Probably not a single Soviet official had so many terrible myths as about Lavrentiy Beria, the chief of Stalin's state security. One of them concerned his personal life. It was argued that Beria not only loved women - he loved to take them by force, and on his account there are many broken destinies.
Sarkisov's list
Adjutant and head of Beria's security, State Security Colonel Rafael Sarkisov even kept a list of his boss's mistresses. According to some sources, it had 39 surnames, according to others - 75, according to the third - 115.
According to the myths again, Beria did not care much about the social origin of the lovers and even their age. Among them were students, actresses, and ordinary employees.
Later, during interrogation, Lavrenty Pavlovich will say the following: “I easily got along with women, had numerous short-term connections. These women were brought to my house. However, a womanizer is not such a rare occurrence. They said about Beria that he was not only a female lover, but also a rapist. During his trial, he was also charged with numerous rapes of young women. Many of them were married. Thus, Hero of the Soviet Union Sergei Shchirov was sentenced to 25 years for threats against the People's Commissar, who persuaded his wife to intimacy.
Beria was married to the beautiful Nino Gegechkori. He met his future wife while still in Georgia. Brother Nino was arrested, and someone advised her to seek help from a high party leader.
Lavrenty promised to help. But as a "payment for the service" he demanded that the girl surrender to him. Subsequently, he proposed to Nino and they got married.
Promotional video:
True, Nina Teimurazna herself denied these details of her acquaintance with her future groom. She claimed that Beria simply invited her to marry him after several months of dating.
Scary mansion
Sarkisov carried out the instructions of his boss, delivering women and girls to his liking. It usually happened like this. Beria, sitting in the car, pointed to this or that person. Sarkisov had to get out of the car, walk up to her and invite her to ride with them. Sometimes the security chief was instructed to first track the "object", to find out the name, surname, address. After that, Sarkisov had to bring the woman to Beria's mansion. Soon all of Moscow already knew Beria's armored Packard.
The head of state security did not disdain schoolgirls either. Any more or less pretty high school girl had a chance to find herself in Beria's bed.
During a search in Beria's office, they found a mountain of women's underwear, pornography. Those who did not agree to intimacy voluntarily, Beria simply raped.
If the girl turned out to be compliant, she could have her dividends from this. Thus, a high-ranking lover helped one ballerina from Podolsk to get an apartment in Moscow. Those who resisted could be thrown into prison. Actress Zoya Fedorova, who at that time was breastfeeding the child, being brought to the mansion, began to beg to let her go, as her chest ached from the surging milk. Beria flew into a rage and soon ordered her arrest. Another actress, Tatyana Okunevskaya, he simply raped at his dacha. Since Okunevskaya did not show the necessary enthusiasm, she was also arrested and sent to Siberia for felling.
At the end of the love meeting, Sarkisov, by order of the chief, handed the woman a bouquet of flowers. If she refused to accept the bouquet, this entailed arrest.
It is possible that Beria even killed some of his victims. In the mid-90s, while working in the garden on the territory of the former Beriev mansion on Malaya Nikitskaya, the remains of several women were found. It is assumed that these were Beria's mistresses or those who refused to become them.
Innocently slandered?
And what did Beria's relatives think about all this? His son Sergo believes that his father did not rape anyone and although he loved the female sex, but not on the scale that is attributed to him. True, he does not deny that his father had an illegitimate daughter. As for his wife, in 1990 she gave a short interview in which she stated that all the women on Sarkisov's list were in fact state security agents. She argued that her husband disappeared at work all day and he simply did not have time to start romances.
However, there is a version that a "lustful monster" was specially made from Lavrenty Beria in order to tarnish his moral character. This served as an additional justification for his execution. And how it really was and what is true and what is fiction, we will probably never know.