ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, September 2, 1996 TAG: 9609030096
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JON CAWLEY STAFF WRITER
PHYLLIS HARHOLDT'S ather fled Russia during the Bolshevik Revolution, leaving behind several relatives. Earlier this summer, Hardholt and descendants from the old country met for the first time.
Phyllis Harholdt knew she had relatives in the former Soviet Union. Only she had no idea who they were - until last May.
The family hadn't had contact for more than 70 years since Harholdt's father fled the Bolshevik-occupied motherland in 1920, leaving his parents and two sisters behind in Petrograd. On Aug. 20, two formerly unknown family members, Nikita Gerbach and his son Danila, arrived in Roanoke for a visit.
Harholdt's father and Nikita Gerbach's great uncle, Nicolas Wreden, was born into a distinguished family in St. Petersburg near the end of the 19th century. His father was surgeon general of the Imperial Russian Army and private surgeon for the royal family, as were his father and grandfather before him.
Wreden grew up enjoying the spoils of aristocracy. He also attended the highly selective Russian naval academy. All of that came to an end when the Petrograd bread riots of 1917 sparked the communist revolution.
According to a 1928 edition of the Greensboro Daily News, Wreden describes how he fought against the Bolsheviks in the "White movement" for more than three years.
He was cited twice for bravery, shot once, and captured twice by the Bolsheviks along with other officers. Wreden narrowly escaped both times, the second time after a daring attempt in which they "seized the guards, unlocked their cells and slipped away across 200 miles of snow and ice."
Wreden finally made his escape from the revolution aboard the Bolshevik trawler Kitoboy. When Wreden and his fellow officers discovered the crew were only "lukewarm Bolsheviks" they "swarmed down upon the ship, clubbed the crew and tied them up, threw them on the docks and sailed away."
After a year in Finland, Wreden arrived in New York. He first worked as a longshoreman "strikebreaker" and slept in Central Park.
A love of books then led Wreden into the publishing profession. He began as a book store manager and worked his way up to vice president of a publishing company in New York and edited several books by Gore Vidal. Wreden, his wife and two children moved around the country, and even spent three years in the Roanoke Valley.
Wreden tried to keep in contact with his family in Petrograd, but letters were censored by the Soviets and it eventually became too dangerous to attempt contact. This situation continued to plague the family throughout the Soviet era.
"During the spirit of communism, if we told that we had relatives outside Russia, we would have different problems [with the government]," Danila Gerbach said, translating for his father Nikita.
Harholdt first tried to find her relatives during a trip to Russia in 1987. "I thought I could look them up in the phone directory, but they didn't have one," she said. Language barriers also presented an insurmountable challenge; Harholdt returned with no more knowledge than before she left.
In February of this year, Harholdt learned that the Pskov sister city program, headed by Natasha Petersen, had openings in its tour to distribute medicine to the city's children's hospitals. She made the trip to Russia in May.
Petersen asked a friend in Pskov if he knew the name Harholdt was looking for. The friend quickly realized a local hospital was named after Harholdt's grandfather and Gerbach's great-grandfather. As it turns out, Gerbach, a former surgeon, studied there.
Gerbach left his private practice after 20 years, when communism fell, to become a businessman in food service. "In America surgeons are rich people; in Russia they are in the middle like teachers," Gerbach said. Surgeons typically make a salary of only $200 a month in Russia, he said.
Harholdt made contact with her relatives at the end of the spring trip but was still unable to meet them face to face.
Nikita and Danila Gerbach arrived in New York on Aug. 16. They stayed in Brooklyn with friends and made their way to Roanoke on Aug. 20.
Danila enjoyed his time in New York. "It's a nice city, but too many people. I wouldn't like to live there." he said, adding he likes Roanoke best. "It's quiet here, a good place to relax. There are not so many people like New York."
People in Roanoke are also similar to those in St. Petersburg, Danila said. "People are a little bit different [at home], but have similar characters; they are honest and kind, like here."
The Gerbachs have been battling the relatively hot summer of the Roanoke Valley - something they aren't used to, living near the Baltic Sea - by swimming a lot, almost every day.
Once again, Danila said Roanoke fares better than New York concerning the heat index. "In New York it was hot like this, but there was no air to breathe."
Shopping has been another activity occupying the Gerbachs during their trip. They haven't bought many souvenirs, though, just presents for their family and friends in St. Petersburg.
"Everyone wants brand names; they don't have American brand names [in Russia] and the quality is not that good," Danila said. "Everyone knows Nike Guess is also popular now. Some American medicines are also popular, like for pain relief, allergies and the inside cleaners [laxatives], because we can keep them for a long time. They have good quality."
The Gerbachs will return to Russia after the Labor Day holiday. They celebrate a similar holiday in Russia. "We make picnics, go to friends or stay at home," Danila said. "We don't have barbecues. We just make a fire."
And what do Russians eat on that holiday? "Shashluyk," Danila said. They put meat and vegetables on a stick and cook it over an open fire, similar to shish kebabs.
Nikita Gerbach said he would like to live in Roanoke and start a business. "I would like to come to America to join relatives," he said.
LENGTH: Long : 109 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ERIC BRADY/Staff. Phyllis Harholdt helps newlyby CNBdiscovered relatives Danila Gerbach and his father, Nikita Gerbach,
celebrate their birthdays, both of which are in September. Harholdt
met them for the first time in May. color.