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Russian Old Believers of Bolivia. China travel

Russian Old Believers of Bolivia. China travel

15.05.2019

A group of Old Believers - Pomortsy. b/d Nizhny Novgorod

Why did Russian Old Believers flee to China and the USA?

After part of the Russian Church did not accept the reform of Patriarch Nikon, persecution began against those who disagreed. At the beginning of the 18th century, under Peter I, entire communities fled from Moscow and from power as far as possible, to the borders of the state and beyond. To Siberia, to Transbaikalia, to the North.

Less well known are the Old Believers who fled to the west and south - and there were many of them. Until now, Russian Old Believer settlements remain in Poland, Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania, along the shores of Lake Peipsi in Estonia.

Another part went south, ending up first in the Transdanubian lands (now it is Romania), and then in Turkey, where the Old Believer Cossacks “Nekrasovtsy” (by the name of their leader, the recalcitrant Cossack ataman Nekrasov) lived, cut off from their homeland for almost three centuries, keeping their faith, way of life and culture.

However, the Russian Old Believers were not cut off from the surrounding life and were aware of what was happening in the world. In the same Baltic region in the 18th and 19th centuries the communities were very successful economically; from those times in some cities (such as Rezhitsa or Dvinsk) there were entire blocks of strong and beautiful stone houses built by them.

Therefore, when Europe began to plunge into the abyss of revolutions and world wars, it was decided to look for a new quiet haven. And together with millions of settlers from the Old World, Russian Old Believers set foot on the American coast, by that time they had not maintained a live connection with Russia for several centuries.

Skitnitsy of the Semenov forests of the 19th century. Semenovsky district of the Nizhny Novgorod province

Harbin residents

On the opposite side of vast Russia, in Transbaikalia, on the banks of the Angara, Cossacks-Old Believers also lived. It was far from the capitals, the border was vast and restless, for local governors and governors every Russian bayonet, pike and saber was a great help. Over time, the severity of oppression by the government weakened, the Cossacks lived freely in villages, served. And, of course, they strictly preserved their ancient faith and culture.

This went on for a long time - until the beginning of the twentieth century, until the accursed days of Russian unrest. Like most of the Cossacks throughout Russia, the Transbaikal Old Believers opposed the Soviet regime. And, having been defeated in the Civil War, they decided to leave "beyond the cordon", to Manchuria - the northern part of China, at that time closely connected with Russia.

In the Manchurian emigration, the Old Believer Cossacks lived rather apart, in whole villages. They were sharply hostile both to the Soviet government and to the urban secular life of Harbin, cultivated the land, built churches, were ready to defend their way of life and property both from saboteurs penetrating from Soviet Russia, and from local bandits and revolutionaries (in China unfolded own civil war). Therefore, when the communist regime was established in China, the Old Believer Cossacks again had to flee from the "Reds"

Whole villages left, helping each other, collecting money to buy tickets, to buy seats on ships. They left for the unknown, far from their native land, to unknown distant countries. I recently had the opportunity to meet the descendants of refugees who settled in Australia. But the main part through Singapore came to Brazil. And then, having learned that there are settlements of Old Believers in North America, she went there.

Meeting

It must be said that the Old Believers are very suspicious and zealous of the purity of church teaching and tradition, and not all branches of the once united movement recognize each other. But after a thorough test of each other’s faith, the leaders of the communities made a decision: both the “Turks” (as the Old Believers who came to America from Turkey call themselves) and the “Kharbintsy” have “correct, pre-Nikonian faith, without distortions and untruths.”

Thus, two branches of Russian Old Believers reunited on American soil - centuries after parting, on a foreign land, having circled the globe on both sides.

The authorities of the state of Oregon appreciated the industriousness and religiosity of the new citizens, allocated them large land plots (5-8 hectares per family) and interest-free loans, and exempted them from taxes for 10 years. Soon, the region inhabited by Russian Old Believers - "Oregonians" began to flourish. Having tried a variety of crops and economic practices, the Old Believers have found their niche in this market: they now grow the best strawberries and blackberries in America. In addition, a significant part of the Christmas trees that decorate American holiday homes are also grown on Old Believer Cossack plantations.

Now the united community has about 5 thousand people and inhabits a small town called Woodbourne. The inhabitants there speak to each other in the old Russian language, live in comfortable wooden houses (most often one-story, although sometimes there are two or even three-story mansions), which are called "huts". The interiors of the houses are not very different from the dwellings of ordinary American farmers, with one exception: they do not use TVs and tape recorders, which they call “Satanists” (it is interesting that the ban does not apply to cameras, camcorders and computers).

Here are the words of one of the senior members of the community, Makar Afanasyevich Zanyukhin, who was born in 1938: “When a person sings himself, he develops his thoughts and voice, and the tape recorder and TV beat off the mind.” So, since the inhabitants of Woodbourne do not have the habit of spending evenings in front of the TV, the customs of joint evenings with conversations and songs (secular drawn-out and spiritual poems - psalms) for handicraft work are preserved: women sew traditional clothes, decorating them with embroidery and woven belts. Such clothes are used both on holidays and in everyday life. Residents wear traditional Russian hairstyles and headdresses; men do not shave their beards and mustaches. All residents go to church, where the Znamenny chant sounds. Traditions and rituals are preserved - including very complex and surprisingly beautiful wedding ones.

Oregon Old Believers are happy with life, but they cannot but yearn for their distant homeland.

This amazing community with its treasures of genuine Russian culture was opened to the rest of the Russian world by the scientist, folklorist Elena Nikolaevna Razumovskaya from St. Petersburg. For the first time, Elena Nikolaevna visited Woodbourne a decade and a half ago.

Harbin residents

This went on for a long time - until the beginning of the twentieth century, until the accursed days of Russian turmoil. Like most of the Cossacks throughout Russia, the Transbaikal Old Believers opposed the Soviet regime. And, having been defeated in the Civil War, they decided to leave "beyond the cordon", to Manchuria - the northern part of China, at that time closely connected with Russia.

Meeting

Thus, two branches of Russian Old Believers reunited on American soil - centuries after parting, on a foreign land, having circled the globe on both sides.

Such clothes are used both on holidays and in everyday life. Residents wear traditional Russian hairstyles and headdresses; men do not shave their beards and mustaches. All residents go to church, where the Znamenny chant sounds. Traditions and rituals are preserved, including very complex and surprisingly beautiful wedding ones.

He lives in a special dimension, where the connection between man and nature is unusually strong. In the vast list of amazing phenomena that travelers encounter in this incomprehensible, mysterious country, a significant position is occupied by Russian Old Believer settlements. The village of Old Believers in the middle of the South American selva is a real paradox, which does not prevent Russian “bearded men” from living, working and raising children here. It should be noted that they managed to arrange their lives much better than most of the indigenous Bolivian peasants who have lived in these parts for many centuries.

History reference

Russians are one of the ethnic communities of the South American Republic. In addition to family members of Russian embassy employees living in Bolivia, it includes about 2,000 descendants of Russian Old Believers.

Old Believers or Old Believers is the common name for several Orthodox religious movements that arose in Russia as a result of the rejection of church reforms by believers (XVII century). Patriarch Nikon of Moscow, the "Great Sovereign of All Russia" from 1652 to 1666, started church reforms aimed at changing the ritual tradition of the Russian Church in order to unify it with the Greek Church. "Antichrist" transformations caused a split in the first, which led to the emergence of the Old Believers or Old Orthodoxy. Those dissatisfied with "Nikon's reforms" and innovations were united and headed by Archpriest Avvakum.

The Old Believers, who did not recognize the corrected theological books and did not accept changes in church rites, were subjected to severe persecution by the church and persecution by state authorities. Already in the XVIII century. many fled from Russia, at first they fled to Siberia and the Far East. Stubborn people irritated Nicholas II, and later the Bolsheviks.

The Bolivian Old Believer community was formed in stages, since Russian settlers arrived in the New World in “waves”.

The Old Believers began to move to Bolivia as early as the 2nd half of the 19th century, arriving in separate groups, but their massive influx occurred in the period 1920-1940. - in the era of post-revolutionary collectivization.

