Champ de Mars: a communist churchyard

The latest plans for the reconstruction of the historical center have drawn the attention of the city public to the cemetery in the city center - the Field of Mars. Historian Lev Lurie thought about the saint.

The latest plans for the reconstruction of the historical center have drawn the attention of the city public to the cemetery in the city center - the Field of Mars. Historian Lev Lurie thought about the saint.

And although, of course, “let life play at the grave entrance, and indifferent nature shine with eternal beauty,” the proximity of the communist churchyard to the public amusement causes some discomfort. Moreover, there are few in St. Petersburg who know who, in fact, is buried there today. What does this monument mean in the general context of the history of Russian communism?

Every revolution is afraid of reaction. Because a revolution is a violation of the old, pre-revolutionary laws. For complacency, special rituals are important, testifying that everything was right, there will be no return to the past, no one will be punished: we are heroes, not criminals.

The same applies to February 1917. Contemporaries called this revolution "The Great and Bloodless." You can’t argue about greatness - the monarchy is gone. But bloodlessness did not work.

Quite often there are lynchings of defeated officers and policemen. Baron N.E. Wrangel recalled: “In the courtyard of our house there lived a police officer; the crowd did not find his house, only his wife; she was killed, and by the way, her two children. MM. Prishvin wrote in those days in his diary: "Two women go with pokers, lead balls on the pokers - to finish off the bailiffs." And the total number of victims in Petrograd was no less than 1315 people.

All the dead, not without grace, were called "victims of the revolution." 86 soldiers, 9 sailors, 2 officers, 32 workers, 6 women, 23 people without indicating their social status and 26 unknown bodies (how many of them were officers and policemen - it is not known, it must be quite a lot) were buried on March 23, 1917 on the Field of Mars ( originally wanted on Palace Square). It was planned to place the crypt under a huge column, next to erect “according to all the rules of science, technology and art” the parliament building. At least 800,000 Petrograders passed by the mass graves on the Field of Mars.

I. Bunin, “Cursed Days”: “I saw the Field of Mars, on which they had just performed, as a kind of traditional sacrifice of the revolution, the comedy of the funeral of the heroes who allegedly died for freedom. What a need, what it was, in fact, a mockery of the dead, that they were deprived of an honest Christian burial, boarded up in red coffins for some reason and unnaturally buried in the very center of the city of the living!

The Bolsheviks dispersed constituent Assembly, but the February Revolution was privatized. Therefore, they continued to bury their own here. Remaining "on the farm" in St. Petersburg, Grigory Zinoviev considered himself the second person in the party. The capital of the future Communist World Republic is, of course, the city of the proletarian revolution, the city of socialist Soviet Russia. True, most of the prominent communists are now in the Kremlin

So there are only two general party sacrificial figures on the Field of Mars - the censor of the Petrograd press Volodarsky and the head of the Cheka Uritsky. Both of them, for obvious reasons, were killed by the "counter-revolutionaries". In addition, Isaakievskaya and Liteiny Avenue were named after Volodarsky, and Palace Square and the Winter Palace were named after Uritsky. It was to their murder that the Bolsheviks responded with the "Red Terror".

In 1918, they were joined by Semyon Nakhimson, chairman of the city council, who suppressed the anti-Soviet Yaroslavl uprising (Vladimirsky Prospekt is named after him), and four Latvian riflemen.

10 people died in 1919 near Petrograd, repelling Yudenich's offensive.

In 1919, an excellent parterre square designed by Lev Rudnev was laid out on the field and an impressive monument of four granite blocks was erected. At the ends are the pretentious verses of Anatoly Lunacharsky: “The sons of St. Petersburg have now joined the host of great heroes of uprisings of different times who have passed away for the sake of the heyday of life, the crowds of Jacobin fighters, the crowds of Communards.”

The funeral continued - they buried two commissars who died near Taganrog.

On August 31, 1920, in Petrograd, on Krasnye Zor Street (Kamennoostrovsky Prospekt), at 26/28, a regular meeting of the Finnish workers' club was held, the members of which were only communists. A group of hungry Finnish communists, dissatisfied with their infinitely greedy leadership (they lived in the Astoria, received unprecedented rations), staged a massacre. The victims are eight communists. On the tombstone of the Field of Mars they wrote: "Killed by the Finns-White Guards."

In 1922, D. N. Avrov, one of the main leaders in the suppression of the Kronstadt uprising, was buried on the Field of Mars. At the same time, nine-year-old actor's son Kostya (Vanya) Mgebrov, whom enterprising parents passed off as "Petrograd Gavrosh", rested here.

At the end of 1925, a colossal purge of the communist authorities took place in Leningrad. The team of Grigory Zinoviev was replaced by the people of Sergei Kirov. There was especially no one to bury on the Champ de Mars. Well-known communists were now buried exclusively at the Kremlin wall - Sverdlov, Frunze, Dzerzhinsky, Nogin, Inessa Armand, John Reed.

Ivan Kotlyakov, who was a member of the provincial committee and chairman of the Economic Council under the previous city leadership, was demoted to head of the financial department of the Leningrad City Executive Committee. But still, he was a member of the party since 1902, he refused the opposition, therefore, after his death in 1929, the plant, the tram park were named after him and buried on the Field of Mars.

In 1928, the "old Bolshevik", a peer of Lenin, L. Mikhailov-Poletikus, and the "disarmed" Trotskyite, a prominent red commander Mikhail Lashevich, rested here; in 1931, the essayist K. Eremeev was buried, in 1932 another peer of Lenin, the “red professor” G. Tsyperovich, was buried.

Meanwhile, a simpler place was found for the local nomenklatura. Since 1919, the "Communist site" of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra began to be used.
The last burial on the Field of Mars is the grave of Ivan Gaz, the only city communist who initially voted not for the “Leningrad opposition” of Grigory Zinoviev, but for the “general line” of Joseph Stalin. For this, he was made secretary of the party committee of the Krasny Putilovets plant. And then the secretary of the Moscow-Narva district party committee, and after his death he was buried next to Uritsky and Volodarsky.

