Russian Tells Story of Woe

Russian Tells Story Of Woe Among Refugees ... Interpreter Bares Thrilling Trip of 526 Members of Stark Party ... Survivors Brave Rigors of Tragic Flight From Soviet Hordes.

San Francisco Chronicle
July 2, 1923

The story of the 526 refugees who arrived here yesterday on the United States transport Merritt is a touching tale, filled with adventure and excitement, as told by one of their number who had been with them from the start at Vladivostok on October 22, 1922 to the present day.   He is Russian, speaks English. and on several points along the route he has acted as interpreter, even finding employment in that capacity during the four months the refugees stayed in Manila.   

"It was was when the Bolsheviks came down on us in Vladivostok," he said, "that Admiral Yuri Stark of the White Russian Navy gathered every Russian sailor and soldier he could carry and took every boat in the harbor except except 3 Japanese icebreakers.  Altogether about 14,000 of us started and some were in boats as short as 70 feet and of less then 200 tons displacement. The largest ship was not more then 700 tons. Some of the ships had no boilers, some no fuel, and some were without pieces of machinery."

Driven By Japanese

"First we went to Genzan in Chogan, that is Chinese for Korea, and stopped there, but the Japanese drove us away just as a great typhoon came up and in the great storm we lost a boat with more than 740 of our comrades.  Some of the boats went to Shanghai, China from Korea and some turned about to go back to Russia again, so great did the difficulties seem.  In China, he continued we were given some fuel, some coal.  After we had tried to use it we found it was more nearly dirt or trash, but kept the the ships going, though and many had to be towed and otherwise helped.  We lost another boat on a reef on this trip and seventeen more were killed, but they were as nothing compared to the number we lost since starting who had deserted or who had tried to make their way back to Russia.  Finally eleven ships got to Manila with about 800 refugees. We worked there building houses, and I worked at interpreting. There were 120 women and 35 children and the Red Cross cared for them and us for more than four months."

Members Mutiny 

"We were at Mariveles and Olongapo, and while there some got drunk and some mutinied.  Our own officers discovered the mutiny and sixteen were sentenced to prison. Then we left Manila on this ship, the USAT Merritt. We were to run the ship ourselves, to do the work of the crew and firemen.  But when about 200 or 300 miles out, we found we were unable to work at the fires.  I was one who tried to work in the heat but could not do it and became sick, and could not work.   Captain Fuller had the Filipinos stoke the fires, and we had to return.  At Manila, we left Admiral Stark, who might gone to Finland, and Lt.General Peter Heiskanin took command. We also left our ships, but they were all battered or useless or lost.  Some tried to return to Russia."

Leave For San Francisco

"From Manila we went to Nagasaki and from Nagasaki we left for San Francisco.  The first day from Nagasaki a 5 month old baby died on the ship.  Otherwise our trip on the USAT Merritt had been without incident and had been the least of the trying times on our long journey.  We discovered a Filipino stowaway whom the captain put ashore on some island after we were a ways out.  Finally we came here after 38 days at sea."

This man has no friends in San Francisco or the rest of America and does not know what he is going to do.  He is very glad be get here, and said he knows he will find something useful to work at.

Last of The White Army and Navy

San Francisco, July 1, 1923 -  A little bit of Russia drifted in through the Golden Gate this morning on the US Army Transport Merritt, 526 men, women and children refugees, the last of the white army and white navy. For two years they have been seeking a home. For two years they have wandered from port to port, enduring hunger and disease and hardships innumerable, nowhere welcomed, nowhere aided until America took note of them and held out a helping hand.

Some of them wore the uniform of the armies of the Czar, of Generals Denikin and of Wrangel. Some of them wore the clothes the American Red Cross gave them in Manila.  Lieutenant General Peter Heieskanin is in charge of the refugees. The Rev. Serge Denisoff is the chaplain. These and Prince Alexis Chegodaieff, a powerful figure in the czar’s regime, are the important influential men among these people. There are 254 single men, 70 married couples, 87 single women and 45 children.  Five of the children have lost both father and mother.

New York Times

USAT Merritt Docked

Russian Refugees Landing Today

Russian Refugees Landing Today Pose A Problem ... City And Government Officials Wonder What To Do With Them ... Each Must Have Cash ...  Local Officials Declare That those Coming Are Guests Of The Nation.

San Francisco Chronicle
Chronicle Shipping News And Travel
Sunday, July 1, 1923

Just what is to be done with 526 Russian refugees due in San Francisco today on the US Army transport Merritt is a problem facing Immigration Commissioner John D. Nagle.  The only instructions he has received from Washington DC are to examine and admit them the same as other immigrants.  

