It is no coincidence that the memoirs of Lenin’s personal driver, Comrade. S.K. Gil is published in a second, expanded edition. There is no doubt that the memories of Vladimir Ilyich’s contemporaries, who had the good fortune to communicate with him personally, are especially dear to all of us. Comrade Gil had the opportunity to communicate with Vladimir Ilyich for six years during the great, stormy and formidable initial years of Red October. Although Comrade Gil, due to his professional duties, had to observe Vladimir Ilyich mainly during his rest, Lenin’s rest was always active, very characteristic of the clue to the exceptional charm of this man, whose fate turned out to be so decisive for the destinies of all progressive humanity. That is why from the notes of Comrade. It’s hard to tear yourself away from S.K. Gil: the grateful memory of Comrade Gil has preserved for all of us in such fresh clarity many of the features and traits of Vladimir Ilyich that, running through the lines of memories, it’s as if you are communicating with Vladimir Ilyich, and this is for all of us who personally knew V. II., has always been the greatest and greatest joy in its meaning.
I think that for the widest circle of readers the notes of Comrade. Gil will be of particular interest because they clearly show how the working people perceived the fiery activity of Vladimir Ilyich.
It is impossible without deep emotion to read those pages of Comrade Gil’s memoirs, which tell about the attempt on the life of Vladimir Ilyich at the Mikhelson plant or about the last farewell in Gorki... What a warm feeling they are permeated with and how close this feeling is to the honest working people of the whole world.
Academician G. Krzhizhanovsky, member of the CPSU since 1893
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| [[Lua error in Module:Wikidata/Interproject on line 17: attempt to index field "wikibase" (a nil value). |Works]] in Wikisource | |
Stepan Kazimirovich Gil(- January 5, Moscow, RSFSR, USSR) - Lenin’s personal driver, the first head of the Special Purpose Garage (1920).
Biography
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- They met with Ilyich. M.: Moscow worker, 1960.
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Excerpt characterizing Gil, Stepan Kazimirovich
Therefore, in order to at least occupy myself with something and not think about gifts, I began to compile a “holiday menu”, which my grandmother allowed me to choose at my own discretion this year. But, I must honestly say, this was not the easiest task, since the grandmother could create real culinary miracles and choosing from such an “abundance” was not so easy, and even more so, catching the grandmother doing something impossible was In general, the matter is almost hopeless. Even the most fastidious gourmets, I think, would find something to enjoy at her place! for the first time it was allowed to invite so many guests. Grandma took all this very seriously, and we sat with her for about an hour, discussing what special thing she could “spell” for me. Now, of course, I understand that she just wanted to please me and show that what is important to me is just as important to her. This was always very pleasant and helped me feel needed and to some extent even “significant”, as if I were an adult, mature person who meant a lot to her. I think it is very important for each of us (children) that someone truly believes in us, since we all need to maintain our self-confidence in this fragile and highly “fluctuating” time of childhood maturation, which is already almost always reveals a violent inferiority complex and extreme risk in everything we try to prove our human worth. Grandmother understood this perfectly, and her friendly attitude always helped me to continue my “crazy” search for myself without fear in any life circumstances that came my way. It is no coincidence that the memoirs of Lenin’s personal driver, Comrade. S.K. Gil is published in a second, expanded edition. There is no doubt that the memories of Vladimir Ilyich’s contemporaries, who had the good fortune to communicate with him personally, are especially dear to all of us. Comrade Gil had the opportunity to communicate with Vladimir Ilyich for six years during the great, stormy and formidable initial years of Red October. Although Comrade Gil, due to his professional duties, had to observe Vladimir Ilyich mainly during his rest, Lenin’s rest was always active, very characteristic of the clue to the exceptional charm of this man, whose fate turned out to be so decisive for the destinies of all progressive humanity. That is why from the notes of Comrade. It’s hard to tear yourself away from S.K. Gil: the grateful memory of Comrade Gil has preserved for all of us in such fresh clarity many of the features and traits of Vladimir Ilyich that, running through the lines of memories, it’s as if you are communicating with Vladimir Ilyich, and this is for all of us who personally knew V. II., has always been the greatest and greatest joy in its meaning.I think that for the widest circle of readers the notes of Comrade. Gil will be of particular interest because they clearly show how the working people perceived the fiery activity of Vladimir Ilyich.
It is impossible without deep emotion to read those pages of Comrade Gil’s memoirs, which tell about the attempt on the life of Vladimir Ilyich at the Mikhelson plant or about the last farewell in Gorki... What a warm feeling they are permeated with and how close this feeling is to the honest working people of the whole world.
Academician G. Krzhizhanovsky, member of the CPSU since 1893
From the author
Much water has passed under the bridge since the day Vladimir Ilyich Lenin’s heart stopped beating, but my memory is still fresh of this great and wonderful man, whom I was lucky enough to see and observe for more than six years - from the first days of the Great October Revolution to the last day of Ilyich's life. I still hear his voice, see his gestures, gait, smile, feel his handshake.I approach my memoirs with a sense of great responsibility to the readers: will I be able to accurately and vividly recall in my memory everything that I observed more than thirty years ago, will I be able to present everything I saw and heard with sufficient completeness, without missing out on important and interesting episodes? characterizing the appearance of the unforgettable Vladimir Ilyich?
Previously published memories of V.I. Lenin, old notes, documents and photographs come to the rescue.
I had the opportunity to see Vladimir Ilyich mainly on trips and at home, among
b relatives, in communication with workers and peasants, students and military personnel, with the elderly and children. This is what I will try to tell you about.
I would also like to tell you how this tireless worker rested and had fun in his free hours.
Unfortunately, all Lenin’s jokes, sharp words and puns with which his ordinary speech was so rich were not preserved in my memory. How much humor, amazing accuracy and witty remarks were contained in his public speeches, conversations, and simple stories!
And although my observations, naturally, were limited to certain limits, I will still strive to ensure that my memories are a useful and necessary contribution to the literature about Vladimir Ilyich.
I will be happy if the reader learns from my book something new and interesting about the great Lenin, the creator and leader of the world’s first socialist state.
S. Gil
Moscow, September 1956
First handshake
My acquaintance with Vladimir Ilyich occurred on the third day after the October Revolution - November 9, 1917.It turned out like this. I worked in Petrograd in one of the large garages. On the evening of November 8, I was called to the professional organization of garage workers and told:
- Comrade Gil, choose a better car in your garage and go to Smolny in the morning. You will work as Comrade Lenin's driver!
From surprise, I temporarily lost my tongue. Lenin's name was on everyone's lips at that time. St. Petersburg workers who were lucky enough to hear or see Lenin proudly talked about this as a great event in their lives. And suddenly I, a non-party member, was hired as Lenin’s driver!
- Well, do you agree? - they asked the committee, seeing my confusion.
- Of course, I agree! - I answered, although I was overcome by doubt: can I cope, am I taking on an impossible task?
But the doubt did not last long. I was young, full of energy, and excellent at my profession. He greeted the October Revolution with delight.
I promised to justify the trust and went home.
Still, I was tormented by anxiety all night. I was mentally preparing for my first meeting with Lenin.
Exactly at 10 o’clock in the morning my Turka-Meri limousine was already standing at the main entrance of Smolny. The first meeting with Lenin was approaching.
The small square near Smolny presented a colorful, lively picture. There were a lot of cars and trucks parked. There were also several guns and machine guns. Armed workers and soldiers were scurrying around. There were young people, almost teenagers, and there were also elderly, bearded men. Everyone was excited, fussing, in a hurry to get somewhere... The noise was incredible.
During these days, Petrograd lived an anxious and feverish life. Combat detachments of workers and soldiers moved in all directions. Indiscriminate shooting did not cease on the streets, and sometimes volleys were heard, to which, however, few people paid attention.
I sat behind the wheel of the car and waited. A man in civilian clothes approached me and asked:
-Are you visiting Lenin?
Having received an affirmative answer, he added:
- Start the car, it will come out now.
A few minutes later, three people appeared on the stairs of Smolny: two were tall, one of them was in military uniform, and the third was short, wearing a black coat with an astrakhan collar and a hat with earflaps. They walked towards me.
A thought flashed through my head: which one of them is Lenin? A short man in a black coat was the first to approach the car, quickly opened the door of my cab and said:
- Hello, comrade! What's your last name?
“Gil,” I answered.
“Let’s get to know each other, Comrade Gil,” and he extended his hand to me, “you will ride with me.”
He looked friendly into my eyes and smiled. The first impression, they say, is etched in the memory for a lifetime, and neither time nor events can fade it. It's right. I will never forget the first handshake and the first words of Vladimir Ilyich.
Having sat in the car with his companions, Vladimir Ilyich asked to be taken to Solyanaya Gorodok. There was a large meeting of workers and intellectuals there.
Having arrived at the place, Vladimir Ilyich got out of the car and quickly headed towards the meeting. The crowd recognized Lenin. Shouts were heard from all sides: “Lenin has arrived! Lenin!
Vladimir Ilyich's speech was met with an ovation; his speech was often interrupted by a storm of applause, drowning out individual cries of the enemies of Soviet power - the Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries - present at the meeting.
On the way back, Vladimir Ilyich sat down next to me. Occasionally I glanced at him. Despite the excitement he had just experienced, he was calm and a little thoughtful.
Having approached Smolny, Vladimir Ilyich quickly got out of the car and said:
- Go, Comrade Gil, have a snack, drink some tea, I’ll stay here a little longer. Bye then!
This is a short “well, bye!” Lenin invariably spoke every time he left the car.
This is how my acquaintance with Vladimir Ilyich Lenin began, this is how my work with him began, which continued until the last days of his life. Soon, however, an event occurred that temporarily interrupted my work under Lenin.
One day at noon, returning from some trip, I gave Vladimir Ilyich a ride to the Smolny building. Vladimir Ilyich went home; I went to my room to have breakfast. I was quite calm about the car: I left it, as usual, at the main entrance of Smolny, in the courtyard, guarded around the clock by Red Guards and armed workers. It was possible to leave the yard only with a special pass. All the Red Guards knew Lenin's car.
Less than half an hour passed, I had not yet finished my tea, when one of my comrades ran into the room and shouted
- Run down! Lenin's car was stolen!
I was taken aback... Steal a car from the Smolny yard. And in broad daylight, in front of the guards. No, this is some kind of mistake!
I assure you, Comrade Gil, there is no car... I rushed down to the place where I left the car half an hour ago. Alas, this turned out to be true. The car really disappeared. I was overcome with indignation and despair. This was an act of thieves unparalleled in its impudence.
I rushed to the Red Guards and found out that about fifteen minutes ago Lenin’s car had left the yard unhindered: the driver presented, as it later turned out, a forged pass and sped off the car in an unknown direction.
“How will Vladimir Ilyich take this news? - I thought. - After all, we have to go again soon! What will happen?"
I went to the manager of the Council of People's Commissars. Having learned about what had happened, he grabbed his head.
- Stolen! What will I tell Vladimir Ilyich? And he added categorically:
- I won’t report. Go yourself. I confess that I was not delighted by this prospect.
