During the New Year’s and Christmas holidays, many residents of our city will have festive Christmas trees in their homes and apartments, decorated with ornaments and colorful garlands. And although the past year wasn’t without its “Christmas tree scandals,” despite all the heated debate, no one ever thought that a Christmas tree could be harmful. And the only thing affecting festive children’s events—with dancing around the green tree and gifts—are the restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Few people today realize that this has not always been the case. For example, more than 100 years ago, our city was in the throes of a real “Christmas tree controversy.” That is exactly what my story will be about today.
So, in the summer of 1914, World War I began. As winter approached, the Russian Empire suddenly decided that New Year’s traditions had been imported into the country from enemy Germany. For this reason, there was talk in many cities about banning Christmas trees altogether, as well as the children’s celebrations associated with them. And by the end of 1914 in Kyiv, for example, local church schools decided to cancel Christmas trees and use the money allocated for them to buy necessary supplies for the soldiers. Kharkiv was also swept up in this “anti-Christmas tree hysteria.” Thus, in mid-December, swept up in a wave of patriotism, members of the Kharkiv fire department—despite already contributing 2% of their monthly pay to the war effort—suddenly decided to stop setting up Christmas trees in their units for Christmas. Instead, they decided to donate all the funds earmarked for the purchase of Christmas trees, decorations, and gifts to support the army.
The locomotive factory also supported the idea of canceling the holiday. And the 350 rubles traditionally allocated by management for a Christmas tree for the children of employees and workers were, at the suggestion of the teaching staff and some of the children from the factory school, also decided to be donated to the army. Officials of the Kharkiv Postal and Telegraph District, led by the district chief and with the participation of the women’s club, unanimously resolved at their meeting: instead of a holiday Christmas tree, to use the collected sum (up to 1,000 rubles) to purchase and send lard, tobacco, soap, candy, handkerchiefs, canvas footcloths, thread, and needles (and so on, for the list goes on and on).
Some children in the city of Kharkiv also followed the adults’ lead and felt it necessary to express their civic stance. For example, on December 7, the media published an open letter from a young girl from Kharkiv:
“I humbly request that you not refuse to publish the following in your newspaper:
At L. V. Dombrovskaya’s gymnasium, it is customary to hold an annual Christmas tree celebration; for this purpose, students who wish to attend the celebration each contribute 75 kopecks. In these difficult times caused by the prolonged war, I am declining to participate in the upcoming festive celebration, and I ask that the 1 ruble 50 kopecks I have (enclosed herewith) be added to the fund for purchasing holiday gifts for the dear defenders of our homeland. I am confident that there are many other students who will feel the same compassion and donate as much as they can to this good cause. Elizaveta Karatumanova, 4th-grade student.”
The students of the Kharkiv Crafts Society’s commercial school also publicly expressed their desire to forgo putting up a Christmas tree during the upcoming holidays, provided that the money earmarked for this purpose be used to purchase warm clothing as gifts for soldiers. Therefore, the board of trustees of the commercial school decided to transfer the 100 rubles earmarked for the Christmas tree to the Kharkiv City Council on their behalf. The students of the Mariinska Girls’ Gymnasium also acted quite wisely in this situation. They collected and sent a total of 16 poods (about 262 kg today) of gifts to the soldiers for Christmas, including warm clothing, lard, sausages, cigarettes, and matches. They decided not to cancel the Christmas tree celebration, but instead to forgo the usual awards they would have received upon advancing to the upper grades. As for the open letter from other socially conscious children, published in late December, its lofty style and pathos, to be honest, reminded me of a text written by some ardent Komsomol members from the 1930s:
Let’s forget about the Christmas tree! With these words, we—the elementary school students of Kharkiv’s 2nd Real School—appeal to all children who set up a Christmas tree at home for Christmas. We have no right to celebrate when our neighbors are suffering, when we see around us orphaned children, ragged and hungry, whose fathers died heroically on the battlefield defending the Fatherland. It is our sacred duty to provide shoes, clothing, and food for these orphans, to give them the opportunity to celebrate at least the great feast of Christ’s Nativity without worries or anxieties about tomorrow. And so we, the elementary-grade students of Kharkiv’s 2nd Real School, have decided that this can easily be achieved. All we need to do is forgo putting up Christmas trees at school and at home, as well as Christmas gifts, and the money that was previously spent on all of this should be sent to the editorial office of the newspaper *Yuzhny Krai* with a request to forward the funds to the appropriate institutions for the support of soldiers’ widows and orphans, and… and everything will be taken care of: the orphaned children will be shod, clothed, and fed. At the same time, one should not be shy about the smallness of one’s contributions. “Many hands make light work,” as the proverb says, and this is the absolute truth. We invite all children to follow our example this year, so that the orphans may joyfully celebrate the coming feast of Christ’s Nativity, and God will grant us a joyful Christmas even without a Christmas tree.
