Hailar Russian School 6th Grade 1955

	Mitrofanov
2	Baranov
3	Mitrofanov
4	Aksonov
5	Tinishev, Seit
6	Sambaev
7	Kayevich
8	Agishev, Shevket
9	Sabin
10	Indikov
11	Aksonova
12	Borisenko
13	Ivanova
14	Gupkina
15	Plusnina
16	Fomina, Shefika
17	Parigina
18	Diberdeeva, Eyshe
19	Mansurova, Nuriye
20	Muragova
21	Nagornova
22	Morozova
23	Vorosova
24	Vogoslavekaya
25	Kudekova, Nuriye
26	Brusensova
27	Mchenskaya
28	Tulakina
29	Merdin
30	Smirnova
31	Sherbakova
32	Kormutina
34	Kirusheva, Talia
	March 26, 1955 – Hailar Russian School – 6th Grade

 

 

Tatar Communites of East Asia - Exhibit at Tatar Bina - California

ABOVE: top left - Tokyo Mosque - built 1938

bottom left - Tatars of Pusan - Korea

top right - Tokyo Tatars 1929

bottom right - Harbin School - 1924

ABOVE: Kobe Japan Tatar Community 1953

Upon receiving Turkish Citizenship

Photo taken in the yard of the Tatar School / next to Mosque

After the war.

Tatar ladies of Kobe Japan

left - Tatars in front of Tatar school - Hailar China

center- Tatars of Kobe Japan

right - Tatars in front of  Tokyo Japan Tatar school -1929

Hailar gets mention in Military program

 If you have studied anything about Hailar, very little information exists, very few photographs exist. In this short military program, Hailar is mentioned three times at around 1:25.

Tatar School - Hailar/Haylar Manchuria China 1922

 

Young Zuhre Ebe Kugus is second from the left in the front row.

This is from the collection of Rauf/Sadiye Kiris

Diaspora in Northeast Asia

Larisa Usmanova, The Türk-Tatar Diaspora in Northeast Asia. Transformation of Consciousness: A Historical and Sociological Account Between 1898 and the 1950s 

The study focuses on Turkic speaking Muslims who migrated from their homeland, the Volga-Ural region of the Russian empire, to Japan, China, Korea and Manchuria in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and tells the story of the formation of the diaspora in the Far East. The author starts out from the constructivist approach of diaspora studies in international relations, which emphasizes "norms and identities in the construction of social relations" and approaches diaspora as a ‘unique common life-style’ rather than as an ethnic or demographic phenomenon. Although she promises a study of the diaspora experience, the author is clearly keeping within the constraints of her own disciplinary background (sociology and political science); her research is also defined by the nature of the basic source material used which was the weekly newspaper called Milli Bairaq (National Flag) published in Manchuria between 1935 and 1945. Additionally, other Tatar émigré periodicals, Russian newspapers and diverse archival sources held in Tatarstan and Japan as well as private documents and photographs of the immigrants have also been consulted.

