My Russian Family Read online

  The teenagers learned the mill techniques rapidly and soon they became skilled textile workers and very close friends. Varvara was a strongly motivated orphan. She followed her older sister’s example, stinting herself to save money for her future dowry. Young girls without dowries experienced a very difficult time finding a husband. The lack of parents did not make this search any easier.

  Peasants and working people usually had only one pair of shoes but Varvara had two pairs. She wore the cheap pair to and from the factory. When actually working, she went barefoot to avoid wearing out the shoes and socks. Her other pair was exceptionally nice and she was very proud of them. She had purchased them as a necessary expense with her own money earned at the factory. If a boy or a boy’s mother was near, the good shoes were on her feet. On visits home, she walked seven kilometers (4.4 miles) barefoot from the rural train station called Denezhnikovo to her home village. Then she would pause just outside the village, put on her good shoes with their little one-inch heels, and sashay proudly down the main street in her glory.

  Makeup was typically not available to peasant girls but sometimes they used beet juice to add color to their cheeks and lips. Most often, however, homemade soap, a well-scrubbed look, fresh food, and healthy living was the only makeup available. Peasant girls typically braided their long hair, occasionally weaving in a colorful ribbon. A long drab dress covered them to their ankles and a large cloth bow decorated their waist.

  The teenager Varvara loved candies and Moscow boasted of numerous excellent shops selling delicious varieties. The shopkeepers did not like her in their shops because she was poorly dressed, barefoot, and would not spend her money. She developed a habit of standing just outside a candy shop door where she could deeply breathe in the wonderful fragrances. Her first taste of chocolate only came many years later, when she could afford it.

  Another favorite place for Varvara was standing on the cobblestones of Red Square and staring at the eight wonderful unmatched onion domes of St. Basil’s Cathedral. This 400-year-old edifice remains one of the better-known landmarks of the Christian world.

  St. Basil’s Cathedral, Red Square, Moscow, 2005

  By the 1900s, in spite of being an autocratic tsarist regime, reforms created the beginnings of a modern state. However, these changes were too few and too small to benefit many citizens. Corporal punishment and economic constraints kept the peasantry second-class citizens. City workers lived poorly with little money as the empire protected only the rights of the owners.

  Varvara lived in a long barracks with a low ceiling and an open plank platform on each side where the female workers slept side by side. A wooden box underneath held their personal possessions. A wood fireplace provided some heat and a means to dry their clothes. The bathroom was a long open room with holes in a concrete slab that allowed the girls to sit. Hot water was not provided and there were no bathtubs or showers. Weekly, usually on Sundays, the girls would go to one of the numerous public banyas, pay a fee, and enjoy hot water as they washed their hair and bodies.

  The workers had to buy all their own food and, as they were all trying to save money, they ate very poorly. Typically, breakfast was a piece of black bread with a glass of cheap tea without sugar. Lunch would be one or two skinned small potatoes with a chunk of onion and a glass of water. The evening meal could be a turnip or a beet with black bread. City workers seldom had meat, fruit, or sugar as they were too expensive. On Sundays, the diet might include an egg. An occasional treat would be a Russian salad with small chopped pieces of potatoes, carrots, beets, onions, and pickles mixed with sunflower oil. Relatives sometimes sent a chunk of salted pork that was more fat than meat. The fat was invaluable in terms of nutrition.

  As was typical under the Tsar, many girls were illiterate since they worked instead of attending school. A religious holiday might allow them to return home once a year. There were no letters or phone calls to friends and relatives. They did manage to save money but it was never a large sum even though they worked 12 hours a day, six days a week for years.

  All the female workers were in the same boat: poor, trying to survive and get ahead for themselves and their families. They were young and resilient; they helped each other and did what they had to do.

