Life in the city of Kharkiv during the “Great War” (as World War I was still called at the time) was extremely interesting. And the most striking thing is that many situations, events, and phenomena repeated themselves in our beloved city exactly 100 years later…
It’s still the same frontline city, filled with wounded soldiers. It’s still the same price gouging on food and housing. It’s still the same train station, with volunteers welcoming people fleeing the war. History repeats itself. The only difference is that 100 years ago, refugees arrived in our city not from the southeast, but from the west. In addition to national organizations, Kharkiv’s ethnic communities also provided active assistance to them. That is exactly what we will be discussing today.
As we well remember, the various German and Austrian organizations that had previously existed were declared enemy organizations and subsequently shut down. French nationals who lived in our city and were of draft age were mobilized by their government to serve on the front lines. The “French Charitable Society,” which had existed in Kharkiv since 1876, did not assist refugees, as there were hardly any here. The situation was practically the same for citizens of our ally, Great Britain. However, it was precisely during the Great War that the “British Club” was established in Kharkiv. Previously, despite the fact that the British consulate had been located in our beautiful city since at least 1908, there were, alas, no British organizations. The fact is that Consul Charles Blackie himself and his father were, according to reports, active members of the “German Charitable Society.”
Then, on January 13, 1915, British subjects living in Kharkiv (Elizaveta Ivanovna Johnston, John Robertovich Gillespie, Leon Vilgelmovich Lo, and Jeffrey Ganson) submitted a document to the governor announcing the establishment of an unincorporated association called the “Kharkiv British Club.” The purpose of the club was “to foster fellowship among British subjects living in the city of Kharkiv and its district.”
The Jewish community was one of the very first in our multicultural city to respond to the problems faced by their fellow Jews from other provinces.
As early as January 14, 1915, the “Kharkiv Jewish Committee for Collecting Donations for the Jewish Population Affected by the War” was registered. Its main purpose was to collect money and goods and to provide assistance to the families of Jewish soldiers and the Jewish population affected by the war.
The society’s chairman was Commercial Counselor L. M. Vurgaft. I. M. Berger and Y. I. Dobkin were listed as members; Z. V. Rozovsky and S. G. Greenberg served as secretaries; and N. I. Zaslavsky served as treasurer.
However, the Jewish community established such organizations not only in Kharkiv but also throughout the province—for example, in Izyum.
As early as August 26, 1914, the mayor of St. Petersburg approved the charter of the organization “Society for the Relief of Impoverished Polish Families Participating in the War and the Impoverished Polish Population Affected by Hostilities.”
The charter stated that the purpose of the organization was “to provide aid and assistance to the direct and indirect victims of the war.” Benefits were provided to the families of military personnel, while those affected by the war received financial support and help finding employment. Shelters were also organized for the children of those called to war.
In early June 1915, a decision was made to open a branch of the society in Kharkiv. After receiving permission from the authorities, the first meeting of the Kharkiv branch was held on July 23. Iosif Dvorzhanchik was elected chairman, and the board included, among others, Ivan Tyler and Stanislav Vershillo.
The proposal that the community accept the funds collected to aid war victims by the “Charity for the Poor of the Roman Catholic Faith” was gladly accepted by the members of the new Polish organization. Ivan Vilga, who was present, reported that a special committee to aid refugees had been established under the Kharkiv branch of the “All-Russian Union of Cities for Aid to Wounded and Sick Soldiers,” since our city had been designated as an evacuation point for them. Refugees were arriving in Kharkiv in large numbers, and the Polish Society alone was unable to meet their needs. After a series of discussions, the organization’s members decided to limit their charitable activities as much as possible, transferring responsibility for them to the Committee under the Union of Cities. However, they asked that attention be paid to an area not addressed by official state organizations—namely, moral support and assistance.
To ensure greater coordination with the Union of Cities, it was also decided to limit the distribution of free meals once the Union begins organizing such distributions.
It was decided to continue the activities of the housing committee, the clothing distribution center, and the employment office without change. Since many school-age children had arrived in the city, it was decided to expand the activities of the commission for the care of children.
Ms. Ottowicz and Messrs. Zelinski and Tarnavski offered their services to the Society to man the station. Subsequently, branches of the “Society for the Relief of Impoverished Polish Families Participating in the War and the Distressed Polish Population Affected by Hostilities” were established in Kramatorsk and Slavyansk.
