The revolution in Russia broke down the chain of command among Russian units stationed beyond its borders. Soldiers in the town no longer received regular orders, and discipline disintegrated. For about a month, groups of them raided houses, stole property and gold, and assaulted women. The force we had once regarded as protection became the town’s principal threat.1
One night Russian soldiers came with axes to our shop, which adjoined the house. My brother Avraham and his wife2 lived in the room above it. The men came from a post they had established in a neighbouring house and knew Avraham by name. He called to them, “It is us — your neighbours!”
“Avraham, move away; we are firing,” they replied, and sent a volley into the shop. My brother’s anger rose. “You are the ones who must retreat. If you do not return to your post, we will fire on you.” He drew his pistol and fired seven shots.
The soldiers had not expected resistance. They asked him to stop and promised to leave our shop alone and break into the one opposite. Avraham refused that too. In fluent Russian he shouted, “You will not open that shop either. Leave the entire quarter!” The familiar language and his resolve had their effect; the soldiers withdrew.
Theft and violence continued for a while longer, until the units packed their equipment and moved north. Yet their departure brought no security. It left a vacuum of authority, and fear grew over the forces that would fill it.
- The Russian revolutions of 1917 and the army’s disintegration preceded the formal withdrawal from Iran. The armistice of 15 December 1917 already provided for Russian and Ottoman withdrawal from Persia; the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed on 3 March 1918. Encyclopaedia Iranica, “Brest-Litovsk Treaty” (accessed 2 September 2026).
- Original editor’s note: Avraham‘s wife was named Biyaz, meaning ‘white.’