Appeal from the Russian Patriarch, May 1920

Authorized by the Russian Orthodox Clergy, headed by the All-Russian Patriarchs, by the Jewish clergy in Russia, by the Russian Academy of Sciences, by the Academy of Arts, by the All-Russian Union of Actors, headed by the National Theaters, by the Russian poets, writers, composers, professors, one hundred thousand students, institutes, secondary and lower educational institutions, two thousand cooperatives, hospitals, shelters, societies, companies, individuals and institutions of a wide variety of political parties and views convey: Citizens of American, children die of hunger in the northern parts of Russia, children die – the future of the people dies. We make the most ardent request to [illegible] and the heart of the American nation for helping Russian children with foodstuff; we ask for the help of a nation which has actively and generously helped the people of Russia more than once in the past and we hope that this time the Americans will again respond to our call.