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During the 1990s of the 20th century, Russia was drawn into a real boom of revival of voluntary associations, political parties and other unions of people that existed before the revolution.
However, a 70 year prohibition on any kind of non-communist activities undoubtedly has taken its toll: almost none of the participants of these associations are still alive and all documents were destroyed or at best are hidden in the archives and special depositories. Even the idea of charity has been forgotten and misinterpreted. After 1917, a powerful system of Russian voluntary and private charitable associations, which numbered more than 4,500 members and had been recruiting hundreds of thousands people for these charitable activities, stopped its existence.
The same thing happened with another unique Russian charitable and enlightening organization: Committee for rendering young people assistance on achieving moral, intellectual and physical education.Having such a long name on the 22nd of September 1900 for the first time in Russian history, the YMCA organization appeared, which already had more than 70 years experience in Europe and America by that time.
In 1844, English steward George Williams (1821-1905) together with a small group of young people (representatives of different Christian denominations) organized an association named Young Men's Christian Association. Very soon this association, which primarily devoted themselves to Bible studying and moral education issues, extended its tasks and several new programs on moral and physical development appeared. This idea was so successful that after seven year in England, more than 20 YMCA associations were already established.
In 1851, similar voluntary associations opened in Montreal, Canada and in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, and a little later in Paris. In the same city on August 20, 1855, the first YMCA World Conference was held, where the Paris Basis was passed which became an exponent of the common idea worldwide for many years: The Christian Alliance of Young People strives to unite all young people who consider Jesus Christ their God and Savior under the Holy Scripture, who wish to be His disciple in their beliefs and their lives and unite in their aspirations for the promulgation of His Kingdom among young people. It was also determined at this conference that: Any existing differences in religious and other belief of the Alliance's members of any significance do not have to affect sincere relations between members of the Alliance.
This indeed is how the triumphant promulgation of the YMCA began throughout the world. In every country, the YMCA was always in close contact with the Christian church and struggled against influences, which drew young people away from their beliefs. In these associations, discussion of political issues was not appropriate and was beyond the scope of association interests and goals. In such a basis, the Petrograd Lighthouse (LH) was founded, which had an independent administration and was not affiliated with any foreign organization.
The grand meeting under the chairmanship of His Majesty Prince A. Oldenburgskey was preceded by the official opening: the Prince accepted the Post of Honorary Trustee of the Committee, where had been presented a famous American philanthropist James Stocks, who made an invaluable contribution in organizing and developing the association, also the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs P. Durnov; Priests, the St. Petersburg representatives of intelligentsia. A member of the Committee, Archpriest N. Vasilyev, finished the service as choirs from Prince Oldenburgsky's orphanage sang.
The new institution started to work very quickly and vigorously. In the early spring of 1901, the Literary Society was established, which had been operated by famous teachers and literati. The lectures on Russian, world history, law, literature and nature sciences were given to the young people twice a week by famous scientists and public figures. Among the first lecturers were academicians A. Kony, I. Tarhanov, Professor Fon Glazenop. Evening classes about Russian, French, German and English, basics of accounting, business math, were very popular at the time. Also, there were a choir of church and secular singing, Russian theatre, musical and gymnastic classes. At that time, with the assistance of Metropolitan Clergy, spiritual discussions of evangelical subjects were initiated. Giving a special importance to the religious world view, the board of LH as the Charter required that Orthodox Priest had to be on the board recruited famous figures from the city ecclesiastics for the purpose of religious development at attendees.
Active participation in this work was shown by: the Principal of the St. Petersburg Seminary Archimandrite Sergiy, Honored Professor and archpriest D. Belikov, archpriest K. Vetvitskiy and other famous priests and theologists of the time. An abyss is fearful when in spontaneous argument the ship is carried as a chip, to the rocky shores. It is pitch dark all around and the sea moans furiously and wind breaks the mast in half! Shipwreck is inevitable, and the source of hope is exhausted. Oh no! The waves are roaring, but through the mist and gloom, the saving Lighthouse shines with the rays of Faith! Traditionally the YMCA's doors are open to believers of all for this and the LH was not an exception: along with Orthodox believers (82%), active participation in the organization's activities was shown by Lutherans (8%), Catholics (7%) and others.