If they can pass the tests they may stay, if not they may be ported.  Where is not exactly known, for they have no homes to be returned to.  They were driven out of Siberia some months ago by the present government because they were aristocrats of the old regime.  At every port they entered the authorities refused to admit them.  Rejected everywhere in Asia the refugee fleet was almost shipwrecked off the Philippines, where the United States Government took pity on them and allowed the Russians to land, and is now bringing them to San Francisco at federal government expense.

Must Have Money

One of the provisions of immigration law is that immigrants must either have money or have friends or relatives in America who will guarantee the new arrivals will not become public charges.  The refugees are penniless and only a few of them have friends in America.  A small number are tradesmen and might make a living here, but it is said the majority are aristocrats who have never done a day's work and never will.  They refused to work on the transport radio messages stated.

As there are not not sufficient accommodations at Angel Island, the refugees will not be taken there for examination, rather the tests will be conducted on board the ship as rapidly as possible.  To avoid delay, the work will be started as soon as the Merritt docks at noon today.

Must be Examined

"We can't tell what we will do with the refugees until after they have been examined," said Commissioner Nagle yesterday.  "Each case will have to taken up separately."

Municipal authorities and the San Francisco Red Cross have informed headquarters in Washington DC that the city should not be called upon to look after the refugees alone, the Russians being "guests" of the Nation and not of the city.

The Russian Relief Society yesterday agreed to take temporary care of all refugees who have no friends or relatives in the United States.  All of them who are not released at once to their friends or relatives will be taken to the army barracks at Fort McDowell until their cases can be disposed of.

Russian Refugees Find Haven

RUSSIAN REFUGEES FIND HAVEN IN SAN FRANCISCO ...
UNITED STATES WATCHING FOR "REDS" AMONG EXILES
San Francisco News Call
July 2, 1923

Information regarding several alleged "reds" among the over 500 Russian exiles, who arrived here last night on the USAT Merritt from Manila by way of Vladivostok, was turned over to immigration authorities today by Fred Esola, head of the local Department of Justice office.

Persons whose records must undergo close inspection before they are permitted to land on American shores are those who are suspected of having spread Bolshevist propaganda among the passengers during the months at sea.  Some of them are said to have disguised their feelings, but are suspected of being agents working for the current Russian government, sent here for the purpose of carrying out that government's designs.

SLEUTHS BOARD TRANSPORT

Department of Justice agents were said to have boarded the USAT Merritt for the purpose of interrogating some of the "reds. " Esola would make no comment on the situation today beyond admitting that relevant information had been turned over to the immigration authorities on Angel Island recently.  Those suspect individuals will be deported.
 
With their arrival, the forlorn company of men and women, each one of whom has a harrowing story of hardship and suffering to tell, ended eight months of wandering.   When in Manila , many passengers sought haven after China and Japan had shut the doors to them.  Nearly all of the men were soldiers, sailors, or officers in the various Russian armies and navies.

They are the remnant of the "white" armies - those of Denikine, Yudenich, Kolchak, and others - who had fought in the Bolshevik revolution of 1917, until last fall, in the vain hope of overthrowing the soviet government.  Their last refuge in Russia was at Vladivostok. When the Japanese withdrew their troops from that Siberian port last October the red troops of the Far Eastern Republic moved in. There was no place left for the remaining "whites" to go. It was literally a choice between the devil and the deep blue sea. They chose the sea.

There were 7,000 in total when this modern Odyssey began.  They swarmed aboard boats belonging to Russian navy in Vladivostok harbor, and in addition commandeered over twenty vessels of the Russian volunteer fleet.

BARRED BY JAPAN

The fleet headed for Japan, but the Japanese authorities refused to receive the refugees.  Additionally, docking at multiple ports in China was denied. However, some of the refugees were permitted to enter China.  Several ships were lost in storms and hundreds of passengers drowned. The Russian Volunteer Fleet, a commercial organization, regained possession of its commandeered vessels. Only a fraction of the "fleet" and its distressed human cargo managed to reach reached Manila where the United States army took charge.  Jobs were found for several hundred and the remainder were detained until a way could be found to redirect them away from Russia, because sending them back to Siberia would have meant execution for most of them.

UNITED STATES OFFERS AID

Major General Leonard Wood appealed to Washington, DC.  The War Department made an appropriation of $34,000 to care for the refugees, and offered the USAT Merritt to bring them to the United States.  Of the 526 passengers aboard the USAT Merritt, work has been found in the United States for all but 150 adults; according to Captain H. L. Fuller, who is responsible for the group.  The group is temporarily quartered at Fort McDowell, Angel Island. They will be permitted to land as rapidly as the immigration authorities are satisfied that each one has a job and thus will not become a public charge.
   
Most of them have had only military training, and there are scores who have never been compelled to work at any job, including menial tasks, but they all seem anxious to qualify for admission to the country.

