Russia
From Sawiki
Contents |
Historic overview
Before WWII
During the first decade of the 20th century, The Salvation Army longed to penetrate the heart of Russia. The journey was to prove a long and difficult one, with many obstacles and setbacks, yet many joys and great victories. And the journey continues today.
The first expression of The Salvation Army’s work in Russia began in November 1889, within the Finland General-District of Czarist Russia. It expanded rapidly and extended into the Karelia region where the first corps, in Vyborg, was established in 1892.
A Vyborg Division was created in October 1905 and grew to include 13 corps with more than 650 soldiers and recruits, 500 junior soldiers, four slum stations, and two homes to serve military personnel.
In March 1909 the founder of The Salvation Army, General William Booth, decided to go to St. Petersburg himself, at the age of 80. Although Deputy Chairman Baron Meindorf welcomed the General to a session of the Russian Duma, he was unsuccessful in securing permission to establish work in the country.
In 1910 Colonel and Mrs. Jens Polvsen from Denmark arrived in St Petersburg to prepare the way for official registration of the Army in Russia. However, after two years in the country their application for registration was denied and they were forced to return home.
Nevertheless, the Army persisted and a new opportunity presented itself in 1913. Colonel Karl Larsson, a Swedish officer who was Territorial Commander of Finland, was invited to feature Salvation Army social work in Finland during the All-Russia Hygiene Exhibition. From June to September Colonel Larsson, assisted by two Finnish officers, Captain Elsa Olsoni and Lieutenant Henny Granstrom, mounted and staffed an exhibit on “The Physical and Moral Health of the Nation”. They also distributed a special leaflet, “Health of the Nation: Moral and Physical” during the exhibition. When the event ended, Colonel Larsson sought a means by which the Army could begin in Russia.
The needed access to Russia was found when Constantine Boije, one of the pioneer officers in Finland, offered to become the Russian owner of Vestnik Spaseniya (The War Cry, called Salvation Messenger in Russian). Adam Piesheffsky, a Polish Jew who had been converted in a meeting conducted by William Booth in Hamburg, Germany, was to serve as its Russian editor.
The Salvation Messenger was officially registered as a Russian publication on February 4, 1915. This enabled Captain Olsoni and Lieutenant Granstrom to move to St. Petersburg as the magazine’s first registered sellers. Soon after, Lieutenant Nadya Konstantinova and Ensign Helmy Boije (who received the Order of the Founder in its inaugural year of 1920) joined them.
Under the supervision of Colonel Larsson, Ensign Boije became the leader of the Russian work which, at that time, included a corps and slum post.
The outbreak of World War I in July 1914 created a stream of refugees and, in response, Salvationists set up shelters for women and children. The Salvation Army in Canada donated an ambulance unit and the American territories sent first-aid equipment.
While ministering among the poor, the officers continued to sell the Vestnik Spaseniya and to hold worship meetings in Adam Piesheffsky’s apartment. The first enrolment of soldiers took place on December 20, 1914. However, due to government restrictions, the Army placed their names on the rolls of the Helsinki Temple Corps.
In 1915, Lieutenants Lydia Konopoliova and Natalia Ilina, Finnish-trained Russian officers, were appointed to St. Petersburg to assist in selling the Vestnik Spaseniya, now with a monthly circulation of 10,000. Although the situation remained difficult, the financial records reveal a widespread support of the Army’s work by wealthy individuals, banks, firms, and the City Committee of Petrograd.
The February 1917 revolution provided a previously unknown freedom to the Army in Russia to hold marches, conduct open-air meetings, and to rent halls for evangelistic meetings.
That summer General Bramwell Booth appointed Commissioner Henry Mapp as TC for North Russia (should this be OC as it was a command??). His translator was Clara Becker, an adopted daughter of a wealthy Russian lawyer in Petrograd. Fluent in numerous languages, she trained as an officer in 1917 and then served in Russia until 1922.
Under the new freedom a joyful “official opening” of the Work took place on September 16, 1917, with a visiting band from Finland providing support and interest. Soon the Army was able to find locations in St Petersburg for seven corps, two children’s homes, two slum posts, and an eventide home for the elderly. This freedom was to be short-lived, as the November revolution would soon change everything.
