Russians in Bolivia. Lifestyle of Russian Old Believers in Bolivia. What documents must be provided to obtain Bolivian citizenship?
In the twentieth century, Russian Old Believers, who had reached the eastern borders of Russia after 400 years of persecution, had to finally become emigrants. Circumstances scattered them across continents, forcing them to establish a life in an exotic foreign land.
Old Believers, or Old Believers, is a common name for religious movements in Russia that arose as a result of the rejection of church reforms in the 17th century. It all started after Moscow Patriarch Nikon undertook a number of innovations (correction of liturgical books, changes in rituals). Those dissatisfied with the “anti-Christ” reforms were united by Archpriest Avvakum. Old Believers were subjected to severe persecution by both ecclesiastical and secular authorities. Already in the 18th century, many fled outside of Russia to escape persecution. Nicholas II and, subsequently, the Bolsheviks did not like stubborn people. In Bolivia, a three-hour drive from the city of Santa Cruz, in the town of Toborochi, the first Russian Old Believers settled 40 years ago. Even now this settlement cannot be found on maps, but in the 1970s there were completely uninhabited lands surrounded by dense jungle
Old Believer village in the jungle of Bolivia. There, women wear woven sundresses and embroider shirts for their husbands. They weed gardens that grow pineapples, not radishes or potatoes. They are exceptionally well adapted to local conditions.
Many men are millionaires, great entrepreneurs who combine peasant acumen with an incredible sense of the new. So, the Old Believers in Bolivia work in the fields modern technology with a GPS-based control system - that is, cars drive without a driver, receiving commands from a single center. At the same time, Old Believers do not use the Internet, do not watch TV, are afraid of banking transactions, preferring cash...+
These are the descendants of those few surviving strong peasant families who were massacred after the Jewish revolution of 1917. 
A version of this film that also contains an interview with a priest and a brief official history of the Old Believers in Russia:
Maxim Lemos, a professional cameraman and director who lives in Latin America and periodically takes our tourists to the Old Believers.
I'll tell you how I got there for the first time. I accompanied tourists, we drove by car to different cities in Argentina and Uruguay. And we decided to visit the Old Believers. There is very little information about Old Believers on the Internet, there are no clear coordinates, it is not clear where to look for them, and it is generally not clear how relevant the information is. There was only information that a colony of Old Believers was located near the city of San Javier. We arrived in this city, and I began to find out from the locals where to find Russians. “Ahhh, barbudos!?” - they said in the first store. “Barbudos” in Spanish means bearded men. “Yes, they live nearby. But they won’t let you in, they are aggressive,” the San Javiers told us. This statement was a little alarming. But still, I figured out how to get there using country dirt roads. The Uruguayans said that the “barbudos” did not accept anyone and did not communicate with anyone. Fortunately, this turned out not to be the case. Surprisingly, many “Russian” San Javiers don’t really know anything about their Russian neighbors. And, as you know, people are afraid of everything incomprehensible and other things. Therefore, there is no special friendship between the former Russian Sanjaviers and Russian Old Believers.
We were getting ready to hit the road in search of the village, but at that moment one of the San Javiers called out to us, pointing at the ATM. “This is just one of them,” he said. A strange-looking man in a green shirt lined with a rope belt and with a goatee came out of the bank. A conversation ensued. In Russian. The man turned out to be not aggressive at all, but on the contrary, kind and open. The first thing that struck me was his language, his dialect. He spoke a language that I had only heard in movies. That is, this is our Russian language, but many words there are pronounced differently, and there are many words that we no longer use at all, for example, they call a house “izbo”, instead they say “shibko”. They don’t say “you know”, but “you know”, “you want”, “you understand”... Instead of “stronger” they say “more powerful”. They say not “it happens” but “there are”, not “can” but “may”, not “you will begin” but “you will conceive”, not “others” but “friends”. How many, evoshny, back and forth, nearby... After talking so briefly, we asked if it was possible to see how they live there. The Starover agreed, and we went to pick up his car. We were lucky that we met him; without him, according to the diagram drawn by the San Javiers, we definitely would not have found anything. And so we arrived at the village...
When you first enter the village of Old Believers, you experience shock. It feels like you've gone back in time in a time machine. This is exactly what Russia once looked like... We enter a village, a house, in the yard a woman in a sundress is milking a cow, barefoot children in shirts and sundresses are running around... This is a piece of old Russia that was taken out of it and transferred to another, alien world. And since the Russians did not integrate into this alien world, this allowed this piece of old Russia to survive to this day.
It is strictly forbidden to take photographs in this colony. And all the pictures that you will see below were taken with the permission of the Old Believers. That is, group, “official” photographs are possible. You cannot secretly photograph their lives without asking. When we found out why they didn’t like photographers so much, it turned out that journalists were making their way to them under the guise of tourists. They filmed them and then put them up as clowns for ridicule. One of these stupid and meaningless reports was made by Uruguayan TV with a hidden camera
Their technology is very serious. Everything is owned. There are trucks, combines, and various irrigators and sprinklers.
Arriving in the village, we met one of the elders, and he told us about the life of this piece of old Russia... Just as they are interesting to us, we are interesting to them. We are part of the Russia that they somehow imagine in their heads, with which they have lived for many generations, but which they have never seen.
The Old Believers do not waste their time, but work like Papa Carlo. They own about 60 hectares, and rent about another 500 hectares. Here in this village live about 15 families, about 200 people in total. That is, according to the simplest calculation, each family has an average of 13 people. So it is, seven are big, a lot of kids.
Here are some “official”, authorized photos. Those without beards are not Old Believers - that’s me and my tourists.
And here are more photographs taken with the permission of the Old Believers by a man who worked for them as a combine operator. His name is Slava. A simple Russian guy traveled for a long time to different Latin American countries and came to work with the Old Believers. They accepted him, and he lived with them for 2 whole months. After which he still chose to quit. He is an artist, that’s why the photos turned out so good.
Very atmospheric, like in Russia... before. Today in Russia there are no combine harvesters and no tractors either. Everything has rotted and the villages are empty. Russia was so busy getting up from its knees by selling oil and gas to the Gay Europeans that it did not notice how the Russian village died. But in Uruguay the Russian village is alive! This is how it could be in Russia now! Of course, I’m exaggerating, somewhere in Russia, of course, there are combine harvesters, but I saw with my own eyes many dead villages along the main Russian highways. And that's impressive.
Let us very delicately, with great respect, look behind the curtain of the private life of the Old Believers. The photos I post here were taken by them themselves. That is, these are official photos that the Old Believers themselves posted publicly on social networks. And I just collected from Facebook and reposted these photos here for you, my dear reader. All photographs here are from different South American Old Believers colonies.
In Brazil, Old Believers live in the state of Mato Grosso, 40 km from the city of Prmiavera do Leste. In the state of Amazonas, near the town of Humaita. And also in the state of Parana, near Ponta Grossa.
In Bolivia they live in the province of Santa Cruz, in the settlement of Toborochi.
And in Argentina, a settlement of Old Believers is located near the town of Choel Choel.
