2010, the events at the arena, history drew another parallel .. Time before the arena and after. In the light recent events, anti-Caucasian-Asian sentiments, as an Armenian from Uzbekistan, I wanted to remember one very old event that allowed me to look at the world with slightly different eyes ... 1986 Aspen Grove near Leningrad, a training regiment of the USSR Ministry of Defense ... We are 180 people from Central Asia, delivered there from Tashkent warmed by the Autumn Sun, there under the low Baltic Sky with constantly drizzling slanting rain and slush ... They took the oath, took up guard duty ... and our hot guys were mowed down by a cold and the only place where it was possible to lie down for at least a couple of days - this is a San. Part, but it’s not rubber either .. Somehow I’m standing in line for an appointment and I think, “it still won’t work, there are too many people ..”, as a Slavic sergeant approaches me, Yes, not Slavic, but typically Russian in appearance, and in purely Armenian asks me, “Friend, are you Armenian?”, I was taken aback and answered, “Yes, and who are you? Andrei, we have been living in Armenia for 200 years, have you heard Molokans?” .. I answer “No, I didn’t have to ..” and he “How so?” I say, “I’m from Uzbekistan, brother ..” he says, “What’s the difference, you’re still Armenian ..!” .. And Andryukha helped me take a break from the hardships, which I was unspeakably happy with ... But that’s not the point .. 24 years have passed, and I remember you Andrei, a Russian guy from Karabakh, I regret that I didn’t ask your last name and didn’t take your address .. But after that I know one thing Armenians and Russian Molokans are milk brothers, I’ll even say cabbage ... The best sauerkraut in Armenia is made Molokans, they sit in all Armenian markets and communicate in pure Armenian, trade .. very hardworking people over 200 years of development in the Caucasus, these people have perfectly comprehended the local languages ​​​​and have not lost their native Russian, their faith, their customs ... Here I want to bring to your attention a small sketch of the Molokan

The Molokan sect arose in the second half of the 18th century in the Tambov province. The nickname "Molokans" stuck to the sectarians, most likely because they consume milk during fasting. They call themselves "truly spiritual Christians." In the 19th century, Molokans, fleeing oppression, began to move to the outskirts of the empire, in particular to the Transcaucasus. There they live to this day, preserving the customs and faith of their ancestors.

Article: Molokans

Website: Around the World
The Molokan sect arose in the second half of the 18th century in the Tambov province. The nickname "Molokans" stuck to the sectarians, most likely because they consume milk during fasting. They call themselves "truly spiritual Christians." In the 19th century, Molokans, fleeing oppression, began to move to the outskirts of the empire, in particular to the Transcaucasus. There they live to this day, preserving the customs and faith of their ancestors.
We met Molokans, or rather Molokans, at the Yerevan market. They sell here sauerkraut. The fame of it goes all over the republic, so there is no end to buyers. We drove to the Molokan village of Fioletovo with an uneasy feeling. We heard a lot about the lack of sociability of local residents, that they do not allow themselves to be filmed. For them, photo and video cameras, TV, newspapers - everything is from the evil one. In part, it turned out to be so, and yet those who told us about them clearly exaggerated. The first Russian settlements in Transcaucasia arose at the beginning of the 19th century. Basically, sectarians of various persuasions moved here. Today, their main representatives are spiritual Christians, better known as Molokans. Orthodox called them so because they are in fast days they consume milk.

In 1842 the Molokans founded the village of Nikitino. Previously, there were about two dozen Russian settlements in Armenia. Today there are two left, one of them is Fioletovo, the former Nikitino. Here is what an English traveler who visited Armenia in the 19th century wrote about the locals: “Their limbs are somehow badly connected at the joints. The Russians are in stark contrast to the Armenians, thanks to high growth and twisted gait. Facial features are irregular, eyes are small and facial expressions are not animated enough. The suit gives the men the look of retired soldiers. The women wear headscarves and clean dresses.” Molokans are indeed very clean. This can be seen in the state of houses and streets. There are two of them in the village - Central and Pogrebnaya.

The Molokans built the first huts together. Cattle, land - everything was public. Diligence, a sober lifestyle, conscientiousness helped the Molokans, wherever they went, to quickly get on their feet - in America, and in Mexico, and in Armenia. They have retained these qualities to this day. In pre-revolutionary times, the community was headed by 12 so-called apostles. A noticeable mark in the history of Fioletovo was left by one of these apostles, Maxim Gavrilovich Rudometkin. Molokans revere Rudometkin as a saint. Within the community, he founded a current of jumpers. During prayer they in a special way jumped up and down, bringing themselves into a state of ecstasy. Among his adherents, Rudometkin began to introduce a certain Zion language invented by him - the language of communication for future Christians. For example, hello, in Zion it will be: “parginal-assurinal-yuzgoris”. Maxim Gavrilovich ended his days in the Suzdal monastery, where he was imprisoned for life by the authorities. Today, the church is led by a pastor. He is elected general meeting. The presbyter has no privileges. Everyone in the community is equal. Its members call each other brothers and sisters. Humility, love, unity - this is the basis of a righteous life. The main precepts of the Molokans: do not envy, do not steal, do not offend your neighbor, help the weak, respect the elders. Smoking and drinking are condemned. Those Molokans who do not shave their beards live according to the laws of their ancestors. They don't go to the movies, they don't go to dances, they don't swear, they don't touch tobacco and alcohol, free time divided between God and the family. Those without a beard go to Russia to work and lead a free lifestyle.