PRINCE IN PARTY

Passengers span many different social classes.  There is for instance, Prince Alexis Chegodaieff of Russian nobility who was a cadet in the Kolchak army.  The prince announced upon his arrival that he was ready to take a job picking prunes in the Santa Clara Valley.  A position has been found for him there and for a number of others.

Then there is Captain Timothy Taracousio, who was an aviator in the czarist army and who fought against the Bolsheviks.  He was wounded in France during World War One and was decorated for bravery.  Before the civil war in Russia, Captain Taracousio was a man of great means.  His wide estate in one of Russian provinces was measure by the square mile.  On board the boat, he shared photographs of his former palatial home. It is now used as a peasant community by the soviets and Captain Taracusio's former valet is manager of the estate under government control.  The captain is willing to take a job at anything, from driving a truck to teaching Russian.

Lieutenant General Peter Heieskanin, who was chief of engineers in the Kolchak army, is in a similar predicament.   He hopes, like Prince Chegodaieff, to make a little money, picking prunes and possibly teaching Russian.  Once Heieskanin was a professor of physics in a Russian military academy.

New Hope

RUSSIAN REFUGEES SEE HOPE IN THE UNITED STATES
San Francisco News Call
July 2, 1923

A name like a prophecy ... "Angel Island" !

Day was gasping its last breath beyond the Golden Gate as our launch slapped the water softly against the dock at Angel Island. Captian James L. Craig, smiling and handsome in his trim khaki uniform, met us acting as host for the island that is like a small city.

For here are the refugees, the 526 wandering orphans of broken Russia.

"Room for them? I'll say we have, and we have room for plenty more as well," said the Captian cheerfully.  And he led the way through the great airy brick builings with the hundreds of iron cots.  Among the refugees there were women with 'kerchiefs and caps upon their heads, with children playing at their feet, with their few possessions bound in bundles and lying beside them.

Quietly, with interest, the refugees watched this first night, falling on American soil.

NO HOPE IN RUSSIA

"They say we are here just just in time for your Independence Day," said a teenaged refugee to one soldier eagerly.  An older male refugee commented, "To me he was only a boy, wearing the white cross of honor on his faded, worn military coat.  That was good, like a sign. In Russia we have no hope left."

The older male continued, "There were 7,000 of us and we boarded ships in Russia, for us to live on, because to stay on land meant death. Two of those ships went down.  Babies were born and died, and there was sickness and trouble.  But we continued on and arrived in Manila.  For a while we did not know if America would welcome us. Then we knew. She is giving us refuge.  Tomorrow there is hope for a future."
 
His wife nodded her head. She was also very young and lacked the slight English her husband had learned at the cadet school in Russia.  The white lace cap, that made an aura around her tired girlish face, was ragged.  Yet she was loveIy.  Her husband looked at her tenderly. "She says she is glad our child will be born here, " he translated proudly.

PRIEST AMONG THE COTS

Father Serge Denisoff came walking slowly down the dormitory aisle, between the beds that were the homes of these newly arrived people.  He has no church here, and yet he was not without hope. With a certain eagerness he chatted with Father Vladimir Sakovich of the Russian Orthodox Holy Trinty Cathedral in San Francisco.
 
ENTER PRINCE ANTOLY

Prince Anatoly Chaogadaef comes from the cadets quarters in the dormitory to meet us.  He is very tall, very powerful, very young.  He wears a white shirt open at the throat that shows a heavy gold chain about his neck. His sailor trousers are made of thick white duck.  He looks like a movie idol.  At one time he was a wealthy prince in Russia. Now, suddenly, he finds himself in a country where he knows no English nor does he have has a single friend.

"But I will find something to do, and I will learn English," the prince said quietly.

TAKING TO ANGEL ISLAND

Generals, lieutenants, soldiers of every varity, aviators, priests, authors, clerks and farmers, men of every trade, and their babies and their wives, all together on Angel Island, and all hopeful.  Remember, these people represent the cream of Old Russia.  There are among them the once powerful and rich. Yet they have taken to Angel Island, the medical examinations, the long tables laden with plain hearty food, and the rows of beds, as cheerfully as if it were a picnic.

Flags

 

Request For Information

We are reaching out to individuals whose relatives arrived in San Francisco from the Philippines on July l, 1923 on board the USAT Merritt as part of a group of over 500 refugees who fled Russia in the fall of 1922.

We are in need of materials for the USAT Merritt collection at the Museum of Russian Culture - such as photos, personal stories and papers, etc. - to preserve this vital part of Russian history and to commemorate this historical event.