And here I will tell you everything that I learned from the Old Believers about their way of life and traditions.
It’s a strange feeling when you start communicating with them. At first it seems that they must be something completely different, “not of this world,” immersed in their religion, and nothing earthly can interest them. But when communicating, it turns out that they are the same as us, only a little from the past. But this does not mean that they are somehow detached and are not interested in anything!
These costumes are not some kind of masquerade. This is how they live, this is how they walk. Women in sundresses, men in shirts tied with a rope belt. Women sew their own clothes. Yes, of course, these photos are mostly from holidays, so the clothes are especially elegant.
But as you can see, in Everyday life Old Believers dress in Old Russian style.
It is impossible to believe that all these people were born and raised outside of Russia. Moreover, their parents were also born here in South America...
And pay attention to their faces, they are all smiling. Still, this is a strong difference between our Russian believers and the South American Old Believers. For some reason, Russian Orthodox Christians have a mournfully tragic face when talking about God and religion. And the stronger a modern Russian believes in God, the sadder his face. For the Old Believers, everything is positive, and so is religion. And I think in old Russia it was the same as with them. After all, the great Russian poet Pushkin joked and mocked the “pop-cloth forehead,” and this was in the order of things then.
Old Believers have been living in South America for almost 90 years. In the 30s, they fled from the USSR because they sensed danger from the new Soviet government in time. And they did the right thing; they would not have survived. They fled first to Manchuria. But over time, the local communist authorities began to oppress them there, and then they moved to South-North America and Australia. The largest colony of Old Believers is in Alaska. In the USA they also live in the states of Oregon and Minnesota. The Old Believers I visit in Uruguay first lived in Brazil. But they became uncomfortable there, and in 1971 many families moved to Uruguay. They spent a long time choosing land, and finally settled next to the “Russian” city of San Javier. The Uruguayan authorities themselves recommended this place to the Russians. The logic is simple, those Russians are those Russians, maybe together they are better. But Russians don’t always love Russians, this is our national peculiarity, so Russian San Hoviers did not have much friendship with Old Believers.
We arrived to an empty place. They began to build everything and settle in an open field. Amazingly, there was no electricity in the Uruguayan colony until 1986! Everything was lit with kerosene lamps. Well, we’ve adapted to living in the sun. Therefore, the Uruguayan colony is the most interesting, because just 30 years ago they were completely cut off from the rest of the world. And life then was really like in the century before last in Russia. Water was carried with rockers, the land was plowed on horses, and houses were made of wood back then. Different colonies lived differently, some were more integrated into the country where they were located, for example, the American colonies. There is no particular reason for some colonies to integrate, for example the Bolivian colony. After all, Bolivia is a rather wild and backward country. There, outside the colony, there is such poverty and devastation, what about this integration! 
The Old Believers often have Old Slavonic names: Athanasius, Evlampeya, Capitolina, Martha, Paraskovea, Euphrosyne, Ulyana, Kuzma, Vasilisa, Dionysius...
In different colonies, Old Believers live differently. Some are more civilized and even rich, others are more modest. But the way of life is the same as in old Russia.
The elders zealously monitor compliance with all rules. Young people are sometimes not very motivated by faith. After all, there are so many interesting temptations around...
Therefore, old people have a difficult task to answer many questions for growing young people. Why can't they drink alcohol? Why can't they listen to music? Why is it not necessary to learn the language of the country you live in? Why can’t they use the Internet and watch movies? Why can't you go and see some beautiful city? Why can't they communicate with local population and enter into any bad relations with the locals? Why do you need to pray from three to six in the morning, and from six to eight in the evening? Why fast? Why get baptized? Why observe all other religious rituals?... While the elders somehow manage to answer all these questions...
Old Believers are not allowed to drink. But if you pray and get baptized, then you can. Old Believers drink brew. They prepare it themselves. We were also treated to it. And quite persistently, according to the Russian tradition, practically pouring it inside, glass after glass. But the brew is good and the people are good, why not drink it!
Old Believers love to work on the land most of all. They cannot imagine themselves without this. And in general they are quite hard-working people. Well, who can argue that this is not Russia?!
At first I didn’t understand why the Old Believers of Uruguay, to whom I go, call the Uruguayans “Spaniards”. Then I realized: they themselves are also citizens of Uruguay, that is, Uruguayans. And Uruguayans are called Spaniards because they speak Spanish. In general, the distance between the Uruguayans and the Old Believers is enormous. This is completely different worlds, that is why the Uruguayans of San Javier told us about the “aggressiveness” of the Old Believers. Old Believers characterize the “Spaniards” as lazy slackers who don’t want to work, suck their mate and always complain about the government and the state. The Old Believers have a different approach to the state: the main thing is not to interfere. The Old Believers also have a number of complaints against the Uruguayan government. For example, Uruguay recently passed a crazy law according to which, before you sow the land, you need to ask the authorities what you can sow there. The authorities will send chemists, they will do a soil analysis, and give a verdict: plant tomatoes! And with tomatoes, the Old Believers’ business will fail. They need to plant beans (for example). Therefore, the Old Believers begin to think about whether they should start searching new country? And they are keenly interested in how they treat the peasant in Russia? Is it worth moving to Russia? What advice would you give them?
The theme of combines, irrigation, plowing and sowing occupies one of the main places in the life of Old Believers. They can talk about this for hours!
Boundless Brazilian Rus'...
Equipment: combines, irrigators, seeders, etc., the Old Believers have their own. And the Old Believers know how to repair each harvester (which, by the way, costs 200-500 thousand dollars) themselves. They can disassemble and reassemble each of their harvesters! The Old Believers own hundreds of hectares of land. And further more land they rent.
Old Believers have large families. For example, the head of the Uruguayan community to which I sometimes take tourists has as many as 15 children, and he is only 52 years old. There are many grandchildren, he doesn’t remember exactly how many, he has to count by bending his fingers. His wife is also a young and completely down-to-earth woman.
IN official schools they don't give away children. It’s all very simple: if children learn the language of the country where they live, then there is a very high probability that they will be tempted by the bright life around them and will choose it. Then the colony will dissolve, and the Russians will dissolve in the same way as in 10 years the Russians from the city of San Javier turned into Uruguayans. And there was already such an example: in a Brazilian colony, children began to go to a regular Brazilian school, which was in the neighborhood. And when almost all of the children grew up, they chose the Brazilian life instead of the Old Believers. I'm not even talking about the Old Believers in the USA. There, in many families, Old Believers already communicate with each other in English.
Senior Old Believers from all colonies are well aware of the risk of the colony dissolving into the country, and are resisting this with all their might. That's why they don't send their children to public Schools, and try to train them themselves as much as possible.
Most often, children are taught at home. They learn to read Church Slavonic. All the religious books of the Old Believers are written in this language, and in this language they pray daily from 3 to 6 am and from 6 to 9 pm. At 21:00 the Old Believers go to bed in order to get up at 3, pray and go to work. The daily schedule has not changed for centuries and is adjusted to daylight hours. To work while it's still light.