Years after year the number of different courses quickly grew following the needs of St. Petersburg's youth. For the first time in Russia at the LH as the committee came to be called the now popular game of basketball appeared (which incidentally was born in an American YMCA) and classes in first aid had been taught. In the summer of 1905, the LH moved from a modest rented building on Liteyniy Avenue to its own building which was bought for 118.500 rubles by J. Stocks and given as a gift to the association. Treasurer of the LH E. Nobel played an active role in the renovation of the building giving 62.000 rubles. A lot on the sea shore near Lahta was given to the association by the local authorities, where a camp for fishing, rowing and swimming was built. Shortly thereafter, a field for track and field athletics and outdoor games was also opened.
By the time of October Revolution, the number of members in association reached almost 40,000 people and an annual budget of almost 100.000 rubles. The third year of its existence the Ministry of Finances gave the LH an annual grant of 5000 rubles and a little later His Majesty the Emperor, recognized the obvious social benefit of the LH activities assigned a similar amount from His Majesty's Treasury. By the end of 1916, the total sum of private donations reached 305.000 rubles. This movement succeeded to take roots in other Russian cities: Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Samara. Unfortunately, archival materials about YMCA's activities couldn't be found in these cities, much less in others.
The last clear mission of YMCA activity was the organization of educational agricultural trip down the Volga. The authorities gave the Alliance a large passenger ship the Kerzhenets paying for all operational costs. The work plan consisted solely of agriculture and educational activities. Many classes were conducted with school teachers. The most hospitable reception was given by clergy who helped in organizational work. This action received the blessing of Saint Tihon Patriarch of all Rus Lands. This document merits citation in its entirety:
The Christian Alliance of Young People had undertaken a number of works and businesses having made their goal to make healthy the moral atmosphere of Russian life, advocate the God's word and abstaining from politics, promote the cultural, educational and economic prosperity of the Russian people. For this purpose the Christian Alliance has undertaken among other things, a voyage along the Volga on a special liner with stops at various ports and villages, where lectures on agriculture and other subjects useful to the people would be read and short holy services with proper moral teaching would be given by Orthodox priests.
With sympathy for all that can serve as a spiritual and material help for our Russian nation, we proudly give our prayerful blessing to those who commit this good work and ask Our Father's help for its successful fulfillment. The ship departed from Nizhy Novgorod and the trip was planned to Tsaritsino and back. However, revolutionary events hindered this trip below Simbirsk. Despite this, the exhibition was shown in 44 places and was attended by more than 30,000 people.
Up until the closing of the LH in Petrograd, all branches of the association operated daily: Bible studies, Literary and other scientific circles, language studies, accounting, music and stenography. Also educational excursions were made, sports training and competitions, and free medical aid was given. The LH principally stayed neutral and was out of politics and was recognized by representatives of political parties, simultaneously serving people of different and often contradictory beliefs. Perhaps it was precisely this that displeased the new authorities who in the end prohibited the activities of the LH.
But the history of YMCA didn't end. In 1918 in Vladivostok, the Association named the LH was established for the purpose of moral, mental and physical development of young people of both genders and then similar associations were formed in Chelyabinsk, Irkutsk, Krasnoyarsk, Novonikolayevsk Omsk, Tomsk, Harbin. The such rapid growth was due to the introduction of 125 American YMCA secretaries who arrived in Russia having been officially invited by the Provisional Government. However, the rapidly changing political climate made their work near impossible very soon and many of them returned back to their home lands through Siberia where they found a use for their knowledge and skills. More than 100 American secretaries and more than 200 of their assistants helped to develop a power of the Christian Alliance of Young People (Alliance) in Siberia. Four departments were established:
Department of city alliances
Department of village alliances
Railroad department
Military department
These departments were supported by four well-organized bureaus: Executive, Teaching (with cinematography department), Provision and Financial.The goals of work at American YMCA in Siberia can be seen in the documents of that time published in the Alliance's newsletter in September 1999 in Vladivostok: To work together and contribute to constructive powers of government, church and other public organizations, help to develop young people in Russia spiritually, mentally and physically. The objective was to preserve the former Russian national movement of the Alliance and to develop independent and steady Russian Alliance through the friendly help and mediation of the Alliance's principals and methods.