The village has its own prophet, Ivan Vasilyevich Zadorkin. He is 72 years old. The prophet has 9 children and 25 grandchildren. Despite hard life, no one left, everyone lives in Armenia. Ivan Vasilyevich, as they say here, "walks in the spirit." From time to time he has visions, the "Holy Spirit" descends. This spirit, through Zadorkin, informed the Molokans that the two mountains between which the village lies will shelter it from the Apocalypse. The mystical abilities of the father were transferred to the daughter Galina Ivanovna, by her husband Yurtaeva. She lives in Yerevan. Vasily Ivanovich has a son, Timothy, who, unlike his father, does not adhere to the old order. Does not wear a beard, drinks, smokes. He spent six months in prison, got caught stealing copper wires. In Fioletovo, no one condemns Timofey. You can't force or force someone. Timofey is a bulldozer driver and often goes to work in Tyumen. For many Molokans, work in Russia is the main source of income. There is not enough land for a family, and the families of the Molokans are large, there are about three hectares - unless you feed yourself.

We visited Alexei Nikolaevich Novikov. His wife, Nadezhda Vasilievna, busied herself at the table. Alexey Nikolaevich complains about life. The harvested crop - cabbage, potatoes, beets - is difficult to sell: sometimes you have to feed cattle with vegetables. To recoup the cost of irrigation, you need to sell a ton of potatoes, another four tons - to pay for fertilizer. One hope for the children who live in Stavropol. Old people often visit them, but they are not going to move to Russia. Simple peasant food is on the table. Before eating - the obligatory prayer "Our Father". The Molokan prayer sounds almost the same as the Orthodox one.

Spiritual Christians celebrate almost everything Orthodox holidays. Molokan fasts last a week - any food is excluded. Everyone is starving: adults, children, even cattle are not fed. Molokans are not supposed to have a TV. Considered as idolatry. However, many families have television receivers. As long as they are hidden. The presbyter will never enter the house and will not begin to pray for the one who keeps Satan, that is, the TV set. It remains a mystery why the Molokans let us into their homes. Probably, the desire to communicate with new people took over. The house of Alexei Nikolaevich Novikov stands on Pogrebnaya Street. She leads to the cemetery. This last way any violet who died at home. Drunkards and swearers are buried according to donkey custom, that is, without a funeral service. locals they bury the dead themselves and do not put crosses on the graves. The Molokans consider the cross to be a weapon of the enemies of Jesus. Instead of a cross on the graves, there are iron tablets with the names of the deceased.

The life of a Molokan village is hard. And this despite the fact that the Molokans are very hardworking. Potatoes and cabbages are staple foods, and they will not be born well. The old people here are refusing pensions, because you cannot take what is not earned by today's labor. I must say that the life of urban Molokans is not much easier. Many, especially young people, tend to leave the village. Part of the Molokans moved to Russia. Galina Ivanovna, the daughter of the prophet Ivan Vasilyevich, ended up in Yerevan after her marriage. Galina has five children, a cat with a cat Eddie and Lady. Having many children is a blessing for the family, no matter if it lives in abundance or not. There are practically no divorces among Molokans. The eldest daughters Anya and Vera do not go to school. Their business is household. We came to Galina Ivanovna's house for breakfast. Nobody puts their hands on the table. A table for a Molokan is a special subject. During prayer, it turns into an altar, on which sacred books are laid out: the Gospel, prayer books and the so-called ritualists. These books are passed down from generation to generation. Galina Ivanovna does not imagine that her daughters can marry anyone other than the Molokans. Marriages with Armenians are rare. Boys Ivan and Misha go to a Russian school, go in for sports: Misha - barbell and basketball, Vanya chose karate. Although Armenian and Russian children live peacefully. All children of Galina Ivanovna speak Armenian fluently. After breakfast, the kids go to school. Anya and Vera stay at home. There is not much to do here for them - it will not take much time to cook dinner and clean the only room. It is unlikely that the city authorities of Yerevan will find an opportunity to improve living conditions large family. The very same Galya-Molokan can not earn an apartment. She is a nanny in an Armenian family. The child's parents want him to speak Russian fluently. Such is market internationalism. Many Molokans tend to leave Armenia also because every year it becomes more and more difficult to get an education in Russian in the republic. Ripped from their environment, they quickly lose their identity, forget the customs of their fathers. It will be very sad if the Molokans dissolve in the mass of the Armenian or Russian population. Be that as it may, in 2005 spiritual Christians are going to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the signing of the very royal manifesto, according to which they received the right to freely profess their faith.
Here are the things…….