If the first wave of immigrants, attracted by fertile lands and the liberal policies of local authorities, came to Bolivia directly, then the second wave was much more difficult. First, during the years of the civil war, the Old Believers fled to neighboring Manchuria, where a new generation had time to be born. In China, the Old Believers lived until the early 1960s, until the “Great Cultural Revolution” broke out there, led by the “great pilot”, Mao Zedong. The Russians again had to run away from the construction of communism and the mass drive to the collective farms.

Some of the Old Believers moved to and. However, exotic countries, full of temptations, seemed to the orthodox Old Believers unsuitable for a righteous life. In addition, the authorities gave them lands covered with wild jungle, which had to be uprooted by hand. In addition, the soil had a very thin fertile layer. As a result, after several years of hellish labor, the Old Believers set off in search of new territories. Many settled in, someone left for the USA, someone went to Australia and Alaska.

Several families made their way to Bolivia, which was considered the wildest and most backward country on the continent. The authorities gave the Russian wanderers a warm welcome and also gave them plots overgrown with jungle. But the Bolivian soil was quite fertile. Since then, the Old Believer community in Bolivia has become one of the largest and strongest in Latin America.

Russians quickly adapted to South American living conditions. The Old Believers endure even the exhausting tropical heat with firmness, despite the fact that it is not permissible for them to open their bodies excessively. The Bolivian selva has become a small homeland for the Russian "bearded men", and the fertile land provides everything necessary.

The country's government willingly meets the needs of the Old Believers, allocating land for their large families and providing soft loans for the development of agriculture. The settlements of the Old Believers are located far from large cities on the territory of the tropical departments (Spanish LaPaz), (Spanish SantaCruz), (Spanish Cochabamba) and (Spanish Beni).

It is curious that, unlike communities living in other countries, Old Believers in Bolivia practically did not assimilate.

Moreover, being citizens of the republic, they still consider Russia to be their real homeland.

Lifestyle of the Old Believers in Bolivia

The Old Believers live in remote quiet villages, carefully preserving their way of life, but not rejecting the life rules of the world around them.

They traditionally do what their ancestors lived in Russia - agriculture and animal husbandry. Old Believers also plant corn, wheat, potatoes, sunflowers. Only in contrast to their distant cold homeland, here they still grow rice, soybeans, oranges, papayas, watermelons, mangoes, pineapples and bananas. Labor on the ground gives them a good income, so basically all the Old Believers are wealthy people.

As a rule, men are excellent entrepreneurs, who combine a peasant acumen with an incredible ability to capture and perceive everything new. So, in the fields of the Bolivian Old Believers, modern agricultural equipment with a GPS control system works (that is, the machines are controlled by an operator transmitting commands from a single center). But at the same time, the Old Believers are opponents of television and the Internet, they are afraid of banking operations, preferring to make all payments in cash.

A strict patriarchy prevails in the community of Bolivian Old Believers. The woman here knows her place. According to the laws of the Old Believers, the main purpose of the mother of the family is to preserve the hearth. It is unsuitable for a woman to flaunt herself, they wear dresses and sundresses to the toes, cover their heads, never use cosmetics. Some indulgence is allowed for young girls - they are allowed not to tie their heads with a scarf. All clothes are sewn and embroidered by the female part of the community.

Married women are forbidden to protect themselves from pregnancy, so Old Believer families traditionally have many children. Children are born at home, with the help of a midwife. Old Believers go to the hospital only in extreme cases.

But one should not think that Old Believer men are despots who tyrannize their wives. They also have to follow many unwritten rules. As soon as the first fluff appears on the young man’s face, he becomes a real man who, along with his father, is responsible for his family. Old Believers are usually not allowed to shave their beards, hence their nickname - "bearded men".

The Old Believer way of life does not provide for any secular life, reading "obscene" literature, cinema and entertainment events. Parents are very reluctant to let their children go to big cities, where, according to adults, there are a lot of “demonic temptations”.

Strict rules forbid the Old Believers to eat food bought in the store, and, moreover, visit public eating establishments. They usually only eat what they have grown and produced themselves. This setting does not apply only to those products that are difficult or simply impossible to obtain on your farm (salt, sugar, vegetable oil, etc.). Being invited to visit by local Bolivians, the Old Believers eat only food brought with them.

They do not smoke, do not chew coca, do not drink alcohol (the only exception is home-made mash, which they drink with pleasure on occasion).

Despite the external dissimilarity with the locals and the strict observance of traditions that are very different from Latin American culture, the Russian Old Believers never had conflicts with the Bolivians. They live amicably with their neighbors and understand each other perfectly, because all the Old Believers are fluent in Spanish.

Toborochi

How the life of the Old Believers in the country developed can be found by visiting the Bolivian village Toborochi(Spanish: Toborochi).

In the eastern part of Bolivia, 17 km from the city, there is a colorful village founded in the 1980s. Russian Old Believers who arrived here. In this village you can feel the real Russian spirit; here you can relax your soul from the bustle of the city, learn an ancient craft or just have a wonderful time among amazing people.

As a matter of fact, the Old Believer settlement in the open spaces of Bolivia is an unrealistic sight: a traditional Russian village of the late 19th century, which is surrounded not by birch groves, but by the Bolivian selva with palm trees. Against the backdrop of exotic tropical nature, a sort of fair-haired, blue-eyed, bearded Mikuly Selyaninovichs in embroidered shirts-kosovorotkas and in bast shoes are walking around their well-groomed possessions. And ruddy girls with wheaten braids below the waist, dressed in long-sleeved colorful sundresses, sing heartfelt Russian songs at work. Meanwhile, this is not a fairy tale, but a real phenomenon.

This is Russia, which we have lost, but which has been preserved far beyond the ocean, in South America.

Even today, this small village is not on the maps, and in the 1970s there was only impassable jungle. Toborochi consists of 2 dozen courtyards, quite distant from each other. Houses are not log, but solid, brick.

The families of the Anufrievs, Anfilofievs, Zaitsevs, Revtovs, Murachevs, Kalugins, Kulikovs live in the village. Men wear belted embroidered shirts; women - cotton skirts and dresses to the floor, and their hair is removed under the "shashmura" - a special headdress. The girls in the community are great fashionistas, each of them has up to 20-30 dresses and sundresses in her wardrobe. They themselves come up with styles, cut and sew new clothes for themselves. Seniors buy fabrics in the cities - Santa Cruz or La Paz.

Women are traditionally engaged in needlework and housekeeping, raising children and grandchildren. Once a week, women go to the nearest city fair, where they sell milk, cheese, pastries.

Most Old Believer families have many children - 10 children are not uncommon here. As in the old days, newborns are named according to the Psalms according to the date of birth. The names of the Toborochins, which are unusual for the Bolivian ear, sound too archaic for a Russian: Agapit, Agripena, Abraham, Anikey, Elizar, Zinovy, Zosim, Inafa, Cyprian, Lukiyan, Mamelfa, Matrena, Marimiya, Pinarita, Palageya, Ratibor, Salamania, Selyvestre, Fedosya, Filaret, Fotinya.

Young people strive to keep up with the times and master smartphones with might and main. Although many electronic devices are formally banned in the countryside, today even in the most remote wilderness one cannot hide from progress. Almost all houses have air conditioners, washing machines, microwave ovens, and some have TVs.

The main occupation of the inhabitants of Toboroch is agriculture. Around the settlement are well-groomed agricultural lands. Of the crops grown by the Old Believers in vast fields, the first place is occupied by corn, wheat, soybeans and rice. Moreover, the Old Believers succeed in this better than the Bolivians who have been living in these parts for centuries.

To work in the fields, the “bearded men” hire local peasants, whom they call Kolya. At the village factory, the harvest is processed, packed and sold to wholesalers. From the fruits that grow here all year round, they make kvass, mash, make jams and jams.

In artificial reservoirs, the Toborians breed Amazonian freshwater pacu fish, whose meat is famous for its amazing softness and delicate taste. Adult pacu weigh more than 30 kg.

