Boris Viktorovich Savinkov fought both the monarchy and the Bolsheviks. His methods were not humane. As the main thing to achieve the goal, Boris Viktorovich used the tactics of terrorist acts. He was preparing an attempt on Lenin's life, seeing in him the main enemy of Russia. But the plans of one of the leaders of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party were not destined to come true. A lifelong struggle ended in defeat.

Against the stream

Boris Viktorovich was born into a revolutionary family in 1879. His father frankly did not like the current government and criticized it in every possible way. Viktor Mikhailovich worked in the judicial system in Warsaw. Boris's mother, Sofya Aleksandrovna (nee Yaroshenko), was born in Poland. By the way, she was the sister of the famous artist Nikolai Alexandrovich Yaroshenko.

Boris Viktorovich's childhood was spent in Warsaw. He first studied at the local grammar school of Higher Education, and then entered the St. Petersburg University. But he could not finish it due to participation in the riots provoked by students. Savinkov was not just expelled, he was banned from entering any other educational institution located in Russia.

The first time Boris Viktorovich was arrested in 1897 in Warsaw precisely for his revolutionary activities. Once free, Savinkov joined the groups of the social democratic direction - "Socialist" and "Rabocheye Znamya". Soon he was arrested again with the same wording, but after a short time he was released. And in 1899 Boris Viktorovich married Vera Glebovna Uspenskaya, the daughter of the writer Gleb Ivanovich. He was actively published in the newspaper Rabochaya Mysl, and then moved to Germany to continue his studies.

In 1901, Savinkov found himself among the propagandists of the Petersburg Union of Struggle for the Liberation of the Working Class. Naturally, such an activity could not end in anything good. Boris Viktorovich was once again arrested for revolutionary activities. But now, given his “chronic illness,” he was sent into exile in Vologda. His family also settled there. In the new place, Savinkov received the post of secretary of the consultation of attorneys at law at the Vologda District Court.

While in exile, Boris Viktorovich did not think to give up his political views. And soon he published an article entitled "The Petersburg Labor Movement and the Practical Tasks of the Social Democrats." This creation was warmly received by like-minded people. Moreover, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin himself noted the abilities of the young revolutionary. But by this time Savinkov realized that his possibilities in social democracy were practically exhausted. He could no longer simply think with a clever air about what is best and what is right. Boris Viktorovich wanted to move from theory to practice, and the social democratic framework did not allow him to take this important step. Therefore, Savinkov, after a long reflection, came to the conclusion that his place was among the Left SRs. This choice was also influenced by his acquaintance with the leader of this trend - Viktor Mikhailovich Chernov. It was Chernov who could, as they say, untie the hands of the revolutionary, giving him freedom. In addition, Boris Viktorovich was seduced and attracted by the main cult of the Left SRs. After all, they put heroic deeds and sacrifice at the forefront in order to achieve their goal. All this was valued much higher than one's own self. In general, the Left SRs promised Savinkov a real altar of revolutionary struggle, which should have been sprinkled with their own blood. And for Boris Viktorovich it played one of the key roles in the choice of the "coast". The second is permitted terror. Savinkov and the Left SRs were, as they say, created for each other.

So, once Boris Viktorovich realized that he could no longer calmly go with the flow and be content with the fate of an exiled. And in 1903 he managed to escape from the provincial Vologda. Having overcome many obstacles, he left his native country and soon found himself in Geneva. Here Savinkov met another leader of the Left SR movement, Mikhail Rafailovich Gotz. And then he officially joined both the Socialist-Revolutionaries themselves and their Combat Organization.

The first combat mission was not long in coming. The very next year, Boris Viktorovich received an order to eliminate the Minister of Internal Affairs Vyacheslav Konstantinovich Pleve. Moreover, Savinkov was precisely the head of the operation. And its creator was the head of the Combat Organization Yevno Azef. Azef also determined the composition of the group of liquidators. In addition to Savinkov, it included: Dora Brilliant, Yegor Sozonov, bomb maker Maximilian Schweitzer, as well as several other people from, so to speak, "technical support". Azev decided that it would be more convenient and reliable to blow up the carriage together with the minister, during his movement from St. Petersburg to Tsarskoe Selo.

A group of liquidators arrived in St. Petersburg. Everyone acted according to the approved instructions. And for a long time, people from the support of the operation observed Plehve's movements during the day, and also studied the routes of his weekly trips to Tsarskoe Selo to report to Nicholas II. They disguised themselves as cabbies, newspaper sellers and ordinary passers-by. When sufficient data had been collected, the date for the operation "Campaign to Plehve" was approved - the eighteenth of March. On this day, Savinkov placed people with bombs at key points on the Plehve route. In fact, the minister had no chance of salvation, but the human factor played a role. One of the bomb throwers - Abram Borishansky - got scared. He considered that he had attracted the attention of law enforcement officers, so he voluntarily left his point. The assassination attempt failed.

Since the operation had failed quietly and imperceptibly, Azef ordered to repeat the attempt on the twenty-fourth of the same month. The main throw was entrusted to Alexei Pokotilov, and the same Borishansky became the belayer. After the failure, he confessed and begged for a second chance. He needed to be rehabilitated in the eyes of his fellow party members.

But this time the operation was not crowned with success either. On the twenty-fourth, Plehve's carriage, for unknown reasons, changed its route and took another road. But Azef did not abandon the idea. Therefore, the third attempt was scheduled for April 1st. They decided not to change the main executor. On the night before the assassination attempt, Pokotilov was at the Severnaya Hotel. It is not known what happened there, but the bomb went off in the hands of Alexei. Eser died. The incident, of course, became interested in the police. An investigation has begun. And all the members of the group had to urgently leave Petersburg and take refuge in Switzerland. Azef decided that with the elimination of Plehve it would be worthwhile to wait a bit. And then he took up the personnel cleaning of the Combat Organization. Many were expelled, and Savinkov was reprimanded for the failure of the operation. After that, Azev turned to the Central Committee of the party with a request to replenish both the ranks of the fighters and to increase funding for his organization.

After waiting until the passions subside, the militants returned to their intended goal. The next date for the liquidation of Plehve also appeared - the fifteenth of July (the twenty-eighth - according to the Gregorian calendar). This time, Yegor Sozonov was chosen as the main thrower, and Borishansky acted as the belayer. It was Borishansky who was the first to meet the carriage and let it pass, and Sozonov, who was following, threw a bomb. In case of his miss, there were two more militants nearby - Kaliayev and Sikorsky. But their participation was not required, Yegor Sergeevich did not miss. The Minister of the Interior died on the spot. Sozonov himself was severely wounded. The militants immediately disappeared, leaving their fellow party member. Here, at the scene of the crime, he was arrested. In December 1910, Sozonov committed suicide in the Zarentui convict prison.

Boris Viktorovich, like all the other liquidators, managed to escape from the scene of the crime. And in the evening of the same day, he went to meet with Azev in Moscow. And soon he found himself abroad again.

The war goes on

Of course, one sacrifice, even as significant as Plehve, was not enough for the Left SRs. And Savinkov began preparing a new terrorist attack. The choice fell on the Moscow Governor-General, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich (he was the fifth son of Alexander II). The militants acted according to the worked out scheme. And the main thrower was Ivan Platonovich Kalyaev. And on the seventeenth of February he threw a bomb into Sergei Alexandrovich's carriage. The Grand Duke died on the spot. Due to the powerful explosion, his body was torn to pieces. It was then that a cynical joke was born: "Finally, the Grand Duke had to use his brains!"

The killer was arrested and soon sentenced to be hanged. The verdict was carried out in the Shlisselburg fortress. As for Savinkov, after completing the assigned task, he returned to Geneva. He was required to recruit new people willing to sacrifice themselves for the sake of achieving the "great goal."

In addition to attacks on Pleve and Sergei Alexandrovich, the militants of the Combat Organization staged an assassination attempt on the Minister of Internal Affairs Ivan Nikolaevich Durnovo, Priest Georgy Gapon and Admiral Fyodor Vasilyevich Dubasov.

Gapon, on suspicion of being connected with the police, was strangled and hanged from a tree by several people. Among them was the engineer Peter Rutenberg. He rented a dacha in Ozerki, near St. Petersburg, and invited a priest there. True, the leaders of the Left Social Revolutionaries themselves did not take responsibility for the murder of the clergyman. They presented his death as a personal initiative of Rutenberg and his accomplices.

But the attack on Dubasov took place on April 23, 1906. Boris Vnorovsky was chosen as the main thrower. But, despite being hit by a shell, the admiral managed to survive. The explosion shattered his foot. The coachman Fyodor Vasilyevich was also wounded. But his adjutant, Count Konovnitsyn, died. Boris Viktorovich planned to make an attempt on the life of the sovereign. He even managed to find an executor, but he failed to realize the "project". The fact is that Savinkov was arrested in Sevastopol. In this city, he was preparing an attempt on the life of Admiral Chukhnin. But the police managed to find out about it. Boris Viktorovich was sent to prison, and soon he was sentenced to death. To die so early, despite the cult of sacrifice, Savinkov was not going to. Later he wrote about this in the novel “The Pale Horse”: “But somehow I could not believe in death. Death seemed unnecessary and therefore impossible. There was not even joy, calm pride that I was dying for the cause. I didn't want to live, but I didn't want to die either. "

Savinkov then, of course, did not die. He managed to escape from prison and hide in Romania. After his escape, Boris Viktorovich wrote:

“On the night of July 16, by decree of the militant organization of the Socialist Revolutionary Party and with the assistance of the volunteer 57th Lithuanian Regiment V.M.Sulyatitsky, a member of the Socialist Revolutionary Party Boris Viktorovich Savinkov, who was held in the main serf guardhouse, was released from custody.
Sevastopol, July 16, 1906 ".