Now the Field of Mars connects the only green space in the city free for all class groups and the strangest churchyard. So, on the outskirts of Rome, there are gigantic ruins of the baths of Caracalla, the emperor, parricide and fratricide, a sadist, the husband of his own mother. And nothing, they stand, they amaze with their monumentality. Our Field of Mars is a communist pantheon of provincial significance.

On March 5, the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies decided to appoint a funeral for March 10. This day was declared "the day of remembrance of the victims of the Revolution and the national holiday of the Great Russian Revolution for all time." It was ordered to organize a funeral as "national and civil" without a church rite. A church memorial service could be performed by the relatives of the dead "according to their conviction."

Priests of military temples on this day were supposed to perform funeral services in temples.
Funeral service for those who died during the funeral of the victims of the February Revolution

The entire population of the capital, as well as the entire population of the Petrograd garrison, was called upon to participate in the funeral of the victims of the revolution. However, on March 10, the funeral did not take place and the ceremony was postponed more than once, until, finally, the final date was set - March 23, 1917.

Discussions flared up over the choice of burial site. Initially, the majority of delegates spoke in favor of Palace Square, but objections arose. The organizers were worried about the soil water under the Palace Square, they feared that the mass graves would violate the integrity of the famous architectural ensemble of the square. They were called Kazan Cathedral, Znamenskaya Square.

The Petrograd Soviet decided to bury the victims of the revolution on the Field of Mars. It was planned to place the crypt under a huge column, next to erect “according to all the rules of science, technology and art” a building for the Russian parliament, which was to become the center of government for all of Russia. The grandiose entrance to the parliament building, facing the Neva, was supposed to be decorated with statues of prominent figures of the revolution.
Funeral procession during the funeral of the victims of the February Revolution on one of the streets of the city.

A special commission created by the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies acted as the organizer of the funeral. Parts of the garrison were ordered to participate in the ceremony, the allocation of special units with orchestras. On the day of the funeral in the city, it was planned to stop the work of industrial and commercial enterprises, and tram traffic was stopped.

The path and time of the funeral processions from each district of Petrograd to the Field of Mars was determined. The column organization scheme is certified by the signature of the commander-in-chief of the troops, Lieutenant General L.G. Kornilov.
Funeral procession on Nevsky Prospekt during the funeral of the victims of the February Revolution.

The Petrogradsky Listok newspaper wrote about this event: “... processions with the coffins of the victims, with waving flags, with an innumerable crowd of people, are moving slowly from all parts of the city. Slowly, solemnly, the consonant singing of a thousand voices is heard in the air: “You fell a victim in the fatal struggle ...”.

The procession, which began at 9 a.m. 30 min. ended well after midnight. At least 800 thousand people passed by the mass graves on the Field of Mars. The presence of members of the Provisional Committee of the State Duma, the Provisional Government, and deputies of the Petrograd Soviet emphasized the special, national character of the event. Military and Naval Minister A.I. Guchkov, accompanied by the commander of the Petrograd Military District, General L.G. Kornilov, arrived at the Field of Mars at 10 o'clock. The minister knelt before the graves and crossed himself.

Reportage filming of the funeral of the victims of the revolution covers all stages of the mourning ceremony: the procession of columns from different districts of Petrograd with the coffins of the dead, the situation on the streets of the city, the rally on the Field of Mars, the burial of the victims, etc. Among them: 10 photographic documents taken by the famous photographer Petr Otsupa: procession on Nevsky Prospekt”, “Funeral procession in the Vyborg region”, “Lowering the coffin into the grave during the funeral of the victims February Revolution March 23, 1917”, “Church memorial service on the Field of Mars”, “Police from student representatives”, “Funeral columns on the Field of Mars”.

Examining the information of photographic documents, one can see a huge number of people of various social groups who took part in the mourning ceremony. These are soldiers and officers, workers, intellectuals, students.

The event was planned in advance and was well prepared. The photographs depict a large number of flags and banners with slogans that are written correctly without spelling and stylistic errors, in even letters. Columns of funeral processions with flags and banners are moving towards the Champ de Mars in perfect order.
Funeral of the victims of the February Revolution on the Field of Mars

In one of the pictures you can see: at the head of the columns there are standard-bearers or those who carry a banner with slogans. Next march the military units of the Petrograd garrison with an orchestra. Endless columns of demonstrators are moving along the streets of Petrograd, soldiers are carrying coffins with the bodies of dead heroes, as evidenced by reportage footage.
On the Field of Mars

Among the representatives of the mourning ceremony, photographic documents depicted delegations of students from the Academy of Arts, Shlisselburg residents, workers of the 1st Russian X-ray tube plant, soldiers of an auto division. Order on the streets of the city is monitored by the military on horseback. On both sides of the street, the civilian population, including women. Pushing back the crowd, holding hands, the soldiers stand in a cordon, ensuring the immediate advancement of the funeral procession. In one of the photographs - the police from the representatives of the students. Mourning columns accompany the coffins with the dead to the Field of Mars, where a large mass grave was dug. Photographers recorded how soldiers dig frozen ground on the eve of the mourning event - March 22.

Photo documents capture the picture of the events taking place directly on the Champ de Mars: a huge crowd of people during the rally, a general view of the Champ de Mars during the ceremony, a large number of flags and banners with slogans: “Immortal memory of the fallen freedom fighters”, “Eternal memory of the freedom fighters” , "Alive - to the Fallen", etc. Groups of cordon, guard of honor of military and civilians at the coffins of the dead. The photographs show that despite the mass gathering of people, there is no crowd on the Champ de Mars, nothing prevents the march of the mourning columns.

In written sources, it is recorded that, according to the decision of the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies, funerals should take place without religious rites. However, the photographs show the performance of a religious ceremony on the Field of Mars: three clergy perform a funeral service over the coffin of the deceased.

Next to the coffin is a large cross with a crucifix, banners. Soldiers, officers, men and women take part in this ceremony. Men without hats, with bowed heads. Perhaps this memorial service was held at the initiative of the relatives of the victims. Unfortunately, it was not possible to find out how many people were buried, only one coffin is visible on photographic documents. It is noteworthy that the majority of those participating in the memorial service are ordinary people, as we can judge by their clothes. So, if we compare the clothes of women during a memorial service with the clothes of women participating in an official burial, we will see that the former are dressed in scarves and shapeless coats, the latter are more elegant, they wear hats and coats with fur collars.