Contact Eugenia Bailey at ... eugeniabailey@att.net ... or

Contact Margarita Meniailenko at the Museum of Russian Culture ...
415-921-4082 Wed & Sat 10:30 am to 2:30 pm ... contact@mrcsf.org

July 1, 1923

On July 1, 1923, a special group of refugees on the American transport U.S.A.T. Merritt arrived at San Francisco. These 526 Russian men, women, and children had been part of a flotilla of some twenty Russian vessels, under the command of Rear Admiral Yuri Stark, which left Vladivostok in October 1922 when the city fell to the Bolsheviks. After a harrowing journey plagued by inhospitable governments, poor shipboard conditions, and typhoons which sank two of the not-very-seaworthy vessels and their passengers; a remnant of the original 7,000 refugees managed to make it to Manila in the Philippine Islands, where the American government had guaranteed asylum. Consultation by Governor General Leonard Wood with President Harding and the Secretaries of War and Labor enabled the homeless and stateless Russians to come to the United States under the terms of the recently enacted quota law. The American Red Cross helped to finance the trip.

Photo courtesy of Nicholas Daniloff.

Paul V. Nikonenko

Angel Island immigration officials held and processed the refugees at Fort McDowell, an army installation on the west side of the island. Although great care had been taken to make sure that all were eligible to enter the country under the immigration laws, nineteen were excluded.  Those who appealed the order had to wait at the immigration station until final decisions were made in Washington, D.C.  Ultimately four were deported back to the Philippines.  Among the passengers were fifty families, naval and army officers, engineers, two doctors, and a chaplain. The parents of the creator of this blog, Paul V. (pictured here) and Maria V. Nikonenko, were among the refugees.  Most, however, were young men, sailors and farmers.  After the dangers and uncertainties of the preceding months, the emigrants had found safety on Angel island.  Some of them were to become movers and shakers within the newly emerging Russian community in San Francisco.
  

                                               

Some members of the crew shown on the Gun Boat Farvator one of the many participating ships in Admiral Stark's Siberian flotilla.    

USAT Merritt Photo

Circa 1923

Refugees Disembarking

Refugees disembarking from the USAT Merritt at Angel Island in the San Francisco Bay, July 1923. 

Photos courtesy of Nicholas Daniloff.

Days Gone By

Days Gone By: In 1923, 526 Russian refugees arrive in San Francisco
By Nilda Rego
Contra Costa Times
Jun 30, 2013

It was 90 years ago that a group of very tired Russian refugees landed at Angel Island after a nine-month journey that started in Vladivostok.

"Buffeted about by storms at sea, driven from port to port, threatened by plague and starvation, 526 Russian refugees are in San Francisco harbor on board the transport Merritt today hoping that they will be allowed to land in America," Oakland Tribune reported July 2, 1923.

Admiral Yuri Karlovich Stark of the Imperial Russian navy had taken command of the Siberian flotilla based in Vladivostok, which was still in the hands of the White Russians. However, the Red Army was closing in on the city.

By October 1922, it was clear the city would fall. Twenty-three ships set sail with 7,000 to 8,000 refugees. Some of the vessels headed for Manchuria; the rest went to Japanese-ruled Korea. The Japanese already had realized that imperial Russia was gone and denied asylum to the refugees at the Korean port of Wonsan. The Russians stayed on board as supplies dwindled.

Finally, the Japanese allowed the sick to come ashore to a makeshift hospital, but supplies had to be bought with cash. The only ports open to the refugees were Shanghai, China, and Manila, Philippines.

It was now December. Stark headed for Shanghai, but his fleet was hit by a typhoon. One ship sank with its passengers and crew. Other ships were blown off course, and at the Japanese port of Nagasaki they got enough coal to get to Shanghai.

At Shanghai, word came that the refugees would be welcomed in Manila. However, most of the 8,000 who had started the trip did not want to return to Stark's battered fleet and remained in Shanghai, making plans to find a new place to live.

Stark sold some of his fleet and used the money to buy supplies. In February, 12 ships with 1,000 refugees headed for Manila, and again the fleet was hit by a typhoon. One ship, the Ajax, sank with all of its passengers and crew except for 10 people. Only 11 ships reached Manila.

The American naval base near Manila gave the refugees asylum. Gen. Leonard Wood, the U.S. governor-general of the Philippines, persuaded the U.S. government to provide passage to San Francisco on the Merritt, an American Army transport vessel. On May 26, 526 refugees left Manila for the United States. Some of the others went to Australia, while many stayed in Manila and got jobs.  The American Red Cross helped finance the trip and assisted the refugees to San Francisco in finding jobs and homes.

Eugenia Bailey sent information about these sturdy and courageous souls who undertook this difficult voyage to get to the United States. Her parents, Paul and Mary Nikonenko, were among the 526 passengers on the Merritt.

Used with permission.

Flight of Flotilla

Used with permission pending by UC Press

Golden Horn to Golden Gate

Used with permission pending from UC Press