The sun does not quite dispel the gloom of this downcast, dismal, and lingering drizzle. But a pale sun suddenly looms up now and again. The rain never pours and the wind fleecing the trees of its leaves won't break out into the anticipated thunderstorm. The hurricane hasn't happened yet. Not yet anyway!
Despite this discouraging weather, the German cemetery in Moscow with the Gothic-arched and sharply-pointed tower still takes you back with its stunning beauty. And in Autumn where it is shrouded by fallen red golden leaves I wager that the cemetery looks its best. Everything seems more transparent in the clear autumn sky.
I try to enter the cemetery one minute early as the gate is already open but the guard gestures to his watch and smiles, saying, "It is not nine yet."
I am visiting this cemetery to find the grave of Patrick Gordon, a famous Scottish general and mentor of Peter the Great, but I get lost in this labyrinth. Seeing I'm lost, a friendly security man approaches me and advises me to visit their information office--as people there will certainly know the location.
The Vvedenskoi or German Graveyard is one of the most famous places where you can find the graves of many foreigners who are buried here. It was built in 1771 to bury the victims of a deadly plague as well as to serve the foreign community sealed off in the German Suburb of the Lefortovsky district. For instance, there are the graves of the Normandy Niemen French air pilots who died while serving on the eastern Front against the Germans during the Great Patriotic War, French soldiers who died in 1812, and German prisoners who died during the First World war.
Those devoted French military men are still being remembered here! Although their bodies were later taken and reburied in 1953 in France, their gravesites along with a memorial were left here. They were called 'Ambassadors of French courage.' As many as 43 French pilots died out of around 100 French serving. From the original squadron of 14, only three pilots returned home alive. The Russians highly respect them. They have never forgotten their deeds. By all accounts the French pilots adored life! As one Russian officer stated, "They loved the sky as much as they loved life." The pilots loved to joke, sing songs, play cards, dance to music and fall in love. They had a way with words! One pilot paid a compliment to the nearby female Russian pilots by declaring, "Even if we picked all the flowers in the world for those women, it would never be enough to do them justice!"
As for picking flowers, this brings us to a contentious subject. It is an old custom in Russia and other countries to visit graveyards on the anniversary of the birth and death of their friends and relatives. Orlando Figes states that "At set times of the year, but especially at Easter and Pentecost, it was important for the family to give remembrance to the dead and feed their souls, in graveyard picnics, with ritual breads and pies and decorated eggs' {“Natasha's Dance, A Cultural History of Russia, 2003. London: Penguin Books, p.353}.
The writer and folklorist Andrei Sinyavsky wrote, 'We imagine the soul as something incorporeal, ethereal, intangible, in the folk understanding it is not that way at all : the soul has the shape and form of a human body. The soul eats and drinks, feels heat and cold, and lives in close alliance with the body. As a person grows and matures, so does his soul. But here the oneness is not complete. The soul doesn't literally consume the same food a person eats, but is nourished by the spirit of this food- it's steam and smell' {‘Ivan the Fool,’ in “Russian Folk Belief, A Cultural History,” by Andrei Sinyavsky, translated by Joanne Turnbull, 2007. Moscow: Glass, p. 135}.
Yevgeni, a cheerful and friendly 43-year-old businessman sees nothing wrong with this custom. He often visits the German cemetery on the anniversary of the birth and death of his relatives and friends to hold remembrance gatherings. He told me "We all leave flowers. But after one ceremony I was surprised to see them breaking the stems of the flowers they had laid. They explained that they did it so that the homeless would not come and take the flowers and resell them on the streets. If we break them, they won't pinch (steal) them, they told me."
Che Rumas , who is not from Russia expressed a different perspective on this. He wrote that "Food is left at graves in order that the homeless can eat it and pray for the dead!" When some worker at the cemetery heard this, he stated 'That's an interesting version. I, in truth sometimes, on the contrary, drive away the homeless and feel shame that they eat such food. It is possible there are different customs.'
For some Russians, to take food, drink and flowers from graves is taboo. It shows disrespect for the dead and their relatives. It is regarded by some as a blasphemy. But that is not how all Russians see things.
For example, a 48-year-old Russian teacher of English from Kishinev, Moldova, Oksana Cheborateva told me "People who visit graveyards and leave drink and food in Kishinev see nothing wrong with the homeless taking this. In fact, they think that it is better the homeless take them than that this food goes off and is wasted."
But what would the saintly German doctor Fredrich Haas{1780-1853} have to say about this ? This legendary doctor rushed around Moscow offering free medical aid to anyone who needed it, ardently fought for the rights of prisoners, and founded a hospital devoted to aiding the homeless. In his time, the doctor was regarded by some as a 'crank' and 'madman'. Even in the 21st century some authors write, 'He was a fanatic of kindness' as if there was something abnormal about him. But he was simply doing what any good doctor does—help as many people feeling distress as possible. There is nothing fanatical or eccentric about this. It should be the normal and natural thing for a doctor or any person to do. When some Russians asked him 'Why don't you return to Germany?" he answered, "I love Russia and the Russian people and I want to help them."
Once a group of thieves tried to rob him by depriving him of his warm fur coat. He told him that if he lost his fur coat he could freeze to death. "If you need any medical treatment you can come to my hospital. Just mention my name 'Doctor Haas." "Batushka (“father”), why did you not tell us your were Haas? " They did not take his fur coat and gave him a safe escort.
When an inconsolable French woman was upset and going hysterical he simply walked up to her and tenderly took her hand and said some warm words to her. She immediately calmed down and even smiled. It is evident that this doctor had a great talent for consoling and assisting people.
Once he got down on his knees before Nicolas the 1st and refused to get up unless the Tsar gave mercy to an old man being sent to Siberia. The Tsar relented. No doubt Haas would ask people not to drive the homeless out of cemeteries but to assist them in all possible ways. You can find his grave in this very cemetery with his motto 'Hurry up and do good.'
As for beggars who sometimes hang about graveyards, not all cultures would despise and ill treat them as the suitors did in Homer's Odyssey or in the England of George Orwell's time. According to Russian folklore, beggars can even be heroes or pilgrims who pray for the living and the dead. The Kaliki perekhozhie 'wandering beggars' do not perform military feats but they possess the strength of bogatyrs (warriors).'
What is certain is that the living still come to this graveyard to ask the dead to help them. At the Erlanger Chapel there exists a custom where if you write some wish on the walls it will come true. If you visit this chapel, you might read requests such as 'Help my daughter to find a nice and rich husband' or 'Make sure my husband stops drinking alcohol.'
Around the grave of a factory owner called Knoppov, there is a statue of Christ with his arms raised. People visit this grave with buckets and bottles of water. They pour water over the right hand of the statue of Christ and it drips into a container. The water is then used to cure illness.
There is even a legend of one grief stricken woman who could not get over the death of her husband. She kept on visiting the Erlanger Chapel and praying to God for the return of her dead husband. One day, a man turned up who was the spitting image of her husband. She met and married this man! So this cemetery is not only a place of mourning but miracles! At least for some people.
Natalie Poludina, a 20-year-old student of art history marvels at the beauty of this graveyard. She states, "I think it is wonderful how people from different nationalities are buried together. It is as if they are all united in death." There is no doubt that the living not only remember and pray for the dead, but the dead can actually help the living. And without doubt the dead who lie in this cemetery, especially Doctor Haas, would want to help the homeless who came here?
Some witnesses testify that in the early hours of the morning, the ghost of a small boy comes to pray music on a flute by the doctor's grave. So someone is paying homage to the hero who helped the homeless.
And who knows? Perhaps he is still helping the homeless!