In the colonies of Brazil and Bolivia, local teachers are invited to school for children to teach them Portuguese and Spanish, respectively. But Old Believers see an exclusively practical meaning in learning a language: it is necessary to do business with the locals. Old Believer children play Russian traditional games, lapta, tag and many others, with purely Russian names.
Most of the photographs you see here are from Old Believer holidays, most often from weddings. Girls most often get married at 14-15 years old. Guys at 16-18. All traditions with matchmaking have been preserved. Parents should choose a wife for their son. They try to select from another colony. That is, a bridegroom is brought from a Uruguayan colony from a Bolivian or Brazilian colony and vice versa. Old Believers try very hard to avoid incest. Don't think that poor underage kids are left with no choice. Formally, parents must choose, but in practice everything happens quite softly and naturally, and of course the teenager’s opinion is taken into account. No one is forced to marry anyone. Yes, you can probably see for yourself from these photographs that there is no sign of violence against the individual here.
But of course, you have a legitimate question - get married at 14 years old??? Yes exactly. And yes, by doing so they violate the laws of the countries in which they live. They noisily celebrate the wedding, after which they live together and are considered husband and wife. And when they turn 18, they register their marriage with the official authorities.
By the way, the Old Believers have a completely different calendar. But they also know what kind of “worldly” year it is: they must understand all the documents about leasing land, purchasing soybeans, and paying bills.
By the way, the Old Believers call Jews Jews. At first I thought it was pure anti-Semitism. But then I realized that they pronounce this word without any negativity at all. After all, that was the name of the Jews in the old days...
Do you see in the photo that everything looks like a match, in identical sundresses? The fact is that clothes and their color play a huge role in the life of Old Believers. Yellow pants - two times ku. For example, at a wedding, all guests on the bride’s side dress in one color, and on the groom’s side, in another. When a society has no color differentiation of pants, then there is no goal, and when there is no goal...
The Old Believers have houses not of logs, but of concrete, built in the traditions of the construction of the place where they live. But the whole way of life is ours, old Russian: canopy, rubble, sitting for women and children while the men are at work.
But inside the house there are still Russians! Old Believers line the inside of the house with wood. It's more alive. And they call the house a hut.
Women and girls (as females are called here) do not work on the land, but are busy with housework. They prepare food, look after the children... The role of women is still slightly downtrodden, in some ways even reminiscent of the role of women in Arab countries, where a woman is a dumb animal. Here are the men sitting and eating. And Martha with a jug, at a distance. “Come on, Marfa, bring more of this and that, and some tomatoes here and there!”, and the silent Marfa rushes to complete the task... It’s somehow awkward even for her. But not everything is so harsh and tough. You see, the women are also sitting, relaxing and using their smartphones.
The men do both hunting and fishing. Quite a busy life. And we have nature here, I’ll tell you!
In addition to beer, they also drink beer. However, I have never heard of drunks. Everything seems to be working. Alcohol does not replace their life.
Here are collected photos from different colonies. And each of them has its own rules, somewhere tougher, and somewhere softer. Cosmetics are not acceptable for women. But if you really want to, then you can.
The Old Believers talk interestingly about picking mushrooms. Naturally, they don’t know about boletus, boletus and boletus. Slightly different mushrooms grow in this area; they are similar to our boletus mushrooms. Among the Old Believers, picking mushrooms is not an obligatory attribute of life. Although they listed some names of mushrooms, and they are Russian, although not familiar to me. About mushrooms they say something like this: “sometimes whoever wants to collect them. But sometimes they pick up bad ones, then their stomachs hurt...” They also have jeep trips into nature, grilled meat, and all the other attributes of picnics that are so familiar to us.
And they even know how to joke. By the way, they also have a good sense of humor.
In general, you see for yourself, the most ordinary people.
Old Believers greet themselves with the word “Good morning!” They don’t use “hello,” much less “hello.” In general, Old Believers do not use the address “You”. Everything is “you”. By the way, they call me “leader”. But the leader does not mean the main one. And in the sense that I lead people. A guide, then.
By the way, did you feel one glaring discrepancy with Russianness? What's wrong with these smiles? Do you feel that when there are photographs with smiles, something is subtly not ours? They smile with teeth. Russians usually smile without showing their teeth. Americans and other foreigners smile with teeth. This detail appeared from somewhere in this parallel little Russia.
Although you probably noticed even in these photographs how many positive people have on their faces! And this joy is not feigned. Our people have more of a kind of melancholy and hopelessness.
Old Believers quite often use the Latin alphabet for writing. But they don’t forget the Cyrillic alphabet either.
For the most part, Old Believers are wealthy people. Of course, as in any society, some are richer, some are poorer, but on the whole they live very well.
Here in these photos are mainly the life of the Brazilian, Argentine and Bolivian colonies. There is a whole report about the Bolivian colony of Old Believers; the rules there are not as strict as in the Uruguayan colony and filming is sometimes allowed there.
An ordinary wedding for us, our house in the background. Only two palm trunks make it clear that this is not Russia
Old Believer youth love football. Although they consider this game “not ours.”
Do Old Believers live well or poorly? They live well. In any case, the Uruguayan and Bolivian Old Believers live better than the average Uruguayans and Bolivians. Old Believers drive jeeps worth 40-60 thousand dollars, they have the latest model smartphones...
The main writing of the Old Believers is in Latin and Spanish. But many people also know Russian.
But many restrictions are imposed on the Old Believers. Televisions are prohibited, computers too. And about telephones, Old Believers say that it’s all from the devil. But okay, there is and there is. Televisions would also appear, but they are not needed. Old Believers have become accustomed to living without them for many generations, and no longer understand why they are needed. Computers are prohibited in some colonies, but are used in others. And modern smartphones have mobile Internet...
There are even homemade comics on Old Believers’ Facebook pages. This one didn’t really understand him: “I love her,” “I want to hug him,” “I want to sleep!” By the way, on Facebook, Old Believers often correspond in Portuguese and Spanish. Those who in one way or another received a local education correspond. They were taught to write in Spanish and Portuguese. But they don’t know how to speak Russian, just talk. And they don’t have a Russian keyboard.
Old Believers are very interested in today's Russia. Many of them were told by their grandfathers, who fled Soviet Russia in the 1930s, to return to Russia when conditions were right there. Thus, for almost a century, the Old Believers lived in foreign lands, waiting for a favorable moment to return. But this moment still did not come: Stalin began to drive the people into camps, and the main thing that was important for the Old Believers was to strangle the village with his crazy collectivizations. Then Khrushchev came, who began to take away the people’s livestock and forcefully introduce corn. Then the country began to engage in various arms races, and from abroad, especially from here, from South America, the USSR seemed like a VERY strange and exotic country. Then perestroika began and poverty set in in Russia, and finally Putin came... And with his arrival, the Old Believers perked up. It began to seem that maybe this was the right moment to return. Russia turned out to be a normal country, open to the rest of the world, without exotic communisms and socialisms. Russia has, indeed, begun to take steps towards Russians living in other countries. appeared “ Government program about returning to their homeland,” the Russian ambassador in Uruguay came to the Old Believers and began to make friends with them. The Russian authorities also began talking with the Brazilian and Bolivian Old Believers, and in the end, a small group of Old Believers moved to Russia and settled in the village of Dersu, Primorsky Territory. And a Russian TV report about this:
The reporters in this report tell official version regarding the traditions of the Old Believers. But you shouldn’t think that among the Old Believers everything is so strictly regulated and there is such an ironclad routine. To reporters and various visitors, visitors, whose reports can be found on the Internet, the Old Believers tell how it SHOULD be. But in order for this to happen, people must not be people, but machines. They try to stick to their rules. But they are living people, and the American infection in the form of globalization and other dirty tricks is actively being introduced into their lives. Step by step, a little bit at a time. But it’s too hard to resist...