But Bonch-Bruevich opened the office door, and I found myself in front of Lenin. My appearance, obviously, did not foretell anything joyful.
- Is it you, Comrade Gil? What's happened?
I began to tell. Vladimir Ilyich listened to me patiently, without interrupting, without a hint of irritation. Then he narrowed his eyes, winced and began to pace around the room. He was clearly upset.
“The ugliest fact,” he said finally. - Here's what, Comrade Gil: we need to find the car. Look for her wherever you want. Until you find it, someone else will ride with me.
It was a severe punishment. I was tormented by the knowledge that I had not lived up to Vladimir Ilyich’s trust. In addition, I experienced a feeling very similar to jealousy: after all, the car could disappear forever and the place of Lenin’s personal driver would then be taken by another... But what was most depressing was the thought that because of my oversight, Vladimir Ilyich was left without the car to which he was accustomed.
There was little hope of finding the car in the vast city of Petrograd. The security of the city was not well established; there were many enemies and simply swindlers. In those days, a simple method of car theft was practiced: the stolen car was transported to Finland, and there it was easily sold.
I sounded the alarm. The first step was to eliminate the possibility of transporting the car to Finland. Guards were placed on bridges and driveways. An energetic search began, which, however, did not yield any results in the first days. Lenin's car could not be found.
From dawn until night I was on my feet, walked and toured many districts of Petrograd. Despite the difficulties of the search, I did not lose hope of seeing my Turka-Meri limousine again.
In my search, I was helped by security officers, Red Guards and familiar drivers. For a long time, our actions were like searching for a needle in a haystack. Finally we managed to get on the trail, and our search was crowned with success. The car was found on the outskirts of the city, in the barn of one of the fire brigades. The car was well hidden and littered with debris. On the same day, the organizers of this brazen theft were found and arrested. They turned out to be employees of the same fire brigade. Their plan was quite cunning: wait until the search stopped, then repaint the car and drive it to Finland.
The car was almost undamaged. I got into it and rushed at full speed towards Smolny. Happy, I ran to Bonch-Bruevich:
— Vladimir Dmitrievich, complete victory! The car was found and is parked below1
Bonch-Bruevich was no less happy than I was.
“Let’s go together to report to Vladimir Ilyich,” he said.
Seeing us, Vladimir Ilyich immediately understood what we had come with.
“Well, congratulations, Comrade Gil,” said Ilyich as soon as we entered the office. - We found it, and it’s great! We'll travel together again.
I returned to my duties.
Assassination attempt on V. I. Lenin
In the first half of March 1918, the Soviet government moved from Petrograd to Moscow.In the first months, Vladimir Ilyich sometimes allowed himself the pleasure of walking alone, without security, after a busy day, along the Moscow streets that were quiet from the hustle and bustle.
One day at midnight Lenin went to the dentist at Chistye Prudy. Getting out of the car, he told me:
- Go home, I don’t need a car.
But I didn’t leave and, standing in the distance, waited for Ilyich. Soon he came out and, without noticing me, slowly walked along Myasnitskaya Street (now Kirovskaya) towards the Kremlin. I followed him at a distance, never letting him out of my sight.
Vladimir Ilyich walks along the street, looks around, stops at shop windows, advertisements and theater posters. Passers-by don't notice him
The two men stopped and I heard a voice: ,
- Look - no way Lenin! - and look after him. - By God, Lenin!
And Vladimir Ilyich walked and walked slowly. So he reached the Kremlin gates and disappeared into the darkness.
And the next day he shared his impressions of yesterday’s night walk: he enjoyed the walk.
...It was 1918. It was a very worrying time. Soviet Russia lived a hectic and extremely tense life - the life of a country in the first year of the world's greatest revolution.
There was a severe famine in the country. After the just ended imperialist war, civil war began. Workers and peasants, tired and hungry, fought on the fronts, defending with their breasts the gains of the Great October Socialist Revolution from the counter-revolutionary armies of interventionists. The White Guards threw bombs from around the corner, staged uprisings and assassinations. Their bullets were taken away from the revolution by Volodarsky and Uritsky.
In those days, Vladimir Ilyich went to crowded open rallies almost every day. They took place in factories, factories, squares, and military units. It happened that Lenin spoke at two or three rallies in one day.
The rallies were open in the literal sense of the word: the gates of the enterprise where they took place were wide open to everyone. Moreover, huge posters were hung at the gates with a hospitable invitation to attend a rally at which Lenin would give a speech.
Vladimir Ilyich’s life was in mortal danger several times a day. This danger was aggravated by the fact that Vladimir Ilyich categorically refused any kind of protection. He never carried a weapon with him (except for a tiny Browning gun, which he never fired) and asked me not to arm myself either. One day, seeing a revolver in a holster on my belt, he said affectionately, but quite decisively:
- What do you need this thing for, Comrade Gil? Take her away!
However, I continued to carry the revolver with me, although I carefully hid it from Vladimir Ilyich. The revolver was under my shirt in my belt, without a holster.
On that fateful day - August 30, 1918 - Vladimir Ilyich and I made several trips. We have already visited the Bread Exchange, where a rally took place. A lot of people gathered. Vladimir Ilyich, as usual, gave a big and heated speech. No one suspected that already here, at the Bread Exchange, Lenin was under surveillance and an assassination attempt was being prepared. This became clear a few days later during the investigation.
At about six o'clock in the evening we left the Bread Exchange and went to the former Mikhelson plant, on Serpukhovskaya Street. We have been to this plant several times before.
Vladimir Ilyich was calm and even-tempered, as always, only sometimes he squinted his eyes with concern and wrinkled his forehead. And no wonder! This day was especially busy for him. In the morning there was a reception at the Council of People's Commissars, then a meeting, followed by a meeting that had just taken place, after that another meeting to which we rushed, and two hours later in Ilyich's office a meeting of the Council of People's Commissars was to begin under his chairmanship.
When we drove into the courtyard, the rally at the Mikhelson plant had not yet begun. Everyone was waiting for Lenin. Several thousand people gathered in the vast pomegranate workshop. Somehow it turned out that no one met us: neither members of the factory committee, nor anyone else.
Vladimir Ilyich got out of the car and quickly headed to the workshop. I turned the car around and parked it at the exit from the yard, about ten steps from the entrance to the workshop
A few minutes later, a woman in a short jacket approached me, with a briefcase in her hand. She stopped right next to the car, and I was able to look at it. Young, thin, with dark, excited eyes, she gave the impression of not being a completely normal person. Her face was pale, and her voice trembled barely noticeably when she spoke.
- What, comrade, Lenin seems to have arrived? she asked.
“I don’t know who came,” I answered. She laughed nervously and said:
- How is this? Are you a driver and don’t know who you’re driving?
- How should I know? Some speaker—you never know how many of them travel, you won’t recognize them all,” I answered calmly.
I have always followed the strictest rule: never tell anyone who came, where we came from, or where we will go next.
She curled her mouth and walked away from me. I saw her enter the factory premises.
A thought flashed: “Why is she attached to me?” So persistent!” But since there were always a lot of people curious to find out who had arrived, sometimes they even surrounded the car from all sides, I did not pay much attention to the behavior and words of this woman.
About an hour later, the first large crowd of people—mostly workers—came out of the plant and filled almost the entire courtyard. I realized that the rally was over and quickly started the car. Vladimir Ilyich was not yet there.
A few minutes later, a new large crowd of people appeared in the courtyard, Vladimir Ilyich walked in front of it. I took the wheel and set the car to speed so that I could move at any second.
Heading to the car, Vladimir Ilyich talked animatedly with the workers. They bombarded him with questions, he answered affably and thoroughly and, in turn, asked some questions. He moved very slowly towards the car. Vladimir Ilyich stopped two or three steps from the car. The door was opened by someone from the crowd.
Vladimir Ilyich spoke with two women. It was about transporting food. I heard his words well:
- Absolutely right, there are many incorrect actions of the barrage detachments, but all of this will certainly be eliminated.
This conversation lasted two or three minutes. Two more women stood on either side of Vladimir Ilyich, moving forward a little. When Vladimir Ilyich wanted to take the last steps towards the running board of the car, a shot suddenly rang out.
At that time I was looking at Vladimir Ilyich. I instantly turned my head in the direction of the shot and saw a woman - the same one who asked me about Lenin an hour ago. She stood on the left side of the car, at the front fender, and aimed at Vladimir Ilyich’s chest.
Another shot rang out. I instantly stopped the engine, grabbed the revolver from my belt and threw it towards the shooter. Her hand was extended to fire the next shot. I pointed the muzzle of my revolver at her head. She noticed this, her hand trembled and at the same second a third shot was heard. The third bullet, as it turned out later, hit the shoulder of one of the women standing there.
Another moment and I would have shot, but the villain who shot at Lenin threw her Browning at my feet, quickly turned around and rushed into the crowd towards the exit. There were a lot of people around, and I did not dare to shoot after her: it was possible to kill one of the workers.
I rushed after her and ran a few steps, and then the thought flashed through my head: “What about Vladimir Ilyich?.. What’s wrong with him?” I stopped. There was terrible, dead silence for several seconds. Then suddenly voices were heard from all sides: “Killed! Lenin was killed! The entire crowd rushed out of the yard at once to catch up with the killer. A terrible crush formed. I turned to the car and froze: Vladimir Ilyich was lying on the ground two steps from the car. I rushed to him. During these seconds, the crowded courtyard was empty, and the shooter disappeared into the crowd.
I knelt down in front of Vladimir Ilyich and leaned towards him. What a blessing: Lenin was alive, he didn’t even lose consciousness.
- Did they catch him or not? he asked quietly, obviously thinking that a man had shot him.
Vladimir Ilyich spoke with difficulty, in a changed voice, with some kind of wheezing. I told him:
- Don’t tell me, it’s hard for you...
At that second I raise my head and see a man in a sailor’s cap running towards us from the workshop. He waved his left hand furiously, and kept his right hand in his pocket. He ran headlong, straight towards Vladimir Ilyich.
His figure and his whole appearance seemed extremely suspicious to me, and I covered Vladimir Ilyich with myself, especially his head, almost lay down on him.
- Stop! - I shouted with all my might, pointing my revolver at the fleeing man.
He continued to run and kept getting closer to us. Then I shouted again:
- Stop! I'm shooting!
Before reaching Vladimir Ilyich a few steps, he turned sharply to the left and ran through the gate, without taking his hand out of his pocket. At this time, a woman ran up to me from behind shouting:
- What are you doing? Do not shoot!
Obviously, she thought that I wanted to shoot Vladimir Ilyich.
Before I had time to answer her, a cry was heard from the workshops:
- This is yours, yours!
I saw three men running towards me with revolvers in their hands. I shouted again:
- Stop! Who you are? I will shoot!
They immediately replied:
- We are the factory committee, comrade, our own...
Having looked closely, I recognized one of them: I had seen him before, when we arrived at the plant. They approached Vladimir Ilyich. All this happened very quickly, in one or two minutes.
Some of them insisted that I take Vladimir Ilyich to the nearest hospital. I answered decisively:
“I won’t take you to any hospital.” I'm taking you home.
