The History of Final Stage of Handing over the Materials for “The Gold Book of the Russian Emigration” from Paris to New York (1969–1971)

Abstract

The efforts of the Russian émigrés associated with the preparation of a multivolume publication, “The Gold Book of the Russian Emigration”, for publishing can be regarded as one of the major albeit little-studied events in their life. For the Russian émigrés, this project became a point of honor as well as a kind of response to the Cold War events. The émigrés themselves regarded “The Gold Book” not only as their “answer”, “report”, or even justification before the descendants but also as their bequest to future generations. The article analyzes previously unpublished correspondence that sheds light on the circumstances of handing over the materials for “The Gold Book” that had ended up in E. A. Vechorin’s possession and, after his death in 1969, in the possession of his widow, S. I. Vechorina, from Paris to New York (1969–1971). These documents are deposited in the so-called Russian archives in the USA: the Bakhmeteff Archive of Russian and East European Culture, Columbia University (New York, NY), the Archive of Russian Academic Group in the USA (Kinnelon, NJ), and the Archive of the Tolstoy Foundation (Valley Cottage, NY).