“My report will be a memory of something that stands out very vividly in my memory...” (Stanislav Chechek and his activities in the “Society of Participants of the Volga Movement of 1918”)

Abstract

Importance. The activities of the “Society of Participants of the Volga Movement of 1918” are considered and an analysis of its activities as a society for preserving the memory of emigrants about the events of the Civil War in the Volga region is given. The relevance of the study lies in the fact that the basis of our sample is the role of its chairman Stanislav Chechek, an active participant in military operations in the Volga region. Particular attention is paid to his work “From Penza to the Urals,” which is created on the basis of a report for members of the Society. This document is analyzed for the first time, despite its availability.Materials and Methods. The research materials are data on the “Society of the Volga Movement of 1918”, stored in the funds of the State Archive of the Russian Federation. The work uses a historical-systemic method, which allows us to consider the social activities of S. Chechek and his speech as the highest point in the activities of society. The principles of historicism and objectivism make it possible to analyze the main aspects of the activities of the Society and S. Chechek.Results and Discussion. Based on the study of archival materials and analysis of the text of S. Chechek’s work “From Penza to the Urals”, the public, educational and publication activities of the society, as well as a set of problems that it faced, are considered. Special attention is paid to the activities of his supervisor, through the prism of whose report they are able to rethink his role and significance for the events of the Civil War in Russia.Conclusion. Despite the relatively short period of work, the organization “Society of the Volga Movement of 1918” is able to form a fund of unique profiles of participants in the Civil War, documents and materials that are available to researchers.