Warszawa: Marginesy, 2018.
Hahn Sylvia, Nowhere at home? Female migrants in the nineteenth century Habsburg Empire, Women, Gender and Labour Migration. Historical and Global Perspective, ed. by Pamela Sharpe. Routledge, 2001, 108-126.
The 13 notes presented here are a compilation of all the diary entries by Teofil Hrushkevych, a retired Lviv gymnasium teacher, that mention a servant in his household named Maria Linchak (most often referred to as Marynka or Marynia). These references span more than three years, from 1906 to the autumn of 1909, marking the period during which she worked for the Hrushkevych family. Among all the notes the author made about the servants in his household, Maria Linchak is the most frequently mentioned. Alongside her name, we find at least nine other women who worked for the Hrushkevychs before or after Maria, up until the outbreak of World War I. With the war, the family left Lviv, and in 1915, the author passed away.
It is difficult to pinpoint the exact reason for Hrushkevych’s particular interest in Maria. This may be partly explained by the fact that Maria worked for his family for a relatively long period (more than three years), while most of the other nine women were employed for much shorter periods. Hrushkevych also knew some of her relatives, and Maria’s religiosity likely played a role as well. Hrushkevych was a deeply religious man himself. Maria’s piety, however, was somewhat problematic for her employers, due to what they saw as ‘fanaticism’ in her church attendance. She was a parishioner and chorister at the Church of St. Onufrii of the Greek Catholic Basilian monastic congregation in Lviv.
Marynka typically worked alone in the Hrushkevych household, holding the status of a so-called “maid of all work” (in Polish, służąca do wszystkiego). However, this status could change. In 1909, Marynka was referred to as the “senior maid,” probably because the family employed a new servant, a nanny for their little grandson. It is unclear whether this new title had any real impact on her status in the household.
Hrushkevych’s notes also provide us with some insight into Maria’s life outside of work. She sang in the church choir (which explains her frequent visits to the church). It appears that she also attended the meetings of the Ukrainian Workers’ Society “Syla” [Power], and may have been a member. This organization united unskilled workers in the city, a category that domestic workers like Maria clearly fell into. During her service with the Hrushkevych family, Maria may have also become an orphan, having lost her mother.
Diary entries, alongside employers’ memoirs, are typical historical sources for studying domestic servants in the long nineteenth century. Other sources include the press, specialized literature for servants (so-called handbooks), municipal or central government surveys, police registers of servants, and criminal cases involving them. Personal correspondence or other private documents of women in domestic service are also valuable, though such sources are limited for Galicia. This list, therefore, indicates one very characteristic feature of the sources on maidservants: the absence or disproportionately small number of sources with their direct speech in relation to the source segment written about them or on their behalf.
Thus, the diary selected for analysis is, to some extent, a typical source on servants. However, the question arises: how do we read it, not so much from the perspective of the narrator, but from that of the woman he describes? Her voice is marginalized by the very nature of the source, as it is mediated and therefore edited. In attempting to tell stories like Maria’s, the approach of Saidiya Hartman, presented in her famous essay about two nameless women who died on a slave ship to America, seems important. All that remains to history (or what the archive offers researchers) is the mention of their death on the Atlantic, known from the court case against their murderer. The two nameless Venuses, as Hartman calls them, did not leave any stories of their own. Despite having so little to go on, Hartman proposes “critical fabulation” as a way to reconstruct their experiences. According to Hartman: “The intent of this practice is not give a voice to the slave, but rather to imagine what cannot be verified, a realm of experience which is situated between two zones of death — social and corporeal death — and the reckon with the precarious lives which are visible only in the moment of disappearance […] It is a narrative of what might have been or could have been; it is a history written with and against the archive” (Hartman, 2008, 12).
If we try to read the diary from the perspective of Maria Linchak, we see her attempts to establish boundaries and certain rules in her work, a profession that was among the most poorly regulated by the law at that time. The most interesting part is that the author of the diary, Hrushkevych, seemed to understand the need for such regulation. A few years after Maria’s dismissal, he wrote the following:
“Today I have to note this unpleasant practice of how our employers treat domestic servants in the cities. Our masters, ladies, and wives of our city’s elite—government officials, teachers, doctors, lawyers, engineers, etc.—cannot get used to the fact that servants are there to help with their work, and not to be slaves to their employers. My daughter-in-law is angry that the maid does not stay home to continue her work (although she has already completed most of the necessary tasks) and goes to church for recollections (Lenten religious exercises). However, my daughter-in-law has done much for this servant, who has worked for her for four or five years. She taught her to read, helped her save money (she had saved 200 crowns), and dressed her well. For this, she demands gratitude and acknowledgment. What can we do? Every person looks for some pleasure in this needy life. Is the poor girl to blame for seeking solace in church? This is a very innocent desire, and perhaps the best of all. It is important to note that this person is very attached to the child. For example, the grandson showed me that the nanny had bought him a small sled (using her own money). I feel sorry for this girl because my daughter-in-law shouts at her, complaining that she is stupid.”