Roman Gulʹ papers

The Roman Gul' Papers document not only the life and work of Roman Borisovich Gul', but also provide insight into the lives and activities of his Russian contemporaries, countrymen, and friends. The papers focus on Gul's public career as founder and editor of Narodnaia pravda, as secretary and editor of Novyi zhurnal, as radio broadcaster and scriptwriter, as public citizen and author. While the materials of this collection span the dates 1881-1966, papers from the years 1950-65 form the most valuable part. In 1965, when Gul' was recuperating from a heart attack, he began to think seriously about his retirement and decided to sell his papers.

The collection is grouped into seven series. Series I, Correspondence, fills twenty-six boxes and contains primarily business correspondence, but also some personal and professional letters. Series II, Writings, consists of twenty-four boxes containing writings and some poems of the authors intended for Narodnaia pravda and Novyi zhurnal. Series III, Subject Files, fills twenty-one boxes. It houses the correspondence of the subscribers of Narodnaia pravda, the papers of the five Russian political organizations, and Roman Gul's scripts for the Voice of America and Radio Liberty. Series IV contains seven boxes of books, pamphlets, and serials that were part of Gul's and his wife's library. Three boxes are filled with fragile clippings. Series V consists of three boxes of photographs of individuals and groups, photographs of portraits, and an album. Gul's personal papers are housed in one box in Series VI. The two boxes of Series VII contain a variety of miscellaneous papers.

Series I, Correspondence , contains incoming correspondence from hundreds of people, outgoing correspondence of Gul' (and sometimes his wife), and correspondence of others, especially of M. M. Karpovich.

This series, the largest in the collection, contains over twelve thousand letters. Correspondents reside in the United States, West Germany, France, Austria, Belgium, Great Britain, Spain, Italy, Poland, Lithuania, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Israel, Australia, Japan, Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, Algeria, and the Soviet Union. Written by people from different walks of life, the letters touch a wide variety of subjects. Displaced persons, writing mostly between 1947 and 1953, describe personal tragedies, illnesses, struggles for survival, fears, and rare moments of joy, as political changes and changes in the map of Europe re-shape their existence. They remembered life in the Soviet Union, but they also dreamed about a better future. The letters of the "old" emigrants, those who had lived outside the Soviet Union since World War I, present a similar picture. Some letters are related to Narodnaia pravda and many more to Novyi zhurnal, mostly written by the authors of the writings.

The correspondence contains only a handful of family letters. Thirty letters were written by Gul's mother, Ol'ga Sergeevna, to Roman and his brother Sergei from the Soviet Union in 1920-21. Another thirty letters were written by Gul's nanny Anna Grigor'evna Buldakova to Roman and Sergei from the Soviet Union, in 1929-31, after she returned there from Berlin.

The correspondence presents a list of well-known Russian figures and of many ordinary people. Some of the best known are G. Adamovich, IU. P. Annenkov, N. N. Berberova, I. A. Bunin, D. J. Dallin, and A. V. and T. Fessenko. Other prominent émigré correspondents include I. Guzenko, G. V. Ivanov, M. M. Karpovich, A. F. Kerenskii, G. Ivask, V. L. Korvin-Piotrovskii, and Józef Mackiewicz. Among other correspondents are S. P. Mel'gunov, B. I. Nicolaevsky, I. A. Odoevtseva, IU. V. Ofrosimov, Aleksis Rannit, V. B. Stankevich, M. TSvetaeva, N. V. Vol'skii (pseud. Valentinov), B. Zaitsev, and V. M. Zenzinov.

The correspondence with subscribers to the newspapers Narodnaia pravda is located in the Series III, Subject Files. Additional correspondence can sometimes be found in other parts of the collection.

As editor of Narodnaia pravda and of Novyi zhurnal, Gul' received many works written by others. Series II, Writings (Boxes 27-50), contains seventy items by some fifty authors for Narodnaia pravda, and over 500 submissions for Novyi zhurnal written by 255 authors. Sixty-eight poems by fifty poets are also included as are fifteen works assigned neither to Narodnaia pravda nor Novyi zhurnal. There is also one box of unidentified writings for Narodnaia pravda.

Only a handful of the more than 600 manuscripts submitted were ever published. All the writings are in Russian, except one in English, and one in Serbian. Some of the well-known writers represented are: IU. P. Annenkov, N. N. Berberova, P. A. Berlin, I. A. Bunin, Z. N. Gippius, G. Ivask, V. L. Korvin-Piotrovskii, M. I. Nil'skii, I. V. Odoevtseva, A. Rannit, I. S. Shmelov, E. Tauber, N. N. Vol'skii, B. Zaitsev, and V. M. Zenzinov. They write on a number of subjects, including life under the Soviet regime, living conditions in the Soviet villages, the fate of "Vlasovtsy," the Jewish question in Russia, Lenin, Russians in the German army, Russians in Czechoslovakia, collectivization, extermination of Polish partisans by the Soviets, Russian Masons, capitalism, and socialism. The topics for Narodnaia pravda and Novyi zhurnal are similar. Those for Narodnaia pravda also discuss Russian political parties, the efforts of the unification of those organizations, World War II, the Russian/Ukranian nationalities question, victims of the Soviet regime, Stalin, and other topics.

