The exemplification of selfless service to Fatherland
This year, 2015, Russia marks the 70th anniversary of the Great Victory in the Patriotic War, a war that plunged the world into a terrible disaster, claimed millions of lives and crippled several million others, changing their lives and destinies
The beginning of the Patriotic War
For Boris Anatolievich Pashintsev, this war is not just about a country's history that one has read about in history books. His father, Anatoly Vasilievich Pashintsev, and mother, Zinaida Vasilievna, had often told him about the huge price that the Motherland had to pay for this great victory.
Before the war, Anatoly Vasilievich was a student at the Lenin’s Moscow Pedagogical Institute, with a plan to becoming a history teacher. He had hoped to attend postgraduate school and work on a doctoral dissertation.
But the Great Patriotic War broke out and Anatoly Vasilievich had to defend not his doctoral thesis, but his beloved Moscow and the Fatherland. From the first days of the war in 1941 to the victorious 1945, Anatoly Vasilievich was as a member of the 3rd Belorussian Front, whose victoriously glorious feats began from Moscow and all the way to Berlin. Like his comrades-in-arm, he endured both the bitterness of defeats and the endless joy of victories in battles with the enemies.
After the war, Anatoly Vasilievich served in the Soviet Army General Staff HQRs in Moscow, where he was later transferred to Alma-Ata, where he was in charge of the city’s strategic affairs. At the end of his military career, Anatoly Vasilievich returned to school to his childhood dream profession, where he spent the last 20 years of his life working as a school principal. According to staff and students, he was a wonderful teacher, the types traditionally referred to as “a Teacher from God.” It, therefore, goes without saying, that he was loved and respected both by colleagues as well as students and their parents.
During the war, Zinaida Vasilievna studied at one of Moscow’s high school located on Bolshaya Dmitrovka Street which was under the Bolshoi Theater patronage. She was the secretary of her school’s Komsomol Organization and, therefore, often had to work with Asaf Messerer, the secretary of the Bolshoi Theater Komsomol Organization, and Valeria Barsova, a famous singer and the secretary of the city’s Party Committee, in collections of gifts for soldiers at the war front.
The students collected warm clothing and, together with Bolshoi Theater artists, took them to the collection points that were very close to the war frontlines. Practically all Boris Pashintsev’s relatives took part in WWII, either at the frontlines taking part in active combats against the Nazi army, or worked in factories to support the Soviet army. All of them were united by one goal and focused their efforts on achieving it: to win the war and ensure a peaceful life for the living and future generations. Their names will forever remain in the memory of their ever-grateful posterity: Nikolai Pashintsev, Vladimir Mikhailov, Alexei Y. Shmelev, Oleg Vyacheslavov, Michael I. Dyakov, Alexei Shmelev, Peter Y. Kharichev, Maria L. Kravchuk, Fyodor Nikitenko, Vasily and Anna A. Kovtun.
Boris Anatolievich Pashintsev always remembers and honors all of them. They fought for the freedom and prosperity of our country and were confident that we, their children, grandchildren and generations yet unborn, will be able to live freely and enjoy life.
The dawn of the “wild 1990s”
But the “wild 1990s” of the last century brought Russia no less pain and suffering than the two world wars of the 20th century. There were more orphans and homeless children than after the revolution and WWII. Almost all the Soviet pensioners, veterans of war and labor, were robbed as a result of ill-conceived economic reforms, while most of the working-age population was forced into the category of "humiliated and insulted” citizens.
It was at this time that the first western charities started to appear in Russia. They distributed free milk to schoolchildren, canned meat to civil servants, second-hand clothes to pensioners, toys and food to the orphans, etc. Some US-based charities handed out grants to Russian theaters, scientific and research institutions, university professors, whom the government had forgotten to pay salaries for months.
Even the Russian prisons and other penal correction facilities also came under the patronage of US and foreign missionaries, who fed and clothed those in need – both prisoners and guards – in those difficult years.
While accepting gifts from western charities, most Russians tried to understand their real motivations. Such transatlantic donors elicited suspicion and mistrust, creating the notion that charity itself is something that is dishonest and alien to Russians. Meanwhile, it was in Russia, and not in the United States, that the first charities were set up to help orphans and widows, the first hospices to take care of all in need.
