Military pensioners for Russia and its armed forces. Russian women in power
The material offered to readers is excerpts from diaries, letters and memoirs of German soldiers, officers and generals who first encountered the Russian people during the Patriotic War of 1941-1945. In essence, we have before us evidence of mass meetings of the people with the people, of Russia with the West, which do not lose their relevance in our days.
Germans about the Russian character
The Germans are unlikely to emerge victorious from this struggle against the Russian land and against Russian nature. How many children, how many women, and all give birth, and all bear fruit, in spite of war and robberies, in spite of destruction and death! Here we are not fighting against people, but against nature. At the same time, I again have to admit to myself that this country is becoming dearer to me every day.
Lieutenant C.F.Brand
They think differently than we do. And don't bother - you will never understand Russian anyway!
Officer Malapar
I know how risky it is to describe the sensational "Russian man", this is an obscure vision of philosophizing and politicking writers, which is very suitable for him, like a clothes hanger, to hang around with all the doubts that arise in a person from the West, the further he moves to the East ... Yet this "Russian man" is not only a literary invention, although here, as elsewhere, people are different and irreducible to a common denominator. Only with this reservation will we talk about a Russian person.
Pastor G. Gollwitzer
They are so versatile that almost every one of them describes the full range of human qualities. Among them you can find everyone, from the cruel brute to St. Francis of Assisi. This is why they cannot be described in just a few words. To describe Russians, all existing epithets must be used. I can say about them that I like them, I do not like them, I admire them, I hate them, they touch me, they scare me, I admire them, they disgust me!
Such a character infuriates a less thoughtful person and makes them exclaim: Unfinished, chaotic, incomprehensible people!
Major K. Kuehner
Germans about Russia
Russia lies between East and West - this is an old thought, but I cannot say anything new about this country. The twilight of the East and the clarity of the West created this dual light, this crystal clarity of mind and the mysterious depth of the soul. They are between the spirit of Europe, strong in form and weak in deep contemplation, and the spirit of Asia, which is devoid of form and clear outlines. I think their souls are attracted more by Asia, but fate and history - and even this war - brings them closer to Europe. And since here, in Russia, everywhere there are many unaccountable forces, even in politics and economy, there can be no consensus either about its people or about their life ... Russians measure everything by distance. They must always reckon with him. Here relatives often live far from each other, soldiers from Ukraine serve in Moscow, students from Odessa study in Kiev. You can drive here for hours without arriving anywhere. They live in space, like the stars in the night sky, like sailors on the sea; and just as the vastness is immense, so is the limitless man - everything is in his hands, and he has nothing. The breadth and expanse of nature determine the fate of this country and these people. In large open spaces, history is slower.
Major K. Kühner
This opinion is confirmed by other sources as well. The German staff soldier, comparing Germany and Russia, draws attention to the incommensurability of these two values. The German offensive on Russia presented itself to him as a contact between the limited and the unlimited.
Stalin is the lord of the Asian infinity - this is an enemy that the forces advancing from limited, dismembered spaces cannot cope with ...
Soldier K. Mattis
We entered the battle with the enemy, which we, being in captivity of European concepts of life, did not understand at all. In this rock of our strategy, it is, strictly speaking, completely random, like an adventure on Mars.
Soldier K. Mattis
Germans about the mercy of Russians
The inexplicability of the Russian character and behavior often baffled the Germans. Russians not only provide hospitality in their homes, they come out to meet with milk and bread. In December 1941, during the retreat from Borisov, an old woman brought out bread and a jug of milk in one village abandoned by the troops. “War, war,” she repeated in tears. The Russians treated both the victorious and the defeated Germans with equal good nature. Russian peasants are peaceful and good-natured ... When we feel thirsty during the transitions, we go into their huts, and they give us milk, like pilgrims. For them, every person is in need. How often have I seen Russian peasant women shouting over wounded German soldiers as if they were their own sons ...
Major K. Kuehner
It seems strange that a Russian woman has no enmity towards the soldiers of the army that her sons are fighting against: Old Alexandra from strong threads ... knits socks for me. Besides, the good-natured old woman cooks potatoes for me. Today I even found a piece of salted meat in the lid of my pot. She probably has some hidden supplies. Otherwise, one cannot understand how these people live here. There is a goat in Alexandra's barn. Many do not have cows. And for all that, these poor people share their last goodness with us. Do they do it out of fear, or does this people really have an innate sense of self-sacrifice? Or do they do it out of good nature or even out of love? Alexandra, she is 77 years old, as she told me, is illiterate. She can neither read nor write. After the death of her husband, she lives alone. Three children died, the other three left for Moscow. It is clear that both of her sons are in the army. She knows that we are fighting against them, and yet she knits socks for me. The feeling of enmity is probably unfamiliar to her.
Medic Michels
In the first months of the war, village women ... rushed to get food for the prisoners of war. "Oh, poor!" They said. They also brought food for the German guards sitting in the center of small squares on benches around the white statues of Lenin and Stalin, thrown into the mud ...
Officer Malaparte
Hatred for a long time ... not in the Russian character. This is especially clear in the example of how quickly the psychosis of hatred among ordinary Soviet people in relation to the Germans disappeared during the Second World War. At the same time, ... sympathy, the maternal feeling of a Russian rural woman, as well as young girls in relation to the prisoners, played a role. A Western European woman who met the Red Army in Hungary is surprised: “Isn't it strange - most of them do not feel any hatred even for the Germans: where did they get this unshakable faith in human goodness, this inexhaustible patience, this selflessness and meek obedience ...
Germans about Russian sacrifice
The Germans have repeatedly noted sacrifice in Russian people. From a people who do not officially recognize spiritual values, it is as if no nobility, no Russian character, or sacrifice can be expected. However, a German officer is amazed when interrogating a captured partisan:
Is it really possible to demand from a person brought up in materialism so much sacrifice for the sake of ideals!
