14 - Friday,, Siptertiliei 24, 1976
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
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ParlICOOM Cellial•licaMUS1a•ig
Visit to Czar's Summer Home Reveals Jewish Gifts
By BORIS SMOLAR
(Copyright 1976, JTA, Inc.)
(Editor's Note: This is
one of the chapters of
Boris Smolar's forthcom-
ing book.)
Driving from Lenin-
grad to "Czarskoye
Syelo," — the village
which once was Czar
Nicholas' "dacha" (sum-
mer home), now renamed
"Dyetskoye Syelo," — one
was reminded of the tiny
town in old-time Czarist
Russia. The road was
dusty, the houses were
wooden frame structures
and were single-storied.
Some had flower gardens
in front; others were
fenced in with shaped
wooden pickets. Only the
area surrounding the
palace where the czar's
family actually resided
was enclosed by high
fences of wrought iron,
which were reminiscent
of the iron fences at the
S incere wae3 /or
a new gear, Pied with
health, 4appine33
and pro3peri4.
Harry, Sally, Esther
Allen, Marvin Tuchklaper
of HARRY CUSTOM CLOTHIER
Harry
13641 W.9 MILE RD.
CUSTOM
CLOTHIER
LI 5-3558
OAK PARK
Just West of Coolidge
gates of Buckingham
Palace in London, the re-
sidence of the British
royal family.
During the reign of
Czar Nicholas II, no one
had been permitted to
live in "Czarskoye Syelo,"
without the express au-
thorization of the czarist
secret police. The owners
of the summer dwellings
were all people close to
the Czarist court. All the
common folk there, who
delivered provisions and
rendered services had to
be trustworthy in the
eyes of the czarist guard.
Some of these people were
actually agents of the
secret police.
The entire village had
always stood under the
constant watchful eye of
the Okharana, the politi-
cal police, as well as the
regular police. In addi-
tion, a military guard was
deployed around the
czarist residence. If a
stranger were to arrive in
the village, it was not long
before his presence was -
noticed.
When the czar's regime
collapsed, the prestige of
the village declined. Its
name was changed to
"Children's Village,"
RICHARD. H. LOVE, C.L.U.
GREETINGS .
. . . Lishana Tova Tikatevu
This, literally translated, means
"May you be inscribed (in God's Book)
for a good year."
•
That is our sincere wish for our many
friends and policyholders.
Dominion Life
THE DOMINION LIFE ASSURANCE COMPANY
Our Success Is Built on a Firm Foundation of Sincere Service
(Dyetskoye Syelo") and
the "dachas" belonging to
the czar's kinsmen were
converted into children's
homes and other chil-
dren's institutions.
Everything had been
changed except the resi-
dence of the czar himself.
That was left as a
museum. All objects and
all apartments in that
immense mansion were
left untouched, standing
in their, original spots.
That even included the
czar's writing desk, upon
which stood photographs
of his family and some of
his only son's toys. The
crown prince was a,
hemophiliac.
At no time did I expect
to find among all the ar-
tifacts in the czar's home
anything of special
Jewish interest. The czar
was notorious for his in-
dulgence of pogroms
against Jews, and for his
encouragement of the in-
famous "Beilis Trial," in
which Jews had been
falsely accused of ritual
murder. All the czar's en-
tourage were merciless
anti-Semites. Objects
which betokened Jewish-
ness were obnoxious to
them:-
That was why I was
considerably surprised to
notice a collection of gold
and silver plates with in-
scriptions engraved on
them in Hebrew and in
Russian. These plates
were hanging on a wall in
a chamber housing collec-
tions of rare gifts which
the czar had obtained
through the years of his
reign. My attention was
drawn to them because of
the Hebrew inscriptions
which they bore, as well
as the artistic designs
which enhanced their
beauty.
The Soviet official who
had accompanied me
noticed my astonishment
when I discovered the
Hebrew inscriptions on
the. plates. He explained:
"Although the czar did
not like the Jews, he was
not averse to accepting
precious gifts from them.
It had been a tradition of
long standing in Russia
that whenever a czar
traveled across the coun-
try, stopping in different
cities, even for short vis-
its, he was met in every
city by a delegation of
leading citizens welcom-
ing him with "bread and
salt" on a plate of gold or
silver. in some com-
munities, such plates
were even embellished
with diamonds.
"It was not in every city
where the czar stopped on
his festive journeys from
St. Petersburg that Jews
were included in the dele-
gations welcoming the
monarch. But in certain
cities where the Jewish
population was relatively
affluent and more assimi-
lated, the local police
would permit Jewish rep-
resentatives to proffer to
the royal visitor the cus-
tomary "bread and salt"
in the name of the Jewish
population, as an expres-
sion of Jewish allegiance.
