Augusta Constantinovna Kaidaloff

“The lord is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation.”

Exodus XV

The Early Years in Repolovo and Tobolsk

I
n June of 1967 while recovering from debilitating injures sustained in a traffic
accident Augusta Constantinovna Nizkovsky prepared a short biography of
her life. This document was wonderfully written and translation into English
does it little justice. Never the less in English or in Russian it provides detail
about personal lives during a very turbulent period of history that could be
obtained in no other way. Her connection to a distant time is made by means of a
walk along Kitsilano Beach on the shores of English Bay in Vancouver, BC.

Just now I went for a walk near the sea. How I love the water. As a child in Siberia in the
Oblast of Tobolsk, the village of Repolovo1, Samarovski Province, I lived surrounded by
rivers; on one side the old path of the Irtysh River and on the other side the new path. (How
my head is spinning. That is all due to an operation I underwent. The anesthetic has
resulted in dizziness.)2 How I loved that river. All of my childhood was spent on the river.3

The Irtysh River

The Irtysh is one of the biggest and longest rivers in Russia with a length of
4,248 km. The Irtysh is longer than either of the two other large Siberian rivers,
the Yenisei and the Ob, and its watershed is bigger than that of the Volga
covering an area of 1,595,680 km.

The Irtysh starts as a small brook on icy slopes of the Altai Mountains in Mongolia, at the
height of 2,500 m above the sea level, in faraway and magic country of Dzungaria —
Western part of a Chinese province Sinsiang. Falling down from the mountains, the upper
flow of the river washes away the banks. Its character causes its name. The word “Irtysh”
means “earth-mover” in Turkic.
The Irtysh River and the Tobol River exhibit dramatic course changes and the rivers merge
near the city of Tobolsk. The city is located on the high, eastern bank of the Irtysh River.
The Irtysh River drains westward until it merges with the northerly flowing Tobol River. After
the two rivers merge, the Irtysh River makes a ninety-degree turn to the north. Due to the
very flat landscape that characterizes the vast West Siberian Plain, meander scars are
pronounced and extensive. Several oxbow lakes (roughly shaped like horseshoes) show
the location of former river channels. The dark, mainly oval-shaped features (upper left
quadrant) are shallow lakes. The inherent infrared quality of the image (green vegetation is
portrayed as shades of red) helps to identify pinkish-looking areas, mainly in the
floodplains, where vegetative cover can be discriminated.4

55
 Alexandra Ivanovna Plastina
Mother of Augusta

Constantine Kaidaloff
Father of Augusta

The Kaidaloff Family

Far left: Augusta Kaidaloff; Far right: Constantine Kaidaloff
Others: unknown

56
57
 The Tobolsk Region of Western Siberia

River sturgeon of the type caught in the Irtysh River

58
River Steamers near Tobolsk – by Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii
international.loc.gov/ mtfph/php/pcolor11.html

59
These two documents are official appointments of Augusta Constantinovna to teaching positions.

The document on the left is dated 1910 and was a position taken in the District of Tzingali which was a region
within the Province of Tobolsk. No village or district with this name exists on modern maps but given the
vagaries of spelling and the difficulties involved in translating Russian words into English Tzingali may still
exist but under a slightly different name. Tobolsk no longer exists as a province and many of the districts have
been renamed making it difficult to precisely locate this place. In her autobiography Augusta explains that she
took this position because the teacher who had held the job had fallen ill. Augusta remained in this school until
1914 when she married Valentin Nizkovsky.

The document on the right is dated 1919. This was for a teaching position in the town of Yalutorovosk. Augusta
probably remained in this position until 1926 when she left for the East in search of her husband but, as
indicated below this is not certain.

There is some discrepancy between the information provided in the Autobiography and in the Personal History
Statement completed May 8, 1950. The Personal History Statement for the years 1918 - 1926 states that
Augusta (and her daughter, Militza) “continued [her] hard way to the east for joining my husband in Manchuria,
earning my living by teaching in various towns of Siberia...”

60
 Augusta’s family was very involved with the Russian Orthodox Church and this
connection remained a major theme throughout her life. “My father was a deacon
in the church and when his first wife died he decided to leave the active
priesthood.”5

The term deacon designates a third rank of the ecclesiastical hierarchy. On initial
assignment the deacons were servers at the meal of the Lord, i.e. at the fulfillment of the
liturgy. They were also ministers of the word of God. They serve at the administration of
Holy Communion for the bishops and presbyters, but do not perform sacraments, except for
baptism. They uplift prayers as assistants and read the Gospel. 6

Constantine Kaidaloff’s departure from the active ranks of the clergy was
probably motivated by the fact that he had a child to look after and he might not
have been allowed to remarry had he remained a priest. Augusta’s
autobiography presents him as an industrious man who made a good living for
his family.

