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 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 OCM7
Piece of silk, embroidered with an "N"
undated
General
Box OCM7 may not be used without permission of the Archivist.