There are a lot of documents and even more speculation about the illness and death of Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (Lenin). Shuffling and combining these materials allows us to build a wide variety of versions concerning the causes of death of the immortal (in some way) leader of the world proletariat.
Lenin felt the first signs of malaise in May 1922 - headaches, dizziness, and even fainting appeared. In this connection, Lenin almost completely retired and was under the constant supervision of doctors.
How is he gone?
Among the reasons for the deterioration of the leader's health, doctors named severe fatigue, work overload, constant stress and, of course, the consequences of the fatal shots of Fanny Kaplan on August 30, 1918. The bullet, which damaged the scapula and touched the lung, remained in the body near the vital vessels. It was removed only after the death of Ilyich.
In October 1922, there was a temporary improvement, and Lenin returned to state activities. However, the remission did not last long. Even on November 20, with his characteristic inspiration, he spoke at the plenum of the Moscow Soviet, and on December 16, with a new attack, he went back to bed.
In the spring of 1923, Ilyich moved to Gorki. During this period, he was observed by neurologist Otfried Förster. The leader's health condition deteriorated every day. After temporary numbness of the limbs, persistent paralysis of the right arm and leg occurred. Cases of sudden excitement and panic became more frequent, speech in places was slurred and confused. The look, once bright and penetrating, became detached and meaningless. On January 21, 1924, after a light lunch, the patient experienced temporary relief, breathing was even, Ilyich forgot himself in a disturbing sleep. Later in the evening, another attack began. Lenin began to convulse, his face was distorted by an eerie grimace, blood rushed to his head, the whole body bent as in an epileptic seizure, the pulse jumped to 120-130 beats per minute, and the temperature rose to exorbitant rates - 42.5 °. After a few minutes of inhuman torment, the body was shackled by the strongest convulsion …
At 18 hours 50 minutes, doctors gathered at the patient's bedside pronounced death.
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Abnutzungssclerose against neurosyphilis
At the medical council, the diagnoses varied: from multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer's disease to banal epilepsy. After the autopsy, which took almost 4 hours, the doctors came to a unanimous opinion. The cause of death is “atherosclerosis of blood vessels due to their premature wear (Abnutzungssclerose)”. This opinion is shared by our contemporary, Academician of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences Yuri Lopukhin, author of the book “Illness, death and embalming of V. I. Lenin: Truth and Myths”. He categorically asserts: "Lenin died of atherosclerosis of the vessels of the brain, this is absolutely clear, there can be no other opinions."
In this regard, it is worth mentioning an important fact. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Abnutzungssclerose theory was recognized as untenable by the masters of world medicine. The doctors who signed the conclusion on the death of Lenin, among whom was present the best pathologist of the country, Aleksey Abrikosov, could not have been unaware of this. The behavior of the personal physician of the Ulyanov family, Fyodor Gettier, who refused to sign the postmortem examination of the body of the deceased, gives additional ground for doubt, despite the fact that he fully agreed with the cause of death - “sudden changes in the blood vessels of the brain and fresh hemorrhage”.
In the early 2000s, an article was published in the Western press, the authors of which pointed to neurosyphilis among the possible causes of Lenin's death. This theory has not met with warm support in Russian circles, but the facts are a stubborn thing.
In the medical records of the doctors who treated Ilyich, among the many drugs, drugs based on heavy metals (bismuth, mercury, arsenic) with an abundant iodine content are indicated. At the beginning of the last century, a similar "bouquet" was used precisely in the treatment of syphilis. One more circumstance is embarrassing: among the doctors who observed Lenin, there were doctors Aleksey Kozhevnikov and Max Nonne - both major experts in the diagnosis and treatment of neurosyphilis.
The pathological report describes in detail all the identified deviations from the norm that were present in the internal organs of the deceased, which do not fit well with the official diagnosis, but are more like the pathology characteristic of meningovascular syphilis of the brain. The symptoms of this disease are described in detail in the works of the leading Moscow pathologist of those years, Ippolit Davydovsky.
In this context, the order of the People's Commissar of Health Nikolai Semashko, directed to Abrikosov, looks ambiguous, in which he clearly indicates "to pay special attention to the need for strong morphological evidence that Lenin has no luetic (syphilitic) defeats in order to preserve the bright image of the leader", and the deliberately underlined a statement by the doctors who examined Ilyich that their patient had no signs of this infection.
In the 1920s, syphilis was a very common disease, including on domestic soil. Lenin's presence of this disease cannot be regarded as evidence of sexual promiscuity. Common household syphilis could be contracted through simple household items.
"Beloved disciple" versus beloved wife
It can be argued with a great deal of certainty that the dubious diagnosis made posthumously to Vladimir Lenin was not a medical error, but was ordered by an order from above. But is the reason for concealing the true cause of the leader's death so banal?
Even when the ideologue of the revolution was still alive, his “devoted comrades-in-arms”, having acquired a circle of like-minded people, began a behind-the-scenes redistribution of power.
And at the same time, at the end of his reign, Lenin had more and more disagreements with Joseph Stalin about the further development of the economy and the reform of the political regime. Contrary to Koba's ambitious plans, Ilyich tried with all his might to push the "faithful student" into the background, unceremoniously wrapping up any of his initiatives. Stalin realized that he had fallen out of favor with the leader, and took out his anger on Krupskaya.
The result was a conflict with long lasting consequences. But for this we will rewind the film of events back to December 1922, when Lenin buried the plan of “autonomization” proposed by Stalin and a new state appeared on the world map - the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).