Another interesting thing: the police called Boris Viktorovich "Theatrical". The fact is that he changed documents every now and then. Now Savinkov was a Pole Adolf Tomashkevich, then a Frenchman Leon Rode, then a lieutenant Subbotin. The list of his masks goes on and on.

Boris Viktorovich, of course, did not stay in Romania. From there he moved first to Hungary, then to Swiss Basel. But even here he did not stay long, soon Savinkov ended up in German Heidelberg. Wandering around Europe, in the winter of 1906 he ended up in Paris, where he met Merezhkovsky and Gippius. These people played a big role in the life of the militant, becoming his literary teachers and even patrons. Moreover, it was Gippius who gave him the pseudonym V. Ropshin. As for creativity, Savinkov in 1909 wrote "Memoirs of a Terrorist" and "Pale Horse". And the novel "That which was not" appeared later - in 1914. It is curious that the party members did not approve of his enthusiasm for literature and periodically demanded that he be expelled from the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries.

At the end of 1908, all the Left SRs and the Combat Organization were shocked that Azev himself was a double agent. Boris Viktorovich did not believe in this to the last. He tried to defend Yevno Fishelevich at the "court of honor", which the Social Revolutionaries organized in Paris. But this attempt was not crowned with success. After the displacement of Azef, Savinkov became the new head of the Combat Organization. The organization could not achieve anything sensible (from the point of view of a militant). Savinkov did not pull the role of a leader. And in 1911 the Combat Organization was abolished. And Boris Viktorovich moved to France, where he resumed his literary activity. In the same country, he met the First World War.

During those bloody years, Savinkov became a war correspondent. And he sent his reports from Paris to Russian publications. In such as: "Birzhevye Vedomosti", "Day" and "Rech". And to the poet, artist and critic Maximilian Aleksandrovich Voloshin, Savinkov wrote that it was hard for him without political activity, as if his wings were "broken." And in 1916 Boris Viktorovich published the book "In France during the war".

Fighting the new government

The February revolution was a complete surprise for all Russian revolutionaries who were abroad at that time. Boris Viktorovich was also stunned by this fact. Therefore, in a hurry, he said goodbye to his family and returned to his homeland.

He arrived in Petrograd in April 1917. And he soon found out that many people he knew were part of the Provisional Government. The Socialist-Revolutionaries were also there. For example, Kerensky, Chernov, Avksentyev. Naturally, a man like Savinkov came to court. And Boris Viktorovich found himself in a whirlpool of events. After a short time, he had already acquired solid political weight and could influence the head of the Provisional Government - Kerensky. Then Savinkov was promoted to Commissioner of the Southwestern Front. And since he believed that it was impossible to end the war with Germany, he tried to convey this to the soldiers. But his attempts to inspire them to military business ended in failure. Strong unrest began in the army, discipline fell, the soldiers refused to obey orders, and openly declared their desire to stop the senseless, from their point of view, bloodshed. Everyone was well aware that the country was rapidly sinking into chaos. Savinkov understood this too. He was sure that only a strong, strong government, capable of taking responsibility and making unpopular decisions, could save the situation. General Lavr Georgievich Kornilov was of the same opinion.

Naturally, they became close. Under the patronage of Savinkov, Kornilov received the post of Supreme Commander-in-Chief. And Boris Viktorovich himself took the post of manager of the War Ministry. When the news of the appointment appeared, the British Ambassador Buchanan made an ironic entry in his diary: "... We have come to a curious position in this country when we welcome the appointment of a terrorist, in the hope that his energy and willpower can still save the army."

But, as in the case of the Combat Organization, Savinkov, having received a high post, did not cope. It is clear that he alone could not change anything, but the fact remains. The situation in the army was getting worse every day. The same was true for the country as a whole.

The situation demanded an immediate tough decision. And Boris Viktorovich, it seemed, had found the only way to salvation - the arrest of all the leaders of the Bolshevik movement (he considered them the main culprits in all troubles) and the return of the death penalty in the rear (at the front, capital punishment had already been resorted to). But Kerensky did not listen to Savinkov, deciding that such measures were excessively harsh. Hearing the answer, Boris Viktorovich resigned. True, Kerensky did not accept his resignation. He did not want to lose one of his main allies, so he assigned him to the military governors of Petrograd.

At the end of August, an event occurred that turned into a tragedy for Savinkov. General Kornilov decided to establish a military dictatorship in the country. This move frightened the Provisional Government. And Kerensky, together with his closest entourage, began to look for possible allies of Lavr Georgievich. Savinkov, of course, fell under the "distribution". His friendship with Kornilov was no secret to anyone. Boris Viktorovich was accused of aiding the general. All attempts to prove his innocence were unsuccessful.

Even Kerensky did not believe him, considering Savinkov one of the leaders of the conspiracy. Therefore, Boris Viktorovich was removed from the post of governor of Petrograd, and his activities were placed under the control of the party. In response, Savinkov resigned from the post of Minister of War. Soon he was expelled from the ranks of the Socialist-Revolutionaries.

But Savinkov didn't have to worry about Kerensky's unfair decision for a long time - the Bolsheviks, hated by him, seized power. A new stage of his endless struggle began. He took part in the failed campaign against Petrograd, then fled south, wanting to join the government of the Don Republic. But here he was received with hostility, the terrorist and revolutionary past affected. Therefore, soon Boris Viktorovich "surfaced" in Moscow and organized the "Union for the Defense of the Motherland and Freedom" (SZRS). In this "Union" he accepted everyone who was dissatisfied with the new government. Thus, the monarchists and social democrats of the Plekhanovist line, the Mensheviks, the Socialist-Revolutionaries and other "latecomers" became his allies. All of them were ready to impose a struggle on the Bolsheviks and challenge the "throne". Moreover, many former tsarist officers were included in the "Union". And the main assistants of Savinkov were General Rychkov and Colonel Perkhurov.

In fact, Soyuz was an underground army of militants who, with the help of terror, decided to fight the Bolsheviks. And the main targets for the elimination were, of course, Lenin and Trotsky.

But the struggle, like maintaining the viability of the "Union" demanded colossal costs. And Savinkov found three sources of income. The first "sympathizer" was the chairman of the Czech National Committee, Masaryk. The second is General Alekseev, one of the leaders of the Volunteer Army. The rest of the necessary funds were allocated by the French Embassy. It seemed that Soyuz had very real chances of achieving its goals, but May 1918 turned out to be terrifying for Boris Viktorovich. Despite all his efforts to keep SZRS secret from the Chekists, the underground was, as they say, exposed. Many of Savinkov's supporters were arrested and shot. He himself miraculously escaped execution, hiding in the house of the spring enemy of the Bolsheviks, Alexander Arkadyevich Derenthal.

And the Bolsheviks captured Yaroslavl, Murom and Rybinsk, which had previously been occupied by the Union's fighters. After this failure Savinkov with great difficulty managed to get to Kazan using false documents. In this city there was a Committee of the Constituent Assembly, which consisted, by and large, of the Socialist-Revolutionaries. Therefore, Boris Viktorovich decided to abolish the "Union". But relations with former "colleagues" were not easy, he was still accused of participating in the Kornilov conspiracy. But Savinkov somehow resigned himself to this, he was discouraged by something else. He looked at the Socialist-Revolutionaries and understood that they were doomed to defeat, since the leaders of the Constituent Assembly Committee could not inspire the common people to fight the Bolsheviks. Out of despair, Savinkov joined Colonel Kapeel's detachment, and began to serve as an ordinary private.

Agony

The situation was getting worse. But Boris Viktorovich was not going to give up. Together with the spouses Derenthal, he moved to France. Here Savinkov tried himself as a representative of the Kolchak government. And when the admiral's army was defeated, he took up the provision of weapons for the White Guards. Savinkov also took part in the discussion of the Versailles Treaty. He tried to defend the interests of Russia as best he could, since he still continued to believe in victory over the Bolsheviks.

But gradually the position of Boris Viktorovich became more and more precarious and humiliating. Despite his meetings with the leaders of European countries, he felt like a hunted beast. Churchill and Lloyd George, in fact, plainly said that the entire white movement is the "dog" of the Entente. And the British were not going to feed her just like that. In return for funding, they demanded the territory of Russia, those that were rich in oil.

Fragile hope in 1920 was given by Józef Piłsudski. He proposed to Boris Viktorovich to create a Russian Political Committee in Poland, as well as armed formations. Savinkov agreed. He managed to recruit about two and a half thousand soldiers (the remnants of the armies of Denikin and Yudenich) and form a detachment from them. This detachment made a campaign against Mozyr, but again, instead of victory, Savinkov was content with a bitter defeat. And then he realized that they parted ways with the white traffic.

Soon, the Scientific Union for the Defense of the Motherland and Freedom (NSZRS) appeared. Those who joined it took the oath: “I swear and promise, not sparing my strength or my life, to spread the idea of ​​the NSZRS everywhere: to inspire the disaffected and disobedient Soviet power, unite them into revolutionary communities, destroy Soviet rule and destroy the support of the communists' power , acting where possible, openly, with arms in hand, where it is impossible - secretly, with cunning and craftiness. "

As for the official program of the "Scientific Union", it included the following points: the fight against Soviet power, the Bolsheviks, monarchists, landowners, for democracy, freedom of speech, press, assembly, small private property, the transfer of land to the ownership of peasants, the right on the self-determination of the peoples that were previously part of the Russian Empire.