Everything is our way! Selfie on a smartphone with lips in a bow... Still, native roots! …..Or maybe this American influence has reached here?
…no answer…
In general, it is common to think that any orthodox believers are incomprehensible and very strange people. I don’t know how strongly the Old Believers believe, but they are absolutely normal, down-to-earth, down-to-earth people. With humor, and with all the same desires and desires that you and I have. They are no holier than us. Or we are no worse than them. All good, in general.
And even though the guys grew up on another continent, everything is ours: the plastic bags, and they sit like boys...
Well, who can say that this is not a central Russian picnic?
Eh, Uruguayan Rus'!...
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Recently, the Russian government has begun to actively support the return to their homeland of compatriots and their descendants who emigrated abroad. As part of this policy, the resettlement of Old Believers from Bolivia and Uruguay to Russia began several years ago. Publications and stories dedicated to these unusual people periodically appear in the domestic media. They look like they come from either Latin America, either from our pre-revolutionary past, but at the same time retained the Russian language and ethnic identity.
Russian diaspora in the Americas: numbers, brilliance and rapid assimilation
Successfully preserving one’s language and culture on foreign Latin American soil is a very a rare event for Russian dispersion. In the first half of the 20th century, hundreds of thousands of Russian refugees and settlers moved to the New World - white emigrants, religious sectarians, seekers of a better life and refugees of the Second World War fleeing return Soviet power to German-occupied territories.
Among them were famous technical specialists who made a huge contribution to the development of their new homeland, for example, Igor Sikorsky, Vladimir Zvorykin or Andrei Chelishchev. Were famous politicians, like Alexander Kerensky or Anton Denikin, famous cultural figures like Sergei Rachmaninov or Vladimir Nabokov. Even military leaders like the Chief of the General Staff of the Paraguayan Army, General Ivan Belyaev, or Wehrmacht General Boris Smyslovsky, adviser to the famous Argentine President Juan Peron on issues of anti-guerrilla operations and the fight against terrorism, were present. On the soil of North America there appeared a center of Russian Orthodoxy independent of communism, which fervently preserved the pre-revolutionary tradition.
Not so long ago, Russian speech was common in San Francisco or Buenos Aires. However, today the situation has changed radically. The task of preserving national identity turned out to be beyond the capabilities of the overwhelming majority of Russian emigrants to the New World. Their descendants in the second, or at most, third generation assimilated. At best, they managed to preserve the memory of their ethnic roots, culture and religious affiliation, resulting in the emergence of figures like the famous Canadian political scientist and politician Michael Ignatieff. This rule is also true for Old Believers from European Russia(merchants and townspeople), who also quickly disappeared among the population of the New World. Against the background of the general fate of Russian emigration, the situation of the Siberian Old Believers communities in Latin America, who are returning to Russia today, seems unusual and surprising.
From Russia to Latin America: the path of the Old Believers
Latin American Old Believers are the descendants of those who were saved inXVIII - XIXcenturies from religious persecution by the Russian state in Siberia and later in the Far East. In these regions, many Old Believer settlements were created, in which ancient religious traditions were preserved. The majority of local Old Believers belonged to a special branch of the Old Believers - the so-called “chapels”. This is a special compromise direction, dogmatically equidistant from both the priests and the non-priests.
In chapels, the functions of spiritual leaders are performed by elected lay mentors (“until the true Orthodox clergy appears”). Living conditions in the vastness of Siberia hardened them, forced them to live exclusively on their own farms and made them more closed and conservative than other Old Believers. If in movies or fiction Old Believers are depicted as some kind of forest hermits, then their prototype is precisely the chapels.
The revolution and mainly collectivization led to the flight of the Old Believers-chapels from Russia. In the 1920s and early 1930s, some of them moved from Altai to Chinese Xinjiang, while others moved from the Russian Amur to Manchuria, where the Old Believers settled mainly in the Harbin region and created strong peasant farms. Arrival in 1945 Soviet army turned into a new tragedy for the Old Believers: most of the adult men were arrested and sent to camps for “illegally crossing the border,” and the farms of their families remaining in Manchuria were subjected to “dekulakization,” that is, actually plundered.
After the victory of the Communists in China in 1949, the new authorities began to unequivocally push the Old Believers out of the country as an undesirable element. In search of a new refuge, the Old Believers ended up in Hong Kong for a while, but in 1958, with the help of the UN, one part of them went to the USA, and the other to Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile and Brazil. In the last of these countries, with the help of the World Council of Churches, the Old Believers received 6 thousand acres of land 200 miles from Sao Paulo.
Exploration of South America
Ultimately, separate Old Believers communities were founded in a number of Latin American countries. Many families of Old Believers managed to live in more than one country until, in the 1980s, most of them finally settled in Bolivia. The reason for this was the warm welcome from the government of this country, which allocated land to the Old Believers. Since then, the Old Believer community in Bolivia has become one of the strongest in all of Latin America.
These Russians adapted to the South American reality very quickly, and now they treat it with imperturbable calm. Old Believers bravely endure the heat, despite the fact that they are not allowed to open their bodies. They are already accustomed to jaguars, they are not particularly afraid of them, they only protect their domestic animals from them. The conversation with snakes is short - a boot to the head, and cats are bred not to hunt mice, but to catch lizards.
In Bolivia, Old Believers are mainly engaged in agriculture and animal husbandry. Of the most popular crops they grow, corn, soybeans and rice rank first. At the same time, it should be noted that the Old Believers succeed in this better than many Bolivian peasants who have lived on these lands for several centuries.
Unlike Uruguay, where the descendants of Russian sectarians live in the settlement of San Javier, the Bolivian Old Believers were able to preserve not only their religion and the way of life that developed several centuries ago, but also the Russian language. Although some of them went to big cities, such as La Paz, most Old Believers prefer to live in quiet villages. Children are reluctantly allowed to go to big cities, because, according to parents, to whom they usually listen, there are a lot of demonic temptations.
It is noteworthy that, being at such a distance from their historical homeland, the Bolivian Old Believers retained their cultural and religious customs even better than their fellow believers living in Russia. Although, perhaps, the distance from the Russian land was the reason that these people fight so fiercely for their values and traditions.
The preservation of traditional values is greatly facilitated by the fact that Latin American Old Believers do not allow their children to marry people of a different religion. And since about 300 Russian Old Believer families, each with at least 5 children, currently live there, the younger generation has quite a large choice. At the same time, it is not prohibited to marry a native Latino, but he must definitely learn the Russian language, accept the faith of his spouse and become a worthy member of the community.
