The "Uhl Mao Zeh" in Harbin

     I have already covered the subject of Russian Koreans in a number of blogs, including the two very first blogs in this BlogSpot.  However, since The Manchurian Tales is about Russian Koreans, the so-called uhl mao zeh in particular, I felt that additional blogs on the subject would not be out of place.
     As I have stated previously, the overall, large group of Russian Koreans, i.e., Russians of Korean ethnic extraction, generally refer to themselves nowadays as koryo saram, which means Koryo person, a rather quaint name, since Koryo Dynasty existed hundreds of years ago!  However, a much smaller group of Russian Koreans that used to live in Harbin, Manchuria prior to Soviet take over after World War Two called themselves and were known as uhl mao zeh, a Korean pronunciation of Chinese name er mao tsu, which means literally, a second foreigner!  There isn't an accurate figure on the number of uhl mao zeh that existed in Harbin prior to World War Two.  There is no consensus, the number ranges anywhere from 5,000 to 25,000.  That is a very small number, when you consider that the total number of Russian Koreans today, the koryo saram, is somewhere in the neighborhood of half a million souls.  The main difference between the uhl mao zeh in Harbin and the rest of the Russian Korean community was their socio economic standing.  That is the main reason that those who were later to be known as uhl mao zeh fled communist Russia while the majority remained.
     As it became clear that the Tsarists were losing the battle against the Bolsheviks, news began to reach the Russian Far East (Primorsky Krai or Primorye) where the Russian Korean population was concentrated, that the Bolsheviks were conducting purges, killing off or imprisoning all those who were the so-called former ruling class or financially well off.  This meant in general those that not only had money but were better educated.  Of course anyone who was affiliated with the Tsarist government was immediately killed or imprisoned.  Those Russian Koreans who held positions in Tsarist government or were successful professionals and businessmen knew that they had to get out.  The closest place was Manchuria, so that is where they headed.  So, essentially the Russian Koreans who ended up in Harbin and called themselves uhl mao zeh were of higher socio economic level than those that remained in Russia.  That is not to say that all uhl mao zeh were of higher socio economic level than those who remained in Russia.  There were many of higher standing who foolishly remained in Russia, and there were many of humble background who escaped to Manchuria.  But generally speaking, those who ended up in Harbin were the ones who could be considered to have had a "privileged" life in old Russia.
     Although many suffered hardships while in Manchuria, many others were successful in pursuing their careers and establish themselves in Harbin.  Those who had money sent their young abroad to be educated, mostly Europe.  So, the second generation of uhl mao zeh, those that grew up in Harbin, became very unique in that they were well educated, very cosmopolitan, given to speaking several languages and trained as doctors, engineers, lawyers and other professions.  They grew up in privileged surroundings and were more or less at the top of the food chain in Harbin.  Contrast that with the situation faced by their less fortunate relatives who remained in Russia.  By 1930s Stalin ordered that all ethnic Koreans be deported to Soviet Central Asia, thousands of miles away into god forsaken territory.  Their only chance for higher education was if they were academically gifted, then they could possibly earn a scholarship to attend one of the Soviet state universities.  A far cry from top European and American universities that some of the uhl mao zeh attended!  So, for about a quarter of a century, from 1920 until 1945, the uhl mao zeh in Harbin found themselves in a unique situation where they may have been stateless and ruled by Chinese in the 20s and Japanese in the 30s and 40s, but they were in many cases better educated and to some extend envied by their rulers.
     In some ways, the uhl mao zeh lived in an artificial world, as they soon found out when the Soviets occupied Manchuria and began deporting those who remained to Soviet Central Asia.  That is, those that they did not imprison or kill outright.  But while that world lasted, before the Soviet occupation, they lived in a unique world.  They lived in a world where they never experienced racial discrimination.  After all, they were in Asia and at the same time, at the top of the food chain, as mentioned earlier.  They may not have been liked by other ethnic groups, but they were not discriminated against.  The Japanese mistrusted the uhl mao zeh because they were too "foreign" or "western" yet they were racially and ethnically Asian!  But at the same time, the Japanese envied the uhl mao zeh, their ability to move about with ease in western society, their ability to speak Russian and other languages. The Russians accepted them because despite the fact that they were Asian, they were culturally Russian, in many cases speaking better Russian than some of the less educated Russians in Harbin.  So, at least for about a quarter of a century, they were able to enjoy the best of both worlds.  But that was in Harbin.  It would not have been the same elsewhere.  Those who traveled abroad or even went to places like Shanghai or Hong Kong quickly discovered that racial discrimination was alive and well.  They were shocked to see signs in theaters and other public places patronized by Europeans that said "No dogs or Chinese Allowed!"  Such things were unthinkable in Harbin.  Harbin was their haven, a place where they belonged even if they were stateless.
     Those uhl mao zeh who managed to get away from Manchuria always remembered Harbin as a sort of a haven for them, where they never felt racial discrimination or were mistreated in anyway because of their ethnicity or racial background.  Some even said that Russians were not racists, which of course, is not true.  Russians could be very racist as they have shown throughout history, including the deportation of Russian Koreans!  What these old Harbinites are forgetting or failing to realize is that because of their education and financial position, they were treated better.  Had they been uneducated and poor, they would have felt the full brunt of racial discrimination, even in their beloved Harbin.