  The revolutionary movement in 1905 Russia was a popular armed revolt against Tsarist Nicholas II and the conflict pulled Varvara into its deep and dangerous swift current. A drought and widespread crop failure further complicated the situation. A young revolutionary leader called Lenin was promising land for the peasants and these two young village girls knew the value of that. Therefore, they did what they could to further the revolution. She and Dahsha helped the revolutionaries, hiding them in safe places to recuperate after they were shot, bayoneted, or wounded with a saber. The two young girls believed that they were doing the right things for the Russian people.

  The Tsar’s Cossack Cavalry from the Don River of the Ukraine, the Guard’s Regiment, regular army troops including artillery units, and the police were all loyal to the Tsar. These troops were disciplined and quite active against all revolutionaries and various minorities such as Jews and Gypsies. None of these troops were originally from the Moscow area so they had no qualms about killing local citizens. The authorities brutally suppressed the revolt with swords and guns, and the struggle officially ended on December 19, 1905 with large numbers of dead and wounded. The revolutionaries came close to success. They lost due to large numbers of Russian troops who were fighting the internal revolt when they were sorely needed on the front lines against Japan. One of the revolutionary leaders named Lenin stated that this revolt was a dress rehearsal.

  The Tsar Bell was always a symbol of the power of the tsar system. It was cast in the 1730s under Tsarina Anna and today can be seen in the Kremlin. The total weight of 200 tons makes it the world’s largest bell. Maybe it was an omen that, shortly after it was created, a large fire caused the bell to turn bright red and water poured on it by well-intentioned fire fighters caused an eleven-ton fragment to break off.

  State control of the Russian Orthodox Church at this time was facilitated by the political subservience of most of the higher clergy. This was especially true from 1880 to 1905 under the influential archconservative K. P. Pobedonostsev, a lay official with ministerial rank. This was not the church’s finest hour.

  Tsar Bell, Kremlin, Moscow 1735.

  As news of the end of the 1905 revolt was published, the factory owner immediately fired Varvara, Dahsha, and the other unreliable workers. They were not loyal to tsarism, so they received a “wolf’s ticket.” This paper stated that the factory owner fired them under bad circumstances. No employer would hire someone with this document. They had no job and because the capitalists who owned the factory also owned the dormitory, the girls had no place to stay. There was no choice, in winter’s snow and cold, but to return to their village. Their three years of work had provided only a small amount of savings. It was a disaster for the teenaged orphan.

  The weary and dispirited girls walked a long distance on that gloomy winter day through snow covered streets to the large Kazanskie train station in Moscow. Varvara was thinking about the strong scolding that her older sister Katia would certainly give her. Katia and her husband had taken over the responsibility of raising the younger brother, Andre. They were poor and didn’t have the means to support Varvara as well.

  Suddenly, someone called Varvara by name. The girl looked around and saw a woman dressed like a Gypsy staring directly at her. Her experience with Gypsies led her to believe that they lied a lot. The young girl challenged her, “You, Gypsy. How do you know my name?”

  The woman laughed, “I’m not a Gypsy. I am a Serbian, you know, in Yugoslavia. I know all about you. I know about your past and your future. Listen to me, girl. You are going back to your village and, as you are an orphan, you will be the wife of a widower very soon.”

  Varvara became angry and yelled out, “What are you talking about, you crazy woman? I’m a
nice modest girl! There is no reason for me to get married to a widower.”

  “No!” The Serbian’s voice grew louder. “Listen to me! You need to listen. I have things to tell you!”

  The girl broke into tears and went crimson with shame as she took to her heels. Only one thought nagged her brain: I’m a virgin! It was a strong tradition, prevalent at that time, that a virgin should never get married to a widower. Only a married woman who lost her husband or a female who lost her virginity one way or another could do that. This exchange of words spooked the two young friends and they did not talk about the strange woman on the train trip home. In later years, Varvara frequently regretted not listening to the woman and learning everything the Serbian had tried to pass on to her. This event sparked my grandmother’s interest in and cultivation of psychic phenomena.

  3. Dreams and Reality

  Sister Katia could not afford to be very sympathetic about Varvara’s return and she soon announced her decision to marry her sister off as rapidly as possible. The older sister talked hard, “It’s already decided. Your fiancé will come tomorrow. Be ready and don’t play any tricks!”

