burning of the arms

…purity must be broken before progress IS made…

Nikolai Savelyevich Zibarov – 1895

Bogdanovka Village, Georgia

‘Kolya! Bring up another barrel of kerosene,’ shouted Grigori Ivanovich Plotnikov, his head buried in his work, as he threw more coal from a wooden cart across his body. Soot trailed his shovel like the tail of a comet.

            Nikolai Savelyevich Zibarov made his way down to the horse drawn cart which had the remaining cans of kerosene on it. Sitting on the rear edge of the cart were two young boys, dangling their legs, chewing on wheat grass while outdoing one another with imaginary tales of soldiers doing outlandish maneuvers while on horseback. One of the boys was Nikolai Savelyevich’s son, Nikolai Nikolayevich Zibarov. Squinting their eyes, they sized up the burn pile with their hands outstretched and their soft fingers horizontal.

            The pyre was over four meters tall and growing. It was being stacked like a seven-layer salad. The bottom layer was composed of dried-out firewood, mostly beech and dogwood with a small spattering of oak and birch branches. Upon this was placed a layer of coal. On top of the coal were a large assortment of weapons, rifles, flintlocks, pistols, shashkas[1] and nagaikas[2]. There were even valuable heirloom rifles with silver or gold inlays and finely carved hardwood handles. On top of these weapons was placed another layer of wood followed by yet more coal. Finally, the whole proposal was being doused with gunpowder and hundreds of gallons of kerosene.

            This was no ordinary bonfire. There were no shishliki[3] with accompanying celebrations or festivities planned. There was no wedding party taking respite in the shade. This preparation was for a solemn demonstration that had been timed to coincide with the popular holiday which honoured the Apostles Peter and Paul. This was to become more than a mere physical demonstration, it was a spiritual affirmation of a deeply held belief from which there would be no feasible retraction nor any possible return.

            Nikolai Nikolayevich hopped off the cart and together with his playmate carefully tip-toed along the perimeter of the men who were busily working. They observed the sheer volume of weapons that had been stacked on top of the fuel. Occasionally pointing at a silver pistol that gleamed from within the pile. Everyone was working solemnly, diligently, silently. 

            There was an air of secrecy and heightened vigilance as the crowd prepared the pyre. It took weeks of subterfuge to avoid tipping off the local authorities. Some villagers even went so far as to guide decoy mule carts and ride long routes into the mountains to confuse the local authorities, who had been informed by the Small Party[4] that the Large Party[5] was preparing an act of terror against the valuable estate known as the Sirotskoye Dom[6]. All of these internal intrigues added extra tensions among the group as they worked, knowing that two hundred Tartar and Armenian reservists had been contracted to patrol and subdue any actions of the Large Party also known as the Fasters. All these machinations stemmed as a result from the events surrounding the inheritance and ascension of leadership.

            Everything got out of hand after the passing of Lukeriya Vasilyevna Kalmikova. She was the beloved spiritual leader, healer and prophet of the Doukhobors who was revered for her enlightened rule during a troubled transition into exile. She provided the community with an earnest and sincere administration and had governed the community with wisdom and justice. The heart and soul at the center of the Doukhobor community was the Sirotskoye Dom. The Sirotskoye Dom was the physical manifestation of the spiritual principles guiding the Doukhobor people. It was the heart of the community. Over the years its function, importance and prosperity grew akin to that of a church or mosque as being the central organizing structure of their faith. It had become a significant asset as far as properties go, with a dining hall, meeting hall, banya[7], gardens, orchards, cattle, horses, wheat fields, threshing mill, creamery and such amenities. It was the central repository for a communally-minded people based on the merits of toil and peaceful life. The Sirotskoye Dom originated as a means to care for orphaned children and the displaced elderly from conflict and war. It provided a rare reprieve from the hostile world that surrounded it. The Armenian Priests, the Moslem Mullahs, the Georgians, the Avari, the Karaiti and the even Russian Orthodox Priests themselves all recognized the administrative sanctity of the Sirotskoye Dom. Yet the government and their lawyers, abetted by the scheming and conniving of the Small Party were determined to strip this possession from the leadership of the Large Party. Much of these issues were born of the selfish and loathsome efforts of Lukeriya’s own drunken brother Ignat Gubanov, who along with some village elders did not approve of Lukeriya’s plans for the community.