To give help and assistance to soldiers and sailors of American expeditionary forces in Siberia with a purpose of maintaining their morals in conditions of isolation from the motherland. One of the main activities of the Alliance was the International Soldiers Club in Vladivostok which was attended by more than 60,000 soldiers of various nationalities, who happened to be in the Far East of Russia for a variety of reasons: Russians, Americans, Italians, Czechs, Slovaks, Serbs, Polish, Romanians, French, English, Chinese.
nder the direction of American secretaries, the work among civil citizens from cities and villages was also initiated. The Alliance was allotted convenient premises in Vladivostok, Habarovsk and Harbin. In those cities, where special buildings for the Alliance were not found, the operation of the Alliance was directed with joint cultural and educational activities with other public organizations, such as the Boy Scouts, organizing children's summer camp sites and mobile cinematography performances, scientific societies, classes on religious subjects and studies under the supervision of Orthodox priests, musical and drama societies, chess, etc.
The following books had been published in Vladivostok in 1919 for village citizens: Scientific and profitable feeding of granger's cow,Vegetable garden and how to arrange it. The care and raising of bees,The first lessons of breeding cattle and many other analogous publications, which served as a help for Russian farmers in those difficult lean years. One of the examples of humanitarian help provided by the Alliance was care of returning Russian soldiers from captivity. From December 1918, the massive flow of prisoners of war started to return from Germany and Austria. Most of the soldiers were in poor health and needed medical attention, food and clothing. Neither the Russian government nor the American Red Cross were able to help immediately. The Alliance started to organize special committees to help former prisoners of war, providing them with shoes, clothing, blankets and products.
About that time, the same work was launched among Russian armed forces and unfettered captives in France, who numbered more than 50,000 and were quartered in 15 different camps. The Alliance organized classes in different educational subjects, foreign languages, musical and drama societies, libraries which included Bibles, Russian classical works and school books. The Alliance also had been publishing its own newspaper in the Russian language, which was distributed three times per week with circulation of 7,500 copies.
lso very interesting and nearly unexplored to date is the history of Russian YMCA in Harbin (China). After Russian Civil War more than 200,000 emigrants from Russia joined with many Russians who served for the Provision Government's Structure (KVZD), the Alliance served them by organizing different scientific and entertaining programs, library, Camp Fire Fellowship (Scouts), Green Lamp Society very popular literary society, sport games sites, track and field athletics and basketball. The Alliance in Harbin was also able to organize human rights educational institution gymnasia, and later a college which was in existence up to the closing of the Alliance. In 1945, many secretaries of the Alliance were captured by Soviet Administration and presumably had been taken out to Siberian camps, where their fate became unknown. The Alliance?s Harbin Gymnasia was destroyed by soldiers of the 8th Army in May of 1947. The huge library, which collected books for decades, was thrown out on the street, the same happened with school laboratory equipment. All teachers and students lost their livelihood and had to leave China in different ways.
The operation of the Alliance was continuing in Europe for emigrants and prisoners of war, who up to 1921 numbered more than 400,000 people in the territory of Germany and Poland.
The former secretaries of Petrograd LH organized a third new LH for the large wave of emigrants who poured through Odessa into Western Europe. They organized schools for families, libraries, medical assistance and dispensation of food and clothing were provided. They also succeeded in initiating a Scout group. This organization was in existence for four years. Another story merits to be told about the YMCA press's long-term activity. It was a publishing house, which had been almost the single source of forbidden literature in the Russian language in the Soviet Union.
his association was established in Prague in 1921 and it moved to Paris in 1924. The main goal of this agency became developing and propagation of Russian Christian culture. Among authors were priests Sergiy Bulgakov, Sergey Chetverikov, famous philosophers and theologers of professor V. Zenkovskiy, N. Berdyayev, S. Frank, B. Vyacheslavtsev, N. Losskiy and many other prominent thinkers, thanks to the YMCA they were able to attract many readers to their works. More than 400 issues of philosophical and theological works were outlining the Russian culture and history of science.
The new Russian translation of the Bible, the Holy Bible and other religious literature had also been published. Despite the prohibition from authorities to bring these and other forbidden publications into the Soviet Union, the publication from the YMCA Press found their way across the borders because it was very popular among intelligence.