Among the poets are such names as K. O. Bal'mont, I. A. Bunin, T. Fessenko, Z. N. Gippius, I. V. Odoevtseva, V. B. Stankevich, and M. TSvetaeva. Only a few articles by Gul' are included among these manuscripts.

Series III, Subject Files , fills twenty-one boxes. The papers are grouped in three subseries: correspondence of the subscribers of Narodnaia pravda, Russian political organizations, and radioscripts.

The correspondence of the subscribers to Narodnaia pravda is located in Boxes 51-52 and contains approximately 660 letters from the years 1948-52. The subscriptions flowed in from almost all corners of the noncommunist world. An additional box contains various papers related to Narodnaia pravda, such as financial statements covering the years 1948-53.

After World War II, Gul' took an active part in the political life of Russian émigrés, first in Paris and later in New York. The material on Russian organizations, with its strong political focus, forms an important part of the collection. These papers, housed in Boxes 54-60, are arranged by organization.

In the late forties, the idea emerged, supported by the "American Committee for the Freedom for the Peoples of the USSR" [For more information consult: Sig Mickelson, America's Other Voice (New York: Praeger, 1983)] that if the politically divided Russian emigration could unite to form one strong political center, they could fight more effectively for the liberation of their homeland and against the communist dictatorship.

The four basic organizations in question, represented in the collection, are:

Liga bor'by za narodnuiu svobodu (The League of Struggle for Peoples Freedom - "Liga" for short), founded in New York in March of 1949, by a group of "old" and "new" Russian emigrants, among them D. J. Dallin, V. M. Zenzinov, A. F. Kerenskii, and B. A. Konstantinovskii. The material is housed in Boxes 54-56.

Natsional'no - trudovoi soiuz (The National Labor Alliance, or Russian Solidarist Movement - NTS) had its headquarters in Limburg-Lahn, Germany. This movement goes back to 1924, but its most important activities began in 1932. The papers are contained in one box.

Russiiskoe narodnoe dvizhenie (The Russian Peoples Movement - Narodniki - RND) was founded by Gul' in Paris, in 1948. Later it joined the Liga, but split off again and renewed its activities in October 1951. The papers fill two boxes.

Soiuz bor'by za osvobozhdenie narodov Rossii (The Union of Struggle for Liberation of Peoples of Russia - SBONR), first formed as Osvoboditel'noe dvizhenie (Vlasovtsy, 1943-45), renewed its activities in 1947-48.

These organizations, joined by others, tried to form one political entity - Soviet osvobozhdeniia narodov Rossii (The Council for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia - SNOR), and also to organize radio transmissions behind the Iron Curtain. The Political Organizations subseries provides an extensive documentation of efforts to achieve this goal through a series of meetings. The unification efforts failed and by June 1953 the talks had collapsed.

The radio broadcasting papers (Boxes 61-71) are equally important. After Gul's arrival in the United States, he wrote scripts for the Voice of America in 1950-51, and then for Radio Liberty, from September 1952 to March 1956. From April 1956 until April 1966, he acted as an editor for Radio Liberty.

The first box contains a miscellany of evaluations, suggestions, and criticism of the programs and scripts. The scripts for the Voice of America occupy two boxes. Subjects dicussed include: Stalin's article praising Trotsky, Stalin's speech at the Teheran conference about the American war industry, Gromyko's speech, the first displaced persons transport arriving at New York on June 25, 1948, Soviet aggression in Finland, and American help for the hungry in the Soviet Union in 1921-22.

The Radio Liberty scripts fill eight boxes. Supplemental information can be found in Series VII, Box 86, folder 2069, under "American Committee." Gul' grouped the scripts in eleven series under the headings: "Nashe demokraticheskoe nasledstvo" (Our Democratic Heritage), "Rossiia na zapade" (Russia in the West), "Sovremennaia russkaia literatura" (Russian Contemporary Literature), "Zaria svobody" (Dawn of Liberty), "Zarubezhnaia russkaia literatura" (Russian Émigré Literature), "O svobode naroda" (About The Liberty of the Nation), "Oktiabrskaia kontr-revoliutsiia" (October Counter-Revolution), "Pis'ma na rodinu" (Letters to the Homeland), "Problemy ideologii" (Ideology Problems), "Russkaia svobodnaia mysl'" (Russian Free Thoughts), and "Zapretnye stranitsy" (Forbidden Pages). Most of the scripts were written by Gul'. Subjects discussed include freedom of the press, freedom of expression, liberalism and Russian liberals, Russian democrats, Soviet and émigré magazines and newspapers, Soviet propaganda, strikes and the right to strike, peasant questions, dictatorship and legality, Russian and Soviet writers, poets, émigré inventors, scientists, philosophers, composers, and musicians, the Duma, excerpts of articles from Novyi zhurnal, historical events, the NKVD, the Soviet judicial system, attorneys and courts, political trials, the October Revolution, Lenin, and Kerensky's provisional government.