But this movement too soon disappeared. Time was playing against Savinkov. And he understood this, so his attempts to change the course became chaotic and ill-conceived. Boris Viktorovich grabbed every opportunity, not trying to analyze its prospects. So, for example, it was with the organization on the territory of Soviet Russia of the "green movement", in which the peasants became the main striking force. Savinkov wrote to Derenthal: “Our mother Russia is truly mysterious. The worse, the better, apparently. The language of the mind is inaccessible to her. She understands or remembers only whip or revolver. In this language we now only speak with her, losing the last signs of rotten, but thinking Russian intellectuals. "

A partisan war began. The preponderance of forces was on the side of the Bolsheviks, and Savinkov was sorely lacking in money. And in order to finance military operations, he "leaked" to Western "partners" various valuable information about the Soviets received from his agents. In the end, the Bolsheviks got tired of these "cat and mouse". They demanded that Poland expel Savinkov and all his supporters. And soon Boris Viktorovich had to look for a refuge again. He once again returned to Paris and settled with the Derentals.

And again he was not going to stop fighting the Bolsheviks. But now his confrontation has turned into a farce. The rulers of European countries gradually began to establish contact with Soviet Russia, and Savinkov, in their eyes, turned into a mad fanatic. Accordingly, there could be no question of any material assistance. And Mussolini gave Boris Viktorovich his book with a dedication instead of money. Trying to somehow rectify the situation, Savinkov decided to kill the head of the Soviet delegation at the Genoa conference, Chicherin. But here, too, he was defeated. In fact, it was already the end. The mental state of Boris Viktorovich deteriorated sharply. He fell into depression from the realization of the futility of further struggle. Then the situation for him became completely deplorable, since in the West they began to consider him a problem. Savinkov was completely confused, feeling like a mortally wounded animal.

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(1879-1925) Russian politician, writer

The mysterious death of Boris Viktorovich Savinkov on May 7, 1925 again drew attention to this outstanding political and public figure. His personality in subsequent years was not deprived of attention from historians, writers and filmmakers (based on the novel by V. Ardamatsky "Retribution", a serial film "Operation" Trust "was shot). They will say about Savinkov that his biography is not like the life of a real person - it is rather a skillfully shot film about an action movie.

Boris Savinkov went down in history as one of the prominent figures of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party (Socialist Revolutionaries, supporters of a parliamentary republic) and a famous terrorist in his time. It is interesting to compare the assessments of contemporaries. This is how Savinkov’s party colleague Viktor Chernov remembered: “All upbeat, he was always guided by self-sacrifice, death, a beautiful death ... The main problem for him was to be able to die beautifully”.

Interested in Savinkov's activities, Somerset Maugham, the famous writer and secret agent of British intelligence, once remarked in a conversation with him that, probably, a terrorist act requires special courage. Boris Savinkov replied: “This is the same thing as any other. You get used to it too. "

Boris Viktorovich Savinkov came from a noble family. After graduating from high school, he entered the St. Petersburg University. However, he was soon arrested and exiled to Vologda for agitation in workers' circles in 1902. His older brother was also arrested for revolutionary activities and exiled to Siberia, where he committed suicide. Unable to endure all these experiences, their father fell ill, he developed a persecution mania, and he died soon after.

From the very beginning of his revolutionary activities, Savinkov was a supporter of the Social Democrats. But soon he became disillusioned with their ideas and after meeting with E. Breshko-Breshkovskaya, "the grandmother of the Russian revolution," he went over to the Socialist-Revolutionaries, and became close to the most extremist part of their party.

Now Boris Savinkov is becoming a professional revolutionary. He escapes from exile abroad and joins the Fighting Organization of the Social Revolutionaries. His main activity is the organization of political terror, the preparation of assassination attempts.

Together with Azef, a kind of two-faced Janus, who was both the head of the Combat Organization and an informant of the tsarist secret police, Savinkov prepared the most significant terrorist attacks of the Social Revolutionaries - the assassination of the Minister of Internal Affairs V.K. Pleve, and then the assassination of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich.

When Boris Savinkov was caught in 1906, according to all laws, he was threatened with the death penalty. However, further a story happened, which is not inferior to Dumas's "Count of Monte Cristo": Savinkov makes a daring escape, and he is safely transported to Romania.

After exposing Azef in 1908, he decides to secede from the Socialist-Revolutionaries and start his own military campaign as part of a new group of 12 people. Later he told about his impressions in the story "The Pale Horse" (1909). Some believe that this story, also written in the form of a diary, reflects real events from the life of the famous terrorist, despite the fact that Savinkov publishes the book under the pseudonym V. Ropshin. However, there is another opinion: that Boris Savinkov in his story sets out not so much a true story about the events as, as some critics believe, "a parody of terror." The point was that in all his books, where the speech in one way or another concerns terror - "The black horse", "That which was not" - only conveys his point of view on this problem.

Boris Viktorovich Savinkov uses a rather unusual artistic technique in his works: dialogue takes up most of his narration. Moreover, some of his associates even made claims to him when they discovered that none of them had become the exact prototype of the heroes of his works, although their common ideas and thoughts sounded in the dialogues. And nevertheless, the heroes of Savinkov's works are not real people, but generalized images, sometimes uniting several personalities at once.

During the First World War, Boris Savinkov volunteered for the French army, where he works as a war correspondent and even takes part in some battles. Although he believes that he is indirectly helping Russia by opposing Germany, his position, reflected in the book "In France during the war," is again perceived ambiguously.

The events of 1917 could not leave Boris Savinkov indifferent. And he rushes to Russia in order, on the one hand, to implement his long-standing idea - the creation of a parliamentary republic, and on the other - to achieve the end of the war in favor of Russia.

The entry of Boris Savinkov into the ranks of the army of Kerensky, and then of Kornilov and Denikin was also quite conscious. First, he becomes a commissar of the army, then an emissary, knocking out money for the fight against the Bolsheviks. His attitude to the latter, who unleashed the "Red Terror", was unequivocal. He was ready to recognize any dictatorship except the Bolshevik. At this time, Savinkov was also fond of a new idea, pursuing the goal of re-creating something like a peasant republic. At the same time, he does not abandon his principles of terror.

Huge conceit, obviously, was the reason for the death of Boris Savinkov. He was lured into a political trap, creating the illusion of a powerful underground terrorist organization operating in the USSR. The "General from Terror" went there with a kind of inspection, but after crossing the border, he was arrested in Minsk. For several months Savinkov was kept in the internal prison of the OGPU in Lubyanka. Then a noisy trial took place over him, as a result of which he was sentenced to life imprisonment. While in prison, Savinkov appealed to the authorities for a pardon, promising to end all struggle with the Soviet regime. For propaganda purposes, it was announced that his request was granted. But no one was going to release him from prison. That is why, shortly after the trial, he died under unclear circumstances.

This is how Boris Viktorovich Savinkov, a politician and writer, ended his life. The famous writer Z. Gippius, who knew him from emigration, spoke highly of him. This assessment deserves attention also because Gippius was very critical of all her fellow writers, but she appreciated Savinkov's poetry and prose quite highly.

Despite his small stature, Boris Viktorovich Savinkov enjoyed extraordinary success with women. Perhaps they were attracted by the constant sense of danger that emanated from him. The first wife of Savinkov was the daughter of the writer Gleb Uspensky. Their son Victor, who later died in Stalin's camps, bore her last name. Savinkov did not live long with his second wife. From this marriage also remained a son, named Leo. It is interesting that Savinkov attracted almost all relatives to his terrorist activities. They helped him without fail, and some paid with their lives for it. Perhaps that is the reason for the fanaticism of Boris Savinkov himself, for whom terror has become a way of life.

M. Sokolov: On the air of Echo of Moscow, the program “The Price of the Revolution”, hosted by Mikhail Sokolov, in the studio is our guest, professor, Doctor of Historical Sciences Konstantin Morozov, today we are talking about Boris Savenkov. I will say a few introductory phrases - it seems to me that few leaders of the Russian revolution and counter-revolution have gone down in history and are seen almost a century later as legendary characters. Sometimes it is not only the circumstances of their own lives that are to blame, but also what happened to them later.

Boris Savenkov is one of this number, it seems to me, since the Bolsheviks portrayed him as a very terrible, dangerous enemy, and by the forces of mass art they introduced antiheroes into the pantheon, and now he is there. If you recall the films - and there are quite a few of them - "Collapse", "Syndicate-2", "Fiend of Hell". "The Horseman named Death", there were such actors as Evgeny Lebedev, Georgy Taratorkin, Alexey Serebryakov, Andrey Panin, and now the last film - Alexey Devotchenko. In general, he was honored with good acting work.

So we will try to figure out who Boris Savenkov really was. On the site we have the first question - to tell about Savenkov's youth, education, upbringing. Let's start with this.

K. MOROZOV: With your permission, I will say a few words why Savenkov remained in history. In my opinion, of course, when in the 60s. the 50th anniversary of Great October was approaching and the creation of the Cheka, then they remembered, of course, the most successful KGB operation - "Syndicate-2", and then Savenkov became in demand. This is not only the most successful operation, it is also his behavior in court when he recognized the Soviet regime. Therefore, he went through a whole series of Soviet films and fell into memory, was actually pulled out of this black hole, in which many of the heroes of the revolution and counter-revolution remained.

