In April 1937, The Salvation Army in Sweden published SA Commissioner Karl Larsson's book, Ten Years in Russia. The book received wide attention and was reprinted in several editions. Disappointingly, it was never translated into the English language, which meant that its story never became known outside the Scandinavian countries. Now, with the publication of Sven Ljungholm's book a wide chasm is bridged. It's a story of love for the Russian people and the pioneers' zeal to bring the Gospel message to the vast Russian empire. Moscow: The March 1917 revolution occurred, bringing complete freedom to the Salvation Army allowing it to conduct religious meetings. During Easter 1917, the first Army march in Russia, along Petrograd's Nevsky Prospect was organized. To the tune of "Rouse, Then, Soldiers, Rally Round the Banner," sounded out on Colonel Larsson's concertina twenty Salvationists marched to the meeting venue. Thousands watched and 450 of the onlookers were attracted to a public meeting which filled the hall to overflowing. In Ten Years in Russia Larsson addresses the reader: If the Salvation Army's history in its entirety should one day be divided, probably no part would be more interesting than the description of the attempt to plant its banner in the vast Russian Empire's soil. Unfortunately, Larsson's saga, published in four successive runs, was never translated from its original Swedish and the history remains largely unknown outside Scandinavia. With the publication of Return to Battle in Russia the valiant pioneering efforts in Russia will be available to English language audiences. The book comprises distinct narratives seeking to link a nine-decade fragmented panorama of mostly silence. Telling the complicated story of The Salvation Army's involvement in Russia, the First Volume narrative chronicles The Salvation Army's pioneering work in Russia in the decade 1913-1923. Larsson's writings are augmented by the chronicles penned by my paternal grandfather, a Swedish Salvation Army officer who served with nine other Swedish pioneers in post World War I Russia under Larsson's command. He logged daily in the diary he kept while serving in Petrograd and Moscow. Although now more than seventy years old, the combined journals recollect a period into which they and a small group of other Salvationist missionaries entered, witnesses to the tumultuous violence of the Russian Revolution - a time of atrocities during the Red Terror and Russian civil war. It was a period that would demand its toll, including the lives of Salvationist martyrs. In Included in the book are an eclectic selection of articles from varied sources and in their native languages; a unique and treasured legacy of recorded Salvation Army history. They serve as testimony to Karl Larsson and his band of passionate warriors, whose belief in loyalty, integrity, tenacity matched their courageous, unwavering faith in God's leading. Larsson was a life-enhancer who brought out a Corinthian spirit in all, including the little man. His book chronicles the advances and setbacks on the front - a journal of achievements and disappointments. The Army's history in the first half of the twentieth century reveals that an extraordinarily large percentage of Salvationist missionaries radiated from Sweden and the other Scandinavian countries. Yet even within the Salvation Army organization, few knew that those Swedish Salvationists made a valiant assault upon Russia that spanned almost three decades, one demanding focused purpose, self-sacrifice and even martyrdom. It is time for the story of their courageous work in the service of God to be preserved and to be told.
About the Author: The Ljungholms shared the appointment to re-open The Salvation Army in Moscow in 1992. Armed with Russian Bibles and small selection of humanitarian aid they rolled down Gorky street in search of the borrowed, unseen apartment. The Ljungholm's came into their roles in mid-life. Sven had been Executive VP of a tour operator, president of an airline and hotel GM. Kathie owned her own bookkeeping service. Their first task was to revive a unit on Manhattan's east 52nd Street, a stone's throw from Sven's earlier corporate headquarters on Madison Avenue. Their entrepreneurship brought immediate results. The Sunday congregation grew evolving as an eclectic unit - a score of inactive Salvationists recommitted their God-given talent, East side yuppies wishing to participate in the 'feeding of street people, ' and Salvation Army officers joining from other area units wishing to involve themselves in an authentic reliving of the early Army ethos. The corps' concern for its neighbors evidenced itself in a dramatic fashion. While earning a Master's degree in Ed Admin and with Kathie's oversight. the corps' was certified by the New York Board of Ed as ged high schoolwith Ljungholm named its Principal. The cutting-edge model was made famous when the first of its graduates 'walked' and received their diplomas, robed in black gowns and wearing traditional mortar boards, in the cavernous Grand Central Station many students' former home. National TV networks, the BBC, the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Toronto Globe and the Christian Science Monitor and many others featured the Army's unique initiative. Ljungholm, a Rotarian, was a regular guest speaker at Rotary clubs in many USA states, the UK, Scandinavia, and Russia. He was the principal speaker at the annual Church of Sweden meeting in Östersund. While stationed in Russia he returned as principal speaker at the annual Rotary convention in southern Sweden. He was the first 'Westerner' to address the Russian Parliament on the election of Boris Yeltsin as its President. Ljungholm was a regular lecturer at Russia's Military Officer Academy, and the Moscow Humanities University. He was presented with Russia's Order of the 4th degree class medal for his actions aimed at restoring international peace and security. Featured in several television programs in the UK, Russia and Sweden Ljungholm was the subject of a ninety-minute special, THIS IS YOUR LIFE, Sven Ljungholm earned his Ph.D. at Moscow State University