Milana Živanović

Institut za noviju istoriju Srbije, Beograd

milana.zivanovic@yahoo.com

Investigation in the First Russian Cadet Corps “Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich” in Bela Crkva in 1934

Abstract: The paper examines the attitudes of monarchist Russian émigrés towards pro-Soviet tendencies in a refugee setting through the case of discovering the plans to establish a communist party in the First Russian Cadet Corps “Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich” in the town of Bela Crkva in 1934. The investigation, subsequent hearings and sentences handed down to the cadets reveal the attitudes and ideas typical of this community in the interwar period, which would influence the political and ideological positioning of Russian émigrés in the Second World War.

Keywords: Russian emigration, Kingdom of Yugoslavia, First Russian Cadet Corps “Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich”, USSR, monarchists, communism

Summary: The attitude of the right-wing part of the Russian émigré community towards pro-Soviet and defender tendencies (supporters of the line that the impending war is a threat to their homeland and that Stalin needs to be assisted in defending the Soviet Union) in the education system of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia is presented through the February 1934 investigation conducted at the First Russian Cadet Corps “Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich” in Bela Crkva. The investigation was opened because of the content of two letters, written by a student of the First Russian-Serbian Boys’ Grammar School in Belgrade, Nikita Rakitin, addressed to a cadet of the military school, Boris Maksimov, which were sent to another cadet, Oleg Chirko. The letters revealed an intention to form a communist party in the school. Although the investigation within the school and the verdict of the Bela Crkva district court concluded the party was not formed, the cadets who participated in this act were expelled from the school. This sentence, like the investigation itself, reveals the attitudes of the school principal and a number of teachers towards pro-Soviet and defender tendencies in the school, but also the range of political ideas and views in the refugee setting of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.