They feed the fish 2 times a day - at dawn and at sunset. The food is produced right there, at the village mini-factory.

Here everyone is busy with their own business - both adults and children, who are taught to work from an early age. The only day off is Sunday. On this day, members of the community have a rest, go to visit each other and attend church. Men and women come to the Temple in elegant light clothes, over which something dark is thrown over. The black cape is a symbol of the fact that everyone is equal before God.

Also on Sunday, men go fishing, boys play football and volleyball. Football is the most popular game in Toborochi. The local football team has won amateur school tournaments more than once.

Education

The Old Believers have their own education system. The very first and main book is the alphabet of the Church Slavonic language, according to which children are taught from an early age. Older children study ancient psalms, only then - the lessons of modern literacy. Old Russian is closer to them, even the smallest fluently read the Old Testament prayers.

Children in the community receive a comprehensive education. More than 10 years ago, the Bolivian authorities financed the construction of a school in the village. It is divided into 3 classes: children 5-8 years old, 8-11 and 12-14 years old. Bolivian teachers regularly come to the village to teach Spanish, reading, mathematics, biology, and drawing.

Children learn Russian at home. In the village, only Russian is spoken everywhere, with the exception of the school.

Culture, religion

Being far from their historical homeland, the Russian Old Believers in Bolivia have preserved their unique cultural and religious customs better than their co-religionists living in Russia. Although, perhaps, it was the remoteness from their native land that caused these people to protect their values and ardently defend the traditions of their ancestors. The Bolivian Old Believers are a self-sufficient community, but they do not oppose the outside world. The Russians were able to perfectly organize not only their way of life, but also their cultural life. Boredom is unknown to them, they always know what to do in their free time. They celebrate their holidays very solemnly, with traditional feasts, dances and songs.

Bolivian Old Believers strictly observe strict commandments regarding religion. They pray at least 2 times a day, morning and evening. Every Sunday and on religious holidays, the service lasts for several hours. Generally speaking, the religiosity of the South American Old Believers is characterized by zeal and steadfastness. Absolutely in each of their villages there is a prayer house.

Language

Unaware of the existence of such a science as sociolinguistics, Russian Old Believers in Bolivia intuitively act in such a way as to preserve their native language for posterity: they live apart, honor centuries-old traditions, at home they speak only Russian.

In Bolivia, the Old Believers who arrived from Russia and settled far from large cities practically do not marry the local population. This allowed them to preserve the Russian culture and language of Pushkin much better than other Old Believer communities in Latin America.

“Our blood is truly Russian, we have never mixed it, and we have always preserved our culture. Our children under the age of 13-14 do not learn Spanish, so as not to forget their native language, ”the Old Believers say.

The language of ancestors is kept and instilled by the family, passing it on from the older generation to the younger. Children must be taught to read in Russian and Old Slavonic, because in every family the main book is the Bible.

It is surprising that all the Old Believers living in Bolivia speak Russian without the slightest accent, although their fathers and even grandfathers were born in South America and have never been to Russia. Moreover, the speech of the Old Believers still bears shades of the characteristic Siberian dialect.

Linguists know that in the case of emigration, people lose their native language already in the 3rd generation, that is, the grandchildren of those who left, as a rule, do not speak the language of their grandparents. But in Bolivia, the 4th generation of Old Believers is already fluent in Russian. This is a surprisingly pure, dialectal language that was spoken in Russia in the 19th century. At the same time, it is important that the language of the Old Believers is alive, it is constantly developing and enriching itself. Today it is a unique combination of archaism and neologisms. When the Old Believers need to designate a new phenomenon, they easily and simply invent new words. For example, Toboro residents call cartoons "jumping", and lamp garlands - "blinks". They call tangerines "mimosa" (probably because of the shape and bright color of the fruit). The word “lover” is alien to them, but “boyfriend” is quite familiar and understandable.

Over the years of living in a foreign land, many words borrowed from Spanish have entered the oral speech of the Old Believers. For example, they call the fair "feria" (Spanish Feria - "show, exhibition, show"), and the market - "mercado" (Spanish Mercado). Some Spanish words among the Old Believers have become “Russified”, and a number of obsolete Russian words used by the inhabitants of Toborochi are now not heard even in the most remote corners of Russia. So, instead of “very”, the Old Believers say “very much”, the tree is called “forest”, and the sweater is called “kufayka”. They don't have television, the bearded men believe that television leads people to hell, but still they occasionally watch Russian films.

Although at home the Old Believers communicate exclusively in Russian, everyone speaks Spanish to a sufficient degree for a trouble-free living in the country. As a rule, men know Spanish better, because the responsibility to earn money and provide for the family lies entirely with them. The task of women is to run the household and raise children. So women are not only housekeepers, but also keepers of their native language.

Interestingly, this situation is typical for Old Believers living in South America. While in the USA and Australia, the second generation of Old Believers has completely switched to English.

marriages

Closed communities are usually characterized by closely related unions and, as a result, an increase in genetic problems. But this does not apply to the Old Believers. Even the ancestors established the immutable "rule of the eighth tribe", when marriages between relatives up to the 8th tribe are prohibited.

The Old Believers are well aware of their ancestry and communicate with all relatives.

Mixed marriages are not encouraged by the Old Believers, but young people are not categorically prohibited from creating families with local residents. But only a non-believer must certainly accept the Orthodox faith, learn the Russian language (it is obligatory to read the sacred books in the Old Slavonic language), observe all the traditions of the Old Believers and earn the respect of the community. It is easy to guess that such weddings occur infrequently. However, adults rarely ask the opinion of children about marriage - most often, parents themselves choose a spouse for their child from other communities.

By the age of 16, young men acquire the necessary experience in the field and can already get married. Girls can get married at the age of 13. The daughter's first "adult" birthday present is a collection of old Russian songs painstakingly handwritten by her mother.

Back to Russia

In the early 2010s For the first time in many years, Russian Old Believers had friction with the authorities when the leftist government (Spanish: Juan Evo Morales Ayma; President of Bolivia since January 22, 2006) began to show increased interest in the Indian lands where Russian Old Believers settled. Many families are seriously thinking about moving to their historical homeland, especially since the Russian government has been actively supporting the return of compatriots in recent years.

Most of the South American Old Believers have never been to Russia, but they remember their history and say that they have always felt homesickness. Even the Old Believers dream of seeing real snow. The Russian authorities allocated land to the newcomers in those regions from which they fled to China 90 years ago, i.e. in Primorye and Siberia.

The eternal misfortune of Russia - roads and officials

Today only in Brazil, Uruguay and Bolivia lives approx. 3 thousand Russian Old Believers.

As part of the program for the resettlement of compatriots to their homeland in 2011-2012. several Old Believer families moved from Bolivia to Primorsky Krai. In 2016, a representative of the Russian Orthodox Old Believer Church reported that those who had moved were deceived by local officials and were on the verge of starvation.

Each Old Believer family is capable of cultivating up to 2 thousand hectares of land, as well as raising livestock. The earth is the most important thing in the life of these hardworking people. They themselves call themselves in the Spanish manner - agricultors (Spanish Agricultor - "farmer"). And the local authorities, taking advantage of the settlers' poor knowledge of Russian legislation, allocated them plots intended only for haymaking - nothing else can be done on these lands. In addition, some time later, the administration raised the land tax rate for the Old Believers several times. Approximately 1,500 families left in South America who are ready to move to Russia fear that they will not be welcomed “with open arms” in their historical homeland either.

“In South America, we are strangers, because we are Russians, but nobody needs us in Russia either. Here is paradise, the nature is so beautiful that it takes your breath away. But officials are a real nightmare, ”the Old Believers are upset.

The Old Believers make sure that over time all barbudos (from Spanish - “bearded men”) move to Primorye. They themselves see the solution to the problem in the control by the administration of the President of Russia over the implementation of the federal program.