On several photographic documents depicting the burial, there are a large number of voluminous wooden barrels in the frame. It was not possible to find out what they were for, what was in them. Perhaps they contained cement for pouring graves, or water for mortar. In some photographs, we see wooden flooring and special holes into which coffins are lowered. It can be assumed that the flooring was made for the convenience of lowering the coffin into the grave. Six people (three on each side) on ropes lower the coffin into the grave through a hole in the wooden flooring on ropes.

Below, several people receive the coffins and stack them in two rows. Some of the coffins are decorated with bouquets of flowers, each with a note with the name of the deceased. After the funeral, the mass grave was poured with cement, which is also reflected in the documents.

Photo documents confirm the fact that members of the Provisional Government attended the funeral of the victims of the revolution. In the pictures: Minister of War and Marine A.I. Guchkov, Chairman of the State Duma M.V. Rodzianko, Minister of Foreign Affairs P.N. Milyukov, member of the Provisional Committee, Chief Procurator of the Holy Synod V.N. Lvov and others.

When studying film documents dedicated to the funeral of the victims of the February Revolution in Petrograd 1917, 12 items were identified. hr., containing filming of such operators as F.K. Verigo-Dorovsky, M.I. Bystritsky (March 22), Bulla, who was a photojournalist in his main specialty, as well as photographs made by employees of the Skobelev Committee and the Pate Brothers firm.

Filming of preparations for the funeral ceremony has been preserved: “On the eve of the funeral. Preparation of graves on the Champ de Mars on March 22, 1917. M.I. Bystritsky Petrograd. Groups of people can be observed on the screen - soldiers, civilians belonging to different strata of society, which can be determined by clothing. They block the passage to the Champ de Mars, where the frozen earth is exploding and graves are being dug. In their hands they have a large poster with the inscription "The passage is closed, they are blowing up the earth for graves." It is captured how the soldiers dig graves, the walls are strengthened with boards. On top of the grave, a wooden flooring is made in the form of a bridge. Large barrels lie in a row, the purpose of which could not be clarified. An interesting plot: “The chapel of the Obukhov hospital. Sealing coffins”: there are two coffins, soldering devices for sealing coffins are heated. The quality of this scene is poor as it was shot in the dark.

The study made it possible to eliminate some disagreements between scientists regarding the construction of graves on the Field of Mars. B. Kolonitsky, for example, believed that four large graves had been dug. However, audiovisual documents confirm the opinion of those who believed that one large mass grave was dug in the form of the letter "L".
Members of the Provisional Government at the mass grave on the Field of Mars

In the film document of the Skobelev Committee "National Funeral of the Heroes and Victims of the Great Russian Revolution on the Field of Mars in Petrograd 1917" (director of filming G.M. Boltyansky, cameramen A. Dorn, I. Kobozev, P. Novitsky) the inscription at the beginning of the film says that "up to one and a half million people participated in the procession." In written sources, there are different numbers of those who took part in the mourning ceremony, the most common figure is 800 thousand people, some sources talk about a million participants in the demonstration.

"Marsovo Pole", located in the center of St. Petersburg, has become a familiar place of rest for the townspeople. Few people think about the dark stories of this place.
In ancient times, according to the legends of the Karelian tribes, this place was considered cursed. According to ancient beliefs, all the forest evil spirits gathered here on full moon nights. Old-timers tried to bypass these neighborhoods.

On a sunny day, the townspeople rest on the grass of the Champ de Mars (my spring photo)
Centuries later, those who died during the February and October revolutions of 1917 were buried on the Field of Mars. So the cursed place was turned into a cemetery, where people who died a violent death were buried, whose souls did not find peace.

Rumors that “this place is not good” appeared as early as the 18th century during the reign of Catherine I, whose palace was located on the “Tsaritsyn Meadow” (as the Field of Mars was called in the 18th century).
The Empress loved to hear scary stories. One day, an old Chukhonian peasant woman was brought to her, who knew many terrible stories.
Chukhonka told the queen a lot of interesting things about the place where the palace is located:
“Here, mother, in this meadow, for a long time all the evil spirits of the water are found. As the full moon, so they climb ashore. The drowned are blue, the mermaids are slippery, and sometimes the merman himself will crawl out in the moonlight to warm himself.
In public, the queen laughed at the superstitious old woman, but she decided to leave the palace near the “cursed place”.

At the beginning of the 19th century, Tsaritsyn Meadow was called the Field of Mars. Then there was a monument to the commander Alexander Suvorov in the image of Mars (sculptor M.I. Kozlovsky). The first monument in Russia to an uncrowned person. Then the monument was moved to Trinity Square

Parade of Alexander II on the Field of Mars. Rice. M.A. Zichy
In the 19th century, the Field of Mars was a place for folk festivals. However, remembering the old tales, the townspeople tried not to appear here after dark.

Folk festivities on Maslenitsa in the 19th century. Field of Mars

View of the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood opens from the Champ de Mars...

...and to the Mikhailovsky Castle

Parade on October 6, 1831 on the Tsaritsyn Meadow. Rice. G.G. Chernetsov

Parade on October 6, 1831 (detail).
Russian classics are easy to recognize - Pushkin, Krylov, Zhukovsky, Gnedich

Parade on October 6, 1831 (detail)

On the eve of the revolution (1916). Empress Alexandra Feodorovna and Tsarevich Alexei on the Field of Mars
In March 1917, the Field of Mars was chosen as the burial place for those killed in the February Revolution. Burial in a mass grave was carried out defiantly refusing religious rites, and without obtaining the consent of relatives. The cemetery, which appeared in the city center, immediately gained notoriety. The townspeople tried to avoid this place.
Despite the progressive revolutionary ideas, most of the townspeople reacted with superstition to such a mass burial - they said that the souls of the dead did not find peace and would take revenge on the living.
"Petropolis will turn into a necropolis"- whispered in the city.

It was said that people disappear without a trace at this place. In those days, passers-by told how at night from the side of the Field of Mars one could hear grave cold, a putrid smell and a strange inexplicable noise. There were stories that anyone who came to the Field of Mars at night would either disappear without a trace or go crazy.