Major K. Kuehner
Probably, this exclamation can be attributed to the entire Russian people, apparently retaining these features, despite the breakdown of the internal Orthodox foundations of life, and, apparently, sacrifice, responsiveness and similar qualities are characteristic of Russians to a high degree. They are partly emphasized by the attitude of the Russians themselves towards the Western peoples.
As soon as the Russians come into contact with Western people, they briefly define them with the words "dry people" or "heartless people". All the egoism and materialism of the West lies in the definition of "dry people"
Endurance, mental strength and at the same time obedience also attract the attention of foreigners.
The Russian people, especially large open spaces, steppes, fields and villages, are one of the healthiest, joyful and wise on earth. He is able to resist the power of fear with his back bent. It has so much faith and antiquity that it probably can give rise to the fairest order in the world. "
Soldier Matisse
An example of the duality of the Russian soul, which combines pity and cruelty at the same time:
When in the camp the prisoners were given soup and bread, one Russian gave a piece of his portion. Many others did the same, so there was so much bread in front of us that we could not eat it ... We just shook our heads. Who can understand them, these Russians? They shoot some and may even laugh at it contemptuously, while others they give plenty of soup and even share with them their own daily portion of bread.
German M. Gertner
Looking closer to the Russians, the German will again note their sharp extremes, the impossibility of fully comprehending them:
Russian soul! It goes from the most gentle, soft sounds to wild fortissimo, it is difficult to predict only this music and especially the moments of its transition ... The words of one old consul remain symbolic: “I do not know enough Russians - I have lived among them for only thirty years.
General Schweppenburg
Germans about the shortcomings of Russians
From the Germans themselves, we hear an explanation for the fact that Russians are often accused of a tendency to theft.
Those who survived the post-war years in Germany, like us in the camps, became convinced that want destroys a strong sense of ownership even in people who have been alien to theft since childhood. Improving living conditions would quickly correct this deficiency among the majority, and the same would happen in Russia, as it did before the Bolsheviks. It is not shaky concepts and insufficient respect for other people's property that did not appear under the influence of socialism that make people steal, but need.
POW Gollwitzer
More often than not, you ask yourself helplessly: why are they not telling the truth here? ... This could be explained by the fact that it is extremely difficult for Russians to say no. Their "no", however, became famous all over the world, but it seems to be more Soviet than Russian peculiarity. The Russian does his best to avoid the need to refuse any request. In any case, when sympathy begins to stir in him, and this happens often with him. It seems unfair to him to disappoint a needy person; in order to avoid this, he is ready for any lie. And where empathy is absent, lying is at least a convenient means of ridding oneself of annoying requests.
POW Gollwitzer
In Eastern Europe, mother vodka has been performing a great service for centuries. It warms people up when they are cold, dries their tears when they are sad, deceives their stomachs when they are hungry, and gives that drop of happiness that everyone needs in life and which is difficult to get in semi-civilized countries. In Eastern Europe, vodka is a theater, cinema, concert and circus, it replaces books for the illiterate, makes heroes out of faint-hearted cowards and is the consolation that makes you forget all worries. Where in the world can one find another such iota of happiness, and such a cheap one?
The people ... oh yes, the glorified Russian people! .. For several years I paid wages in one work camp and came into contact with Russians of all strata. There are wonderful people among them, but here it is almost impossible to remain an impeccably honest person. I was constantly amazed that under such pressure these people retained so much humanity in all respects and so much naturalness. For women this is noticeable even more than for men, for the old, of course, more than for the young, for peasants more than for workers, but there is no stratum in which this is completely absent. They are wonderful people, and they deserve to be loved.
POW Gollwitzer
On the way home from Russian captivity, the impressions of the last years in Russian captivity emerge in the memory of the German soldier-priest.
War Priest Franz
Germans about Russian women
A separate chapter can be written about the high morality and morality of a Russian woman. Foreign authors left a valuable monument to her in their memories of Russia. German doctor Eirich the unexpected results of the examination made a deep impression: 99 percent of girls between the ages of 18 and 35 turned out to be virgins ... He thinks that it would be impossible to find girls for a brothel in Oryol.
The voices of women, especially girls, are actually not melodic, but pleasant. Some kind of strength and joy are hidden in them. It seems that you hear some deep ringing string of life. It seems that constructive schematic changes in the world pass by these forces of nature, without touching them ...
Writer Jünger
Incidentally, the staff physician von Grevenitz told me that during the medical examination the overwhelming majority of the girls turned out to be virgins. This can also be seen on the faces, but it is difficult to say whether it is possible to read on the forehead or on the eyes - this is the brilliance of purity that surrounds the face. Its light does not have within it the flicker of active virtue, but rather resembles the reflection of moonlight. However, this is precisely why you feel the great power of this light ...
Writer Jünger
About feminine Russian women (if I can put it that way), I got the impression that with their special inner strength they keep under the moral control those Russians who can be considered barbarians.
War Priest Franz
The words of another German soldier sound like a conclusion to the theme of the morality and dignity of a Russian woman:
What did the propaganda tell us about the Russian woman? And how did we find her? I think that there is hardly a German soldier who has been to Russia who has not learned to appreciate and respect a Russian woman.
Soldier Michels
Describing a ninety-year-old woman who during her life never left her village and therefore did not know the world outside the village, the German officer says:
I even think that she is much happier than we are: she is full of the happiness of life, flowing in close proximity to nature; she is happy with the inexhaustible strength of her simplicity.
Major K. Kühner
We find the simple, integral feelings of Russians in the memoirs of another German.
I am talking with Anna, the eldest daughter, - he writes. - She's not married yet. Why doesn't she leave this poor land? - I ask her and show her photographs from Germany. The girl points to her mother and sisters and explains that she is best around her loved ones. It seems to me that these people have only one desire: to love each other and live for their neighbors.