Vladimir Ilyich, having heard our conversation, said:
- Home, home...
Together with comrades from the factory committee - one turned out to be from the military commissariat - we helped Vladimir Ilyich get to his feet. With our help, he walked the remaining few steps to the car. We helped him climb onto the step of the car, and he sat down in the back seat, in his usual place.
Before getting behind the wheel, I stopped and looked at Vladimir Ilyich. His face was pale, his eyes were half-closed. He became completely silent. My heart sank, as if from physical pain, something came to my throat... From that moment he became especially close and dear to me, just as loved ones become dear to us, whom we can suddenly lose forever.
But there was no time to think, it was necessary to act. Vladimir Ilyich's life must be saved.
Two comrades got into the car: one with me, the other next to Ilyich. I went to the Kremlin very quickly, as soon as the road allowed.
Along the way, I looked back at Vladimir Ilyich several times. Halfway through the journey, he leaned his whole body back on the seat, but did not moan or make a single sound. His face became increasingly paler. A comrade sitting inside gave him some support. Driving into the Trinity Gate, I did not stop, but only shouted to the sentry: “Lenin!” - and drove straight to Vladimir Ilyich’s apartment.
In order not to attract the attention of people passing and standing near the front doors of the house where Vladimir Ilyich lived, I stopped the car at the side doors, behind the arch.
Here all three of us helped Vladimir Ilyich get out of the car. He came out with our support, apparently suffering from pain. I turned to him:
- We will bring you in, Vladimir Ilyich...
He flatly refused.
We began to ask and convince him that it was difficult and harmful for him to move, especially to climb stairs, but no amount of persuasion helped, and he firmly said:
- I'll go myself...
And, turning to me, he added:
- Take off your jacket, it will be easier for me to walk.
I carefully took off his jacket, and he, leaning on us, walked up the steep stairs to the third floor. He rose completely silently, I didn’t even hear a sigh. Maria Ilyinichna met us on the stairs. We took Vladimir Ilyich straight into the bedroom and laid him on the bed.
Maria Ilyinichna was very worried.
- Call quickly! Hurry! - she asked me.
Vladimir Ilyich opened his eyes slightly and calmly said:
- Calm down, nothing special... A little wounded in the arm.
From another room I called the manager of the Council of People's Commissars, Bonch-Bruevich, and began to tell him about what had happened. He barely listened to me - I had to take action without wasting a second.
Vinokurov, the People's Commissar for Social Security, who had arrived at a meeting of the Council of People's Commissars, came to Lenin's apartment. Bonch-Bruevich soon came running.
Vladimir Ilyich lay on his right side and moaned very quietly. The cut shirt exposed the chest and left arm, on the upper part of which two wounds were visible. Vinokurov smeared the wounds with iodine.
Vladimir Ilyich opened his eyes, looked around painfully and said:
- It hurts, it hurts my heart...
Vinokurov and Bonch-Bruevich tried to calm Ilyich:
- Your heart is not affected. The wounds are visible on the arm and nothing more. This is referred nerve pain.
— Are the wounds visible?.. On the hand?
- Yes.
He fell silent, closing his eyes. A minute later he moaned very quietly, restrainedly, as if afraid to disturb someone. His face became even paler, and a yellowish, waxy tint appeared on his forehead. Those present were gripped by horror: was Vladimir Ilyich really leaving us forever? Is it really death?
Bonch-Bruevich called the Moscow Council and asked the member of the Council on duty and the comrades who were there to immediately go for doctors. I told him over the phone: we need doctors immediately - Obukh, Weisbrod and also a surgeon. Someone was instructed to bring pillows with oxygen, having found them in Moscow pharmacies. Medical care had not yet been organized in the Kremlin: there was no pharmacy or hospital, and everything had to be sent to the city.
Ya. M. Sverdlov called, who had just been informed about Vladimir Ilyich’s injury. Bonch-Bruevich told him in a few words about what had happened and asked him to immediately invite an experienced surgeon. Yakov Mikhailovich said that he would immediately send for Professor Mints, and soon he came himself.
Maria Ilyinichna asked me to inform Nadezhda Konstantinovna about the misfortune as carefully as possible. Nadezhda Konstantinovna was at the People’s Commissariat of Education and didn’t know anything yet. When I was going down to the courtyard, someone from the Council of People's Commissars caught up with me to go together to warn Nadezhda Konstantinovna.
We waited for her in the yard. Soon she arrived. When I began to approach her, she, apparently guessing from my excited face that something terrible had happened, stopped and said, looking straight into my eyes:
- Don’t say anything, just tell me - alive or killed?
“I give my word of honor, Vladimir Ilyich is slightly wounded,” I answered.
She stood there for a second and went upstairs. We silently accompanied her all the way to Vladimir Ilyich’s bed. He lay unconscious.
Vera Mikhailovna Velichkina came, Bonch-Bruevich’s wife, a doctor. She listened to Ilyich’s pulse, injected him with morphine and advised him not to touch him until the surgeons arrived, only to take off his shoes and, as far as possible, undress.
It so happened that, while passing a bottle of ammonia to each other, they dropped it and broke it. The room quickly filled with the pungent smell of ammonia, Vladimir Ilyich suddenly woke up and said:
- That's good...
He sighed and forgot again. Obviously, the ammonia refreshed him, and the morphine somewhat calmed the pain.
Professor Mintz appeared. Without greeting anyone, without wasting a single second, he walked straight up to Vladimir Ilyich, looked him in the face and said abruptly:
Morphine!
“They’ve already injected it,” answered Vera Mikhailovna. Professor Mints, dressed in a white medical gown, measured the distance of the wounds on Vladimir Ilyich’s hand with both index fingers, thought for a minute and began to feel his arm and chest with quick flexible fingers. The professor's face expressed bewilderment.
There was dead silence in the room; those present held their breath. Everyone was waiting for the professor's decisive words. Mints occasionally spoke quietly:
- One in your hand... Where is the other? Large vessels are not touched. Do not have another one. Where is the other one?..
Suddenly the professor's eyes stopped in concentration, his face froze. Recoiling and turning terribly pale, he began hastily feeling Vladimir Ilyich’s neck.
- Here she is!
He pointed to the opposite, right side of the neck. The doctors looked at each other, a lot became clear to them. An oppressive silence reigned. Everyone understood without words that something terrible had happened, perhaps irreparable. Mints woke up first:
- Hand on the cardboard! Is there any cardboard?
A piece of cardboard was found. Mintz quickly cut out the lining and placed his wounded hand on it.
“It will be easier that way,” he explained.
Soon I left Lenin's apartment. Although the wound was serious and the position of the wounded man was very serious, I tried to reassure myself: the doctors will help, Vladimir Ilyich’s body is strong, his heart is resilient. I didn’t even want to think about Lenin’s death.
After two or three days it became finally known: Vladimir Ilyich will live!
On the very first night after the assassination, some details of this event became clear.
The shooter, Fanny Kaplan, turned out to be a member of a bandit group of Socialist-Revolutionary terrorists. At the hands of the same villainous gang, Uritsky and Volodarsky were killed in Petrograd.
After the shots were fired at Vladimir Ilyich, the attacker ran out of the factory yard with the crowd. People fled, not knowing at first who shot Vladimir Ilyich. Having mingled with the crowd, the terrorist hoped to escape unnoticed. On the street, not far from the plant, a trotter was waiting for her. But she failed to use the trotter. The kids who were in the yard at the time of the assassination ran behind Kaplan in a crowd and shouted, pointing at her:
- Here she is! Here she is!
Thanks to the ingenuity of the children, the killer was apprehended. Several people caught up with her at the tram switch and brought her to the factory yard. The crowd was outraged, many rushed towards her with a threatening look, she would have been torn to pieces immediately, but a group of workers held back the onslaught. Someone exhorted:
- What are you doing, comrades? She needs to be interrogated!
An hour later, the bandit Kaplan was already at the Cheka.
A man in a sailor’s cap, who fled to Vladimir Ilyich after Kaplan’s shots, was also soon arrested. He turned out to be an accomplice of the terrorist.
Lenin's healthy body and exceptional care for him during his illness did their job: two or three weeks later, Vladimir Ilyich was again presiding over meetings of the Council of People's Commissars.
A few months later, Vladimir Ilyich, quite healthy and cheerful, again spoke at a rally in front of workers of the same plant of the former Mikhelson. The workers' joy knew no bounds. Their first question was:
— How is your health, Vladimir Ilyich?
- Thank you. “Very good,” Lenin answered, smiling.
The rally has begun. The workers again heard the fiery, inspired speech of their leader.
***
Responsible employees of the Council of People's Commissars decided to film him secretly from Lenin. Ilyich had just recovered from his wound, and it was important to show the people that Vladimir Ilyich was healthy and vigorous. The filming was entrusted to an experienced cameraman. He was offered to photograph Vladimir Ilyich without him noticing. Everyone knew that otherwise nothing would come of the whole venture. Ilyich would never agree to act in films.
It was a sunny day when it was decided to carry out the “operation”. The chief cameraman and his assistants were stationed in different parts of the Kremlin along the asphalt path, as well as at the Tsar Cannon and at the arsenal building. Vladimir Ilyich's walk was planned here.
Lenin was accompanied by V.D. Bonch-Bruevich, manager of the affairs of the Council of People's Commissars and an old friend of Ilyich. Bonch-Bruevich tried to engage Vladimir Ilyich in conversation so that he would not notice the devices pointed at him.
When the shooting was half done, Lenin turned sharply to return to his office and suddenly noticed the cameramen with their tripods.
- What is this? - Vladimir Ilyich asked in bewilderment. -Where are they running? And what is this behind their shoulders? Wait, these are filmmakers!
Bonch-Bruevich could not deny it and confirmed that these were indeed “filmmakers.”
- So they decided to film me? Here's another thing! Who gave them permission? And why wasn't I warned?
- It’s very simple, Vladimir Ilyich, - you wouldn’t agree to act in film, and this is absolutely necessary
“Yes, that’s true,” said Vladimir Ilyich; I would not agree. It turns out you fooled me?
He looked around and added:
- Yes, I see there’s a whole movie conspiracy here! You tricked me cleverly,” and laughed good-naturedly. “Well, if it’s necessary, then so be it, I forgive you.”
Some time later, a small film “Vladimir Ilyich’s Walk in the Kremlin” was shown in the Kremlin. Ilyich joked and laughed, looking at the screen, and recalled how they “cleverly entangled him” and still removed him.
Soon the newsreel was released on the screens of Moscow and other cities. Spectators everywhere greeted the image of Vladimir Ilyich with stormy delight and applause.
***
And at the beginning of 1919, another very unpleasant incident occurred.
This happened on January 19, 1919. The winter that year would have been blizzardy, Moscow would have been covered in snow. Snowy hills and potholes formed on the streets.
On that memorable Sunday evening we went to Sokolniki. Vladimir Ilyich was traveling to one of the forest schools, where N.K. Krupskaya was vacationing. There was a children's party there and I was looking forward to Vladimir Ilyich
We drove to Sokolniki not through the Red Gate, but along Orlikov Lane. A few fathoms from Kalanchevskaya Square we suddenly heard a menacing cry:
- Stop!