Fioletovo and Lermontovo are Armenian villages in which communities of Molokans formed in the 19th century, declared sectarian and banned in the Russian Empire. At the conference “Problems of Identity in the Context of World Experience”, Diana Karliner, the author of the “Reserve”, spoke with anthropologists of the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences Roman Starchenko and Pavel Serin, who this year conducted a study in the villages of Molokans that have preserved traditional way.

- What is your interest in the Molokans in Armenia connected with?

Paul: Initially, we wanted to study the behavior of the Russian-speaking inhabitants of Armenia, but it would be impossible to seek out informants scattered throughout the country due to its specifics: Armenia is a mono-ethnic republic, 98% of the population are Armenians. There are only a little over 12,000 Russians there, and about half of them are Molokans, who live compactly.

Novel: For the expedition, we chose the villages of Lermontovo and Fioletovo, where the Molokans, who moved in the 19th century, retained their traditional way of life. In Lermontovo - 85% of the Russian population, in Fioletovo - only one Armenian family, all other residents are Molokans of various assemblies. Moreover, our institute already carried out research in these villages 25 years ago and issued a number of publications about the Russian sectarians of Transcaucasia.

- Is it ethical to call Molokans sectarians?

Paul: They call themselves that - old Russian sects, spiritual Christianity. They do not recognize crosses and icons, they have a strict ban on the use of alcohol and tobacco. In their organization, in their perception of the Bible, they are similar to Protestants.

- What would you say about their identity? Molokans consider themselves Russian?

Novel: More often, the inhabitants of these villages do not share the concept of "Russian" and "Molokan". For many of them, "Molokan" means "Russian". These concepts exist in such a spike. At the same time, they separate themselves quite strictly from Russians living in Russia. At the same time, this does not prevent them from considering these villages as a corner of Russia in Armenia.

Many Molokans have visited Russia and are proud of themselves for maintaining traditions while living away from Russia. At the same time, the Molokans are clearly aware that Armenia is a god-given, sacred land for them, which accepted them when they were not needed on the territory of the Russian Empire. At the same time, the perception of Russia as a homeland among the Molokans is preserved.

Paul: Imagine that from the first half of XIX centuries, seven generations have changed there - these are all people who were born and raised in Armenia. The Molokans are not newcomers there at all. They clearly realize that Armenia is their country.

Entrance to Fioletovo

Photo: Pavel Serin

“The Armenian language is not imposed on the Molokans”

How is the situation with the Armenian language? Do they speak it?

Paul: Most Molokans in these villages Armenian language do not know him and Soviet years did not know. Now the Armenian language is taught in schools, exams are taken in Armenian. At the local school, in Fioletovo, all education is in Russian. Until 2011, there were two Russian teachers there, now all the teachers there are Armenians, none of them live in these villages. Armenia has Russian-language classes, schools with in-depth study Russian, but such a completely Russian-speaking school is only in the Molokan village. At the same time, the leadership of the school strictly draws boundaries: the school is not Russian, education in it is not according to Russian standards, and it is subordinate to the Ministry of Education of Armenia. But the teachers themselves do not impose the Armenian language on the Molokans. Those who do not live in these villages, but in Yerevan and others major cities, they speak Armenian. Some learn Armenian at school or in the army. Many of those interviewed, for example, said that when contacting government bodies they are immediately provided with an interpreter, and, in general, the Molokans do not feel a great need to learn the Armenian language.

- What is the reason for this linguistic behavior? Why is this happening?

Paul: One should not think that Great Russian chauvinism is manifested in this. The literature indicates that earlier the Molokans spoke the Azerbaijani language, which from the 19th century until the formation of the Republic of Armenia was actually the language of interethnic communication throughout the region. This is also explained by the fact that Azerbaijan language easier to learn than Armenian. It is also important to say that the Russian language is not infringed upon in Armenia - on the contrary, now there is an upsurge in its study. Communicating with Armenians in Russian, Molokans receive some benefits.

Language is not only the knowledge of words, it is etiquette, certain rules of conduct that must be accepted. When Molokans speak Russian, they acknowledge that they remain in their own field and play by the rules of inter-ethnic cooperation.

As an employee of the administration in Fioletovo said, since there are few Molokans in Armenia, the Armenian brothers “make a discount” and switch to Russian themselves. Molokans are well aware of Armenian customs, Armenians also know Molokans, while borders remain between them.

- Have you noticed in the speech of the Molokans words borrowed from Armenian? Or some feature of speech?

Paul: We did not conduct a dialectological study, I cannot say for sure. But some Molokans in Fioletovo have a slight Azeri rather than Armenian intonation. I have not heard this among the Armenians, but I have heard it among the Molokans - they speak with the pronunciation of "Azerbaijanis".

“Why do Molokans have such famous sauerkraut?”

How did the Molokans behave in a situation of conflict between Azerbaijanis and Armenians?

Novel: The Molokans did not take one or the other position. Perhaps this is due to the fact that the Molokans of Armenia and Azerbaijan were in economic relations.