He had a daughter, Claudia7, for whom a mother was needed. He, therefore, married the
daughter of a church elder, Elia8 Plastinin, who had spent fifty years with the church and
was given as a reward a blue caftan and similar belt finished with velvet. My mother was an
orphan9 and had not had a mother since her childhood. Her name was Alexandra Ivanovna

Elia Plastinin’s Belt

Plastina. Her hair was a beautiful brunette color and brushed to her knees. At that time
there were no sewing machines and everything was made by hand. All of (her) dresses
were made of pleated silk with remarkably straight seams. Even the size of the dress was
correct. My mother attended three sections of school but she could not continue to attend
parochial10 school because she had to look after the family. The parochial school was open
to all. The children of the priesthood paid 65 rubles a month and the laity 80 or 90 rubles for
the same period. This school had eight classes11 and was strongly supported by the
church.12

In his retirement father also ran a fishing business. During the summer he employed three
groups of twelve people in special spots on the river sand which he rented from the
community. Nets were purchased and sewed together in a length to make a single long
fishing net. The season began on the 21st of May and continued until the river froze. The
work was carried out in the following manner. All of the workers boarded a boat and
traveled along the river. The nets were thrown out from the boats but were hauled in from
the shore.13 Each individual using a rod went into the water to a depth of about two feet
where the rod was attached to the net. The net was then hauled out. This procedure lasted
two to three hours. When the entire net was taken out at the end there was a long bag. For
thirty years my father caught sturgeon in this manner. They usually weighed from five to ten

61
 pods.14 During this time he once caught a fish which weighed fifteen pods. Once father got
an order for sturgeon from Moscow he placed the fish in a large box and covered it with
kropya.15 All of the old women and the young children from ten to fifteen years of age
angled for fish with fishing rods. I also loved to do this. Most of the time we caught
sterlyadka and karashy.16 Often the whole population was engaged in this business.
Children, women and young girls froze the fish in winter and sold it to speculators who took
it to Tobolsk to sell. In the fall everyone also gathered ‘brushnik’ berries which were also
frozen for later use or sale.17

The Russian Orthodox Priesthood

Although a noble calling, the general lot of a priest in the late 19th and early 20th
centuries did not lead to an easy or prosperous life.

The Russian Orthodox Church of the nineteenth century encountered many grievances
from its own clergy as well as its parishioners. Both sides were demanding that reforms
take place. The clergy, especially those who lived in rural villages, were often underpaid
and had to struggle to make ends meet for their families. Clergy often had to take time
away from serving their church to cultivate food for their families. The clerical institution was
also absent of a pension for those clergy who became too elderly to serve and a welfare
system for widowed wives and orphans. The Russian people also began expressing their
dissatisfaction. They felt that the church and the clergy failed to meet the needs of the
parishioners. The church as an institution was seen as being isolated from the rest of the
outside world. This closed off institution caused many Russians to become disillusioned
with the church.
The failure of the church to fulfill the spiritual needs of the Russian people can be seen in
Leo Tolstoy’s book, Anna Karenina, which was written during this very period. Several
characters turned their backs on the Russian Orthodox Church by becoming atheists or by
turning to other religious denominations. The character, Madame Stahl, leaves the Russian
Orthodox [Church] and to turns to Pietistism for spiritual fulfillment. The character, Levin
struggles internally with his beliefs and understanding of God as well has his faith in the
church. His struggles become so intense that they lead him to become depressed. The
character, Prince Shcherbatskaya, best sums up the feelings that many Russians had at
the time when he says: ‘But what was there in church on Sunday? The Priest was ordered
to read it [the sermon] He did so. The people understood nothing, but they sighed as they
always do during a sermon. They were told that there would be a collection in the church
for the soul-saving object, so they each took out a kopek and gave it, but what was it for –
they did not know!’18
The children of priests often entered lay positions that were service oriented, such as
medicine and pedagogy. Although they did not want to serve the people’s spiritual needs by
becoming a priest many of them felt compelled to serve the people in other ways. The
children that left the clerical profession may have opted for different professions but as they
moved into the secular world they often took with them the morals and values that has been
instilled in them by their father’s and the church. The children did not necessarily leave
because they despised Russian Orthodoxy but more often because they disagreed with
many of the practices that existed in the clerical institution. They witnessed first hand the
struggles their fathers endured. Laurie Manchester excellently describes the path that many
of these children followed when she says, “Shunning the institutional constraints of the
church, they decided independently the best means of attaining the clerical ideas of service
to the people, asceticism knowledge, and moral leadership.” 19

