National, International, Armenia, and Community News and Opinion

The Armenian Reporter | April 4, 2009 15
Armenia
The Molokans add ethnic color to Armenia
Exiled from Russia,
they found tolerance
in Armenia
by Tatul Hakobyan
LERMONTOVO and FIOLETOVO,
Lori Province, Armenia – Ivan
Makshanov, a Russian Molokan,
was born and has always lived in
the village of Lermontovo. His ancestors,
exiled from the Saradova
province of Russia, have also lived
in this village. “Our homeland was
Russia. We were exiled from there.
If they exiled us here, and we have
lived in Armenia for more than 150
years, then Armenia is our homeland,”
he says as he places buckets
of water on the floor.
Aside from Lermontovo and Fioletovo,
the Molokans also live in
Yerevan and Dilijan and they number
about 5,000 in Armenia.
If you’ve ever been to one of the
closed markets in Yerevan, you will
have no doubt come across young
women and girls with pale skin, red
cheeks, and white head scarves,
selling pickled cabbage. They are
the Molokans, Russians who were
exiled to eastern Armenia from
the Russian countryside because of
their faith, in the early 19th century.
Czar Nikolas I exiled to the
Caucasus those Russians who did
not accept the Russian Church. The
Molokans are pure Russians who
rejected church icons, the Trinity,
the Orthodox fasts, military service,
and the eating of foods they
consider unclean, among other
church rituals.
The village head of Lermontovo,
Edik Chakhalyan was born and
raised among Molokans. He is
amazed at the work ethic of Molokans.
“If an Armenian gets 1.5 tons
of cabbage from 1,000 square meters
of land, then a Molokan is able
to get 4 tons. They are extraordinarily
hard-working and know how
to work the land,” says the village
head. Lermontovo, which is 13
kilometers away from the city of
Vanadzor, has 800 Russian Molokans,
150 Armenians, and 60 Yezidi
Kurds.
The religion of the Molokans
took shape during the second half
of the 18th century in the Dambovi
province of Russia. The name
“Molokan” is connected to the “spiritual
milk” in the Bible (moloka in
Russian means milk). Molokanism
was the religious expression of a
social protest against slavery and
the Russian Orthodox Church.
I was in Lermontovo and Fioletovo
at the end of March, when the
entire region was covered in snow.
It occurs to you that you are in the
Russian countryside. People were
speaking Russian, their homes
were identical to those found in
Russian villages – one-story structures
constructed of wood and
painted blue.
Olga Zatorkinan, the librarian
at the Russian school in Fioletovo,
requested not to be photographed
but agreed to speak to me. Molokans
as a rule do not like to be
photographed. “We were born and
raised here. This is our homeland.
Sometimes, when some of our people
go to Russia to work, they meet
Armenians whom they consider
their compatriots. We are very hospitable,
just like the Armenians. We
gather together every Sunday, just
as God said to dedicate every Sunday
to him. Every gathering has its
leader. Our Holy Bible is the Asdvatsashunch
(the Armenian Bible).
We don’t believe in the cross, or in
icons,” said Ms. Zatorkina.
Ania and Tania.
The people of Fioletovo were exiled
here in 1840 from the village of
Algasovo, in the Dambovi province
of Russia. At the time, 57 families
were exiled. Today, almost 170 years
later, they number 1,500. Fioletovo
is the first village you come upon
when driving from Dilijan and
Vanadzor. There are only eight Armenians
in this village; two brothers
with their families.
The Russian-language teacher
at the school in Fioletovo, Alla
Rudiamodkina, said that very
few Molokans go on to seek postsecondary
education, because
just as in their school years, the
children stay to help their parents.
Alla explained that drinking alcohol
is forbidden for Molokans
and they are not encouraged to
watch television. In the evenings,
Molokans like to read, primarily
the Bible.
Molokans are primarily occupied
in cattle breeding and farming.
During the Soviet years, when
trains from Armenia would travel
to the very remote corners of the
union, the Molokans would sell
their famous pickled cabbage in the
markets of different cities.
Alexei Novikov, the village
head of Fioletovo, said that they
live off the land. “The land is not
fertile. The only way we can receive
a good harvest is through extremely
hard work. During Soviet
times we were primarily planting
cabbage, making pickles out of it,
and then selling it throughout the
country to Moscow, Ukraine, the
Urals, and many other places. Today
we make it only for the market
in Armenia. Armenians come,
we agree on a price, and then they
take the pickled cabbage and sell it,”
said Mr. Novikov.
The village head went on to say
that they have never felt discriminated
against as an ethnic or religious
minority in Armenia.
“We consider our homeland to be
Armenia. Russia is not our homeland,
where they call us presbyters
because we were at one time exiled
A typical Molokan home in the village of Lermontovo.
Left: Molokan
children in
Fioletovo. Right:
Ivan Makshanov.
Photos: Tatul
Hakobyan for
the Armenian
Reporter.
from Russia. [Presbyters in Russian
terminology means those people
who follow the Molokan religious
rituals on Sundays.]
Molokans live a humble life;
they are honest and hardworking.
They do not pursue riches, but they
most definitely help their neighbors
and friends. Their houses are
not large nor lavish, but certainly
clean and tidy. Their numbers in
Armenia are only about 5,000, but
without them, Armenia would
certainly become even more monoethnic.
It is a good thing that they
no longer leave the country and
that they consider it their homeland.
f