“Moscow, what a huge Hospice,
Everyone in Russia that is homeless
All will come to you ...,”
Marina Tsvetaeva wrote in the early 20th century.
Hospices, homes for the homeless and disabled, schools and colleges were established for orphans in Russia not at expense of the public coffers, but at the expense of Russian philanthropists. Many old Moscow hospitals that still exist today were built on donations of ordinary and noble, rather than very rich Russians.
All Moscow theaters, excluding Bolshoi, were either built by merchants, such as the Maly Theater, or created by them, such as the MKhT. The latter was built by Konstantin Alexeyev (Stanislavsky), who was the head of a large firm at that time. Similarly, The Moscow Conservatory, the Women University, Prechistensk Workers Courses and several others were all built with Russian philanthropists' money.
Timofei Prokhorov, the owner of corporation, Trekhgorka, believed that the main enemies of entrepreneurship are poverty, illiteracy, lack of culture and drunkenness. Therefore, he enthusiastically built schools, hospitals and recreational homes for his workers. Noting that his employees do not use “vulgar expressions” in his presence, he tried to spend as much time as possible with them in their production facilities, shops, etc.
Nikolai Karlovich von Meck became a millionaire, thanks to construction of railways, which were then the main generators of revenues, just as oil and gas are currently the main income earners today. He built not only a huge number of highly profitable railways, but also a recreational town along the Kazan Road for his employees, whom he cared about as carefully as his mother took care of the famous Russian composer, Pyotr Tchaikovsky.
The main thing that distinguished 19th century Russian capitalists was the fact that they viewed their capital as a public affair or property. Yes, it is one person that owns and uses this capital, but this does not mean that such individual has a moral right to use his capital alone. Most of the pre-revolutionary Russian industrialists shared the thoughts formulated by merchant P.M. Tretyakov: “My idea from childhood is to acquire a lot of wealth and return it back to the society in the form of useful institutions. This idea has stayed with me all my life.”
In Soviet times, the names of pre-revolutionary philanthropists were forgotten, the hospitals and nursing homes that were built by them and bore their names were given the names of revolutionaries. Virtually, all charities ceased to exist. It was only in the late 20th century that some funds, which tried to revive the ideas of Russian charity, started to emerge.
Pioneering charity in post-Soviet Russia
One of the first charities to appear in post-Soviet Russia was the Moscow charity fund, Tverskoi, which was founded in 1994 by Boris Anatolievich Pashintsev.
Being an honest and energetic man, he could not standby idling as the radical reforms initiated in those years came at a huge social cost to the majority of the population. Thousands of teenagers, deprived of Komsomol support, free access to the Palaces of Pioneers, etc. became socially dangerous people.
From his parents, professional teachers, Boris Anatolievich Pashintsev learned that a truly happy is not the person who has accumulated lots of wealth or grabbed it from others, but the one who has given or shared his wealth with the others. Like the famous pre-revolutionary Russian philanthropists, Boris Anatolievich Pashintsev sees the meaning of his life not in hoarding of wealth, but in doing good deeds that are driven by "love for neighbors."
Over the past 20 years since its foundation, the Tverskoi Fund has done lots of good deeds. Thousands of youth and students from poor families had been sent to various summer vacation facilities, hundreds of war veterans have received gifts in the form of free food and financial assistance to pensioners, free meals had been organized in canteens, etc. The Fund has almost single-handedly fought for the civil rights of the poor, confident that decent living conditions should be available to all citizens, not only to the elite.
The Bible says in the Book of Proverbs, "Train a child in the right way and he will not depart from it when he grows old." Boris Anatolievich Pashintsev has over the years in his capacity as the owner of the Tverskoi Charity Fund instructed the youth to be on the right path by supporting the military-patriotic club, the Young Eaglets Fleet.
The Fund closely monitors the training programs at the club so as to enable children receive deep knowledge of history of the country, army and navy, the basics of military tactics and drillings. It is mandatory for the youth in the club to learn sports swimming, shooting from different weapons, etc. The Young Eaglets Fleet club members often take part in paramilitary relay races, crosses, boat practices, tactical duties in summer military and sports camps.
