Congress of Russian Americans

SINCE 1973

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75 years – end of WWII and 45 years – end of Vietnam War.

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This year marks 75 years of the end of WWII and 45 years of the end of the Vietnam War.
CRA congratulates all Veterans, regardless of which war or branch of service, and recognizes and appreciates their service in the US Armed Forces.
We especially would like to acknowledge the many Russian Americans who served in all branches of the US Military and the different wars where they participated.
Please visit our page on this year’s anniversary of the end of WWII and see some of the bios and photos of Russian Americans who served in WWII.
If you or anyone you know of Russian American descent, please let us know, so we can add them to our archives.  Please send bio and photo or fill out the convenient military form
to add to the list.

RUSSIAN AMERICANS in the US Military List:(The Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force and Coast Guard are the armed forces of the United States)

NAME in English (Last, First, Middle): __________________________________________NAME in Russian (ФИО): ____________________________________________________

 

DATE of Birth (mm/dd/year):       _________    _________    _________PLACE of Birth (City, State, Country): __________________________________________

 

If not born in US, when & from where immigrated to US: ________  __________________Which BRANCH of the US Military did you serve: ________________________________

 

RANK: ___________________________________________________________________Where were you STATIONED: ________________________________________________

 

Which WAR were you in: _____________________    TERM (S): ____________________If you served in more than one war or more than one term, please indicate: _____________ _________________________________________________________________________

Please list any MEDALS, AWARDS, CITATIONS you may have received: ____________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________OTHER (Any other pertinent info you wish to add): _______________________________ _________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

YOUR NAME (Please indicate self or if filling out for someone else, relationship to you,

with your contact info):    RELATIONSHIP (e.g. SELF, father, grandfather, uncle, friend, other, please indicate):  ______________________  NAME: ______________________________

ADDRESS (w/city/state): _____________________________________________________

CONTACT INFO: Tele: ____________________ Email: ____________________________

 

Please email your form to CRA.HQ.SF@gmail.com  along with any PHOTOS you may have

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CRA US Military

CRA is a proud partner with Fort Ross in announcing the Fort Ross Dialogue 2020.

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CRA is a proud partner with Fort Ross in announcing the Fort Ross Dialogue 2020.
 
We are excited to announce that registration for Fort Ross Dialogue 2020 is now open. Fort Ross Dialogue is an independent international forum where American and Russian opinion makers converge in a constructive atmosphere to discuss issues of mutual interest. This year’s event, generously sponsored by Chevron, Transneft, and Sovcomflot, and organized in partnership with the Kennan Institute and the World Affairs Council, will take place virtually over the course of one week, from November 30 to December 4, 2020.
We’ve got a diverse and interesting week planned — here are the highlights for the first day, Monday, November 30th:
  • Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the United States of America Anatoly Ivanovich Antonov
  • Professor Rose Gottemoeller, Past Deputy Secretary General of NATO
  • Four-term Governor of California Edmund G. Brown in conversation with Dr. Henry Kissinger.
We are running one session a day for one week:
  • Monday, November 30th at 7:30am Pacific/10:30am Eastern/6:30pm Moscow time. Monday’s session will run for approximately 2.5 hours
  • Tuesday, December 1st through Friday, December 4th: These sessions will start at 8am Pacific / 11am Eastern / 7pm Moscow time and the program will run for approximately 90 minutes per day.
Program
  • Monday, November 30th: Fostering Peace In a Time of Nuclear Proliferation; followed by Gov. Jerry Brown in conversation with Dr. Henry Kissinger
  • Tuesday, December 1st: Present and Future of Global Energy Industry
  • Wednesday, December 2nd: US-Russia Health Cooperation: Borderless Threats Require Global Solutions, featuring top-tier international scientists from Russian, U.S., and beyond.
  • Thursday, December 3rd: Native American Heritage Commission Digital Atlas
  • Friday, December 4th: Historic & Contemporary Land Management Practices. 
This year’s event will premiere a short documentary marking the 75th commemoration of the end of World War II which will highlight the Russian and American collaboration to defeat Nazi Germany. The production of this film was underwritten by the Soloviev Foundation, a new Fort Ross Conservancy partner.
Tickets
$25 for access to the full week of programming
$5 for students to access the full week of programming
To register please sign up online: https://whova.com/web/fortr_202009/
Questions? Email Igor Polishchuk at ip@fortross.org
Once you purchase your ticket, you can access conference content at any point leading up to Fort Ross Dialogue’s launch by downloading the Whova mobile app or using your browser via the Whova web app. Be sure to use the same email you used to register when signing on or creating an account.
Please also consider becoming a member of Fort Ross Conservancy to ensure Fort Ross remains a unique place of multinational cooperation and cultural exchange – a tradition that goes back over 200 years! Email us at info@fortross.org to sign up for the FRC monthly newsletter in order to receive up-to-date news and information regarding the conference and all things Fort Ross related. Your participation will help us grow our community!
Looking forward to having you join us.
– The Fort Ross Conservancy team

