Sons and daughters of Russia's 'White Emigration' are coming back into the fold!
In this brief note, I wish to share some observations from taking part yesterday evening in a reception at the Russian Embassy in Brussels to mark the country’s National Day,
The event was well attended but the composition of guests was noticeably different from past years: fewer foreigners, more Russians. Among the foreigners were, as is traditional, military attaches from foreign embassies in Brussels. Chinese, other Asians, blacks from Africa in smart uniforms all stood out, of course, as they always did. But this was all the more evident given the absence of the British and other Western European officers and diplomats. As for the Belgians, there appeared to be very few recognizable business people.
But, as for Belgian Russians, there nonetheless was something to report and that ‘something’ is indicated in the title given to this essay.
As you might expect, there were some socially prominent Russian Belgians at the event. They are the sons and daughters of White Russian émigrés who fled Soviet Russia following the Revolution. Indeed some of the best known families from the Empire ended their days in Brussels and are commemorated on the walls of the main Russian Orthodox church in the city which is just a few hundred meters down the very same Avenue De fré along which the Russian Embassy to the Kingdom of Belgium is situated.
This group of Russian Belgians is bound by additional family ties that were forged after they came to Belgium, namely that many spent years, even decades living and working in the Belgian Congo as from the 1930s. The Belgian domestic economy was hit by the Europe-wide Depression but the colony had need of skilled engineers for infrastructure work. Many White Russian noblemen were engineers or had other relevant education and so found jobs in Africa. Of course, it was not only Russian Belgians but also middle class Belgians de souche who also found their Eldorado in the Congo and came home with more than the African masks that you see on the walls of their living rooms today.
One couple at the reception fit the description of White Russians’ offspring in Belgium perfectly. We happen to have in-law relations with them through our daughter’s marriage. They remarked as we clinked glasses that they are now celebrating the 100 years since their parents first arrived and settled in Belgium. They went on to tell us that they have just received Russian passports, having applied not long ago to acquire citizenship on the basis of their ancestry. And as we were chatting another friend from my social club, a pediatrician who is approaching retirement age, told us that he has just now filed with the embassy for naturalization, also with reference to his White Russian parents.
Three such “converts” in one night was not a bad harvest. It was unexpected but not entirely so. The first couple had been taking baby steps in that direction going back several years. They had applied for and received from the government an apartment at the back of a magnificent villa situated opposite the Catherine Palace park in Pushkin that once belonged to their family. The main rooms of the building are now used by the municipality for the celebration of weddings. And a year ago their daughter purchased a house in the nearby town of Pavlovsk, which, before the Revolution, was the preferred location for summer residences of the court nobility.
But why would these people choose to go “all the way” and take Russian passports precisely now, when Belgium, like the rest of the EU, is in a deeply anti-Russian mood? I think their decision is an _expression_ of their outrage at the insanity of the ongoing state censorship and military-financial support for Ukraine while denigrating everything Russian.
And so Russian Belgians whom I know fairly well, people who are not Putin fans, people who have their wits about them and cannot abide the mad world around us, are making their choice ….for Russia and to be counted as Russian citizens.
Before closing, I am obliged to add one small note on what distinguished last night’s reception from the last such National Day celebration I attended, several years ago, before COVID: no vodka!
No, I don’t think that official Russia is going ‘dry.’ After all, they served glasses of very decent French white and red wines. But the vodka was missing, making it really hard to think of sampling the little herring appetizers that call for the white stuff. I have little doubt about the reason: importing Russian vodka into Belgium is prohibited. And it is really hard to imagine the Russian embassy buying and serving its guests Polish vodka or vodkas with Russian sounding names distilled in Germany.
©Gilbert Doctorow, 2023