CRIMEAN KARAITES IN THE ARMED FORCES OF THE SOUTH OF RUSSIA (1918 – 1920)

Abstract

The paper analyses the information about soldiers and officers of the Voluntary Army of the South of Russia from Crimean Karaites communities who took part in the Civil War. The information on the Karaites’ participation in World War I and the Civil War is scattered in scientific and local history literature. However, it should be noted that these data are not complete and have a fragmentary character; in some cases, there are some factual mistakes and inaccuracies. The paper aims at reconstructing the biographies of the Karaites-servicemen of the Voluntary Army of the South of Russia in that period. Archive documents kept in the funds of Taurida and Odessa Karaite Religious Division of the State Archive of the Republic of Crimea (Simferopol), collections on statistics dating to the end of the 19th – early 20th centuries, data from various bibliographic reference books, memoirs of military operations participants and the materials of pre-revolutionary periodicals were used during the work on this paper.A significant number of Karaites fought in the Voluntary Army of the South of Russia in 1918–1920. Many were killed in battles against the Red Army and the Bolshevik «Red» terror; some managed to leave the Crimean peninsula. An important task in the study of this issue is the continued search for and reconstruction of biographies of the Karaites who were in the ranks of the Voluntary Army of the South of Russia. A promising direction in the study of this problem is the collection of historical data, materials, periodicals, memoirs and participants in the events of 1918–1920.

Keywords

• civil war
• white movement
• crimea
• karaites