To the Harbin Station: The Liberal Alternative in Russian Manchuria, 1898-1914

by Nicholas V. Riasanovsky, David Wolff

Release Date: May, 1999

Edition: Hardcover

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Poles in Manchuria

I found the book very interesting .As a kharbinetz born in 1949 in Harbin I left Manchuria as an infant for Poland and don't remember myself anything of the atmosphere of that unique town.My parents (they were Russian and Polish) were born and spend their youth there.I remember their stories about that vibrant, colorful, exciting and multicultural life in that Pearl of North Manchuria.The Poles and Jews are mentioned as "minorities" in the predominantly russian town, but the significance of polish technical staff during construction and running the CER was underestimated.Russians noticed that influx of Poles in CER, so even press in S.Petersburg warned about "polish danger" on russian railways .The personalities showned as Russians were Poles : Stanislaw Kierbedz, Adam Szydlowski, Stefan von Offenberg, Seweryn Wachowski, Mikolaj Liniewicz, Aleksander Letowski,Alfred Zaremba ).The magnificent Harbin railway station was design of polish architect Ignacy Cytowicz, art nouveau in Harbin was supported by architect Konstanty Jokisz then responsible for New Town development.The landmark of the city famous railway bridge was built by polish steel construction company "Konstanty Rudzki i S-ka" from then russian Warsaw, frames were prepared in it's plant in Minsk Mazowiecki then sent by rail to Odessa and shipped through seas to Vladivostok and then on barges to the site in Harbin.All steel bridges on later Amur Railway finished in 1916 were also prepared and built by that company.It is estimated that about 35% of technical personnel of CER was up to the IWW of polish origin.Suppressed in their homeland Poland , sought career and better life in outskirts of Russian Empire, so did Jews fleeing from antisemitism and discrimination.But they were active rather in commerce, banking and industry .Far away from "problem" areas all "minorities" could live without all the limitations imposed on them in the Empire.Ironically as it is they were accepted as "Russians" by St.Petersburg bureaucracy, that was unable to furnish Manchuria with adequate number of energetic, able and educated people of pure russian origin.

i wanted to write it!

I red this book for a very simple reason: the research i'm working at is just about Harbin, its uniqueness as the only russian city outside russia and the cultural atmosphere it enjoyed during the 1920's. I found Wolff's work very useful, a miracle of different sources, but i keep asking to myself: why such an amazing experiment in history as my Harbin was not studied until now? Anyway, good job..i wish i had written it myself!