Germans about Russian simplicity, intelligence and talent
German officers sometimes do not know how to answer simple questions from ordinary Russian people.
The general with his retinue drives by a Russian prisoner grazing sheep intended for German cuisine. “She’s stupid,” the prisoner began to express his thoughts, “but peaceful, but people, master? Why are people so non-peaceful? Why are they killing each other ?! ”… We could not answer his last question. His words came from the depths of the soul of an ordinary Russian person.
General Schweppenburg
The spontaneity and simplicity of the Russians make the German exclaim:
Russians don't grow up. They remain children ... If you look at the Russian masses from this point of view, you will both understand them and forgive them a lot.
Foreign eyewitnesses try to explain both the courage and endurance and undemandingness of Russians by the proximity to a harmonious, pure, but also harsh nature.
The courage of Russians is based on their undemanding attitude towards life, on their organic connection with nature. And this nature tells them about the hardships, struggle and death that a person is subject to.
Major K. Kühner
Often the Germans noted the exceptional efficiency of the Russians, their ability to improvise, sharpness, adaptability, curiosity for everything, and especially for knowledge.
The purely physical performance of the Soviet workers and the Russian woman is beyond doubt.
General Schweppenburg
Especially it is necessary to emphasize the art of improvisation among the Soviet people, no matter what it may concern.
General Fretter Pico
On the sharpness and interest shown by the Russians in everything:
Most of them show an interest in everything much more than our workers or peasants; they are all distinguished by their quickness of perception and practical intelligence.
Non-commissioned officer Gogoff
The overestimation of the knowledge acquired in school is often an obstacle for a European in his understanding of the "uneducated" Russian ... It was striking and beneficial for me, as a teacher, the discovery that a person without any school education can understand the deepest problems of life in a truly philosophical way and at the same time possesses such knowledge in which some academician of European fame can envy him ... First of all, Russians lack this typically European fatigue before the problems of life, which we often only with difficulty overcome. Their curiosity knows no limits ... The education of the real Russian intelligentsia reminds me of the ideal types of people of the Renaissance, whose lot was the universality of knowledge, which had nothing in common, “a little about everything.
Swiss Uecker, who has lived in Russia for 16 years
Another German from the people is surprised by the young Russian's acquaintance with Russian and foreign literature:
From a conversation with a 22-year-old Russian who had only graduated from a public school, I learned that she knew Goethe and Schiller, not to mention that she was well versed in Russian literature. When I expressed my surprise to Dr. Heinrich V., who knew Russian and understood Russians better, he rightly remarked: “The difference between the German and Russian people is that we keep our classics in luxurious bindings in bookcases and we don’t read them, while the Russians print their classics on newsprint and publish them in editions, but they bring them to the people and read them.
War Priest Franz
Talents capable of manifesting themselves even in unfavorable conditions are evidenced by the lengthy description by a German soldier of a concert held in Pskov on July 25, 1942.
I sat in the back among the village girls in colorful chintz dresses ... The entertainer came out, read a long program, made an even longer explanation to it. Then two men, one on each side, parted the curtain, and a very poor set for Korsakov's opera appeared before the audience. One grand piano replaced the orchestra ... It was mainly two singers who sang ... But something happened that would have been beyond the power of any European opera. Both singers, full and confident, sang and played with great and clear simplicity even in tragic moments ... movement and voice merged into one. They supported and complemented each other: in the end even their faces sang, not to mention their eyes. A wretched setting, a lonely piano, and yet there was a fullness of impression. No glittery props, no hundred instruments, could contribute to a better experience. After that, the singer appeared in gray striped trousers, a velvet jacket and an old-fashioned stand-up collar. When, so dressed, with a kind of touching helplessness, he walked into the middle of the stage and bowed three times, laughter was heard in the hall among the officers and soldiers. He began a Ukrainian folk song, and as soon as his melodic and powerful voice rang out, the audience froze. A few simple gestures accompanied the song, and the singer's eyes made it visible. During the second song, all of a sudden, the lights went out in the whole hall. Only the voice dominated in him. In the dark, he sang for about an hour. At the end of one song, the Russian village girls who were sitting behind me, in front of me and next to me, jumped up and began to applaud and stamp their feet. A bustle of long-lasting applause began, as if the dark stage was flooded with the light of fantastic, unthinkable landscapes. I didn't understand a word, but I saw everything.
Soldier Matthies
Folk songs, reflecting the character and history of the people, most of all attract the attention of eyewitnesses.
In a real Russian folk song, and not in sentimental romances, the entire Russian "broad" nature is reflected with its tenderness, savagery, depth, soulfulness, closeness to nature, cheerful humor, endless search, sadness and radiant joy, as well as their undying yearning for beautiful and kind.
German songs are filled with mood, Russian - with a story. Russia has great power in its songs and choirs.
Major K. Kuehner
Germans about the faith of Russians
A vivid example of such a state is presented for us by a rural teacher, whom the German officer knew well and who, apparently, maintained constant contact with the nearest partisan detachment.
Iya talked to me about Russian icons. The names of the great icon painters are unknown here. They dedicated their art to a pious cause and remained in obscurity. Everything personal must give way to the demand of the saint. The figures on the icons are shapeless. They give the impression of being unknown. But they shouldn't have beautiful bodies either. Next to the saint, bodily has no meaning. In this art, it would be unthinkable for a beautiful woman to be the model of the Madonna, as was the case with the great Italians. Here it would be blasphemy, since this is a human body. You cannot know anything, you have to believe everything. This is the secret of the icon. "Do you believe in the icon?" Iya did not answer. "Why are you decorating it then?" She would, of course, answer: “I don’t know. Sometimes I do it. I get scared when I don't. And sometimes I just want to do it. " How divided, restless you must be, Oya. Gravitation towards God and resentment against Him in one and the same heart. "What do you believe in?" - “Nothing.” - She said it with such weight and depth that I had the impression that these people accept their unbelief as well as faith. A fallen person continues to carry in himself the old legacy of humility and faith.