Thanks to the Fund’s assistance, the Young Eaglets Fleet members were able to take part in 35 boat trips of varying degrees of difficulties. The club operates year-round. In winter, the club members gather in a camp, located in the Kirov Region, where they are trained by the military command of a nearby military unit, a part of the Volga-Urals Military District. On the training fields and shooting ranges, the they are taught the elements of tactical training, guard duty skills, use of weapons, etc.
Lots of summer excursions have been organized to military summer sports camps, military and naval forces' bases. Former and current "eaglets" have visited the Russian Navy’s Pacific, Black Sea, North and Baltic Sea fleets. The “eaglets” were particularly excited by visits to heavy Russian Navy’s nuclear missile cruisers Frunze, Peter the Great, Admiral Ushakov, the heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser Admiral Kuznetsov, missile cruiser nuclear submarine Marshal Ustinov.
An especially memorable moment for the “eaglets” was the excursion to cruiser Peter the Great in July 1998 under the patronage of then Russian Defense Minister Marshal Igor Sergeyev and their intimate conversations with him. The “eaglets” wear real naval uniforms and are very proud of them. The "eaglets" have their own symbols: the club flag, other related insignia, awards and rankings. The “eaglets” get a club uniform after a year of training, and after three years, are awarded some ranks, including the ultimate Club Veteran membership, which gives them the right to become instructors.
The number of Club graduates now stands at over 4,000. The knowledge and skills acquired in the Club enable the “eaglets” to help them in their adult lives to navigate difficult situations. Most members of the Club are from single-parent, low-income families. Supporting a child in the Club, and this involves free uniform, equipment, attending swimming pool, shooting ranges, accommodation and feeding in summer and winter holiday camps, trips to the Pacific, Black Sea, Northern and Baltic Naval Fleets, requires at least RUB 4,000 per child per month.
Most parents do not have such money in their family budgets. And without the Fund’s support, the Club would have long since ceased to exist, and that means these “eaglets” would have been left alone in the city, which is ready to lure them into temptations, including drugs, cigarettes, alcohol, gambling machines.
All these evils are, unfortunately, much more than the social facilities, such as free clubs, sports schools, boarding schools, houses of creativity, etc. This is why the Club members relate to Boris Anatolievich Pashintsev and his fund, Tverskoi, with special warmth.
Unfortunately, the Russian society is still shy of the concept of “charity.” In the famous Soviet movie, “A Meeting Place cannot Be Changed,” the lead actor, Zheglov, calls charity “a priestly” word. It was on this principle that the whole country was brought up over half a century.
This means to be weak is a shame, just as to sympathize with the weak. “Pity degrades a man,” Maxim Gorky proclaimed. As a result, most charity activities in Russia, the richest country in the world with one of the highest numbers of multimillionaires and oligarchs, are being run not by Russian businessmen, but by foreigners, according to data released at the National Forum “Charity in the Russian Regions: Problems and Prospects.”
In our country, any selfless good deed is not different from any others, including commercial activities. This, in other words, means that charity organizations too have to pay taxes, even though western philanthropic organizations enjoy tax benefits. "We need to change the law in favor of philanthropists,” Boris Anatolievich Pashintsev said. This will help dispel people’s distrust in charities in particular and philanthropy in general, as well as help to distinguish between speculations and real issues handled by philanthropy.
To achieve these objectives, one needs to more frequently highlight the good things being done by charities and how more people can join them. In the United States, there are Carnegie Hall, Rockefeller University, etc., in Canada, there is McGill University, while in Russia, the Moscow’s Morozov Hospital and City Hospital, which prior to the revolution were named Golitsin Hospital, are still successfully operating today.
These deeds and actions have immortalized the names of the philanthropists that helped their communities survive in very difficult times. Why don’t we have, for example, the Norilsk Nickel Nursing Homes, LUKoil University or Yugansk Oil Company Symphony Orchestra today?
