Was the Christmas tree always an invariable attribute of Christmas?
One hundred years ago, Christmas looked different. Most likely, only urban families had a Christmas tree, I guess, the wealthiest of them. In the village, this role was played by didukh – a harvest sheaf, which was brought to the house and solemnly placed on the table.
A Christmas tree «entered» the house in the 1920s – 1930s. At least, we can clearly attest to it in some villages since that time. In general, the Christmas tree is a very urban tradition that came to us from Germany. We can say that most of the Christmas symbols have German origin, such as the Christmas tree, the carol «Silent Night» and many other things, as well as the tradition of giving gifts.
It is important to note that if a Christmas tree was to be put up in the house, it was done before the New Year. Still, it was considered almost a heresy. There was a fast before Christmas, so the festive attributes for the holiday itself were taken critically. And since fasting ends on Holy Evening, dinner was to be fast.
About the attributes of Christmas
All the attributes of Christmas, that are usual for us now, have transformed over the last hundred years. Everything started to change before the Second World War. After its end, the Soviets came. Prior to that, the New Year was celebrated not on the 1st, but on the 14th of January in the old style, on the holiday of Malanka. In Soviet times, carols and nativity scenes were viewed pretty askance. In particular, Soviet schools did everything to prevent children from caroling. There were raids on caroling children, and their parents were brought to justice and fined.
I am from a village near Morshyn. And when I went back there for Christmas, it felt like the carol was almost dying. The question arose as to whether the next generation would still carol. Then, an almost miracle happened: Gorbachev, the last General Secretary of USSR, started liberalising politics of «Perestroika», and the carol was revived. One of the first nativity scenes appeared in Lviv, organised by the «Lion Society» (one of the first non-government youth organisations in Ukraine). This marked the beginning of change. Many people we know, who are now in politics and public life, have participated in nativity scenes. In particular, another one was created by a group of dissidents: Iryna Kalynets’, Stefania Shabatura, and Vasyl Stus. This nativity scene became one of the reasons for the so-called «Great Oppression» in 1988, when many Ukrainian dissidents were detained.
As for the Christmas Eve table, nothing has changed. It was believed that there should be 12 dishes – according to the number of apostles. The holy supper was to be meatless. Also, nothing related to milk was put on the table because it was considered greasy. Instead, one of the main components of the dishes was oil, or, as they said at the time, «oliy». It was a special flaxseed oil that had a unique taste.
About the New Year, which tried to replace Christmas
Christmas is a snowball, which is used to make a snowman. First, it is molded from a small ball of snow, which is then rolled. And everything that lies on the street becomes absorbed in this lump: someone’s forgotten glove, tree bark, hay, which pave the sidewalks. Christmas accumulates everything: from pagan traditions to New Year’s traditions of the XIX century, which I tentatively call German. Most of them originated in Germany and came to us with the expansion of German culture in these lands in the XIX century. As a result, German cultural expansion of that time spread to the entire Russian Empire, where many Germans lived. At one time, it was even called the German Empire.
The Soviet government tried to eradicate these traditions. In particular, in the 1920s, there was a movement, allegedly initiated by children. There are even photos of children from a kindergarten who held a rally, where they demanded that parents stop putting up a Christmas tree. They said that the Christmas tree was a terrible relic, and this holiday was not for the proletarians.
In fact, Christmas, and even the New Year, was banned in the Soviet Union for a long time, until Stalin agreed to celebrate it. There are different versions. One of them says that his daughter attended a reception for either the English or the German ambassador, saw a Christmas tree there and asked her father why they did not have it. And it seems that under the pretext of this conversation, Stalin ordered to organize a celebration of the New Year. Another version refers to an article written by Vyacheslav Molotov, the USSR Minister of Foreign Affairs, in which he said that if Western children celebrate the New Year with a Christmas tree, why Soviet children cannot have that tree.
The New Year was increasingly promoted with the advent of television in the 1960s. Since then, there has been a tradition of watching «Christmas tree» and «Christmas light». Dishes have appeared that were not available before, for example, the famous olivier, which in France is called Russian salad, as well as herring «under a fur coat».
However, this is all secular. Everything secular passes and changes, and Christmas remains. Traditions are something very much alive. In fact, they are constantly changing, and the main thing is not them, but how they celebrate Christmas. It should be a family holiday, with a lot of laughter and happiness, caroling and food. This is something that is unchanged and remains forever.
Roman Lamanskyi
Translated by Vitalii Holich
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