In Chapter 1 the author carefully addresses the problems of self-designation and self-identification as well as the characteristics shared by members of the group, such as the Turkic language spoken in the Volga region, Islam and a shared sense of history and territorial belonging. In addition to the theoretical perspective, this same chapter also considers the most important stages of the emergence of the diaspora, which included the construction of the Chinese Eastern Railway in 1898 and the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917. The latter was followed by the intensive migration of Tatar peasants to Manchuria, later joined by intellectuals, merchants and their families and the former military personnel who had previously fought on the side of the white Russians. This narrative of the diaspora history is often interrupted by digressions on the characterization of the changing collective identity of the diaspora communities, which renders the reading somewhat awkward. Changing ideological influences are also addressed here, but they are elaborated in greater detail in Chapter 2, which focuses on the diaspora leaders and their shifting ideological agendas; these included belonging to the Altaic brotherhood, membership in the Prometheus League, or following Pan-Turkism, Turanism or Asianism. Chapter 3 presents the organizational structures of the diaspora, its major periodicals as well as the relations of the diaspora communities with their respective host countries. The first two congresses of the Türk-Tatar diaspora are treated here in greater detail. These congresses seem to have set a double agenda since they were concerned both with their own affairs as diaspora and with their relationship to their host countries, as well as with the fate of those they had left behind in the Soviet Union, which included no less than about 60 million brethren. Educational and religious problems faced in the diaspora situation as well as in the homeland were central to such discussions, which were invariably accompanied by lamentations of the gradual loss of national traditions. This is not so surprising since both the homeland communities as well as the diaspora were facing a situation whereby they lived in societies dominated by ethnically and linguistically very different, non–Muslim majorities. The trick was to develop ideologies which could reject Russian dominance but could simultaneously include the dominant majorities of the host countries. Nationalist ideology served as a useful point of departure: it spoke of a retreating, dying national spirit which needed revitalization and it was often likened to the ‘Asian spirit’. The great nations of Asia, or the ‘East’, were urged to unite against intensifying Europeanization. The diaspora organizations also took a very resolute anti-communist and anti-atheist stance, which further distanced these Türk-Tatars from the Russians. The author points out that, while these ideologies were mobilized in very specific historical circumstances and constituted strategies developed in response to the shifts and turns in international politics, simultaneously, the political agenda could also be coloured by sentiments which could not be explained simply by rational political calculations: while alliance or at least political cooperation was advocated with Georgians, Ukranians and Finno-Ugric peoples, such rapprochement with white Russians was considered to be out of question for religious and racial reasons.

Chapter 4 constitutes the most substantial part of the study. It considers aspects of social life and relations of what can be reconstructed of the individual Türk-Tatar diaspora communities. The descriptions of individual communities vary in length and detail, which reflect the size and importance of the individual communities. They include details about those aspects of communal life which were deemed significant enough to be included in the diaspora newspapers. Details include commemorations of important events in diaspora history, the celebration of religious rituals, financial affairs, the opening of a new mosque, references to marriages and deaths, education, charitable activities and interethnic relations. They also contain information concerning the occupational profile of community members and organizational activities initiated within the diaspora. The Conclusion summarizes the main chapters,emphasizes the role of religion in their identity formation and their later fate. The author concludes that the diaspora in northeast Asia did not follow the pattern of developing from labour migrants into immigrant communities,neither did they integrate into Asian societies; in spite of seeking political alliance with Asian countries and embracing ideologies that emphasized their closeness to Asian societies and cultures, they “were culturally attracted to Western models of civilization more so than by Eastern ones......though they chose an Islamic type of civilization in the “civilization conflict” and the East as a partner in the anti-colonial struggle with the Christian West”. (p. 205). The author, who hails from Kazan herself, maintains that even today Tatars in both the homeland and in the diaspora face an identity conflict, feeling torn between East and West. Here a few critical remarks are in order. Situating Tatars in a framework which inevitably evokes Huntington’s theory does not seem to do justice to the evidence emerging from the rich materials presented by the chapters and to the complexities of contemporary Tatar identity. Throughout the book the author is at pains to provide as many details as possible which, together with the sometimes confusing structure of the individual chapter (especially Chapter I), result in a style which is not always reader–friendly. Furthermore, the English language editing could have been done more thoroughly. In spite of this, the study is a pioneering, interdisciplinary work which sheds new light on the history of the Türk-Tatar diaspora in the Far East prior to World War II and is of interest to diaspora specialists and students of Tatar history.

Ildikó Bellér-Hann

another incredible pic from Hailar - China

Rehmet Nural Absi.  Bu bek matur.

Teachers of the Tatar School in Hailar - China

back row: Fidot Evdakimoviç? Isakin?? (elbow out), Şahzam Kiruşev Tamari-san, Hadiçe Fomina (became Hadiçe Kuguşeva)
seated:  Fatima Kosova? (became Fatima Akçurin) , Zuhre Kuguşeva (became Zuhre Kiruşeva - then Zuhre Kiriş), Safiye Akçurin - (became Safiye Kudeki).

