We once considered an ambiguous and mysterious theory about the son of Lenin, and now let's get acquainted with some more little-known facts from the life of Vladimir Ilyich.
These words: "I gave life to Lenin!" - do not belong to the inspector of public schools in the Simbirsk province, Ilya Nikolaevich Ulyanov, but to the Moscow bandit Yakov Koshelkov. The strangest thing is that "the master of the city at night", as he called himself, had every right to do so: Lenin was never as close to death as on January 6, 1919, when his temples had two revolvers and a Mauser rested against his chest.
Much has been written about this story, but these narratives are based on rumors and speculation. In Soviet times, the strictest taboo was imposed on the disclosure of any information about this case, and meanwhile all these years the 23-volume File No. 240266 "On the armed attack of bandits on V. I. Lenin on January 6, 1919" was kept in the archives of the Lubyanka.
So, let's plunge into the events of the beginning of 1919.
And it all started with the fact that Nadezhda Konstantinovna Krupskaya had an aggravated Graves' disease. Ilyich grew noticeably gloomy, became sad and downcast. Bonch-Bruevich was the first to notice this. - What's wrong with you? - Vladimir Dmitrievich asked as not so much the closest employee as an old friend. - Are you sick? Does the bullet that the doctors refused to remove is making itself felt? “Oh, to hell with it, this bullet,” Lenin waved him off. - If it was in her, and therefore in me, I would have endured. Nadia is bad. She's getting worse and worse. - What if Nadezhda Konstantinovna organize a vacation? - Bonch-Bruevich suggested. - We won't be able to send her to Kislovodsk, but to the Moscow region - for a sweet soul. There is a so-called forest school in Sokolniki: the kids study and live there. The dining room is good, the bedrooms are warm, we organize security. It even has a phone!You can always call and inquire about Nadezhda Konstantinovna's health. And only half an hour by car. You can visit at least every day. On the same day Bonch-Bruevich took Nadezhda Konstantinovna to Sokolniki.
A day passed, then another, a week passed … Nadezhda Konstantinovna went on the mend, and Vladimir Ilyich cheered up. He traveled to Sokolniki almost every day, while observing the rules of secrecy that had become habitual. If he went to a forestry school, then only Bonch-Bruevich knew about it. This went on for quite a long time … And then one day, at the end of December, Lenin summoned Bonch-Bruyevich and said that he wanted to take part in the children's New Year's holiday: there was a tree there, decorations were found, but gifts had to be obtained - at least a bag of sweets for each student … “Having grabbed the presents, I left for Sokolniki a little earlier,” Bonch-Bruevich told a little later, “and Ilyich had to follow me. I really did not like the fact that first at the Red Gate, and then at the Ryazan station, the car was greeted with a piercing whistle, as if passing us from checkpoint to checkpoint. It would not be bad for Ilyich to change the route, I thought, so when I arrived at the school I immediately called the garage and asked if Ilyich’s car had left. Having received the answer that the car had left, I realized that I had no choice but to wait … Half an hour passed, an hour, and the car was not there. Meanwhile, in Sokolniki, at the shoemaker Demidov's, Yashka Koshelkov's gang was drinking.
Lenin V. I. with Bonch-Bruevich V. D. on a walk, 1918.
Judging by the reports of Fyodor Martynov, head of the Special Strike Group of the Moscow Extraordinary Commission (IBSC), the Koshelkov gang was the main headache of the Chekists.
Promotional video:
Yakov Koshelkov, the son of a bandit known for his robbery adventures, was 28 years old. At the age of twenty, he began his "independent career", and in 1913 he was registered as a daring apartment thief. Already four years later, purses was able to lead the gangster world of Moscow, subjugating almost all the city's criminal groups. And this was not surprising, because Yakov was distinguished not only by his courage, exceptional self-control and ingenuity, but also had unsurpassed organizational skills.
At the beginning of his criminal activity, Koshelkov was not distinguished by cruelty: he killed only in self-defense. But over time, the upset psyche affected, and he became a real sadist, destroying people just for the sake of murder.
Yakov Koshelkov is a thief, a raider.
