It was then, two years after the end of the Second World War, when the Venezuelan government decided to invite immigrants from a ruined Europe to develop the distant and scarcely inhabited regions of the country.
Accordingly, Venezuela did not place any limitations on profession, knowledge of language or age, restrictions which were common in the United States, Canada and other countries.
In their new place of residence, the Russian émigrés received ten dollars per person from the International Red Cross.
Initially, Russians worked as low-skilled laborers, but having established their presence, they soon began to take on more interesting (and higher-paying) professions.
It’s well known that Venezuela has won many beauty contests worldwide, and it’s not surprising to hear such names as Lyudmila Vinogradoff among the participants.
Thanks to the efforts of another cleric, Archpriest John Baumanis, Russian Orthodox parishes were founded in Caracas, Valencia, Barquisimeto, Maracay and Barcelona.
At the Cathedral of St. Nicholas in Caracas, a funeral box was established to pay for the burials of the poor, and in 1965, a decision was made to purchase a section of the municipal cemetery.