Beloostrova Border Crossing 1918-19

Discussion of historical data and questions related to Zelenogorsk/Terijoki and surrounding territory

Модератор: Vladimir S. Kotlyar

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Phil Penningroth

Beloostrova Border Crossing 1918-19

Сообщение Phil Penningroth »

Hello: This is a wonderful website and has already been a great help in my research. I hope there's more.
I'm writing a book about my grandfather who served as a YMCA secretary during WWI in Russia. He passed at least twice through Beloostrova, once in early October, 1918 and then again in March and April, 1919. I am looking for good descriptions of that border crossing at that time. For example, I have read that there was a bridge that crossed a small stream that represented the border between Finland and Russia. I've also read that this was once a railway bridge and that in 1918, although the rails had been torn up, the ties remained on the bridge. I've read that during the "Red Terror" of the summer of 1918, both the Bolsheviks and the new "White" Finn governments erected locked iron gates at each end of the bridge. I've found a rough drawing of the train station but wouldlike to know a lot more about what the place looked like and how it functioned on both sides of the border. I am interested in as much written and visual detail as possible (although the written material will need to be in English as that's all I can read; the limitations of an American education). Any and all help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Phil Penningroth
Michael Bravo

RE: Beloostrova Border Crossing 1918-19

Сообщение Michael Bravo »

Phil,

I'm not much of a local historian (there are people here that are much more qualified than I - I'm sure they will provide more substance; I can help with translation in English if necessary), but I can tell you what I know of the ground as it stands today. The stream in question might well be the river Sestra (means "Sister"), which also gives name to a regional center town Setroretsk, located downstream. The border was roughly drwan along this river. There currently is a railway bridge crossing it right after the Beloostrov train station (when coming from St.Petersburg towards Vyborg), and there is a train station building in Beloostrov, though I don't know if it is the same one. I also know that when I was a kid (in 1970s), there were talks how some kids went trekking along the Sestra and saw some fallen overgrown old border-marking poles there.

If you are interested, either Alexandr or me can provide some recent pictures of those places in some days, put it on the web somewhere here.
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