The funeral of the victims of the revolution. Mass grave in the city center shocked many

The memorial complex "Fighters of the Revolution" was built in 1919. Architect L.V. Rudnev.
Esotericists note that the pyramid-shaped form of the memorial contributes to the accumulation of negative energy of the "cursed place"

Memorial to the "Victims of the Revolution" today

Field of Mars, 1920. Rice. Boris Kustodiev

Here is a panoramic view of the memorial

memorial pyramid

You can't scare kids with scary stories

The eternal flame on the Champ de Mars was lit in 1957

Blog update in my

The February Revolution in its most acute forms proceeded in the capital of the Russian Empire. Here, in Petrograd, there were also the greatest number of victims of revolutionary violence. After February 1917, rumors circulated in the provinces about a huge number of those killed and wounded in those days in Petrograd. For example, some members of the Executive Committee of the Arkhangelsk Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies believed that up to 15,000 people were killed in Petrograd during the revolution. Deputies of the IV State Duma, Cadet P.A. Levanidov and Trudovik A.I. Ryslev, who were in Arkhangelsk on March 8, 1917, refuted these data. According to them, only about 1,000 people were killed and wounded.

However, this figure was also incorrect. Various organizations were engaged in collecting information about the victims of the revolution. On March 24, the press reported that the All-Russian Union of Cities had collected information on 1,443 killed, wounded and sick victims of the revolution in Petrograd. The list has continued to grow. E.I. Martynov was the first to identify him as part of the fund of the Extraordinary Investigation Commission of the Provisional Government. He wrote that "in the statistical department of the Petrograd City Committee of the Union of Cities, a list of persons "who suffered during the February Revolution of 1917" was compiled. According to Martynov's fair statement, "the reason for it was the information delivered from hospitals and infirmaries, where it was ordered to take all the wounded, as well as the corpses of the dead, but it is obvious that some of the victims did not get there." The list included 1656 persons of both sexes. After checking the list, Martynov came to the conclusion that it "included 265 people who fell ill with such diseases that could not be put at the expense of the revolution," and "76 names are repeated twice." After making simple calculations, he wrote that "there will be a loss of killed and wounded and bruised in 1315 people."

Unfortunately, Martynov did not publish an updated list of victims of the revolution. It should be noted that back in March 1917, Vedomosti of the Public City Administration in 3 issues printed on its pages a list of the victims of the February Revolution, compiled by the Information Department under the Petrograd Public City Administration together with the Committee of the United Students and the VSG. This list, as far as can be judged, was based on a card file of victims compiled by the Statistical Department of the Petrograd Committee of the All-Union Flash. Therefore, the publication in the Vedomosti of the Public City Administration retained all the shortcomings of the list (card index) of the VSG: repetitions of the names of the victims of the revolution, etc. S.P. , noting at the same time that "it is difficult to prove anything by random statistics." Melgunov, believed that the February Revolution was bloodless, and individual cases of violence, murders could not "testify to the specific atmosphere of murders that was created in the first days of the revolution." And here the question is appropriate, how many of these excesses had to occur, so that in their totality they gave the February Revolution the character of "bloody"? It turns out that 1315 victims are not enough for such a characteristic. Or how powerful would the excesses have to be to give February a characterization other than "bloodless"? Melgunov prudently did not pose these questions and, therefore, did not answer them. Strongly disagreeing with the arguments of Melgunov and his followers, we note that the most brutal murders were not reflected either in the published summary list or in the card index of the Statistical Department of the Petrograd Committee of the All-Russian Union of Cities. Most likely, this happened by accident, for technical reasons. But, in any case, it played into the hands of those who did not want to focus on the question of the price of the revolution, or rather, insisted on its bloodless nature. In particular, we are talking about the murder on March 1, 1917 of Senator Czartoryski and General Shtakelberg, whose names were missing both in the newspaper publication and in the card index of the Statistical Department of the PC VSG.

The assassination of General Stackelberg made a lot of noise. It was reported on March 5 in a PTA telegram (“Morning Messenger”), newspapers of that time wrote, contemporaries noted in diaries and memoirs, scientists and writers mentioned it in their studies. We emphasize that in a number of publications Stackelberg's initials were not given. There were discrepancies in where he lived: one of the newspaper articles indicated that he lived on Nab. R. Moika, and in other publications - on the street. Millionth. In the reference book "All Petrograd in 1917" there are several Stackelbergs, but there are two generals of them - Major General, Baron Ivan Konstantinovich (30 Karpovka River Embankment) and Head of the Court Orchestra, Lieutenant General, Baron Konstantin Karlovich (Malaya Konyushennaya Street, 4) . Let us note that in the files of the Military Commission, we managed to identify an anonymous denunciation of Baron KK Shtakelberg: “We must remove the German Baron Shtakelberg as soon as possible. The general lives at Malaya Konyushennaya 4, an entrance from a small lane, which gathers the government squad and will wait for the troops to approach from Tsarskoye Selo. It is necessary to hide it in the evening or at night. The apartment of K.K.Shtakelberg was located relatively close to the street. Millionnaya, where the murder of a certain General Shtakelberg took place. It could be assumed that the VK VKGD reacted to the denunciation by sending a detachment to arrest General K.K. Shtakelberg, during which he was killed. But, as N.E. Wrangel recalled, “Baron Stackelberg, lieutenant general, former head of the palace orchestra” was still alive at the end of 1918. At the same time, the fact that some group of armed people, acting in the interests of the Duma headquarters of the revolution, was looking for Stackelberg, is confirmed by the press. On March 5, The Day newspaper reported: “A military patrol, as a result of the information received, appeared at the apartment of General Shtakelberg, the general was asked to dress and go to the State [state] Duma.”