Some guy in an overcoat was shouting. I accelerated and took a sharp turn. Vladimir Ilyich asked:
- What's the matter?
I replied that some unknown person, probably drunk, blocked our path. We passed the stations safely, but when we began to approach the Kalinkinsky plant, several people jumped out into the middle of the road with revolvers in their hands.
- Stop! Stop the car! - there was a cry.
I see that the uniform is not patrol, and I continue to drive straight towards them. The unknown people repeated their cry:
- Stop! Let's shoot!
I wanted to “slip through,” but Vladimir Ilyich demanded that I stop the car. He thought they were policemen checking documents.
When I reached the bridge, I braked. The car stopped. Several excited types ran up to us with revolvers in their hands and ordered:
- Come out! Alive!
Vladimir Ilyich opened the door and asked:
- What's the matter?
One of the attackers shouted:
- Come out, don't talk!
The bandit grabbed Vladimir Ilyich by the sleeve and sharply pulled him towards him. Getting out of the car, Ilyich repeated his question in bewilderment:
- What's the matter, comrades? Who you are? - and took out the pass.
Maria Ilyinichna and Chebanov, who accompanied Lenin, also got out of the car, not yet understanding what was happening. Two bandits stood near Vladimir Ilyich, on the sides, pointing the muzzles of their revolvers at his temple.
- Do not move!
One of the bandits came in front, grabbed Vladimir Ilyich by the lapels of his coat, opened it and instantly, with a professional gesture, snatched from the sides of his pocket the wallet in which Lenin’s documents were kept, and a small Browning.
At that time I was sitting in my seat behind the wheel, holding a loaded pistol in my hand. I had to restrain myself so as not to shoot at the bandits. My bullets would have killed one of the two raiders, but it would inevitably have ended in gunfire from them. I could endanger the life of Vladimir Ilyich.
Maria Ilyinichna, not immediately realizing that they were robbers, indignantly turned to them:
-What right do you have to search? After all, this is Comrade Lenin! Present your credentials!
“Criminals don’t need any mandates,” answered one of the raiders. “We have the right to do everything.”
Obviously, they did not hear Maria Ilyinichna’s words and the word “Lenin” went past their ears.
The bandits noticed me sitting behind the wheel and demanded that I immediately go outside. They backed up their demands with the threat of a revolver. It was a shame that I, armed and strong enough, could not resist the brazen criminals. I was aware of one thing: Lenin’s life cannot be risked.
One of the bandits sat in my place, the rest jumped on the running board of the car. She quickly took off. Apparently, a very experienced driver was sitting behind the wheel - I noticed this from his movements. The car disappeared from sight.
“Yes, cleverly,” said Vladimir Ilyich, “the armed people gave away the car.”
And then he added:
“You did the right thing, Comrade Gil, by not shooting.” We wouldn't do anything here by force. Obviously, we survived only because we did not resist.
It was only then that we noticed that Chebanov was standing with a can of milk (we were delivering milk to Nadezhda Konstantinovna). Despite the tragedy of the situation, we all burst out laughing.
We decided to go to the Sokolnichesky District Council and from there call the Kremlin, the Cheka.
“Is the Council really nearby?” - Vladimir Ilyich was surprised.
We were pointed to a two-story house across the bridge. Ilyich spread his hands and after a short pause said:
“They’re looting right next to the Council.” Simply monstrous!
We went to the Council. As one would expect, the sentry flatly refused to let us in without passes. Vladimir Ilyich tried to break the guard’s stubbornness:
“I can’t prove my identity; all my documents were taken away.” You were robbed and your car was taken away two steps away from you. We just want to call so that we can be taken to the place.
But the sentry continued to persist. Vladimir Ilyich began to lose patience.
“I am Lenin,” he declared decisively, “but I can’t prove it with anything.” Here is my driver, his documents probably survived, and he will verify my identity.
The sentry was taken aback. He lowered the rifle and froze in place. I showed him my documents, he mechanically touched them with his hands, looked at Vladimir Ilyich several times and silently let us into the building.
There was no one on the Council. I walked through several empty rooms and found myself in the switchboard. The telephone operator was dozing there. I asked him if there was anyone on duty. It turned out - not a soul. I asked to call the chairman or deputy.
After some time, the chairman came and addressed us:
- Who you are? How can I serve you?
Vladimir Ilyich identified himself and said:
“You have good habits - they rob people on the street, under the noses of the Council,” and added: “Allow me to call you on the phone, call a car.”
“Come into the office, Comrade Lenin,” the chairman said excitedly.
Vladimir Ilyich instructed me to call Dzerzhinsky personally. I called Felix Edmundovich. He wasn't there. His deputy answered the phone. I told about what happened. Then he handed the phone to Vladimir Ilyich. He asked for urgent measures to be taken to detain the car and expressed indignation at the poor security of the city. The Cheka apparently asked whether this was a political matter.
“Not politically,” Lenin answered categorically, “otherwise they would have shot me.” They just wanted to rob us.
Lenin. N.K. Krupskaya and M.I. Ulyanova at the general education parade on Red Square. May 1919
V.I. Lenin among the cadet graduates of the Moscow machine gun courses in the Kremlin on May 5, 1920
I called the Kremlin car depot and called for a car with security.
While waiting for the car, Vladimir Ilyich walked around the room and said in a low voice:
“We can’t tolerate this kind of outrage any longer.” We must vigorously take up the fight against banditry. Immediately!
And he turned to me:
- And the car, comrade. Gil, we need to find him. By all means!
I expressed confidence that the loss would be found that night. Vladimir Ilyich stopped, squinted and said:
- I doubt!
- And I'm sure of it. They have nowhere to hide from the city. The roads are not passable now, they will circle around the city and get stuck in the snow. All cars are checked.
“Well, we’ll see,” Ilyich smiled.
Soon the expected car arrived, and Vladimir Ilyich and Maria Ilyinichna left for Sokolniki. I went in search of a car.
The Cheka and the criminal investigation department put everything back on track, and that same night the car was found in the opposite part of the city - near the Crimean Bridge. A policeman and a Red Army soldier were lying dead near the car. Many different criminals were captured that night.
During the interrogation, the bandits said that, having driven a little away from the robbed, they began to look at the documents and, realizing that Lenin was in their hands, allegedly turned back to kill him. The enemies of the Soviet country promised a large sum for the murder of Lenin. One of the bandits, Yakov Koshelkov, allegedly told how they scolded themselves for their “mistake”:
- What did we do, it was Lenin himself who was riding! Let's catch up and kill him! They will blame not criminals, but political ones, and there may be a coup!
Among the Red Army soldiers, workers and peasants
From the very first days of the Soviet government's stay in Moscow, Vladimir Ilyich began to often expel people at crowded rallies, meetings, and meetings with workers, peasants, scientists, and military personnel. There were days when he spoke to Muscovites two and even three times a day. I regret that I did not keep a diary of our trips and forgot a lot, but still something remained in my memory.In the center and on the outskirts of Moscow there are many residential and public buildings where Vladimir Ilyich lived, worked, and spoke over the years.
For example, the National Hotel, located opposite the Kremlin. Vladimir Ilyich lived in rooms 107 and 109 in 1918. This was Lenin's first apartment in Moscow after October, when the Soviet government moved from Leningrad to Moscow. Here he lived for several weeks and moved to the Kremlin.
Vladimir Ilyich visited many Moscow factories and factories in the period 1918-1922. I brought it to the Dynamo plant, to the former Goujon plant (now Hammer and Sickle), to the former Mikhelson plant (now named after Vladimir Ilyich), to Red October and other enterprises.
At the main gates of many metropolitan factories and factories you can these days see marble plaques with the inscription: “V.I. Lenin spoke here.”
During the harsh years of the Civil War, Vladimir Ilyich performed at the Luch cinema on Rusakovskaya Street, in the body shop of the AMO plant (now the Likhachev Automobile Plant), on Khodynka in front of the Red Army soldiers of the Warsaw Revolutionary Regiment and in a number of other places.
In the winter of 1918-1919, I repeatedly brought Lenin to the forest school in Sokolniki, located in house No. 21 on the 6th Luchevoy clearing, where Nadezhda Konstantinovna Krupskaya was then resting. At the beginning of I919, Vladimir Ilyich was present here at the children’s Christmas tree.
The building of the State Theater named after Lenin Komsomol on Chekhov Street is a historical and revolutionary monument. In July and August 1919, Lenin spoke here to students at the Sverdlov Communist University, giving them lectures on the party and the state. In October 1920, at the III All-Russian Congress of the RKSM, which took place here, Vladimir Ilyich delivered his historic speech on the tasks of the Komsomol.
Repeatedly I brought Lenin to house No. 4 on Kalinin Street (formerly Vozdvizhenka), to the premises of the former Peterhof Hotel. Here in 1918 the Central Committee of the RCP (b) became obsessed with the goal.
The building of the Moscow City Council brings to mind many episodes. From its balcony, Vladimir Ilyich gave a speech on November 3, 1918 about the Austro-Hungarian revolution, and in October 1919, Lenin from here gave farewell to workers going to the front.
In the spring of 1919, Vladimir Ilyich came to house number 3 on Tovarishchesky Lane. Here he spoke at the graduation of the first artillery course commanders. More than once Ilyich gave reports and speeches in the Hall of Columns of the House of Unions.
Vladimir Ilyich repeatedly came to the town of Kuntsevo near Moscow.
Speaking in August 1918 at a meeting of workers of Kuntsevo enterprises, Lenin spoke about the need for a close alliance of the working class with the peasantry, about strengthening the power of the Soviets, and called on the workers of Kuntsevo to provide all possible assistance to the Red Army fighting the enemies of the revolution.
A group of young men approached Vladimir Ilyich. In front is a young curly-haired guy. He addressed the guest:
- We apologize, Comrade Lenin, we want to contact you with an important matter...
Vladimir Ilyich became wary:
- Please speak, I am listening to you. Who are you?
“That means we are local guys, from the working class,” the curly-haired man began, “we want to unite and go to the front of the civil war.” You won't tell me where to go. Or maybe we’re bothering you in vain, Comrade Lenin?
Vladimir Ilyich paused, looked around at all the boys and smiled encouragingly:
- No, my friends, it’s not for nothing that you turned to me. Our idea is good, sensible, and I will help you. You are real proletarian sons, and it is your direct duty to defend our revolution.
Vladimir Ilyich tore a piece of paper out of his notebook, quickly wrote something in pencil and handed it to the curly-haired boy. He thanked him and stepped aside.
In the spring of 1919, Vladimir Ilyich came to Kuntsevo twice. At a large meeting of workers, Lenin again spoke about the situation at the fronts. He called on workers to defend the Soviet country from interventionists. His speech, as always, was fiery, passionate and at the same time simple and intelligible.
After Vladimir Ilyich’s speech, Kuntsev’s workers formed and sent several volunteer detachments to the front.
In 1920, Vladimir Ilyich attended a meeting of workers and peasants of the Kuntsevo volost. He made a speech about the international and domestic situation of the country.
