Doukhobors Return to Georgia — Russian TV News

Духоборы в Грузии — Doukhobors in Georgia — is a 3-minute PIC-TV news segment (off-line) about village Gorelovka (Goreloye) broadcast 18 April, 2011. Vladimir I. Tolstoy, his daughter and others are shown visiting the Orphans' Home (Sirotsky dom) and lunching with staff and Doukhobors at the Lev N. Tolstoy Secondary School.

Winter scenes include Sirotsky dom, psalm singing, village scenes, the adjacent Tolstoy school, pictures of Russian writers, ending with stork nests. Near the end (time 2:25), Galina Alekseeva reports that a few educated Doukhobors have surprisingly returned from Russia to this "Georgian Siberia."

In the video 3 brief interviews shown, none with V.I. Tolstoy, summarized here:

• Nikolai Sukhorukov, village elder — Hold your sword without revenge. It's a spiritual sword. Lev Tolstoy has a famous saying: 'Don't oppose evil with violence.' They are identical. A person who walks with the [Holy] Spirit won't get attacked.
• Vladimir Svetlischev, village resident — We know how to speak Georgian because we live in Georgia. Before we were isolated and there were no Georgians here.
• Galina Alekseeva, Head of Academic Research at the State Museum-Estate of Leo Tolstoy at Yasnaya Polyana — It's very surprising that many well educated people (Doukhobors) are returning here. They could live in Moscow or Tblisi, but amazingly they are coming back here.

An error occurs at second 22 when the newscaster mistakenly calls Doukhobors Staryvery, Old Believers, a common mistake because few journalists are familiar with the history of Spiritual Christians — Dukhobortsy, Molokane, Pryguny — confusing them with Orthodox "old faiths." The error is repeated in the video segment text: "В ходе Дней Льва Толстого в Грузии участники международной конференции посетили духовный центр староверов - Гореловку." 

The return of a few Doukhobors contrasts with previous news that Doukhobors have nearly abandoned their communal farms in Georgia,

More about Doukhobors in Georgia.