I met them at Augsburg Lutheran church in downtown Winston-Salem. I found my way to the room
where I saw box upon box of old forgotten books had been stored for fifty years. Richard and Wanda
had been anxiously awaiting my arrival. Richard was the first to speak. “Natalia, I would like you to meet
Wanda Hackbarth”. This would be the first of many pleasant meetings with my new friend…

When Richard Schneider first called and told me about this collection of orphaned Russian books,
I could never have imagined what would be in store. Surprise! Not just any old Russian books!
This was a collection of books printed in Russia before 1917. They had belonged to a Russian priest.
Some were written in Church Slavonic, with beautiful colored illustrations. I soon discovered a copy
of the New Testament and Prayer Book that had been used in the church services. There were volumes
and volumes of Russian Classics. I found books with instructions on gardening and bee-keeping…
I could not believe my eyes! These marvelous books, right here in Winston-Salem.

How did these old books printed in Russian and Church Slavonic get here? What is the history behind
all these boxes? To whom did these volumes belong? And why were they no longer needed?
I asked Wanda Hackbarth to tell me as much as she knew. To my delight, she was kind enough
o invite me to her lovely home for a cup of tea, and the rest of the story.

Pictures hanging on walls, soft furniture, clean kitchen… “Would you like some cookies with your tea?”
“No, thank you”. She looked at me. “You don’t sound too convincing,” she said with a smile.
I admitted she was right, and soon an assortment of cookies appeared on my plate. We were drinking tea
and looking at old postcards, printed in Russia before 1917. These square images in an old dilapidated
postcard album captured my attention.

- “This album of postcards belonged to Father Kozma. These books belonged to him years ago…”

Father Kozma. Sounds like a Russian name...
Father Kozma was a Russian Orthodox priest. He and his wife - Matushka Elizabeth - both were born in Russia. I love this picture… Matushka looks like Renaissance Lady, doesn’t she? Her maiden name was Levor. She was born in 1886, same year as Father Kozma. They met in Russia, and they emigrated to America as a couple in 1906. They went to Springfield, Vermont. Father Kozma ministered to the little church there. He had already been ordained. Both of their children were born in America – Valentina and Eugene, my future husband.

Do you know if they ever went back to Russia?
The whole family had a plan to go back to Russia at some point time. But they couldn’t afford the trip. Father Kozma’s mother was aging, she needed help. Matushka, and Valentina, and Eugene went back to Russia to take care of her in the summer of 1917. Eugene came back in September 1924.

He told me that they almost starved to death in Russia one summer. The only thing they had to eat was rye bread and watermelon. He was very malnourished. He was able to come back because he was an American citizen. The Wilson plan helped. I think that Quakers were behind that plan making possible for United States citizens who got stuck in Europe because of war, to get back to the USA.

Do you know what happened to Eugene’s sister Valentina?
Valentina went to Russia in 1917 and never came back… She was born in 1911. She was six when they went back to Ukraine. And Matushka never came back either. They settled in Kiev. That’s all we know. Eugene tried to find them through the Red Cross... Matushka’s last name was Gorbacheff. She took her husband’s last name.

After Father Kozma came to USA, for a long time he served as a priest in the church in Wolf Run, Ohio. He demanded all young people to learn the Russian language. At old age he became ill. We later found that he had alzheimer – first diadnosed as senile dimentia. He could not manage any longer. We invited him to come and live with us. He came to Winston-Salem. He packed up his things the best he could. Fortunately we found a doctor who spoke Russian in Butner hospital, and he was admitted. Speaking to someone in his native language was very comforting to him.

He was there for 3 years before he died in 1955. We buried him on the Forsyth Memorial Park off Yadkinville Road in Winston-Salem. And Eugene was buried there too... Both of them have the Russian Orthodox cross on their graves.

For how long Father Kozma’s Russian books were in your possession?
Since Father Kosma moved with us in Winston-Salem. Part of them were still in the boxes when he died in 1955. Unfortunately some did not survive storage, particulary sheet music. He composed many pieces for services including our wedding.

Tell me about your wedding day please.
Eugene and I were married in the Baptist church because my family was Baptist. And then in keeping Russian tradition we were married in Russian church too. So I was married twice in less then a week (laughing). I had not met Father Kosma at all before we arrived in Ohio. When we got there, Father took one look at me and said: “She is so small”.

Father Kozma had three priests there to marry us! He lead the choir. And it was a beautiful ceremony! Father Steven Burdikoff was leading the service. He asked me first - “Do you love Eugene?” Yes, I do. They didn’t ask him if he loved me! (laughing). But I wouldn’t have been there if I did not love him! We went to New York for our wedding trip. Eugene took me around so many places!

Through the years we thought nothing of getting in the car Thursday or Friday afternoon and driving all the way to New York to hear a concert or see a play or some exhibit. And then come back on Sunday afternoon. We did that countless times, when roads were not as good as they are now! We had a wonderful time.

Eugene took a bike trip down East Coast. These postcards he send from the road are fascinating!
When Eugene came back from Russia in 1924, he went to Industrial school in New York city.
And then he got a job at Western Electric. He worked a long time in New Jersey and lived in
Summerville, NJ in an apartment - large loft kind of apartment where he had a photographic
studio there.

He wanted to learn more about the eastern part of United States and decided to take a bike trip and go to the coast. That was pretty rough country where he went in 1929 and 1930. The road were not the greatest at that time.

He slept in barns, and cooked on a camp stove enjoying fresh veggies, especially tomatoes or corn. He traveled for several month. He wrote postcards to his friend in NJ of his experiences. I still keep these postcards. They were penny post cards. His friend gave them to me several years ago. He wrote down his impressions of going through Pennsylvania and parts of Virginia, his day in Raleigh, and going through Henderson, NC, then down in South Carolina. He visited parts of Georgia. He told me that when he got down to Florida, it was too dangerous to sleep out at night because of all the bugs and creepy-crawlers. That was when he decided that he’d better turn around and go back.

How did you first meet with Eugene?
O, he came to Winston-Salem to help establish the plant for Western Electric Company.. He was one of the first to come and to start hiring people for different jobs. He loved to dance. At that time we danced at YWMCA on Saturday nights using record player with amplification. On occasions we had an orchestra. We just had a wonderful time! There were service men coming here for visits from a station in Greensboro and other areas nearby. They came in for the dances. There were a lot of matches made. But not for me…

When Eugene learned of the dances, he started coming too. He was such a smooth dancer even though he weighed almost two hundred pounds. I was there one night with a friend. We started to leave, and he said:”My boss is here tonight – I’d like for you to meet him”. It was Eugene. So I met him that night. The next week Eugene and I danced most of the evening together. From that day on neither of us dated anyone else. That happened in October, and we were married in June of 1947. We stayed married twenty three and a half years until Eugene died in 1970…

Text and pictures by
Natalia Tuchina, Winston-Salem, NC