            Before her passing Lukeriya Vasilyevna did something that was to further split the community into two distinct parties. She anointed that the leadership of the community was to pass onto her assistant Peter Vasilyevich Verigen from the village of Slavyanka in Azerbaijan. This decision was rejected by her family members along with the village elders who did not want to cede control to an outsider. This group the Small Party, also known as the Meat-eaters, maintained their military connections with the local governors and were not interested in renouncing their comfortable privileges for the abstract moralities that Lukeriya and Peter Vasilyevich had been espousing.

            All these preparations to burn their weapons were the undertaking of the Large Party which was following Lukeriya’s wishes, by staying loyal to the directives of Peter Vasilyevich, even though he had been exiled to Siberia three years prior. Communication lines had been established to follow his instructions via a lengthy and arduous correspondence that was maintained by a few loyal men of great fortitude who would travel into the vast expanses of Siberia to carry messages from Peter Vasilyevich back to the Caucasus mountains. Messages that took well over a year to deliver.

            This led to the events that transpired to so dramatically affect the Doukhobor settlements of Transcaucasia. First alcohol and the pipe were renounced, clearly, they brought nothing good, as Ignat Gubanov so clearly demonstrated. Then they stopped eating meat. Now they were preparing to destroy all of their weapons used for killing. All of this was organized and coordinated with this pious voice from exile, guiding them, foisting upon them an incalculable sequence of events that would inevitably change everything forever.

            The pyre was ready, it loomed ominously in the darkness, like a charcoal volcano waiting to erupt. The plan was to ignite it on the night of June the 29th. The intention was to create such a blaze that it would be seen from miles around, so that all their neighbours, indeed so that all of Europe would understand that they were declaring their intentions and permanently staking their actions to their Christian beliefs. Some three thousand of their brethren had gathered in the darkness outside the village of Orlovka in what is now Georgia near the grotto that was used as an assembly location for prayers.

            Night was upon the grotto at Orlovka. Nikolai Savelyevich Zibarov and thousands of his brethren stood gathered. They waited in darkness and silence around the unlit pyre. A psalm began to be sung. The pyre was lit and quickly the flames rose higher and higher into the night sky. Shortly thereafter bullets started to fly in all directions as many people had left cartridges in their weapons. Yet nobody in the massive crowd would move back. People were pleading for others to move back but nobody did. As the fire grew in size more people came. Some who had not yet submitted their weapons added them to the fire. Everybody would ask, ‘were you hit, are you ok?’ yet nobody moved, nobody shied away from the exploding cartridges. A thick wall of people surrounded the fire. It was impossible to get through. The fire was extremely hot forcing the crowd to step further back, it blazed as bright as the sun. The flames rose ever higher into the Caucasus sky. They roasted the moon. The crowd sang psalms until 2:00 am, then they began the molenoye[8] rituals of bowing and kissing to one another to recognize the spirit of God within each living being. The molenoye services continued until 3:00 pm the following afternoon due to the sheer number of brethren in attendance. After which many people retired back to nearby villages to rest.

            Meanwhile prior to the demonstration, the local governor had dismissed the Tartar and Armenian conscripts without pay. He then summoned over two hundred Cossacks soldiers to find and disperse the gathering, however during the first night the Cossacks got lost and were unable to locate the crowd even though the fire could be seen at a great distance.

            The next morning on June the 30th, a special messenger delivered a diktat which ordered all the heads of the households assemble at 9:00 am in the village of Bogdanovka. Yet the Doukhobors were not finished with their molenoye services, so they told the messenger that they could only respond to the Governors orders once their molenoye services were completed later that afternoon.

            Later in the morning they returned to the Orlovka site to finish their prayer services. The fire continued to smolder. The entire area was covered in a thick acrid haze. Nikolai Savelyevich Zibarov made his way to the front of the congregation. He looked around as everybody stood with their hands folded and heads bowed. The smoke had choked the life from the air above them. Soon they began to sing their hymns as was custom during the Holiday of Peter and Paul the Apostles. The crowd was a little smaller than the night before, perhaps there were two thousand people gathered. Coughs could be heard intermingling with the hymns. 

In an instant, out of the smoke a few hundred Cossacks on horseback began to fill out onto the bluff. Behind them followed a regular infantry battalion. People began to shutter in fear, however they kept singing. Some women made their way towards the rear of the group. The Cossacks paused their horses in formation, about seventy sazhens[9] from the outside of the circle. They were led by Captain Praga. He rode his horse out in between the circled mass of Doukhobors and his men. With his right hand he pulled his shashka from his hip and motioned for the Cossacks to encircle and charge the group.