62
Grigori Rasputin
In an interesting historical aside Augusta Constantinovna makes reference to
Grigori Rasputin who lived in a village not far from Repolovo.

One of the sons of my mother’s family, her brother John Plastinin, was a priest in the village
of Pokrovskoe20 in the Oblast of Tobolsk. This was the village where Rasputin lived and was
located about a 100 versts21 from Tobolsk. A steamer from Tobolsk stopped in this village
and my mother who was traveling to a spa saw Rasputin. She used to relate what eyes he
had. He didn’t let anyone pass by. His eyes were fixed on everyone. He would, also, want to
talk to everyone.22

Rasputin’s role in the events leading to the Russian Revolution and his
influence with the Imperial Family has become part of the mythology of the
Romanov Dynasty and the tragic story of its ultimate demise.

Repolovo on the Irtysh

Augusta Constantinovna was an educated woman and a perceptive observer
of the natural world in which she lived. Her description of the predicament of
Repolovo as it slowly slipped away from the Irtysh River is in the best tradition of
geographic observation.

Every fifty years our village of Repolovo was carried further from the Irtysh River, as the
steep shore line was constantly broken away by the strong flow of the water. The shore on
the opposite side of the river was composed of sand and chalk. This sand was like sugar
and sometimes combined with the chalk it shifted to form threatening hills of mud.23

A more modern and scientific description of the shifting banks of the Irtysh
River indicates that over time two separate river valleys were formed.
For a distance of 1,174 km the [Irtysh] river flows through the Omsk region and possesses
all specific features of a plain river. In the north of the Omsk region, the Irtysh flows through
taiga zone (thick and deep forests) until it falls into the Ob. The modern river valley is well-
developed and 15-20 km wide, though it gets narrower up to 2 km near Omsk. There also
exists the second river valley — the ancient one, about 150-200 km wide. The two terraces
can be especially well distinguished on the right bank: the lower is modern and the upper
— ancient one. The right bank is steep, high and cut with ravines, and the left one is gently
sloping and gradually turning into a plain. The banks are formed by easily washed out
friable rocks.24

Augusta’s narrative continues with observations on the climate and prosperity of

Repolovo.
Spring began on the 8th of March. The ice was melting but it remained cold until the 21st of
May.25 As a consequence plants like cucumbers were started as seedlings in boxes which
could be covered up at night. The real summer came after the 21st of May but wheat was

63
 not sowed because it would not germinate this early. There were all kinds of vegetables.
The area was very bountiful. Cattle, chickens and fowl of every kind were either kept for
personal use or sold.26
This was indeed a prosperous region. There was school for every child. The peasants all
dressed decently. There was no drunkenness and the women behaved themselves
properly. They tried to augment their husband’s income in order to have money for their
personal expenses. After 190527 incomes improved when some women sewed clothing for
the exiles or made costumes, stockings and gloves also for sale. The majority of young
people caught fish to earn income for personal expenses.28

Tobolsk

The major urban center serving this vast rural region was the city of Tobolsk.
Augusta Constantinovna makes an easy transition in her narrative from the
natural beauty of the region surrounding Repolovo to the practical and necessary
services offered in Tobolsk, particularly trade, the church and education.

During the fall of the year [in Repolovo] there grew all around the mud, berries such as
‘brusnick’ and raspberries. The mountain ash berries ripened only in November. In addition,
in the area surrounding our village there were lots of cones with nuts. This became a source
of considerable income for the villagers in the fall who did not have other definite work to do.
They were collected, cleaned and then sent to the city of Tobolsk.29
Tobolsk was also an important focus for the Russian Orthodox Church.
Tobolsk is located east of the Ural Mountains and was founded in 1587. It is considered by
many Russians to be the most beautiful and charming old town of Siberia. It is situated on a
high shore of the Irtysh River near where it is joined by the Tobol River. It was for many
years the capital of Siberia but the Trans-Siberian Railway did not pass through this major
center leaving it to decay. It remained an important focus of the Orthodox faith particularly
for those who styled themselves as the ‘old believers’ and refused to accept church
reformation.30

Even the journey to Tobolsk on the regular river steamers was an adventure
not to be forgotten.