At the end of the meeting, a group of peasant women approached Lenin and asked permission to send him some food to the Kremlin.
— Moscow is starving! - said the peasant women. “We heard that you, Comrade Lenin, are malnourished. Is this true? Let me send you something and treat you, if you don’t mind.
Vladimir Ilyich laughed and reassured the women:
- Thank you, thank you, but I must refuse. In Moscow there really isn’t a lot of food, just like in the whole country, but what can you do? It would be better if you have a surplus, treat the children, send them to orphanages, or to nurseries. I’ll thank you for this. I'll get by!
The women promised to send flour and cereals to the children's hospital and invited Vladimir Ilyich to come again.
Soon Lenin left for Moscow, accompanied by a huge crowd.
During the transition from surplus appropriation to tax in kind, Vladimir Ilyich came to villages and state farms near Moscow, where he spoke at meetings explaining the essence of abandoning surplus appropriation and the transition to tax in kind.
***
Not far from Moscow, in Tarasovka, located along the left bank of the Klyazma River, in a picturesque forest area, in the summer of 1918, Vladimir Ilyich sometimes spent his free days from work at V. Bonch-Bruevich’s dacha.
Here, in the village of Maltsevo-Brodovo, on Lenin’s initiative, a state farm called “Forest Glades” was created. This is one of the first state farms in our country, Vladimir Ilyich himself carefully monitored the organization of the state farm and helped with his advice.
“Over time,” he told the peasants, “the small farm will turn into a powerful and rich one, and the people will thank you, as pioneers.” Some of you may not believe in this, but I believe, I firmly believe. Treat your business as if it were your own, family, be brave, don’t be afraid of scope, you will certainly achieve success. Sure!
Many years have passed since then. Now this state farm is headed by the Hero of Socialist Labor IO. Golubash has become an exemplary farm, known not only in our country, but also abroad. Among the old-timers here you can still find people who personally talked with the great leader in those distant days.
Probably, those who remember Vladimir Ilyich’s visit to the Moscow hospital, located somewhere in the Gruzinskie Streets area, are still alive.
This happened in the fall of 1919. The young Soviet Republic was in a difficult situation at that time. There was famine, cold, and typhus was raging in the country. Denikin's White Guard hordes were approaching Tula, Yudenich's gangs were rushing to Petrograd.
The Party mobilized all the forces of the people to repel the fierce attacks of the counter-revolution. The whole country turned into a military camp. Factories and factories sent their best people to the front. Everyone has one thought - to hold out, to defend the gains of the great October Revolution at all costs.
All hospitals in Moscow were overcrowded with the sick and wounded. Despite the lack of medicine and poor nutrition, medical workers did everything to ensure that sick and wounded soldiers recovered quickly.
Vladimir Ilyich was constantly interested in the life of hospitals, their needs, the situation of patients and medical staff. He often visited hospitals and clinics, and each of his visits, naturally, turned into a great and memorable event for the medical institution - for patients and doctors.
One day, a delegation from a military hospital came to Ilyich and asked to visit the wounded soldiers. Lenin listened to the delegation and asked them to tell the wounded Red Army soldiers that he would willingly fulfill their request.
And so, a few days later, N.A. Semashko, People’s Commissar of Health, came to the hospital and said that Vladimir Ilyich would soon arrive here.
And indeed, at about six in the evening a car drove up to the entrance of the hospital. I brought Vladimir Ilyich Lenin and Nadezhda Konstantinovna Krupskaya. They were met at the door and taken to the hospital. They invited me too.
“How do the Red Army soldiers feel,” Lenin asked, “are there many wounded commanders, how do they feed the sick, where do they get food, what do they dress the convalescents in, when are they discharged, where and how are their clothes stored?”
Then Vladimir Ilyich asked about the work of the communist cell. He was interested in everything in detail. And when he got acquainted with the situation in the hospital, he wanted to talk with the wounded soldiers. He was informed that now there would be dinner, and after dinner everyone who was able to walk would be gathered in the red corner.
Lenin went to the dining room with the wounded and asked to be served dinner from a common cauldron. For dinner that day there was pearl barley porridge with sugar. Oil was difficult to obtain, so it was replaced with sugar.
Nadezhda Konstantinovna asked what they feed the weak patients here. She was told that they give her semolina porridge or carrots with sugar. She advised preparing pearl barley porridge without sugar, and giving sugar separately, and preparing semolina porridge and carrots with sugar.
A general conversation ensued: Ilyich was vying with all his needs. Lenin listened to everyone attentively, gave advice, and promised to help in any way he could.
He immediately expressed the idea that it would be necessary to create a magazine “Wounded Red Army Soldier”, which reflected all the needs of wounded soldiers.
After dinner, all the wounded gathered in the red corner. Even some seriously ill patients, at their request, had to be brought here on stretchers. Vladimir Ilyich was greeted with stormy applause, which did not cease for a long time, resuming each time with renewed vigor.
Addressing the sick and wounded soldiers, the hospital commissioner said that Comrade Lenin pleased them with his arrival, and gave him the floor. The long-lasting ovation broke out again. Finally they calmed down.
Vladimir Ilyich came forward and said:
“Dear comrades, your commissar reported incorrectly: it was not I who pleased you with my arrival, but you who pleased me.” I am happy that I have the opportunity to be with you today. And I’m glad to talk with you, learn about your needs, and tell you about the situation in our republic.
V. I. Lenin’s lively conversation with the wounded Red Army soldiers lasted for an hour and a half.
Vladimir Ilyich spoke about the successes of our army at the front, about the defeat of Yudenich near Petrograd and the first victories over Denikin’s troops.
Dwelling on the difficulties, Lenin said that our heroic people are now suffering poverty and hunger. Everything that is is given to the Red Army, everything goes to ensure victory, to defend the won freedom. But as soon as we deal with the counter-revolution and the Entente, and this is not far off, our people will be the happiest. Everything we experience and endure now is a struggle for the happiness and freedom of the people.
After the speech, Vladimir Ilyich warmly said goodbye to the sick and wounded Red Army soldiers and wished them a speedy recovery. But he did not leave the hospital. Lenin carefully looked through the list of seriously ill patients and, although there was little time left, he still went to their rooms.
All the medical personnel came out to see Lenin off. In the lobby, already dressed, Lenin addressed them:
— You have a great historical mission, you are treating the defenders of the revolution and freedom. Do everything so that they recover quickly and leave the hospital. In this way you will make your great contribution to the cause of the revolution. The Soviet government and the Red Army soldiers and commanders themselves will be grateful to you.
Then Vladimir Ilyich with Nadezhda Konstantinovna and N.A. Semashko left. And soon a decree of the Council of People's Commissars was issued on the creation of an Extraordinary Commission to improve the situation in military hospitals and to provide for sick and wounded Red Army soldiers.
The Extraordinary Military Sanitary Commission under the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic, created by V.I. Lenin, did a lot of work and improved the management of medical care and nutrition in the country’s hospitals.
***
The peasants of the village of Kashino, Volokolamsk district, once invited Vladimir Ilyich to the opening ceremony of a power plant built by residents of two villages.
It was November 14, 1920. Vladimir Ilyich, accompanied by Nadezhda Konstantinovna, went to Kashino. We didn't know the way. Driving through Volokolamsk, I stopped the car near a policeman to find out where to go next. A Red Army soldier stood not far away. Vladimir Ilyich turned to him and asked if he knew the way to Kashino. Having received an affirmative answer, Vladimir Ilyich asked him to come with us, promising to take him back to Volokolamsk.
The Red Army soldier, it seems Semenov by name, learned from our conversation with the policeman that Lenin was speaking to him, he happily agreed, and we set off.
When we stopped in Kashino, we were surrounded on all sides by peasants.
Lenin and Krupskaya got out of the car and entered the hut. I followed them. Vladimir Ilyich shook hands with everyone. Someone wanted to help him take off his coat, but Vladimir Ilyich did not allow this:
- Nothing, nothing, I’ll undress myself.
He undressed, helped Nadezhda Konstantinovna take off her coat, sat down at the table and started a conversation with the peasants.
He listened to everyone carefully, answered questions, and asked questions himself.
At the table he was offered a snack. The chairman of the agricultural association handed him a glass of mash.
“What,” asked Vladimir Ilyich, “isn’t intoxicating?”
“No,” they answered him.
Vladimir Ilyich clinked glasses with the chairman of the artel, drank a little and ate a piece of jelly. When asked by the peasants for another snack, Vladimir Ilyich replied that he was full, as he had eaten before going to Kashino.
Before the rally, a photographer came and invited Vladimir Ilyich to photograph with the peasants. Lenin agreed. There were a lot of people there, especially a lot of kids. The adults wanted to move them away, but Vladimir Ilyich did not allow it. He sat the children near him, questioned them, and stroked their heads. The kids were delighted.
Vladimir Ilyich came to the podium, cordially thanked the peasants for the invitation, and reported on the victories of the Red Army over Wrangel.
F. Feofanov, a photographer who was present at the rally and photographed Lenin among the peasants, cited in his memoirs the words of Vladimir Ilyich that he remembered:
— Your village of Kashino is launching an electric station. This is just the beginning. It is necessary that power stations should not be single, but regionalized. Our task is to ensure that our republic is literally flooded with electricity.
Lenin's speech was met with cries of delight.
Before leaving, Lenin reminded me of the Red Army soldier Semenov, I found him, and we took him to Volokolamsk.
***
Ilyich loved to visit enterprises in the Krasnopresnensky district, including the Trekhgornaya manufactory. He highly valued the revolutionary traditions of the workers of Trekhgorka. And now you can still find workers who listened to Lenin and saw him closely.
Lenin, as you know, was a permanent deputy of the Moscow Soviet from the workers of the Trekhgornaya Manufactory.
I had the opportunity to bring Vladimir Ilyich to Trekhgorka several times, and the factory workers always greeted him with delight. The people of Trekhgorny loved Ilyich very much, and as soon as he appeared at the Trekhgorny factory, hundreds of people flocked to him.
The Tregorodians listened to the leader’s speeches with bated breath, memorizing his every word, every gesture. Lenin's speeches called for struggle, for overcoming difficulties, and instilled confidence in victory in the hearts of the workers. The people deeply believed in every phrase of Ilyich, every word of his breathed with amazing power and wisdom.
I had the opportunity to see more than once how Lenin talked with working men and women, answered all their questions, and, in turn, asked questions - he was interested in their work, life, their mood and views on the future.
Once, wanting to help the Tregorod residents in their difficult food situation, Vladimir Ilyich gave them practical advice:
“I advise you to do this: put the carriages in order, repair the locomotives and bring yourself bread.” And don’t delay, comrades!
The Trekhgorsk residents did as Ilyich advised. During the leader’s subsequent visits to Trekhgorka, the workers gratefully recalled his advice, which brought real results.
