Disappearing Footprints in Harbin, China

Ewa E. Barczyk recently compiled Footprints of Polonia: Polish Historical Sites Across North America, which noted the physical places and buildings occupied by Polish Americans in the United States.1 It offers suggestions for Polish American historical destinations throughout North America, which is something I highly recommend. Themed vacations are not only opportunities to see out-of-the-way places; they also allow you to take in major tourist sites from a different perspective. Rather than seeing historic sites as a parade of great men on horseback, these trips offer a greater historical understanding of the economic and social lives of Americans. I participated in putting together the Footprints book; I had my Polish American themed vacation through Iowa and South Dakota.In the summer of 2021, the pandemic stranded me in China. I was free to travel within the country, but I could not leave to visit my family. I took a month-long themed vacation to see the imperialist sites of northeastern China, ranging from Harbin near the Russian border and ending in the French Concession in Shanghai. I hoped to see the footprints of past foreigners in China and how the locals interacted with them. While this could be the subject of another article, three days in the Chinese city of Harbin drew my attention. As I found out, it could be another location for another stop in a Polish-themed vacation. The city had a large Polish population prior to World War II. However, the footprints of the Polish population have disappeared, or even been erased.The city of Harbin (the name in the Manchu dialect means the place for drying fishing nets) was founded in 1898 during the heyday of colonial empires. After the imperialist nations had conquered sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia, they turned their attention to taking control over a declining China. When Japan defeated China in a war in 1894–1895, the subsequent peace treaty gave Taiwan and the Liaodong Peninsula, including the valuable city known as Dalian or Port Arthur, to Japan. The European imperial powers intervened, requiring Japan to return the Liaodong Peninsula to China. To discourage future Japanese depredations, the Qing Dynasty government in China sought better relations with the Russian Empire. China granted Russia the right to build a railroad across the Heilongjiang Province (one of the three provinces that constitute Manchuria). This rail line shortened the distance between Moscow and its Pacific Ocean port, Vladivostok. The midpoint railroad junction of this new line became known as Harbin. A southern line connected the Chinese Eastern Railway with the rest of China.Harbin is now known mostly in China as its coldest and most northern large city. Chinese people from the nation's tropical regions flock there to experience snow and cold weather for the first time. Ski hills are nearby. The Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival draws attention from around the world. Architecturally, Harbin flaunts its Russian heritage. Light posts and iron fences are colored in green and gold, the colors of the Russian Empire. A gigantic Russian built railroad station lies at the center of the old town. It now features the high-speed trains found throughout China. South of the train station stands an old hotel, old administration buildings, and an old shopping center. Further south, at the top of a hill, stands the mansion of the manager of the Chinese Eastern Railway.West from the station stands the entrance to Zhongyang Street (which translates as Central Street or Chinese Street). The street is now a pedestrian walkway through the heart of the old city. The almost one-mile-long cobblestone road toward the river features a treasure trove of Russian-built buildings dating from the early 1900s. Near the street's entrance stands a post office dating to 1914. The repurposed Balas Cinema (with its Cyrillic lettering still present) dating to 1925 contains eateries and shops of all types. Boutiques featuring Russian-style souvenirs such Russian dolls can readily be found. Several restaurants serve Russian food. Some of these eateries even feature local servers dressed in Russian peasant costumes.Because Harbin connected Vladivostok, European Russia, and China, Harbin became a wealthy trading city. European culture, fashion, and other goods entered into China at this rail center. The flat, fertile region known as Manchuria became one of the great centers of soybean production. The region—distinct from the rest of China—produced 16 percent of the world's soybeans in 1910.2 The 1913 census reported that the city contained fifty-three nationalities speaking forty-five languages. Almost 90 percent of the population of 68,549 was born outside of the city. Russians constituted the largest ethnic group at 34,313 residents. Chinese people of all its ethnicities were the second largest at 23,537 residents.3 By the 1920s, the population peaked at around 120,000.Other groups are not forgotten in Harbin. One plaque, for example, highlights that a building originally served as the home of the Japanese Dental Hospital built in 1927. But mostly the city has preserved the heritage of its Jewish residents. The 1913 census listed Jews as the third largest ethnic group at 5,032. Harbin restored its Jewish cemetery—founded in 1903—after the Cultural Revolution led to its decay. West of Zhongyang Street stands what was known as Harbin General Synagogue, also built in 1903. The three-story building now contains a performing arts space, a gift shop, a coffee shop, and a brief historical display highlighting the Jews of Harbin. The New Jewish Synagogue—built in 1918—stands a few blocks away. The historical plaques—often written in what is known as "Chinglish"—highlight the Jewish ancestry of the first owners of buildings on Central Street. "A French Jew named