  Varvara glared at her sister and yelled, “I won’t get married to anyone! I was roped in without even being asked.”

  Katia did not show any emotion and continued, “Your fiancé is not some milksop. He is a respectable young man. Tomorrow you will give your best respects to him and I will watch your every move. When I call you to meet him and ask you to get married to him, you will answer only, ’Whatever you decide, sister.’ Is that understood?” Katia’s tone of voice implied an unspoken threat plus a strong desire to finalize this awkward impediment in her life.

  The 17-year-old Varvara choked in anger. Katia added in a quiet, calm voice, “Be kind to him, because during his military duty, his young wife died.”

  Hysterics was a red shroud that covered Varvara’s blue eyes. She screamed and stomped her feet in a blind rage. “I hate him! I hate you! I hate everybody! I’ll drown myself before I’ll do that!”

  Katia coolly shrugged her shoulders in distain, “Don’t you dare.”

  Varvara had decided to hang herself the next morning and she imagined her sister’s repentance. The girl was taking pleasure in visualizing a scene at the cemetery where Katia mourned over her dead body as she sorrowfully murmured, “I’m so sorry, beloved sister. Wake up please and stay single forever.”

  After crying for a while, she had the image of her dead body with a rope around her neck, an open mouth, bulging eyes, discolored face, and tongue hanging out. It was not an attractive picture so she sighed resignedly and searched for alternatives. Scaring her fiancé away might work. She could pretend that she was mentally ill and make faces as if stupid, or simply play the fool with the hated man. She could even cut her long hair short like the sluts and bold women in Moscow. However, it would take three years for her long luxuriant ash blond hair to grow back out and she did not want to stay ugly for that long. She had to do something but nothing seemed to be right for her. She was still working on options when she tearfully fell asleep.

  Having spent a long time dreaming of her unexpected demise, Varvara was mentally exhausted and had a very bad night. Finally, voices from the living room entered her nightmarish dream and aroused her.

  It was cold in the bedroom of their log home and the handcrafted floor planks and heavy black furniture added little warmth. Pushing off the cozy cotton quilt made by her grandmother and dressed only in her handmade wool nightgown, Varvara slowly cracked open the door to peek out and observe the disturbance. The girl could see nothing and curiosity opened the door wider.

  Katia, in her best dress and with a luxuriant hairdo was carrying a large snack tray with various kinds of perozhki. She was proud of herself; her plan was coming together beautifully and she felt confident. Following tradition, she presented the perozhki together with a humorous saying in the form of a poem, “These perozhki are from Ryazan. They have eyes and they will silently observe you as you devour them.”

  She had spent three early morning hours preparing them, working fast and happily. Still warm from the stove, these small tidbits had thin dough wrappings baked to a golden brown. Some contained mushrooms, fried onions, and diced boiled eggs. Others had juicy meat and onion with peppers. Another batch had fried cabbage and onions with diced hardboiled eggs. These over here were made of sweet cottage cheese, those with fruit preserves, and the last kind was with fish. The tempting aroma filled the house, turning it into a comforting home.

  Varvara watched silently as Katia talked politely and respectfully to a tall man, “My sister is very young and… stupid sometimes. So please excuse her childish pranks. In addition, she thinks she is not yet ready to be married. Well, we know better, and of course my husband and I could not expect to find any man better than you. Thanks for your kind proposition. We gratefully accept it with all our happiness. Varvara will soon be here, so you may ask her yourself for her hand.”

  Varvara was perplexed as she stared at the man. He was young and striking! Confusing thoughts swirled in her young head. I have not dressed up yet. He will not wait that long. He’ll leave without seeing me. Nevertheless, she could not move. She continued to stare at the man, falling deeper and deeper in love like a plunge from a mountain precipice.

  The fiancé did not talk much. His appearance expressed peace of mind but his big black eyes were sad. Varvara had never seen such a handsome man before and her hand made an involuntary movement to the ugly scar on her face. He will never marry me! Oh, poor me!

