A receipt-book stub with a frame measuring 52 × 31 mm. Two-color printing on paper of various colors and thicknesses. Irregular left-side perforation. In a rectangular frame, the denomination is centered. At the top are a red cross and the letters “Z.S.” At the bottom, a two-line text: “For the maintenance of shelters for disabled soldiers.” In the upper right corner is a number. On the front side there is a fragment of a lilac impression of the Union’s round control seal.
The Zemstvo Union (the All-Russian Zemstvo Union for Aid to Sick and Wounded Soldiers), one of the largest public organizations providing medical assistance, arranging support for refugees, and supplying the army with medicines, dressings, and other items during World War I. It was founded on July 30, 1914, by provincial zemstvos at the All-Russian congress of their representatives in Moscow. It operated under the patronage of Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna. The Zemstvo Union was part of the Russian Red Cross Society while retaining independence in financial and internal affairs.
In Voronezh, on the initiative of Governor G. B. Petkevich, a meeting was convened on July 25, 1914, to establish a charitable society to assist soldiers and their families. The governor’s wife, V. I. Petkevich, who was related to the head of the Russian government, I. L. Goremykin, was unanimously elected chairwoman of the Committee. An Executive Council was also elected, which included many well-known Voronezh ladies. On October 1, 1914, the General Meeting decided to help the “soldier in the trenches” with those items that were in short supply at the front. Such items included warm underwear, smoking supplies, and nutritious products (tea, sugar, lard, salt, wine). In the local periodical press, the ladies launched a powerful advertising campaign calling for practical assistance and donations toward producing underwear for the army.