Paul: Moreover, the Molokans of Transcaucasia found themselves between two fires. The Stavropol Molokans, who once moved from Azerbaijan, recall that in the 1920s, when the Azerbaijanis squeezed out the Armenians, they hid in the Molokan villages, and when the Armenians became stronger, they began to do the same with the Azerbaijanis. During the new conflict, there were cases when Molokans acted as mediators between Azerbaijanis and Armenians so that one of the parties could safely leave.

- Do Molokans not have a ban on serving in the army?

Paul: In the 19th century, when universal military service was introduced, the Molokans believed that they could be conscripts, that is, not to kill, but to serve in auxiliary units. In the Soviet years, as you understand, it was impossible not to serve, and it was also an experience for acquiring a profession, obtaining passports. For Molokans, with the concept of military service, everything is quite usual. Previously, there was an unspoken agreement that Molokans were not sent to the Azerbaijani-Armenian border, especially to Karabakh. The son of one of our informants was sent to Karabakh, and he went to deal with it. His argument was understandable: “What if the son from the Armenian army is taken prisoner in Karabakh? He is Russian, do you understand what the international conflict will be like then? Up to the point that Russia supports one side and sends troops to Karabakh.” So the guy was saved.

Novel: Many even aspire to join the army, in which young people are socialized, and there they learn Armenian. As a rule, Molokans prove to be good workers. It is believed that a Molokan is able-bodied and will do quality work.

- Why do you think such an opinion about the Molokans was formed?

Pavel: In the Caucasus, they believe that believers will do it honestly, they will not deceive, as agreed, it will be so. Why do Molokans have such a famous sauerkraut? Because they make it with high quality, without impurities, do not weigh it down.

Molokans are proud of such an attitude to work, but I would not say that they somehow stick it out. But the Armenians often said that the Molokans, for example, are good builders. “The Molokans built my house” sounds like a sign of quality. It's a paradox: in Russia, it is believed that Armenians are good builders, but there it is the other way around.

- Who do Molokans work? Do you know Molokans who hold an influential position in Armenia?

Novel: Molokans are peasants, workers. They do not aspire to high positions. The intelligentsia left in different waves of migration. Many families are engaged in animal husbandry, live on the sale of milk. Of course, some complain that milk is cheaper than soda, but nevertheless it is now more profitable than selling sauerkraut.

Paul: You can hear the phrase from the Molokans: "We transported this cabbage throughout the Union." And it's true, in the Soviet years their business prospered. The same Molokans from Fioletovo could accumulate significant capital and live much better compared to the Armenians of nearby villages. But now everything has changed, because the Union collapsed, economic ties were cut off, plus there was also a conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. In general, it became unprofitable to sell vegetable products, and many switched to cattle breeding. In addition, cabbage is a seasonal product, and milk is real money every day.

Lermontovo

Photo: Roman Starchenko

Novel: We spent a day on a roam with the head of the local administration. Alexei Ilyich Novikov is such a man Soviet type from films about an honest and strong chairman. He combines work in administration with animal husbandry. Molokan cows graze in alpine meadows. In the spring, when the snow melts, they drive the cows to the mountains, and some family members stay there for half a year.

“Selling land to Armenians is “losing land””

- And how do communities perceive the move to big cities, for example, because of work? Is it a tragedy?

Novel: No, this is not a tragedy, many have already left. They do not move on their own, they usually go where there are communities. Molokans live in Krasnodar Territory, in the Stavropol Territory, in Rostov region. Some of them went to America and Australia. Molokans have a clear rule: one day a week must be devoted to attending a meeting (religious service. - Note. ed.), give the day to God. One presbyter told us: "If the family does not support the community, then the community does not support it." If a person does not go to meetings, then the meeting may not see him off on his last journey or refuse to conduct a marriage ceremony for him. These rules are not written anywhere, but Molokans for the most part follow them.

- What happens to those houses in the villages where the Molokans once lived and then moved?

Novel: Nobody lives in them. However, these houses are not sold to Armenians. The head of the administration, Alexei Ilyich Novikov, told us that they were ready to sell houses only to Russians.

- Why?

Paul: Residents of Fioletovo and Lermontovo are related to varying degrees. So that the family leaves and there are no relatives left in the family who can look after the house - this simply does not happen. The same practice exists in the Russian villages of Russia, when the elderly are taken to the city, and the land, the garden is given to the neighbors in exchange for the fact that they will look after the house. Since many of them are relatives in the villages, they do not want to “sell houses to strangers”. They say they would sell to the Russians, but the Russians don't buy there, because these villages are not in the sunny part of Armenia, not in the Ararat valley - there is a difficult climate, not a resort at all. In addition, people live by agriculture, and selling land to Armenians is called “losing land”.

Violetovo
- They do not conflict with each other?