Major K. Kuehner
Russians are hard to compare with other peoples. Mysticism in Russian man continues to raise the question of a vague concept of God and the remnants of Christian-religious feeling.
General Schweppenburg
We find other evidence of youth seeking the meaning of life, not content with schematic and dead materialism. Probably, the path of a Komsomol member who ended up in a concentration camp for spreading the Gospel became the path of a certain part of Russian youth. In the very poor material published by eyewitnesses in the West, we find three confirmations that the Orthodox faith was passed on to some extent to older generations of young people and that small and undoubtedly lonely young people who have acquired faith are sometimes ready to courageously defend it. not fearing either imprisonment or hard labor. Here is a rather detailed testimony of one German woman who returned home from a camp in Vorkuta:
I was very impressed by the holistic personalities of these believers. These were peasant girls, intellectuals of different ages, although young people predominated. They preferred the Gospel of John. They knew him by heart. The students lived with them in great friendship, promised them that in the future Russia there would be complete freedom in religious terms. The fact that many of the Russian youth, who believed in God, faced arrest and a concentration camp, is confirmed by the Germans who returned from Russia after the Second World War. They met believers in concentration camps and describe them as follows: We were jealous of the believers. We considered them happy. The believers were supported by their deep faith, it also helped them to easily endure all the hardships of the camp life. No one, for example, could force them to go to work on Sunday. In the dining room before dinner, they always pray ... They pray all their free time ... One cannot but admire such a faith, one cannot help envy it ... Every person, be it a Pole, a German, a Christian or a Jew, when he turned to a believer for help, always received it ... The believer shared the last piece of bread….
Probably, in some cases, believers have won the respect and sympathy of not only the prisoners, but also the camp authorities:
There were several women in their brigade who, being deeply religious, refused to work on major church holidays. The authorities and guards put up with this and did not give them away.
The following impression of a German officer who accidentally entered a burnt-out church can serve as a symbol of wartime Russia:
We enter the church like tourists for a few minutes through an open door. Burnt beams and broken stones lie on the floor. From shocks or from a fire, plaster fell from the walls. Paints, plastered frescoes depicting saints, and ornaments appeared on the walls. And in the midst of the ruins, on charred beams, two peasant women are standing and praying.
Major K. Kuehner
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Preparing the text - V. Drobyshev... Based on materials from the magazine " Slav»
After the regiment of applicants for the chair of the Russian president arrived, and besides Ksenia Sobchak another glamorous character announced his desire to run - Ekaterina Gordon, the time has come to speculate about the place of women in power, in the Russian power.
They are not the first
Indeed, the girls are not pioneers here. The history of the Russian state knows enough women who formally or actually ruled the country. Beginning with Princess Olga and ending Empress Catherine the Great... V Xviii century, women generally occupied the Russian throne for 66 years, surpassing men in both the quantity and quality of government ( Peter the Great put out of the brackets). But after 1796 year there was a pause with women in power.
At least an inferior minister
Russian autocracy since Paul I, on the power ambitions of women formally put an end to. You can talk about one or another influence that wives and mistresses had on the adoption of power decisions. But there were no women even next to the chair of the head of the ministerial department. It would seem that the Soviet government, with its slogan about a cook who runs the state, should have taken a giant step forward, but it also failed. Lenin's wife Nadezhda Konstantinovna Krupskaya rose only to the post of deputy people's commissar of education of the RSFSR. And the feminist symbol of the Soviet era has definitely become Ekaterina Alekseevna Furtseva, who served as Minister of Culture of the USSR for more than 14 years. And as I noticed Gennady Khazanov: "Furtseva could be the minister of anything." It is necessary to remember and Maria Dmitrievna Kovrigina, with 1950 to 1953 the years headed the Ministry of Health of the RSFSR, and with 54th to 59th- the Ministry of Health of the entire Soviet Union.
Russia - women forward!
In modern Russia, according to the global trend, women are gradually beginning to occupy leading positions in the management apparatus. Number one in our hierarchy - Valentina Ivanovna Matvienko... Her Soviet and diplomatic career over time has consistently led Valentina Ivanovna to the post Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation (1998-2003),Governor of St. Petersburg (2003-2011) and Chairman of the Federation Council (since 2011)... Incidentally, the third post in the country's leadership.
The Government of the Russian Federation at one time included Ella Pamfilova(now Chairman of the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation), Tatiana Golikova(now Chairman of the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation), Elena Skrynnik (Minister of Agriculture of the Russian Federation in 2009-2012). The latter was involved as a witness in a fraud case involving employees of the Ministry of Agriculture and as a suspect by the Swiss prosecutor's office in a case of money laundering. The case was dropped. Now there is a post in the government Vice Chair takes Olga Golodets, Minister of Health - Veronica Skvortsova, Minister of Education and Science – Olga Vasilieva.
Deserves special mention and Elvira Nabiullina occupying since 2013, the post of the Chairman of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation... Elvira Sakhipzadovna, who began her civil service from the position Deputy Head of the Department of Economic Reform of the Ministry of Economy of Russia, then from 2007 to 2012... headed this government structure. Considering the high appraisal of the President of the Russian Federation and the entire economic community for her work as head of the Central Bank, the record low inflation in the country and the recovery of the financial sector, it can be assumed that Nabiullina has good career prospects. There is talk about the possible leadership of the Government.
Love, family, children in the life of the Decembrists
When I was preparing material about Alexander Lutsky, it seemed to me that his surname was consonant with the maiden name of my paternal grandmother. Lutskiy - Lutskin. My grandmother's name was Alexandra Lutskina, and she was born, just in those places where the Decembrists were exiled. Nerchinsk plant.
