History

Old Believers during naturalization proceedings in Alaska

Founded in l939 in New York City as a humanitarian organization devoted to the relief of Russian refugees from World War I and to the preservation of Russian culture in America, the Tolstoy Foundation's mission and activities broadened and expanded during the course of World War II to include urgent relief and assistance to other victims of persecution and oppression refugees, displaced persons and prisoners of war.

In Hungary, following the revolution of 1956, and in Tibet in 1959, when the Dalai Lama asked the Tolstoy Foundation to help those of his people who had escaped after the Communist takeover, the Foundation responded immediately and offered relief and resettlement to these refugees.

When the Old Believers, descendants of individuals who more than 300 years ago refused to adopt certain reforms introduced into the Russian Orthodox Church, had to flee the Soviet Union, they did so by actually walking across the roof of the world through the Himalayas, finally to reach safety in India. In the 1960's, they were resettled by the Tolstoy Foundation in several places in the United States, where they created thriving communities. The Tolstoy Foundation also assisted in the resettlement of many Circassians, Kalmucks and other Northern Caucasians.

In 1972, the Tolstoy Foundation joined the U.S. Department of State's Refugee Resettlement Program and assisted in the resettlement of refugees from all over the world to the U.S., including Russian Jews, primarily those in mixed marriages, and Ugandan Asians who were fleeing the regime of General Idi Amin. By the end of 1975, the Foundation had resettled over 3,000 Vietnamese and Cambodian refugees throughout the continental United States and Hawaii, as well as assisting a further 10,000 Indochinese refugees, mostly Cambodians, after the fall of Laos.

In l994, the Tolstoy Foundation left the State Department's refugee resettlement program. However, TF activities continue through our offices and representations throughout the world.