Paul: No, there are no conflicts. Now there is no such problem, but earlier Molokans could live together with subbotniks, although this is a completely different direction. The Subbotniks do not have a ban on wine, they allow divorce with difficulty, while the Molokans completely deny it. Nevertheless, there were mixed marriages - the wife passed into the assembly of her husband. Now Molokans can move from congregation to congregation relatively calmly, it depends on the situation in the family and in the congregation itself. Maximists, however, may not agree to the marriage of a daughter with a man from another congregation. But this is also not defined, there is such love - she wanted and left. Of course, if this is the daughter of a chorister or presbyter, that is, a respected person with a certain morality, with social capital, this is a blow for him, contacts between families may be interrupted. But it is always decided personally. It is important to emphasize that Molokans are ordinary living people. None of them are "backward" or "canned". Yes, they have their own habits, their own views, a certain way of life, but they ordinary people in which a lot depends on the relationship.
For Molokans, photography is a sin, and no one wants to be like in a zoo. They live there, the economy is there, the children grow up, and tourists unceremoniously invade personal space. Of course it offends them.

Paul: There are formal prohibitions, and they are not always limited to these two villages. It is rare to find a TV in Molokan homes, because it is a devilish incarnation, while everyone has Cell phones with internet. But recently, at the "Artdocfest" they showed the film "Molokanka" - a very beautiful, well-made film, honest. One of the heroes is the head of the All-Russian Union of Molokans, a presbyter. How did I find out about the film? From the group of Molokans "VKontakte"! And his granddaughters came to the hall. Again, he didn’t have a TV, but he had a phone, and his children are developing a site about Molokans, they want people to know about them. And there they allowed themselves to be filmed, I think, because there is a large community in the Stavropol Territory, they felt at ease.

In Armenia, the Molokans have another problem, which is connected with the state of the republic. There is no one to sell milk, cabbage - there is quite a large labor migration from Armenia, many Armenians left. We were told about Molokans who work at the airport and see queues of Armenians striving to take off - and so they have such a joke: “Armenians, what have we done to you? Why are you flying away?! Stay!” They themselves have grown into these mountains, they have a lot to do with these mountains, they cling to that land.

The population of Armenia is distinguished by a high level of ethnic and confessional homogeneity, minorities here make up only 2% of total number residents. This 2% includes such ethno-confessional groups as Kurds, Yezidis, Assyrians, Russians, and each of them has its own story of the path that led them to the territory modern Republic Armenia.

Russian Molokans are no exception.

Molokans - a spiritual movement that arose and spread widely in the territory Russian Empire in the 18th century. Despite the fact that, in general, the Molokan doctrine remained in line with Christian religion, row serious differences from Orthodoxy led to a long persecution of the Molokans by Russian authorities. It continued until 1805, until Alexander I issued a decree on "Freedom of Religion" for a number of confessional groups. After another 25 years, the attitude changed again and another emperor, Nicholas I, decided to resettle the Molokans in the recently annexed territories of the South Caucasus. It is worth noting that the future settlers themselves accepted the new decree with optimism, there was even a “prophecy” about the emergence in the near future of the “thousand-year kingdom of Christ in the Ararat valley”.

Dreams of a kingdom were not destined to come true, but otherwise the fate of the Molokans in Armenia was going well. They got suitable for Agriculture land, and coupled with religious attitudes that encourage hard work, material success and condemn antisocial behaviors (such as drunkenness, debauchery, physical violence), this led to the further prosperity of the Molokan villages. It is not for nothing that many modern religious scholars draw parallels between the Molokan worldview and Protestant ethics, which contributed to the formation of capitalism in Western Europe.

This continued until the beginning of the 20th century, until bloodshed returned to the region. First World War and other conflicts historical period forced many Molokans to leave their homes and look for a new haven, especially those whose villages remained in the territories that, by concession of the new, Bolshevik government, became part of Turkey, were especially unlucky.

The Molokans were not bypassed by Soviet repressions, a separate lifestyle and high level the religiosity of the "sectarians" did not suit the leadership of the USSR. After calls for collectivization, instead of enthusiasm, aroused resistance from the population, a harsh but typical communist response followed: many community leaders, presbyters and heads of families were shot or exiled, and the remaining villagers were forcibly united into collective farms. Then the mass outflow of residents to the cities began, the villages of the Molokans began to empty, the actions of the Soviet government coincided with the process of urbanization gaining momentum. Some settlements, on the contrary, began to grow, while acquiring a completely different quality, for example, the Molokan village of Yelenovka, after they began to develop industrial production, felt a significant influx of population and turned into the city of Sevan, the current center of the Sevan region of the Republic of Armenia.

Only a few Molokan villages have survived to this day in the South Caucasus, the most famous of them are Lermontovo and Fioletovo in the Lori region. The population of these villages tries to preserve the way of life of their ancestors, which was formed over several hundred years, as much as possible. They still do not eat pork there, have a negative attitude towards drinking alcohol and do not trust modern technologies(that's why TVs, internet and even mobile phones are not common in these villages). Fashion trends in clothing and style, they also bypass them - men wear belted shirts loose and do not shave their beards, while women are characterized by scarves and long skirts. Much in these villages really froze in the state of the 19th century - a real paradise for an ethnographer. In religious terms, the Molokans also retained all their differences: they still do not recognize icons and the cross, do not recognize the veneration of saints, deny the need for a priestly hierarchy, clergy, and do not make the sign of the cross.

Vladimir Maslennikov,

On the photo selection you can see fragments Everyday life modern Molokans Armenia.

