18.08.2016 /

On the Impossibility of Banning Prostitution in 1914

In our world, there have always been, there are now, and there will always be despicable and malicious people who write denunciations against others.

It’s not that hard to smear someone you don’t like—the main thing is to have a vivid imagination. The more I work with archival records, the more I’m convinced that much of our city’s history and life repeats itself—both events and people. Some people with certain views seem not to have died at all over the past 100 years. They just go on living among us…

On July 28, 1914, the following anonymous tip was sent to Pavel Nikolaevich Masalsky-Koshuro, the vice governor of Kharkiv.

To His Excellency
the Vice Governor of Kharkiv

YOUR EXCELLENCY.

At a time when Holy Rus rose up in defense of the Beloved Fatherland, when prayers are offered up to GOD in Christ’s churches for the health of our beloved SOVEREIGN, the EMPEROR, and for victory to be granted to the Russian Army, when young and old alike, with faith in GOD and HIS holy WILL, were praying to the ALMIGHTY—at the very same time, as nowhere else in any city or state, open debauchery and drunkenness were taking place in brothels, and where Jews get the unfortunate Russian soldier drunk, taking his last pennies and inflicting venereal diseases upon him, thereby rendering hundreds of Russian soldiers unfit for service.
Is it really impossible now, in such a time of suffering, to destroy that which deliberately festers to the detriment of humanity, while simultaneously serving as a distribution point for proclamations to the troops?
Can it really be that the law permits the owners of these dens (all baptized Jews) to openly trade in the Christian bodies of defenseless women who have fallen into the clutches of the enterprising proprietors of such a horrific and shameful enterprise?
YOUR EXCELLENCY, I, the author of these lines, have deep faith in you as a truly Russian man who stands at the helm of the interests of the Government and Society, and in addressing you, I am convinced that you will take measures to eradicate this cesspool, especially now.
After all, it is impossible to look upon what is happening here without compassion, when Russian soldiers are being robbed in the most vile and deceitful manner, by getting them drunk on alcoholic beverages—hundreds of bottles of which are brought in and taken out openly and with impunity right before the police’s eyes.
They say that in these houses there are specially designed mirrored rooms, the sole purpose of which is to make it easier to rob an intoxicated and dazed visitor.
After all, this is all terrible. Jews, Germans, and Turks—against the will of the unfortunate woman—are granted, for a certain fee paid to the proprietor, free access to abuse the Christian body and soul.
And how many tears have been shed by the unfortunate mothers, wives, and deceived young women lured into these houses of debauchery?

YOUR EXCELLENCY, the Society’s hopes rest with you, and I, an old man, want to believe—to believe deeply—that you, as one devoted to the TSAR and the FATHERLAND, will take measures, at least for the time being, to eradicate the evil that defiles the faith and the people.
After all, this does not exist in Moscow, nor in St. Petersburg—SO why is it necessary for Kharkiv?
It is impossible to forbid people from selling themselves, but it is necessary to forbid Jews from selling the bodies of Christians.

(The author’s spelling and punctuation have been preserved as originally written)

Fig. 2

The authorities’ response was nothing short of lightning-fast. The police officer from the 2nd Precinct was immediately instructed to “provide the most detailed information on this matter.”
As is often the case, the tip turned out to be false after all. Following the investigation, the report states the following:

The young women enter these establishments voluntarily, without any coercion or outside influence, and leave them without hindrance. To prevent the development and spread of disease, the young women undergo a weekly examination by the City Physician. During the days of mobilization, brothels were indeed frequented by reserve enlisted men, and the military authorities dispatched patrols to maintain order and quiet. As for the sale of alcoholic beverages, such trade was not and is not conducted in brothels, since I have established supervision by city police officers and a permanent district inspector to prevent this trade.

Fig. 3-1

However, it seems to me that the main motive behind this entire false accusation was by no means a sense of patriotism or morality. It was all written for this reason: “It is impossible to forbid people from selling themselves, but it is necessary to forbid Jews from selling the bodies of Christians.”

Fig. 4 (1)

So, not all accusations are created equal. I wonder, though: would that anonymous moral crusader have written this utterly absurd and ridiculous slander if he’d known how laughable it would seem 100 years later? I think it wouldn’t hurt for today’s authors to give this some thought as well…

Anton Bondarev
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CategoriesKharkiv in WWI