Evening star., 1918-02-24

/, for instance, am JeWeSS- NY
father and my great-grandfather were
merchants, adroit and successful. ac-
r cording to the instinct of our race.
& Yet my father was a merchant by re-
version to type. for my grandfather
was twenty-five years Russian SOL
dier, taking his allotted keep from the
hand of the czar to his death. And l
was born and brought up and educated
among the Cossacks, free of every race
restriction, Russian. merely, where
Jews may not even live or travel
though my mother hid her hair and
was orthodox in Hebraism.
Tarter Blood in Veins.
am like my grandfather. who al.
ways said that there was Tartar pioou
in our veins. He was giant ana q a
soldier whose skill and prowess gained
him distinction among other soldlefS
of the day of Napoleon, the lnvader r;
My father. who still lives. Is 4 sfidIi
man, studious and peaceful l am SIN
feet and more as strong as any man.
NV nose is straight and short. my
= cheek bones high and my hair yellow.
/ have thought for myself, always.
1t was inevitable that the educatloii
of the gymnasium. forbidden to most
of my race, should implant IN my oreast
the impulse of revolt against anytnlis'
against everything, for RUSSIA sfhe
was social democrat, skilled IN
the theory of the movement which will
save Russia, when l was seventeen To-
day am twenty-four- Thus you may
understand how it was that 1eit ina
1, of all others, must march WIN INC
Battalion of Death.
The Call for Volunteers.
When 1 read the call. signed with
the name of Nine. Bathkalova. printed
in the newspapers of Taganrog, no
question arose in my mind 1t was a
message to me as direct as letter
with my name, Eva Zaintz." written
upon the envelope. So / told my par
,ents. holding the newspaper before
me in our house in Taganrog- They
did not speak, but my mother wept-
All our suffering from cold and hunger
and sorrow for the dead had not made
her weep. But she did not speak. NOT
did my father. One of the wounasa
II am fit to go and / am willing to
90" said. .I have more reason to go
than any one. / can show tnat a
Jewess is ready to die Tor RUSSIA. My
example will be for our people as wen
as for the ignorant soldiers who are
deserting.'
Neither my mother nor my father
spoke against my going. They helpeu
me to make ready. The wounded sol.
dir who had went gave me an .ikona,"
and the other soldiers who were pelng
cared for in our house spoke words OF
praise for me- They called me Evan
ova," as if I were man.
OF for Petrograd.
On the following day 1 took my place
on the special train which left Tagan-
roe. as Nine Batchkaiovas advertise
ment had announced, to carry the vol
unteers for the Battalion of Death to
Petrograd. There were seventeen OF
us from Taganrog. Some were the
women from the shoe factories and the
metal works who were impoverished
and starving.
One of the seventeen was Nussa Po-
Iowa, who had been my schoolmate
and friend from the days when we
were children. She lived in a finer and
larger house than ours. Seven wound
ed soldiers were there. She was en-
gagged to marry a young Belgian whose
father owned the principal metal
works in Taganrog. Her fance had
gone to serve as an officer in the Bel
gian army. Her father also was an
eficer in a Cossack regiment. We
wept and embraced when we met at
the railroad station, and swore that
we would die together for Russia.
Many of our friends wept and kissed
us.
Would Not Take Old.
But it was not all tears. There were
fiag-Russian flags and the red flags
of the social democracy, and speeches
were made and cheers given for US.
Women who were too old or who were
not strong begged 10 go with US. but
we would not take them. The people
brought US food and delica cies-even
white bread, of which there had been
70 little for two years in Taganrog
that it could not be had for the
wounded soldiers which were in our
house.
We called each other by the names
of men. Every Russian womans name
can be mans name. l called Nussa
..Nussanova-" She called me Eva
nova There was a girl whom We
had known whose name was Vera. We
called her vladimir" Another girl
Ida, we called "Petrova-" With each
new accession to our numbers our ex-
Altation grew. We felt ourselves to be
the hope of Russia-the saviors OF
Russia. The train soon was crowded
There seemed none among US who had
not the high ideals of the whole. We
felt almost that we had already hidden
farewell to the ordinary things of life
We had left Taganrog in the morn
ing. 1t was night before l thought
of eating. l had not seen any one
among US eat. l had not felt hungry
fell asleep at last in the seat where
Nussa Popova sat by my side. My last
waking recollection was of the Mar
seiliaise" and of cheers for free Russia
Wonderful Reception in Petrograd.
At the station in Petrograd - tha,
was two days after-we were received
as heroes. Thousands of people
cheered and bands played. There
were flags everywhere-the flag of olt
Russia and the flag of free Russia