So, what kind of General Stackelberg are we talking about? The memoirs of V.N. Voeikov contain a story about the murder of General Count Stackelberg. In the reference book "All Petrograd in 1917" the master of the horse, lieutenant general, Count Gustav Ernstovich Stackelberg, who lived on the street. Millionnaya, d. 16. In the provincial press, with reference to the data of the Informative Department at the Petrograd Public City Administration, it was reported that among the dead, taken to the mortuary of the Obukhov hospital, was the head of military medical institutions, General, Count G. E. Shtakelberg, 64 years old. There is no doubt that this information was taken from the Gazette of the Public City Administration dated March 12, which are not available in the libraries of St. Petersburg, but only in the State Public Political Library (Moscow). Here we note that on March 12 and 14, Vedomosti published preliminary lists of victims for the Nikolaev military hospital and hospitals (Vyborgskaya, Obukhovskaya, Petropalovskaya, etc.). But, as we can see, not all of them were included in the later consolidated list. So, Count G. E. Shtakelberg (Stackelberg) was killed.

Many memoirists reported on the murder of Stackelberg from hearsay. P.N. Wrangel recalled that General Baron K.G. Mannerheim told him about the murder of the “aged Count Stackelberg” during their brief meeting at the Zhmerinka station in early March 1917. There are no details of the murder in the memoirs of P.N. Wrangel. Empress Maria Fedorovna, according to Dolgorukov, who arrived from Petrograd, wrote in her diary on March 3, 1917: “Poor Stackelberg was also killed in his room. What cruelty." This is the only indication that Stackelberg was killed in his own room (apartment). More detailed information about this event is given in The Day newspaper. It reported that at first, Stackelberg promised to surrender to a military patrol that arrived with the aim of arresting him and delivering him to the State Duma, but instead closed the door and began machine-gun fire from the window. According to the newspaper, “a crowd of people killed the porter who refused to open the door, then entered the apartment. Stackelberg was killed." Note that there is no exact indication of the place where the massacre of Stackelberg was carried out. As for the murdered porter, information about him was given in the preliminary list of the dead and wounded. The Gazette of the Public City Administration reported that on March 1, 1917, at 16 Millionnaya Street, in addition to Count G. E. Shtakelberg, the porter Ivan Andrianovich Poluektov, 50 years old, a tradesman of the city of Pokrov, Vladimir Province, was killed. The body was then taken to the mortuary of the Obukhov hospital. By the way, in the handwritten copy of the card index of the victims of the revolution, compiled by the Statistical Department of the Petrograd Committee of the All-Union Socialist Republic, there is no surname of Poluektov.

Some information about the murder of Stackelberg is contained in the memoirs of Princess Putyatina. Firstly, it is indicated that the "old general" offered armed resistance for several hours; secondly, he acted not alone, but together with his batman. About the fate of the batman, no information is reported here and in other sources. Most likely, we are talking about the already mentioned porter Poluektov. As V.N. Voeikov recalled from hearsay (“told”), one diplomat who lived nearby and knew the future victim well, “took a telephone call to Sir George Buchanan for assistance, the latter gave the following answer:“ I don’t interfere in anything . The revolution must have its victims." J. Buchanan did not mention this telephone conversation in his memoirs. Voeikov wrote that “in response to the same request to save Staselberg (Shtakelberg - A.N.), Paleolog allegedly stated: “In view of the promise given to Milyukov, my English colleague deprived us of the right to give asylum.” By the way, like Buchanan, Paleolog did not say a word in his memoirs about the refusal to help save General Stackelberg. And while these negotiations were going on, the soldiers, having pulled out the count, "brutally killed him near the house." That is, there was an attempt to arrest, during which Count G. E. Shtakelberg actively resisted, as a result of which they were killed, either in his room, or near the house where he lived.

AI Solzhenitsyn describes the murder of Stackelberg somewhat differently. In The Red Wheel, he writes that revolutionary soldiers broke into the general’s apartment (he didn’t let them in for a long time, they defended themselves with a batman). The general was accused of "killing a sailor in the street with a shot from this mansion." He was allowed to get dressed and “taken out” to the street, accused of killing sailors, and then dragged along Moshkov Lane to the embankment, where he was shot. Solzhenitsyn apparently based his story on the message of Princess Putyatina and the memoirs of an unknown author - a certain soldier Alexei. We managed to establish that he served in the Reserve Battalion of the Life Guards. Finnish regiment.

Here is a complete excerpt from his memoirs dedicated to the massacre of General Shtakelberg: “In the pre-dinner hour, a group of revolutionary soldiers walked along Millionnaya Street towards the Field of Mars, when a tall, lean general, in a Nikolaev overcoat with a raised beaver collar, began to overtake it. At first we ignored him. Suddenly, those who were walking in front saw against the Red Mansion, which was to their right, on the opposite side of the street, a murdered sailor, he was lying prostrate, and around his head was a halo of blood-stained snow. Further on, another dead sailor could be seen.

General, stop! several people shouted at once. The general, ignoring the cries, continued to walk. One soldier rushes after the general and grabs him by the sleeve.

Stop, general! The general, without turning around, jerks his sleeve free and continues walking. Then the one who overtook him grabs him by the cape of his overcoat; it cracks, and half comes off. Indignant and angry, the general stops and is surrounded by a crowd. The sailors who ran up to us told us that the sailors had been shot from the Red Mansion, and that the general we had detained lived in it.

BUT!!! The crowd growled menacingly, moved, and began to shrink into a tight ring around the general.

Maybe Mr. General will explain to us how the sailors were killed?!

I don't have to guard the scoundrels roaming the streets! the general answers. And on his cold, non-Russian, with large features, with an aquiline nose, there is so much contempt and hatred on his face ... The crowd, like a whirlwind, pulled: “Kill the reptile, shoot it! Drag him, comrades[,] to the embankment!

And immediately the crowd began to seethe, picked up the general, with curses carried him back towards Alexander Square. One student and I are trying to dissuade the crowd from lynching. Part of the crowd supports us, but the main mass demands immediate reprisal. While we are moving along Millionnaya, we have some hope that the crowd will refuse to lynch and give us the opportunity to take the general to prison. But here we are at the corner of the street leading to the embankment, here the crowd lingers and there is a final heated fight ["]for["] and ["]against["]. Each side wants to push the opponents aside by force and take possession of the general. The pro side wins. And again the noise, the crowd is seething in a stream rushing to the embankment. Excitement grows with every step ... Suddenly, a short, stocky, with a wide cheeky face, a soldier squeezes through the crowd, runs up to the general and, almost point-blank, fires 2 shots at him from a revolver. The shooter managed to grab, not allowing him to discharge the entire revolver. The general swayed, crouched slightly, turned his head in the direction of the shooter: horror shone in his eyes. A stormy stream of people, without stopping for a second, with a growing desire carries the general further, as if the crowd is afraid that someone will take away its victim. The general does not show any signs of injury.