Before World War I, there was a “Latvian Mutual Aid Society” in Kharkiv, founded in 1899. The society actively helped its fellow countrymen by providing loans, one-time or recurring financial assistance to those in need or who were ill, and by offering employment to those who had lost their jobs through no fault of their own.
The society’s headquarters were located at 4 Dvoryanskaya Embankment, in the Davydenko building. At various times, prominent members of this ethnic group living in Kharkiv either headed the organization or served on its board. For example, the architect Yuli Semenovich Tsauene, so beloved by many, or the brilliant composer and folklorist Andrei Yuryan, who is highly respected in modern Latvia (about whom I will certainly write more later). And on August 13, 1915, a statement was delivered to His Excellency the Governor of Kharkiv, informing him that the “Kharkiv Committee for Assistance to Latvian Refugees” had elected:
Chairman of the Committee: Karl Ivanovich Lats;
Vice Chairman: Rudolf Matveyevich Simonovich;
Treasurer: August Fritsevich Murovsky;
Assistant Treasurer: Martyn Semenovich Rumnek;
Secretary: Martyn Yakovlevich Balkit.
On November 12, the governor of Kharkiv received a petition from the founders of the Kharkiv branch of “Rodina,” the Latvian Society for Aid to Refugees from the Baltic Region, requesting that the society establish the branch and approve its bylaws.
The Estonians living in Slobozhanshchina did not remain indifferent to the problems of their fellow countrymen.
On September 15, five representatives of this people submitted all the relevant documents for approval. The text of the petition itself is also interesting: “We hereby submit the charter of the Estonian Society in Kharkiv and, taking into account the current state of affairs—as our homeland is enduring difficult times due to the enemy’s invasion and as all forms of public assistance are so urgently needed for those who have suffered directly or indirectly at the hands of the enemy—including Estonians forced to flee the Livonian Governorate or who have lost their breadwinners on the battlefield— we, the undersigned, have the honor to request Your Excellency to grant permission as soon as possible for the aforementioned society to begin its activities.”
Pursuant to a directive from the Petrograd Central Committee of the Lithuanian Society for Aid to War Victims dated September 22, a branch of the society was opened in our beloved city. It was located at 9 Tyurumnaya Street. Father Mikhail Gavializ was elected chairman of the board. The board members included Ivan Miklashevich, Sigismund Lyutkevich, Vikentiy Natskevich, Alexander Abramovich, and Father Franciszek Kowalevski.
However, among all these documents found in the archive, the one I personally find most valuable is a document certified on September 7 at the office located at 10 Rybnaya Street by Kharkiv notary Veniamin Iosifovich Skryabin. It was drawn up by the nobleman Konstantin Mikhailovich Bich Lubensky, the physician Fotiy Viktorovich Pisnyachevsky, and the widow of State Councilor Maria Ivanovna Batyushkova. In it, they wrote the following:
…We are submitting this application for the registration of the Society for the following reasons: The immense and ever-increasing needs of refugees from the provinces of Poland, Lithuania, and Little Russia are being met, as far as possible, not only through government aid but also by private organizations with the government’s consent. These organizations—Jewish, Polish, and Latvian committees—serve the needs of their compatriots, if not exclusively, then primarily by virtue of the natural inclinations of human nature. As a result, destitute refugees of Jewish, Latvian, or Polish nationality have two sources of material aid and moral support: official government committees and, in addition, the corresponding compatriot committees. As for refugees of Little Russian origin, they are placed in a worse position in this regard, for they are deprived, at this difficult time, of the systematic support of a helping hand from their compatriots. Obeying the promptings of our hearts, seeing all around us the countless hardships of refugees of Little Russian origin and recognizing the difficulty official committees alone face in fully meeting the innumerable needs of our brothers who are deprived of shelter, food, and clothing, we wish to fulfill our moral and humanitarian duty to our homeland in this hour of its great suffering, to provide extensive public assistance to our refugees, and, through the establishment of the proposed Society, to place Little Russian refugees on an equal footing with Jewish refugees, Poles, and Latvians…
And so, without any support from Petrograd or Moscow, on the initiative of the city’s residents—not just anywhere, but specifically in Kharkiv—the organization “Society for Aiding the Little Russian Population Affected by Military Operations” was established.
Undoubtedly, the very emergence and existence at that time of national organizations aiding refugees was an unprecedented event with no parallel in prewar history. They played an important role both in mobilizing resources from members of the empire’s national communities and in fostering a sense of national identity during the war years. However, I am incredibly pleased that, in these processes, the city where I was born and where I live once again stood out.
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