Old Believers in Bolivia are self-sufficient communities, but they are not cut off from the outside world. They were able to perfectly establish not only their everyday life, but also their cultural life. For example, holidays are celebrated there very solemnly with dances and songs, but with songs that do not contradict their religion. Despite the fact that television, for example, is prohibited, they never get bored and always know what to do in their free time. Along with studying at a local school, where all classes are held in Spanish and where they communicate with the local population, they also study with their teachers, who teach them Old Church Slavonic and Russian, because the holy books are written in them. It is interesting that all Old Believers living in Bolivia speak without a Spanish accent, although their fathers and even grandfathers were already born in Latin America. Moreover, their speech still bears clear features of the Siberian dialect.
Leaving Latin America
During the stay of the Old Believers in Bolivia, many presidents changed in this country, but the Old Believers never had any difficulties in relations with the authorities. Serious problems for the Bolivian Old Believers began with the coming to power of President Evo Morales, one of the main figures of the “left turn” in Latin America and the first leader of Bolivia to visit Russia. This politician acts as a champion of the ideas of socialism, anti-imperialism and defender of communities in which many Indian tribes continue to maintain their way of life from ancient times.
At the same time, Morales is an Indian nationalist who, based on the ideas of Latin American pochvennichestvo, seeks to expropriate and squeeze out all “alien elements” from the purely Indian state he is creating, including foreigners and white Bolivians, which include Russian Old Believers. It is not surprising that under Morales, “problems” suddenly appeared with the land of the Old Believers.
It was after this that the process of the return resettlement of Old Believers to Russia intensified, first from Bolivia, and then, following their example, from other Latin American states, primarily those where left-wing populists are in power, who are members of the “Bolivarian Alliance” or sympathize with it. Today, the Russian Foreign Ministry is helping the process of repatriation of Old Believers, although many of them prefer to go not to Russia, but to their fellow believers in the United States.
Having little idea of the realities of Siberia and naively taking domestic officials at their word, many Latin American Old Believers found themselves in a very difficult situation during the first stage of resettlement in 2008-2011. As a result, not all repatriates remained in Russia. However, the repatriation process has gradually improved, and today we can hope that for the majority of these Old Believers, their odyssey will sooner or later end in their historical homeland.
There are polar opinions about the chapel Old Believers living in both Americas, and even in Russia itself. Some consider them archaic Russian Amish, others see in their communities a fragment of the bygone “Holy Rus'” and therefore choose their way of life as an object to emulate.
Of course, comparing the descendants of Siberian Old Believers in Latin America with the Amish is incorrect. Absolutely all Russian Old Believers use technology, electricity and even the Internet as needed. In Bolivia, for example, none of the chapel Old Believers would have thought of giving up tractors and combines; the only prohibited piece of equipment remains, perhaps, the television.
The idealization of this group of Old Believers is also not justified. The opinion of the author of this article, based on personal communication with Latin American Old Believers, is that these people are simply a copy of the beginning of peasant Russia that has survived to our timeXXcentury with all its good and bad qualities. If positive traits include hard work, a focus on preserving one’s identity and commitment to family values, then negative traits- low level of education and narrow outlook, which very often prevents the Old Believers of Latin America from making adequate decisions in modern world.
, Paraguay, Argentina, Chile, but Peru, like Paraguay, is landlocked. Bolivia is an amazing country of contrasts; voodoo cults and Christianity coexist peacefully with a very devout local population. In Bolivia, there is a real cult of death, skulls can be found on every house, stuffed thieves and criminals hang on the streets of cities, reminding local residents what will happen if they commit an offense; perhaps, quite recently, instead of stuffed animals, there were actually thieves hanging on poles. Every family in Bolivia has a skull, it is not clear where they come from, so every year on November 8th this skull must be taken to church and given wine to drink. In the old days, the Mayan cult flourished in Bolivia, which was based on various sacrifices, the more serious the sacrifice to the gods, the higher it is valued and the higher the gratitude of the gods, today the price of sacrifices has decreased to animals and various trinkets. However, the sacrifice takes place every first Friday of the month. The symbol of life in Bolivia is the llama; Bolivians buy dried llama fetuses in souvenir shops and put it in a wicker basket along with sugar, then burn the basket. Any major purchase must be publicized in the church.
The locals in Bolivia are very specific, they are all descendants of Mayan Indians with a characteristic appearance, they are very built and short in stature, women wear dozens of skirts and English men's bowler hats at the same time, but they are slightly smaller in size; they cannot be pulled over the head, but only placed on the head, amazingly how they don't fall off while walking.
Standard of living and poverty in Bolivia
All the cities of Bolivia are not expressive and more like slums, the local climate is sometimes harsh and cold, so they do not build villages or plywood houses here, as in Central America, the houses are an unusual mixture of building materials from brick and clay, one can assume that houses first they began to build from clay, then brick began to appear on sale and with it money from local citizens, so clay buildings began to be completed with brick, in general, few buildings in Bolivia have been completed and brought to perfection, building a house is a very expensive thing and takes one generation Bolivians cannot finish it; a house started to be built by their grandfathers can be completed by their grandchildren. Bolivia has a poorly developed infrastructure, the cities are very dirty, there are very few rich people among the locals, there are no oligarchs like in Ukraine, so only the poor live in the mountains and valleys, unlike neighboring countries, for example, Argentina, where only the very rich can be seen in the mountains at home, and the poor live in the lowlands and in the center of the city. Mount La Paz in the capital strongly resembles similar mountains in Rio, lined with shacks. High fences and barbed wire are a reminder that Bolivia has a very high crime rate, any items that are not welcome will be stolen
Work and salaries in Bolivia
Average salaries in Bolivia are about $375 per month, but not everyone can receive that kind of money. The unemployment rate is officially 8.5%, but in reality this figure may be twice as high; 60% of the population is below the poverty level. Half of the population is employed in the service sector, which also brings in half of the GDP; rural regions have developed Agriculture, it brings in 11% of GDP and employs 40% of the population, industry 37% of GDP and 17% of workers, primarily oil and tin mining, tobacco industry and food production are developed.
Men and women in Bolivia
In Bolivia, gender inequality is pronounced, since literacy among men is at an average level for South America, but for women this indicator is much lower, there is little chance for a woman to get a job, but the weight changes if you look at the average life expectancy of 64 years men and 70 years for women, in this regard Bolivia is very similar to Russia or Ukraine, where men do not live very well, they are exploited, they drink a lot, smoke and have a very low social culture.
Lives in a special dimension where the connection between man and nature is unusually strong. In the extensive list of amazing phenomena that travelers encounter in this incomprehensible, mysterious country, a significant position is occupied by Russian Old Believer settlements. The village of Old Believers in the middle of the South American jungle is a real paradox, which does not prevent Russian “bearded men” from living, working and raising children here. It should be noted that they managed to organize their lives much better than most of the indigenous Bolivian peasants who have lived in these parts for many centuries.