The famous Russian writer Narine ABGARYAN commented on her Facebook page
and gave a link to an article from the GEO magazine about Molokans living in Armenia
“Molokans. I live for a century, I wonder for a century how it can be that in Russia they don’t know about them. But they don't know.

The most wonderful, most worthy people. Royal Russia lost a lot, having evicted them at one time to the outskirts of the empire. Part of my past, part of my soul, part of my Armenia. Molokans,” wrote N. Abgaryan. And we “followed” the link...
The author of the article, Peter Vail, did not come to Armenia by chance - his mother was from the Armenian Molokans. Bribed the inscription under one of the pictures taken talented photographer Sergey Maksimishin: “The fair-haired and blue-eyed children from the community of Russian Molokans seem to Armenian mountains aliens. So it is: the Molokans came here in the 1840s. They never mixed with the local population.”
... In what year Vail visited the Molokan villages of Armenia is unknown, so perhaps some of the people he mentions in the article, including representatives of the “hierarchy”, left their homes or even this mortal world, in the history of which Molokans will always remain a kind of “white spot”, unknown and completely unsolved.

“Where else are there compactly living communities
Russian people who have not been drinking for three hundred years?”

Now it seems to me that this was not the case. There cannot be such places, such people. In the 21st century, it is unthinkable full immersion somewhere in early XIX centuries. Here the camera is not only forbidden (and it is often forbidden), but it is not even appropriate. “It’s awkward somehow,” Sergei Maksimishin told me, “I’m not a paparazzi.” Still - always with permission - he filmed. Probably there are places even further into the depths of life - somewhere in Australia, in South America, but these are three hours away from Yerevan, in the mountains between Dilijan and Vanadzor, in the villages of Fioletovo and Lermontovo. And most importantly - in this Australia, after all, strangers. And these are theirs. My.
Mine are nowhere else. Russian Molokans in Armenia are the past of my family. I took with me a photograph of my great-grandfather Alexei Petrovich Semenov and his wife Maria Ivanovna, who lived in Armenia. He showed the Molokans, and they warmed up, even the gloomy violet presbyter Nikolai Ivanovich Sukovitsyn. Not warm enough, though, to take pictures. But he admitted to the meeting, saying: "Brothers and sisters, we have a guest, Peter, his mother from ours."
My mother really grew up in a Molokan family. Our ancestor, the Tambov landowner Ivinsky, was carried away by the ideas of the Molokans, dismissed the serfs, renounced property and joined the sect of Semyon Uklein, changing his surname to Semyonov in his honor. In the years 1830-1840, the Tambov Molokans moved to Armenia, just then occupied by Russia. There my great-grandfather lived in Yelenovka - now it is the city of Sevan near the lake of the same name. From there, his son, my grandfather Mikhail, went to Turkmenistan, where my mother was born and raised - but that's another story.
On reverse side Great-grandfather's photograph has the inscription: “In memory of relatives in Askhabad, August 8, 1894, Yelenovka. Taken October 3, 1889.” A magnificently bearded great-grandfather with a valiant mustache - in a long Siberian frock coat, great-grandmother in a scarf and a white apron. Orderly.
The Molokans, who arose in Russia in the second half of the 18th century, were something like Orthodox Protestantism. Their self-designation is Spiritual Christians. The word "Molokans", which outsiders elevate to the fact that this sect consumes milk in fasting, is from the First Epistle of the Apostle Peter: "Like newborn babies, love pure verbal milk." They themselves - without intermediaries-churchmen - read and interpret the Scriptures. The community is headed by an elected presbyter. There are no priests, no church, no icons, no cross - as not divine, but human creations. The cross, moreover, is an instrument of the enemies of Christ. That is why the Molokans do not baptize themselves, and christenings are called “kstins”. Baptism with water is denied - a reference to the words of John the Baptist: "I baptize you in water for repentance, but the One who comes after me ... will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire."
The Molokans have several interpretations, subspecies, and now the movement is dominated by radical jumpers, who have greatly pressed the so-called permanent, more moderate ones. Jumpers - because “entering the spirit” (into prayerful ecstasy), they jump up, raising their hands, and say something in unknown language. I saw this at meetings in Fioletovo - more on that later.