Series IV, Printed Works (Boxes 72-76), contains fifty-seven books and pamphlets. They are all in Russian, except for one in English and another in French. The works were published between 1879 and 1964 and come from the private collection of Gul' and his wife. Prominent authors represented in the series include IU. P. Annenkov, Maksim Gorky, I. S. Turgenev, V. Voskresenskii, and I. A. Sikorskii.

Serials (Boxes 77-78), include twenty-eight alphabetically arranged titles published between 1913 and 1966. The most valuable are: Zhizn', Sovremennyezapiski, Posev, and a complete set of Narodnaia pravda. The purpose of Narodnaia pravda was to attract the support of the "new" Russian emigrants in the battle against communism.

The clippings (around 640, sometimes extremely fragile items, in Boxes 79-81) include articles on a variety of subjects, such as biographies, necrologies, book reviews, and "Vlasovtsy," Russian political organizations (RND, Liga, SONR). They are mostly in Russian, but folders 1933-34 contain clippings in other languages.

Series V, Photographs , is housed in three boxes. Boxes 82-83 contain photographs of individuals (43 items) and of groups (48). Box 84 houses five photocopies of "Portraits," thirteen of "Places and Others," and one album. The album, containing 22 photographs (21 with prisoners, and one view) of a Czarist labor camp in Siberia, belonged to V. M. Zenzinov. A terrorist in his youth, Zenzizov was a member of the Socialist Revolutionary party who financially supported the Bolshevik Revolution, but in 1919 he emigrated. Included are autographed photographs of I. S. Turgenev and Z. N. Gippius, photos of émigré writers and poets (G. V. Ivanov, D. S. Merezhkovskii, V. L. Korvin-Piotrovskii, IU. V. Ofrosimov and I. V. Odoevtseva), of editors of Novaia russkaia kniga (A. S. IAshchenko), of Nakanune (B. Diushen), and of Russkaia mysl' (S. A. Vodov), of Soviet writers and poets (K. A. Fedin, N. N. Nikitin, B. A. Pilniak, and E. Evtushenko), of A. N. Tolstoi (who returned to the Soviet Union), and of R. Khodziev, adjutant of Gen. L. G. Kornilov. A photograph of M. A. Kharuzin, the murderer of the Gen. Romanovskii, is housed in Series VII, Box 86, folder 2075.

One box of Gul's Personal Paperscomprise Series VI , which includes documents in German related to Gul's 1961 efforts to obtain indemnification from the West German government for his confinement in 1933; correspondence in English and French related to his temporary employment with London Film Productions, Inc. in 1936-37; correspondence with the Office international Nansen pour réfugiés in Paris concerning visas that would allow his family in Berlin to emigrate to France; some bills from the International Broadcasting Division of the United States Department of State for Gul's script-writing for the Voice of America; and some correspondence and documents in Russian related to his Masonic episode. The series also contains a few reviews of Gul's works, a handful of articles, and his 1935 curriculum vitae written in Paris.

Series VII, Special Files , contains two boxes of papers on a variety of subjects. The first folder concerns the American Committee for the Freedom for the Peoples of the USSR, Inc. Chartered in Delaware in 1948, this group was closely associated with the Russian political organizations and Radio Liberty in opposition to the Soviet Union and is of paramount importance to the Roman Gul' papers.

Box 86, folders 2070-75, "The Cases," concern Gul's personal relationships with others and his eagerness to collect as much information as possible about certain people. There are letters, answers, testimonies, and clippings about D. J. Dallin (problems Liga/AC/SONR); Sergei Gavlich (supposed Cheka agent); and the case of Gul'/Mel'gunov/TSurikov. One folder contains information about A. F. Kerenskii. Another contains documents about M. A. Kharuzin, the murderer of the Gen. I. P. Romanovskii. The next twenty-six folders contain the curricula vitae of such individuals as D. J. Dallin, N. N. Evreinov, I. A. Kurganov, V. Lebedev, and V. B. Stankevich. Folder 2106 contains sketches of anti-communist posters drawn by N. F. Mishatkin.

The Roman Gul' Papers cover a wide range of issues and contain a great deal of information on Gul's life, his activities, friendships, and difficult relationships with others. The achievements, failures, and thoughts of Russian émigrés, the history of Russian emigration, and the development and growth of Novyi zhurnal are documented. The papers are also an important resource for the history of Russian political organizations, their activities, their goals, the reasons for their failure to unify, and their connections to the American Committee. The writings provide considerable insight into Russian émigré literary and political thought, opinion, and ideas, and the materials selected or rejected for publication reveal Gul's own editorial preferences, taste, and political views.