The Cossack riders unleashed themselves with a battle cry and threw their horses into a full gallop towards the group. They pushed forwards from the side of the mountain almost forcing the group towards the steep ravine. At about 100 meters away they raised their combat flag and charged towards Zibarov and the outside of the group in full gallop. They yelled and screamed at the crowd and then they began to beat them. The Cossacks used their nagaikas to whip the men at the front. They put such pressure on the group that they nearly pushed them off the steep ravine to the rear of the bluff. Some of the Cossacks fell into a rage as their horses would not trample the congregation. This incensed them and they beat the demonstrators harder. Nikolai Savelyevich was throttled on the side of the head and across the shoulders. Blood was gushing from several spots on his head and face. A non-commissioned officer hit him repeatedly while saying, ‘This insubordination, disregard for authorities – do you not recognize the Emperor?’

‘ We obey only that, which does not contradict the Law of God.’ He replied. Inviting further abuse. The officer drew his shashka as this horse reared back. Nikolai Savelyevich had accepted his fate, but just as the rider was about to slash at him he heard the sound from the bugle. Praga had ordered the bugler to signal the retreat.

The crowd asked, ‘Why are you beating us?’

Others added, ‘May the Lord forgive you.’

Praga raced up to Zibarov and unsheathed his shashka. Pointing it towards his bloody face. His horse reared away from Zibarov but Praga worked to keep it facing him.

‘Break up this group,’ Praga ordered.

‘What is it that you want to beat from us?’ Replied Nikolay Savelyevich. This further enraged Praga, he turned his horse in a tight circle and faced the Cossacks.

‘Break off the ends of your nagaiki and charge this rabble off the abyss.’ He shouted. By breaking off the ends of their whips the Cossacks exposed their lash ends, which would do more damage to the Doukhobors by flaying open their flesh. Praga again ordered the cavalry charge against the crowd and again the horses would rear up unwilling to trample the masses. Many of the people on the outside who received the worst of the beatings would get pulled into the center of the crowd so that they would not be beaten to death. Young men would rush to the outside of the group, heroically shielding the women from the waves of assaults. Some of the Cossacks would hit the women with their prikols[10] at great distance. It had devastating effect. Many were hit directly in the head breaking the skulls and leaving their victims unconscious. They took pleasure in knocking the shawls off the heads of the women and snatching them. Shawls were a traditional symbol of humility and purity and were often woven of silk and therefore highly prized items. Praga gave the order to forcibly chase the women from the crowd. There was blood everywhere, bodies were dropping as people were being beaten into a pulp. Seeing this crime against their honour, one woman, Stepanida Popova called out, ‘You are not protectors, you are thieves!’ They surrounded her and flayed her with their whips. Some of the Cossacks themselves did not have the stomach for the task and broke down and cried themselves, Praga had them whipped and beaten as well.

Soon the whole bluff was a trampled mess of blood and mud. The Cossacks were exhausted and the Doukhobors were beaten to their knees. Praga had ordered the group to be rounded up and those who could not walk or were dead to be loaded onto wagons to be hauled to the village of Orlovka.  As the crowd was being assembled there was much conversation between the elders and Praga. 

As the caravan of injured people made its way towards Orlovka the Doukhobors began to sing a psalm. Praga commanded, ‘Stop their singing!’ The Cossacks rode their horses through the crowd and further thrashed them with their nagaiki. The smoke from the fire continued to fill the mountain air. The surrounding land was covered in soot and blood. Many people were barely conscious due to the beatings they received. Praga was somewhat satisfied with the wounded on the wagons, as if they were evidence of his duties being fulfilled. He was now interested in engaging the vanquished in his own line of inquiry. As he asked questions the crowd of Doukhobors continued to sing their psalm.

‘Cossack singers to the front!’ He commanded.

[1] It is a very sharp, single edged backsword. It doesn’t not have a guard.

[2] A short thick leather braided whip attached to a handle. It had a broad end section with metal inside it. 

[3] Skewered meat kebobs for grilling. Usually lamb or chicken. 

[4] The Doukhobors had split into two parties. The Small Party ate meat and did not follow Peter Vasilyevich Verigen.

[5] The Large Party followed Peter Vasilyevich Verigen’s leadership from exile in Siberia, renounced alcohol, tobacco and the use of firearms.

[6] Translated it means Orphans House. It was the central feature of the Doukhobor Community.

[7] A traditional Russian steam bath, it was a stand-alone building used for washing and cleaning.

[8] Molenoye is a prayer meeting, with ritual customs and services.

[9] An old Russian measure of length equivalent to 2.13 meters. 

[10] Each Cossack carried a wooden stake attached to a rope for tying his horse when leaving it to graze in an open field.