When Commissioner Mapp was recalled to London for a conference, Colonel Larsson was asked to oversee the work in North Russia during his absence. He was also appointed to oversee operations in South Russia when the work opened in Moscow.
By the time the Larssons and their six children arrived in August 1918, the situation in the country had further deteriorated. The Larssons found themselves in a city facing increasing political instability, uncertainty, privation, hunger, disease, and lack of fuel.
Despite the difficulties, several hundred soldiers and Army friends welcomed the Larsson family during the September congress in Petrograd. Fifty-two officers attended, including reinforcements from Finland, Norway, and Sweden. Also present were 18 newly commissioned Russian officers who had trained for four months. During these meetings appointments were announced for Captains Nadia Konstantinova and Maria Petrogizky, and Lieutenants Lucie Ihrberg and Zinovsky – they were to depart immediately for the commencement of operations in Moscow.
Fortunately, the pioneer party located a large meeting hall and, with Adjutant and Mrs. Ljungholm of Sweden leading the Moscow venture, the first public meeting took place on October 17 in the Polytechnic Museum.
However, while operations were beginning in Moscow, a government resolution ordered the Army to cease its activities in Petrograd; closing its headquarters on November 11. Due to worsening conditions and increasing danger, Colonel Larsson and his family were forced to leave Russia on December 18. Staff-Captain Boije stayed on to oversee the remaining work, assisted by 40 Russian and Finnish officers.
For more than a year it was impossible to send aid from outside Russia or to communicate with the officers inside the country. Food and fuel were in short supply and thousands were dying of starvation and disease. Staff-Captain Boije herself experienced several health problems. When these did not improve, she was evacuated from the country. Some officers died from typhus and tuberculosis. The male Russian officers were taken into military service and several officers from other countries had to be repatriated. To remain legally in the country, other officers sought regular jobs, which helped them to survive while continuing their ministries. Finally, 15 officers and a few employees were left to serve in Petrograd and Moscow. Soviet authorities closed the Volga Children’s Home of Moscow in September 1920.
While Petrograd was under martial law following an uprising in 1921, 10 Salvationists were arrested in various “domiciliary visitations,” accused of “counterrevolution,” and were imprisoned for weeks. Nevertheless, meetings in Moscow continued throughout that year, with 350 seekers kneeling at the mercy seat. However, escalating governmental opposition led to the arrests of Captain Konstantinova, who spent eight months in a Moscow prison, Lieutenants Ihrberg and Kusnetzova, and two soldiers.
The remaining corps in Petrograd was told to get a lawful permit or shut down. Although previous applications had been refused, its registration surprisingly was granted on April 3, 1922. This allowed corps works in both Moscow and Petrograd to grow without restrictions for the ensuing seven months.
But the freedom was short lived. The inspector of the Moscow City Council and the militia carried out a search in the Army’s Moscow headquarters and gave Adjutant Olsoni a resolution officially closing The Salvation Army as of February 7, 1923. The decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party three weeks later was “to liquidate the sect as an anti-Soviet organization”.
While expatriate officers made arrangements to leave the country, there were more arrests. As a final attempt to stay in Russia, Adjutant Olsoni secured a job working for the Finnish embassy. This arrangement allowed her to travel within Russia, making contacts with the remaining officers and assisting the foreign officers to leave the country. However, by July Adjutant Olsoni, who had served from the beginning of the work in 1913, had no alternative but to return to Finland. With this, The Salvation Army in Russia officially brought its ministry to a close.
In the Karelia region, the situation was slightly different. This region had come under Finnish control after Russia’s war with Finland in 1917-1918, enabling the work of The Salvation Army to continue there under the supervision of headquarters in Helsinki. This changed though, in 1944, when the Soviet Union reclaimed Karelia and soon after closed the work of The Salvation Army.
1980s
In the late 1980’s the drastic changes in Eastern Europe opened the way for contacts with the communist Soviet Union. The Salvation Army in Norway expressed its compassion for Soviet people by inviting some of the children affected by the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster to spend their summer holidays in Norway.