 

100 YEARS COMMEMORATION OF THE EVACUATION FROM THE CRIMEAN PENINSULA

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This year marks 100 years since the “Great Exodus” – the evacuation of the Crimea (November 13-16, 1920) an event in the Russian Civil War, in which the Russian State evacuated over sea from the Crimean Peninsula, their last stronghold, on the Southern Front (Sevastopol, Yevpatoria, Kerch, Feodosia, Yalta).  Organized and led by Baron Pyotr Nikolayevich von Wrangel, nearly 150,000  soldiers, civilians and crew were evacuated. Wrangel’s White “Black Sea” fleet, foreign ships & temporarily mobilized, in total 126 ships of the  Voluntary fleet sailed to Constantinople.  While some of the evacuees left the ships here, a significant number of emigre’ soldiers and their families evacuated to other locations such as Gallipoli, the island of Lemnos in the Aegean Sea and the Tunisian port of Bizerte.

From there, many went to European countries, such as Yugoslavia, where they found refuge. The soldiers and civilians who stayed or were left behind in the Crimea, suffered under the  “Red Terror” organized by the new Soviet government, authorized by Vladimir Lenin. The White Army soldiers had been falsely promised amnesty if they surrendered.

In memory of those who evacuated, leaving behind their homeland (many, never to return) and for those who stayed behind and succumbed to the “red terror” of the Bolsheviks and Soviet Red Army, memorial services will be held at churches throughout the US and the world, including panihida after Divine Liturgy at the Russian Orthodox Church of All Russian Saints Outside Russia in Burlingame and the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Washington, DC. on Sunday, November 15, 2020 and at the Holy Virgin Mary Cathedral outside the church next to the Russian World War I Veterans memorial on Sunday, November 22, 2020.  All COVID-19 state restrictions will be enforced, incl. masks, distancing & other health & safety measures.

Congress of Russian Americans has been sponsoring commemorative events in honor of the 100 years, which includes producing a 4-part series film featuring interviews of descendants of this evacuation (USA only, as it has become overwhelming).

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

CRA is also proud to announce the publishing of a new book by one of our Russian American community and CRA  members – Tatiana Amochaev.  Writing under the pseudonym of Tania Romanov (her grandmother’s maiden name), she is a prolific author (many other books under her belt) and a descendant of the Amochaev family that evacuated on the last ship from the Crimean Peninsula port of Yevpatoria.  Her gripping story captures not just the evacuation from the Crimea, but further obstacles that her family had to overcome before coming to the United States.  The book has just come out in print and can either be purchased through Amazon or better-yet, send your check $30.00 which will cover cost of the book, tax and S&H charges to CRA (per above address, memo: Crimean book).  The book will be mailed to you and the donation will go directly to CRA, per the author’s generous contribution.   CRA is a non-profit organization, so any donations that you make are tax-deductible.

 

In Memoriam.

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Avisov Georgii Borisovich, (1927-2020)  former CRA President.

He was a CRA member since 1976. During his tenure with the CRA, he served as a local representative, Chapter president, National vice-president, and finally the President of the organization. He initiated several major CRA programs, attracted new energetic and reliable program managers, conducted  a successful PR campaign, and recognized a number of individuals who substantially contributed to the promotion of Russian culture in America or generously supported CRA projects in USA or Russia. Mr. Avisov was a chairman of the Russian Life Corporation and the editor of the news paper. The Washington DC office was launched as a result of his initiative. In November of 1995 , he testified at the Duma subcommittee  hearings and in October 2001 delivered a presentation at Moscow University on the subject of Russian National education. Mr. Avisov was a member of the National Society of Professional Engineers and had two P.E. licenses and received numerous awards from the US Department of the Navy for his professional  accomplishments. In 19982 he was listed in ” Who is Who in California” . Memory Eternal!IMG_1125

Please sign the petition to save the statue of Alexander Baranov in Sitka, Alaska.

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We urge you to sign the petition against removing the statue of Alexander Baranov, founder of Novo-Arhangelsk (now the city of Sitka) and the first Russian governor of Alaska. Link to petition:

www.change.org/BaranovStatue

Here the letter that was sent to Mayor Paxton and Assembly members of the City and Borough of Sitka regarding removal of the Baranov statue:

Download (PDF, 105KB)

Congratulations on Russia Day

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Russia Day is a holiday of national unity celebrated on June 12.  On this day in 1990, Russian Parliament proclaimed it’s sovereignty and the first President of Russia (Boris Yeltsin) was elected on June 12, 1990.