But there are other reasons - of course, later, when it became possible to read his works, and they began to be widely published in the late 80s, many began to look for the answer why the Russian intelligentsia went into the revolution, why they went into terror. His searches, justification of violence for the sake of a high goal and his doubts about it, attracted the intelligentsia and later, including in the films of the latter.

That is, Savenkov has several layers that are of interest. But of course, this bright theme of terror also attracts - there are a lot of all sorts of things, from searches, that is, the most refined taste, to the most loving.

M. Sokolov: Action.

K. MOROZOV: Militants, riddles, here and speculations about the meaning of life and death, and then there is an attempt on Nikolai P. And the last thing - he was a good writer, he had a very good literary style, he is very easy to read, his memories are readable in one breath, his novels and stories are, of course, more difficult.

But his war stories, essays for newspapers during the First World War are also read in one breath and are not at all outdated.

M. Sokolov: So, the childhood of the hero.

K. MOROZOV: His father was a nobleman, was a judge in Warsaw, his mother was nee Yaroshenko, the daughter of a famous Russian artist, later became a fairly well-known writer, who reflected, among other things, the fate of her children, who all followed the path of the revolution. He studied at the first gymnasium in Warsaw, a water class with Kaliayev. There, in the gymnasium, he met Józef Pilsudski, although according to other testimonies he met him in St. Petersburg, and already during his social democratic activities at the end of the 19th century.

When he left for St. Petersburg in 97, he was quickly expelled - this was the beginning of the student movement, very active, and there are many people, students of this particular time - 98-99 years. - came to the revolution. If you look at the officers of the revolutionary parties, then there are students of 98-900 years. there will be a lot. By education, he visited Heidelberg and Göttingen for a bit, then returned to St. Petersburg, but he did not manage to finish his studies.

M. Sokolov: That is, at the beginning of his political career he was a Social Democrat.

K. MOROZOV: Yes, he started out as a Social Democrat and, being in fairly well-known organizations, in exile in Vologda wrote one of the articles on the tactics of Social Democracy, which was noticed by Lenin - he praised it for its lively language and militancy. But then it evolved, and according to some evidence, this happened under the influence of the populists and the “grandmother of the Russian revolution” Breshko-Breshkovskaya. She was also in Vologda exile, since 902 he was there.

He was married to Vera Glebovna Uspenskaya, and this is the daughter of the famous populist writer Uspensky. Actually, through his wife, through his wife’s family, he met Breshkovskaya and many other prominent Socialist-Revolutionaries, and became disillusioned with Marxism, which is not surprising, because Marxism is a strict theory, I would even say boring, boring, and Savenkov was always an insane impressionist and of course, I am even surprised how he was a Marxist for 4 years - this is a long time for him.

M. Sokolov: Having switched to the Socialist-Revolutionaries, he almost immediately becomes a fan of terrorist activities - why? Indeed, among the Social Revolutionaries there were people who advocated political activity, agitation, there was a Poshekhonov-Myakotin wing, who later created the People's Socialist Party, a completely ready parliamentary party.

K. MOROZOV: I see two reasons here. The first, in my opinion, should be sought in the characterization given by his friend Yegor Sazonov, who said that Savenkov fought against tsarism in a very personal way, as if he was insulted as an honest, noble person. And he fought in such a way that he set an example for all of us. I think that his engine, what pushed him to fight, was not theory at all, but personal emotions, considerations, norms of behavior of an honest person.

He was perceived as a brute, an athlete of the revolution, a person who does not believe in anything, a nihilist. And there are Zenzinov's memories when in 906 they were in Finland, walking with Gotz and Zinzinov, and Gotz asked - what pushes you, Boris, to fight, what inspires? And he answered, practically without hesitation: whatever my comrades wish, must be done. This is the meaning of my activity. And Gotz and Zenzinov looked at each other, because it was insanely different from how everyone else imagined Savenkov. But of course, this was alien to them, they both were fond of philosophy, proceeded from the moral imperative.

In general, the Social Revolutionaries did not have official philosophy, so each chose his own motivation, to the extent that some of the Social Revolutionaries were believers and went to church. The same Vadim Rudnev in 1917, being the head of Moscow, went to church and was not ashamed of it.

M. Sokolov: In most cases, the motives are still quite clear - we must realize that, unlike those who write today, the autocracy was not such a wonderful system. Let's take one story - on March 13 the workers of Zlatoust went on strike and the troops, on the orders of the Ufa governor Bogdanovich, fired into the crowd. 28 people were killed, about 200 were wounded, several dozen died from their wounds. Among the dead were women and children. And the worker of Zlatoust, Dulebov, shot the governor Bogdanovich on May 6, 903.

K. MOROZOV: Yes, it was one of the operations, not the very first, of the militant organization of the socialist revolutionaries under the leadership of Grigory Gershuni. The first murder that was committed by a militant organization was an attempt on the life of the Minister of Internal Affairs Sipyagin, it was made by a student expelled from St. Petersburg University. An attempt was made on the life of Karpovich, who killed the Minister of Education. Bogolepova. Both attempts caused a storm of joy among the students, because just at that moment a powerful student movement was underway, and the most hated figures were the Minister of Education and the Minister of Internal Affairs.

M. Sokolov: Styopa Balmashev shot him.

K. MOROZOV: Yes, the son of a famous People's Will.

M. Sokolov: Was Savenkov already a member of a military organization at that moment?

K. MOROZOV: Savenkov joins in 903, he leaves, runs away - as you like - from the Vologda exile, arrives in Geneva, meets with Mikhail Gotz and joins a military organization under the leadership of Azef. And the very first attempt in which Savenkov takes part is the famous attempt on the life of the new Minister of Internal Affairs Plehve. The figure is legendary, this man had a tremendous influence on Nicholas II, and in general was considered the most ardent conservative.

After Plehve's death, there are many descriptions of how liberals, meeting on the streets of Odessa, Petersburg, shook hands, hugged each other, congratulated each other, and in general this epic of the assassination attempt on Plehve in 904 and then the attempt on the life of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich - this was already a new military organization under the leadership of Azef, where Savenkov was his deputy. And as Savenkov wrote, Azef was in the role of the captain of the ship, which does not leave his cabin, and his senior assistant, Savenkov, communicated with the crew.

M. Sokolov: That is, Savenkov was practically the organizer of all these assassination attempts - surveillance, deployment of bombers, and so on.

K. MOROZOV: Moreover, relations with Azev were strained at first, he said that they tried to communicate less and always made it clear that he was on his own, and we were on our own. And only later, while working on the case of Sergei Alexandrovich, he began to show sensitivity to the members of the military organization, and relations began to grow stronger, they began to forgive him for rudeness, because in war as in war. In fact, Azev knew how to win people over to himself.

M. Sokolov: Although the first impressions were always repulsive.

K. MOROZOV: Yes. There are a huge number of examples of this, there is a well-known story when a maid opened the door in one of the revolutionary apartments, said loudly: mistress, a provocateur has come to you. It turned out to be Azev, and the maid knew that the worst word in the house was a provocateur. When she saw Azef with his characteristic face, she realized that this could not be any other than a provocateur.

M. Sokolov: Do you think Savenkov exaggerates when he writes in his memoirs that the participants in the assassination attempts, Sazonov and Kaliayev, acted with the joyful consciousness of a great and bright victim?

K. MOROZOV: I think that it is always difficult to answer such a question - whether a person exaggerates the state and mood of another person, who is also going to die during a terrorist attack. Or to execution, as happened with Kaliayev, or to life imprisonment, as happened with Yegor Sazonov. But, no doubt, they were close to each other, friendly, communicated a lot and, no doubt, that then these people for Savenkov become a cult.

Mikhail Chernavsky recalled in 909-910. - Savenkov talked a lot about Sazonov, Kaliayev, and it was clear that he simply worships them.

I think that for the best part of the terrorist intellectuals, the Socialist-Revolutionaries, who was Savenkov, the burden of shedding blood, taking responsibility for life, they removed by giving theirs - by doing so they resolved this contradiction, removed the burden from their soul.

M. Sokolov: Karpovich said that in war it is like in war: they hang us, we have to hang us, we cannot do business with clean hands and gloves.

K. MOROZOV: Lydia Sturua also said at the trial that we have the psychology of officers during the battle, that we suppress our fear, which is, but we are driven by a sense of duty. There are actually very interesting things, in general an appeal to terror. There are unpublished memoirs of Karpovich, in artistic form about Yegor Sazonov, and then he closely communicated with Sazonov in hard labor - I think that he was just telling him.

There is a completely unusual motivation that you will not find in any Socialist-Revolutionary leaflet, and in the memories of this they are silent - there are reflections of Sazonov, who was previously engaged in propaganda and agitation that it is necessary to quickly influence events in Russia, that it is a pity for the homeland, that the country is slipping into virtually the same half-slavery as Turkey.

M. Sokolov: Patriotic motive.

K. MOROZOV: Distinct patriotic motives, and this is 903 - this is very unusual, let's face it.

M. Sokolov: Let me remind you that the victims of the organization were two ministers, 33 governors-general and vice-governors, 16 mayors, 7 admirals and generals. That is, it really was a mass terror led by Azef and Savenkov.

K. MOROZOV: And one more touch - and another mass of heads of prisons, hard labor, bailiffs - everyone who took part in direct repressions against political prisoners. This was one of the areas of the struggle for the political regime, and many prisons and penal servitude, as they said at the time, got loose thanks to this terror. Because the heads of the prisons were afraid - they saw what became of their predecessors, and then they screwed up prisons and hard labor in 908-909. - Sazonov just died during such a screwing in 910, having taken poison to protect his comrades.

