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From the History of Russian Belgrade

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From the History of Russian Belgrade

28.12.2009

From the Editor: We are publishing an article by Yury Azarov, senior research fellow at the Institute of World Literature and a specialist on the history of Russian literature abroad. This article is devoted to the life of Russian emigres in Yugoslavia.

The Yugoslavia of the early 1920s was recalled by quite a few refugees, and in these remembrances there was always something in common. “Belgrade made a very nice impression on us. It's like a big Russian provincial town, like Ekaterinoslav or Elizavetgrad. The intersections all have little placards with the Russian word for ‘street.’ All around one can hear a spoiled Russian speech, as though there are Ukrainians or Belarusians living here. Only a few words sometimes jar the ear and sound slightly confusing, like how they say ‘theatre,’ for example. Generally, as the number of Russian refugees coming in from Constantinople and Bulgaria increase, we are increasingly beginning to feel ourselves to be masters of the city. Knowing firmly that in the next few months they would have to return home, they happily walked about the city, looking with a disdainful curiosity to the side so that later, at home, they would be able to convey the impression of their original protracted picnic. And the Serbs, in turn, have accommodated us on everything. Many of their institutions became filled with Russian officials, especially the city government, the department of statistics, the railway, and the war ministry. They didn’t find fault with our fantastical Serbian, as the Serbs themselves have very fragile spelling. Some of our professors are lecturing at the universities in Belgrade and Zagreb. Russian singers, actors and actresses have appeared at the Royal Opera House and in the theatres. Rakitin, assistant director of the Alexandrinsky Theatre, became the director of Serbian drama theatre. They’ve shown ‘Three Sisters’ and ‘Uncle Vanya.’ ‘Eugene Onegin’ is often being performed in the opera. In the provinces, especially in villages, Russian priests are appointed by the Serbian hierarchs.”

The refugees who unwillingly found themselves in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in 1920 were quite similar to those described in the passage above. It was given in the memoirs of the feuilletonist, prose writer and playwright A. Rennikov (A.M. Selitrennikov), a staff member of the emigre newspaper Novoye vremya. He managed to convey the mood of his compatriots, their faith in an imminent return, and the atmosphere of uncertainty at the beginning of exile. But soon the bitter experience of life in exile forced people to reevaluate much in life and abandon their old optimism. This different mood was typical of the poem “Our Duty,” which was published three years later in the same newspaper by Prince Fyodor Kasatkin-Rostovsky, a well-known poet of pre-Revolutionary era and an officer of the life guards of the Semenov regiment. It begins with lines that reflect the gradual realization of the tragedy of exile; what remained was the immutable desire to return home and the belief that it would happen at some point:

We all won’t be the those when we go back,
Under the oppression of past torments, desires and anxieties.     

The Russian colony was rather uniform in that it was dominated primarily by the military. In this regard, no city could compare with Belgrade. In order to understand this, it was enough to pass through the city’s streets. Everywhere, including at government agencies, one could meet with khaki colors, well-known since the Civil War. Coats and field jackets, some demilitarized but some still decorated with conspicuous emblems of the old guard and the other aristocratic military units, were visible everywhere, as were cracked gold and silver epaulets, medals, insignias on once-colorful but now faded ribbons, and different stripes and bands.

It should be emphasized that Yugoslavia, despite the postwar difficulties, was the only country to show hospitality to Russians. Unlike many countries that received the first wave of emigres, the refugee situation in Yugoslavia was for the better. They were not looked upon as intruders, and Russians were never considered outsiders there. There was a living memory of the fraternal assistance rendered during the Balkan wars and the fact that Russia played a key role in the liberation from Turkish rule. They remembered that in 1914, Russians defended the Serbs, entering a war that eventually led to the revolution and gave rise to their expulsion from Russia.

Refugees in Yugoslavia were consistently met with sympathy, and their entry was never restricted by visas and quotas. They were given the opportunity to freely choose a place to live. Great help was provided by the Yugoslav government and King Alexander I of Yugoslavia, whose connections with Russia were great. At one time he had served in the Page Corps and was a graduate of the Imperial School of Jurisprudence. His maternal aunts Milica and Anastasia were wives of the Grand Duke Nicholas and Peter Nikolaevich.

The number of Russians who settled in Yugoslavia reached 70,000 in the 1920s. Typically, the refugees who arrived came together with the White Army and were evacuated from Odessa, Novorossiysk, Sevastopol, the Crimean ports (via Turkey, Greece and Bulgaria) or by a roundabout way from Siberia, China and America. Most of the emigres remained in the big cities – Belgrade, Zemun (Zemun later became part of Belgrade), Novi Sad, Ljubljana, Zagreb, Sarajevo and Skopje. Most settled in Orthodox Serbia – in the capital of the kingdom (Belgrade) or in Novi Sad, which had the second largest colony. Fewer Russians settled in Slovenia and Croatia, which was dominated by a Catholic population, or in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where Muslims predominated.