And yes, I almost forgot—the school commission under the Kharkiv City Council also added fuel to the fire when it decided in December not to hold Christmas tree celebrations for children at the educational institutions under its jurisdiction.
It’s only natural that not everyone living in our city has welcomed these bans with joy and positivity. We are already familiar with the views of those opposed to the Christmas tree and the holiday celebrations. However, the arguments of its far more numerous supporters are, in my opinion, very thoroughly presented in the text below, which I will take the liberty of posting with a few minor edits:
There are some things we’ve always loved to overdo, and these days this loss of a sense of proportion is having an even more pronounced effect in certain areas. Take, for example, the issue of Christmas trees set up for Christmas in city schools and various children’s homes and daycare centers. Suddenly, a strange question arises: Should we still hold such Christmas parties now that we’re at war, and shouldn’t the money spent on this be given to our soldiers as gifts instead? And a whole debate has erupted around this suggestion! Excuse me—but this is, in essence, completely absurd! They want to express the full depth of their affection and care for our soldiers, who are spending this great holiday in the trenches, in a difficult combat situation—and that’s wonderful! Of course, we must do everything possible, everything in our power, to ease and brighten the lives and suffering of our glorious defenders, but we must not do so at their expense, so to speak! It’s not right to take from children just so we can send something to their fathers! Think about it: whose children, for the most part, attend city schools, and whose children are now, for the most part, cared for in our orphanages, nurseries, and children’s cafeterias? The children of fathers who have been called to war. And yet, it is primarily these children from whom they want to take away the Christmas tree; it is precisely them whom they want to deprive of the joy that the tree brings—both as entertainment and as a source of small material pleasures in the form of gifts. Not only that, but I’ll say this: it seems to me that, to comfort the mothers and children of reservists (schools must certainly be aware of these families), even more treats, books, toys, and other items should be distributed—more than usual—precisely because they are now our orphans, even if only God willing, only temporarily, but orphans nonetheless. In the homes of well-to-do people—not to mention the wealthy—there will certainly be Christmas trees. What pedagogical or psychological sense is there in depriving children of this pleasure, which is so touching and beautiful in its very concept? It is an entirely different matter how the children of such families might choose to spend their gifts and the money they receive! After all, there is no equality between them and the families and children we are talking about—no equality in terms of emotional distress or material deprivation. People started talking about a replacement without thinking it through. We are so eager for “new ideas,” especially bold ones. It is unthinkable that the city administration, or its school board responsible for organizing the Christmas tree celebrations, would deprive poor city children of the familiar joy they’ve been dreaming of all year long—and thereby make their situation even worse. After all, what would that amount to? It would be to plunge the little ones and their mothers into a sea of sorrow and tears, instead of joy and a warm welcome! The city is incurring enormous, unprecedented expenses (by “city” I mean all of Kharkiv); but what can they possibly save on Christmas trees? If the city administration lacks the funds for this, let them organize a private collection; in a single day, they could easily raise the three or four thousand rubles needed for this cause. Children from well-to-do families, as well as their fathers and mothers, will give with a light and joyful heart. They will also give to those orphanages and nurseries that do not have such a strong guardian as the city administration. How could they not give?! For heaven’s sake! We must give—give generously—for the sake of those very fathers who, in this noble impulse of ours, will find for themselves both great joy and new energy to fulfill to the very end their sacred duty as defenders of our native land! Children are what matter most—both to them and to us!”