Passenger ships came every day from Tobolsk bringing the village to life. All of the women
came to the shore and sold boiled milk, cookies and meat. The sailors on the ships bought
these provisions. On the ship there were always circus bears, wolves and other animals.
There was always a large cabin set aside for performances. This room was divided by a
cloth which had been soaked in some substance. Behind this curtain was a ladder on which
people with horns ran up and down depicting the dreaded indecent court fools.31 Tickets to
these performances were five kopeks. The presentations lasted only ten minutes and were
always attended by a multitude of people from the town who were allowed to enter the cabin
one by one.32

Most of the children from the surrounding area completed their education in
Tobolsk. They lived in Tobolsk during the school term but returned home for the
summer once school was out. It can be assumed from the context of Augusta’s
narrative that Tatiana, Agnes, Vena, Lydia, Peter, Kesar and Vjacheslav were all
brothers and sisters who were born to Constantine Kaidaloff’s second marriage

64
to Alexandra Ivanovna Plastina. The exact order in which the children were born
is not clear and it is curious that no claim to the estate of Augusta’s half sister,
Claudia, was made by any of the other siblings.
During the summer children who had gone away to the Tobolsk schools came home.
Tatiana (my) eldest sister was already a teacher as was Agnes.33 I was in the younger first
class as was Vena and Lydia who was younger than I. Peter the elder didn’t want to study
but was sent to Tobolsk to school and from there he ran away. Kesar and Vjacheslav were
studying at the male seminary. During the summer I helped mother around the house.
Father was already retired but had a small store in which he sold everything from flour and
barley to lace. Claudia, his daughter from the first marriage was attending the parochial
school but during her senior year she got married34 and left for the town of Ichym35 where
she died36 very soon after.37

Augusta Constantinovna Nizkovsky

I was very talented. In the elementary school I studied two full years but for the third year I
completed the program at home. In the summer time I helped in the house and studied
trying to approximate learning which took place at school. In the summer of 1903 when
father took me to school38 we traveled by barge as there were no ships at that time. The
barges were hauled by men attached to ropes who sang songs as they worked.39 By 1904
postal ships had been introduced on the river. Tickets were sold for 1st, 2nd and 3rd class
passage. The atmosphere on board was quite pleasant. There was a cafeteria or bistro
which was very reasonable. The ships were quite large. Small ships ran between the towns
and villages to carry the mail and other orders as well as military supplies. These ships did
not carry any passengers.40
In 1910 [in Tobolsk] I completed the course at the parochial school. At this school all of the
teachers were academics. Studies commenced at the end of August. Our building had five
stories and was designed for a thousand students. There were staircases and everything
was wonderful. In the area where the school building stood there was a hospital and a
church as well as a ‘three year’ school and the minister’s house. In the back yard of the
school there was fire wood and down the stairs in the school there was a kitchen and dining
room. The food was rich and good tasting. At each table sat twelve people. The supervisor
of the table collected twelve spoons, knives and forks and after dinner she returned them.
The waitress was very well mannered and was in uniform. Fast days were observed. In the
church there was a choir and the director was a girl. Singing was taught by a deacon who
knew singing very well. There was a right choir and a left choir. In the church the candle
holders were all girls. Girls also collected money for the church on plates. Girls sold
candles. The priest was excellent; well educated and in spirit very religious. Everything that
he taught me remains with me to this very day. In the soul all was good - that is, (we had)
faith in God. Father George, the priest, was elderly but very pleasant. After the fourth year
in our school we were given lessons in all subjects. I loved to write essays. Right from the
first classes I thought up the idea of describing people’s characters. The girls liked that very
much and they took with great pleasure the pieces of paper on which I had written the
descriptions of their personalities. They always said that my descriptions were accurate.
And even now when I look at a person I immediately form an opinion of him. This means
that I am always busy and I like that. Thus I passed from class to class with few exceptional
events in my life.41

65
The Revolution of 1905
The Russo-Japanese war of 1904-05 led to a short-lived revolution marked by
strikes and outbursts of violence in many parts of the country. These events
resulted in a number of arrests as the government attempted to regain control of
a deteriorating political and economic situation. Following their arrest many of
these would-be revolutionaries were sent into internal exile in Siberia. The events
of 1905 were a precursor to more troubled times which were to follow in 1917.

