This program is a tribute to the memory of the Russian poetess and member
of the French Resistance movement during World War Two, Mother Maria.
The 19th-century classical Russian writer Ivan Turgenev said once: "If
such people disappear, the book of history will close for ever! For there
will be nothing worth reading in it." Of course, the writer, who lived
much earlier, was not acquainted with the heroine of our story, Elizaveta
Kuzmina-Karavaeva, better known as Mother Maria. But he knew the psychology
of people of her kind. Such people are always on the lookout for a lofty
ideal, for a high mission to their life. They are always ready for a spiritual
challenge.
Elizaveta was born in 1891 into a family of the gentry. As a child she
lived in the south of Russia, in the small Black Sea resort, Anapa. The
family estate was located near ancient burial mounds. That was a magic
world for the girl who could watch archeological excavations for hours
on end. Imaginative and gifted, Elizaveta described what she saw in verses.
Her first collection of poems, "Fragments of Scythian
Pottery," which appeared in 1912, was inspired by the vivid pictures
of her childhood.
As a young girl, Elizaveta was lucky to meet the famous Russian poet Alexander
Blok, who greatly influenced her both as a poet and a personality. This
influence and what eventually became a lifetime love for the poet were
the highlights of Elizaveta's life.
However, Elizaveta was not a person to be content with a happy private
life. She had a strong drive for self-sacrifice and an all-out commitment
to a lofty cause. So in 1931 she took the veil and became Mother
Maria. This took place in France where the family emigrated after the 1917
Bolshevik revolution in Russia. Maria became a missionary of the Christian
Movement, a religious organization, which helped Russian emigrants. Maria's
compatriots had a hard time struggling for a survival in a foreign country
and longing for their homes back in Russia. Mother Maria did
everything she could to prevent them from falling into despair or even
committing suicide. She bought a building in Paris where she arranged a
hostel and a canteen for poor and homeless Russian emigrants. She committed
herself to helping her compatriots and bore her cross with dignity and
joy. When Nazi troops occupied Paris, Mother Maria’s cloister
became a center of French Resistance and an anti-Hitler emigration-center.
Always energetic, cheerful, and determined, with nothing of a nun in her,
Maria ran everything in the center. Russian emigrants used to gather near
a wireless to listen to the voice of Moscow, or in front of a large map
of the Soviet Union, with small flags moved about by Mother Maria in accordance
with the latest news reports. Mother Maria gave refuge to Soviet
prisoners of war who escaped from concentration camps.
In February 1943, Mother Maria was arrested and sent to the concentration
camp for women in Ravensbruck. According to evidence of other inmates,
she was never in low spirits, never complained, never lost her dignity
even when most brutally insulted, and was always ready to give a helping
hand to anyone who might need it. Many people who could not stand the suffering
any more turned to her for support. Mother Maria died in March 1945, with
slightly more than a month to go before the end of the war. There are several
versions of her death. One of them says that she offered a young
woman nominated for a gas chamber to change places and died instead of
that woman. Though until now there is no verifiable evidence that
this version is true, the legend is highly plausible. Indeed, it is very
much in keeping with the character of Mother Maria, a woman who became
a legend in her lifetime…
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