Sources of study of Russian humanitarian activities during the civil war in Russia. 1917-1921

The bulk of sources on Russian humanitarian activity during the Civil War period had been accumulated in the collections of the Prague Archive, a collection of documents that originated in Prague as an institution with the Cultural and Educational Department of the Prague Zemgor in 1923. Later it was called the Russian Historical Archive Abroad in Prague. Thanks to the financial support of the Czechoslovak government and a developed system of representatives, the Archive annually replenished its collection of documents that reflected the activities of Russian emigrants in different countries of the world. And if documents of the government of Admiral Kolchak and his military staff are presented in a fair number, the funds of personal origin are extremely small. Thus, documentary collections, allowing to at least fragmentarily complement the canvas of Russian humanitarian activity during the Civil War are of great value. The Fund of M.L. Kondakov, a representative of the Russian Red Cross Society during the rule of Admiral Kolchak in 1918, contains draft documents and personal correspondence of the author on the Russian Red Cross Society’s recovery humanitarian activity in Siberia and the Far East. Among the few funds of personal origin that preserve sources on the history of humanitarian activity during the Civil war and emigration, is the Fund of Vissarion Gurevich, a lawyer and a public figure, who was a member of the Siberian Zemstvo and City Union and a member of the Economic Meetings under the Chief Representative of Admiral Kolchak during the war. Domestic archives have more funds of personal origin of political and public figures, who, to some extent, participated in the activities of the governments of A.I. Denikin and later P.N. Wrangel and managed to evacuate and take out their papers during the Crimean evacuation. The situation with the supply of bread was reflected in the documents of the Ministry of Food Supply and Consumption and its local authorities, as well as the various organisations involved in the procurement. Therefore, the documentary materials created during the daily activities of these agencies are an important source for studying both the humanitarian and financial policies of the White Siberian authorities and the economic history of the region during this period. The Sectoral State Archive of the Security Service of Ukraine has a significant array of documents for the study of Russian humanitarian activity. In 1998, a collection of documents The Legislative Activity of the White Governments of Siberia (June-November 1918) was published. Attempts to carry out human rights activities in Soviet Russia, as part of the ceneral humanitarian canvas of the post-revolutionary era, are reflected in the publication “Two Episodes from the Life of Literary Organisations: Report of Deputies of Literary Organisations on a Trip to Moscow in the Case of Arrested Writers and Scholars.” The source tells about the events of 28-29 August 1919 when the leaders of the so-called “National Centre” were arrested in Moscow and the lists of members of this organisation were seized.