In 1904 there came to the region a tide of revolutionaries who had been exiled. They
brought the whole area to life. Cooperatives, banks and various shops were opened. Cattle
were also raised and whole herds were released for the summer into the woods to feed
themselves there until the snow came. In the winter these cattle were sold to buyers. At this
time the peasants came into town where they sold various products as well as their cattle
and bought for themselves all that they could, including baked bread. They bought bread
even though the merchants sold in the summer time
everything required to make bread, even the flour.42 Flour
and oats were purchased from Tobolsk and as father was
one of the richer men he had his own grain storage. In
father’s store there was a section where everything was
available from candies to clothing. All of the older children
helped in the store.43
All things considered, Siberia was very wealthy. Much of
this was because of the arrival of the exiled
revolutionaries after 1905. These exiles were too busy
making a living (running after a piece of bread) to preach
revolution.44

Marriage and the Coming of the Revolution

It can be assumed that Augusta
Constantinovna’s life between 1905 and 1910
would have been taken up with her studies and,
in general, uneventful. The political situation in
Russia following the upheaval of 1905 was
relatively stable and would probably have
remained that way if it had not been for the
coming of war in 1914.
Father Valentin Nizkovsky c1914
When I arrived home [from school] in 1910 I decided to
undertake further studies but that was not to be. In the
village of Tsyngasy45 the woman teacher fell ill (and I took her place.)46 I remained working
at this school until 1914. In 1914 I married the grandson47 of our priest. My intended had
come all the way from Tobolsk where he had just completed his studies at the seminary. He
proposed to me on board the ship on the day following his arrival.48 A week later my
husband to be left for Tobolsk where he was given a post in the town of Yalutorovosk.49 On
July 19, 1914 the wedding took place and a week later we returned to Tobolsk where my
husband was ordained. We celebrated our marriage on a ship and all of the village
intelligentsia came to have a good time. At the end of August we went back to the parish in
the village.50 In the year 1916 my daughter Militza was born and in 1918 a second daughter,
Lubov.51

66
 The relatively easy and predictable life that Augusta had lived to this point was
about to change. By 1919 the Revolution had reached the Tobolsk area of Siberia
and two armies clashed, as each struggled to control both the territory and the
hearts and minds of the people. Sadly, the ordinary people of the villages and
towns of Russia had little to choose between the depredations of both the Red
and White Armies.

In 1919 my father died and we went to Tobolsk where we remained for forty days. When we
returned to the village our house had already been occupied by soldiers52 and we were
unable to get in so we left with the White Army for Olesk.53

Augusta and Valentin were forced to flee with the retreating White Army, as
they could expect no mercy at the hands of the Bolsheviks. The political and
military situation was chaotic resulting in ever increasing numbers of refugees.

In Siberia, the turmoil leading up to and following the October Revolution [of 1917] had
produced a flood of new refugees – some of them ordinary people seeking a haven, others
linked to a cause: members of the privileged classes or educated classes, army officers,
moderate Socialists, anti-Communist revolutionaries, conservatives, right-wing extremists,
anarchists, Cossacks, and counterrevolutionaries of every stripe. There were reactionary
legitimists, who hoped for the restoration, constitutional monarchists willing to accept any
figurehead of adequate pedigree, and those who believed that only a military dictatorship
could rescue Russia from the morass into which it had sunk, Secret officers’ organizations
existed in all of the major cities, and intrigue hovered over every encounter in the street54
Siberia in general was not fertile ground for the Reds. The area had a very small industrial
proletariat, and only a few peasants who were desperately poor. Most peasants – ‘well-fed,
solid and successful,’ as Lenin himself had noted – in any case were of no particular
political persuasion, and in the cities democratic socialism and a lingering movement for
Siberian autonomy were intertwined.” By 1919, “anyone left or right was automatically
labeled a ‘Bolshevik,’ and one American official wrote in alarm from Omsk: ‘All over Siberia
there is an orgy of arrest without charges; of execution without even the pretense of a trail;
and of confiscation without colour of authority….Fear – panic-fear has seized everyone.
Men suspect each other and live in constant terror that some spy or enemy will cry
‘Bolshevik’ and condemn them to instant death.’ The entire White movement was also rank
with anti-Semitism, and pogroms, persecutions, and other atrocities followed in the wake of
all its armies.55
A comparable state of affairs obtained even in the field. ‘You could never tell who was who.
One day a farmer would be selling you cabbages at your camp and the next day he would
be leading an attack on your positions. Or a band of them would come to town from the
hills, hide their rifles in a straw sack just out of town, and then come in and hang around the
camp for an hour or two, like disinterested peasants; and the first thing you knew they had
all disappeared, recovered their arms and open fire upon you.56
In mid-August, the Reds crossed the Tobol River, pushed on to the Ishym 150 miles to the
east, and were briefly driven back by Cossack cavalry. But on November 4 [1919] they
regained their momentum and having reached the two rail crossings over the Irtysh River,
began to close on Omsk. It had taken the Red Army two and a half months to get from the