M. Sokolov: If we talk about practical actions - Savenkov himself never threw bombs at anyone, never fired - he was precisely the organizer. And he went to prison under arrest only once - in Sevastopol.

K. MOROZOV: Yes. In general, the Sevastopol story is such a phantasmagoric picture. When Savenkov goes in May 06 to make an attempt on the life of Admiral Chukhnin, and the leadership of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party at that moment decides to suspend the terror and does not inform them about it.

When they arrive in Sevastopol, and they are already being followed, they tracked Nazarov and Dvoinikov, and Savenkov felt the surveillance, but considered it a mistake. They took Dvoinikov and Nazarov, who happened to be near the cathedral, where at that moment the Sevastopol SRs carried out a terrorist act, they tried to blow up another admiral, Admiral Neplyuev. The bomb was thrown by 16-year-old Maarov, the bomb did not explode. The second bomb was thrown by the sailor Frolov, and quite a lot of people died there and 37 people were injured.

The dealers, considering that it was not possible without the participation of the terrorists who had arrived, they arrested, then they seized Savenkov quite quickly and put them in the guardhouse, and pretty soon, two months later, a military trial was to take place.

In general, there was no court verdict - he had fled before that, but it was clear to everyone that he could not escape the death penalty. He was helped to escape by Siebelberg, Suletitsky and former navy lieutenant Nikitenko.

M. Sokolov: In fact, one of the guards, the chief of the guard, was promoted, who brought Savenkov out of prison.

K. MOROZOV: According to my recollections, there was no talk of propaganda, because the chief of the guard was Suletitsky, and he was a volunteer, he was an intellectual - he later became a terrorist. That is, when they say “propagandized,” they always meant the lower ranks - workers, peasants, and this is another story, he did not even know that Savenkov was a terrorist, when he found out, after they had fled and sat in steppe part of the Crimea, he offered to join a military organization, Savenkov tried to dissuade him, but could not.

M. Sokolov: His fate was also sad, he was hanged, in my opinion.

K. MOROZOV: Yes, just like Nikitenko. They became quite famous, of course.

M. Sokolov: But at the beginning of 906, terrorist activities were officially suspended by the Social Revolutionaries.

K. MOROZOV: Yes, and this is not accidental, because even the People's Will said that as soon as tsarism took the path of a constitutional monarchy, the path of a constituent assembly or Zemsky Sobor, they would immediately stop terror. The Socialist-Revolutionaries said the same thing, they really stopped the terror, which caused a lot of irritation among the members of the militant organization.

M. Sokolov: We will continue our conversation after the news release.

NEWS

M. Sokolov: We are continuing the program. We are talking about Boris Savenkov. A riddle, how, after all, Savenkov, an intelligent person who constantly analyzed the situation, - this is evident from his memoirs, - looked through Azef and a lot of messages that the head of the military organization is actually a double agent, conducts terrorist activities and partially informs what's going on, police department?

K. MOROZOV: Savenkov's testimony of the Judicial-Investigative Commission on the case of Azef under the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, which was created in 909 in Paris, and he himself wrote a letter and demanded to be summoned - initially he was not included in the list of those to be interrogated, help to understand this , and he just really wanted the innocence of the terrorist militant organization to be revealed as authentically as possible, and I must say that Savenkov behaves very worthily at this trial. He gives testimony, which, rather, casts a shadow on him - just to protect the militant organization of terror and his comrades.

In particular, he says that it is his own fault that he missed Azef, that if he looked closely and analyzed everything, he was the member of the organization who could have done this. Others could not, because they did not have all the information, but he could have done it, but neither he nor the members of the Central Committee had enough, including the level. Now, in 910, he would have figured it out and would not have allowed it.

In general, the Azef case had very grave consequences for Savenkov. This, of course, is a disappointment, but on the other hand, and a desire to resurrect the honest name of the terrorist militant organization and its friends. He writes an article about the need to continue the terror in the "Znamya Truda" in 909, says that the dirt of Azef, the case of Azef cannot throw dirt on the honest name of Kaliayev or Dora Brilliant, Yegor Sazonov.

M. Sokolov: He tried to continue this business. There was a battle group, but absolutely nothing worked - what is the reason?

K. MOROZOV: He creates a combat group, signs an agreement with the Central Committee, they are trying to put an attempt on Stolypin or Nicholas II and one of the great dukes, they are recruiting into a military organization in Paris, the secret police are watching them. During the recruitment, they expose two provocateurs, Tatiana Tseitlin and Deeva, who signed up as candidates for the militant organization, but were exposed - interrogations were carried out.

Curiously, when Zeitlin's involvement in the Moscow secret police and its chief, von Cotton, who recruited her back in 07, it was established that all members of the group of the future combat detachment - they created such a counterintelligence service - spoke in favor of their murder. And Deev was her roommate, he himself was not in touch with the secret police, but Zeitlin shared with him the fact of her betrayal, and he actually supported her.

But Savenkov said that while I am the head of the counterintelligence and military organization, I am against blood, against violence. We will publish a message about them in the party press, but we will not kill them.

In general, of course, Savenkov showed miracles of conspiracy, he gave all his best. They set up surveillance at the beginning of 1910 - surveillance by cabbies - half of a group of militants left, there was Mikhail Chernavsky, Yan Berda, Lieberman, Stepan Sletov, an old Socialist-Revolutionary - they pretended to be cabbies and peddlers, and they had a successful Job. Savenkov received information that they were being watched, and ordered to leave Petrograd, and in fact Savenkov saved them from hard labor and gallows.

Once again, a provocateur, Kiryukhin, got into the group. This is one of the reasons that the revolutionary movement by this time was simply stuffed with provocateurs.

M. Sokolov: And by that moment, in 011, the Socialist Revolutionary Party was trying to abandon terrorist activities, and Savenkov retired and became a writer.

K. MOROZOV: Not that they decided to refuse - it would not be the worst option if there was only such a decision. In the 11th year, in March, the conclusion of the Judicial-Investigative Commission appears, where virtually all the blame for Azef, for provocation in a militant organization, was placed on the militant organization itself, that is, they created such a logical scheme that terror is always a conspiracy, and if conspiracy begins in the mass socialist party, instead of engaging in propaganda and agitation, which is engaged in conspiracy and terror, provocateurs are immediately divorced, who are much easier to control, influence, it is more difficult to calculate and expose them.

It is clear that this scheme had little room for reality, because there were enough provocateurs in all revolutionary parties, we can recall that Malinovsky in the Bolshevik party was also the deputy-leader of the faction in the Third State Duma.

M. Sokolov: Now - Savenkov is in Paris. The First World War, he is already a writer Ropshin, his books are quite successful. How does he meet the war?

K. MOROZOV: Savenkov is leaving politics, insanely offended by the leadership of the Socialist-Revolutionaries. He does not break with the party, although there were rumors that he was expelled from the party or was about to be expelled. In 909 he published "The Pale Horse", met Gippius, Filosov and Merezhkovsky even earlier, and under their influence began to engage in God-seeking and together create something like "Revolutionary Christianity", even thinks about creating such an organization that would religion and socialism would weave together.

In 12-13 years. he writes the novel “That which was not. Three brothers ”, where these ideas, reflections on the cost of violence and, in general, about what revolution is, the role of the party in the revolution, what the people are in the revolution. Already "The Pale Horse" aroused terrible rejection in the revolutionary milieu and his party.

M. Sokolov: Well, yes, most of them were atheists and positivists.

K. MOROZOV: Yes, besides, the words of the protagonist, Georges, that he feels like some kind of "master of the Red Shop" stuck to him, and they stuck it, all the right and right-wing liberal publicists took advantage of this, and Savenkov caused terrible irritation. Although his novel “That which was not. Three Brothers ”are already publishing in“ Testaments ”, Chernov is publishing, and I must say that he publishes, I believe, deliberately - in order to tease the Socialist-Revolutionary Parisian emigration. Because Chernov also actually retired from party affairs after the judicial-investigative commission, and his relations deteriorated sharply.

Savenkov, of course, was supported for seeking God - that is, they mostly scolded, but some of them supported - Shishko, a prominent populist and Narodnaya Volya, who wrote to him that “you are, without a doubt, a child of all those torments and torments that our generation". Chernov supported him very actively at that time, because the problem of justifying violence had to be solved - it really stood before the Socialist-Revolutionary intelligentsia very sharply, it was an ill-considered problem, another thing is that Savenkov solved it in a maximalist way.

Savenkov meets the war in France, in October 1914 he writes to his wife, this letter is unpublished, - he writes to her on October 1: “I wanted to go as a volunteer if I didn’t manage to become a war correspondent. I am not yet in the army, but they promised me that I would go there as soon as the correspondents were allowed at all. So far I have seen a lot and have been in many places. I am completely incapable of writing in the tone in which the newspapers write about the war, I am with all my heart for the victory of the allies, but the war is such a terrible thing that, it is true, it does not at all look like newspaper stories about it. What I saw left a great impression on me - every day in my dreams I see trenches, fires and corpses. "

M. Sokolov: That is, he plunged into front life. By the way, in 1915 he wrote to Maximilian Voloshin that the War Ministry allowed him to travel with other journalists - that is, at the front he was in the role of a journalist, wrote in Rech and Birzhevye Vedomosti - that is, before the February revolution earned money with a pen.