Special agencies were established to handle the reception and resettlement of emigres – the State Russian Refugee Commission and the Committee for Russian Culture. At the governmental level, the refugees were represented by V.N. Strandtman, who from 1914-1918 served as Russia’s charge d'affaires and whom local authorities continued to regard as an ambassador, albeit from a nonexistent state. He was connected with King Alexander I through their friendship since their days of joint training in the St. Petersburg Page Corps. Heading the State Russian Refugee Commission was Alexander Belic, a well-known scholar of Slavic studies, president of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and a graduate of Moscow State University. He also directed the Committee for Russian Culture, which consisted of three Yugoslav representatives and three Russians. Assistance from Yugoslav authorities also aided the establishment of Russian schools and libraries. In 1920, the Russo-Serbian Gymnasium and the Russian National Library had already opened in Belgrade.

The young state, which had appeared on the map of Europe in 1918, was badly in need of professionals with a higher education. After the Balkan wars and the First World War the country was depleted, and only a fraction of the population could be counted among its intelligentsia. According to statistics, the illiteracy rate reached 51.5% in 1921. At the same time, among the refugees 62% of people had a secondary education, and 13% were graduates of higher educational institutions. Accordingly, many engineers, lawyers, doctors, teachers, architects, scientists and other specialists were able to obtain work commensurate with their skills. Certificates of education and diplomas received before the Revolution were officially recognized.

“Yugoslavia took a noble position with respect to emigres,” said G.N. Pio Ulsky, a prominent Russian emigre scientist. “Despite the relatively difficult financial situation of the country after the Great War, it greeted the Russian people with a generous hospitality. Yugoslavia was in need of educated workers in high culture, and it found them in the Russian specialists who bring their experience to the country, as well as their knowledge and love of work. The Serbs of the old generation who remember the role played by Majka Rusija in relation to their country, and realizing that the emigres’ loss of their homeland is the result of the liberation struggle that gave them, the Serbs, and the whole of Yugoslavia the opportunity to be free citizens of a major independent state, heretofore conduct a Russophilic national policy and made it easier for refugees to live here. Speaking of the noble and widely hospitable attitude of Yugoslavia with respect to Russian emigres, who have found a way to make use of their skills in public life, we should not gloss over the fact that the Russian people have not left a favor unanswered and have given Yugoslavia invaluable services. Many of the beautiful government buildings that adorn the cities of Yugoslavia are the handiwork of talented Russian engineers. Russian professors have published a lot of valuable books, organized classes, established training clinics and in general have invested all their experience and knowledge in the sphere of education. Local aviation has also been given a boost to its development, which is largely due to Russian pilots.”

We should add that the master plan of Belgrade, which received an award at the Paris Exposition, was drafted by the Russian engineer and architect Y.P. Kovalevsky. Emigres established the Belgrade Opera and Ballet, and many branches of science have evolved as a result of research conducted by emigres; the examples are numerous. The Institute of Mechanical Engineering of the Serbian Academy of Sciences was later named in honor of V.V. Formakovsky, a former professor at the Kiev Polytechnic Institute. From 1920-1941, more than seventy Russian professors taught in the six faculties at the University of Belgrade, and eleven of them became full members and corresponding members of the Serbian Academy of Sciences.

Each of the centers of Russian emigration was largely defined by a lack of uniformity in the political views of exiles. Whereas Paris, for example, was dominated primarily by left-leaning emigres who favored democracy and the republic, Russian Belgrade was always right-leaning and in favor of monarchy. The refugees who settled there were characterized by a social structure and political beliefs that were very different from those who had sought refuge in other European and non-European countries. It was the White emigres who dominated, since in addition to representatives from the scientific, artistic and technical intelligentsia, as well as the clergy, there were also volunteer units and Cossack regiments that came to Yugoslavia. Even during the Civil War, in February 1920, General A.P. Kutepov received consent for the future transfer of volunteers to the Yugoslav service.

The First Cavalry Division (more than 3,300) was assigned to the kingdom’s border service. Most of them were Kuban Cossacks (in 1931 there were 3,500) who were part of three regiments of the Kuban division. As a rule, the Cossacks were kept together: for example, in Vojvodina about 30 settlements emerged – villages, hamlets, and kurens. In adjacent areas with other states Cossacks carried out border service, although they were mainly engaged in the trades, farming, horse breeding, and they often arranged competitions and riding. A book on the history of Cossacks in Yugoslavia was published, as were Cossack newspapers.

The total number of military personnel was approximately 35,000, or roughly half of the Russian diaspora. The headquarters of the White Army under the command of General Wrangel was also located here, and in September 1924 the Russian All-Military Union was established in Sremski Karlovci. The military organized numerous educational establishments, including the Russian Institute of Military Studies. Professor Nikolai Golovin conducted military science courses (a branch of military courses in Paris), and there was the Grand Duke Constantine Constantinovich Russian Cadets Corps, as well as officers' courses at the Russian All-Military Union.

The center of church life was also located in Yugoslavia, as it was there in 1921 that the Orthodox hierarchs who had gone into exile with Wrangel’s army held a Council that established the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, headed by Metropolitan Anthony of Kiev and Galicia (Khrapovitsky). The decisions made by this council virtually separated the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia from the Moscow Patriarchate.

This unique emigre life, as in other centers, continued in Yugoslavia for only two decades. After the Second World War, which laid the foundation for the socialist revolution, the majority of Russians moved to the West. Some decided to return to their homeland or were forcibly deported (as Cossacks) by allies of the Soviet Union in the anti-Hitler coalition.

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