Historical reference
Russians are one of the ethnic communities of the South American republic. In addition to family members of Russian embassy employees living in Bolivia, it includes about 2 thousand descendants of Russian Old Believers.
Old Believers or Old Believers is the common name for several Orthodox religious movements that arose in Russia as a result of the non-acceptance of church reforms by believers (17th century). Moscow Patriarch Nikon, “Great Sovereign of All Rus'” from 1652 to 1666, initiated church reforms aimed at changing the ritual tradition of the Russian Church in order to unify it with the Greek Church. The “Antichrist” transformations caused a split in the first, which led to the emergence of the Old Believers or Old Orthodoxy. Those dissatisfied with Nikon’s reforms and innovations were united and led by Archpriest Avvakum.
The Old Believers, who did not recognize the corrected theological books and did not accept changes in church rituals, were subjected to severe persecution by the church and persecution by state authorities. Already in the 18th century. many fled from Russia, at first they took refuge in Siberia and the Far East. The stubborn people irritated Nicholas II, and subsequently the Bolsheviks.
The Bolivian Old Believer community was formed in stages, as Russian settlers arrived in the New World in “waves”.
Old Believers began to move to Bolivia in the 2nd half of the 19th century, arriving in separate groups, but their massive influx occurred between 1920 and 1940. - in the era of post-revolutionary collectivization.
If the first wave of immigrants, attracted by fertile lands and the liberal policies of local authorities, came to Bolivia directly, then the path of the second was much more difficult. First in years civil war Old Believers fled to neighboring Manchuria, where a new generation had time to be born. The Old Believers lived in China until the early 1960s, until the “Great Cultural Revolution” broke out there, led by the “great helmsman,” Mao Zedong. The Russians again had to run away from the construction of communism and the mass herding into collective farms.
Some of the Old Believers moved to and. However, exotic countries, full of temptations, seemed to the orthodox Old Believers unsuitable for a righteous life. In addition, the authorities allocated them lands covered with wild jungle, which had to be uprooted manually. In addition, the soil had a very thin fertile layer. As a result, after several years of hellish labor, the Old Believers set out in search of new territories. Many settled in, some went to the USA, others went to Australia and Alaska.
Several families reached Bolivia, which was considered the most wild and backward country on the continent. The authorities gave the Russian wanderers a warm welcome and also allocated them areas overgrown with jungle. But the Bolivian soil turned out to be quite fertile. Since then, the Old Believer community in Bolivia has become one of the largest and strongest in Latin America.
Russians quickly adapted to South American living conditions. The Old Believers endure even the sweltering tropical heat, despite the fact that it is not permissible for them to expose their bodies excessively. The Bolivian selva has become a small homeland for the Russian “bearded men”, and the fertile land provides everything they need.
The government of the country willingly meets the needs of the Old Believers, allocating land for their large families and providing preferential loans for agricultural development. The settlements of the Old Believers are located far from big cities on the territory of the tropical departments (Spanish: LaPaz), (Spanish: SantaCruz), (Spanish: Cochabamba) and (Spanish: Beni).
It is interesting that, unlike communities living in other countries, Old Believers in Bolivia practically did not assimilate.
Moreover, being citizens of the republic, they still consider Russia to be their real homeland.
Lifestyle of the Old Believers of Bolivia
Old Believers live in remote, quiet villages, carefully preserving their way of life, but not rejecting the rules of life of the world around them.
They traditionally do the same thing that their ancestors lived in Russia - agriculture and animal husbandry. Old Believers also plant corn, wheat, potatoes, and sunflowers. Only, unlike their distant, cold homeland, here they also grow rice, soybeans, oranges, papaya, watermelons, mangoes, pineapples and bananas. Labor on the land gives them a good income, so basically all Old Believers are wealthy people.
As a rule, men are excellent entrepreneurs who combine peasant acumen with an incredible ability to grasp and perceive everything new. Thus, in the fields of the Bolivian Old Believers, modern agricultural equipment with a GPS control system is used (that is, the machines are controlled by an operator transmitting commands from a single center). But at the same time, Old Believers are opponents of television and the Internet; they are afraid of banking transactions, preferring to make all payments in cash.
The Bolivian Old Believers community is dominated by strict patriarchy. A woman here knows her place. According to Old Believer laws, the main purpose of the mother of the family is to maintain the home. It is not appropriate for a woman to expose herself, they wear dresses and sundresses down to their toes, cover their heads, and never use makeup. Some relaxation is allowed for young girls - they are allowed not to tie a headscarf. All clothing is sewn and embroidered by the female part of the community.
Married women are prohibited from using birth control, which is why Old Believer families traditionally have large families. Babies are born at home, with the help of a midwife. Old Believers go to the hospital only in extreme cases.
But one should not think that Old Believers are despots who tyrannize their wives. They are also required to follow many unwritten rules. As soon as the first fluff appears on a young man’s face, he becomes a real man who, along with his father, is responsible for his family. Old Believers usually cannot shave their beards, hence their nickname - “bearded men”.
The Old Believer way of life does not provide for any social life, reading “obscene” literature, cinema or entertainment events. Parents are very reluctant to let their children go to big cities, where, according to adults, there are a lot of “demonic temptations.”
Strict rules prohibit Old Believers from eating food purchased in a store, and, moreover, from visiting public eating establishments. They usually only eat what they have grown and produced themselves. This setting does not apply only to those products that are difficult or simply impossible to obtain on your own farm (salt, sugar, vegetable oil, etc.). Being invited to visit by local Bolivians, Old Believers eat only the food they brought with them.
They do not smoke, do not tolerate chewing coca, and do not drink alcohol (the only exception is homemade mash, which they drink with pleasure on occasion).
Despite the outward dissimilarity with the locals and strict adherence to traditions that are very different from Latin American culture, the Russian Old Believers never had conflicts with the Bolivians. They live amicably with their neighbors and understand each other perfectly, because all the Old Believers speak Spanish well.
Toborochi
You can find out how the life of the Old Believers in the country turned out by visiting a Bolivian village Toborochi(Spanish: Toborochi).
In the eastern part of Bolivia, 17 km from the city, there is a picturesque village founded in the 1980s. Russian Old Believers who arrived here. You can feel the real Russian spirit in this village; Here you can relax your soul from the bustle of the city, learn an ancient craft, or just have a wonderful time among amazing people.
As a matter of fact, an Old Believer settlement in the vast expanses of Bolivia is an unrealistic spectacle: a traditional Russian village late XIX c., which is surrounded not by birch groves, but by the Bolivian selva with palm trees. Against the backdrop of exotic tropical nature, these fair-haired, blue-eyed, bearded Mikula Selyaninovichs in embroidered shirts and bast shoes walk around their well-groomed property. And rosy-cheeked girls with wheaten braids below the waist, dressed in long, colorful sundresses, sing soulful Russian songs at work. Meanwhile, this is not a fairy tale, but a real phenomenon.
This is Russia, which we lost, but which has survived far across the ocean, in South America.
Even today this small village is not on maps, but in the 1970s there was only impenetrable jungle. Toborochi consists of 2 dozen courtyards, quite distant from each other. The houses are not log houses, but solid brick ones.
