Fragment: Sisters of Charity since the First World War, sex and death
A hundred years ago, on November 11, 1918, the First World War ended.. In November Theatre.doc lets play Anastasia Patlay "Mercy" collected playwright Nana Grinstein from the diary of the two sisters of charity: Julia Butorova, great-granddaughter of the poet and partisan commander of the times World War II Denis Davydov and Anna Zhdanova, the sister of a key Soviet ideologue Andrei Zhdanov, implicated, among other things, in the compilation of hit lists. The authors focused not on numbers and battles, but on women's military life: thanks to documents, letters and diaries, you can find out what the sisters of mercy dreamed about, how they loved and had sex, tried to join the army - and simply lived and remained people in the surrounding their horror
The following performances can be seen on December 18 and 19 at the Sakharov Center, while we show our readers excerpts from the materials used in the play.
MARGARITA VIROV
About war
Now skied on the Volga. Ice is not yet snowed. The faint light of the moon illuminates the city, the stars are far-away and a sign of a blizzard is coming — the wind is from there from the sky. Soon, maybe, we will sit in such nights in the trenches, warming our noses with a twinkle of cigarettes. Elena and I decided to go to the position in the soldier's clothes. A bore yesterday asked me:
- And you, sister, I heard, are you going to the position?
- Yes.
- And you don’t go as a sister, but as a volunteer. Then let's go together, we will serve in the reconnaissance team, I will teach you to shoot.
- Look, Bore ...
Before dressing, we decided to talk with Bore about how to get into the army. He was in the third ward, we called him into the corridor and began to talk mysteriously. Immediately Masha and Matvey began fussing about, interfering with the conversation and eavesdropping. A bore us explained everything. We must sit down with the military train, and then come to headquarters with a statement that we want to serve, for example, in the reconnaissance team. We as volunteers will take immediately. During the day, we can sit during the battle in the trenches and bandage the wounded, and at night go on reconnaissance. If we stumble upon the enemy's voyage, then there is no need to shoot, but it is better to try to escape or take prisoner. Elena and I will sew our overcoats, buy hats and boots. I am delighted with the alleged plan.
Anna.
Many people call our plan insanity, exaltation, but why are we to blame for the fact that we were not born as men? Przemysl taken, Yaroslav taken, we are beaten ... And stay here, doing nothing? Increase the percentage of remaining loafing women, or what? No, no, and no ... I don’t need glory, I'm sick of love, I can never achieve wealth ... Fighting for freedom means losing your freedom without doing anything ... There is no goal ahead to stop. I want it, and I am responsible for everything. Sing, lilies of the valley, a quiet song, sing about the forests of my homeland, which I love endlessly. His people, their rivers, these lilies of the valley, torn off by the child’s tanned, rough handle — all this is mine, since they inseparably live from birth in the soul, and no one can pull out my most precious soul — love for the people. Let them spit on me for this love, let them defame my name, never change, and never have the opportunity to change, because I live only with this.
Anna.
About love and sex
"It is snowing" (women use this phrase in their diaries to mean sex. - Note ed.) with Maslikov.
Murashko and Maslikov will leave the third chamber. How glad I am for them, although it will be a little sad to part with this wounded swallow. At home. Finally, he will be removed, he wanted to give his card. And so not to forget the close beautiful outlines of his livid face with burning black eyes under the pained fracture of his eyebrows, not to forget the figure slightly bent forward in a yellow robe. Why is it so weakly bent forward when the chest is so wide? The lung is pierced through with a bullet, and when coughing thick blood is shown on bloodless lips. And he laughs and says: "Nothing" ... Poor swallow. After all, it is clear that you are wounded to death.
Anna.
Today "it was snowing" with E. D.
In the evening, they performed a round dance, otherwise the Indian dance danced under a gramophone. Who has long since long since squeezed my hand in such a way as E. Let this grip be new and not cause the dark shadow of the past. And the poems in the songbook, which E. chose and pointed to me? "And she looks so cold at love," we sang, and I smiled involuntarily ... I still do not understand this phrase, its true meaning. And the stairs? Played blind man's buff.