  Katia called, “Sister, come here, please. We have a guest!”

  These words broke Varvara’s trance and in a flurry of activity she got ready for her grand entrance. She gathered up her long hair and rapidly plaited a single large braid. She had only a few blouses and skirts and two long dresses, and one of those was not acceptable for company. She slipped into her best dress and opened the door. She awkwardly entered the living room on wooden legs and only then did she notice she was still wearing her sleeping socks. Her best shoes remained under her bed. Ohhh, it was a disaster. Everything was wrong. But the emotions of the moment made her glow with an inner beauty. The prospective groom saw only her wide-open beautiful blue eyes.

  Had the Serbian Gypsy woman really known Varvara’s destiny?

  4. Ivan the Peasant

  Imagine a handsome black-haired man standing well over two meters tall (6 feet, 7 inches). People immediately noted his muscular shoulders, large hands, and pleasant countenance. That is my grandfather Ivan Coupriyanovich Sariechev, born in 1880 in a peasant’s family. All members of his family amazed people because they were so tall and strong. My grandfather’s relatives lived a long life. His paternal grandmother died at 103 years of age and his paternal grandfather at 107.

  Ivan had married his first wife just before the Russo-Japanese War, which started in February of 1904. He returned home only after it ended in August of 1905. During those years and even into 1907, several groups including Liberals, Socialists, Bolsheviks, and Populists were periodically active in revolutionary activities and the tsar persecuted them with sword and shot, along with national minorities. The tsar succeeded in his brutal suppression of these internal conflicts but he lost the war to the Japanese.

  The water had become very muddy in Asia as events unfolded like tumbling dominoes. At great effort and expense Russia had built the famed Trans-Siberian Railroad between 1891 and 1904, primarily because of its aspirations in Manchuria and Korea. Conflict over supremacy of Korea led to the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, which propelled Japan to world power status and revealed the internal weakness of the last Chinese Empire. This produced a reform movement and the Chinese Boxer Rebellion. Russia occupied southern Manchuria, thus strengthening their links with Korea, which had sought their help against Japan. In 1896, Russia concluded an alliance with China, against Japan, to extend the rail line to Russia’s Pacific seaport of Vladivostok. In 1898, Russia pressured China in
to leasing them Port Arthur in Southern Manchuria.

  Japan signed a 1902 Anglo-Japanese Alliance with England, which morally strengthened Japan’s position against Russian expansion. The Japanese war machine was at full throttle and their main fleet launched a surprise attack on Port Arthur, east of the Korean Peninsula, on February 18, 1904, which triggered the Russo-Japanese War.

  So, the tsar took my granddaddy to fight the Japanese in 1904. Because Ivan had a magnificent physique, military bearing, and was handsome, an officer chose him to be his orderly. It did not hurt that Ivan was religious and always appeared neat and spotless from his boots to his hat. His reputation for cleanliness was well known as his first wife would boil his shirts in soapy water instead of just washing them in cold water, as was the norm.

  The young soldier spent his time in the Far East dreaming about his young bride. Every day, when his commander went to his duties at the headquarters staff, the orderly stayed home to do the cleaning, including dishes, uniforms, and boots.

  The bored young wife of the commander started to pursue Ivan with her many charms. The orderly was on the alert and soon became disgusted with Madam’s attentions. He decided to do something that would help him return to his friends in the regiment.

  One morning the woman said, “Ivan, bring me a glass of water.”

  He brought her a crystal glass and a carafe on a silver tray. Madam, smiling coyly said, “That glass is not clean!”

  Ivan said, “Sorry,” and dropped his eyes, hiding the mischievous sparks. He held the glass up, spit on it, and polished it. Madam was shocked and asked, “Do you always do this?”

  He responded, “Only when I see that the glass is dirty.” That took care of the problem with the Commander’s wife and Ivan was relieved of that duty. Satisfied with his successful ruse and in an exuberant mood, the young soldier returned to military duty at the front line.