The author of the article disputes the opinion about the motives and nature of the Fedotov’s activities in Saratov in 1920–1922. Relying on official documents stored in the archives of St. Petersburg and Saratov, as well as sources of personal origin, the author shows that it is necessary to take into account not only ideological, but also vital, «mundane» motives of his behavior. The historian who was married shortly before arriving in Saratov needed to feed his wife and adopted daughter in the harsh conditions of the civil war in Russia.