[Canada – Religious History – Communal Societies] Soukoreff, George S.; Verigin, John J.

We Appeal To The Public. [A Broadside Concerning the Doukhobor–Freedomite Conflict.]

Trail, British Columbia: Hall Printing Co., 1947. Broadside measuring approximately 19 x 19 inches. Folded with some wrinkling and very small tears at margins; excellent. Item #List3322

The Doukhobors are a Spiritual Christian group that originated in the Russian Empire around the late eighteenth century. Persecuted for their pacifism and rejection of the Orthodox Church, the Doukhobors were first removed to present-day Ukraine then the Transcaucasus, with some of their leadership exiled to Siberia. In the late nineteenth century, they were allowed to emigrate, and with the help of both Quakers and the Christian anarchist Tolstoyans—whose beliefs largely accorded with the Doukhobors’—many ended up in western and central Canada.

In Canada, the dissident group Sons of Freedom (or Freedomites, Svobodniki) formed out of the Doukhobors; their opposition to assimilation and government interference was more extreme than their parent group, and they were known for eschewing cooked food, the use of animal labor, and clothing.[1] The Freedomites became increasingly violent in their protests of the modern world, particularly making use of arson and bombings, leading the vehemently pacifist Doukhobors—who were often their victims—to disavow the group.

Offered here is a broadside produced by the Doukhobors in British Columbia appealing to the Canadian government for help in apprehending and controlling the radicals, ending the Doukhobor’s “dreadful existence under constant fear.” The broadside reproduces the correspondence between the Union of Doukhobors of Canada and various provincial and federal officials, and especially emphasizes that, contrary to popular belief, the Doukhobors had been open and cooperative with law enforcement. Despite the “suspicion on the part of our people as to whether necessary measures were ever taken by the proper authorities”, the group tried “to cooperate to the best of our ability.” They ask:

“We regarded Canada as foremost in racial and religious tolerance. Why is ‘a civil war between Doukhobors’ allowed to go on, and people forced to engage in violence in contradiction to the principle of faith they endeavor to uphold?”

We find one copy of this broadside in OCLC.

[1] Maurice Gerschon Hindus, “Doukhobors and Dissenters,” in A Traveler in Two Worlds (Doubleday, 1971), 290–303.

Price: $375.00