Fatima, Zuhre, Safiye

Safiye Akçurin - Zuhre Kuguşeva (1938)

Three sisters in the front  Rauza, Mahira, Hanife (Kuguş/Kuguşeva Sisters)

Behind them left to right - Safiye Akçurin, Zuhre Kuguş, Tamari-San?

Here is a pic of another group in front of the school in Hailar.

Here is another pic of the same school from 1922

Haylar - Hailar "ГОРОД ХАЙЛАР"

click on image to expand
to expand further, right click on image and go to "View Image"

These are from Iskender's parents who received these photocopies from Russian friends in Australia.

Tatar School in Hailar - China 1922

Here's a pic we haven't seen before. It's of the Tatar school in Hailar, China from a different angle. This pic is from the collection of Nural Akchurin.

Hailar - China - Inner Mongolia

I include this last video for the intro drive before the church scene.

More about Hailar

Located in the northern reaches of Inner Mongolia, Hailar is the largest city in the Hulunbuir Prefecture with rolling grasslands stretching for endless miles.

The city had been an oasis of action for wandering herdsmen. Plants used to line both the sides of Hailar River. Perhaps the most interesting feature of the city is the ethnic diversity. There are 25 different resident minority groups in Hailar, including Mongol, Hui and less prevalent groups such as the Manchurians, Koreans, Ewink and Daur peoples.

The outskirts holds the impressive Hulun Lake and the small border town of Manzhouli filled with Russian border traders. To the north of Hailar lies a vast expanse of some of China's most rugged areas, good for camping if allowed access.

HailarClimate

Hailar, located in the remote reaches of northern Inner Mongolia, has a fairly mean climate. Lying at the high latitude that it does, the city and its surrounds becomes very cold in winter, reaching temperatures below -20 degrees C. The region at this time is drab, as the grasslands turn cardboard brown or are covered with an icy snow layer.

If you are here to see the grasslands or visit Manzhouli your best bet is to come between July and September, when the grasses are usually green. It is still worthwhile bringing a coat though, since even in the hottest days of summer, night temperatures drop dramatically.

Dining Overview
There is a surprisingly varied mixture of cuisines in this remote area of Inner Mongolia, along with the standard Mongolian Hotpots and lamb dishes, are others including Russian, western, Chinese, fish and local dishes. Most of the best areas for dining are in the hotels, so it is often worth checking out the area that you are staying in before going on a hunt about town. Most do not have English menus.

Within Hailar, there are a variety of good, inexpensive restaurants along Beixie jie, all of fairly similar standards. Other than this you are best trying eating in the hotels, the Friendship Hotel has a particularly good restaurant. There is also a night market on Qiaotou dajie that has basic snacks and noodles.

The Hulunbuir Prairie is considered by locals as the place to sample the most tender and delicious mutton on earth! The grassland nomads have had thousands of years practice in preparing this food and the result is hundreds of different dishes that are sometimes hard to distinguish. The best way to get a true feel for the grassland cuisine is through a mutton banquet (Zhongyang yan), which will give you the opportunity to try the traditional lamb hotpot (Yangrou huoguo), sauce-stewed lamb (Hongmen yangrou), and the simple, yet often tasty hand-held mutton (Shouba rou). These banquets will need at least four people, and usually come to about RMB100.

The nearby border town of Manzhouli is the place to come for good Russian food (if you have not the time to go to Russia itself). There are a good selection of these restaurants around town, look for the Russian signs and styled architecture. Within the Minzhu Hotel is one of the best of these, probably due to the many Russians that frequent this place. Both the International Hotel and the Friendship Hotel have good Chinese restaurants. The biggest cuisine in town is Mongolian, that can be had on most of the streets here.

Transportation

The area around Hailar, is surprisingly easy to reach for such a remote corner of the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region, although it is still a long journey from most obvious destinations. Train is almost always your best option, beyond flying. Hailar itself has an airport that makes everything a lot easier.