His bandit gang carried out armed attacks in broad daylight, terrifying the inhabitants of Moscow and its environs. The bandits made their robbery raids with unheard-of audacity. During 1918 alone, they shot more than two dozen police officers and killed several security officers. Having taken the documents of the dead Cheka employees, the bandits used them in their own interests.
Having such "iron ksivs", Koshelkov's associates even searched enterprises in the presence of a significant number of workers. So, in September 1918, the bandits "legally" visited a jewelry factory. As a result of the "check", they seized about three pounds of gold bullion, three and a half pounds of platinum wire and twenty-five thousand rubles in cash.
Feeling that his adventures would sooner or later end, Koshelkov went about armed to the teeth, always having two or three pistols and several hand bombs ready.
As for the other members of the gang, they were, as they say, covered in blood. The Chekists knew their names: Ivan Volkov (nicknamed Konek), Vasily Zaitsev (aka Vaska Zayats), Alexey Kirillov (Leshka the shoemaker), Fedor Alekseev (Zhaba) and Vasily Mikhailov (aka Vaska Cherny).
The devil with you that you are Levin
On that frosty evening, the bandits did not just get drunk, they drew up a plan to rob a mansion on Novinsky Boulevard and a cooperative on Arbat. The distances are long, and the criminals decided that they couldn't do without a car.
Where to get? Stop the first one that comes across, shake out the driver and passengers, Vaska Zaitsa - behind the wheel and forward. On that and decided.
There were few cars in those years, therefore, expecting "loot on wheels", the bandits managed to get pretty cold. But then the car headlights appeared. It was Lenin's car. The bandits drew their revolvers and rushed to cut it!
The car that Lenin drove. Driving by Stepan Gil, Lenin's driver.
They were first noticed by Lenin's driver, Stepan Gil. This is how he related the incident during interrogation:
“Three armed men jumped out onto the road and shouted:“Stop!” I decided not to stop and slip between the bandits: I had no doubt that they were bandits.
But Vladimir Ilyich knocked on the window:
- Comrade Gil, it is worth stopping and finding out what they need. Could it be a patrol?
And they run behind and shout: “Stop! We will shoot!"
“Well, you see,” Ilyich said. - We need to stop.
I slowed down. In a moment the doors opened, and we heard a formidable order:
- Come out!
One of the bandits, a huge one, taller than everyone else, grabbed Ilyich by the sleeve and dragged him out of the cab. As it turned out later, it was their leader, Purses. Ivan Chibanov, who served in Lenin's security, was also pulled out of the car.
I look at Ilyich. He stands holding a pass in his hands, and on the sides are two bandits, and both, aiming at his head, say:
- Do not move!
- What are you doing? - said Ilyich. - I am Lenin. Here are my documents.
As he said this, my heart sank. All, I think, Vladimir Ilyich died. But because of the noise of the running engine, the bandit leader did not hear the name - and that saved us.
"The devil with you that you are Levin," he barked. - And I am Koshelkov, the master of the city at night.
With these words, he snatched the pass from Ilyich's hands, and then, pulling at the lapels of his coat, climbed into an inner pocket and took out other documents, including the Book of the Red Army soldier, issued in the name of Lenin, a Browning and a wallet.
Browning Lenin.
They seem to have forgotten about me. I sit behind the wheel, hold a revolver and take aim at the leader from under my left hand - he is literally two steps away from me. But Vladimir Ilyich is standing at the muzzles of two revolvers. And I'm getting scared: after all, after my shot he will be killed first …
A moment later, I received a blow to the temple, and I was ordered to get out of the car. No sooner had I got on the step than a bandit deftly sat in my place, and our car rushed towards Sokolniki.
“Yes, fine,” Ilyich whispered. - Armed people - and gave the car. It's a shame!
I was embarrassed by Ilyich's remark. I explained for a long time why I didn’t shoot.
“Yes, Comrade Gil, you have calculated everything correctly,” Ilyich agreed after thinking. “We wouldn't do anything by force. Only thanks to the fact that we did not resist, we survived."
Unsuccessful chase
Having driven a few meters from the place of the robbery, the bandits slowed down, and the Horse began to examine the trophies.