Prosperity among the Molokans has always been considered a virtue, they are incredibly hardworking and conscientious, law-abiding and peaceful (in Fioletovo they remember only one murder, and even then in a fight - it was never intentional). Finally, they don't drink. Where else are there compactly living communities of Russian people who have not been drinking for three hundred years? My mother, who went through the front as a surgeon, managed to maintain an aversion to alcohol, which is why I suffered a lot in my youth.
Nikolai Ivanovich, presbyter of jumpers - a smooth straight parting, deep-set attentive eyes - believes, however, that the current ones have become loose. “How are the youth? - But not very. They indulge. - Are they drinking? - Yes, sometimes. - Do they walk? - No, even a drunk goes to his wife. - How do they get married? Parents agree? - No, parents only give consent, and so out of love. Out of love, maybe out of love, but without the community, without the will of the presbyter, nothing serious is done here.
Without hierarchy, no organization is possible. The Molokans rejected the priests, the temple, the ecclesiastical structure - however, another structure was created instead, but also one. Even more rigid, since in ordinary Orthodoxy power is distributed between different levels, here the very vertical that the Russian leadership dreams of is being built. Everything - family, work, community affairs - is done only with the approval of the presbyter. The village head of Fioletovo, that is, the official head of the administration, Alexei Ilyich Novikov, in whose house we lived, calmly says: “I have about ten percent of the power, the rest is with Nikolai Ivanovich.”
An instrument of pressure, a method of punishment - a refusal to perform a ceremony: marriage or kstin. In fact, exclusion from the meeting. Alexey Ilyich once dared to divorce his wife. Divorces are not recognized here. As Novikov told us: "They make me a prostitute." He moved to the permanent, goes to meetings in Dilijan. His 33-year-old son Pasha is not married, we asked why, and in response we heard a story as if from some old books. Pasha had a five-year affair with local girl, but she was not given to the son of the “prostitute”, she married another. And no one in the village will give out for Pasha.
In general, Molokan morals became recent decades harsher. It's clear: modern life with its accessible temptations, it threatens to blur, destroy the old way of life, and in order to survive, you need to isolate yourself even more. Here is a cultural conflict: the higher the level of civilization, the greater the likelihood of extinction; preservation of the unique human species associated with the tightening of one's own and the rejection of everything alien.
Once there was a club in Fioletovo, now the concrete cube with broken glass is empty. In the old days, young people went there to the movies and even to dances. Here he got married - that's all, it's over with nonsense. Now there is nowhere to go, and the rules are stricter. TVs are not kept. Only at the “prostitute” Novikov provocatively sticks out above the roof satellite dish. You will almost never meet worldly reading. But on the table in every house of jumpers - certainly three open books. This does not mean that they are read daily, but they are in full readiness: the Old Testament, the New Testament and “Spirit and Life” - “Inspired Sayings of Maxim Gavrilovich Rudometkin, King of Spirits and Leader of the Zion People of Spiritual Christians Molokan Jumpers. Written by him in the grievous suffering of the monastic confinement in Solovetsky and Suzdal in the period 1858-1877.
Three books are interpreted symbolically: the Old Testament is the foundation of faith, the New Testament is the walls, Rudometkin is the roof. At the prayer meeting it is directly stated that Maxim Gavrilovich - component Trinity: "Father, Son and Holy Spirit in the face of our anointed and suffering."
Rudometkin's manuscripts, which he secretly handed over from imprisonment in the Suzdal Spaso-Evfimiev Monastery, were taken by the Tolmachev family to Los Angeles at the beginning of the 20th century, baked into bread. In the port of Poti, during the inspection, they said that they were taking native bread to the States, customs officers were moved. These are the books they read. True, when we were visiting 71-year-old Pavel Ionovich Dyakonov, he suddenly opened the bottom drawers of the chest of drawers and showed us books left over from children, now adults, living in other parts of the world. Normal motley set: Dumas, Turgenev, Irasek, "Ivanhoe", "Tales of the Titans" by Golosovker, "The Catcher in the Rye", "The Daughter of Montezuma".
Today's children read only in class at school, never at home, said Alla Vasilievna Rudometkina, a teacher of Russian language and literature. She lives in Vanadzor, like most teachers - they are brought and taken away by minibus. In Fioletovo, with its population of 1,500 people, a ten-year period. In the 9th and 10th grades - six people each, in the 8th - 28, but they will continue to study, the teachers explain, no more than ten.
Teachers say that children come to school to relax: at home they do a lot of housework. When sowing or harvesting, they do not appear at all. Accordingly, the attitude to learning.