The families of the Anufrievs, Anfilofievs, Zaitsevs, Revtovs, Murachevs, Kalugins, and Kulikovs live in the village. Men wear belted embroidered shirts; women wear cotton skirts and floor-length dresses, and their hair is tied under a “shashmura” - a special headdress. The girls in the community are great fashionistas; each has up to 20-30 dresses and sundresses in her wardrobe. They come up with the styles themselves, cut and sew their new clothes. The elders buy fabrics in the cities of Santa Cruz or La Paz.
Women traditionally do handicrafts and run the household, raising children and grandchildren. Once a week, women go to the nearest city fair, where they sell milk, cheese, and baked goods.
Old Believer families are mostly large - 10 children are not uncommon here. As in the old days, newborns are named according to the Psalter according to the date of birth. The names of the Toborochin people, unusual for the Bolivian ear, sound too archaic for the Russian person: Agapit, Agripena, Abraham, Anikey, Elizar, Zinovy, Zosim, Inafa, Cyprian, Lukiyan, Mamelfa, Matryona, Marimia, Pinarita, Palageya, Ratibor, Salamania, Selivester, Fedosya, Filaret, Fotinya.
Young people strive to keep up with the times and are mastering smartphones with all their might. Although many electronic devices are formally prohibited in the village, today even in the remotest wilderness it is not possible to hide from progress. Almost all houses have air conditioning, washing machines, microwaves, and in some - televisions.
The main occupation of Toboroch residents is agriculture. Around the settlement there are well-groomed agricultural lands. Of the crops grown by the Old Believers in vast fields, the first place is occupied by corn, wheat, soybeans and rice. Moreover, the Old Believers succeed in this better than the Bolivians who have lived in these parts for centuries.
To work in the fields, the “bearded men” hire local peasants, whom they call Kolya. At the village factory, the harvest is processed, packaged and distributed to wholesalers. From the fruits that grow here all year round, kvass, mash, and jam are made.
In artificial reservoirs, Tobor residents breed the Amazonian freshwater fish pacu, the meat of which is famous for its amazing softness and delicate taste. Adult pacu weigh more than 30 kg.
The fish are fed 2 times a day - at dawn and at sunset. The food is produced right there, in the village mini-factory.
Here everyone is busy with their own business - both adults and children, who are taught to work from an early age. The only day off is Sunday. On this day, community members relax, visit each other and always attend church. Men and women come to the Temple in elegant light-colored clothes, over which something dark is thrown. The black cape is a symbol of the fact that everyone is equal before God.
Also on Sunday, men go fishing, boys play football and volleyball. Football is the most popular game in Toboroch. The local football team has won amateur school tournaments more than once.
Education
The Old Believers have their own education system. The very first and most important book is the alphabet of the Church Slavonic language, which children are taught from an early age. Older children study ancient psalms, and only then - modern literacy lessons. Old Russian is closer to them; even the little ones can read Old Testament prayers fluently.
Children in the community receive a comprehensive education. More than 10 years ago, the Bolivian authorities financed the construction of a school in the village. It is divided into 3 classes: children 5-8 years old, 8-11 and 12-14 year olds. Bolivian teachers regularly come to the village to teach Spanish, reading, mathematics, biology, and drawing.
Children learn Russian at home. In the village they speak only Russian everywhere, with the exception of school.
Culture, religion
Being far from their historical homeland, Russian Old Believers in Bolivia preserved unique cultural and religious customs better than their co-religionists living in Russia. Although, perhaps, it was the remoteness from their native land that was the reason that these people so protect their values and passionately defend the traditions of their ancestors. Bolivian Old Believers are a self-sufficient community, but they do not oppose to the outside world. The Russians were able to perfectly establish not only their way of life, but also their cultural life. They never experience boredom; they always know what to do in their free time. They celebrate their holidays very solemnly, with traditional feasts, dances and songs.
Bolivian Old Believers strictly observe strict commandments regarding religion. They pray at least 2 times a day, morning and evening. Every Sunday and on religious holidays the service lasts several hours. Generally speaking, the religiosity of South American Old Believers is distinguished by fervor and steadfastness. Absolutely every village has its own house of worship.
Language
Not knowing about the existence of such a science as sociolinguistics, Russian Old Believers in Bolivia intuitively act in such a way as to preserve for posterity native language: they live separately, honor centuries-old traditions, speak only Russian at home.
In Bolivia, Old Believers who arrived from Russia and settled far from large cities practically do not marry with the local population. This allowed them to preserve Russian culture and Pushkin's language much better than other Old Believer communities in Latin America.
“Our blood is truly Russian, we have never mixed it, and have always preserved our culture. Our children do not learn Spanish until they are 13-14 years old, so as not to forget their native language,” say the Old Believers.
The language of the ancestors is preserved and instilled by the family, passing it on from the older generation to the younger. Children must be taught to read in Russian and Old Church Slavonic, because in every family the main book is the Bible.
It is surprising that all the Old Believers living in Bolivia speak Russian without the slightest accent, although their fathers and even grandfathers were born in South America and have never been to Russia. Moreover, the speech of the Old Believers still bears shades of the characteristic Siberian dialect.
Linguists know that in case of emigration, people lose their native language already in the 3rd generation, that is, the grandchildren of those who left, as a rule, do not speak the language of their grandparents. But in Bolivia, the 4th generation of Old Believers is already fluent in Russian. This is an amazingly pure, dialectal language spoken in Russia in the 19th century. It is important that the language of the Old Believers is alive, it is constantly developing and enriching. Today it represents a unique combination of archaism and neologisms. When Old Believers need to designate a new phenomenon, they easily and simply invent new words. For example, Toborsk residents call cartoons “jumpers”, and light bulb garlands – “beggings”. They call tangerines “mimosa” (probably because of the shape and bright color of the fruit). The word “mistress” is alien to them, but “suitor” is quite familiar and understandable.
Over the years of living in a foreign land, many words borrowed from Spanish have been incorporated into the oral speech of the Old Believers. For example, their fair is called “feria” (Spanish: Feria – “display, exhibition, show”), and the market is called “mercado” (Spanish: Mercado). Some Spanish words have become “Russianized” among the Old Believers, and a number of outdated Russian words used by the residents of Toboroch are now unheard of even in the most remote corners of Russia. So, instead of “very”, the Old Believers say “very”, the tree is called “forest”, and the sweater is called “kufaika”. They have no respect for television; bearded men believe that television leads people to hell, but they still occasionally watch Russian films.
Although the Old Believers communicate exclusively in Russian at home, everyone speaks Spanish sufficiently for trouble-free living in the country. As a rule, men know Spanish better, because the responsibility to earn money and provide for their family rests entirely with them. The task of women is to run the household and raise children. So women are not only housekeepers, but also guardians of their native language.
It is interesting that this situation is typical for Old Believers living in South America. While in the USA and Australia the second generation of Old Believers has completely switched to English.