This is because it is not fashionable in today's Russia to patronize charity or associate with it. In the late 19th century, Russian industrialists such as the Prokhorovs were awarded the Legion of Merit at the Paris Exhibition for taking care of their workers. Today, the French and British media relish the details of how Russian millionaires waste money and corrupt European waiters with superfluously generous tips and fabulous spending sprees.
These rich Russian have no voluntary desire or motivated necessity to engage in charity at home. The Russian society is still shy of the concept of "charity". “This is why it is necessary to make this concept popular and attractive, and to do so, it is necessary to develop a system of grants and awards for philanthropists; it is important for people do good things and feel that they are valued. So far, Russia has not created such conditions for the activities of charities and this is a pity," Boris Anatolievich Pashintsev explained.
Bureaucratic barriers to philanthropy
The Tverskoi Fund spends a lot of time and efforts on tiresome correspondence with numerous state officials in justification of the necessity of its new philanthropic projects. "Unfortunately, we have to argue and defend the relevance of each and all our social projects at every level of official approval,” Boris Anatolievich Pashintsev noted.
There are practically no projects that don't have to face an almost insurmountable red tape from our government officials. At times, one gets the impression that the officials would prefer if we did not exist all, and that, apparently, would enable them to live in peace, without anyone requesting them to help the needy in the society, to do their direct official jobs.
For example, the Tverskoi Fund had proposed to build a Military Naval Cadet School. Initially, the proposal was approved and the Fund spent a significant sum of money to prepare the cost estimates and relevant project's construction documentation. But at the last moment, the bureaucrats, not seeing direct benefits for themselves, decided that such school was not really needed. In general, the issue of patriotic education among Russian bureaucrats has become an old-fashioned and non-prestigious trend.
Also, some of the most irresponsible media are doing their best to discredit such noble notions as patriotism, love for one's country, Russia's heroic past, etc. To such media, it is a lot more profitable to give the youth not patriotic education, but sexual enlightenment.
The Tverskoi Fund also had another project to build a Moscow Charity Palace, but this noble idea was not implemented also because of the aforementioned insurmountable bureaucratic red tape.
It turns out that the Tverskoi Fund, which is the guardian of the interests of Russian citizens, has become a thorn in the flesh of indifferent bureaucrats, preventing to live peacefully while the majority of the population is suffering. The bureaucrats don't care about the problem of "humiliated and insulted" citizens, the widows, orphans and pensioners. They have completely forgotten that the hungry, unemployed and homeless people, who could not find their places in this cruel world, usually join the army of criminals and violators of social orders and norms.
In the West, it has been long understood that it is much cheaper to feed the hungry and shelter the homeless than to allow them to remain hungry and homeless on the streets. In our country, the government officials, on the contrary, hope to hide from these categories of citizens, preferring instead to erect six-meter fences around their huge villas and palaces, protected round-the-clock by well-paid security guards.
But they seem to have also forgotten that even the highest fences and the most professional security guards cannot fully solve the issue of society security and not save them on the Judgment Day, when everyone will have to fully account for his/her actions.
Calls to do good deeds
"Hurry to do good," these words and calls, which had been made at different times in history by different people, ranging from doctors, writers, religious leaders to revolutionary patriots, are very much vital today, as they were in the past. Hurry to do good, because human life is short. Hurry to do good, because many people are in need of [your] help. Hurry to do good, because without that, good cannot defeat evil. "Hurry to do good," this idea is repeated in the Bible, Koran, Talmud, as well as in the teachings of Buddha, Confucius, Plato, Aristotle and several others.
Why don't we hurry to do good today?, Boris Anatolievich Pashintsev wonders. Thinking about this issue, he tries everyday to do good deeds. As the head of one of Moscow district administrations, he, along with famous director Valery Fokin, helped build the Meyerhold's Theater Center.
Boris Anatolievich also provided support to famous actors, directors, artists and others engaged in really creative work, rather than those involved in selling kitsch. He presents gifts to war and labor veterans, knowing very well how difficult it is to survive exclusively on state pensions.
One of Boris Anatolievich's recent philanthropic projects was the provision of financial support to the Moscow theater magazine, Planet of Beauty.
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