Anna.
His battery was fired, and out of 80 people left 18, all the horses killed, of the five officers killed and two wounded. The Germans took the battery, and he made his way with his 18 people. He built the remains of some infantry regiment, which also retreated, returned to the battery, drove out the Austrians, managed to withdraw their guns and leave. It looks nothing special, but having heard this story, I approached him with a special feeling and talked to him for a long time. At 10 o'clock we left, all the officers led by the commander took us to the house. I managed to talk to him. What a nice, but mangled, broken man. When I look at him, he always seems to me as a 14-year-old boy. In a large collar with a bow, resting on his elbow, he looks at everyone and at all with his sad big eyes. Life was difficult for him, and it remained in his eyes, a lonely, sick soul was seen, proud of his illness, every trifle could offend her. I sometimes want to come and stroke him on the head. So just to show him the caress that he, I think, had never experienced. I only think that he would not understand this, since he must be very spoiled by women, and any such manifestation would be considered flirting. He cannot understand that it is possible to regret, to caress a person - you live so well - without a thought about yourself, about his appearance, and so a person - a person, without a thought of bestowal, a favor, but because the soul is drawn to everything that suffers tormented that somehow broken and warped by life.
Yuliya.
Our behavior doctor found defiant and reprehensible. He was informed that V. on our last duty was at night in the garden, and the doctor demanded an explanation from us. We considered ourselves insulted to the bottom of our hearts by such an accusation and filed a letter of resignation. We left the judgment seat, not wanting to even listen to the new housekeeper's speech. This speech was about flirting and torn bathrobes. All these people have nothing to do, and giving them the opportunity to have fun at our expense will not allow my pride. I despise them; but it becomes disgusting to me when I see that they are luminous, pure love being dragged into the dirt, what they think cynically, suggesting dirty intentions in my every glance. How embarrassing for me when my eyes are intercepted by them and interpreted differently. I could not reckon with them, but they are too dirty to be overlooked. To love among them is not to go through the mud, but to swim in it.
With V. "snow is coming" with might and main.
Anna.
About death
Today I went to cook in the dressing room and did not have time to cook everything. They brought two wounded first and then brought a third one to the hands of the non-commissioned officer of the Tsaritsynsky regiment, who were seriously wounded. In both arms, leg and head. We were touched that he said: "Well, as my people alone were left without me." He is almost dying, and he thinks about his comrades without stopping. I made the sign of the cross, gave a cigarette, because I wanted to smoke very much. I did not have time to endure it, when I heard the whistle, and then the "bang" gap. Shrapnel broke in 25 steps from the dressing room. Its fragments were stuck in the shack where our wounded lay. The second shell exploded to the left of us and the gap was deafer than the first, since it was four inches and made a large crater. Here is the first shelling at a new place.
I am glad that I didn’t feel fear, and how I cleaned the table, I continued and added: “Sitkhanov, cold water, pour hot”.
This nurse was surprised: "Sister, are you not afraid?" - "My dear, are you afraid? Wolves are afraid, don't go to the woods. Come on, give me some water!"
Yuliya.
Cemetery - all new crosses on which such a regiment is written [inaudible] 9/1 1916
Below on the iron board number 56. All the graves of soldiers and officers are numbered, so that after the war they will be easy to find. Involuntarily remembered our graves. On which the name is not always written.
In one of the huts they found a burned corpse of a child, which is still uncleared. In gardens grow trees along the river. He was buried in the Orthodox, near the church. In the evening they said that the hut in which he was found was Jewish. Well, what to do, all people are the same and not to lie to this baby like that!
A huge pit was dug, four corpses of dead soldiers covered with overcoats lay in different directions in front of it, their eyes were open, one arm was raised, they were killed during the offensive.
Carried here to a mass grave for burial. But wait, when will bring 12 more people killed, but not yet brought. They lay under the open sky in the sun, not mourned by anyone, as if nobody needed them, nobody's hands crossed them in a new way, no prayers were heard over them. The names of these heroes will never be known, no one will remember their feat.
Yuliya.
COVER: Vlad Ivantcov - stock.adobe.com
