Jurgów - history

Jurgów was established under the Wallachian law in 1546. The founder and the first mayor was the robber Jurko, who came here with a team of 12. The predominant occupation of the Jurgovians and the main source of income was sheep and cattle breeding. Deep pastoral traditions and the proximity of the Tatra Mountains meant that alpine pastoralism played an important role. The animals were grazed in the Bielskie Tatras, in the Biala Woda Valley and in the Jaworowa Valley since around 1590. The pastures in the Jaworzyna Tatras, under the enactment decree of 1848, became the property of the Jurgovians. During this period, the area of the village was four times larger than the present one, and the border ran high in the mountains. However, in 1866, due to the loss of a 30-year trial with the owners of the Jaworzyna estates - the Hungarian Salomon family, the peasants of Jurgów partially lost their possessions and the right to graze in the mountains was limited. When in 1879 these properties were bought by the Prussian prince Christian Hohenlohe, in order to create hunting grounds, the Jurgovians received clearings below for the lost mountain pastures, which are still called Jurgów farmers. The Tatra huts were moved to the Podokólne Clearing 2.5 km from Jurgów, where the still existing summer shepherd's village was established. The people of Jurgów worked in the Jaworzyna estates, felling trees and forestry works, as well as in an iron and paper mill.

As is already known, Jurgów throughout its history belonged to three state organisms: to the Kingdom of Hungary (1546-1918), in which it was located with the rest of the Slovak lands, to Poland (1920 - 1939 and from 1945) and to the Slovak Republic (1939 - 1945). Under the Austro-Hungarian rule, the border with Galicia ran in the western parts of the village, and metal border posts can still be found in Jurgów. At that time, there was an increased activity of awakening the Hungarian national consciousness. And so, in 1907, the "Magyarization" law - Lex Apponyi, came into force, which "ordered the compulsory teaching of the Hungarian language in all folk schools throughout the country". Hence, until recently, among the Jurgovians, you could meet people who remembered Hungarian language lessons. For the guests who came to Jurgów at the beginning of the 20th century, the people who: "are married to the Magyars, talk at home, sing and pray in Polish, and in the church (...) sing in Slovak" were intriguing.

In 1920, a political border was marked out between Poland and Czechoslovakia, which ran in the southern part of Jurgów, cutting off 14 Spiš villages from the rest of Zamagur region. The decision was extremely harmful for the inhabitants of the villages, who were cut off from their source of income - Jaworzyna Spiska (Tatranská Javorina) with its forests, meadows and pastures. The more that Jaworzyna was a hamlet of Jurgów until 1877. Only the agreements concluded in 1924 between the governments of Poland and Czechoslovakia, known as the "Krakow protocols", regulated economic, communication and tourist matters between Polish Spisz and Jaworzyna Spiska (Tatranská Javorina). The fact of changing the borders for the period of World War II and incorporating Jurgów into Slovakia was received with general joy and had a positive effect on the awakening of national consciousness. During the war, the living conditions of the population were good, compared to the neighboring Podhale, where there was often a shortage of food. Jurgów became a route for smugglers, mainly food and industrial goods were smuggled in. Post-war events interfered with the lives of ordinary people again. Despite protests and requests from the local population, the disputed territory has once again become part of Poland.