In the history of the Decembrists, unfortunately, there are more mysteries than guesses. The Soviet government, which encouraged the study of this topic, set out not so much to understand what the Decembrists really were, but to proclaim that they had awakened Herzen, and then things gradually came to 1917. All the nuances that destroyed the image of the Decembrists as the forerunner of the Bolsheviks were carefully erased and destroyed, and serious researchers admit that today there are a lot of white spots in the theme of the Decembrists, which, it seems, will never take color.
Some historians, for example, believe that the Decembrists were only used as cannon fodder by much higher-ranking conspirators, and this explains not only the calm existence of societies, but also the situation that developed in the square. When the top of the conspiracy realized that the rebellion could not be won, they sided with the sovereign. The panic that happened after that in the ranks of the conspirators is explained, in particular, by the ridiculous shot at Miloradovich, who allegedly also participated in the conspiracy.
Decembrists are members of various secret societies of the second half of the 10s - the first half of the 20s of the XIX century, who organized an anti-government uprising in December 1825. The Decembrists did not have a single program, and, for example, the draft constitution of N. M. Muravyov, which was promoted by the "Northern Society", was very different from the "Russian Truth" by P. I. Pestel.
The Decembrists took advantage of the sudden death of Emperor Alexander I in Taganrog, and after the abdication of Tsarevich Constantine, when Emperor Nicholas ascended the throne, they tried to raise an open uprising.
The speech on December 14, 1825 in Senate Square was severely suppressed. At the same time, 1271 people died, of which: "39 - in tailcoats and greatcoats, 9 - women, 19 - minors and 903 - rabble." All who participated in the conspiracy were punished severely. Already at the last moment, the new emperor - Nicholas I - softened the court's decision, but upheld the death sentence for five Decembrists: Pestel, Ryleev, Sergei Muravyov-Apostol, Bestuzhev-Ryumin and Kakhovsky, replacing, however, for them quartering by hanging. Another thirty-one Decembrists - sentenced to death by beheading - were replaced by hard labor. In total, 579 people were under investigation, and 121 conspirators were brought to trial.
The verdict of the Supreme Criminal Court was executed on July 13, 1826 in the Kronverk of the Peter and Paul Fortress. Three - Muravyov-Apostol, Kakhovsky and Ryleev - fell off their hinges and, in violation of all traditions and superstitions, were hanged again.
The head of the Peter and Paul Kronwerk, V. I. Berkopf, decided that the ropes had broken under the weight of the shackles. There were no spare ones, and they decided to buy them in neighboring shops. But, since the execution took place early in the morning, all the shops were closed, and the crippled people who had already been executed had to wait a few more hours to be hanged again.
However, many of the Decembrists, going to Senate Square, had an excellent idea of how their escapade would most likely end. Several Decembrists left for Senate Square from Ryleev's apartment, located in the building of the Russian-American Company (72 Moika River Embankment). Alexander Odoevsky, who was among them, leaving the apartment, said: "Let us die, brothers, oh, how gloriously we will die!"
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Decembrist Kondraty Ryleev was born on September 18 (October 1), 1795 in the village of Batovo (now the territory of the Gatchina District of the Leningrad Region) in the family of a small-scale nobleman who manages the estates of Princess Varvara Golitsyna. He studied at the St. Petersburg First Cadet Corps, participated in the foreign campaigns of the Russian army in 1814-1815, and retired in 1818. In 1820 he married Natalya Mikhailovna Tevyasheva. From 1821 he served as assessor of the St. Petersburg Criminal Chamber, and from 1824 - the ruler of the office of the Russian-American Company.
As one of the leaders of the uprising, Ryleev during the investigation took all the blame on himself, trying to justify his comrades. They say that in prison he repented of his deed and was imbued with a "Christian spirit." In his last letter to his wife, he wrote: “God and the sovereign decided my fate: I must die, and die a shameful death. His holy will be done! My dear friend, surrender yourself to the will of the Almighty, and He will comfort you … "The letter ends like this:" Farewell! They are told to dress. His holy will be done."
The last words of Ryleev on the scaffold, addressed to the priest, were: "Father, pray for our sinful souls, do not forget my wife and bless my daughter."
After the rope broke, it was Ryleev, according to some researchers, who said the legendary phrase: "Damned land, where they do not know how to plot, judge, or hang!"
Until the last moment, Ryleev hoped for a pardon, but this did not happen. But the royal family helped his family financially: even during the investigation, Nicholas I sent Ryleev's wife 2 thousand rubles, and then the empress sent another thousand for her daughter's birthday. After the execution and until the second marriage, Ryleev's widow received a pension, and the emperor paid an allowance to his daughter until she came of age.
