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met a student from Warsaw, Poland, who had an influential background. He was nine years older than Anna. His name was Yevgeny, and his family was one of the wealthiest in Warsaw. He had spent many years at St. Petersburg studying.
    They fell in love, and they traveled to Ukraine to meet Anna’s mother. If Anna could marry Yevgeny, her family would have a great opportunity to get out of Russia. After all, with the kind of influence that his family had, there could be all kinds of opportunities for them to get out. Transportation out of troubled Russia could still be bought with gold, jewels, and money.
    However, Anna was not old enough to get married, especially since the Orthodox Church was still very active, and no Orthodox priest would perform the ceremony. But even in this situation, a small donation of gold would get the job done.
    Arrangements were made for Anna’s wedding, and Feodosija signed a consent agreement. The small but beautiful wedding was attended by only family and close friends and was held in the Orthodox church near the villa at Konstantinowka, with the priest conducting the ceremony. He was paid a sizable sum in gold for the favor and the work that he did.
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THE ORTHODOX CHURCH • A woman who married outside the Russian Orthodox Church was not considered a legal wife but rather a man’s mistress. The church also had strict rules about underage women getting married, and Anna was under the minimum age requirement. Her mother, Feodosija, gave her written consent in order for Anna to marry at such a young age, in the summer of 1923, and paid the priest a large amount of money.
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    Anna and Yevgeny became man and wife, but Yevgeny had to return to St. Petersburg, leaving Anna with her family for a while. He had some plans worked out that included his first attempt to move Anna and her family out of Russia and to Poland. His plans failed, and he soon returned without success and started to work on another plan. However, things were moving too fast, and the Bolsheviks were putting a strong hold on the exits out of Russia. After several attempts to get out of Russia and back to Poland and his family had failed, Yevgeny tried to find some kind of way to remain in Russia and to protect Anna and her family from the danger of being “found out.”
    For a while, Yevgeny was able to get some money and some gold from his family. This helped keep his hopes up. Also, during the Depression gold was the best source for survival. However, as time went on and the Communists took a strong hold on everything—they would put anyone in chains who didn’t cooperate or who would look unfavorably toward them—Yevgeny and Anna started to make a kind of life for themselves; and her mother, Feodosija, became more dependent on their help.

6: Move to Taganrog
     
    After Papa had failed to find a way out of Russia, he and Mama decided that they would have to start a life of their own. In the winter of 1924, they moved to the city of Taganrog—a city that was located on the Azov Sea. Grandmother owned a house there that was vacant, so Mama and Papa moved into Grandmother’s house. All the furniture and furnishings had been left in the house, so the only things they had to move were their personal belongings.
    They traveled from Santurinowka to Taganrog by train, and what a beautiful train ride it was—the scenery in that part of the world is unique and so beautiful. Papa had wanted to move to Taganrog because this was a city of international trade with the ships from Europe and other parts of the world, coming in through the Azov Sea. This would give Papa exposure to the people from Europe and would possibly open an avenue to get out of Russia.
    The house they moved into was a beautiful two-story home with a view of the waters of the Azov from the second-floor windows. There was also a cool, soft breeze blowing at all times. The house had two wrought-iron balconies that would allow one to enjoy the view of the sea and