In June 2016, Moscow hosted the 1st International Conference “Old Believers, the State and Society in the Modern World”, which brought together representatives of the largest Orthodox Old Believer concords (Consent is a group of associations of believers in the Old Believers – ed.) from Russia, near and far abroad. The participants of the conference discussed "the difficult situation of the families of the Old Believers who moved to Primorye from Bolivia."

Problems, of course, abound. For example, attending school by children is not included in the age-old traditions of the Old Believers. Their usual way of life is to work in the field and pray. “It is important for us to preserve traditions, faith and rituals, and it will be very disappointing that we have saved this in a foreign country, but we will lose it in our own country”, - says the head of the seaside Old Believer community.

Education officials are confused. On the one hand, I do not want to put pressure on the original migrants. But under the law on universal education, all citizens of Russia, regardless of their religion, are required to send their children to school.

The Old Believers cannot be forced to violate their principles, for the sake of preserving traditions they will be ready to break away again and look for another haven.

"Far Eastern hectare" - bearded men

The Russian authorities are well aware that the Old Believers, who managed to preserve the culture and traditions of their ancestors far from their homeland, are the Golden Fund of the Russian nation. Especially against the background of the unfavorable demographic situation in the country.

The plan for the demographic policy of the Far East for the period up to 2025, approved by the government of the Russian Federation, provides for the creation of additional incentives for the resettlement of fellow Old Believers living abroad to the regions of the Far East. Now they will be able to get their “Far Eastern hectare” at the initial stage of obtaining citizenship.

Today, about 150 families of Old Believer settlers who arrived from South America live in the Amur Region and Primorsky Territory. Several more families of South American Old Believers are ready to move to the Far East; land plots have already been selected for them.

In March 2017, Kornily, Metropolitan of the Russian Orthodox Old Believer Church, became the first Old Believer primate in 350 years to be officially received by the President of Russia. During a lengthy conversation, Putin assured Kornily that the state would be more attentive to compatriots wishing to return to their native lands and look for ways to best resolve emerging problems.

“People who come to these regions ... with a desire to work on the land, create strong families with many children, of course, need to be supported,” Vladimir Putin emphasized.

Soon, a group of representatives of the Russian Agency for the Development of Human Capital took a working trip to South America. And already in the summer of 2018, representatives of the Old Believer communities from Uruguay, Bolivia and Brazil came to the Far East to get acquainted with the conditions for a possible resettlement of people on the spot.

Primorsky Old Believers are very much looking forward to moving to Russia for their relatives who have remained overseas. They dream that long-term wanderings around the world will finally end and they want to finally settle here - albeit on the edge of the earth, but in their beloved homeland.

Curious facts

The traditional Old Believer family is based on respect and love, about which the apostle Paul said in his letter to the Corinthians: “Love endures for a long time, is merciful, love does not envy, does not exalt itself, ... does not behave violently, does not think evil, does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; love covers everything, believes everything, ... endures everything "(1 Cor. 13:4-7).
There is a popular proverb among the Old Believers: “In Bolivia, only what is not planted does not grow”.
When it comes to driving, men and women have equal rights. In the Old Believer community, a woman driving is quite commonplace.
The generous Bolivian land yields up to 3 crops per year.
It was in Toborochi that a unique variety of Bolivian beans was bred, which is now grown throughout the country.
In 1999, the city authorities decided to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Pushkin's birth, and a street named after the great Russian poet appeared in the administrative capital of Bolivia.
The Bolivian Old Believers even have their own newspaper - "Russkoebarrio" (Spanish "barrio" - "neighborhood"; La Paz, 2005-2006).
Old Believers have a negative attitude towards any barcodes. They are sure that any barcode is a "devil's sign".
The brown pacu is "famous" for its creepy teeth, which are strikingly similar to human ones. However, human teeth are not capable of inflicting such terrible wounds on the victim as the jaws of a predatory fish.
In their bulk, Toboro residents are descendants of the Old Believers from the Nizhny Novgorod province, who fled to Siberia under Peter I. Therefore, the old Nizhny Novgorod dialect can be traced in their speech today.

There are not so few real Russians abroad - according to various estimates, from 25 to 30 million people, and the Russian diaspora is considered one of the largest in the world. What made people leave their homes and leave for the unknown, how were they received by their new homeland, and how many managed to preserve the Russian language?

BOLIVIA

Who lives
Old Believers who have maintained their faith since the reforms of Patriarch Nikon in the 1650s–1660s.

Having fled from Soviet power in the 1920s and 1930s, first to China, the ancestors of the current Bolivian emigrants encountered communism there too, so they did not stay in China. That wave of migration "scattered" numerous families of Old Believers around the world (today their communities live in Romania, Poland, the USA, Canada, Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia). The Bolivian Old Believers do not know new words, so they invent them themselves.
The inhabitants of the village of Toborochi, founded in the south of the province of Santa Cruz in the 1980s by Russian Old Believer emigrants, still look like they have descended from historical photographs.

Men are bearded and portly, in obligatory blouses, women wear sundresses and tuck their braids under a scarf. In the jungles of South America, the Old Believers lead a simple rural life: they grow wheat, beans, corn, and breed Amazonian pacu fish in artificial ponds.
They manage to avoid mixed marriages by looking for a couple in like-minded families, including in other countries and even on other continents (with the help of the Internet).

Their children study at school in Spanish, but at home they use the Russian language of the 19th century. There are a lot of old words in it: a tree is called a forest, a mistress is a boyfriend, they say about loans “to take for payment”. The Bolivian Old Believers do not know new words, so they invent them themselves. Cartoons are called gallops, garlands are called twigs, hair bands are called clothes. Some words form from Spanish, but in Russian manners. For example, a gas station is called a petrol station from the Spanish word gasolinera, and the phrase "agriculture", unfamiliar to them in Russian, is replaced by the Spanish agricultura: "We are engaged in agriculture, we are agriculturists."

It is curious that the dialect of the Old Believers was influenced not by Bolivia, but by China. Those who lived in Xinjiang for a long time began to replace the sound “c” with “s”, and “ch” with “u”: they say “syplyok” and “sar” instead of “chicken” and “king” and distort the usual words : "son", "cheynik", "shop". This causes sneers from other Old Believers who lived in Harbin: they consider their speech to be more correct - and indeed, it is more similar to Russian.

CANADA

Who lives
Doukhobors (Doukhobors) are adherents of a Christian sect that appeared in Russia in the 18th century. Dukhobors reject the church, icons, crosses and stand for the official equality of people.

One of the islands of Russia in Canada has become the city of Grand Forks, where there are many inscriptions in Russian, there is a museum of Doukhobors and restaurants with Russian food.

They arrived here in the late XIX - early XX century, fleeing the persecution of the tsarist regime. The Doukhobors were exiled and oppressed in Russia for refusing military service and disrespectful attitude towards the church.

The first settlers in the new land had a hard time. The Canadian authorities tried to wean them from living in communities and to persuade them to work alone - farming. Under the pressure of laws, emigrants had to leave Saskatchewan and buy land in British Columbia, where they could finally live together, as they used to in Russia. They named their new possessions with an area of 10.9 million m² symbolically: the Valley of Consolation.

Now 30,000 descendants of the Doukhobors live in Canada, 5,000 of them keep the faith of their ancestors, many still speak Russian.
Today it is difficult to distinguish the Doukhobors from the crowd - they have assimilated with the Canadians, but they keep in touch with each other thanks to the Internet and communities.

USA

Who lives
More than 3 million Russians live in the USA, more than 700,000 consider Russian as their native language. There is a large Russian-speaking diaspora in Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, and New York. However, there are several places that can be called islands of Russia in the United States, for example, the village of Vladimirovo in Illinois. Here live the descendants of former prisoners of war during the Second World War.

The settlement of Vladimirovo was created on the initiative of the arrival of the Russian Orthodox Church and Orthodox refugees, who for the most part were former prisoners of war. Freed from the camps in Germany after the Second World War, people did not want to return to the USSR - they went to the USA for freedom, including freedom of religion. Most of the flow of refugees settled in large cities such as Chicago. But some, afraid of losing their culture and language, wanted to live apart.