I remember Vladimir Ilyich’s visit to Trekhgorka on the day of the All-Russian May Day subbotnik in 1920. The Tregorodians held this cleanup in Khoroshov, and due to the large number of cleanup participants, they were given half the amount of food. After the subbotnik, a crowded meeting took place, to which Vladimir Ilyich came. I remember he got out of the car, approached the workers and easily sat down on a log. Lenin was surrounded, and a heart-to-heart conversation began. People talked about factory everyday life, about joys and sorrows. Someone complained about a lack of food, about “starvation rations.”
Lenin listened without interrupting and nodded his head as a sign of agreement.
Then Vladimir Ilyich explained that the shortage of food was not the fault of the cleanup organizers. The fact is that throughout Moscow many more people came out for the subbotnik than expected and, he said, everyone will definitely receive their ration in two or three days.
Some elderly worker asked Lenin to explain the significance of the All-Russian Communist Subbotnik and to highlight the international situation. Silence reigned: everyone listened intently to Ilyich. Hope shone in the eyes of the men and women; conversations about bread and rations faded into the background.
People continued to bombard Vladimir Ilyich with questions: when will the war end, how are things in Ukraine, Donbass, the Far East, what are the prospects for food, etc.
Lenin answered everything in detail, not forgetting to insert an apt, funny word, to encourage the enthusiast and ridicule the alarmist.
Lenin’s last visit to Trekhgorka in the fall of 1921 comes to mind. The visit was associated with a meeting dedicated to the fourth anniversary of the October Revolution. The factory's vast canteen was packed. All the chairs, tables, window sills, and aisles were occupied.
After speeches by a number of comrades who took part in the October Revolution, the chairman stood up and quietly said:
- Attention, comrades! The floor is given to the Moscow Soviet deputy from our factory, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin.
Lenin appeared on stage, but for a long time he did not manage to begin his speech. The audience applauded loudly, cheers were heard, and workers raised their children above their heads.
The chairman was powerless to calm the delight of those present. The rumble grew, and it was difficult to say when it would all end and the leader would finally speak.
Vladimir Ilyich decisively approached the edge of the stage and raised his left hand. Everything instantly froze, tense silence reigned, and Lenin began his speech.
He spoke about the most severe difficulties in the fight against the enemies of the revolution and the working class, about the treachery and cunning of the international bourgeoisie, and spoke the harsh truth about our economic difficulties.
But there was no pessimism in his speech; in his words there was a cheerful call to fight, confidence in the final victory of the working class.
***
One cloudy October morning in 1921, I brought Vladimir Ilyich to the Butyrsky farm, located not far from Moscow. A lot of people gathered at the farm - people came here to test the first electric plow in Russia.
The arrival of Vladimir Ilyich with Nadezhda Konstantinovna was a surprise for everyone. We were greeted with unartificial warmth and gratitude. Lenin immediately went to the place where the electric plow stood.
The tests began, and Vladimir Ilyich began to closely monitor every movement of the complex mechanism. He asked many questions and was interested in the design features of the unit. The test results did not satisfy Lenin, who convinced him that the expensive electric plow did not provide good quality plowing.
All those present were amazed at Vladimir Ilyich’s knowledge of purely technical issues.
“Show me your farm,” Ilyich turned to the director of the Butyrsky farm and headed with a group of comrades to the brood farm.
Having examined the farm and seeing perfect cleanliness everywhere, Lenin expressed his joy at the high culture of this farm. He was even more delighted when he learned that high-quality milk from the farm was sent to nurseries and maternity hospitals. And Vladimir Ilyich immediately concluded: it is necessary to create as many such suburban farms as possible.
The great leader was interested in everything: the milk yield of the cows, the methods of feeding, the organization of labor, the harvests obtained on the farm, the seed sorting system, and the living conditions of the workers - absolutely everything.
Seeing off Lenin, those present at the test, including the inventors of the mechanism, expressed their gratitude to him for his valuable instructions and correct thoughts. Vladimir Ilyich waved it off and said:
- Well, what are you, comrades! What a specialist I am, just think! I came just out of curiosity. And I don’t regret that I came. I really, really liked your farm, thank you!
Arrival of A. M. Gorky
One day in the fall of 1919, Vladimir Ilyich called me to his place and said:- Here's what: Gorky came to Moscow. We'll have to bring him here tonight. Here's his address. I'll call you later and tell you what time to go.
About two hours later - a phone call. Voice of Vladimir Ilyich:
- Comrade Gil, my meeting with Alexei Maksimovich is at seven sharp.
There was still quite a bit of time left until seven o'clock, but I left immediately. The times were such that you couldn’t get into every house right away. The front doors, gates and entrances were often boarded up. It took a lot of time and effort to search for a person in an unfamiliar house.
Alexey Maksimovich lived with his son Maxim Peshkov in Mashkov Lane, not far from the Pokrovsky Gate. As one would expect, all the front doors of the house were tightly boarded up. It was possible to get into the Peshkovs’ apartment only through the back door, from the back of the yard.
When I called, the door opened and Maxim Peshkov appeared.
—Can I see Comrade Gorky? - I asked.
I entered the apartment and saw Alexei Maksimovich walking towards me.
- Hello, comrade! - he said, extending his hand to me. —-Are you from Lenin?
I heard a lot about Maxim Gorky, read his works and, naturally, watched him with curiosity. Before this meeting, I had no idea about the appearance of the great writer.
In front of me stood a very tall, thin man, slightly stooped, dressed in a simple, modest suit. The face is dark and dry, the eyes are light and very young. I remember the voice: low, sonorous and Volga-style, that is, pressing on the letter “o”.
“I’ll be leaving right now,” said Alexey Maksimovich, putting on his coat. — How will we go to the Kremlin?
I explained in detail.
- Will they let you in? - he asked.
I laughed and said that they wouldn’t detain me.
Along the way, Alexey Maksimovich asked about Vladimir Ilyich’s health, about his trips, and how he spent his leisure time. Gorky looked at the streets of Moscow with interest. At the Trinity Gate of the Kremlin we were stopped by the Red Army soldiers on duty.
“I’m Gorky,” he said and began to take out documents.
“Please pass,” the Red Army soldiers said, and we entered the Kremlin.
The second meeting with Alexey Maksimovich took place under sad circumstances for me. I then received a reprimand. This was the first and only reprimand that I received in all the years of working with Vladimir Ilyich.
Vladimir Ilyich called me and asked me to bring Alexei Maksimovich to him by four o’clock. There was more than an hour left until four, and I was in no hurry. Just as I was getting ready to leave, I discovered a breakdown in my car and decided to do the repairs myself, and send my assistant to Gorky in my place. This was the first (and last) time when I entrusted Lenin’s personal task to someone else.
There were about fifty minutes left until four o'clock. It was possible to easily make not one, but two flights from the Kremlin to Mashkov Lane. When equipping an assistant, I obviously did not explain to him exactly enough how to get to Gorky’s apartment. And he paid for it.
Fifteen minutes before the time appointed by Lenin, my assistant flies into the garage and declares in despair:
“I couldn’t find Gorky’s apartment!” Did you knock on all the doors to no avail?
I was dumbfounded. Vladimir Ilyich’s time was extremely valuable; it was calculated literally by the minute. He himself was extremely neat, never kept any of his guests waiting and could not stand the sloppiness of others.
I jumped into the car and rushed to the gate. There were a few minutes left until the cherished hour. I no longer counted on correcting the mistake I had made; I just wanted to reduce the delay.
I rushed through the streets of Moscow at incredible speed. Passers-by stopped in amazement, horses shied away. And suddenly - Gorky... Rides on a hired cab.
I was delighted. Alexey Maksimovich, seeing me, paid the cab driver and got into my car. On the way I explained everything to him.
- This is rubbish, Comrade Gil! - said Alexey Maksimovich, anxiously smoothing his stiff mustache. - I’ll tell you straight - rubbish! It will burn both me and you.
I agreed that the matter was really “rubbish,” but added that it would not be him who would get hurt, but only me. He looked at me and laughed quietly.
“We have to think of something,” he said. -Don't worry, Gil, I'll try to sort it out.
Alexey Maksimovich entered Vladimir Ilyich’s reception room quite late. About two hours later I accompanied Gorky home.
- Well, Alexey Maksimovich? - I asked. He waved his hand sadly:
“I took part of the blame upon myself. Can you really deceive Vladimir Ilyich?
In the evening I went to Vladimir Ilyich’s office and began to explain what had happened. Walking around and putting his fingers behind the armholes of his vest, he listened to me without interrupting. Then he said:
- Okay, let's forget this incident. I hope it won't happen again.
The next day, the manager of the affairs of the Council of People's Commissars, who knew about this incident, signed an order and reprimanded me for failure to carry out Comrade Lenin's instructions.
I didn’t tell Vladimir Ilyich about this. I was not so upset by the business manager’s reprimand as by the realization that by my action I had violated Lenin’s work order. Vladimir Ilyich was extremely careful. Wherever we went with him, he determined in advance when we should arrive. If we arrived on time, Vladimir Ilyich said: “Great, we made it!” If for some reason we were late, Lenin, depending on the reasons for the delay, said: “It’s bad, we didn’t make it on time!”, or: “Well, it’s not our fault, we were detained.” If someone was late, even by a few minutes, Vladimir Ilyich always reprimanded the latecomers, often, however, in a joking manner; Sometimes he would look at his watch and say: “My watch is running ahead, I need to check it.” What is your time?”
Lenin among his relatives
As already mentioned, in the summer of 1918, Vladimir Ilyich was on vacation in Tarasovka. Here, in a two-story building, on the second floor, Lenin and Krupskaya had two rooms. They usually arrived here late on Saturday evening and left the dacha at dawn on Monday. Maria Ilyinichna, Lenin's sister, often accompanied them on trips outside the city.I remember the episodes of our return to the Kremlin. Early in the morning, almost at dawn, Vladimir Ilyich quietly crept up to me and woke me up:
“It’s time to get up, Comrade Gil, we’ll get ready for the city.” Let's roll out the car silently so as not to wake up Nadezhda Konstantinovna and Marya Ilyinichna.
Without starting the car, we jointly rolled it out of the garage into the yard and, without making a fuss, left for Moscow. And at about eight or nine in the morning Ilyich told me:
- Well, now return to Tarasovka, I’ll bring Nadezhda Konstantinovna and Marya Ilyinichna!
Lenin's attitude towards his family and friends - his sister, brother, wife, nephew - has always admired me. Overload with work did not prevent Ilyich from constantly inquiring whether Nadezhda Konstantinovna had had breakfast, whether Maria Ilyinichna was tired from the meeting, whether Anna Ilyinichna’s apartment was warm enough, etc.
“Comrade Gil,” Vladimir Ilyich once told me, “here’s a warm blanket for you, take it in the car and persuade Nadezhda Konstantinovna to use it.” - At the same time, Vladimir Ilyich shows you how to wrap your legs warmly.
Knowing that Nadezhda Konstantinovna herself does not take care of her health and does not like to tinker with warm things, Vladimir Ilyich turned to me for help.
Vladimir Ilyich and Nadezhda Konstantinovna lived in the Kremlin, next to the premises of the Council of People's Commissars. Their apartment was on the third floor; in the early years there was no elevator, and they had to climb a steep, high staircase. Vladimir Ilyich never complained about the height and difficulty of walking, but many times he was upset that Nadezhda Konstantinova had to overload her sick heart with backbreaking walking.