They came, did not mix, did not disappear

The expression of children's faces is really carefree. Fair-haired and bright-eyed - here, in the Armenian mountains, they seem to be aliens. So it historically is - they came, did not mix, did not disappear. Years will pass - these girls and boys will darken from the wind, sun and worries, like their mothers and fathers, but now Maksimishin pushes me every minute, exclaiming: “Look at those faces!”
While he is arranging a photo session in the corridor, the director Valery Bogdanovich Mirzabekyan shows me the school. I ask for a little. He takes me out into the yard, we go to a solid concrete house. The director opens the door with a key and admires the effect produced: this has not been seen outside of Yerevan - not a soldier’s point that is familiar everywhere in the province, but toilet bowls, snow-white tiles, nickel-plated taps. The toilet was built by the Americans, and since there is no sewage system in Fioletovo, they also built an autonomous vacuum device. And since the people are unusual, especially the children, who immediately began to disassemble the brilliant details, the turnkey house is opened for VIPs.
The restroom was arranged by American charity organisations. Gas - that is, heat - they also brought to the school, before the students went to classes with logs under their arms. The Armenians donated a computer and allocated $100 prizes to several students. The Americans also created a medical center in the administration building. They are planting forest where it was cut down in the 1990s. And what about Russia?
Whoever you ask - and you don’t need to ask, they themselves say vying with each other - this is the main insult: nothing from Russia. Many years ago Russian ambassador(name not indicated. - Ed.) said, visiting the Molokan villages: “Russia is not Milch cow". Everyone in Violetovo remembers and quotes these words. And when asked to help with the organization of preparatory classes, the consul replied: "Your children - you pay."
It is not entirely clear against the background of the declared concern for compatriots abroad. And what compatriots! Fioletovo is entirely Russian (one and a half thousand - only eleven Armenians: they keep the only store that sells alcohol), and partly neighboring Lermontovo with a mixed population are genuine ethnographic reserves. Only not artificial, not museum, but alive. Any civilized country would send scientists here after scientists. The phenomenon of three hundred years of non-drinking alone is worth a close study.
And the language! Tanya, the daughter of Alexei Ilyich, is chatting with a friend who has looked in: “You have clearly not seen - You have seen. Pyachalny such. - For what? - I don't know. Noisy pit, it's nothing. - Well, you call me, you will know the FAQ. (“You need to call” on a mobile phone - there is no ordinary telephone connection here.) “Help”, “knit”, “flow”, “puff up”, “in your thoughts”, “went to the meeting”. But suddenly - "my son-in-law is luxurious." Record and record.
It seems that only Irina Vladimirovna Dolzhenko from Academic Institute archeology and ethnography in Yerevan, the best connoisseur Molokans. She graciously agreed to go with us, which helped invaluably: the Molokans have known and respected her for a long time. Perhaps there is not so much time to be interested in the local way of life: how long the Molokans will hold out in their uniqueness is unknown. They are slowly leaving for Yerevan, where their diligence and honesty are valued. I saw an ad on the wall there: “Malakan brigade: repairs, cleaning of apartments, etc.”. At school, for sure, it didn’t matter. Young people go to work: most of all to Krasnodar and Stavropol Territory- there are so many Molokans that it is possible to live compactly among their own. They go to Tyumen, to Surgut, and to Eastern Siberia. All this, as a rule, is temporary: those who leave for good will “tread down the traces of their ancestors”. But you can't go against the times - there are those who trample on.
And most importantly, the once prosperous Fiolet Molokans are getting poorer before their eyes.

Ending in the next issue.

Little Russia is located. The village of Fioletovo in the Lori region is completely populated by Molokans.

Molokans - spiritual Christians, as they call themselves, have created their own oasis on the territory of the republic, where they have preserved their identity, where they manage to observe their traditions and rituals.

There are practically no TVs and computers in the village, modern technology they consider unclean. Villagers learn news either from each other, or from relatives who have gone to work in the cities of Armenia or Russia, or from grandchildren who, despite the prohibitions of adults, keep mobile phones.

“I’m sitting here, peeling cabbages, and then my granddaughter “sneezes” and takes pictures of me. I tell her, they say, take pictures of yourself, baby, and not me, I also found a beauty. Here’s yours, didn’t find anyone else? Let others taking pictures," says Maria Timofeevna, grimacing, nodding at the photographer.

There is a common opinion that Molokans are secretive, unsociable people, they do not like "strangers". Most likely, this is a myth, since all those Molokans that we met turned out to be very friendly.

"Russian tourists often come to us. Do you know what they ask first of all? Don't the Armenians offend you?" - laughing, says a friend of Maria Timofeevna - Tatyana Ivanovna.

She noted that Armenians and Molokans have been living side by side for two hundred years.

"Armenians are our brothers and sisters. We are already the fifth generation of Molokans living in Armenia. What problems can there be between our peoples?" the woman wonders.

In any city or village in Armenia, you can meet children in caps and T-shirts with the inscription "Spirits" and with the profile of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. In Fioletovo, we did not see children in such clothes. The "Velvet Revolution" seems to have bypassed the village. The villagers did not take part in the revolution and did not feel any change.

"In the neighboring Armenian village (Margaovit - ed.), roads were blocked, some slogans were shouted out. And what about us? We don't know Armenian, would we go there and what? Why should we?" - said the neighbor of our two interlocutors and hurried to the garden.

© Sputnik / Asatur Yesayants

One of the women asked if it was true that Pashinyan was responding to people's letters.

"If yes, then let's write him a letter, Tatyana Ivanovna. Let him return all the money that Ter-Petrosyan (the first president of Armenia, Levon Ter-Petrosyan - ed.) Withdrew from our pension and ate. What if he returns it?" - offers Maria Timofeevna, referring to her friend.

In turn, Natalya Maksimovna, who opened the first and only guest house in Fioletovo, doubts that the revolution will improve the situation in the village. A separate article will be written about her guest house.

"We are a hardworking people, we even have small children working in the gardens, taking care of domestic animals. But we have nowhere to sell our goods. All the neighboring Armenian villages are empty. And the cities too. We have to travel to the capital for trade. Can any leader really to change it - to return people to the villages where there is no work for them? Hardly," the woman says.

© Sputnik / Asatur Yesayants

Many Molokans remember with nostalgia Soviet times when they lived in clover, the village prospered, and the young did not have to leave in search of work. They do not believe that the change of power in the republic will somehow change their lives for the better.