K. MOROZOV: Yes, he did not earn much, his numerous relatives did not have enough to live on, and it is clear from the correspondence with Vera Glebovna that he makes excuses and gets annoyed, that nine people are fed on him, that newspapers are paid little, and they print irregularly. His personal life at this moment, as can be seen from the letters, is that his ex-wife reproaches him, conflicts with his mother. Moreover, having come to her apartment in Petrograd, both of them demand that he judge them in a dispute. His children from his first marriage did not write him letters, and in the 16th year he asked Vera Glebovna for a divorce in order to adopt his 4-year-old son, illegitimate.

M. Sokolov: In general, this is a picture of a sad family squabble. So, the 17th year - the winners of February immediately call him to action?

K. MOROZOV: In 1916 he wrote to his ex-wife and finished: “We must not forget that I am no longer very young, and maybe a very tired person”.

M. Sokolov: And he was not yet 40.

K. MOROZOV: He has been since 79, but with a very stormy life. In 1917, of course, Savenkov was in demand. Savenkov had ambitions, had the resources of a major political player and figure. But the Social Revolutionaries immediately took him out of the game, at the 4th Congress of the AKP Zinzinov, the delegates asked many questions about the responsibility - whether the Central Committee was responsible for the fact that he was near Kerensky. And Zenzinov said that, on the contrary, the Social Revolutionaries warned Kerensky in every possible way not to warm Savenkov on his chest, and that from the very beginning Savenkov had no relationship with the leadership of the Social Revolutionaries, which is true.

M. Sokolov: That is, he was personally invited by Kerensky to work in the War Ministry?

K. MOROZOV: Yes. He first becomes commissar of the 7th Army, then commissar of the Southwestern Front, then the head of the military department. Moreover, he was promised that he would even be an assistant minister of war.

M. Sokolov: Despite the fact that Kerensky was the Minister. Would Savenkov actually run the ministry?

K. MOROZOV: Yes, the manager's position is a little lower, but in the photograph, where Minister Kerensky was filmed surrounded by his closest associates, Savenkov sits on his right hand.

M. Sokolov: August 1917 - in fact, three people decided the fate of Russia - Kerensky. Kornilov and Savenkov. I understand that the confusing history of relations in this triangle, but still - who is to blame for the misunderstanding and, in the end, in what is formally called the "Kornilov mutiny", which, of course, these events were not, but there was a conflict, which resulted in a campaign against Petrograd, the declaration of Kornilov as a traitor, the resignation of Savenkov — all that opened the way for the Bolsheviks.

K. MOROZOV: When I think about this case, I remember something else - an attempt on Stolypin's life, more precisely, I remember the words of Senator Trusevich, who says that this case gives rise to a whirlwind of speculation. The Kerensky-Kornilov-Savenkov case generates no less a whirlwind of assumptions, perplexities, riddles, confusion, outright lies, figures of silence, and it’s even hard to say what else.

It is quite obvious that three people, three prominent figures, and all three wanted to play the first roles, played their own game, conspired from each other, did not reveal all the cards. What Savenkov wrote - it is written so sparingly, dosed out that it is impossible to understand anything, how things were in practice. The same is with Kerensky.

The only thing that slightly reveals and shows emotions in this matter is Voloshin's letter, to whom Ehrenburg, who is well acquainted and friendly with Savenkov, told a lot about this story. He writes that when Savenkov was still a commissar, and Kornilov was the commander of the 7th Army, Kornilov suddenly said to him one day: What if I hang you? - I will try to warn you, Lavr Georgievich. The next day Kornilov said to him: You know, since yesterday I began to respect you. Then a real friendship arose between them. But Savenkov, a man with the highest degree of cold courage, says that he sometimes felt creepy in Kornilov's presence. And when he became the head of the ministry, he always had a man near Kornilov who was supposed to kill him in case of betrayal. Kerensky was afraid of Savenkov, but clung to him. And it all ends with a scene when Savenkov catches Kerensky in his office, locks the office with a key and forces him to sign an order on the introduction of the death penalty, with the words that “I would just shoot another person in your place”. And the final story - "Alexander Fedorovich, I used to love and respect you, but now I do not love and do not respect." Kerensky, in response, covered his face with his hands and burst into tears.

That is, anything - up to melodramaticism and quite hysterical reactions.

M. Sokolov: In general, three statesmen-patriot-republicans ruined Russia. Such is an interesting collision. We have a question - why did Savenkov dislike the Bolsheviks after all?

K. MOROZOV: For roughly the same reason why the Bolsheviks were disliked by almost all political parties, political leaders and most of the political forces, players on the stage of 1917. Because the Bolsheviks actually turned the chessboard over, said that they would not play by the rules of parliamentary democracy, the rules of elections to the Constituent Assembly, with the preservation of democratic freedoms, the convocation of the Constituent Assembly, but we would build socialism, at the same time, according to our strict rules.

And it was already quite clear that this would lead to the Civil War, no doubt - it was necessary to understand that Lenin's April Theses in 1917 - they easily read the Civil War. And who will allow one party to rebuild its entire life the way it wants? And it was clear that apart from a surge of violence and despotism, this would not end well.

On the other hand, Savenkov recognized Soviet power in the 24th ode, and this topic is very interesting. But this is the theme of Savenkov's ideological evolution, this terrible contradictory character, Savenkov's nature, which must be discussed. Chernavsky said well about him - that Savenkov was a two-faced man, which often happens in people that two people live, but these two personalities find a common language, modus-vivendi. And with Savenkov, the further, this confrontation intensified.

This was already clearly noticeable in 06-08, especially later, when, on the one hand, he was in charge of a military organization and was a terrorist, and on the other hand, he already doubted the possibility of terror as such, the ability to shed blood - that is, it was already a real political schizophrenia. But at the same time, he continued to engage in terror and continued to write.

The same thing happens with him when he is fighting the Bolsheviks, and later, in 1923, he writes "Voronov's Horse", where he actually puts an end to all this struggle.

M. Sokolov: But artistically he puts an end to it. In general, he was not a consistent democrat; most likely, he could take place as an authoritarian leader, like his friend, Józef Pilsudski.

K. MOROZOV: The paradox is that all his life he fought for the political liberation of Russia, political freedoms. And at the end of his life he himself begins to evolve just sharply to the right. Of course, Pilsudski aroused great sympathy in him. There is a personal letter from the year 20, when he was forced to leave Poland because of the pressure on the Pilsudski Soviet republic, and he writes him rather piercing words of gratitude from the Russian people. In addition, he met with Mussolini, and Mussolini evoked sympathy in him.

Gippius said that he, no doubt, had not just an authoritarian streak, he had a despotic character. But at the same time he was very contradictory - he doted on his friends, comrades in the military organization. That is, on the one hand, he is a despot, of course, and on the other hand, in the military organization, he resolved many issues himself, but behaved in a very comradely manner. That is, he is a very complex, without a doubt, a person.

M. Sokolov: In general, having supported the white movement, he showed himself to be a statist-patriot rather.

K. MOROZOV: Yes. But at the same time, he still tried to occupy the niche of the Socialist-Revolutionaries, with whom he quarreled completely. He talked about the "third way", the "green movement", about the struggle against Germany and loyalty to the allies, but most importantly, he said that the land should be given to the peasants and about the Constituent Assembly, - he formulated these ideas in the 18th year, in "The Union for the Defense of the Motherland and Freedom", and in 1921, the "People's Union for the Defense of the Motherland and the Revolution," he repeated these ideas again.

But in conclusion, I want to say that Savenkov, who recognized the Soviet power, actually crossed out all the previous activities of that Savenkov, who fought against the Soviet power. Strictly speaking, this is where his death is visible, his suicide is visible.

M. Sokolov: Konstantin Morozov was on the program. I think we'll talk more about Savenkov during the Civil War and what happened in Poland. All the best.

Biography

Start of activity

Father, Viktor Mikhailovich, - assistant prosecutor of the district military court in Warsaw, dismissed for liberal views, died in 1905 in a psychiatric hospital; mother, Sofya Aleksandrovna, nee Yaroshenko (1852 / 1855-1923, Nice), sister of the artist N.A. The elder brother Alexander, a social democrat, was exiled to Siberia, committed suicide in exile in Yakut in 1904; junior, Victor - officer of the Russian army (1916-1917), journalist, artist, participant of the "Jack of Diamonds" exhibitions, freemason. Sisters: Vera (1872-1942; married Myagkova) - teacher, critic, employee of the magazine "Russian wealth"; Sofia (1887/1888-after 1938; married Turinovich) - Socialist Revolutionary woman, emigrant.

Savinkov studied at a gymnasium in Warsaw (at the same time as I.P. Kalyaev), then at St. Petersburg University, from which he was expelled for participating in student riots. For some time he improved his education in Germany.

Savinkov becomes the deputy head of the Azef Fighting Organization, and after his exposure - the head. Together with Azev, he initiated the assassination of priest Georgy Gapon, suspected of collaborating with the Police Department.

On the night after his escape, Savinkov wrote the following notice, printed in large numbers.

On the night of July 16, by order of the militant organization of the Socialist Revolutionary Party and with the assistance of the volunteer 57th Lithuanian Regiment V.M.Sulyatitsky, a member of the Socialist Revolutionary Party Boris Viktorovich Savinkov, who was held in the main serf guardhouse, was released from custody. Sevastopol, July 16, 1906

Emigration

1917 year. Failed dictator

In Poland

Having broken with the white movement, Savinkov sought connections with nationalist movements. It is no coincidence that his interest in Mussolini, with whom he met in -. However, in the end, Savinkov found himself in complete political isolation, including from the Socialist-Revolutionaries. At this time, he started working on the story "The Crow Horse", which comprehends the results of the Civil War.