67
 Tobol to the Ishim, but from the Ishim to the Irtysh, less than two weeks. [In the White Army]
“there were mutinies and desertions on a tremendous scale, and tens of thousands of
railway cars were clogged with refugees. The population of Omsk increased fivefold almost
overnight with the beleaguered and forlorn.57
By December 18 [1919], 180 trains had fallen to the Reds. Thousands of White soldiers
were being captured daily; desertion was almost universal; typhus swept the ranks. Soldier
and civilian alike mingled in one miserable river of humanity that streamed beside the
railway along the old Siberian Trakt. From time to time, ‘the dead were thrown along the
tracks to rot and contaminate the district,’ reported one eyewitness. ‘Every station was a
graveyard, with hundreds and in many cases thousands of unburied dead.’ When Red
troops crossed the Ob in mid-December 1919, they found more than thirty thousand bodies
strewn through the ruins of Novonikolayevsk.58
The Bolsheviks, as Marxists, regarded religion as the "opium of the masses". After the
October Revolution the Soviet Government were extremely hostile to the Church. In
January 1918 the Soviet Government passed legislation that attempted to separate the
Church from the state and education. They also deprived the Church of all legal functions
concerning the family and marriage. During the Civil War all church buildings, funds and
property were confiscated. It is estimated that around a thousand priests were killed during
this period.59

Augusta and Valentin’s lives were changed forever by these events. Nothing
would ever be the same again. As a priest Father Valentin’s life was in immediate
danger if he did not take steps to align himself with the forces opposed to the
Revolution. To this end both he and his father offered their services to the White
Army as military chaplains. Augusta was parted from her husband in early 1919
and was not to see him again until 1926. The tragedy of this forced separation
was compounded by the death of their youngest child, Lubov. “All of this was
very traumatic. It was not long after this that my youngest daughter died of
dysentery60 and my husband, Father Valentine, left for the headquarters of the
White Army.”61 To survive and earn a living Augusta returned to teaching while
she waited on events. Even the Bolsheviks recognized that certain basic services
to the people must continue, although to be a teacher was to be identified as a
part of the hated intelligentsia.

I once again began to teach. After a year we returned to the town of Yalutorovosk where I
received a position in a nearby village. Times were very hard. The White army continued to
fight the Reds. I eventually left this village and returned, once again, to Yalutorovosk where
I continued to teach until 1926.62

The fact that she did survive and was eventually to be reunited with her
husband is testimonial to her courage and strength of character. These are the
qualities that look back from the pictures taken during this period of her life.

