GALINA BOGATIROFF

Taranaki Daily News, 16 January 1934, Page 11

GALINA BOGATIROFF

LITTLE RUSSIAN WANDERER. RE-UNION WITH PARENTS. Little Galina Bagotiroff, heroine of a Russian drama of real life dating back to the tragic days of the revolution, arrived in Sydney yesterday by the Atsuta Maru, on her way to New Zealand to join her parents, whom she has never known, and never seen except as a baby in arms (says the Sydney Morning Herald of last Friday). Through an interpreter, Galina Bogatiroff related to a Herald reporter the story of her journey of 4000 miles through Siberia to Vladivostock, en route to Japan, after having been traced through the agency of the Red Cross to a remote part of Russia. She fairly bubbled over with feelings of gratitude. Just before she went down the gangway, she was asked if there was anyone she specially wanted to thank and say good-bye to. Her brown eyes sparkled. “Oh, yes,” she told the inter- t prefer, "I want to see the ‘capitan.’ ” The farewell between the captain and the little Russian was touching. THE RED TERROR. “I was only about a year old when I was separated from my parents,” she said, through the interpreter, “but my auntie has told me of those terrible days. To save their lives, my mother and father had to escape. I was then only a baby. They were, I am told, faced with a terrible journey of about 400 miles through the. snow. They suffered hardships and I fell ill. They would have died if they had stayed with me, and I, too, would have died. So they left me to the care of friendly people, and again pushed on over the snow. Escaping from Russia, they finally found themselves in the beautiful country that I am now going to—New Zealand.” _ ( Tears began to well up into Galina s eyes. Press photographers came on the scene, and she was asked to smile before a big battery of cameras. Again she was a happy, carefree girl. The shadows of the revolution had been momentarily eclipsed. Galina said that, since she was separated from her parents 11 years ago, she has been well treated, and her sturdy little figure and bright face tell their own story. It was mainly through the international organisation of the Red Cross, after long years of exhaustive inquiries, that she was traced to a town in Siberia, where she was then staying with an aunt, with whom, en route to Japan, on the voyage to New Zealand, she travelled about 4000 miles through Siberia to Vladivostok- When she was not under the direct care of her aunt, she was under the watchful eye of one or other’ of the Red Cross organisations. She was asked what she thought of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. “Very good,” she said, with an air of dfetachment. Her mind was across the water, in New. Zealand. Galina has journeyed all the way to Sydney to suffer here what is probably one of the biggest disappointments in her young life. A bag in which she carried her clothes fell off the car in which she was conveyed from the wharf to the Red Cross Society’s headquarters before proceeding to the chairman’s home. BAG RETURNED. In response to the appeal published in the Herald, a working man returned the bag to-day to Mr. H. L. Pitt, superintendent of the Red Cross Society. It was found near Argyle Cut. “Galina was the happiest girl in Sydney,” said Mr. Pitt. Although she could not express in words her feelings, it was quite apparent that she was delighted and indicated her gratitude. “When she was told of her loss yesterday, Galina showed not the least trace of emotion or distress, and through an interpreter said that the bag contained nothing of consequence. At the same time we discerned her disappointment. When we opened the bag to-day, however, we found that it contained all her personal belongings and little gifts which she must have treasured beyond price. Galina was on her way to Taronga Park accompanied by Mrs. R. J. Hawkes, wife of the chairman of the Red Cross Society, and we intercepted them so as to let Galina know that her bag had been found.”.. Mr. Pitt said that since the story of her adventures had been published he had received numerous offers and calls from kindly disposed citizens who wished to make gifts to Galina. Some Russian citizens had also volunteered to act as interpreters.