In 1988-89, The Salvation Army in Sweden raised funds to aid the victims of the Armenian earthquake. On July 1, 1989 Boris Pankin, Russian Ambassador to Sweden publicly thanked Commissioner Anna Hannevik and the Salvation Army in Sweden for their generous support. “We know of the good work of the Salvation Army, and I have read about William Booth and how he started the work in London. The Salvation Army is welcome back to Russia”, he said. Salvationists at the meeting gave him a standing ovation and the news of this event was faxed around the Army world, raising hope of a return.
1990
On January 11-13, 1990, Commissioner Ingrid Lindberg, then Territorial Commander for Finland, attended a social work exhibition in Leningrad (formerly Petrograd, now St Petersburg) at the invitation of the Leningrad Charity Society. She gave lectures and made a number of useful contacts.
In the (northern) fall Captains Sven-Erik and Kathleen Ljungholm, American officers serving in Sweden, accompanied the Commissioner to Leningrad to distribute Bibles and to meet with the Charity Society and other people interested in The Salvation Army.
General Eva Burrows envisioned the re-opening of the work of The Salvation Army in the Soviet Union as an opportunity to share the good news of the Gospel with those who had for years lived under atheism, and to provide practical assistance to those in desperate need. General Burrows appointed Commissioner Caughey Gauntlett, retired Chief of the Staff, to coordinate Salvation Army work in Central and Eastern Europe.
In September 1990, with the assistance of The Children’s Fund and the Friendship Society, Commissioner Gauntlett went with five other officers and their Salvationist translator on a trip to Leningrad to assess the needs there. Soon after, Lieutenant Colonels Bjartveit (have these people already been mentioned?) returned with a truckload of humanitarian aid and Bibles for distribution.
On October 1, 1990, Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev signed a new law on religious freedom, further encouraging The Salvation Army in its efforts. Commissioner Gauntlett went to Moscow for discussions with officials, church leaders, and organizations that were trying to help solve the dire social problems facing the collapsing Soviet Union. Over the next few months Norwegian Salvationists brought additional humanitarian aid, affording an opportunity for Lt. Colonel Bjartveit to again contact governmental officials.
On February 4-5, 1990, a strategy consultation took place in Oslo, Norway, to consider the re-commencement of The Salvation Army’s work in the then USSR. It was decided that the Sweden Territory would open the work in Latvia; Finland would launch ministry in Estonia; and the Norway Territory would be responsible for the re-opening in Russia under the leadership of Lt.-Colonels John and Bjorg Bjartveit.
Captain Peter J. W. Smith, Legal and Parliamentary secretary at International Headquarters in London, accompanied Lt.-Colonel Bjartveit to Leningrad (formerly Petrograd, now St Petersburg) in March 1991, to discuss a document of cooperation between The Salvation Army and the Executive Committee of Leningrad City with Deputy Mayor Alexander Tichonof. The Army agreed to cooperate with the city in developing desperately needed social work, and the city agreed to assist in the process of registering the Constitution of The Salvation Army. Deputy Mayor Tichonof and Lt.-Colonel Bjartveit signed the document on March 18, 1991.
During spring, the Army trucked additional humanitarian aid, including medical supplies, hospital beds, and clothes to Leningrad. The Salvation Army was legally registered on May 28, 1991 as the Leningrad Branch of the Evangelical Christian Church of The Salvation Army. This allowed them to freely conduct religious services as well as provide humanitarian aid.
1991
General Burrows appointed Captains Sven-Erik and Kathleen Ljungholm from the USA East to organize the social work, and they joined the Bjartveits in Leningrad in June 1991. The arrival of Lieutenants Geoff and Sandra Ryan (Canada) who were to develop the first corps, completed the pioneer team.
The team distributed thousands of brochures announcing the opening meetings which took place on July 5-6, 1991, in the Yubileiny Sport Palace. General Eva Burrows was present for the exciting weekend, supported by the Oslo Temple Band, a local Baptist choir, and visiting Salvationists. It was a significant, joyful event which attracted hundreds of people curious of all things western and responsive to the gospel. Two weeks later the first Leningrad corps was established.