In 1961, in Vladimirov, the local diocese opened a children's camp for Orthodox Russian emigrants, and soon this place began to grow into settlers' houses.

Vladimirovo consists of Tchaikovsky, Pushkin, Igor Sikorsky streets. There is a church, a cemetery, a children's camp.

Today, in addition to Russians, Poles, Ukrainians, Belarusians, and Americans live there. The cost of a plot in a Russian settlement is $12,000.

ALASKA

Who lives
Descendants of the Russian conquerors of Alaska.
The most Russian settlement in Alaska is Ninilchik on the coast of Cook Inlet. It was founded by employees of the Russian-American Company in 1847.

When Alaska was taken over by the United States in 1867, some of the inhabitants returned to Russia, and some remained in America, the Russian settlers built an Orthodox church and a school and existed in complete isolation for a long time, since ships did not enter Cook Bay.

In 1917 the Russian school was closed. The US authorities did everything to make the people of Alaska forget their native language. A policy of assimilation was carried out against indigenous peoples, children were punished for using their native language in schools: they were forced to wash their tongues with soap. Nevertheless, the oldest people of Ninilchik, although they have lost the Cyrillic alphabet, have not completely forgotten Russian yet.

More than 70% of the words in the Ninilchik dialect are ordinary Russian words that have somewhat changed their sound: “agorot”, “bottle”, “babachka”, “chotka” (aunt), “ostraf”, “mishok”, “skaska”. The ancient words of the 19th century have also been preserved: “strush” (planer), “vishka” (second floor), “sneezing” (tuberculosis). Some of the words are borrowed from the English language: for example, a child is called here "baby" from English. baby. The dialect is rich in figurative names: for example, a large mosquito is “grandfather kamar”, and a stingray fish is “Mara gull”.

The most curious thing that happened to the Russian language in Alaska is the loss of the neuter and partly feminine. The people of Ninil say: "my daughter has come" or "red currant". They also mix languages, they can say: “Go on mother television was on guard all night.” Russians in Alaska borrowed some words from their wives - Eskimos and Aleuts. At the same time, in Ninilchik, and even in the surrounding villages, where they do not know the Russian language, the tradition of shouting “bitterly!” at weddings has been preserved.

CHINA

Who lives
Descendants of the White Guards, Old Believers and Orthodox priests, Cossacks, wealthy peasants who were afraid of dispossession.
The peak of Russian emigration to China came at the beginning of the 20th century, when those who fled from the Soviet regime settled in Chinese Harbin. Now here live those who came to work or study.

The most Russian city in China is Harbin. It was founded by Russian builders of the railway to China - in 1898 as one of the stations of the Trans-Manchurian Railway. After the Japanese army invaded and the People's Republic of China was established, many had to leave. But in the old districts of the city, typically Siberian architecture still prevails, the city still retains the Russian spirit and is replenished with a new wave of emigrants. Orthodox churches, Russian schools work, the central park bears the name of Stalin. Near Harbin there is a Russian village, which serves as an illustration of the life of the first settlers - railway workers.

Another Russian village, but this time inhabited, is located on the border with Russia: this is the Shivey volost on the Argun River. About half of the population (more than 2,000 people) are ethnic Russians: this is one of the officially recognized small nationalities of China. They preserve the traditional culture and way of life of their Russian ancestors, but in appearance they are more similar to the Chinese: they are mainly descendants of mixed marriages between the Chinese and Transbaikalians.

Russian families in Shiwei profess Orthodoxy, build wooden huts and huts, perform Russian songs and dances. Many of them, especially older people, have not yet forgotten their native language, although the Chinese authorities tried to eradicate it in the 1960s, during a period of cooling relations with the USSR.

Recently, ethnographic tourism began to develop in the village with the support of the authorities. About a hundred Russian Chinese families are employed in the field of hospitality: they acquaint visitors with the customs, customs and folklore of the Russian village. The Russian Ethnographic Museum has been operating in Shivei since 2008.

