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ANNA MARKOVA: FORGIVENESS IN EXILE
Most of her family had already escaped persecution in Russia for a life of freedom in Canada when Anna Markova, the granddaughter, daughter and mother of three generations of Russian Doukhobor leaders, disappeared into the Soviet Gulag of the 1940s.
Innocent of any crime, Anna spent 15 years in the gulag where millions of political prisoners died. When Anna was finally released, she joined her family in Canada. Here she became active organising women in the community and she became a role model for generations to come.
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The Doukhobors are descendents of Christian peasants who split off from the Russian Orthodox Church in the 1600s because they didn't believe in bowing to icons and they felt the church was corrupt.
They believed that the spirit of God exists in every man and so for them, killing was a mortal sin. The Doukhobor men therefore refused to join the Russian Tsar's army. Their defiance resulted in persecution and exile for the community.
By the 1890s, the group had attracted the attention of Russian writer Leo Tolstoy. He sympathised with the Doukhobor’s plight and helped to raise the money to bring seven thousand Doukhobors to Canada in 1899.
But while Anna Markova's grandfather led the community in Canada, Anna was left behind. This would be a terrible mistake, as political upheaval would result in Anna's imprisonment and the death of her husband, her younger son and her brother.
Photo: Doukhobors came to Canada by boat in 1899
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- Spend a couple of days in the town of Grand Forks. Visit the Boundary museum to learn about the history of the region, and then order a traditional vegetarian Doukhobor meal at one of the restaurants that offers authentic Russian food.
-Learn about the centrality of bread in Doukhobor by visiting the restored 1915 “Pride of the Valley” heritage mill in Grand Forks. And don’t miss the Mountainview Doukhobor Museum, an eccentric private collection of heirlooms and artefacts set in one of the last original Doukhobor communal homes.
-The Doukhobor Village Museum, an hour away in Castlegar, offers a comprehensive exploration of Doukhobor history. Designed to look like a traditional Doukhobor communal village, it has artefacts and a multimedia exhibit. During the summer Doukhobor youth act as tour guides.
-Meet members of this unique group at a Doukhobor prayer meeting where women and men in traditional dress face each other as they sing their haunting Russian harmonies. Afterwards, they go home for a traditional Doukhobor meal...and if you're lucky, you may be invited to join them.
-Once your cultural tour is done, take advantage of the incredible natural beauty of your surroundings. There's swimming and kayaking at nearby Christina Lake, hiking and cycling on the trans-Canada trail. The artistic “hippy” town of Nelson with it’s giftshops and organic farms is a short drive away.
-And the perfect ending to your adventure in Doukhobor country? Grab your bathing suit and spend an afternoon in the steamy caves of the Ainsworth natural hot springs. It's not clear if the first Doukhobor pioneers spent much time here - but the experience is so cleansing and relaxing, it may even inspire the biggest cynic to believe in God.
Photo: One of the last communal Doukhobor homes has been converted into the Mountainview Doukhobor Museum
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DOUKHOBOR HISTORY
Doukhobor Village Museum
Located across from the Castlegar Airport
Near the junction of Highway 3 and Highway 3a
Open daily 10am to 6pm from May to September
Telephone: +1 (250) 365 6622
REGIONAL HISTORY
Boundary Museum
7370 - 5th Street
Grand Forks, B.C. V0H 1H0
Open 8.30am to 4.30pm Monday to Friday
Telephone: +1 (250) 442-3737
DOUKHOBOR CULTURE
Heritage Mill, Prayer Hall, and
Mountainview Doukhobor Museum
USCC Cultural Centre
Grand Forks, B.C. V0H 1H0
Call ahead to book a tour
Telephone: +1 (250) 442 8252
www.iskra.ca/today.htm
DOUKHOBOR CUISINE
The Borscht Bowl
258 Market Ave
Grand Forks, B.C.
Telephone: +1 (250) 442-5977
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Post-viewing Questions:
1. Anna was separated from her family and endured untold hardship in the Gulag, all on account of her family’s leadership role in a dissident religion. What other religious groups have been persecuted both in the past and in the present, here and in other countries?
2. According to the anecdotes told by members of her community, Anna was saddened by her hard life but not embittered. What do you think kept her from becoming cynical?
3. Nelson Mandela is another figure that refused to become embittered by imprisonment. He has become a symbol of the power of forgiveness in overcoming hardship. Do you think forgiveness is a necessary part of healing? Where do justice and accountability fit into the equation?
4. John, Anna’s older son, had hardened himself in order to live without a mother’s love. When reunited with his mother, he still needed her love and acceptance. Was John unique in his need for mothering or do we all need a mother’s love even when we are adults? Discuss.
5. The young women in the Doukobhor community of Grand Forks, B.C. seemed grateful to Anna for showing an interest in them and their accomplishments. Anna became the “Baba”, the grandmother, to all of the children in the community. In your community who are seen as the leaders, the role models? Are older women ever assigned that role? Has there been an older woman that has had an impact on your life?
Further Research
1. The Doukobhors are pacifists and refuse to go to war. How were the Doukobhors treated during WWII in Canada? Were they persecuted or maligned because of their beliefs?
2. Outline the major tenets of the Doukobhor faith.
3. Sometimes prison can force inmates to reconsider the course of their lives. Who else has been imprisoned, refused to be broken or embittered by prison and after their release have become religious or political leaders? Tell the story of one such survivor.
Additional Research Question:
This film tells the story of a woman who is a role model to women in her family, in her community and now, in part because of this film, perhaps to many women throughout Canada. Who, in your life has been a role model? If you would like to share the story about this person with other young people to whom you think this story might act as a beacon, please add it to the website www.mothertongue.ca. Alternately, if you would like to read stories that others have posted, please click on the website and become a part of a dialogue about the importance of role models.
Note:
These starting points for discussion and research questions were written by Dr. Carole Ann Reed, an educational consultant. Dr. Reed has worked as a human rights educator for almost twenty years in the Toronto area and has authored and co-authored many articles, curricula, and educational kits as well as a book. The topics she writes about include issues such as the Holocaust, the Rwandan genocide, women’s rights and anti-racism. For several years she was the Director of the Holocaust Centre of Toronto.
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This series of educational videos was made possible with funding from
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Mother Tongue: A woman's history of ethnic Canada is a 13-part TV series that documents Canada's multicultural history from a female perspective. Each program tells the story of a notable woman in one of Canada's communities, including a Black fugitive slave, an Acadian mail order bride, and an Icelandic suffragette.
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