Arrival in the USSR, arrest and death

The trial of B.V.Savinkov, 1924

In early August 1924 Savinkov illegally arrived in the USSR, where he was lured as a result of the operation "Syndicat-2" developed by the OGPU. On August 16, in Minsk, he was arrested along with his last beloved Lyubov Efimovna Dikhoff and her husband A.A. Dikhoff. At the trial, Savinkov admitted his guilt and defeat in the struggle against Soviet power. He began his testimony as follows:

“I, Boris Savinkov, a former member of the Fighting Organization of the Party of Socialist Revolutionaries, a friend and comrade of Yegor Sozonov and Ivan Kalyaev, a participant in the murders of Plehve, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, a participant in many terrorist acts, a man who worked all his life only for the people, in his name , I am now accused by the workers 'and peasants' government of going against the Russian workers and peasants with weapons in their hands. "

The burial place is unknown.

Family

• wife - Vera Glebovna Uspenskaya (1877-1942), daughter of the writer Gleb Uspensky. Since 1935 in exile. After returning, she died of hunger during the blockade of Leningrad.
  • son - Viktor Borisovich Uspensky (Savinkov) (1900 - 1934) was arrested among 120 hostages for the murder of Kirov, on December 29, sentenced to military service, shot.
  • daughter - Tatiana Borisovna Uspenskaya-Borisova (Savinkova) (1901-)
• wife - Evgenia Ivanovna Zilberberg
  • son - Lev Borisovich Savinkov (1912-1987) poet, prose writer, journalist. During the Spanish Civil War - the captain of the Republican army, was seriously wounded (Ernest Hemingway mentions him in the novel For Whom the Bell Tolls). In World War II he fought in the French resistance. Buried in the Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois cemetery.

Savinkov as a writer

Savinkov began to engage in literary work in 1902. His first stories are 1902-1903. reveal the influence of Stanislav Pshibyshevsky and caused a negative response from Maxim Gorky. Already in 1903, Savinkov (the story "In the Twilight") had his leitmotif - a revolutionary disgusted with his activities, feeling the sinfulness of murder. Subsequently, Savinkov the writer will constantly argue with Savinkov the revolutionary, and the two sides of his activity will influence each other (for example, the Social Revolutionaries' rejection of their former leader is largely due to his literary work).

In 1905-1909 Savinkov appeared as a memoirist, the author of essays written in hot pursuit about his comrades in the BO and the famous terrorist attacks; these essays formed the basis of the book "Memoirs of a Terrorist" (the first full publication - 1917-1918, was reprinted several times). The revolutionary N. S. Tyutchev argued that Savinkov the writer in his memoirs "kills" Savinkov the revolutionary, criticizing a number of passages for implausibility, for example, when killed Sazonov "was reclining on the ground, leaning his hand on the stones"; M. Gorbunov (EE Kolosov) thoroughly critically analyzed the "Memories".

In 1907, the Parisian acquaintance with the Merezhkovskys determined all further literary activities of Savinkov. He gets to know their religious ideas and views on revolutionary violence. Under the influence of the Merezhkovskys (and with a thorough editing by Gippius, who proposed the pseudonym "V. Ropshin" and the title), his first story, "The Pale Horse" (published in 1909), was written. The plot is based on real events: the murder of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich by Kaliayev (under the leadership of Savinkov). The events are given a strong apocalyptic coloring (given by the name), a psychological analysis of the generalized type of terrorist is carried out, close to the "strong man" Nietzsche, but poisoned by reflection; the style of the book reflects the influence of modernism. The story drew sharp criticism from the Socialist-Revolutionaries, who considered the image of the protagonist slanderous (this was also fueled by the fact that Savinkov until the last acted as a defender of Azef, who was exposed at the end of 1908).

Savinkov's novel “That which was not there” (1912-1913, separate edition - 1914; again a similar reaction of radical critics and party comrades) already takes into account the themes of provocation, the weakness of the leaders of the revolution and the sinfulness of terror; the main character is a "penitent terrorist".

In the 1910s, Savinkov occasionally appears as a poet, publishing in a number of magazines and collections; his poems vary the Nietzschean motives of early prose. During his lifetime he did not collect his poems; the posthumous collection The Book of Poems (Paris, 1931) was published by Gippius. Vladislav Khodasevich, during this period the literary enemy of Gippius, considered that in Savinkov's poems "the tragedy of a terrorist was reduced to the hysteria of an average loser"; but Georgy Adamovich, who was close to the aesthetic views of the Merezhkovskys, also noted the "shrunken Byronism" and "chilled syllable" of Savinkov's poetry.

In 1914-1923 Savinkov published almost exclusively journalism and essays: "In France during the war" (1916-1917), "From the army in the field" (1918), "To the Kornilov case" (1919), "For homeland and freedom", “Fight against the Bolsheviks”, “On the way to the“ third ”Russia” (1920), “On the eve of a new revolution”, “Russian people's volunteer army on the march” (1921). After the tumultuous events ended, Savinkov in Paris ("huddled in a crack", by his own admission) wrote the story "The Black Horse" (1923). This is a sequel to "The Pale Horse", with the same main character (who turned into a "colonel") and the same apocalyptic symbolism; the action takes place during the civil war, depicts the campaigns of Bulak-Balakhovich and the rear anti-Bolshevik struggle.

The last book of Savinkov is "Stories" written in the Lubyanka prison, which satirically depicts the life of Russian emigrants.

Savinkov in fiction

Savinkov is the prototype of the terrorist Dudkin in "Petersburg" by Andrei Bely, Vysokov in "The Life and Death of Nikolai Kurbov" by Ilya Ehrenburg, and was shown under his own name in the documentary fiction of Alexei Remizov and Roman Gulya.

• Surmachev O. G. On the issue of the first publication of A. Remizov's story "The Fortress".

Essays

• The horse is pale. - Nice, 1913.
• What was not. - 3rd ed. - M .: Zadruga, 1918.
• From the active army. M., "Zadruga", 1918
• To the Kornilov case. - Paris, 1919.
• The fight against the Bolsheviks. - 1925.
• Black horse Paris,. - 1923; L., 1924.
• In prison (Foreword by A. V. Lunacharsky). - M., 1925.
• The last landlords. M., "Ogonyok", 1926
• In prison. M., "Ogonyok", 1926
• Posthumous articles and letters. - M., 1926.
• Memoirs of a Terrorist (Foreword by F. Cohn). - 3rd ed. - H., 1928.
• Favorites. - L., 1990.
• Memories of a terrorist. - M., 1991.
• Terrorist notes. - M., 2002.

Movies

• The 1968 film "Collapse" is dedicated to Savinkov's activities.

• Mini-series (6 episodes) 1980 "Syndicate-2".

• "Vyborg Side" (1938).

• “The Unforgettable Year 1919” (1951).

• "Emergency Order" (1965).

• December 20 (1981) and others.

• In the series "Operation" Trust "" (1967), various information about Savinkov is repeatedly voiced (his activities after the October Revolution, arrest, confession of Soviet power in court, etc.).

• In 1991, based on the story "The Pale Horse", the film "Fiend of Hell" (directed by Vasily Panin) was released.

• In 2004, Karen Shakhnazarov made the film "The Horseman named Death" based on Savinkov's books "Memories of a Terrorist" and "Pale Horse".

• In 2006, Yuri Kuzin's series "Stolypin ... Unlearned Lessons" was released, based largely on the autobiographical work "Memories of a Terrorist" by B. Savinkov.

Film incarnations

• Siegfried Schurenberg ("Lockspitzel Asew", Germany, 1935)
• Vsevolod Sanaev - ("Unforgettable 1919", 1952, uncredited)
• Vladimir Ehrenberg (In the Days of October, 1958)
• Semyon Sokolovsky ("Emergency Order", 1965)
• Christian Rist ("Azev: le tsar de la nuit", France, 1975)
• Georgy Shahet ("Walking through the agony", 1977)
• Alexander Porokhovshchikov ("There are no special signs", 1978 "The collapse of the operation" Terror "", 1980)
• Vladimir Golovin (December 20, 1981)
• Clive Merrison (Reilly: King of the Spies, 1983)
• Georgy Taratorkin (Fiend of Hell, 1991)
• Alexey Devotchenko (Stolypin ... Unlearned lessons, 2006)

Literature

• Savinkov's riddle. - L., 1925.
• Ardamatsky V. Retribution. - M., 1975.
• K. Vendzyagolsky. Savinkov // New magazine. 1963. No. 71, 72.
• Davydov Yu.V. Secret League. - M., 1990.
• Gusev K.V. Knight of Terror. - M., 1992.
• Shikman A.P. Figures of national history. Biographical reference book. - M., 1997.
• Gorodnitsky R.A. The militant organization of the Socialist Revolutionary Party in 1901-1911. - M., 1998.
• Savchenko V.A. Many-faced Savinkov // Civil War Adventurers: A Historical Investigation. - M .: ACT, 2000. - S. 256-289. - ISBN 5-17-002710-9
• Boris Savinkov at Lubyanka: Documents. - 2001. - ISBN 5-8243-0200-6
• The Savinkov case. // Leningrad: Work Publishing House Priboy, 1924 (on the Chronos website).
• David Footman. B. V. Savinkov. Oxford, St. Antony's College, 1956 (St. Antony's papers on Soviet affairs).
• Karol Wędziagolski. Boris Savinkov: Portrait of a Terrorist. Twickenham, Kingston Press, 1988, 249 pp.
• Richard B. Spence... Boris Savinkov: Renegade on the Left. Boulder (CO), 1991, 540 pp. (East European Monographs, 316).
• Jacques-Francis Rolland... L'homme qui défia Lénine: Boris Savinkov. Paris, Grasset, 1989, 330 pp.

