RUSSIAN MILITARY REFUGEES IN HOLLAND.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

The Russian Committee for Escaped Military Officers in Rotterdam. 1918-1919. No other copy traced, the letterpress cover-title suggests a published item, the manuscript captioning a very small-scale issue. Fascinating visual record of relief services for Russian officer refugees in Holland. By the end of the First World War thousands of Russian prisoner-of-war escapees and deserters were scattered in cheap lodging-houses throughout Rotterdam and Schiedam, many with very little desire to be repatriated. The images collected here show a well-organized attempt to provide comprehensive assistance for them. Group portraits show two of the committees for the assessment of cases, with a number of individuals identified in the captioning; there are also individual portraits of the head of the committee, the secretary, the heads of the Economic and Accommodation Departments. Other images show the processing of new arrivals, undergoing interview and receiving an issue of civilian clothing; there are views of the boot and clothing workshops, the dentist's surgery, the doctor's office and emergency room, the dining room, temporary church, the classrooms of the secondary school, the blacksmith's shop and the carpentry, electronics and mechanical engineering facilities. An extremely intriguing glimpse into relief efforts in the aftermath of the First World War.

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