“There’s one little thing in the wallet,” he chuckled. - But the documents … Let it be empty for you! - yelled the Horse. - But this is not Levin. This is Le-ning! - he said syllables.
- How is it Lenin? - did not believe the wallets. - Same name, or what?
- What is the namesake? It is written: Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars …
Lenin's pass to the Council of People's Commissars.
Pass number 43 of the Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars VI Lenin for the right of free entry to the government premises.
- Can not be! Did I really hold Lenin himself by the coattails! What a bastard I am! What a club! - Koshelkov lamented. - If we grabbed him, we would have been dumped so much money! For such and such a hostage, eh? And all Butyrka - free! These will be our conditions. Turn, - he poked in the shoulder of the Hare. - Lenin needs to be found. Such luck cannot be missed.
Jumping over the snowdrifts, the car rushed back. However, there was no one at the scene.
“They are on the Council,” guessed Koshelkov. “They have nowhere else to go. Go to the Council! - he ordered the Hare.
- Isn't it dangerous? - the Toad doubted. - There is a guard.
- Let's interrupt! - Purses gnashed his teeth. - Prepare bombs!
When the car flew up to the Council building, instead of braking, the Hare put on the gas.
- Are you stunned? - shouted Koshelkov.
- We are late, - noted the Hare and wagged the wheel.
Three cars flashed in the headlights, from which the Chekists and Red Army men jumped out.
- Yes, the card went wrong, - for some reason, Koshelkov immediately calmed down. - Well, nothing, even if not Lenin himself, so at least I have his Browning. Let's shoot on behalf of the Leader of the World Revolution. Drive to Arbat! We will take a cooperative …
Yakov Koshelkov, photo from the archives of the detective police.
The forces of law enforcement officers and criminals then, in 1919, were almost comparable. It is difficult to say which of these competitors in terms of intimidation of the population was more the master on the streets. Banditry in Moscow became a real disaster: dozens of desperate, well-organized and armed to the teeth gangs acted here, keeping the whole city in fear. In the largest of them - the purse one - according to estimates of the Chekists, there were more than a hundred thugs.
“Take urgent and merciless measures to combat banditry!” Ilyich ordered, barely recovering from a road scrape. And measures, of course, were taken …
Love is evil
The city was raised to its feet, combed up and down. Ilyich's security was sharply increased, cars were taken from the institutions to patrol the streets. The capital went to martial law.
Soon the head of the Central Directorate of Criminal Investigation Rosenthal reported to Lenin: “In order to investigate the case of a robbery attack on you while driving along Sokolnicheskoe Highway, as well as in the interests of suppressing banditry, I was instructed to inspect and inspect all private furnished rooms and private apartments in which I could find a refuge for the criminal element of Moscow. All persons suspected of involvement in the attack were immediately arrested … Up to 200 people were detained and arrested …”.
However, the Purse with friends was not among the arrested. The police clearly did not cope with the Leninist task. It was then that a special strike group of the Cheka was organized, headed by a former worker with his glorious revolutionary history of "Trekhgornaya Manufactory", a tried-and-true party member and a hardened detective Martynov.
Martynov, head of the detective police (criminal investigation department) of Moscow and Dzerzhinsky Chairman of the Cheka Martynov (right) with Dzerzhinsky.
They searched for Yashka day and night. Cars and luxurious reckless cabbies drove around the streets for bait, followed by the commissars. The Chekists ransacked taverns, brothels and thieves' shalmans, recruited seksots there and themselves rubbed into criminal gangs, putting on the masks of bandits and successfully playing their role, just like mummers in a whirlwind of Christmas phantasmagoria.
And now the Lubyanka Pinkertons were lucky: they managed to find out the nicknames of three members of the purse gang: Little Horse, Frog and Cherny, and then go on their trail. Martynov describes with relish how it happened. Glancing into one of the dark cellars on Presnya, he sat down there with a warm company: “Well, pour me some too! And what, brothers, hasn't anyone met the Frog? " They looked suspiciously: "What does the Frog need?" - "The money must be given." - “Neat personality! Why not drink them together? "…
I had to splurge on a prude - Chinese rice vodka. As a result, after much trickery, we managed to find out that Frog and his comrades were going to the bathhouse. Quickly reeling the fishing rods and taking assistants along the way, Martynov rushed there, to Protochny Lane. As soon as they arrived at the place, a reckless driver flies into the alley and in it - two bandits with a third on his knees. Everything was like in the best Hollywood action movie:
“I took out two revolvers, another employee too, and the third … managed to stop the horse by the bridle. None of the bandits had time to make a single movement to grab the revolver. We disarmed them and led them …”.