In the 19th century the Russian government was interested in the development of the Far Eastern lands. Among the first settlers were Old Believers of various accords. At the first stage, most of them were priests of the Belokrinitsa hierarchy. Having learned that free lands can be found in the Far East, they were joined by the Lipovans, Russian Old Believers who returned to Russia from Austria and settled in the Amur Region. There were large Old Believer settlements in the South Ussuri Territory. In 1911, the Irkutsk-Amur Old Believer diocese was established, which included the parishes of the Amur, Primorsky, Trans-Baikal, Yakutsk regions and the Irkutsk province.
The October Revolution and the Civil War brought significant changes to the life of the Old Believers. The end of the war in the Far East forced the Old Believers, mostly "priests", to leave their homes in Siberia, Primorsky and Khabarovsk Territories. Through Altai and Primorye, they emigrated to China, where Harbin became the center of the Old Believers. Here, in 1917, the Old Believers-priests founded a community in honor of the holy supreme apostles Peter and Paul. Several communities of Old Believers-priests were formed in Three Rivers. At the beginning of 1921, the chair of the bishop of Amur-Irkutsk and the entire Far East was also transferred to Harbin, and Old Believer publications appeared.
One of the initiators of the construction of the Old Believer St. Peter and Paul Church in Harbin was Archpriest Father John Kudrin. He came from a family of Old Believers of the chapel consent of the Perm province. His parents joined the Old Believers-priests, that is, those who accepted the priesthood, when the boy was seven years old. From the age of eight he served in the church, and at the age of 19 he became a teacher. In 1906, in Moscow, he was made a deacon, then he was rector of a church in the Ufa province. Kudrin wanted to get an education and in 1913 became a student of agricultural courses in Moscow. Working in cooperation, he published articles in the journals "Church" and "Old Believer Thought", was the chairman of the Diocesan Council of the Perm-Trbol diocese. During the civil war, Kudrin was a preacher in the 3rd army of the government of A. V. Kolchak. In China, John Kudrin showed himself to be a missionary who was not afraid of polemics with Orthodox priests. Another figure of the Old Believers was Archpriest John Shadrin, rector of the Old Orthodox Church in the name of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos in Harbin (since 1929). He lived in Three Rivers, in the village. Top-coolie and was considered a very knowledgeable priest.
Further events in Soviet Russia led to a significant increase in the number of Old Believers in China. By 1930, collectivization had reached the Far East, destroying the traditional way of life and culture of Russian peasants, for the majority of whom religion was a bonding moral principle. Dekulakization began to take place in all villages and villages, while all Old Believer parishes, both priests and non-priests, were closed. Having suffered in 1931 - 1935. defeated in the resistance of the new government, they crossed the Ussuri border river near Khutou, north of Lake Khanka, as well as in other places of the Soviet-Chinese border and settled in Harbin, Three Rivers, and other villages in the depths of Manchuria, not far from Russia. The emigrants intended to return to their homeland after the fall of the Soviet system. The Old Believers constantly kept in touch with each other.
The largest and most characteristic settlement was the village of Romanovka, founded in the summer of 1936 in a small valley in the vicinity of Hengdaohezi, which was discovered by the Kalugin brothers. The first settlers were Ivan Seledkov with his two sons and Pavel Ponosov. At first they lived in a tent, and in November 1936 they put up a hut made of a tree cut down in the surrounding forest with the permission of the authorities. In it, they overwintered with great difficulty, hunting. In February of the following year, 14 more men from different parts of Manchuria came to them, including Ivan Kalugin, and brought horses. After surveying arable land and homestead plots, the men began building dwellings for their families. In March, wives with children came to the already finished huts. Soon plowing and sowing began.
By the end of 1937, a whole settlement had formed in the valley. In their petition to the authorities, the Old Believers noted: “We have one faith (we are all Old Believers), one homeland and occupation (peasant hunters). We sincerely wish to live together, serve the people, society and the state. Therefore, we earnestly ask you to lease the land of land suitable for farming and building a village ... Now there are 25 families in our group, including: men - 33, women - 28, children - 61. Available livestock and equipment: horses - 28, cows - 23, plows - 2 , carts - 2, harrows - 4 ".
In the center of Romanovka there was a chapel built in 1939, where there were old icons and books. In addition, each carefully kept the shrines taken out of Russia. The abbot was Xenophon Petrovich Bodunov, whose hut was located opposite the chapel. The Old Believers were excellent carpenters and blacksmiths: they themselves built huts and made various household utensils. Outwardly, the huts were simple and devoid of decorations, but the constructive thoughtfulness met all the requirements of rationality and convenience. In particular, a great advantage of their dwellings was good protection from frost and winds.
The economy of Romanovka was predominantly subsistence. The more forests were cleared for arable land, the more agriculture prevailed over cattle breeding and hunting. As of 1940, each family had two acres of arable land. They grew wheat, buckwheat, beans, potatoes, oats and barley (for livestock feed), corn (for poultry), etc. From livestock, the Romanovs kept horses, cows, goats, pigs, chickens, etc. In the summer they were grazed in the pasture, and in the winter they were kept in a barn. Cabbage, cucumbers, pumpkins, beets, tomatoes, watermelons, melons, radishes, radishes were planted in the garden. They also did beekeeping. The Romanovs did not fully provide themselves with food and fodder and were forced to buy wheat, rice and onions from Koreans living near their village.
The interior of each hut was smartly decorated: bright curtains embroidered with flowers, icons in the red corner, photographs framed under glass, ficuses and geraniums in pots, painted chests, etc. were striking. But there was no electricity, and the dwelling was lit by beeswax candles.
Bread was baked mainly wheat from yeast or unleavened dough. Meat was provided by livestock, poultry or hunters' prey. Often fish appeared on the table: trout (lenok) was caught in the river near the village. On a weekday they drank kvass, and on holidays, mash or mead was cooked from honey, berries or wild grapes. Jam was made from sultanas, wild grapes and viburnum. Everyone was struck by the beauty of the festive attire of the Romanov women: against the backdrop of the landscape of Manchuria, their national costumes seemed unusual.
The Romanovs lived unusually close-knit. Money from the sale of a captured animal, such as a tiger, was distributed among all families. Even gifts from visitors did not fall into anyone's exclusive possession. The villagers helped each other not only with labor, but also with livestock and agricultural implements.
In the first half of the 1940s. In addition to Romanovka, there were several more Old Believer settlements in eastern Manchuria: Colombo, Xilinghe, Handaohezi, Mergen, Tatitsvan, Chipigu (Masalovka) and Medyan. Brothers Dmitry and Login Gostevsky, Gerasim Yurkov, Sazon Bodunov lived in Silingha, founded in 1932. In the village of Dajiquan, in the valley of the Tangvanhe River, 12 versts from the Valing railway station, lived Ignaty Basargin, his son Yefim, and his four cousins, the sons of Kondraty. There were settlements of the Old Believers in or near such large cities as Harbin, Qiqihar, Buhedu and Hailar.
One of the most popular activities of the Old Believers was hunting, especially since the Manchurian taiga was considered a very rich game. In the area of three lines of the Chinese Eastern Railway, up to three thousand Russian hunters hunted. Most preferred to hunt a bird or a fur-bearing animal, and only a small part hunted a tiger. Semyon Kalugin, a resident of Handaohezi, was considered especially lucky, who caught seven tigers during the winter season of 1936. Other well-known professional hunters were Luka Malakhov, Fedor Martyshev and Pyotr Kalugin. According to Chinese doctors, a preparation made from a tiger heart gives a person extraordinary courage and stamina, and amulets made from tiger claws and whiskers return lost love. Typically, a tiger carcass was valued at between 900 and 1,500 gobi, and one tiger killed could yield more profit than the best hunting season. Hunting was regulated by the rules of the Manchu Digo government and the Harbin Society for Proper Hunting and Fishing, which was then transformed into a hunting and fishing section under the BREM (1936). The Old Believers also captured live tigers for sale in zoos.
The extraction of antlers, which were used to prepare traditional Chinese medicine medicines, was also popular. Pants in China were very expensive: for a pair of medium-sized punts they gave from 500 to 600 gobi, and for large ones you could get about 1000 gobi.
Hunting for deer pantaches began in Manchuria at the beginning of summer and lasted almost until August. This kind of hunting was not fraught with such danger for the hunter as hunting for a tiger, but it required a lot of experience, skill and dexterity. The main difficulty was that during the growth of antlers, the deer becomes especially nervous and sensitive. At this time, he goes deep into the taiga, occasionally going out to drink and feed. Deer hunting was based on a deep knowledge of the habits of the beast and the skills of the hunter. Having tracked down the deer, the hunter sat in ambush for hours. The magazine "Frontier" wrote: "The last season (1936) of antler hunting was, in general, quite successful. A group of big game hunters known here, led by the brothers Kalugin, Martyushev and Nazarenko, managed to get a whole collection of antlers, which brought them a fairly solid income ".
If at the beginning of the development of the territory there were a lot of animals, then over time it became less and less. Already in the mid-1930s. the question of reserves was raised. According to N.A. Baikov, up to 40 thousand people were engaged in hunting in these places, including the Chinese and representatives of indigenous peoples. The hunters procured animals and game worth about 20 million yen.
The most difficult test for the Old Believers in the first years of their life in Manchuria was the fight against the Honghuzi. Old Believer villages were far from other settlements, so they often became victims of attacks. In the autumn of 1933 in the village. Xilinghe, which at that time consisted of thirteen households, was attacked by a large gang. Despite the fact that there were twice as many bandits, the Old Believers were able to beat off the attack by cunning, destroying about fifty bandits. In the winter of 1938, Yelisei Kalugin, Ivan's youngest son, was killed in the taiga while hunting.
During their life in China, the Old Believers completely preserved their culture. First of all, this was facilitated by life in closed communities and settlements located in the depths of Manchuria, close in natural and climatic conditions to the Far Eastern region. Ways to adapt to local natural-ecological, socio-economic, demographic and cultural conditions of life have already been worked out in Russia, where the Old Believers had to adapt to life in new conditions.
The degree of openness among the Old Believers-Priests and Bespopovtsy was different. The first actively participated in the social life of the emigration, not being afraid of open polemics with Orthodoxy, which was impossible in Russia. Bespopovtsy, on the contrary, preferred to stay away from this, choosing the appropriate settlements. Both those and others were engaged in arable farming and cattle breeding, but the former had it at a more commercial level, with involvement in the economic activities of the region and contacts with other social strata, while the Bespopovtsy mainly farmed for their own needs.
In this regard, the degree of preservation of traditional Russian culture was also different. Popovtsy, understanding the importance of education, sent their children to various schools and gymnasiums, often far from home, which did not contribute to the preservation of not only traditions, but also the faith itself. Differences in the level of traditional culture were also observed among different generations: among the older and middle generations of priests it was high, and among the younger it was very low. Despite the peculiarities in the way of life of the priests and the Bespopovtsy, they were in contact with each other: for example, the Bespopovtsy used the Old Believer literature, in particular calendars, buying it from the priests in Harbin.
When moving to China, there were no big changes in the material culture of the Old Believers, in particular, wearing traditional clothes and shoes on everyday and holidays, except for the fact that in China they borrowed some items from the Chinese, for example, fabric. Clothing has become more elegant than before, while living in Russia. No new design features were introduced in the construction of housing and its interior: the "red corner" with the iconostasis was preserved, photographs of relatives on the walls, printed drawings on the fabrics that decorated the room. There were no differences in food. A set of food products, methods of their preparation, storage, preparation, kitchen utensils were traditional.
Nothing has changed in family and marriage relations. Traditions were strictly observed in everything, especially carefully approached the degree of consanguinity and spiritual kinship. The bespopovtsy almost did not choose a partner from a different ethnic environment, especially since at this stage there were enough brides and grooms. In rural areas, marriage was entered into rather early: girls at the age of 14-16, boys at 15-18. In urban areas, the Old Believers-priests were not rare marriages with representatives of a different faith, but the age for marriage and marriage was higher than that of the non-priests.
There were no major changes in the traditional distribution of industrial and domestic labor into men's, women's and children's work. Men were usually engaged in hunting and work in other areas. Women were the keepers of the hearth, did all the housework and raised the children. Old Believer families were large. They grew up from 5 to 10 children, and sometimes more. True, there was a high infant mortality, especially since the Old Believers had no medical care.
The education system of priests and bespopovtsy in China differed. The former had an elementary level in a parochial school, and also had a higher level of education, up to a higher one. Among the Bespovtsy, education was limited to the first stage: learning to read in the Old Russian language, which was necessary for religious services. At the same time, there were cases when the Old Believers hired Russian emigrants to teach children. In addition, the low level of education was replenished by communicating with Chinese or Japanese children and mastering their languages: the Old Believers knew them perfectly.