The activity of the YMCA is not explored enough among the Soviet prisoners of war and those who had been taken out during WW II to work in Germany and other countries and did not come back to their home lands for different reasons. Tens of thousands predominantly young people, who failed to return to their home lands stayed without relatives, quite often without profession and lack of native language skills encountered many problems of acclimation in foreign countries. And the YMCA again came to help with organized English and German courses, developing basic job skills, organized different interest groups and societies , even set up a choir of cossaks, which performed in various countries for many years. Very active participation was shown by the first flow of emigrants and some of them still remember the LH and other Russian YMCAs.
Many years passed and the situation in Russia radically changed. Many religious and public associations appeared. Among the most successful operating associations is the Inter-region Association of Christian Youth and Family (Russian YMCA). More than 20 local organizations were already established in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Central Russia's cities, in Chelyabinsk and Novosibirsk and other cities.
The YMCA of Russia has a surprisingly large variety of interests and programs: youth theatre-studio ?SMILE? making children happy through effervescent performances in Novosibirsk, summer rest camps in many regions of the country, cultural, educational and sports events. At the YMCA, many children study the history of their home land, national traditions and culture became aware of Orthodox religion and other religious doctrines. At several organizations, volunteers try to help children with disfigurements, involving them in normal life with normal children's activities.
The International Camp Counselor Program (ICCP) was established in Moscow not long ago and presently operates actively giving opportunities to the students and youth of the capital to work in the USA?s summer camps as counselors. Representatives of the YMCA of Russia actively participate in a majority of significant events conducted by the European Alliance of YMCA (EAY). The association has good partner contacts with the EAY, YMCA of the USA, Germany, Great Britain, Sweden, Norway, Poland, Czech Republic, Latvia, Ukraine and many other YMCAs.
Today, partnership is a new concept in the developing of organizations? cooperation in various countries where the specific role is giving to relations between local associations, which work directly with people. Among the most successful developing contacts are the partnerships between the Moscow YMCA and the YMCA of Charlotte and Westfield (USA); the St. Petersburg YMCA and Sweden; the Kirovsk YMCA (Murmansk Region) and the Norway associations; the Novosibirsk YMCA and the Hartford YMCA (USA); the Yaroslavl YMCA and the Riga YMCA; and also Philadelphia YMCA (USA).
Such partnerships and cooperation help both YMCAs to eliminate the old stereotypes of the past, develop by cultural traditions, perceive such enormous and diverse world, study tolerance and learn how to understand other people despite how different they seem to be.
In August 1999, representatives of all Russian YMCAs gathered in Suzdal for the biggest event in the new history of the YMCA the YMCA Russian Festival devoted to the 100th anniversary of the YMCAs existence in Russia. The best and most successful programs were presented; participants summed up what had been done and outlined perspectives of further YMCA development. Many guests attended this Festival: a large delegation came from Ukraine and Belarus, Armenia and Georgia. Also, there were guests from the USA, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Poland, Denmark, Latvia and even from South African Republic. Different countries, various cultures, diverse people, but all together are united by one common aspiration: make our world better, cleaner, help people to study how to help themselves and their fellows following the eternal Christian values.
In September 22, 2000, a formal program of celebration commemorating the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Russian YMCA movement will be held in St. Petersburg. Again all people who are interested in the future harmony and comprehensive development of youth and family work will assemble at this great event. There will be dancing, singing and laughter and joyful celebration as old friendships renewed and new friendships are formed. There also will be opportunities for tours to historic places, opportunities to learn about programs of local associations and a wonderful trip to Varlaam Island. And discussion regarding the future vision and destiny of the Russian YMCA will take place.
They will speak about plans and perspectives for the development and renaissance of youth programs that had been long forgotten. The author of this article is thankful for contributions of materials by the YMCA of the USA Archives, University Libraries in St. Paul, Minnesota (USA) and private author's archives.
The YMCA emblem is an equilateral triangle, each side representing: spiritual, mental and physical development of the total person. The circle, which embraces the triangle indicates the unity of all YMCA members. In the center is an opened Bible (John 17.21): "That they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent me."
There is also in the center a monogram representing Christianity. Today you can see often the simplified emblem triangle with YMCA abbreviation, and namely this emblem today is known in all countries around the world even better than the Red Cross emblem.
By Michail Guskov, translated by Victoria Osetrova.