For the last few years I have been studying my family history. On the maternal side, he "got to the bottom" until the beginning of the nineteenth century. All great and great-great-grandfathers are village priests. In addition, he acquired several relatives. One of the category of those "whom the country is proud of."
In general, I decided to look for the Lutskins, who lived in the days of the Decembrists. I got lucky almost immediately. I came across a letter from the Decembrist Ivan Gorbachevsky, in which he mentions two children: Alexander and Alexander Lutskin. There is an opinion that the Lutskins are his illegitimate children, who inherited all the poor property of Gorbachevsky. A house and some money.
A beautiful legend about the connection of times could turn out. From the Decembrist Gorbachevsky to his descendants, who were building a "bright future." My grandmother was a partisan during the Civil War, and in Stalin's times she was a devout Bolshevik. During the years of my pioneering childhood, the legend would have worked for sure.
Such a legend will not work today. The Internet knows almost everything. At my request, my brother found out that there were dozens of such Lutskins and with the names Alexander lived in Siberia. But thanks to my grandmother anyway. Thanks to her, I came across a topic that is best known to professional historians. I would call it like this: "Love, family, children in the life of the Decembrists." No, I'm not talking about those wives who, having abandoned everything, including their children, came to their husbands for hard labor. So much has been written about these women that only minor details can be added, which I will talk about a little later.
There is nothing surprising in the fact that Gorbachevsky had illegitimate children from a woman with a living husband. If not the norm of life, then a rather commonplace story for the nobility of that time, especially the capital. Demoted, deprived of all rights, the Decembrists still remained noblemen by habits, culture, and education.
This was noted very accurately in his time by Yuri Lotman: "It is impossible to understand and describe the behavior of the Decembrist without fitting it into a broader problem - the behavior of a Russian nobleman of the 1810s-1820s."
The simplicity of noble manners is characterized by the entries in the diary of Alexei Wolf, a good friend of Alexander Pushkin, the same age as the young generation of Decembrists. The following entry is from his time in the army. In his free time from the service, he talks about his women: “If not all, then some, perhaps, often remember me. Liza, I am sure, still loves me, and if I return someday to Russia, I will probably see her first: our regiments will probably be located in Little Russia. Sasha will always love me as much as Anna Petrovna (Kern). Sophia (Anton Delvig's wife), it seems, fell out of love with me as soon as she fell in love with me. Katinka, contrary to written evidence, I cannot rank among my beauties: her charm dissipated too soon. "
Of course, the decades spent in Siberia left a colossal imprint on all aspects of the life of the Decembrists. Over the years, we all become "stingier in desires." But this will be when the Decembrists have it. And in 1827 (the time of sending to hard labor in Siberia) the Decembrists were still young and very young people. The youngest at the time of the uprising was 20 years old. The hardships are the hardships. And nature takes its toll. Not everyone is married. Until December 14, 1825, 23 Decembrists had wives. And not all of them came. In the notes of the last Decembrist Dmitry Zavalishin (he died in 1892 at the age of 88, and his wife gave birth to the last child when he was 80), it is mentioned that a brothel was organized at the casemate. Nobody else confirms this fact. For all the importance of the Decembrist memoirs, they were largely sterile in texture. Events that could compromise one or another exiled convict were ignored. And brothels in Russia in those years existed absolutely officially. The offspring of the nobility often got their first sexual experience in a brothel. Therefore, there is nothing sensational in Dmitry Zavalishin's story.
After leaving hard labor, the Decembrists went to settlements. The usual ties of a fairly large team that have developed over the years of hard labor are crumbling. Now in the settlement it is necessary not only to adapt to a semi-free state, but also to integrate in many respects into a new and unfamiliar way of life. The best adaptation option is work and family life, which are not necessarily sanctified by legal marriage. The chosen ones of the Decembrists were the daughters of officials and merchants, peasants and Cossacks. These formal and informal family relationships were formed out of love, by calculation, because of the nobility of character and from loneliness.
The first of the Decembrists to marry was Nikolai Mozgalevsky, who had been in solitary exile for several years. The family became for him a cure for loneliness. Mikhail Kuchelbecker, brother of Pushkin's lyceum friend, married a young bourgeois woman to cover up her sin. Anna Tokareva, as her wife was called, had an illegally born child. For such a shame, her relatives threatened to kick her out of the house. To prevent this from happening, Kuchelbecker married her.
“Just before our transfer to the Caucasus, our comrade Pyotr Ivanovich Falenberg got married. His bride was from Sayansk, the daughter of a Cossack officer. His wife in Russia, whom his mother discouraged from going to Siberia with various tricks, died, and he was free, although before her death they were legally divorced. All our comrades were at his wedding. The bachelorette party took place in the house of the bride's father according to all the customs of Russian antiquity. After the wedding there was a dinner, and in the evening there was songs and dances ”, - Alexander Belyaev describes one of the Decembrist weddings in his memoirs.
There are many examples of such relationships. Another thing is important. Life was filled with new meaning - family, children. It was women who helped the Decembrists to integrate into the new way of life, which became a link between different worlds. They tried their best to match their husbands. They learned to read and write, good manners. After the amnesty of 1856, some families traveled to the European part of Russia, where women, exotic for the Russian noble society, fit quite well into the circle of their husbands. The wife of the noble prince Yevgeny Obolensky was the former serf peasant Varvara Baranova. Returning with her husband to St. Petersburg, she managed to place herself in society in such a way that, despite all class prejudices, she aroused respect for herself.
Many Decembrists, even after making children, never entered into a legal marriage. Nevertheless, in relation to their illegitimate children they behaved very responsibly. Pushkin's lyceum friend Ivan Pushchin arranged for his children to be adopted by his brother. This allowed them to move to the European part of Russia and helped to occupy an appropriate social position.
