Partial Inventory of the Nikolaĭ D. Zarin papers

Finding aid prepared by Hoover Institution Library and Archives Staff
Hoover Institution Library and Archives
© 2011
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Stanford University
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Title: Nikolaĭ D. Zarin papers
Date (inclusive): 1900-1953
Collection Number: 2011C24
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material: Russian
Physical Description: 2 manuscript boxes, 1 oversize box (1.5 Linear Feet)
Abstract: Diaries, certificates, photographs, and memorabilia, relating to Russian military operations during World War I. Includes English translation of diaries.
Creator: Zarin, NikolaĬ D., -1918
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives

Access

Box 3 and OCM7 may not be used without permission of the Archivist. The remainder of the collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.

Use

For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Acquisition Information

Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 2011.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Nikolaĭ D. Zarin papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Biographical Note

Major general, Russian imperial army; commanding general, 47th Division.
Zarin began the First World War as commander of the 10th Ostrovsky Regiment, based in Vitebsk. Zarin did not see the worst of the dissolution of the Russian Army in 1917 because the effects of an earlier contusion had forced him to seek medical treatment. In March of that year, after two months in command of the 47th Infantry Division, he left the army. During the Russian civil war, Zarin joined the White (anti-Bolshevik) movement in Siberia. He was caught by the Bolsheviks and murdered in June 1918. His widow, Eugenie, immigrated to the United States, settling in San Francisco, where she died in February 1979.

Scope and Content of Collection

The papers consist of nine volumes of a handwritten diary of Zarin's experiences in the First World War, two drafts of the diary typed in English, twenty photographic prints (mainly of Zarin and his wife), four negatives, a military order dated 30 December 1916, an educational honors certificate (pokhvalnyi list) issued to Evgeniia Zubatova (Zarin) on 8 June 1902, and a military cap.
The diary begins with the first day of mobilization and describes preparations for entrainment for the front. Zarin describes the first battles in East Prussia, examining reasons for the defeats based on his own experience (Zarin's regiment was part of Gen. P. K. Rennenkampf's 1st Army). The first part of the diary concludes in January 1915, when the army corps was transferred to the southwestern front (Galicia and the Carpathians). The retreat of 1915 is described in great detail, as are the following triumphs of 1916. Much of the rest of the diary describes the situation in Petrograd and at his estate in Klemshino (southwest of Petrograd) in 1917. The final entry, dated 25 January 1918, describes how the author and his family abandoned their estate, feeling evermore threatened by the excesses of the surrounding peasants.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

World War, 1914-1918 -- Russia
Officers
World War, 1914-1918 -- Campaigns -- Eastern Front
Russia. Armii͡a

box 1

Diaries

box 2, folder 1

Diary

box 2, folder 2

Diary of N.D. Zarin, typescript undated

box 2, folder 3-5

Diary of an Ally, written by Nicolas D. Zarin, typescript

box 3

Hat undated

Access

Box 3 may not be used without permission of the Archivist.
box 2, folder 6

47th Infantry orders 1916 December 30

box 2, folder 7

Evgeniia Zubatova School commendation 1902 June 8

box 2, folder 8

Photographs undated

box StillNegPos 5

Negatives

box OCM7

Piece of silk, embroidered with an "N" undated

General

Box OCM7 may not be used without permission of the Archivist.