ABSTRACT
Ivan Kiebuz (6 June 1905 in Pikulice, Przemyśl district – 26 June 1941, Dobromyl') was a Ukrainian Catholic priest. He was the third son, and the fourth of eight children, born to Iosyf and Anna Sanots'ka of Pikulice. His parents, five brothers, and two sisters grew up on a farm located in Pikulice, a village 5 km south of Przemyśl. By reputation, the Kiebuz farm was the second largest in this area. Factors that allowed for the farm’s prosperity included its proximity to barracks of the Austrian garrison and to Przemyśl, an important administrative, military, and commercial center. The village’s location was also physically favorable and its terrain, with its gently rolling hills and fertile soil, was suitable for the development of agriculture. The village was situated by the streams Jawor and Wisla, which enter the Wiar River, and the three middle Kiebuz brothers – Ivan, Hryhorii, and Iosyf – would fish in these waters regularly for river trout, grayling, and huchen. The geographically and economically advantageous location was not without drawbacks. In January 1913, a bomb went off at the local army garrison, wounding six in Pikulice, and in late July and early August of the same year heavy rains caused the Jawor to overflow its banks and inundate the village under two meters of water, carrying off hay, cows, and farm implements (and one villager, found 2 km away), and destroying homes, barns, and ovens.