Baron Vladimir Shteingel, one of the oldest Decembrists (at the time of the uprising he was 42 years old), had a wife in St. Petersburg and was in a civil marriage with the widow of an official in Siberia. He subsequently gave the two children the surname Baronov.
“Those who remained in Siberia, as a rule, also, due to the education they received and out of respect for their fathers (but also with the support of the local society), climbed the social ladder. The son of the deceased N. Bestuzhev became a prominent businessman and public figure, the son of the little-known N. Lisovsky became an officer, and the son of the former lieutenant A. Frolov and the Cossack woman Makarova, who grew up in the village of Shushenskoye in 1916, was the infantry general in the General Staff, " one of the studies devoted to the stay of the Decembrists in Siberia.
But family life did not work out for everyone. There were also those who did not raise women, but descended with them. He got drunk with his wife and died early Alexei Tyutchev. Killed in a drunken brawl in the house of his mistress Mikhail Kryukov. It was different. But this is the only way in life.
"This poem is about real Russian women who are rich in heart and soul, who can love like no one else."
A typical excerpt from an essay based on Nekrasov's poem "Russian women", dedicated to the wives of the Decembrists Trubetskoy and Volkonskaya. On the one hand, it is true that these women were elevated to a historical pedestal. On the other hand, there is some insult that no less remarkable wives of other Decembrists have remained in the shadows. Still, the story is a very selective and capricious lady.
First, I will note that the Decembrists were not the first on the way to Siberia. At the end of the 18th century, his sister-in-law Elizaveta Rubanovskaya went after Alexander Radishchev, the “first Russian revolutionary”. Her heroic deed in the society of that time went unnoticed. And the authorities did not put any obstacles for her to leave for Siberia, as was the case with the wives of the Decembrists.
“Real Russian women” in this worn-out verbal cliche contains one fundamental inaccuracy. Of the 11 wives of the Decembrists, only six were Russian by birth, and then with great reservations (French upbringing). Five other women are French and Polish. Princess Trubetskoy, sung by Nekrasov, after the French father - Countess Laval.
It was for the French women Pauline Geble and Camille Le-Dante that at some point it was harder than other Decembrists. Firstly, according to the Russian laws of that time, they "were nobody and there was no way to call them". Polina Gebl came to work as a milliner (sewing women's clothing) in Moscow in 1823. She starts an affair with Ivan Annenkov. A child is born. Annenkov goes to hard labor. She has no legal basis to follow him. When a woman loves, she is ready for anything and can do anything.
“Having learned that the emperor would be on maneuvers near the city of Vyazma in May 1827, Polina went there and, breaking through to the emperor, fell on her knees in front of him. Emperor Nicholas I was touched by the power of love of this foreign woman, who almost did not know the Russian language and who gathered in Siberia not even after her husband, but after her beloved. He told her:
This is not your homeland, madam! You will be deeply unhappy there.
I know, sir. But I'm ready for anything! "
In Siberia, she married Ivan Annenkov. Polina Gebl turned into Praskovya Annenkova. They had eight children. In total, she gave birth 18 times. The couple lived together for almost half a century. After herself, she left very interesting memories. Praskovya Ivanovna, due to her unremarkable origin and upbringing, adapted faster than other women to life in Siberia.
“... Our ladies often came to me to see how I cook dinner, and asked me to teach them how to cook soup, then cook a pie, but when it came to picking up raw beef or cleaning a chicken, they could not overcome disgust for such work, despite all the efforts that we did on ourselves, "- recalls the years spent in Siberia, Praskovya Annenkova.
Camille Le-Danteu. Her mother became a governess in the family of the landowner Ivashev. There Camilla and Vasily Ivashev met. There was no relationship between them. A bit of a strange story. There are facts showing that Camilla did not quite voluntarily go to Siberia. Camilla's mother writes to the parents of the Decembrist: “I offer the Ivashevs an adopted daughter with a noble, pure and loving soul. But she only wants to share his shackles, wipe away his tears and, without blushing for my childish feelings, I could talk about them to the most tender of mothers, if I knew about them before. "
Be that as it may, she left for Siberia in 1831. There she married Vasily Ivashev. We lived happily, but not for long. Eight years later, Camilla catches a cold and dies of premature birth. She was 31 years old. A year later, Vasily Ivashev leaves for another world. He was 41 years old.
The life history of these women once again confirms the simple truth that there are no “special” peoples. There are very, very different people. The feat of the Decembrists is the feat of women who were able to show their best human qualities. And we can only be proud that such wonderful women lived in our country - the ideal of devotion and self-sacrifice: Russians, French women, Polish women.
A snapshot at the opening of the article: a fragment of the sculptural composition of Zurab Tsereteli “Wives of the Decembrists. Gate of Fate "in the courtyard of the building of the Russian Academy of Arts / Photo by Anton Tushin / TASS
For a long time, women of all ages and all classes in Russia and in the Moscow state knew one and only hairstyle - a braid. Girls decorated their braids with ribbons or braids, women - covered them with a warrior. However, the braid was not just a hairstyle.
Two are better than one
Before marriage, girls wore one braid. At a bachelorette party, girlfriends, howling and crying, probably due to envy, twisted one braid into two. It was two braids that were worn by married women in Russia. They were placed as a crown on the head or tied with a ribbon to make it easier to put on the headdress. Since the woman's marriage, no one, except her husband, naturally has seen her braids again. Interestingly, the old maidens were strictly forbidden to weave one braid into two, they were also forbidden to wear a kokoshnik.
Vitality
For little girls, so-called three-beam braids were braided, which symbolized the trinity. The scythe was located strictly in the direction of the spine, since, according to our ancestors, it served to fill a person through the ridge with vital forces. It is no coincidence that when women got married, two braids were braided: one braid nourished her with life, and the other - future offspring.