By plane: Except for Monday, there are daily flights between Beijing and Hailar, that take about two hours. Intra-province air transport is also fairly convenient, although less frequent. It is possible to fly to Hohhot (two and a half hours) and Xilinhot (two hours and twenty minutes).

Hailar Dongshan Airport is just 7km away from the city proper (RMB20 by taxi). The airport bus departs from the CAAC booking office (on Qiantou dajie, near to the Minzu Hotel) for RMB3.

By train: Binzhou Railway line traverses the city, linking it with Beijing, Harbin, Hohhot, Baotou and Manzhouli. Train No.1301 departs Beijing at 9:52 every day and arrives at Hailar about 30 hours later at around 15:27 the following day. Other choices include the weekly train K19 from Beijing to Moscow (departing at 23:10 every Saturday, reaching Hailar at 2:20 the next day), train T439 from Harbin (departing at 19:08 and arriving at 7:15 the next morning) and train K274 from Baotou (leaving at 16:14 and arriving at 13:09 the next day). From Moscow coming the other way, there are also one train a week that stops in Manzhouli and Hailar.

The railway station lies in the northwestern part of town. Advanced tickets can be bought through CITS (0470-8224017, on the second floor of the post office building [Jianfa dasha], Shengli dajie), or in the Friendship Store (Youyi shangdian, beside the Friendship Hotel).

By bus: Bus is not recommended for traveling around, since the city boasts a good railway transport system. There is a long-distance bus station on Chezhan jie, southeast of the railway station, where you may find a buses to Manzhouli (3 hrs.).

City transport: You may find an excess of taxis and motortricyles (RMB5 for most errands) in town. Nevertheless, so long as you are not in a hurry or venturing to the outskirts, you legs should more than suffice.

Hailar - Pearl on the Grassland

http://english.hailar.gov.cn/index.asp

"Hailar, as the birthplace of northern nomads, owns ancient culture of Huns, XianBei, TuJue, Mongolian hero Genghis Khan and other ethnic minorities. The city of Hailar came into being in 1743(Yongzheng 12,Qing Emperor) which has been 270 year from now. Hulunbuir league was under the jurisdiction of Heilongjiang Province from 1969 to 1979. In October 2001, Hulunbuir became the city, while Hailar changed into district and it is the only municipal district in Hulunbuir city."

Hailar in Inner Mongolia

Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region

of north and northeast China is a province, as its name implies, of residence of Mongolian ethnic group in China. Located in the north-easternmost of the province and bordering with Russian and Mongolia,

Hulun Buir

, in Chinese calls "Hu Lun Bei Er" (呼伦贝尔) was first documented in 209 BC, when the nomadic and barbaric Hun army unified the steppe nations in northern Asia, and Hulun Buir became one of their three imperial lands. In 29 AD, Hsien-pei, an ancient ethnic minority in the Mongolia region, had become civilized from their forest nomad origins and begun closely associated with China's Eastern Han Dynasty, Hsien-pei people were living along the Hailar River and other rivers there. In the Tang Dynasty (618 AD – 907 AD), Hulun Buir had been the eastern border of the Turki nationality, which was once a threat to the Chinese dynasty. Tartar and other northern minorities occupied the territory between ninth and thirteenth centuries AD.

In early thirteenth century, the founder of the ancient Mongolian Empire, Genghis Khan, conferred Hulun Buir land to his younger brothers. When the Ming Dynasty defeated the Mongolian army in 1368, the area was still belonged to Mongolian nation. In the year of 1734 during the Qing Dynasty, Manchu people established Hailar City in Hulun Buir. After setting up of the Puppet Manchu State in 1932, Hulun Buir became a provincial level area called Xing An Province and the "provincial capital" was Hailar. At the end of the Anti-Japanese War (1937 – 1945), autonomous authority governed Hulun Buir and the area became a self-rule province in northeast China. In 2001, Hulun Buir has become a city approved by the Chinese State Council and Hailar city's status abolished and thus it became a district.