It’s also worth noting that even among the soldiers themselves, who were stationed at the front lines, the idea of canceling the Christmas trees for the troops did not gain traction and was met with the reaction: “Hurt the children for the sake of the army’s supposed needs?!” Various angry letters from defenders began to appear in the empire’s newspapers. For example, in *Vechernyе Vremya*, a published letter from an artillery battery commander caused quite a stir; in it, he categorically denied the necessity of such a sacrifice on the part of children and its appeal to the soldiers, since, according to the author, “it comes at the expense of those who make up the very soul of these same soldiers.”
Well, on Christmas Eve, December 24, one of the most prominent and ardent opponents of setting up school Christmas trees in Kharkiv finally made his position known. Namely, the chairman of the city’s school commission, Professor Nikolai Fedorovich Sumtsov. In short, his position boiled down to the following:
- All of the larger school buildings are being used as infirmaries. Organizing a Christmas tree celebration at large schools requires not only a considerable amount of money, but also teachers’ time and large spaces. Neither of these is available at present due to the war.
- Given the current extreme strain on private philanthropy, it seems inappropriate to include private donations in the calculations at this time.
- There is no “error” or “rashness” in the school board’s decisions to prohibit Christmas trees in educational institutions; rather, there is only a certain kind of prudence and caution. This is because the school board is fully aware of the difficult circumstances and considers it more appropriate to use the funds allocated for Christmas trees not for “harlequin hats” and rattles for soldiers’ children, but rather on undershirts and medicine for their fathers.
- Of course, it would be nice to hide life’s harsh truths inside a gilded Christmas nut. But, unfortunately, the confectionery factories in Kharkiv don’t produce any magic candies. And do we even need them? After all, children aged 8–12 are far from as simple and naive as adults often think. They have a sense of the reality of life. You should have seen how easily and simply they came to terms with the fact that there would be no Christmas tree once it was clearly explained to them that Christmas trees cost money, and now every kopeck could be put to good use for their fathers and brothers. And yet, with what joy and enthusiasm they responded by expressing their desire to join the choirs and orchestras that would visit the infirmaries during the holidays.
- Christmas trees will always be a part of children’s lives; after all, they won’t stay children forever.
- Instead of Christmas trees, it would be more beneficial and appropriate for schoolchildren to organize a movie screening, since the city has its own projector and film collection. It would also be possible to organize entertainment such as a morning play featuring a story that appeals to children, for example, *Captain Grant’s Journey*.
But despite all the patriotic appeals, bans, and renunciations, the holiday season in Kharkiv was warm and joyful. In hospitals for the wounded and sick, shelters, nurseries, private schools, and free soup kitchens, Christmas trees were decorated, music played, poems were read, laughter and jokes rang out, and, of course, gifts were handed out. The only places where none of this took place were the city’s schools. Therefore, quite a few Kharkiv residents expressed their wish to Nikolai Sumtsov and the school board that the Christmas trees in 1915 be lavishly decorated, thereby rewarding the students for the hardships they had endured during wartime. As for whether or not it was patriotic to put up a Christmas tree in Kharkiv, Alexander Zakharovich Zamoshnikov, a journalist for the newspaper *Utro*, expressed this view beautifully, in my opinion. It is with his words that I would like to conclude today’s text:
“A beautifully decorated Christmas tree with a ruffled star on top, and a happy family gathered beneath it. What do I care if it’s a tacky folk print, or that the Christmas tree is a German custom? What if I love the Christmas tree as much as I love my childhood, my nanny’s fairy tales, and my mother’s tenderness? Maybe loving young girls and kissing the woman I love is also a German custom? In that case, I’m sorry, but I’m German. German, German, and German!”