The holiday was officially established in 1994 and initially named “Day of the adoption of the declaration of sovereignty of the Russian Federation”.  On February 1, 2002, it was officially renamed “Russia Day”.   Нет описания фото.

75th Anniversary of the End of WWII. Russian-Americans in the United States Armed Forces during WWII.

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This year marks the 75th anniversary of WWII. Victory Day, commemorates the surrender of Nazi Germany 1945. It was first inaugurated, following the signing of the German Instrument of Surrender late in the evening on 8 May 1945 (after midnight, thus on 9 May Moscow Time). V-E Day was observed on May 8, 1945, in Great Britain, Western Europe, the United States and Australia, and on May 9 in the Soviet Union and New Zealand.
Regardless of the day that the world acknowledges victory over Nazism, CRA recognizes the many lives lost throughout the world, no where more than the Soviet Union, with over 24 million military and civilian lives lost there alone, and salutes all of our veterans for their heroic courage under fire, who gave the ultimate sacrifice – their lives.
For many years, Congress of Russian Americans collected data of Russian-American veterans in the US. This “Golden list of Russian-American veterans” was collected by one of CRA’s founding members and US Army Colonel Oleg Olegovich Pantukhoff, son of Oleg Ivanovich Pantukhoff, founder of ORUR, Russian Scouts St.George Pathfinders and himself a colonel in the Life guards of the Russian Imperial army and published in various issues of CRA’s “Russian American” magazine and CRA’s Biographical Dictionary, compiled by Prof. Eugene A. Alexandrov.
During the war some 16 million Americans served in the United States Armed Forces, with 405, 399 killed and 671,278 wounded. Colonel Pantiukhov listed 159 Russian-American WWII veterans in the US military, which included 39 who gave their lives on the front. Photos and biographical data (both in English and Russian) of those were featured in CRA’s “Russian American”, as well as the Biographical Dictionary of Russians of North America (including those Russian-Americans who gave their lives in WWII, were kamikaze suicide flier, Vladimir Klochkov, Lieutenant Commander Nicholas Elin, Seargent Paratrooper John Lukashevich Jr., Lieutenant Georges Koushnareff, commanding a mine-throwing mission, wounded flying over Algiers, where he subsequently died, Lieutenant with the tank division of the US Army, Victor Staradoub, Army Air Force Lieutenant Alexander Rusecky, Private Marine Corp. Walter Valaskov, Peter Kisel with the Infantry Division, who participated in the Invasion of France, Sergeant 1st Class Special Agent CIC, Michael Varenik, who had already been a veteran of the Russian Civil War before serving in counterintelligence in WWII and many more).
Famous Los Angeles historian, A.Dolgopolov (himself a veteran of WWI & Russia’s Civil War) gathered lists of Russian veterans in America,  his list included  more than 2399 names. All three (Pantukhoff, Dolgopolov, Alexandrov) continued to state that this work has not been completed and we must continue the work of gathering these names. To further complicate finding many of these people from the 2nd and 3rd generations of Russians in America, many changed their names. such as Evgenyi Kiaschenko who Americanized his name as Eugene Kayes. 

The main logo: DOD, DVIDS and Graphics by Lynn Kaczenski.

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75th Anniversary of the “Meeting on the Elbe” .

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It is the joint statement issued yesterday by US President Donald Trump and Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin, on the 75’th Anniversary of the “Meeting on the Elbe” (the Elbe River in Germany) on April 25, 1945, as our two armies were closing in on Victory over Hitler and his Nazism in the Second World War (“Great Patriotic War” in Russia):  https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/joint-statement-president-donald-j-trump-president-vladimir-putin-russia-commemorating-75th-anniversary-meeting-elbe/

Христос Воскресе!

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Христос Воскресе!  Воистину Воскресе!
On behalf of the National Board of Directors of the Congress of Russian Americans and myself, we wish all of our members, sponsors, donors, supporters, friends,
a most blessed and joyous Easter.   Wishing all of you strong health and prosperity during these difficult times.
Natalie Sabelnik
President, Congress of Russian Americans

100 Years of the Evacuation of the Crimea

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100 Years of the Evacuation of the Crimea
The evacuation of the Crimea (November 13-16, 1920) was an event in the Russian Civil War, in which the
Russian State evacuated over sea from the Crimean Peninsula, their last stronghold, on the Southern (Sevastopol,
Yevpatoria, Kerch, Feodosia, Yalta) Front bringing an end to the fighting on that Front. A total of 145,693
soldiers & civilians, not counting the crews, were evacuated. White Black Sea fleet, foreign ships &
temporarily mobilized ships of Voluntary fleet sailed to Constantinople and to the Tunisian port of Bizerte.
Proposed plans for building a Civil War Museum and a Memorial Church at Sevastopol. Donate to the CRA
Crimea Memorial Church Fund.Crimea - Civil War Museum & Church in Sevastopol

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