Congress of Russian Americans, Inc. in cooperation with the Russian Cultural Center of Alaska and the Alaska Federation of Filipino Americans Inc. presented an exhibit and documentary film“Tiempo Russo” at the Anchorage Museum, Rasmuson Center on March 24, 2018. The event was dedicated to the 6000 White Russian refugees that were in the Philippine island of Tubabao (1949-1953) finding refugee from the communists in China and the people of the Philippines that welcomed them to their country.
The program began with the presentation of the flags by Honor Guards with the national anthems of all 3 countries – US, Philippines and Russia being sung by community youth. Elena Saturnino, Vice President of the Alaska Federation of Filipino Americans began the event with a call to commemoration. Invocation was led by Fr. Luz Flores, spiritual director of the Holy Spirit Center, Anchorage and Fr. Evgenyi, Russian Orthodox archpriest from Irkutsk, Russia, who had a premiere showing of his recent documentary film on St.Innocent of Alaska the day before.
Speakers included Consul General of the Philippines from San Francisco, Honorable Henry Bensurto Jr. and Deputy Consul General of the Russian Federation from Seattle, Khalit Aysin, as well as the Mayor of Anchorage, Ethan Berkowitz and First Lady of Alaska, Donna Walker, wife of Alaska’s Governor Bill Walker.
CRA President, Natalie Sabelnik, herself a former resident of Tubabao and the researcher and author of the exhibit, gave a brief lecture on life in the island, a former US WWII military camp. The temporary camp was to have been for only a few months, but many lived for over two years in the camp. The first Military Sea Transport ships brought a majority of the camp residents to Australia, South America and Dominican Republic during the first year, but a great many still remained.
While still an infant when N.Sabelnik arrived in Tubabao, the exhibit was dedicated to St.John of Shanghai & San Francisco, who came to the island, blessed the camp and returned to the US to pray on the steps of the White House to allow the quota to be changed to allow entry to the remaining refugees. Instrumental in the mass departure from Shanghai, was former Cossack Colonel in the Tsar’s Imperial Army, Gregory Bologoff, who unified several ethnic refugee groups within the Russian Émigré Association in Shanghai. Under his strong leadership, he sent appeals to the world’s free countries to grant asylum to the refugees. Through the International Refugee Organization (IRO), Philippine President Elpidio Quirino agreed to take all 6000 refugees as “transient guests” offering temporary refuge in Tubabao until arrangements could be made for their immigration to other countries. It wasn’t until then-California Senator William Knowland visited the Tubabao encampment in 1950 and upon returning to the US, introduced a bill to change the Displaced Person’s Act to allow the remainder of the refugees into the US.
Only a handful remained on the island after the departure to the US with 27 of the remaining TB patients, who were accepted by France in 1953. Upon their departure, the entire camp was hit by a typhoon and completely destroyed. To these people and to those on the island, including her parents, their patience and fortitude, this exhibit was dedicated, when it first opened in San Francisco at the Philippine Consulate and ran from October 16-November 11, and in Moscow at the Solzhenitsyn House of Russians Abroad, November 8-February 28. N.Sabelnik thanked the people of the Philippines for their hospitality then and now during the visit to Anchorage with the exhibit.
The exhibit had 10 historical panels displaying the Russian’s departure from Russia post the Russian Revolution of 2017, their endurance in awaiting the day when they could return to their homeland, and all that they built in their new country of China (Harbin & Shanghai), the WWII military camps in Leyte and Tubabao and the Military Sea Transport ships, the social life, cultural life, spiritual life of the Russian refugees in the camp and preparing for departure from China, as well as from Tubabao, with photos from the Museum of Russian Culture SF, Russian Historical Society of Australia, President Elpidio Quirino Foundation and personal photos and documents from her family’s archives, as well as other former residents of Tubabao.
The documentary film that was shown was made by the President Elpidio Quirino Foundation, and along with the viewing of the film, were cultural performances by the Native Alaskans and the Philippine community dancers, followed by a reception at the museum for the over 200 Philippine and Russian community members who attended.
Natalie Sabelnik thanked Anna Vernaya, President of Russian Cultural Center of Alaska (coordinator of the event), who made the closing remarks at the end of the event. The guests continued to view the panels and various photos and documents and meeting and discussing this very little known piece of history in US-Philippine-Russian friendly relations.