Here the human flow reached and jumped over the pavement of the embankment. The general is brought in and placed with his back to the parapet. The sun shines brightly, the snow blinds the eyes with its whiteness, a light breeze pulls towards the seaside. The general is pale, crushed, begging for mercy. Late! This should have been said there, on Millionnaya, in front of the Red Mansion - instead of words of insult. The crowd, moving backwards in a semicircle, takes it to the ready, clicks the shutter, is applied. The general, under a dozen blows aimed at him, hunched over, turned his gray, suddenly haggard face to the side. A long, terrible, tormenting pause... Scream! - someone ordered. A volley rang out, the general swayed, made the guard with his left hand, as if looking for salvation behind him, a gesture, and [,] as if knocked down [,] fell on his right side. Now, without a command, they shoot at a lying person. They shoot with rapture, with passion. Here is a tall, handsome man with a ruddy, girlish face, a Transfiguration, having fired two shots from a brand new, apparently fresh from a weapons store, a hunting rifle, lays a new cartridge[,] to continue shooting. A characteristic smile wanders on his face, which can be observed on mischievous guys. He is pleased - he had the opportunity to try the fight of a gun. And what has to be fired at a person? Well ... it doesn't matter, the general is doomed after all ... He hardly knows why the general is being shot: I noticed him when they were already putting the general to the parapet - but if they shoot, then it is necessary.

Bullets, hitting the parapet, ricochet, fly whistling in all directions. Here, to our right, several sailors are falling into the snow, running towards us from the side of the Trinity Bridge. One of the fallen ones moved awkwardly, as if he wanted to change his position, but an invisible pressing heaviness prevented him from doing so. Realizing what was the matter, I rushed with the butt to those who were carried away by shooting, and we quickly tame those who were excessively carried away. Part of the crowd rushed to the sailors lying on the snow. Two sailors who fell into the snow had lacerated wounds in the abdomen; they are put on overcoats and taken to the hospital. The executed - a search in the pockets; apart from a massive gold watch with the same chain, nothing is found. The people who searched the corpse want to appropriate the watch, but the vast majority protested indignantly against the robbery of the corpse, and the lovers of profit, with regret and abuse, had to leave the watch on the dead man. Then, four of them took the corpse by the arms and legs, and, swinging it, on command - one, two, three! - thrown over the parapet onto the ice of the Neva. Only later did it become known that Lieutenant General Stockelberg was shot (so in the text - A.N.). » . Let us note that in these memoirs of a Finnish soldier there is no information about the search, nor about the armed resistance that was provided by Stackelberg, nor about how he was taken out into the street. Soldier Alexei recalled only what happened on Millionnaya Street and Palace Embankment. It is possible that Count G. E. Shtakelberg suffered innocently either on the way home, or on his way out of the house. Two sailors who accidentally received heavy bullet wounds were also victims of the execution of Stackelberg.

The dead body was delivered, as already mentioned, to the Obukhov hospital. By the way, after the revolution, one of the entertainments of the townsfolk was hiking in the dead and examining the bodies of the dead. M. Bernov "had the courage to walk through the mortuaries of the Obukhov hospital", in one of which was the corpse of "General Stackelberg (with a severed head)". Apparently, the soldiers who dealt with the general then chopped off or cut off his head. It is possible that the separation of the head from the body was carried out by sailors who did not have time to take part in the execution of Count Stackelberg. An additional motive for this could be revenge for those sailors who were wounded by a ricochet as a result of firing at the already dead body of the general.

The life of a liberal-minded senator, General of the Artillery Alexander Vasilievich Czartoryski, was tragically cut short. As follows from the document kept in the fund of the First Department of the Governing Senate, A.V. In particular, "when the senators discussed controversial issues about the publication of laws and other matters, he usually took a liberal point of view." Judging by the document at our disposal, on the morning of March 1, rebels appeared at the apartment of Senator Czartorysky (Alekseevskaya St., 18) with the aim of a search, to whom he gave his weapons. After that, Czartoryski spent the whole day working with papers - "reading Senate affairs." At 7 pm on the same day, a crowd of sailors broke into his apartment. After a search, the sailors piled in the middle of the room “all the files and documents” seized from the senator and set them on fire, “arranging a fire in the middle of the room.” They then "began firing indiscriminately" during which Czartoryski was slightly wounded. The sailors forcibly took the senator to the infirmary, which was opposite the Lithuanian castle, for dressing. The doctor tried to take him away from the sailors, stating that "Czartoryski is in his charge and that he will treat him." Another crowd of drunken sailors rushed into the office, and "seeing that the doctor was bandaging Czartoryski's wound, they declared that: "we don't need generals." The senator was "taken away from the doctor and nurses", dragged out into the street and killed there. Then Czartoryski's head "was cut off and thrown away".

Did the brutal reprisals against these two victims of the revolution have any significance for the further development of events? We are convinced that the murder of Count G. E. Shtakelberg could not but make a negative impression on the contemporaries of the events, and especially on those who lived in neighboring houses, knew him personally. Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich, who then lived in the apartment of Prince Putyatin, wrote in his diary on March 1, 1917: “We heard about several murders in the neighborhood committed by soldiers, by the way, Count Stackelberg”. No less, and maybe even a big impact on the V.K. Mikhail, was supposed to produce information about the murder of Senator A.V. Czartoryski. The point was that he was an old acquaintance of V.K. Mikhail Alexandrovich, was part of his entourage. As follows from the "List of generals by seniority" A.V. Czartorysky was at the disposal of V.K. Mikhail Alexandrovich since October 2, 1902. Most likely, all these murders also played a role when Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich decided on March 3, 1917 to abandon the perception of supreme power. Unfortunately, the verbatim record of the meeting of V.K. Michael was not conducted with members of the VKGD and the Provisional Government, but some evidence has been preserved indicating that the participants in the meeting openly threatened him, and other members of the Romanov dynasty, with physical violence if he took supreme power into his own hands. V.N. Lvov recalled that V.K. Mikhail Alexandrovich listened to speeches “about the need for him not to accept the crown, otherwise the whole Romanovskaya family would face death.”