The investigation was conducted at the highest level, Felix Dzerzhinsky himself participated in the interrogations. They put the bandits against the wall and demanded the address of the Wallet. The address, of course, was received. And the bandits, of course, were shot …
We sat in ambush at our apartment for two days. On the third day, a "cheeky personality called Lenka the Shoemaker" appeared, as it turned out, sent as bait. And when the Chekists took Lyenka out into the street, they themselves, in turn, ran into an ambush of the purse. A fight ensued, as a result of which two guards were killed, and Lenka the Shoemaker left. And again the Wallet's trail was gone.
…. It was June 1919, when Martynov had an extraordinary luck: he came across the "bride" of the Purse - Olga Fedorova, a twenty-year-old beauty who served as a clerk in ROST.
The hope to find the ringleader of the Moscow bandits appeared after a thorough study of criminal case No. 1851 on charges of forging documents and trafficking in cocaine by health officials. Among the eleven arrested was Olga Fedorova, who turned out to be … Koshelkov's fiancee.
The gangster and KGB circles in Moscow knew that in the spring of 1919 Yashka fell madly in love with a young lady, and later announced his wedding and wrote passionate letters to the bride. But who was the one whom Koshelkov honored with his attention was a big secret.
Lenin and Krupskaya on the way to Gorki, by car. Lenin and Krupskaya almost never walked.
And suddenly, during one of the interrogations, Olga Fedorova, an employee of the health department, when asked if she knew about the reason for her detention, made a statement that agitated all the Chekists in Moscow:
- I believe that the reason for my arrest was a visit to our family, and in particular to me personally, by the famous bandit Yakov Koshelkov. He came to drink tea, and once stayed overnight.
- And … how did you meet him? The investigator asked almost speechless.
- I remember that day well. We met on March 25, 1919 at the Vladichino station, which is nine miles from Moscow. My brother Sergey introduced us. The young man introduced himself as Commissioner Karavaev and even showed the documents.
- What happened next?
- He began to look after me. He is a very practical person, correct, and gentle in handling. Knows foreign languages, in particular French, Latin and Tatar, speaks a little German. Besides, he is very well-read.
- And when did you find out that it was not Karavaev, but Koshelkov?
- The same night when he stayed with me.
- After that, your attitude towards him changed?
- No, it hasn't changed. We continued to meet. One day he discovered a terrible secret.
- Which one? - the investigator started.
- He told about the robbery of Lenin … How he dropped him out of the car, how he searched and how he took the Browning …
Olga Fedorova and her sensational testimony were immediately reported to the leadership of the Moscow Cheka. Fyodor Martynov rushed to the pre-trial detention center, having the authority to promise Olga anything she wanted so that she would lead the Chekists to Koshelkov. The girl did not resist for long and the very next day she asked for a paper and wrote:
“To the special department of the Moscow Cheka.
Statement.
I kindly ask you to summon me for interrogation."
She was immediately summoned, and Olga wrote another document:
“I offer my services in finding Koshelkov. I don't know where he is hiding, but I am sure that if I am free, he will come to me, because he is very in love with me."
And the Purse himself, having lost his "bride", fell into a wild rage. He declared a war of annihilation on the Moscow guards. And for this I used a very simple device - a police whistle. In the evenings he drove out into the street in a car, leveling with the police post, whistling loudly, and when the police officer on duty came up to the call, a shot rang out or a bomb flew towards him.
He shot, robbed, cut, killed, but it didn't get any easier. The strangest thing is, this killer kept a diary! Here's what he wrote down after learning about Olga's arrest:
“… After all, you are my heart, you are my joy, you are everything, everything worth living for. Is it all over? Oh, I seem to be unable to endure and survive this.