Marriages
Closed communities are usually characterized by closely related unions and, as a result, an increase in genetic problems. But this does not apply to Old Believers. Our ancestors also established the immutable “rule of the eighth generation,” when marriages between relatives up to the 8th generation are prohibited.
Old Believers know their ancestry very well and communicate with all their relatives.
Mixed marriages are not encouraged by the Old Believers, but young people are not categorically prohibited from starting families with local residents. But only a non-religious person must certainly accept the Orthodox faith, learn the Russian language (reading holy books in Old Slavonic language), observe all the traditions of the Old Believers and earn the respect of the community. It is easy to guess that such weddings do not happen often. However, adults rarely ask their children’s opinion about marriage - most often, parents themselves select a spouse for their child from other communities.
By the age of 16, young men acquire the necessary experience in working in the fields and can already get married. Girls can get married at the age of 13. My daughter’s first “adult” birthday gift was a collection of old Russian songs, painstakingly copied by hand by her mother.
Back to Russia
In the early 2010s. For the first time in many years, Russian Old Believers began to have friction with the authorities when the leftist government (Spanish Juan Evo Morales Ayma; President of Bolivia since January 22, 2006) began to show increased interest in the Indian lands on which Russian Old Believers settled. Many families are seriously thinking about moving to their historical homeland, especially since Russian government V last years actively supports the return of compatriots.
Most South American Old Believers have never been to Russia, but they remember their history and say that they have always felt homesick. Old Believers also dream of seeing real snow. The Russian authorities allocated land to those who arrived in the regions from which they fled to China 90 years ago, i.e. in Primorye and Siberia.
The eternal problem of Russia is roads and officials
Today, Brazil, Uruguay and Bolivia alone are home to approx. 3 thousand Russian Old Believers.
As part of the program for the resettlement of compatriots to their homeland in 2011-2012. Several Old Believer families moved from Bolivia to Primorsky Krai. In 2016, a representative of the Russian Orthodox Old Believer Church reported that those who had moved had been deceived by local officials and were on the verge of starvation.
Each Old Believer family is capable of cultivating up to 2 thousand hectares of land, as well as raising livestock. Land is the most important thing in the lives of these hardworking people. They call themselves in the Spanish manner - agricultors (Spanish Agricultor - “farmer”). And local authorities, taking advantage of the settlers’ poor knowledge of Russian legislation, allocated them plots intended only for haymaking - nothing else can be done on these lands. In addition, after some time, the administration raised the land tax rate for the Old Believers several times. The approximately 1,500 families remaining in South America who are ready to move to Russia fear that they will not be welcomed “with open arms” in their historical homeland either.
“We are strangers in South America because we are Russians, but in Russia we are not needed by anyone either. Here is paradise, the nature is so beautiful that it takes your breath away. But officials are a complete nightmare,” the Old Believers are upset.
The Old Believers are concerned that over time all barbudos (from Spanish - “bearded men”) will move to Primorye. They themselves see the solution to the problem in control by the Russian Presidential Administration over the implementation of the federal program.
In June 2016, the 1st international Conference“Old Believers, State and Society in the Modern World”, which brought together representatives of the largest Orthodox Old Believer consents (Consent is a group of associations of believers in the Old Believers - editor's note) from Russia, near and far abroad. The conference participants discussed “the difficult situation of Old Believers families who moved to Primorye from Bolivia.”
There are, of course, plenty of problems. For example, children attending school is not included in the centuries-old traditions of the Old Believers. Their usual way of life is work in the fields and prayers. “It is important for us to preserve traditions, faith and rituals, and it will be a great shame that in a foreign country we preserved this, but in our own country we lose it”, says the head of the Primorye Old Believer community.
Education officials are confused. On the one hand, I don’t want to put pressure on original migrants. But according to the law on universal education, all Russian citizens, regardless of their religion, are obliged to send their children to school.
Old Believers cannot be forced to violate their principles; for the sake of preserving traditions, they will be ready to take off again and look for another refuge.
"Far Eastern Hectare" - for bearded men
The Russian authorities are well aware that the Old Believers, who managed to preserve the culture and traditions of their ancestors far from their homeland, are the Golden Fund of the Russian nation. Especially against the backdrop of unfavorable demographic situation in the country.
The demographic policy plan for the Far East for the period until 2025, approved by the Government of the Russian Federation, provides for the creation of additional incentives for the resettlement of compatriots-Old Believers living abroad to the regions of the Far East. Now they will be able to receive their “Far Eastern hectare” at the initial stage of obtaining citizenship.
Today, about 150 families of Old Believers who arrived from South America live in the Amur Region and Primorsky Territory. On Far East Several more families of South American Old Believers are ready to move; land plots have already been selected for them.
In March 2017, Cornelius, Metropolitan of the Russian Orthodox Old Believer Church, became the first Old Believer primate in 350 years to be officially accepted by the President of Russia. During a detailed conversation, Putin assured Cornelius that the state would be more attentive to compatriots who want to return to their native lands and look for ways to best resolve emerging problems.
“People who come to these regions ... with the desire to work on the land and create strong large families certainly need to be supported,” V. Putin emphasized.
Soon there was a working trip to South America a group of representatives of the Russian Agency for Human Capital Development. And already in the summer of 2018, representatives of Old Believer communities from Uruguay, Bolivia and Brazil came to the Far East to familiarize themselves with the conditions for the possible resettlement of people.
Primorye Old Believers are looking forward to their remaining overseas relatives moving to Russia. They dream that their many years of wandering around the world will finally end and they want to finally settle here - albeit on the edge of the earth, but in their beloved homeland.
Curious facts
- The traditional Old Believer family is based on respect and love, about which the Apostle Paul said this in his letter to the Corinthians: “Love endures for a long time, is merciful, love does not envy, does not boast, ... does not act outrageously, does not think evil, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; love covers everything, believes everything, ... endures everything.”(1 Cor. 13:4-7).
- There is a popular proverb among Old Believers: “The only thing that doesn’t grow in Bolivia is what isn’t planted.”.
- When it comes to driving, men and women have equal rights. In the Old Believer community, a woman driving is quite commonplace.
- The generous Bolivian soil produces crops up to 3 times a year.
- It was in Toborochi that a unique variety of Bolivian beans was developed, which is now grown throughout the country.
- In 1999, city authorities decided to celebrate the anniversary of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Pushkin, and a street named after the great Russian poet appeared in the administrative capital of Bolivia.
- Bolivian Old Believers even have their own newspaper - “Russkoebarrio” (Spanish “barrio” - “neighborhood”; La Paz, 2005-2006).
- Old Believers have a negative attitude towards all barcodes. They are sure that any barcode is a “sign of the devil.”
- The brown pacu is famous for its eerie teeth, which are strikingly similar to human teeth. However, human teeth are not capable of inflicting such terrible wounds on the victim as the jaws of a predatory fish.
- For the most part, Toborsk residents are descendants of Old Believers from the Nizhny Novgorod province, who fled to Siberia under Peter I. Therefore, the ancient Nizhny Novgorod dialect can still be traced in their speech today.
- When asked who they consider themselves to be, Russian Old Believers confidently answer: "We are Europeans".
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