Later, at the end of the 19th century, a letter was published to the mother of Kondraty Ryleev, Anastasia Matveevna, nee Essen:
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The bodies of the executed Decembrists were not handed over to their relatives, but were buried in a secret place under cover of night. Many tried to unravel the mystery of this burial, from the relatives and comrades of the executed, to historians and writers. But a clear answer, where the bodies of the Decembrists are buried, does not exist to this day.
There were suggestions that the executed were buried right in the ditch of the fortress, not far from the place of execution. Others believed that they were taken to the seaside and thrown into the water with a load tied to their feet.
But as the most likely place of their burial, experts call the former Golodai Island, which under Soviet rule acquired the name of the Decembrists Island.
In two places on this island, a kilometer from each other, today there are obelisks indicating the likely burial sites of the rioters.
The rumor that the bodies of the executed found peace in Golodai appeared very quickly. Already Alexander Pushkin told his friends about Golodai Island as a possible burial place. Rather, the poet pointed to a small island near Golodai, Honoropulo (at the beginning of the 20th century, this island was annexed to Golodai). There are also several more testimonies confirming that the graves are located precisely on Golodai, “at the end of the island, in a deserted place behind the German cemetery,” that is, just on Honoropulo. Confirms this version and the fact that Maria Kamenskaya, a friend of the daughter of a priest, who confessed the Decembrists before the execution and, according to some testimonies, buried them, wrote in her diary that Ryleev's body, by order of the emperor, was given to the widow, on the condition that she bury him on Golodai and will not mark the place of the grave in any way. Maybe,the location of this particular grave was painted by Pushkin on the margins of his manuscripts.
In the 80s of the XX century on the former Honoropulo, in the place of the supposed grave - now there is the shipbuilding plant "Almaz" - soil samples were taken. They had an increased content of phosphorus and lime (and according to some evidence, the grave of the Decembrists was covered with lime). No further excavations were carried out, and a monument to the Decembrists was erected on this site.
And the very first monument "on the grave of the Decembrists" was erected in the park, now called in honor of the Decembrists, not far from Nalichnaya Street. It happened in 1926, in honor of the centenary of the uprising. In the summer of 1917, while digging a trench for laying a water supply, five coffins were found here, in one of which were found parts of a military uniform and a bottle of alcohol. It was decided that they had found the "real" grave of the Decembrists, especially since some contemporaries of the execution indicated this very place in their memoirs and diaries. But, most likely, this burial has nothing to do with the Decembrists: in those distant times there was a cemetery for suicides. In addition, according to a number of reliable testimonies, the Decembrists were not buried in coffins, without clothes, and in a common grave.
Another interesting nuance: there is a number of testimonies from contemporaries that a guard was posted at the graves of the Decembrists, which was supposed to drive away the curious from them. This is definitely a good way to hide the grave. But, curiously, already four months after the execution, the guard was removed, and the interest of the townspeople in the secret grave disappeared. It is unlikely that this could be explained logically if the archives did not find the messages of Ivan Vasilyevich Shervud-Verny (who received the second part of the name “Verny” by the decree of Alexander I for the message about the “Southern Society”). So, Sherwood the Faithful reported to the Third Section that someone "stole the bodies of those executed and reburied them in another place, and keeps their skulls at home." Is it because it soon became known about the disappearance of the bodies, and the interest of the townspeople in the burial place also disappeared?
There is another version. Some researchers, based on the notes of Chief of Police Boris Knyazhnin, who carried out the burial, believes that the grave of the Decembrists is located even further north - on Petrovsky Island. The general, standing in the boat, remembered the landmarks for the search for the grave, which he called a "fork": a church on Krestovsky Island, a bell tower and a watchtower on Petrovsky Island, as well as a fisherman's hut on Golodai and the estate of the Honoropulo brothers. In the same place, which today is designated as the grave of the Decembrists, according to the supporters of this version, are the members of the funeral team who took the secret of the burial of the executed to the grave.
Which of these versions is more real is difficult to say. But Petersburgers have believed for a couple of centuries that the ghosts of five executed Decembrists wander the Kronverk of the Peter and Paul Fortress.
The first news of this dates back to the middle of the 19th century.
Policeman Karnaukhov, who drew up a report on the "five vague figures", was dismissed from his post, but this did not stop the spread of rumors.
It was said that the ghosts of the Decembrists were especially frequent among the townspeople in the early 20s of the XX century. The members of the Union of Militant Atheists, formed in 1925, decided to suppress these harmful rumors. The head of the Union, Comrade Weinstock, believed that counter-revolutionaries could appear in the form of ghosts on Kronwerk. However, having sat in ambush for four nights, the atheists did not catch anyone, and they did not see ghosts.
But ordinary Petersburgers still meet them. The ghosts are said to appear as a series of shadows, similar to the outlines of several male figures in greatcoats draped over their shoulders and with drooping heads. Superstition says that only those who face serious life trials can see them.