1919

Countess Olga Kleinmichel and partner at fancy dress ball

Dancing with the English at Taganrog 1919

Prior to delving into my family history I had no idea that the English played a role in the Russian Civil War. Of course I knew my grandparents eventually escaped Russia on a British steamer, but I did not realise there was a British mission to South Russia from late

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At long last they made their escape – Part 2

Last week we left my great-grandmother, now Catherine Yakovtsov, and her second husband, Vasily Yakovtsov (pictured together above), en route to Petrograd probably at the beginning of 1919. This week the story continues. Catherine and Vasily made it to Petrograd but were dismayed at what the once beautiful city had

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Her Last Easter in Russia Before They Escaped

My grandmother did not spend her last Easter in Russia at the beautiful Assumption Cathedral in Novorossiysk (pic above) but she did help decorate it on the Saturday afternoon before Easter, as described in her book, Upheaval. She was in Novorossiysk in the spring of 1919 waiting for my grandfather

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Resilience

Sitting in a church in Germany, unable to understand most of the Sunday morning service, gave me plenty of time to think. I’m in Wiehl, Germany for the weekend, attending a family reunion and looking around at my extended family, I realise just how resilient we all are. The Fircks

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