“Bring her, Comrade Gil, not to the main entrance, but to the side entrance, through the arch,” Vladimir Ilyich once told me.
It turned out that the side staircase was set aside and it was easier to climb it than the main one.
Vladimir Ilyich called me one day and began asking me where and how I could get a closed car for Nadezhda Konstantinovna. At the same time, he explained that Nadezhda Konstantinovna, despite the winter cold, continues to use an open car.
— He gets excited at a meeting in the People's Commissariat for Education and goes straight out into the cold. She dresses poorly and can easily catch a cold,” said Vladimir Ilyich.
I remembered that in one of the garages in Petrograd there was a closed Rolls-Royce car with an insulated cabin, and advised me to request this car.
“Excellent,” agreed Vladimir Ilyich, “we will request her to Moscow.” You just need to give them another car in return. Definitely. Make an agreement with them.
Vladimir Ilyich had the habit of having lunch exactly at four o’clock. He instilled the habit of having lunch at the same time in everyone around him. He used to say:
“You can work and rest at any time, but you must have lunch at the same time!”
Vladimir Ilyich made sure that Nadezhda Konstantinovna dined on time.
“Don’t wait until she comes out,” Vladimir Ilyich told me, “go up to her and demand that she immediately go home for dinner.”
At exactly a quarter to four I appeared in Nadezhda Konstantinovna’s service room. And she nodded her head at me from a distance: ready, they say. And she immediately went downstairs.
Sitting next to me in the car, Krupskaya asked every day where Vladimir Ilyich was that day, where I took him, which of his comrades came to see him. If Vladimir Ilyich went hunting on Sunday, Nadezhda Konstantinovna would ask afterwards how our day went. And she always listened carefully to my stories about hunting, walks and trips.
Many times I saw Lenin and Krupskaya together at home. A characteristic feature of their relationship was boundless and deep respect for each other.
When Nadezhda Konstantinovna fell ill, Vladimir Ilyich was very worried. He asked to arrange it not far from Moscow, in a quiet place. Lenin was pleased that the forest school in Sokolniki was chosen as a place for treatment and recreation, not a hospital or a rest home. Lenin believed that Nadezhda Konstantinovna would feel good in a children's environment. During the days of Nadezhda Konstantinovna’s illness, he often visited her in the evenings.
Lenin called every day to Professor F.A. Getye, who treated Krupskaya, and asked in detail about the progress of her illness. Sometimes Vladimir Ilyich turned to Doctor V.A. Obukh with a request to visit Nadezhda Konstantinovna.
It seems that in the fall of 1921, Professor Getye diagnosed Nadezhda Konstantinovna with a severe cold and overwork and prescribed her a two-week rest. But she flatly refused to rest, since it was a hot time.
Professor Getye “complained” to Vladimir Ilyich.
Lenin decided to resort to drastic measures. He officially, as head of government, ordered the Deputy People's Commissar of Education, Comrade Krupskaya, to take a six-month vacation. Nadezhda Konstantinovna could only obey.
Vladimir Ilyich was very attached to his sister Maria Ilyinichna. He called her “Manyasha” and often spent his leisure time in her company.
In Lenin’s modest apartment, Maria Ilyinichna did all the housework. She loved order and cleanliness, and knew how to properly organize meals. Maria Ilyinichna knew all the habits of Vladimir Ilyich and tried to arrange her brother’s life so that he would not feel inconvenienced in any way.
It happened like this: Vladimir Ilyich would get ready for a walk or to the theater and immediately call Nadezhda Konstantinovna:
- Definitely invite Manyasha. Convince her to come with us.
During the days of Vladimir Ilyich’s illness, Maria Ilyinichna and Nadezhda Konstantinovna sat at his bedside at night.
Anna Ilyinichna Ulyanova lived separately, in one of the houses on Manezhnaya Street, and I had to see her less often in the company of Lenin and Krupskaya.
I remember that on summer days Anna Ilyinichna came to Gorki with her husband Mark Timofeevich Elizarov. Vladimir Ilyich always rejoiced at their arrival, welcomed them cordially and tried to keep them with him longer. We went to the forest together to pick mushrooms, went boating together, and played croquet.
Anna Ilyinichna somehow fell ill. Vladimir Ilya often went to her, sent doctors, persuaded her to settle somewhere near Moscow, in a quiet and healthy place. Anna Ilyinichna settled in Pokrovsky Streshnev, in the Chaika rest house. Vladimir Ilya was sincerely happy about this and often came there.
I met Dmitry Ilyich Ulyanov, Vladimir Ilyich’s younger brother, for the first time in the spring of 1921. It happened like this.
Vladimir Ilyich once called me and said
— Today my brother, Dmitry, arrived from Crimea. We need to go to the Rossiya Hotel to pick him up and bring him to the Kremlin. At four o'clock, wait for him at the entrance.
Vladimir Ilyich said at the same time that Dmitry Ilyich worked as a deputy. Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the Crimean Republic, described his appearance and added that he used to be a zemstvo doctor.
At exactly four o'clock I arrived at the main entrance of the Rossiya Hotel, located on Lubyanka Square. At the entrance stood a man of average height, with a dark beard, wearing a paramilitary suit. His appearance bore little resemblance to Lenin. Noticing me, with a gait reminiscent of Lenin’s, he quickly and easily approached and asked:
- Aren't you Comrade Gil?
- Are you Dmitry Ilyich?
- He is. Let's get to know each other.
And we went to the Kremlin.
The brothers often hunted together and talked a lot in Gorki. Vladimir Ilyich, together with Dmitry Ilyich, took walks around the neighborhood, and then sat down in the park on a bench and talked for a long, long time.
Vladimir Ilyich at his leisure
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, as you know, was an unparalleled worker. His whole life was spent in hard work.But Vladimir Ilyich also knew how to rest. I personally almost never saw him at work, but his leisure time very often passed before my eyes. Ilyich knew how to organize his rest in such a way that these few hours of leisure charged him with vigor for many days.
Vladimir Ilyich considered Sunday trips out of town to be the best form of recreation. “Away from the city noise, away from Moscow!” - he said, choosing a place for the upcoming trip on Saturday.
- Well, Comrade Gil, what are we going to do tomorrow? - Vladimir Ilyich addressed me on Saturdays in the first months of his life in Moscow.
He laid out a map of Moscow on the table and chose some suburb that was little known to him.
- For example, Rublevo... Don’t know, Gil, what kind of place it is?
“I’m hearing this for the first time, Vladimir Ilyich,” I answered. A native of St. Petersburg, I have never been to Moscow before and have not yet had time to get acquainted with the surrounding area.
- Do not know? Yeah! Well, so much the better. Let's find out.
And we set off at random fifty to sixty kilometers from Moscow. If it was spring, they hunted woodcocks and wood grouse. In the summer we swam more, wandered through the forests, rested on the grass, and picked mushrooms. With the onset of autumn there is hunting again: black grouse, hares.
Winter was Vladimir Ilyich’s favorite time of year for a good rest in the fresh air. He spent all winter Sundays sledding and skiing. Vladimir Ilyich was an excellent hunter and understood all the subtleties of the art of hunting. He knew well how to approach this or that animal or bird, how to approach them, at what moment to shoot and when to let the dog go. He knew how to determine the direction by the sun and never used a compass. In an unfamiliar wooded area, Lenin navigated the trees like a real hunter.
Wanting to make the hunt more interesting, I decided to invite a specialist huntsman. He was supposed to accompany Vladimir Ilyich on the hunt. At the same time, the huntsman had to act as a second driver.
- Is it true that you need an assistant? - Vladimir Ilyich asked me and squinted slyly. If you want to take him only as a huntsman, I forbid it.
- No, Vladimir Ilyich, I need an assistant in the garage.
- Okay, then take it.
From then on, Lenin was accompanied on the hunt by the huntsman Pleshakov, who knew how to organize it well. Vladimir Ilyich highly valued Pleshakov’s hunting knowledge. Vladimir Ilyich did not pursue prey. He loved the very process of hunting, long marches, and forest air. For Ilyich, prey was not the goal of the hunt, but the result. Often he instructed me to give all our Sunday spoils to acquaintances and workmates.
“Do it unnoticed,” Vladimir Ilyich instructed, “ring, they will open it for you, and you, without saying a word, put the bird in the hallway and immediately leave.” Do you understand?
I laughed and said that it was quite understandable.
One day, while hunting, this incident happened. Vladimir Ilyich quietly made his way through the dense forest, holding his gun at the ready. Suddenly, a fox slowly and calmly came out towards us. It was a very beautiful animal, with fluffy bright golden fur. Vladimir Ilyich, struck by the beauty of the fox, froze. He did not shoot, although the fox passed very close and slowly. I watched this scene from afar.
When someone joined Vladimir Ilyich on a hunt, Vladimir Ilyich usually set the condition:
- So that there is no anarchy! We will obey Pleshakov. He already knows what is best to do. And you, Comrade Pleshakov, give orders, command, don’t be shy.
Vladimir Ilyich really liked the village of Zavidovo, a hundred kilometers from Moscow. There was a large hunting farm here. The hunt took place under the leadership of senior huntsman Poroshin. Lenin was passionate about big hunting - with horses and dogs. But it was a long way to travel to Zavidovo, and Vladimir Ilyich visited there only a few times.
Our summer trips out of town were interesting. Every free Sunday was for Vladimir Ilyich a day promising many different impressions. From these Sunday walks he drew inspiration for the whole week.
We usually left on Saturday evening and returned on Monday morning. Places were chosen at random, remote and unfamiliar.
Since the spring of 1919, Vladimir Ilyich was often accompanied by Maria Ilyinichna.
We would sometimes approach some quiet village; Vladimir Ilyich asks to stop the car and goes to meet the peasants and look for accommodation for the night.
— Vladimir Ilyich, shall we come here? - someone suggested, pointing to a beautiful and respectable house.
“No,” Lenin refused, “that’s where we’ll go,” and led us into a simple, small, but neat hut.
Vladimir Ilyich preferred to stay with poor peasants. With them his conversation was better, more intimate. After talking and having dinner in the hut with food bought from peasants or taken with him, Vladimir Ilyich turned to the owner:
- Well, now go to sleep! Let's get up at dawn and go to the forest! Take us to the hayloft.
Vladimir Ilyich did not accept anything other than a hayloft for overnight stays during trips. Sometimes the owner tries to create “comfort” for the guests: lay something down or provide pillows. Vladimir Ilyich always strongly objected:
- Please don’t do anything! Just like that, just in the hay, we’ll sleep. No bedding! It won't be the same impression, it won't be the same pleasure!
If smokers came to the village with Vladimir Ilyich (Ilyich did not smoke and did not like tobacco smoke), he usually told them:
- Smokers! Come on, get high, so that there won't be a single smoker at night! Otherwise, go to court!
It happened that someone secretly lit a cigarette at night. Vladimir Ilyich stood up and said:
- How could you do this? After all, it’s unheard of to smoke in the hayloft!