Samsonovky" built what became the Chamber of Commerce in the early 1900s. The mansion owned by "a Jew named P. A. Birkwiky," built in 1907 stood close to the riverfront. "A Jew named F. A. Karci" built the Minature Restaurant in 1927. "A Jew named A. L. Aokun" had his mansion just off Central Street.Yet someone built this city and this railroad. As in America, Polish engineers and workers built the new city. Stanislaw Kierbedz (the nephew of the famed Polish architect also named Stanislaw Kierbedz) oversaw the construction of the railway. Engineer Adam Szydlowski chose the site of the city. He also laid out the city of Harbin and its infrastructure to support construction. Other Polish engineers were involved in the construction. While Harbin was an international city with an international workforce, Polish railway workers constituted half of the rail construction workers. They built one-half of the rail line. Polish workers, engineers, and industry constructed the Sungari Bridge crossing the Sungari River in 1900. Polish factories produced the spans, which were then shipped to Harbin. However, plaques near what was once known as Kierbedz Bridge identify the span's designers as Russians!4Poles stayed on after the construction finished. According to the 1913 census, Polish residents numbered 2,556, making them the fourth-largest ethnic group. The Russian Revolution of 1917 led to emigres streaming into Harbin, including many Poles. Later estimates suggest that the Polish population peaked at 20,000 in the 1920s.5 A Pole, Stanislaw Gabriel, was the long-time managing director of the China Eastern Railway. Other Poles held positions as directors or leaders in the community.Like Poles in America, the Poles in Harbin established cultural institutions. In 1907, rail engineer Karol Weber built the Gospoda Polska (Polish Inn) Association as a meeting hall. In 1915, Polish residents founded Henry Sienkiewicz School offering primary and secondary instruction. Its curriculum featured a combination of Polish culture, Asian culture, and Catholic teachings.6 Its most famous graduate, the author Teodor Parnicki, set his first novel in the city. The city also featured a Polish-language press, which lasted until 1940.7 In 1900, Jan Wrobelewski founded the brewing company that now produces Harbin beer, which is readily found throughout China. The poorly reviewed brewery museum stands far south of the town center. From 1920 to 1941, Harbin had a Polish consulate.Polish residents meant that there would be a Catholic church. To the east of the manager's mansion, Church Street contains three historic and still active churches. Across the street from the original Orthodox and Protestant churches stands a Catholic church. The Polish residents founded St. Stanislaus Church in 1906. During the Cultural Revolution in 1966, the neo-Gothic building fell into disuse. The rebuilt church reopened in 2004, although it was named Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church. The building now contains a restaurant in its basement. There are no visible plaques.The continuing great power rivalries that led to the founding of Harbin also led to the end of the Polish presence in the city. In 1911, the Chinese Nationalist Party seized power, pledging to modernize China. Surprisingly to most modern observers, the Nationalist (Guomindang) Party in its earliest days had a strong affinity for the Soviet Communist Party. This continued even under the leadership of Jiang Jieshi (also known as Chiang Kai-shek). The Guomindang saw the Soviet Union as a model for state-directed growth. Meanwhile, the Chinese Nationalists rightly saw Japan as a threat, and they sought help from the Soviet Union. This made China amenable to requests from its northern neighbor. In 1937, the Guomindang complied with a Soviet request that only Soviet and Chinese citizens be allowed work on the China Eastern Railway. All Poles were terminated. In the last days of World War II, the Soviet Union occupied Harbin. The Communists in Russia and China viewed the Poles with suspicion. In 1947, all Poles were deported from Harbin. Eventually, all non-Chinese were deported or repatriated to Polish cities such as Szczecin, Elblag, Opole, Walbrzch, and Olsztyn.Historic preservation requires the public or private will to retain a building or an object. A popular subscription raised money to preserve St. Sophia Orthodox Cathedral near Zhongyang Street. Now tourist admission fees fund the ongoing restoration of the church. The China Eastern Railway manager's mansion is now a KFC. The well-preserved building—which includes an observation tower—is open to the public. The creaking interior suggests that the restaurant's floor was not permanently attached to the building's, allowing for the KFC infrastructure to be dismantled without harming the historic structure. The Chinese Communist government restored the Jewish cemetery only because Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel had an ancestor buried there.The public and private will to preserve Polish sites appears to be limited. Harbin Normal University possesses a Polish-language program. While there was a local exhibit about Poles in Harbin in 2017, politics suggest that highlighting the Polish contributions to China would seem unlikely.8 Most of the extant records relating to the city's Poles are in the Pomeranian Library in Szczecin, Poland. A group of Polish history buffs offered to supply new plaques correctly highlighting Stanislaus Kerbredz Polish ancestry, but the pandemic ended those plans.9 Great power politics and Chinese naming conventions make the display of these updated plaques unlikely. According to the local convention, Russia occupied Poland therefore all Poles are Russians. Harbin's Polish footprints have practically disappeared from local memory. It serves as a warning to other cities of the Polish diaspora about preserving their legacies.