B.V. Nikitin wrote that “[M.V.] Rodzianko, Prince. [G.E.] Lvov and all the others sought to achieve his resignation from the throne, pointed out that otherwise all members of the House of Romanov would be immediately massacred in Petrograd.” A.F. Kerensky made a significant addition in his speech: “I have no right to hide here what dangers you are personally exposed to if you decide to take the throne ... In any case ... I do not vouch for the life of Your Highness.” Only P.N. Milyukov spoke in favor of taking power, he was supported by A.I. Guchkov (“but weakly and sluggishly”). We add that, according to contemporaries, Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich "never showed much interest in state affairs." All this: the antipathy inherent in Grand Duke Mikhail to state activity, the brutal murders of people he knew and loved ones, as well as the refusal of the majority of members of the VKGD and the Provisional Government to support the Grand Duke on the issue of the perception of supreme power and guarantee him personal security at the same time, and predetermined his refusal from such a responsible and risky step.

There is no doubt that two severed heads in front of the public (and even in one day!) Is an indicator high level violence during the February Revolution. Other cases of bloody reprisals against officers, policemen and townsfolk are also known: seemingly meaningless executions, throwing from the roofs of houses, etc. Contemporaries noted that in a number of cases the rebels committed abuse and mockery of corpses: bonfires, throwing the bodies of the dead in the trash with a ban on burying them, etc. Specialists in symbolism and rituals, of course, in each of the murders, which was accompanied by desecration of the corpses of the victims, will find in them elements of the manifestation of the traditions of popular justice, designed to clear the space from " strangers”, as well as the desire to humiliate enemies in order to make the still living helpless from fear and “less harmful”. But all the facts of killings and injuries, compressed in the short days of February 1917, testify, first of all, in favor of the assertion that this revolution was neither peaceful nor bloodless.
Nikolaev Andrey Borisovich, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor of the Department of Russian History, Russian State Pedagogical University named after. A.I. Herzen.
The article was first published in the collection: "90 years of the February Revolution in Russia" St. Petersburg, 2007. P. 33 - 42.

NOTES:

