A search for the Sikh scriptures in Odesa Ukraine: an unusual journey
Sikh Scriptures were evacuated from a Gurdwara, a Sikh temple in Odesa, Ukraine, by Simran Singh Stuelpnagel, a social entrepreneur and global affairs advisor for Sikh Dharma International
On March 26, 2022, a volunteer in a white turban, and an open beard walks out of Odesa, Ukraine carrying a box full of Sikh scriptures on his head. Simran Singh Stuelpnagel drove inside the Ukraine-Meldovia border to recover Sainchains Sahibs, Sikh scriptures and Guthke Sahibs, and prayer books from Gurdwara Sahib Odesa, a Sikh temple in the Ukrainian warzone. As he rescued the scriptures and himself out of the Ukrainian-Russian conflict zone, he also left behind a whole carload of humanitarian aid.
“I was in the US watching a few organizations Gurdwaras and some other faiths try to figure out how to help out with the Ukraine situation. It was obviously a theatrical situation unfolding and people were trying to figure out how to help,” says Stuelpnagel.
During the continuing flow of people from the Ukraine border, Stuelpnagel decided to go and figure out the resource situation along with the humanitarian aid workers.
“It was a pretty confusing situation,” Stuelpnagel explains, “You kind of didn't know what the situation was going to be in the next 50 kilometers forward you kind of had to go and find out yourself.”
“We looked at Russian positions, border crossings, land routes, air routes, I got a lot of brilliant kinds of advice from people who really spend most of the day, studying the situation,” says Stuelpnagel.
Even though the Sikh Defence Network didn’t go in with Stuelpnagel, they helped him by looking at maps to find the best and safest way to Odesa.
“When we started planning this mission with Simran Singh, it was important that he had real-time knowledge of movements and travel routes to ensure his and scriptures safe return,” says Pritpal Singh Bhullar, Vice Chairman, UK Sikh Defense Network.
“So essentially I wasn't able to go, so what I did was to work with Simran on planning the trip to how to get to the location safely.”
Stuelpnagel had to navigate columns of military armored vehicles, and military blockades while avoiding shelling bombardment employing real-time intelligence of military movement provided by the Sikh Defense Network.
Bhullar says, “Our scripts are the most important thing to us but, equally at a time of war with that were ordered not to do something we can't do it and it's like what's the impact of that person is quite difficult.”
He explains that Russia controls many of the border areas in which Simran crossed into Ukraine, and its troops were in those areas when Simran arrived.
Sikhs from Ukraine reached a Gurdwara near Warsaw that had become a refugee center, and the volunteers were telling him some news about Sikh scriptures that had been left behind in Odesa, which is geographically close to the ocean and also a Russian military checkpoint.
“It was my job to bring something with me, even when I was going on a scripture-finding mission.”
The Ukrainians were anxious to get out of the warzone and abandon everything to save their lives, but at the same time, Stuelpnagel saw nothing wrong with doing the opposite.
Residents of Odesa began preparing for an imminent Russian attack after the Russians seized Mariupol, a city in Ukraine. Among the top priorities for Sikhs was the recovery of artifacts and religious scriptures from the Odesa gurdwara.
While heavily advising against dangerous travel, United Sikhs, a humanitarian aid group, Sikh Defense Network, a Sikh military organization in the UK, and European-based Sikh Dharma International, planned the evacuation and provided a safe route to return sacred scriptures to a museum in Derby, UK.
Following the warning against traveling, the Ukrainian People's Self-Defense Organization at Lviv agreed to help coordinate Ukrainian vehicles with non-military drivers, who even at their own risk aided in the rescue mission.
Stuelpnagel drove across the Moldovian-Ukrainian border with a single mission. It was to rescue the Sikh scriptures that had been safely kept by gurdwaras in Odesa. But at the same time, he drove a carload of humanitarian aid with him that he dropped off along the way.
He recalls how Ukrainian women were free to move in and out of the borders and checkpoints, whereas military-age men were forced to stay and they knew he had been bringing food to the Lviv Distribution Center. On the way to Odesa, some Ukrainian women jumped in his car filled with humanitarian aid and helped him get through the checkpoints since they spoke the language.
Stuelpnagel collected the scriptures following all necessary protocols to ensure their respect. Even reaching the gurdwara was so peaceful there was nobody there, There was a Hindu man who lived down the street and he kept everything very respectful but he said, “Look there's nobody here there's no Sewadars, [volunteers] and I have the key.”
He picked up the box of scriptures and carried the box of scriptures items on his head, as he crossed the Ukrainian and Moldovan borders on foot.
“We also brought some aid with us to Odesa which included some insulin some diabetic medicine some sleeping bags and an air mattress for the bunkers and ended up retrieving the scriptures from the Gurdwara.”
Gurpal Singh, head of Security Operations at United Sikhs says, “Their humanitarian supply, evacuation, and food delivery Seva, [selfless service] for the Ukrainian people are deeply inspirational as well.”
Singh explains, that this Mission was a tribute to the universal protection of places of worship globally and we are thankful to the Sikh National Heritage Museum in Derby, the UK where they will be placed.
Stuelpnagel said, “It seemed like a pretty good plan with a lot of I did go by myself, but there are a lot of very confident parties, making sure that everything was going to go well and in the end it did.”
He fixes his Kirpan, a religious dagger that baptized Sikhs wear, and says, “Sometimes I felt guilty because you're in a war zone, and people are getting killed.”
“It gets a little exaggerated, but when I finally retrieved Guru Ji, the scriptures, I felt joy, even in a hostile environment.”