Today, most people in Hulun Buir are Han Chinese, which takes up about 82 percent of population of 2.71 million (in 2004). In addition to the Mongolian ethnic group, there are about 30 minorities living there, including Russians and Koreans. The Han Chinese people are mostly from northern and northeastern China and maintained their customs from their places of origin. However, in the western part of Hulun Buir, Chinese people are influenced by local ethnic minorities' living habits. Congee, noodles, Mantou bread and rice are Chinese style staple foods in the eastern area, but beef, mutton and Mongolian style milk tea are eaten in the west. There are lots of special restaurant in downtown Hulun Buir. Ethnic festivals will be held during the short summer season, so, if you don't like snow, you'll perhaps very enjoy the cheerful atmosphere in warm weather.

The Daxing'anling Range (大兴安岭) is stretching over Hulun Buir from the north down to the south. The land elevation is higher compared to the east. The climate in the western section is relatively dry with less precipitation and of course slightly colder than in the east, where belongs to cool monsoon climate, annual rainfall is 500 to 800 millimeters. Great temperature difference between day and night as well as summer and winter.

The steppe in Hulun Buir is one of the best grasslands in the world. Manzhouli City, on the border with Russian Federation, is a famous place for doing business and commodity transactions between China, Mongolia and Russia. The Mongolian yurts are circular, domed, portable tents, which are for their traditional custom of living. The northern forest area is excellent for photographers, it will be very beautiful when in fall. Of course, it is to be exciting skiing season in long winter. Shopping, Mongolian woodcarvings and Russian style handicrafts are widely available in town. You Yi Da Sha (Friendly Building) is a big shopping mall in the center of Hulun Buir.

Hailar District is the resident of Hulun Buir municipal government. It is located in southwest of Hulun Buir City. Hailer is being surrounded by mountains at its three sides and there are two rivers flowing through. Being regarded as the Pearl of the Steppe, bordering with Mongolia and Russia, the district is an economically developed area. The trans-Siberian Beijing to Moscow passenger train has a stop here. Air traffic to Beijing, Hohhot and several Russian cities is convenient too. Hailar, got its name from the Hailar River in the north of the district. Hailar means "wild leeks" in Mongolian language, because on the both banks of the Hailar River had been full of leeks.

http://www.absolutechinatours.com/china-travel/Hulun-Buir/Hulun-Buir.html

Hailar - Haylar China Manchuria - Russian Inner Mongolia

The sign on the side of the building reads "Manchuriya" in Cyrillic Russian

Old Carts pulling wood

Hailar General View. Gymnasia is the white two-story structure.

Hailar - Camel and Hay

These images we believe to be from just after 1932.

The area was occupied by the Chinese in the 7th century ce under the early Tang dynasty (618–907), when it was part of the Heishui protectorate general. Chinese occupation, however, was short-lived and never very effective. During the period of Mongol domination in the 13th century, there was a walled settlement on the river’s north bank, traces of which survive. In late Ming times (16th–17th century) the area was occupied by the Solon (Tungus) and Daghor (Daur) peoples. After 1644, under the Qing dynasty (1644–1911/12), the Manchus gave a considerable degree of autonomy to the local Mongol tribes, who established Hailar as their seat. The city’s development was greatly stimulated in 1899 with the arrival of the Chinese Eastern Railway, built by the Russians under the Sino-Russian treaty of 1896. In 1901, during the Boxer Rebellion of Chinese against foreigners, Hailar was occupied by Russian forces. In 1905 it was opened as a river port for foreign commerce. The Chinese government abolished its autonomous status in 1910, renamed the city Hulun (designating it a county), and established a regular Chinese local administration. In 1912, however, the local Mongol population, particularly the Bargut, began a series of rebellions, with Russian encouragement, that forced the Chinese to restore some measure of autonomy. After many Chinese had settled along the railway to the east of Hailar, the Chinese government again canceled (1919) the Bargut’s autonomy and incorporated the whole area into adjacent Heilongjiang province. Constant encroachment and exploitation by the Chinese settlers and merchants brought about a serious Mongol uprising in 1928. The rebellious Mongols established an autonomous region of Hulun Buir, the independence of which was recognized by the Japanese in Manchuria (Northeast China). Following the establishment (1931) in Manchuria of the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo (Manzhouguo), the Mongolian border area was again organized into an autonomous region, Xing’an, with Hailar as the northern provincial capital. In 1947 it was incorporated into Inner Mongolia.
The city’s primary role has always been that of a market and commercial center. In earlier times it was the terminus of caravan routes from central Mongolia and the site of great annual horse fairs. Now a railway city and the focus of an extensive road network, it stands between the areas colonized by Chinese settlers and the Mongolian border pasture lands. It trades in meat, hides, and dairy products. Plants manufacturing machines, chemicals, and paper have been established there. A large open-cut coal mine is located about 42 miles (70 km) south of the city, near the Yimin River. Hailar also has established a food-processing industry, using the rich farming and livestock products nearby. Pop. (2000) 253,576.

