The Charity Activities of Russian Youth Movements in the Republic of Latvia in 1920s - 1930s

The article depicts the problematics of Russian emigration in interwar Latvia, its relations with the local Russian population, and a brief insight into the history of Russians in Latvia. The general attention of the paper focuses on the charity manifestations of popular Russian youth organizations and movements, such as the Scout and Sokol movements, the Unity of The Orthodox Russian Students, Russian branches of the YWCA and the fraternities of Russian students. Concerning the historical context, part of the mentioned organizations acted during the period of the Russian empire, while others were established in independent Latvia and practically were the part of the "Russia abroad" - the international cultural phenomenon of Russian exile. Thus, charity traditions peculiar to Russian organizations in the Russian empire were continued and expanded in the Republic of Latvia during the interwar period. The article is based on the documents of the Latvian State Historical Archives, the archives of the organizations themselves, Russian and Latvian periodicals of from that period and historical/scientific literature.