Confessional community and cultural identity were determined by the older generation. It was it that established the norms of behavior that carried a number of religious prohibitions, monitored the observance of traditional customs and rituals. The elders determined the religious and cultural rules for the members of their community, controlled strict weekly and longer fasts, obligatory prayer hours, and so on.
Adults had the duty to introduce their children to the way of life of the communities, the degree of reverence for parents, consanguinity and kinship by property, and to create a hierarchical structure of family responsibilities. They also preserved the traditional calendar and family (maternity, baptismal, wedding, funeral and memorial) rites.
The Japanese occupation of Northern Manchuria almost did not change the life of the Old Believers. The Japanese did not pay any attention to the internal structure and features of the Old Believer community. Like all Russian emigrants in northern China, the Old Believers were required to register with the Main Bureau for Russian Emigration in Manchuria (BREM) by filling out the appropriate form. The Old Believer communities chose from among themselves a representative of the BREM, who was responsible for communicating the Old Believers with the authorities.
Like all Russian emigration, the Old Believers were obliged to participate in public works, including allocating cattle for the construction of roads or taking part in the Japanese civil defense system. Japan made plans to invade the territory of the Russian Far East, and Russian emigrants were supposed to become a link between the Russian population and the Japanese. The Old Believers were also attracted to military service: they were prepared for the role of guides. They were mainly trained in the Asan formations.
There were also Old Believer communities in Xinjiang, in northwestern China, where those who fled from Russia through the Altai Mountains settled - and not only Old Believers, but also ordinary emigrants who, for religious or political reasons, did not accept Soviet power. Here the Old Believers settled mainly near the cities of Ghulja and Urumqi, where they found fertile lands. Their life did not differ from the life of their compatriots in Manchuria. There were no special contacts between Harbin and Xinjiang residents. They started only on the way to the American continent, in Hong Kong.
1945 put an end to the well-established life of the Old Believers. The Soviet army seized the BREM archive in Harbin and decided on those who, to one degree or another, had contact with the Japanese. Almost all male Old Believers were immediately arrested and deported to the USSR, except for a few old men. Soviet diplomats began to campaign in Manchuria and Xinjiang for the return of families to their homeland. For some time, the families of the Old Believers who remained in China were waiting for the return of the men, but every year the hope faded. Russian Baptists and Pentecostals managed to leave through Shanghai to the Philippines and other countries. Through them, the Old Believers learned about the rules of emigration from China.
Since the mid 1950s. from the innermost regions of China, family after family, leaving farms, with modest belongings, the Old Believers on passing trucks and wagons got to the nearest railway station, and there on trains, with and without documents, went to Tianjin and Shanghai. From there, they left on motor ships for Hong Kong (1958-1959). Chinese customs officials strictly ensured that the Old Believers did not take any valuables out of China, including gold and paper money.
For many months, while their future fate was being decided in the offices of embassies and consulates, hundreds of families of Old Believers sat in anticipation, most often without work, content with a small allowance. The International Red Cross and the United World Council of Churches helped them settle down and hold out in Hong Kong. From there they were able to disperse to different countries. Archpriest Ivan Kudrin left China for Australia in 1958. Through his efforts, a temple was opened in the suburbs of Sydney, where Father John served until his death in 1960.
Old Believers from different parts of China only met each other in Hong Kong. At first they decided to move to South America, where, as they thought, they could find conditions for compact living away from civilization, the harmful influence of which they had always tried to avoid. But the climatic conditions of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Bolivia were very different from those in which they lived in Russia and China. On their way to South America, during a brief stop in Los Angeles, the Old Believers met with Russian Molokans. Through them, they contacted the Molokans in Woodbourne, Oregon. At this time, seasonal agricultural workers were needed there. At first, only a few people left for the United States, and after a while, several hundred Old Believers already lived in Oregon, which demonstrates a high degree of mutual support.
In the early years in Oregon, the Old Believers had a difficult time: there was no money and housing, they did not know the English language. Local farmers took advantage of the unexpected influx of cheap labor: the whole families of the Old Believers, and they have large ones - ten or more children - worked tirelessly in the fields for sixteen or even more hours. Many men went to cut wood. Some worked in factories, accepting any job to feed their families and pay off the debts associated with the resettlement. Old Believers were not always welcomed at American enterprises, which was primarily associated with religious holidays: the owner did not like that his worker arranged unplanned days off for himself. The ability to adapt to local environmental, socio-economic, demographic and cultural conditions, developed over the years, allowed the Old Believers to successfully settle in a new place. Over time, large farms owned by them appeared in the United States.
In Oregon, Russian Old Believers lived surrounded by Americans, and the younger generation began to actively contact American youth. According to the elders, this could lead to a further departure from the faith. “It became difficult for us in Oregon,” recalls Olimpiada Basargin, “and for the benefit of the children, we began to think about moving to another place. We sent people to Alaska to inspect the area.” In the spring of 1967, the first Old Believer walkers P. Martyushev and G. Gostevsky went to Alaska. Upon their return to Oregon, a cathedral was assembled, at which they shared their impressions. At first, no one wanted to move to Alaska: no one wanted to give up a good job and an established life and start life anew. But then, nevertheless, opinion leaned in favor of resettlement. The Old Believers traveled to Alaska several more times until they found a place that, in all respects, was suitable for their village. On June 22, 1967, 640 acres of land were purchased on the Kenai Peninsula. Martyushev and his family (parents, daughters, married sons) were the first to go there. They also invited A. and S. Kalugins, who recently arrived from South America.
The Tolstoy Foundation helped the Old Believers move to Alaska. They were able to buy a truck and a caterpillar tractor. The displaced families borrowed a 20-ton dump truck, loading a tractor on it and hitching a truck. On May 13, 1968, they drove up to the mountains and stopped at the future neighbor, Bill Rebick. His wife showed him where to pitch tents and get fresh water. "The next day, the men made a roof and put a wood-burning stove under it, which the Americans gave us. It became a kitchen for everyone. The Americans brought fish, shrimp, which the Old Believers did not eat. Some brought clothes. Most of all came Aleuts ". For the Aleuts, the desire to help the Russian Old Believers was natural, since they passed on stories about the times of Russian Alaska from generation to generation, and some knew Russian well, continued to follow Russian customs, and went to the Orthodox churches of the American Orthodox Church. It was the Aleuts who taught the Old Believers how to fish.
One of the first buildings of the new settlement was a bathhouse: a simple tent with a heater. This tradition was constantly supported by the Old Believers in Russia, and in China, and in South America. Until now, almost every Old Believer house has its own bathhouse.
The village was named Nikolaevsky in honor of St. Nicholas, one of the most revered saints among the Old Believers. The first chapel was in the trailer of P. G. Matryushev, who also became the first rector. After the prayer, everyone gathered together and discussed plans. Elected in the village and the volost council.
Gradually, prosperity improved. Others began to join the first settlers. The men worked at a cannery in Ninilchik. Four years later, we bought a mower in Oregon. The Old Believers were not afraid to go to the forest, which they were accustomed to back in China: they gathered mushrooms, cooked jam from wild plants (blueberries, cloudberries, lingonberries), hunted, even women, small game.
“All the Old Believers of our settlement,” wrote P. G. Martynenko, “wear exclusively national costumes: embroidered shirts, wide colored sundresses. Children also go to school in their own costumes. Fortunately, there is no uniform in America. Teachers of both sexes acquired our suits and often come to work in them. Our life in Alaska is stabilizing every year. Dairy cattle, chickens, vegetable gardens, greenhouses have been bred. The main income item is fishing."
The Old Believers started fishing around 1970, hiring for the first time with the Americans. At the same time, the Russians got a job building boats for fishing. After some time, they began to build them themselves, opening several shipyards. They gave their boats the Russian names "Cupid", "Seaman", "Swan", "Rainbow", "Ruslan", Niva", etc. The Americans immediately drew attention not only to the skillful hands of the Old Believers, but also to their fearlessness: "Russians went to sea even in stormy weather. There were frequent cases of death at sea. At the same time, there was great mutual assistance. Now the Old Believers-fishermen are mainly based in Homer Bay.
In Nikolaevsk, the first major split occurred among the Old Believers. If the first groups were almost all non-priests, then an initiative group appeared, which again turned to the ancient books and decided to accept the priesthood, that is, to choose a priest from their midst. In early January 1983, representatives of the Old Believer community of Nikolaevsk went to Washington with a request to be allowed to travel to Romania for. ordination in the Belokrinitskaya Metropolis. And again, help came from the Tolstoy Foundation: its employee, Prince Kirill Vladimirovich Golitsyn, helped to arrange all the documents for the trip. So, in Nikolaevsk, a church of St. Nicholas and a priest appeared. They became K. S. Fefelov, a native of China, who had been a mentor in this village for many years.
Not everyone was unanimous about this decision. The Basargins, who lived on the Nakhodka farm adjacent to Nikolaevsk, and also the Revtovs from the Klyuchevaya farm, refused to accept the priesthood. They continued to go to their prayer house. The Revtov family founded the Kachemak settlement after a split on the shores of the bay of the same name, nicknamed Hawaii for its warm climate. Many Bespopovtsy Old Believers also lived in another village - Voznesenka.
Faith and family life are the basis on which the life of the Old Believers is built today. In foreign countries, no matter what hardships fell to their lot, the Old Believers strictly adhered to the ancient religion, the Russian language and their customs.
Bob More, head of the school, who came to Alaska from Tennessee in 1969 and worked at the Christian School in Homer, did a lot to popularize customs and culture among the Old Believers. When he arrived in Nikolayevsk in September 1970, the school was located in a simple trailer. By 1974, the residents of Nikolaevsk had built a new school, which participated in the program to reveal the history of the Builders. In this regard, a federal grant was received for the publication of literature on this topic, and the Nikolaevsk Publishing Company was organized at the school. A total of 23 stories were published. Publication ceased in 2007.
O. Basargina told the life story of her aunt S. Kalugina, ending it with these words: “There are more stories - as many as there are people who came here with hope, and with a dream, and with a desire to live and raise their children according to their convictions. Few of the stories will be written and told in the same words; but these stories exist and will continue to exist as long as one person lives with memories and another with the desire to listen and learn from past events.
One of the biggest problems young Old Believers face is finding a bride or groom. Here it is necessary to comply with all requirements for age, degree of consanguinity and spiritual kinship. For example, marriages based on physical and spiritual kinship are strictly prohibited. In China, where there were a sufficient number of Russians, the Old Believers easily found brides and grooms for themselves. In America, it has become more difficult to find a couple, so parents sometimes have to buy a plane ticket for their grown children, some from Alaska to Woodbourne, some from Woodbourne to Canada, some from Argentina and Brazil to Oregon, or vice versa. The pretext is always the same: "let him go visit." Often, children know for sure that they are going "to the bride," where in familiar families, young people "inadvertently" will make the necessary acquaintance.
The so-called Turks were also concerned about the problem of getting married or getting married. They lived in Turkey, where in the Aksehir region, having founded the village of Kazakuy, they were engaged in agriculture and fishing. The Turchans - or Nekrasovites - were the descendants of the Cossacks-Old Believers, who, led by Ataman I. Nekrasov, left the Russian borders after the defeat of the peasant uprising of 1707-1710. under the leadership of Kondraty Bulavin. Nekrasov then took several thousand families to the Kuban, which in those years was in Turkish possession. Russian peasants followed the Cossacks. A large group of Nekrasovites (999 people) repatriated to the USSR in 1962. While they were sailing from Turkey to Novorossiysk on the ship "Georgia", the thousandth Nekrasov was born. They settled in the Stavropol Territory.
A small group of Nekrasov Old Believers (244 people), who did not want to go to Soviet Russia, soon moved to the United States with the help of the Tolstoy Foundation. Initially, they settled in New Jersey, not far from New York, where some took root and live to this day. Some, having learned that there are Old Believers in Oregon, decided to move to them on the west coast of America. The clothes and dialect of the Turks are slightly different from those of Harbin and Sinjiang. Another difference is that they were forced in Turkey to change their surnames to the Turkish version. So, for example, the Steklovs, having made a free translation of their surname into Turkish, became Kems.
There are almost no marriages between American Old Believers and Russians: it is expensive to travel and there are difficulties in obtaining American visas. Even rarer are the unions of the Old Believers with the Americans. They mean that the son or daughter has gone into the world, having broken with the family and the covenants of the ancestors. The exception is cases when an American or an American converts to the Old Believer faith.