We read on the scythe
The braid wasn't just a haircut. She could tell a lot about her owner. So, if a girl wore one braid, then she was in "active search".
Is there a ribbon in the braid? A maiden of marriageable age, and all potential candidates must urgently send matchmakers. If two ribbons appeared in the braid, and they were woven not from the beginning of the braid, but from its middle, then “dry the oars”, or, as they say, who didn’t have time, he was late: the girl had a groom. And not just the one who makes eyes and plays at exchanges, but the official one, because the ribbons also meant the blessing received from the parents for marriage.
Sacred ritual
Combing the hair was like a sacred ritual, because during the procedure it was possible to touch the vital energy of a person. Apparently, in order to restore the vitality that was lost during the day, it was required to run a comb through the hair at least forty times. Babies could only be combed by their parents, and then the person himself performed this daily procedure. Interestingly, the girl could allow only her chosen one or her husband to unravel her braid and comb her hair.
Symbol of honor
For women, the braid was the same symbol of honor as for men - a beard. To pull the braid meant to offend the girl, let alone cut her hair. Once, in a rage, one gentleman cut off a thin pigtail for his maid, and then calmed his indignant peasants, and even paid a fine. By the way, those who dared to rip, for example, a woman's headdress, were also punished with serious fines. Only the fines, it seems, went not at all to improve the morale of the victim, but to the state treasury.
Change the life
The fact that hair cutting radically changes life seems to be well known in the old days. Hence the sign that has survived to this day that it is extremely undesirable for pregnant women to cut their hair. Voluntarily, and sometimes with reverent trepidation, only women who were in a state of severe mental shock, for example, during the monastic tonsure, allowed to cut off their braids. Hair in Ancient Russia did not have the habit of cutting at all, and this custom has been preserved in modern men's monasteries.
Women's tricks
A braid as thick as a hand was considered the standard of female beauty in Russia. Healthy and shiny hair could say better than the words of flattering matchmakers about a future wife. Unfortunately, not all beauties could boast of thick long braids. Of course, they did not even hear about building up in Russia. So the young ladies resorted to deception - they weaved hair from ponytails into their pigtails. And what to do, everyone wants to get married!
Frederic, 45 years old, France
We have the idea that women from Eastern Europe, and therefore Russians, are a little bit slaves. They obey their husband in everything, do not contradict him, jump up to clear the table, and so on. I don't know what about other countries, but the ladies from Russia are definitely different. Proud, self-willed, with character.
Your women are well versed in high technology, much better than French women. They are always in touch, actively use numerous applications, and masterfully search for information. And at the same time, they have completely archaic views on some things. I myself have heard young Russian girls (25-27 years old) reflecting on “female” and “non-female” professions, that the main thing in life is to marry successfully, be a good wife and follow a man everywhere. Moreover, they came to France on their own, developed a route on their own, easily booked and rebooked train tickets over a cup of coffee. They were superbly educated, well-read, traveled half the world ... Here you will not find such thoughts among the younger generation, this is typical of women over 70. And your ladies have the same attitude towards sex minorities ... The last century.
Russians bother a lot about looks. Very much. Someone builds eyelashes, and someone does not use cosmetics, but maniacally follows the combination of colors in clothes. We also have such ladies, but there are fewer of them. The dissonance is that from people who are so preoccupied with their image, you usually expect coldness, closeness, selfishness, narcissism. But in the case of Russians, every time you understand that you were wrong: they turn out to be sincere, warm and open. True, I think you are more anxious and less confident than French women. The very fact that it is so important for you to make a good impression bears witness to this.
With Russians, everything is not the same as with others: you never know what to expect from them. You are unpredictable. You seem to have "know limits". Thinking as if “anything is possible”, and it doesn't matter in what area: open a restaurant, go swimming in the lake at night, get ready for a trip in two hours, get a job outside of your specialty and make a career, write a book, make a film. You are always at a low start and are always ready to swing over the barrier. And yet, it seems to me, Russian women are less prudent than, say, French women. If they like food, they will eat more than they need; if they come to a party, they will easily exceed a reasonable portion of alcohol. It’s not clear to me what makes them do all this.
Slavs are credited with sadness and melancholy, but here I agree only partially. Yes, Russians are more worried, "where is he, what's wrong with him, why doesn't he call, and suddenly something happened." French women are calmer and do not spoil their own mood by what has not happened yet. But on the other hand, Russians are cheerful, sincerely show emotions, and know how to have fun. And in general, they are optimistic about the world.
I heard that the Russians are calculating and mercantile, they say, keep your eyes open, otherwise you will go around the world. I have never met such women. On the contrary, I talked with those for whom material values are not the main thing. With those who, with great difficulty, agreed to me to pay the bill at the restaurant. Who preferred to give gifts and were embarrassed when receiving them. People are different, and you cannot judge everyone equally.
“I easily recognize Russians on the street, and it's not about blond hair. The main thing is the blush like your nesting dolls. This is a sign of health. "
Frederic, France
Australian opinion on Russian girls
Robert, 37, Australia
Women in Russia are very beautiful, and at first I fell in love two or three times for every subway ride. You definitely know how to look cool anytime, anywhere, but it doesn't come for free. And I'm not talking about the monetary side of the issue, although I understand that everything is not cheap. Once during a lesson (I am teaching English), we talked about the word "narcissism." The student asked what it meant. I explained that this is a negative concept, and a "narcissist" is a person who cannot calmly walk past a reflective surface and constantly checks how he looks. The girl looked at me, puzzled: "What's wrong with that?" My jaw dropped. I looked at the others - and everyone had the same question in their eyes.