1. In the Council of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies // Arkhangelsk. 1917. March 10.
2. The number of victims / The funeral of the victims of the revolution // Russian word. 1917. March 24 (Moscow).
3. Martynov E.I. The tsarist army in the February coup // Martynov E.I. Politics and strategy / Ed. Tip Series: S.V. Stepashin (prev.) et al. M., 2003. S. 222.
4. List of those killed and wounded in the days of the revolution. The Information Department (at the Pet[radsk] Public City Administration) announces information about the dead and wounded, obtained by the Committee of the United Students in cooperation with the department and the Information Bureau of the Union of Cities // Gazette of the Public City Administration. 1917. March 17, 28 and 29 (Petrograd). Note that the issue dated March 28, 1917 is not in the libraries of St. Petersburg. Thanks to the help of A.A. Ilyin-Tomich, this and other issues that are not in the libraries of St. Petersburg, managed to be found in the State Social and Political Library (Moscow).
5. See more about the lists of victims of the revolution: Melnikov A.V. On the problem of identifying the personal composition of the victims of the February Revolution in Petrograd // 90 years of the February Revolution in Russia. Sat. scientific Art. SPb., 2007.
6. Melgunov S.P. March Days 1917. M., 2006. S. 98.
7. Ibid. S. 97.
8. See: List of those killed and wounded in the days of the revolution // Gazette of the public administration. 1917. March 29 (Petrograd).
9. See: GA RF. F.1467. Op.1. D. 866. The search for the names of Shtakelberg and Czartorysky in the handwritten copy of the card index of the victims of the revolution, compiled by the Statistical Department of the Petrograd Committee of the All-Union Flash, was carried out by our graduate student A.V. Melnikov. These names were not on the list.
10. RGIA. F.1358. Op.1. D. 1920. L.10b.
11. Chronicle of the revolutionary movement // Day. 1917. March 5; See also: Killed in resistance. From sob. box // Latest news. 1917. March 5 (everyday issue). (Kyiv).
12. Diaries of Empress Maria Fedrovna (1914−1920, 1923) / [transl. IS HE. Durochkina-Krog et al. M., 2005. S. 175.
13. Wrangel P. Notes. November 1916 - November 1920 Mn., 2002. Vol.1. S. 26.
14. Melgunov S.P. Decree. op. P.100−101.
15. Solzhenitsyn A.I. Red wheel. Narration in measured terms in 4 knots. - Node III. March seventeenth. M., 1994. V.6. S.375−376.
16. Diaries of Empress Maria Feodorovna (1914-1920, 1923). P. 175. By the way, there is no information about Count Stackelberg in the name index of this edition (See: Ibid., p.693).
17. Chronicle of the revolutionary movement // Day. 1917. March 5.
18. See for example: Melgunov S.P. Decree. op. S. 101.
19. All of Petrograd in 1917. Address and reference book of the city of Petrograd. 24th year of publication / Ed. A.P. Shashkovsky. Pg., 1916. S. 774.
20. GARF. F. R-3348. Op.1. D. 132. L.18.
21. Wrangel N.E. Memoirs: from serfdom to the Bolsheviks / Vst. Art., comment. and prep. text. A. Zeide. M., 2003. S. 154, 445.
22. Chronicle of the revolutionary movement // Day. 1917. March 5.
23. Voeikov V.N. With a king and without a king. Memoirs of the last palace commandant of Emperor Nicholas II / Comp. T. Prokopov. M., 1995. S.227−228.
24. All of Petrograd in 1917. S. 651.
25. List of victims / From the capital's newspapers // Caspian. 1917. March 18 (Baku).
26. Wrangel P. Decree. op. P. 26. See also: Wrangel P.N. Memories. Southern Front (November 1916 - November 1920). M., 1992. Part I. P. 30. In numerous editions of the memoirs of K.G. Mannerheim in Russian, not a word was said about the murder of Count Stackelberg (See: Mannerheim K.G. Memoirs / Translated from Fin. P. Kuivala, B. Zlobin. M., 1999. S. 72−83; He. Memoirs / Translated from English by Y. V. Loboda, V. V. Loboda, Mn., 2004, pp. 68−73).
27. Diaries of Empress Maria Feodorovna. S. 175.
28. Day. 1917. March 5; See also: Killed in resistance. From sob. box // Latest news. 1917. March 5 (everyday issue). (Kyiv).
29. List of those killed and wounded in the days of the revolution. This list is compiled according to the Information Department of the Public City Administration // Gazette of the Public Administration. 1917. March 12, information was provided by A.V. Melnikov.
30. See: GA RF. F.1467. Op.1. D. 866.
31. Op. by: Melgunov S.P. Decree. op. S. 101.
32. Voeikov V.N. Decree. op. S. 227.
33. Buchanan J. Memoirs of a diplomat. M., 1991.
34. Voeikov V.N. Decree. op. S.227−228.
35. Paleolog M. Tsarist Russia on the eve of the revolution. M., 1991.
36. Voeikov V.N. Decree. op. S. 228.
37. Solzhenitsyn A.I. Decree. op. S.375−376.
38. Op. by: Melgunov S.P. Decree. op. S. 101.
39. The author of the memoirs wrote that after the revolution, Carne de Bath was added to the Reserve Battalion, in which he served (Archive-Museum of the Library of the Russian Abroad Foundation. F.1. D. E-100. L. 17). In the memoirs of an officer of the Reserve Battalion of the Life Guards of the Finnish Regiment D.I. Khodnev also contains a story about the enrollment of Lieutenant Corny de Bat (Khodnev D. The February Revolution and the Reserve Battalion of the Life Guards of the Finnish Regiment // 1917 in the fate of Russia and the world. The February Revolution: from new sources to a new understanding / Ed. Kol. : P.V. Volobuev (responsible editor) and others. M., 1997. P. 281). There are different spellings of the surname under which Roots Batov acted in the days of the February Revolution - Carne de Bat, Carney de Bat, Korni de Bat, Kornibat. See details about him: Nikolaev A.B. Revolution and power: IV State Duma February 27 - March 3, 1917. SPb., 2005. S. 263 - 264, 269, 422, 515, 524, 613 - 614.
40. Archive-Museum of the Library of the Russian Abroad Foundation. F.1. D. E-100. LL.13−15, the document was revealed by us, a copy of the pages describing the murder of Stackelberg was made at our request by A.V. Melnikov.
41. The son of the author of the article is a soldier of the Automobile Company F.M. Bernov from February 27, 1917 was the driver and personal bodyguard of the Chairman of the State Duma M.V. Rodzianko (Bernov M. Eyewitness Letter // Kievlyanin. 1917. March 10).
42. Bernov M. Eyewitness letters // Kievlyanin. 1917. March 19.
43. RGIA. F.1341. Op.548. D. 103. L.32.
44. GARF. F.668. Op.1. D. 136. L. 60, the information was kindly provided by E.I. Krasnov.
45. List of generals by seniority. Compiled on April 15, 1914. Pg., 1914. S. 190.
46. ​​Lvov V. Fatal error // Siberian speech. 1919. August 10 (Omsk). These memories have been identified and introduced by us into scientific circulation.
47. Shulgin V.V. days. 1920: Notes / Comp. And auth. Vst.st. YES. Zhukov; Comment. Yu.V. Mukhacheva. M., 1989. S. 274.
48. [Guchkov A.I.] From the memoirs of A.I. Guchkov. Provisional government // Latest news. 1936. September 20 (Paris); Milyukov P.N. Memoirs (1859−1917) / Comp. and ed. int. Art. M.G. Vandalkovskaya; Comment. and decree. A.N. Shakhanov. M., 1990. V.2. S. 272.
49. Milyukov P.N. Decree. op. S. 272.
50. Memories Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna. M., 2003. S. 249. A.I. Guchkov noted on November 16, 1932: “Mikhail (it was clear) is not a real royal figure” (Alexander Ivanovich Guchkov tells ... Memoirs of the Chairman of the State Duma and the Minister of War of the Provisional Government / Author of the foreword V.I. Startsev; authors of comments and note S. Lyandres and A.V. Smolin, M., 1990, p.70).
51. Davis N.Z. Rites of Violence // History and Anthropology: Interdisciplinary Research at the Turn of the XX-XXI Centuries / Ed. ed. M. Krom, D. Sabian, G. Algazi. SPb., 2006. S. 150.

On April 5, 1917 (March 23, old style), the victims of the February Revolution were buried on the Field of Mars in Petrograd (St. Petersburg).

The organizer of the funeral was the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies, which decided to appoint the funeral of the victims of the February Revolution on March 23 (March 10, old style). This day was declared "a day of remembrance of the victims of the Revolution and a national holiday of the Great Russian Revolution for all time."

The funeral on April 5 was not only a Petrograd, but also an all-Russian event. In Kronstadt on this day, a memorial service was held for the victims of the revolution. Up to 50 thousand people participated in the funeral procession here. In other cities of Russia, a new wave of "Freedom Holidays" took place. In Moscow, some enterprises did not work, rallies were held in factories and offices; memorial services were performed in some institutions. Demonstrations dedicated to the memory of "freedom fighters" were held in Kyiv, Odessa, Samara, Riga, Simbirsk. Often, the burial places of the victims of the revolutions of 1905 and 1917 became the centers of these demonstrations.

Later, the burials of participants in the October Revolution were added to the victims of the February Revolution and civil war, the solemn funeral of V. Volodarsky in June 1918 laid the foundation for this.

In 1918-1940 the Field of Mars was called the Square of the Victims of the Revolution.

In 1919, a monument to the fighters of the revolution was opened on the Field of Mars, designed by the architect Lev Rudnev. The author of the inscriptions on the monument was the first Soviet People's Commissar of Education Anatoly Lunacharsky.

The material was prepared on the basis of information from RIA Novosti and open sources