68
Endnotes - Chapter 4

1
Repolovo is located east of the Ural Mountains on the Irtysh River 300 km north of Tobolsk.
2
At the time this biography was written Augusta Nizkovsky would have been seventy-two years
of age and in declining health.
3
Augusta Constantinovna Nizkovsky, Autobiography, 1 June 1967.
4
General Description of the Irtysh River: http://www.ic.omskreg.ru/~irtysh/engl.htm
5
Nizkovsky, Autobiography, 1967.
6
Church Servers – the Deacon: http://www.orthodox.net/ustav/bulgakov-deacon.html
7
Claudia Constantinovna Kaidaloff died on June 26th, 1910. Augusta Constantinovna petitioned
the courts on August 18, 1912 to establish her right to the property of her deceased sister. The
document prepared by the judge who reached a decision in this matter indicates that there were
no other petitioners for this inheritance and the property was transferred effective February 15,
1914.
8
It is possible that this name is Ivan rather than Elia, as his daughter’s patronymic is Ivanovna.
The hand writing was difficult to read.
9
The word orphan is used to convey the fact that there was no mother, as it has been indicated
that there was a father.
10
This would have been the school run by the local church parish.
11
Eight classes would mean eight grades or years.
12
Nizkovsky, Autobiography, 1967.
13
It is assumed that they would be hauled to the spots on the bank which had been rented from
the community.
14
It is estimated that this would be from 20 to 30 lbs.
15
This was a weed like plant found along the river and probably helped to preserve the fish.
16
A White fish that is native to the Irtysh River.
17
Nizkovsky, Autobiography, 1967.
18
Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina, George Gibian, ed., second edition, (New York: W. W.
Norton, 1995) p. 730.
19
The Russian Clergy by Adrea Mate:
http://pirate.shu.edu/~knightna/karenina/abstracts/mate.htm
20
This village is called Pokrovskoe on modern maps and is located about 200 km south of
Tobolsk on the Tura River. An excellent description of this town as typical of many in the area is
provided by R.J. Minney in his book Rasputin.
21
A verst is equivalent to about 3500 feet or about one kilometer.
22
Nizkovsky, Autobiography, 1967.
23
Ibid.
24
General Description of the Irtysh River: http://www.ic.omskreg.ru/~irtysh/engl.htm
25
This continental climate is very similar to that found in much of Canada.
26
Nizkovsky, Autobiography, 1967.
27
This is a reference to the Revolution of 1905.
28
Nizkovsky, Autobiography, 1967.
29
Ibid.
30
Encyclopaedia Britannica – Tobolsk:
http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?eu=74608&tocid=0&query=tobolsk&ct=
31
This reference is obscure and may refer to figures from Russian folklore.
32
Nizkovsky, Autobiography, 1967.
33
The two names mentioned come without any contextual discussion. It is assumed that these
two girls were members of the family but it is not certain.
34
See note 7. Claudia’s married name was Adreeevna.
35
This town no longer appears on modern maps of Russia
36
See note 7.

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37
Nizkovsky, Autobiography, 1967.
38
It is assumed that Augusta went to the local parochial school but this would seem to suggest
that she was required to travel some distance.
39
One can hear the Volga Boat Song.
40
Nizkovsky, Autobiography, 1967.
41
Ibid.
42
Translation of the preceding two or three sentences proved difficult. The sense of it is implied
criticism of the peasants for wasting money on a product that they could well have made
themselves from available ingredients.
43
Nizkovsky, Autobiography, 1967.
44
Ibid.
45
A village by this name no longer appears on a modern map of Russia.
46
This is not directly stated but certainly implied.
47
Valentin Victorovich Nizkovsky
48
The time frames are a little uncertain but it sounds like a very rapid courtship or possibly an
arranged marriage.
49
Yalutorovosk is a large town located 200 km south of Tobolsk not far from the village of
Pokrovskoe.
50
It is assumed that this was the town of Yalutorovosk.
51
Nizkovsky, Autobiography, 1967.
52
It is probable that these soldiers were elements of the White Army. If it had been the Red Army
Valentin Victorovich would probably have been shot as were many other members of the
orthodox clergy in the area. For a list of atrocities to clergy see Heiromartyrs and Martyrs of
Western Siberia http://www.orthodox.net/russiannm/western-siberia-hieromartyrs-and-
martyrs.html
53
Nizkovsky, Autobiography, 1967.
54
Benson Bobrick, East of the Sun (New York: Poseidon Press, 1992), p. 391.
55
Ibid., 392.
56
Ibid., 406.
57
Ibid.
58
Ibid., 408.
59
Ibid., 410.
60
Dysentery is a disease involving the inflammation of the lining of the large intestines. The
inflammation causes stomach pains and diarrhea. Some cases involve vomiting and fever. The
bacteria enters the body through the mouth in food or water, as well as by contact with human
faeces and contact with infected people. The diarrhea causes people suffering from dysentery to
lose important salts and fluids from the body. This is often fatal if the body dehydrates. This
disease struck people of all ages when there was no proper sanitation. It is most often contracted
from the water supply.
61
Many Orthodox clergymen saw service with the White Army and shared its retreat from the Red
Army. Relatives would have found it impossible to remain in touch with their loved ones given the
chaotic nature of the times.
62
Augusta Nizkovsky was fortunate to have survived these years. Teachers and, in general, the
intelligentsia were often suspected by the Bolsheviks of sympathy to the “White” cause and shot.

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