It was a time of economic uncertainty and scarcity of food. Additional uncertainty came with an attempted government coup on August 19, 1991. The St. Petersburg corps (In 1991 as a result of a popular referendum the name of Leningrad was changed back to St. Petersburg.) grew in numbers and spiritual depth as Captains Geoff and Sandra Ryan trained the new Christians in the faith and encouraged them to share their faith with others. By the end of 1992 the St. Petersburg Central Corps had enrolled more than 100 senior soldiers (members). These enthusiastic soldiers were instrumental in helping to open additional corps in the city and some assisted in the distribution of humanitarian aid.
Captains Sven-Erik and Kathleen Ljungholm focused on developing social work in St. Petersburg, making visits to hospitals, children’s homes and needy families, and setting up a feeding program for runaway teenagers. Through their contacts, The Salvation Army began to provide assistance to the Republican Clinical Infectious Hospital, which was caring for babies and toddlers who had been accidentally infected with AIDS, a disease unknown at that time in Russia.
1992
The Ljungholms were appointed to Moscow to prepare for re-opening there. Adjutants Otto and Gerda Ljungholm (grandparents of Captain Sven-Erik Ljungholm) had been in charge of the original opening of The Salvation Army in Moscow in October 1918. (See history 1889-1994.) Captain Kathleen Ljungholm researched the location of that first meeting (the Polytechnic Museum) and was able to rent a hall in the same building for the historic re-opening meeting. Soon several hundred people were attending the Moscow corps. Two more corps opened within the next year.
After the collapse of the USSR, there was a great need for people to be trained in social work to address the enormous social needs. In March 1992, the Ljungholms organized a four-day social work conference in cooperation with the Moscow Youth Institute. General Burrows who was visiting from London addressed the participants. Following the conference, other Army officers with social work expertise from the United Kingdom visited the Institute, lecturing on social work as part of the Institute’s newly created social services curriculum.
Food was also needed. After the United States Desert Storm operation ended in 1991, tons of food rations remained, stored in Europe. The US government asked the Salvation Army if they could facilitate getting this food to the starving Russians. The massive amount of food arrived in the summer of 1992 and was distributed to the people through 43 city soup kitchens.
General Eva Burrows passionately appealed to the international Salvation Army to pray intensely for the work in Russia. She urged Salvationists to provide personnel, publicity, and financial support. In the sustained response that followed, many officers and lay workers offered themselves for service in Russia. Many territories sent humanitarian aid and financial support, sometimes sacrificing the utilization of funds locally to support the new work.
As the work expanded, the General appointed Colonel Fred Ruth (USA National Headquarters) to IHQ to be Secretary for Russian Development. On November 1, 1992 Commissioner Reinder J. Schurink, (Netherlands) was appointed commander (is this officer commanding??) for Russia. During his two years in Russia, Commissioner Schurink traveled to many different cities to evaluate the possibilities of additional corps openings. The Army also purchased a building in Moscow to house the training college and headquarters. The public, the press, and the government were generally supportive of The Salvation Army, and especially of its extensive humanitarian aid.
These early years were full of firsts: Captains Geoff and Sandra Ryan enrolled the first group of soldiers in St. Petersburg on January 12, 1992, and General Burrows enrolled the first group in Moscow on March 23, 1992. The first visit to the seriously overcrowded 400-year-old Butyrka Prison in Moscow took place in April 1992, leading to a correctional services ministry that continues in many parts of Eastern Europe today.
The first day camps for children were held in 1992. That year the first delegations of Russian Salvationists from Moscow traveled to the USA, inspiring Salvationists with their testimonies of lives changed by Christ. The first home care program to assist the housebound elderly began in August 1992, with the Home Leagues of Scotland providing funds, and a Salvationist from Scotland volunteering her time to organize and direct this ministry.
1993
General Burrows commissioned the first session of Russian cadets (trained by Lt.-Colonels Howard and Betty Evans of the USA Eastern Territory and a small staff) on June 12, 1993. The first command-wide social services conference focusing on prison ministry took place in the winter of 1994.