Notes (edit)

Links

	Portal "Russian history"

SAVINKOV, BORIS VIKTOROVICH(1879-1925) - Russian public figure, social democrat, then - Socialist-Revolutionary, head of the Combat Organization of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party, comrade (deputy) Minister of War under the Provisional Government in 1917, publicist, writer. Known under pseudonyms: "BN", Veniamin, Pavel Ivanovich, Kramer, Kseshinsky, V. Ropshin (literary pseudonym), Halley James, Rode Leon, Tok Rene, Tomashevich Adolf, Chernetsky Konstantin, Subbotin D.Ye.

Was born in 1879 in Kharkov. Father - a judge in Warsaw, dismissed for liberal views; the elder brother - a social democrat - was exiled, died in the Yakut exile. He studied at a gymnasium in Warsaw, then at St. Petersburg University, from which he was expelled for participating in student riots. Finished his education in Germany.

In 1898 he was a member of the social democratic groups "Socialist" and "Rabocheye Znamya". In 1899 he was arrested and soon released. In 1901 he worked in a group of propagandists in the Petersburg Union of the Struggle for the Liberation of the Working Class.

In 1902 he was arrested and exiled to Vologda before the verdict of the court. I wrote an article in the link The Petersburg Movement and the Practical Tasks of Social Democracy, which received a wide response among party comrades. Through his wife, daughter of the democrat writer G.I. Uspensky, he was associated with the ideologists of populism. In exile he met a former populist, one of the leaders of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party E.K. Breshko-Breshkovskaya. In 1903, without waiting for a court verdict, he fled abroad to Geneva, where he joined the Socialist-Revolutionary Party and its Combat Organization (BO). He became its deputy head, E.F. Azefa.

Since 1904 he was repeatedly elected to the Central Committee of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party. He lived in Geneva, often came to Russia illegally. He was active in the party and in the BO. He took part in organizing a number of terrorist acts, in which he showed courage and a penchant for adventure. He personally developed high-profile terrorist acts, including: the assassination of the Minister of Internal Affairs V.K. Pleve (1904), Grand Duke V.K. Sergei Alexandrovich (1905) and others. I was aware of the impending attempts on the life of the Governor-General of Moscow VF Dubasov, the Minister of Internal Affairs P.N. Durnovo, Admiral G.N. Chukhnin, Chairman of the Council of Ministers P.A. Stolypin, Emperor Nicholas II. Extradited by Azev, in May 1906 he was arrested in preparation for an attempt on G. N. Chukhnin's life and sentenced to be hanged, but fled to Romania, managing to move from there to France. From the end of 1908 (after the exposure of Azef) he tried to revive the BO and was engaged in this until its dissolution in 1911.

In 1909 he wrote Memories of a terrorist- part of the history of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party, associated mainly with its Combat Organization, as well as the story Pale horse... The heroes of the story are similar to the protagonists of his other works ( What was not, Black horse) Are terrorists who are tired of the struggle, imbued with mysticism, and repentant.

Since the beginning of the First World War, Savinkov has been a war correspondent for The Day newspaper in France, who participated as a volunteer in the French army in hostilities.

On April 9, 1917, after the abdication of the Russian emperor and the establishment of dual power, he returned to his homeland. From June 28 - Commissar of the Southwestern Front, who was part of the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, General A.V. Alekseev. A convinced right-wing Socialist-Revolutionary, he vigorously advocated the war to a victorious end, fought against the "decomposing army" agitation of the Bolsheviks, persuading the soldiers not to lay down their arms. The leader of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party, VM Chernov, ironically called Savinkov "the main coaxer" of the Southwestern Front. In the 1st and 2nd composition of the coalition government, he was assistant minister, manager of the military and naval ministries under the minister A.F. Kerensky. He tried to impose strict discipline in the army.

In August 1917 he joined the Council of the Union of Cossack Troops, supported General LG Kornilov in his decision to introduce the death penalty at the front. According to General A.I.Denikin, Savinkov saw Kornilov as “a tool for achieving strong revolutionary power,” in which he should play the first role. He tried to promote the unification of the forces of Kornilov and Kerensky "in order to end the devastation and disintegration of the army," but at the same time was against the introduction of a military dictatorship. On August 27, 1917, during the Kornilov offensive on Petrograd, he was appointed military governor of Petrograd and acting. Commander of the Troops of the Petrograd Military District. He invited Kornilov to submit to the Provisional Government. He fought and took measures so that Petrograd "did not end up in the hands of the Bolsheviks." On August 30, he resigned, disagreeing with the changes in the policy of the Provisional Government. At a meeting of representatives of the Cossack units, he said that "I completely agree with Kornilov in his goals, but at odds with him in the means and plans."

In connection with the Kornilov case, he was summoned to the Central Committee of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party for trial. Considering, however, that this party no longer has "either moral or political authority", he did not appear at the meeting of the Central Committee, for which he was soon expelled from the party members. At the so-called "democratic meeting" on September 22, he was elected to the Pre-Parliament (Provisional Council of the Russian Republic) as a deputy from the Kuban region.

He regarded the October Revolution as "the seizure of power by a handful of people." On October 25, he tried to liberate the Winter Palace from the Red Guards with the help of the Cossacks. After the failure, he fled to Gatchina to General P.N. Krasnov. He took part in the Kerensky-Krasnov offensive against Petrograd (battles at Pulkovo), after his failure he ended up on the Don. In December 1917 he became a member of the Don Civil Council under the command of General M.V. Alekseev. He was engaged in the formation of the White Volunteer Army, as well as "terrorist squads" to assassinate representatives of the Bolshevik government.

In February-March 1918 he created the "Union for the Defense of the Motherland and Freedom" on the basis of the organization of guard officers (about 800 people), who took part in protests against Soviet power in Yaroslavl, Rybinsk and Murom in the summer of 1918. After their suppression, he disappeared into the occupied Kazan rebelled as Czechs prisoners of war, from there he moved to Ufa and on the instructions of the coalition government that had arisen there (the Ufa Directory) left on a military mission to France.

Having learned about the coup of Admiral A.V. Kolchak, he headed the Kolchak bureau "Union" abroad. He enjoyed trust and support in anti-Soviet emigre circles.

In 1919 he became a member of the Russian delegation of the "Russian Political Conference" in Paris. Before Kolchak's death, he negotiated with the governments of the Entente countries to help the Russian White movement in the struggle against Soviet power. He published the newspaper For Freedom abroad.

In 1920, in Poland, he participated in the training on its territory of volunteer detachments under the command of General SN Bulak-Balakhovich, who raided Russian territory. He took a personal part in one of the offensives as part of a cavalry regiment (a campaign against Mozyr). In August 1920, declaring the recognition of General Wrangel's power and readiness to obey him, he began to form on the territory of Poland the so-called Third Russian Army and the "Russian Political Committee" in Warsaw. After the setback that befell his army in Russia, he reorganized it in January 1921 into the "Russian Evacuation Committee".

In 1921-1923 he directed sabotage activities against the Soviet state through the "People's Union for the Defense of the Motherland and Freedom." With the assistance of the Polish and French general staffs, he trained detachments that carried out sorties in the western provinces of Russia, but in the end he became disillusioned with the prospects of the "white" and "green" anti-Soviet movements (which was reflected in the story Black horse... Paris. 1923).

There is a version that in order to capture the enemies of Soviet power who were abroad in the OGPU under the leadership of F.E. Dzerzhinsky, an "underground" fake organization "Trust" was created, spreading provocative information about its infiltration of its people into the state structures of the Soviets. Allegedly, to verify this information, Savinkov sent his agent to Russia in mid-1923. Having received information that "Trust" wants to see him as its leader, he went to Russia, where he was arrested. According to another version, he himself was looking for an opportunity to return to his homeland and conclude a "deal with the Bolsheviks."

On August 10, 1924, he left Paris through Berlin for Warsaw, crossed the border through the "window", and on August 16 he was already arrested in Minsk and brought to trial. August 29, 1924 by the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court sentenced to death. At the trial he repented and admitted the failure of the attempts to overthrow the Soviet regime. The shooting was replaced by a 10-year imprisonment. While in prison, he addressed a letter to the leaders of the White emigration with an appeal to stop the struggle against the Bolsheviks and the Soviet state.

According to the official version, on May 7, 1925, while in prison, he committed suicide. According to other sources, he was thrown into the flight of the prison stairs after filing a petition for release. There were rumors that F.E.Dzerzhinsky considered the "old conspirator" too dangerous. In foreign historiography, there is a third version: Savinkov was killed while trying to cross the border, and everything else was a farce played out by the OGPU. Despite the significant literature covering Savinkov's biography, it is obvious that a number of aspects of his biography, including terrorist activities, as well as the worldview and ideological aspects of the "white movement" with which he was associated, are unclear.

Compositions: Terrorist Notes/ Ed. I.M. Pushkareva. M. 2002; Memories. (Memories of a terrorist. Why did I recognize Soviet power?) M., 1990.

Irina Pushkareva