above from online Encyclopedia Brittanica

Hailar Tatar School - Manchuria Tatars - Manchukuo

 

I'm working on getting the names for this...

I'll get a year on this...

I believe this is the school where my Zuhre Ebe was the Principal.

This Gentleman is my Mother's Grandfather. His name was Shakirjan (Kirusheff)

Tatars in China - Manchouko Hailar Harbin Sin Zin Shanghai

1923-1939 Emperor of Manchuria (Manchukuo)
who looks like he's 12 or 13 years old and already bad eyesight

Hailar Turko-Tatar school - copied from http://www.aliakis.org/

look how pretty it is, and look at the window pane detail, the white picket fence!

My Eni and her little brother were born in Hailar (Haylar) China. Hailar is in Manchuria, but during their time there, it was Occupied by the Japanese, and the state was called Manchouko. There were Tatar communities in Hailar, Harbin, Shanghai, and Sin Zin. (possibly more) My Zuhre Ebe was a Principal at a Tatar School there.

My Eni was educated at a Russian school and a Tatar School. The above pic is her 7th grade. It looks like the Imperial City on the wall behind them. (or a really nice Chinese restaurant). My Eni front row left left.

Our family left after the Chinese closed our schools. I'm sure there were many other reasons.

I've heard some stories of difficulties they endured there. I've also heard stories of a nice life there. Eni has flowers in her garden that she used to plant in Hailar as a little girl. (cosmos)

People often ask, "Do you Speak Chinese?" Nope. I don't think the Tatars there spoke much Chinese either. Eni says "We were there as Russians, holding Russian Communist Passports."

These are from a Turkish magazine from the 1970's. This magazine was called "Kazan" and distributed globally to Tatars in diaspora. With all respect, this Imam on the right, with the tassel, looks like an actor from a silent film. He reminds me of how, as children, we would play "flying carpet" with our Turkish carpets. We didn't receive the bounty of an American Christmas, but our carpets could fly! That was due to the influence of the cartoon "Arabian Nights". The Arabs would say "Rozan Kobar" or something (Hollywood Arabic) like that and the carpet would fly off! Some Turkish carpets, with their geometric patterns and parallel lines, make great racing strips for Hot Wheels (toy cars) too. The first Mullah that I remember here in California was a really nice (little) man. He would give kids cookies that he made. They were like a big "O" and delicious.

These two more are from Sin Zin and of the Mosque in Harbin. It looks lovely. The horizontal stripes hint at Flemish architecture. I wonder if it's still there. I asked Eni not too long ago if anyone has ever returned? Very few.

I asked if there was a dominant geographic feature defining Hailar. Is it on a river? Is it a sleepy little town? Are there mountains?
Eni said there was a river. The last person she knows that went there said it dried up.

This is a more recent picture sent to me from Harbin of a mosque there. Is it the same?