These early years also saw expansion to other parts of the former Soviet Union: Georgia (1992), and Ukraine (established officially in 1993 although there was contact in Yalta as early as 1991), Moldova (1993).
Commissioner Reinder Schurink retired in Moscow on June 22, 1994 and was replaced by Colonels Brian and Carolyn Morgan (Australia) who had been appointed Commanding Officer and Command President of Women’s Organizations respectively. They served in the Russia CIS Command until January 1998. Under their leadership the Army continued to expand as expatriate officers and Salvationist soldiers from many countries ministered along with the growing number of national officers from the four countries.
When the opportunities outnumbered the officers available, enthusiastic soldiers took major steps of faith, moved to new cities, and with prayer, Bible studies, visitation, determination and compassion they opened new outposts which later became corps. For example, under the direction of Captains Geoff and Sandra Ryan who had moved from St. Petersburg and opened the Rostov-on-Don corps (October 1994), mission-oriented soldiers moved out to open outposts in different cities.
The Salvationists’ Christian compassion brought joy and hope to those who had for so long lived in darkness and fear. The Army’s motto “Heart to God, Hand to Man” was lived out every day. One corps literally painted those words in large Russian letters on the window of their rented storefront hall that doubled as a feeding site for 100 hungry people each day, and became the corps hall on Sunday.
All corps functioned out of rented locations, subject to the whims of landlords and sudden rent escalations, so there was great joy when on August 30, 1997 through the generosity of the Norway, Iceland and Faeroes Territory the Army was able to dedicate its own renovated building in central St. Petersburg. There Captains Joseph and Pamela Smith (United Kingdom) oversaw a multi-faceted social work ministry and spiritual ministry. This also developed into a corps especially serving the homeless.
Colonels Ken and Joy Baillie (USA Central) were appointed to the Russia/CIS command headquarters and arrived in Moscow in February 1998 as command leaders. That summer, the five day ‘Burning Hearts’ discipleship event energized the faith of 270 young adults from Russia, Moldova, Georgia, and Ukraine.
The next year saw the first of four Battle Schools. Captain David Payton (USA East) led a three-month training in Christian doctrine and life, Salvation Army principles, and mission involvement, followed by two months service in a corps. There was also a steady stream of qualified adults who desired to become Salvation Army officers. They were trained by Lt. Colonels Harry and Barbara Brocksieck, (USA Central), and their small staff in a two-year residential program at The Institute for Officer Training (at that time temporarily located in Finland).
Chechnya and Ingushetia
In 1999 there was a humanitarian crisis in southern Russia caused by a civil war in Chechnya which sent 200,000 people streaming across the border into the neighboring republic of Ingushetia to escape the violence. While some found housing with local families or in government organized tent camps, thousands found themselves living in old railroad cars, abandoned derelict factories, or abandoned barns.
After a visit and discussion with other humanitarian aid organizations, The Salvation Army leaders in the Russia South region, Captains Geoff and Sandra Ryan, urged the organization of a short-term feeding program to provide supplemental baby food, cereal and juice for the young Chechen children. With support from the international Salvation Army and a foundation (which foundation??), a large food distribution program began in December 1999.
The following spring, Captain Geoff Ryan asked Nina Sergeevna Davidovich, a teacher and Salvation Army soldier from St. Petersburg, if she could organize tent schools for some of the older children. Employing Russian, Ingush and Chechen teachers, the schools provided basic education for 1,100 children. The Salvation Army Russia/CIS command program ended in the fall of 2000.
Dedicated to keeping the schools open for the children if at all possible, Nina formed her own non-governmental agency Druzhba (Friendship) and continued her work with the assistance of SAWSO (Salvation Army World Services Organization).
On July 23, 2002 masked men shot at Nina’s car and kidnapped her at gunpoint as she was returning from a Druzhba program location in Chechnya. The United Nations and other non-governmental agencies protested the kidnapping, and the story became international news. Command Salvationists went to prayer for Nina. When she was finally released 168 days later, it was discovered that she had spent all but three weeks chained in a pit just a little over 2 x 2 metres. She said she drew strength from God. “God was nearest when I needed Him most.” She returned to Ingushetia and the program.