On those occasions they
also permitted the Jewish
delegation to have en-
graved upon the plates
Hebrew inscriptions,
generally texts taken
from the Bible, suitable
as a greeting for an au-
gust ruler.
"These plates along
with those presented by
the Russian population
were later brought to the
czar's winter palace,
where they were clas-
sified. Those of lesser im-
port were apparently re-
legated to the basements.
The plates you see here
were the best, selected
from a large collection
brought by Jews as gifts
to the czar."
I lingered in front of the
wall on which the plates
were displayed and I
studied those bearing the
Hebrew inscriptions. Most
of the quotations were
taken from the prayer:
"He who bringeth salva-
tion . . ." which Jews
used to recite in the
synagogues for the wel-
fare of the czar, but there
were also appropriate ex-
cerpts from the Psalms.
The plates I saw exhibited
had come from the Jewish
communities of Kiev, Ros-
tov, Poltava, Rovno and
other cities.
I suddenly remembered
that when I visited Rovno
during the years of World
War I — the city then
being only seven miles
from the war front —
Czar Nicholas, dressed in
his military uniform, ar-
rived for an hour to show
that he was visiting the
front lines. A delegation
representing the Jewish
community was part of
the municipal welcoming
delegation which met the
royal train to proffer him
the customary greeting.
But when the czar, seated
in a military motor car
drove to the center of the
city, surrounded by a
rigorous watch, Jews
were not allowed to be on
the street as he came
down the main avenue.
The non-Jewish popu-
lation was given definite
orders to present them-
selves on the street and to
shout: "Hurray!" when
the czar drove by. Yet
these people had to line
up on the sidewalk facing
the buildings on both
sides of the street, so as
not to face the czar.
The authorities feared
that if the crowd were fac-
ing the street when the
monarch was passing by,
someone might toss a
bomb at him, even while
shouting "Hurrah!" The
only people who were fac-
ing the czar were soldiers
who lined the route. At
the speed with which his
car proceeded, the czar
could only glimpse the
long line of soldiers in
dress formation and be-
hind them crowds of civi-
lians shouting "Hurrah!"
He apparently failed to
notice that the latter
were standing with their
backs toward him.
,
most sensitive young ar-
tists in Russia. His entire
work was imbued with
the Jewish spirit. All his
thematic substance was
thoroughly Jewish. He
was well-known in Rus-
sia, but was virtually un-
known in the world out-
side. Even under the
Soviet regime he was de-
voting himself to subjects
based on life in the small
Jewish town. His creative
temperament was une
to absorb any of the ti
"revolutionary" themes
dictated by the Com-
munist mode.
I came upon his
"Jewish" woodcut in the
czar's residence while I
was leafing through a
portfolio of drawings
lying there in the room
which the czar used as his
library and reading room.
That portfolio contained
drawings by artists who
were prominent during
the czar's reign — Repin,
Verestchagin and others;
As I scanned through the
collection of drawings, to
my great astonishment, I
suddenly came upon the
Yudovin work. I won-
dered with amazement
that someone in the
czar's family could have
so appreciated Yudovin's
artistry, and that a draw-
ing so thoroughly Jewish
in spirit and the types it
portrayed had been
brought into the resi-
dence of Czar Nicholas
who abhorred Jews.
On my return from the
visit to "Dyetskoye Syelo"
to Leningrad, I sought out
Yudovin and told him of
my experience. I found
him in his quarters on a
side street, living in utter
povetty, entirely detached-
from the stream of life.
The Soviet regime had
crushed him, not through
persecution, but because
he was unable to adapt
himself to the mode of
Soviet life.
Some years later, in
America, I read that he
had died in poverty and
isolation. I had often
thought of him. From
time to time I noticed re-
productions of his old
woodcuts in a variety of
journals. But the one that
endured in my memory
was that which I had, in-
advertently, noticed in
Czar Nicholas' portfolio
of artistic sketches. This
reminiscence persisted
not only because I had en-
joyed its artistic quality,
but also because it has
"strayed" into the czar
library. For a Jewish al
tist working in the Jewish
genre, this was prodigi-
ous achievement.
Iraq to Buy Jets?
PARIS (JTA) — Iraq is
on the verge of buying
some 70 French Mirage
F-1 planes, diplomatic
sources here report.
The F-1 is one of the
world's fastest planes and
is described as the equi-
valent of the MIG-25 and
Another matter of superior to the U.S.
Jewish import which drew Phantom.
Sources say the planes
my attention in the czar's
abode was a woodcut by will be delivered over a
the Jewish artist S. Yudo- three-year period at a
basic cost of $8 million per
vin.
Yudovin was one of the plane.