God, how bad I feel - both physically and morally! I hate people's happiness. They hunt me like an animal: they do not spare anyone. What do they want from me, because I gave life to Lenin."
The happiness of people was really hated by Koshelkov - it became a kind of fix idea for him. It is no coincidence that, after shooting and robbing, he again takes up the pen:
“What a miserable fate hangs over me: no luck. I will take revenge to the end. I will only live for revenge. I do not seem to be able to endure and survive this. I am now ready to beat and fire everything. I hate people's happiness. Baby, be strong. Spit on everything and take care of your health."
The end of Koshelkov
Gradually, the exploits of the Purse covered him with legendary fame. By some miracle, he managed to escape unharmed from any alterations. And yet the day came when Martynov's detachment lay in wait for the robber.
Raiders from the Koshelkov gang got into the KGB networks one after another. The Cherub was caught, followed by the Gypsy, then - Peterson, and many others. For a long time they did not bother with them, and according to the law of wartime they were quickly sentenced to capital punishment - execution. But one of the bandits “bought out the life” by naming the address of Koshelkov’s safe house at No. 8 in Old Bozhedomsky Lane.
“We saw him, he appeared,” writes Martynov. - He walked with one of his accomplices … There was no room for any thought. There was no need to try to take him alive. If only to take it somehow!
We jumped out and started shooting. The first shot hit Yashin's accomplice in the head. He turned around on the axis from the force of the blow, he was thrown to the gate, and immediately he left the battle. And Yashka applied his favorite system: he fired from two revolvers at once. But a shot from a carbine was mortally wounded. Yasha fell on his back … But already lying, half-blinded from blood, mechanically continued to press the trigger and shoot into the sky.
We went up to him, and one of the employees shouted: “Gossip, come on! You can be considered dead! "… Yasha became weak, began to wheeze and died …"
Posthumous arrest card of Yakov Koshelkov.
In the pockets of Koshelkov, they found documents of Vedernikov and Karavaev, employees of the Moscow Cheka, who were killed earlier, as well as two Mausers and a Browning that had been taken from Lenin. There was also a small notebook - a kind of diary. One entry literally shocked us all: Yashka was very sorry that he had not killed Lenin."
Things confiscated during the search of Yashka Koshelka.
The gang of Koshelkov was finished: the leader ended up in an unmarked grave, and all his accomplices were executed, including the participants in the attack on Lenin's car: Alekseev and Volkov. As for Olga Fedorova, the Chekists kept their word and transferred her not to the Revolutionary Tribunal, but to the criminal investigation department. Further, her traces are lost.
All the captured members of the gang were shot according to the report of the newspaper Vechernie Izvestia of the Moscow Council on July 25, 1919:
“By the order of the IBSC, the bandits were shot: Chubarov, Zharkov, Savelyev and Ryabov - for armed robbery of citizen Folomeev, Parashev - for armed robbery with a gang of Koshelkov and armed resistance during arrest, during which they fired seven shots at the officers of the criminal investigation department, Osetsky - a recidivist thief, who was convicted seven times, served his sentence in prison companies, robbed a watch shop on B. Dmitrovka, escaped from a concentration camp and was detained with a weapon in his hands, Artsygov - for robbing a crewman of the Krestovskaya water pumping station for 300,000 rubles and participation in conspiracies with bandits, Chekurnikov - for armed robbery under the guise of a policeman of the 2nd Serpukhov commissariat with Saban's gang, Nechaev, a recidivist thief, detained with a weapon in his hands, for resisting arrest and armed robbery,Fedorov and Morozov - for robbery and the use for their own purposes documents of the Cheka, Chemodanov - for a series of armed robberies with a gang of Koshelkov …."
On the "benefits" of compromise
But Lenin, this story even brought some benefit. So, substantiating the need to conclude the Brest Peace, in his work "Childhood Illness of" Leftism "in Communism", the revolutionary leader recalled the compromise he was forced to make with the bandits, giving them documents, a pistol and a car so that they would give him the opportunity " go to the pick-up, hello."
Lenin after 1919.
And Lenin concluded this thought with a startling conclusion: "Our compromise with the bandits of German imperialism was like that compromise" …