Tenth Anniverary
In October 2001, in Moscow, General John Gowans and Commissioner Gisele Gowans joined Salvationists from Russia, Moldova, Ukraine, Georgia and Romania in joyfully celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Army’s return to Russia.
One particularly difficult issue that continued for over four years was the re-registration of The Salvation Army in the city of Moscow. Although the Army had been legally registered in Moscow on May 6, 1992, it needed to be re-registered under the new Law on Religion and Conscience (1997). While no problem had been expected, the application for re-registration was unexpectedly denied on August 16, 1999, putting the Army’s continued presence in Moscow in jeopardy. Salvationists around the world joined in pray for a resolution. Under the leadership of the Commanding Officer, Colonel Ken Baillie, the Army’s lawyers from the Slavic Center for Law and Justice (Moscow) entered into a series of legal challenges to the ruling against the Army. The diplomatic community got involved. The Army’s struggle for the right to exist in Moscow attracted a flurry of media attention far beyond Russia.
The Army in Moscow appealed its “liquidation” in the city of Moscow through the courts, and continued to operate. It also followed the application process for national registration as a religious organization. The Federal government granted The Salvation Army in Russia the status of Centralized Religious Organization, giving the Army freedom to hold religious services and to engage in caring ministries throughout the country. Unfortunately it did not resolve the local Moscow problem, which continued to be an issue.
The Army’s Russian lawyers filed a case for consideration by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France. They filed a similar case (objecting to the denial of re-registration) in the Russian Federal Constitutional Court. On February 7, 2002, the Constitutional Court ruled that the reasons earlier cited by the City of Moscow Department of Justice in the denial of city re-registration were unconstitutional and that prior court judgments against the Army’s re-registration in Moscow would need to be revisited.
Lt. Colonels Barry and Raemor Pobjie (Australia East), who took over the leadership of the Command on October 1, 2002, reported that on February 19th, 2003, the Moscow district court finally acknowledged that its decision in 1999 to deny registration of the Salvation Army Moscow branch had been illegally grounded. It overturned its earlier decision.
Although the Department of Justice of Moscow made one final appeal on April 16, 2003, the Moscow City Court dismissed their appeal. The Salvation Army was no longer “liquidated.” It is expected that many other religious groups which have also been denied re-registration could benefit by the precedent set in the Constitutional Court decision which favored The Salvation Army.
The Salvation Army continued to expand within Russia, even during these years of uncertainty in Moscow. Officers and lay leaders preached the message of the gospel, Salvationists in corps and social services reached out in caring ministries - feeding the homeless, hungry, and refugees, visiting in prisons and institutions for children and the handicapped, aiding in the rehabilitation of alcoholic and drug-addicted individuals, and simply loving people in the name of Christ.
Expansion into Romania
The Eastern Europe Territory today is a vast geographical area consisting of Russia, three of the former Soviet republics that are now part of the Commonwealth of Independent States, Ukraine (1993), Georgia (1993), Moldova (1994) and Romania (1999). On June 1, 2001, the title of the administrative jurisdiction changed from the Russia Command, to the Russia/CIS Command after the first outpost in non-CIS Romania – Bucharest – became a corps.
A major reorganization occurred within the Command in July 2003 as a result of a number of factors: the departure of eleven long-serving expatriates in leadership positions; the need to continue the preparation of national officers for major leadership positions; the desire to maximize the use of available funds in order to provide resources for new openings; and the response to the increasing nationalism within the five countries which is making the securing of visas for expatriates or the movement of national officers between countries both costly and onerous. Thus, the former 6 regions in the Command were reorganized into two larger divisions and one region: the Russia Division; the combined Moldova, Romania and Ukraine Division; and the Georgia Region. A few smaller corps were combined or closed to free funding for new openings in major cities. The Command Institute for Officer Training (which had been housed outside Russia in Army facilities in Finland until the uncertainties of registration were resolved) was relocated to Moscow and changed to a more non-residential program for the 18 cadets being commissioned in 2004.
2005 Creation of Eastern Europe Territory
On March 1, 2005, the Eastern Europe Command was raised to the highest administrative level within the Salvation Army structure, and became the Eastern Europe Territory.