Notes

The article was financially supported by the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences, project code 09-I-P25 - 01, and also by the Japanese grant - Grant in - Aid for Scientific research (212510)3)(A). Cultural Adaptation to the Natural and Social Environment in the Forest Areas in the Russian Far East (Roshia kyokuto shinrin chitai ni okeru bunka no kankyo tekio).
1. State Archive of the Khabarovsk Territory (GAKhK), f. 831, op. 2, d. 29, l. 36 - 38.
2. TYUNIN M. Spiritual and moral editions of Harbin. - Heavenly Bread. Harbin, 1940, N 11, p. 38.
3. Kudrin I. G. Biography of a priest and father of a family. Barnaul. 2006.
4. SHADRIN I. Why did a split occur in the Orthodox Church in the XVII century. - Heavenly Bread. 1941, N 9 - 10, p. 46 - 50; No. 12, p. 4 - 11.
5. Old Believer. 2005, No. 34.
6. Frontier. Harbin, 1936, N 14 (March 28), p. 17; ZUEV S, KOSITSYN G. Hunting in Northern Manchuria. - Polytechnic. Australia. 1979, No. 10, p. 250 - 257.
7. GOMBOEV N. N. Manchuria through the eyes of a hunter. B.m., B.g., p. 22 - 29.
8. Frontier. Harbin, 1936, N 14 (March 28), p. 17; No. 17 (April 18), p. 19.
9. Ibid., 1937, N 4 (January 23), p. 17.
10. Ibid., 1936, N 29 (July 11), p. eighteen.
11. Ibid., 1936, N 29 (July 11), p. 19.
12. Baykov N. A. Game animals and the problem of fur farming in Manchuria. - Bulletin of Manchuria. 1934, No. 6, p. 94.
13. GOMBOEV N. N. Uk. op., p. 5 - 10.
14. Honghuzi: According to the story of Anna Basargina (November 6, 1979, Nikolaevsk) Guerillas: Old Believers life in China. Nikolaevsk. 1980, p. fourteen.
15. Archive of the Museum of Russian Culture in San Francisco. Collection of A. S. Lukashkin, folder: Old Believers.
16. BASARGIN O. A story of Nikolaevsk (Nikolaevsk): As told to O. Basargin by S. Kalugin. Alaska. 1984, p. one.
17. MARTYUSHEV P. Nikolaevsk-on-Alaska. - Relatives gave. 1978, N 292 (July), p. 28 - 30.
18. BASARGIN O. Op. cit., p. 3.
19. MARTYNENKO P. G. Nikolaevsk in Alaska. - Russian life. 15.IV.1978.
20. BASARGIN O. Op. cit., 1984, p. 26..

Khisamutdinov A. A. Old Believers: from Russia to America through China // Issues of History, No. 7, July 2011, pp. 90-102.