The loser Stalin broke into Krupskaya, who acted as a liaison between Lenin and Trotsky and sent the instructions of his sick spouse to members of the Central Committee. In a telephone conversation, he referred to the need to protect Ilyich's health, to which Krupskaya said that she knew better the needs of her husband. "We'll see what kind of Lenin's wife you are," Stalin snapped and seemed to add some rudeness.
Krupskaya did not talk to her husband about this, but sent a complaint through the party line to Kamenev. Meanwhile, in the light of the sharp deterioration in Lenin's health, it turned out that his wife really did not follow his regime very well. On the night of December 22-23, due to a new blow, Ilyich's right leg and arm were completely paralyzed.
And only at the beginning of March 1923, when Lenin recovered somewhat, Krupskaya told him about the conflict with Stalin. Lenin wrote a letter demanding an apology and threatened to "break off relations between us."
Stalin, of course, apologized, and four days later (March 10) Lenin suffered a third blow, which led to an almost complete loss of speech and paralysis of the right side of the body.
Obviously, the third blow was largely precipitated by this conflict, although it would still have overtaken Lenin in the coming months.
On March 21, Stalin wrote a letter to the Politburo in which he said: Krupskaya conveyed to him Lenin's request "that I, Stalin, take upon myself the responsibility to get and give V. Ilyich a portion of potassium cyanide." Of course, he rejected the request with indignation. But on the 23rd, Krupskaya again contacted Stalin and reported: she had already gotten the poison, but she could not give it to Ilyich and required "Stalin's support."
So the topic of the poisoning of the leader (still suicidal) was thrown into the closed Kremlin information space, and the throwing mechanism was such that this topic was linked to the name of Stalin. O women, vengeful creatures!
And although Stalin made everything public on the Politburo, they began to look at him as a future murderer. And then he did everything to stay away from the Lenin-Krupskaya duet.
At his suggestion, the Politburo sent Lenin to a sanatorium near Moscow in Gorki, where he was surrounded by the best Soviet and German doctors.
Security was provided by the Chekists of Dzerzhinsky, who also got nuts during the conflict due to "autonomization". And, in full accordance with Stalin's wishes, the "iron Felix" isolated Lenin from political concerns. Fortunately, it looked like a manifestation of the care of the “apostles” about the health of the “messiah”.
Something is Coming
Sometimes it seemed that Lenin had a chance to get out. In September 1923, he began to get up and walk around the room with a stick. I learned to write with my left hand, as my right hand was paralyzed. Disavowing the accusations of isolating Ilyich, Stalin in October allowed two distinguished comrades to visit him - an employee of the Comintern, Osip Pyatnitsky, and a member of the Moscow Soviet, Ivan Skvortsov-Stepanov. Lenin listened to them attentively, but reacted with a single word, which he pronounced tolerably: "That's it."
On January 7, 1924, Lenin and Krupskaya organized a Christmas tree for peasant children in Gorki, although Christmas is not a Bolshevik holiday. On January 19 Ilyich even went on a "hunt", although, of course, he did not hunt himself, but only watched the huntsmen shooting from the sleigh as a spectator.
According to Krupskaya's recollections, after this trip Lenin “was apparently tired, and when we sat with him on the balcony, he wearily closed his eyes, was very pale and fell asleep, sitting in an armchair. In recent months, he has not slept completely during the day and even tried to sit not on an armchair, but on a chair. In general, starting from Thursday it began to feel that something was coming: Vl. Ilyich was terrible, tired, worn out. He often closed his eyes, somehow turned pale and, most importantly, his facial expression somehow changed, he became a different look, as if blind."
And on the afternoon of January 21, there was a sharp deterioration with a fatal outcome. So what happened?
Euthanasia of Mercy
In her memoirs, Elizaveta Lermolo, who was in the camps in the 1930s, said that she allegedly met with the chef of the canteen in Gorki Gavrila Volkov. They kept him isolated from other prisoners, but Lermolo was able to talk to him and happily sat out until the end of her term. And he allegedly said that the dying Lenin gave him a note: "Gavrilushka, they poisoned me … Now go and bring Nadia … Tell Trotsky … Tell everyone you can."
Naturally, Stalin is usually pointed to as the organizer of the poisoning of Lenin, but Lermolo's story raises, to put it mildly, big doubts. First, no traces of the chef Gavrila Volkov have been found among the employees of the canteen in Gorki. Secondly, after the third blow, Lenin never learned to write legibly. In the memoirs of Krupskaya it is noted that on the morning of the day of his death, he “even” managed to tear off a sheet of the calendar himself. And suddenly, being poisoned, he managed to write such an expressive and rather long note. And thirdly, why would such a dangerous witness as "Gavrilushka" be kept in the camps with such an "iron mask", although it could have been simply eliminated?
It is indicative that the careers of all the doctors who treated Lenin developed quite well. Although if they deliberately tried to "heal" Lenin, Stalin should have tried to get rid of them as accomplices.
Ilyich was still not dangerous to Stalin because of an incurable illness and a complete inability to engage in any political activity.
But theoretically, the poisoning could still take place. Only this was "euthanasia of mercy." Ilyich's request "to give potassium cyanide" could really take place, since he could not imagine himself outside of vigorous activity. And Krupskaya, albeit with a long delay, could still summon up the courage to fulfill his request.
It is significant that at the time of Lenin's death, she was not near her husband's bed. Did you know what was going to happen and chose to leave early?
This behavior was consistent with the pragmatic-romantic unwritten code of real revolutionaries. Only the country would not accept such a truth, and the enemies would have played such a plot in a spirit favorable to them. Still, humanity had not yet “matured” to the “euthanasia of mercy”.
Magazine: Mysteries of History №9. Author: Vladislav Firsov