One day I went on vacation with my Russian girlfriend, now an ex. Whenever I tried to draw her attention to something interesting, it turned out that she did not notice anything - she was correcting her hair, then her makeup (listen, young ladies, nothing happens to them so quickly, unless, of course, you fell under tropical downpour). Or posted a selfie on Instagram. It upset me: she missed everything that was happening to us and cared more about how she looks in the eyes of others, and not in mine. I appreciated her beauty, but the moments that we lived together were much more important.
With regard to sex, women here are more eager to fulfill their partner's desires. Almost every girl asked about my fantasies (I even had to invent new ones) in order to immediately realize them. Russians are confident in themselves and in their physical shape (of course, they spend so much time to maintain it). So games in front of a mirror or intimate selfies are no problem, rather, it is perceived as the highest form of praise. All in all, I have to admit, sex is wonderful and full of enthusiasm. But, unfortunately, you cannot build a relationship on it.
I was told that Russian women are very independent and know what they want. I would agree with the second part, with the first - more difficult. In Australia, a relationship is regarded as a partnership. Both participants share the responsibilities equally. In Russia, judging from my experience, everything is more old-fashioned. One day after a party, I decided to help clear the table and wash the dishes. My then girlfriend and her friends looked at me in amazement: you shouldn't do this, you better sit and have a drink with other guys. Not that this is a problem for me, but you feel a little selfish and misogynist. In Australia, everyone, regardless of gender, is involved in household chores - just to quickly get even with them.
Once during the lesson, the conversation turned to gender roles. Surprisingly, most of the students fiercely defended the traditional patriarchal order. It was the girls who performed the loudest, and the men supported them. There were a few brave men who spoke out for equality, but they were quickly pecked at by the ladies wanting to keep the status quo from the 1950s. I have met in Russia independent beautiful feminists with a wild, untamed soul, who are unlike anyone else. But in general, I think the girls here are exactly as I described. Stereotypes are imposed on them from early childhood and affect their self-perception and self-presentation. Sometimes for good, sometimes not.
Russian women are frank and will tell you directly what they think - is it good or bad. I love that they are always ready to support you and help you with advice (and they are amazingly insightful). They are generous and caring. I have many female friends and I hope to keep our fellowship together when I leave.
American opinion about Russian girls
Jeff, 29, USA
Russian women are great, it's true. One morning in St. Petersburg, on the banks of the Neva, my American friend and I met two very smart girls - high heels, short bright dresses, flashy makeup. They looked like aliens. My companion, seeing them off, said: "They are dressed as if they are going to a nightclub, but this is just a morning walk!" In general, Russians dress beautifully more often than American women. On the one hand, it takes so long that I sympathize with them. On the other hand, they obviously enjoy themselves, so ... respect!
What struck me was the absolute indifference of your women to feminism. The mass of American women do not consider themselves feminists. But if you meet an educated girl from a big city, most likely she will support this belief system, or at least speak positively about it. Meanwhile, some liberal-minded, reasonable and strong Russian women think that feminism is some kind of stupidity and “not for them”. For me, this is a normal and obvious value system, so it's not easy.
It is difficult not to fall in love with Russian women for their kindness and attention to others. Whether it's a grandmother scolding you for not wearing a hat in the cold, or an official making an effort to help (albeit after a few requests), or friends making gifts and beautiful postcards for you by hand. And I want to say that they are not obliged to make all these wonderful things, but every time their heart melts. The women I associate with at work, at home, in stores always make me happier. I even feel like a bit of an energy vampire. But it's hard not to have sympathy for people who are really nice to you and heartbreakingly good-looking.
Your conservatism does not amuse me too much. I don't mind being a man at all, carrying heavy things and all that. But when a friend says something like “I'm a typical woman: I drive like an idiot” or “I'm just a stupid girl,” I want to take her by the shoulders, shake her and say: “Never say that, you're smart!” A couple of times I slept with a girl who called me "girl" because I washed the dishes after her own dinner.
In many ways, Russians are more straightforward than American women, and that's usually great. But when it comes to relationships and sex, you start talking in riddles. A girl can expose your words to excessive analysis or say something incomprehensible, and then expect miracles of deduction from you. Sometimes it seems to me that I found myself inside a Russian drama, where inviting a young lady to a party or helping with English suddenly means that I am in love with her and want children from her, although I just wanted to be a good friend. I made a lot of stupid mistakes, not understanding what the girl really wants from me.
Russian women are very generous when it comes to sex. But their conservative side is also evident here. Blowjob is included in the compulsory program of the night, but at the same time about half of the girls are extremely surprised (sometimes frightened) when I propose to do cunnilingus. I try to be considerate of my partner and make sure that she reaches orgasm. But with some, sex is more like a show for me alone. Once I asked a friend: "Do you want me to help you cum?" (after he did it himself, and she obviously did not, because she was too carried away by incredible acrobatics). She replied: "Stupid question." OK. I understood it as "No, but thanks."
“They hit the ground with their pins and fight for something that means a lot to them. This is a special Russian stubbornness. "
Jeff, USA
We also heard that ...
“... Russian girls are too fond of intimate haircuts. They shave everything off there. What for? It's completely unnatural. "
Cataldo, 39 years old, Italy
“... they are too worried about small things. I understand that the 1990s were a difficult time in Russia, but in England, for example, not at all, we had different childhoods, hence the problems. Let's say I'm a spender, and my Russian wife is extremely frugal, and sometimes we argue about this. But I really think it's time for you to stop worrying about everything. "
Jason, 31, UK
“... the average Russian woman is much more savvy in matters of fashion - including men, than an ordinary European. When it comes to sex, I personally have not noticed any major differences, although your girls are probably more passionate. Stereotypes? I've heard that there are two categories of Russian women. The first are rich spoiled sexy dolls who have not worked a day and are burning their parents' money. The second are cold as stone, ready to sweep away everything in their path, just to get what is required. So, I have not seen the first, but I really believe in the existence of the second. "
Lucas, 31, Switzerland