Vladimir Ilyich, as usual, covered himself with his coat or blanket, and in the morning he went to the well or to the river to wash.
The others followed his example.
The day of Lenin's rest began early - a day of movement, hunting, picking mushrooms, lying on the grass, running in starts.
On Monday morning, Vladimir Ilyich left the forest, village or river renewed and invigorated. A week of enormous and complex activity for the leader was approaching.
In his leisure hours, Vladimir Ilyich loved to communicate with a wide variety of people, to start conversations with random passers-by, especially with peasants. “Listen, where is the river nearby?” “Hey, guys, where did you pick so many mushrooms? Teach us!”
It often happened like this: our car would drive into the village, and the kids would run after it in a crowd. Vladimir Ilyich suggested:
- Let's stop, let's impale the guys.
Ilyich helped the kids get into the car. Along the way, he joked, laughed, asked the guys about all sorts of things.
- Better hold on! - Lenin said. - Hold on! Well, now,” he said after a while. - Enough, otherwise you will get lost!
- Nothing, uncle! We go mushroom hunting five miles away!
One day in the winter, apparently very tired, Vladimir Ilyich expressed a desire to go out of town for a few hours, wander through the forest and breathe in the fresh winter air.
“Vladimir Ilyich,” I suggested, “would you like me to take you to Lake Senezhskoye?” It’s nice there, forest all around, silence. You can go skiing and there are places to hunt.
Ilyich seized on this offer.
- That's right, that's right! If you go, then you need to hunt.
He asked to prepare the car in the morning and leave in such a way as to spend the day there, and in the evening return to Moscow, where he was supposed to attend some important meeting.
Early in the morning I filled up the car and waited for Vladimir Ilyich. He does not go. Knowing his accuracy, I suspected: had he changed his mind? Aren't you tired?
But then Ilyich comes out in a tanned sheepskin coat with skis and a gun in his hands, happy and cheerful. He puts his skis in the car and says cheerfully:
“Well, I’ll give pepper to the hares today!” And then he realized: “Or maybe there are no traces of any hares there, huh?”
“Rest assured, Vladimir Ilyich,” I assured, “we’re not going in vain.” It’s just a pity that it’s not summer now, because there’s a big lake there—you can’t take your eyes off it. Wild ducks, fish - even take them with your hands.
I started the car and we drove off. We passed Firsanovka, Kryukovo, and soon the lake appeared. I stopped at a stud farm, at the porch of a small house.
The plant manager came out to meet us and stopped in surprise.
“Let’s get to know each other: Lenin,” Vladimir Ilyich introduced himself briefly and extended his hand.
From surprise, the boss froze in place, but soon got used to it and shook the outstretched hand. Vladimir Ilyich smiled and said:
- Don’t be surprised, please: I wanted to relax and breathe fresh air. It’s been a while since I’ve seen either the winter sky or the forest. And it would be nice to hunt!
“I’m very glad,” the boss answers affably, “you’re welcome.” Come to my house, relax, have a snack on the road. The richer you are, the happier you are!
Vladimir Ilyich asks not to worry and follows him into the house. He invites me too. A samovar puffs on the table.
The boss's wife is arranging the dishes and preparing breakfast. Having learned that Lenin was in front of her, she sank into a chair in confusion. Ilyich noticed her embarrassment and began to joke and ask questions. Very soon the embarrassment dissipated and a relaxed atmosphere reigned in the room. Every now and then there was laughter.
The hostess suggested eating cabbage soup before the hunt.
“Thank you, thank you,” said Vladimir Ilyich, “I brought all kinds of food with me, look!”
He untied the knot and took out his breakfast. But the hostess still served the guest a plate of cabbage soup.
Vladimir Ilyich took the sandwiches out of the bundle and put them on the table, and he happily began to eat the hot cabbage soup.
Then a local huntsman came, a specialist in winter hunting, and a lively conversation ensued.
Having rested, we headed into the forest. The hunt was completely unsuccessful. They walked and walked, even if an insignificant little hare crossed the road. There's not even a trace.
“What a shame,” Lenin said, “if only one of them, plucked, would jump out!”
Vladimir Ilyich’s companions felt somehow uncomfortable, as if they were to blame for the absence of hares.
He began to console them:
- Don't worry, nonsense! Do hares really matter to me? Maybe if I met them, I wouldn’t shoot. I’m glad I walked around and breathed some real air, but the hares are nothing.
After wandering through the forest without firing a single shot, Vladimir Ilyich returned to the stud farm at dusk. A samovar was already waiting here, but the guest thanked him for his attention and hurried off to Moscow.
On the way home, Vladimir Ilyich shared his impressions of the trip, gave apt descriptions of our companions on an unsuccessful hunt, and joked cheerfully. It was hard to imagine that an hour or two would pass and this simple man in a sheepskin coat would preside over a government meeting where the most important state affairs were being decided.
I remember that in the spring of 1920 I took Vladimir Ilyich to Zavidovo. There, as usual, huntsman Poroshin was waiting for us.
The hunt for wood grouse was coming to an end. We arrived at Poroshin in the evening: we had to leave early in the morning in the dark in order to be there by dawn. We had to walk two kilometers from the house. We sit at Poroshin’s, drink tea and agree on who should go where. It was decided to split into groups: some would go to the black grouse, others to the wood grouse.
- So, who goes where? - asks Vladimir Ilyich.
“We’ll go after the black grouse,” some say.
- And you, Comrade Gil? - Ilyich is interested.
- With you, to the wood grouse, Vladimir Ilyich.
Poroshina's son came with us. The old man went with the grouse lovers.
There was a strong thaw, the snow had not yet melted, there were puddles everywhere. And the current was in the swampiest place. Approaching the goal, the young huntsman warned us that we now had to approach very carefully: the current was somewhere close.
We move slowly, gropingly - dawn has not yet arrived. Poroshina’s son is ahead, Vladimir Ilyich is behind him, I bring up the rear. Finally we arrived at the desired place. We stand motionless, almost knee-deep in the water. After some fifteen to twenty minutes, capercaillie voices should sound. It's cold to stand in the water, so we sit on a stump. Vladimir Ilyich is completely chilled, and I’m also having a hard time, but still we don’t move.
We see: the horizon begins to turn gray, but there is still no current.
Poroshin's son whispers:
- Are you really late?
Vladimir Ilyich silently shrugs his shoulders. We wait some more time, but no results.
- What next? - asks Ilyich. The young huntsman says sadly:
- Why didn’t you come immediately after receiving our telegram? I should have come right away, but a week had already passed. Yesterday I checked, there were still plenty of wood grouse. Eh, missed it!
Imperceptibly they began to speak loudly. We take a few steps to warm up. Suddenly we hear a rustling sound and a large capercaillie soars into the air.
- What is this? - asks Vladimir Ilyich.
Young Poroshin answers:
- We were late, obviously, the current had already ended. Vladimir Ilyich was very sorry that the hunt was so unsuccessful.
We came home first. Soon the old huntsman returned with his companions.
- Well how are you? - Ilyich asks like a hunter. - With the field?
“With the field,” they answer like a hunter, showing full bags. - Are you a priest?
“Yes,” Vladimir Ilyich answers with feigned tragedy, “butts.”
After drinking tea and resting, we went to Moscow.
This time the hunt was unsuccessful, but Vladimir Ilyich was in a good mood, joking and laughing.
Another time, already in the fall of the same year, we went duck hunting in the direction of Kashira. With us were Dmitry Ilyich Ulyanov, the huntsman and three other comrades. We stopped before reaching Mikhnev. Dmitry Ilyich knew these places very well: he once worked here as a zemstvo doctor. There was a pond nearby, but to get to it you had to turn off the highway onto a country road. It had rained the day before, there was impassable mud all around, and it was risky to continue the journey. I wasn't sure if we would get to the pond safely, but I still moved the car forward. Before the five or ten seedlings had driven away from the highway, the front of the car became mired in muddy clay.
“Now we’ve arrived,” I say.
“We need help,” said Vladimir Ilyich, getting out of the car.
“No, it’s better that you, Vladimir Ilyich, go hunting,” I advised, “and we’ll come up with something ourselves.”
Vladimir Ilyich did not immediately, but still agreed and went to the pond, accompanied by Dmitry Ilyich and the huntsman.
We hung around for two hours. They chopped up fir trees and birch branches, placed them under the wheels and pulled the car out, getting out of the mud. We all got pretty covered in clay.
By this time the hunters had returned. Vladimir Ilyich walked first. He was animated, cheerful, with trophies hanging over his shoulders—killed ducks.
- Well, are you tired? - asks Ilyich. - Let's rest!
We decided to have a snack. They settled down and began to lay out their modest food supplies. One of us had some wine. Vladimir Ilyich was the first to suggest:
- We need to strengthen our strength. Have a drink, comrades!
Some were embarrassed to drink. Ilyich noticed this.
- If you drink, there is nothing to be ashamed of. Perhaps I’ll have a drink with you for company, and I’ll get cold.
And then for the first and last time I saw Vladimir Ilyich with a glass of wine in his hand.
I was always amazed at how much he limited himself in everything. We used to sit as a group of hunters and have a snack. Ilyich offers sandwiches to everyone:
- Eat, comrades, eat!
He tries to treat everyone, but he himself only eats a sandwich and that’s it. Otherwise, he would take a piece of black bread, add thicker salt, drink two glasses of tea and be full.
...In October, on a warm autumn morning, Vladimir Ilyich went to hunt great snipes and snipes. We arrived in the village of Molokovo. The Moscow River flows nearby. It rained at night, and there were many deep puddles all around.
We reached some kind of bridge. To climb it, you had to jump over a fairly wide ditch. I
- Come on, let's jump! - said Vladimir Ilyich. He jumped over, but not entirely successfully, and took water into his boots. The feeling was probably unpleasant, but Vladimir Ilyich did not show it, but calmly climbed onto land, laughing at his awkwardness.
A few minutes later we were on the bridge, sitting on some beam. There's not a soul around. I tried to help Vladimir Ilyich pull off his boots, full of water, but he strongly protested and began to take them off himself.
I stood nearby. Vladimir Ilyich, slowly, took off his boots and wet socks and hung them on the bridge barrier. All this ammunition dried slowly in the autumn sun, and we sat there for more than an hour.
Vladimir Ilyich spoke fascinatingly about life abroad, telling how the French, Belgians, and Swiss spend their leisure time.
The sun shone brighter, the Moscow River began to sparkle. We moved on. We hunted that day until dusk. The misadventure at the bridge was forgotten. Vladimir Ilyich hunted with youthful enthusiasm.
One Sunday, I took Vladimir Ilyich, as usual, far out of town. We stopped in the village of Bogdanikha, about ten kilometers from Gorki. Vladimir Ilyich, as I already said, loved to make stops in unfamiliar areas and start conversations with the peasants he met.
This was the case in Bogdanikha, where we ended up that morning. Vladimir Ilyich got out of the car and went to the huts. A group of poor peasants was walking towards them. Among them, by chance, was an old man who had been a peasant walker for Lenin. He recognized Ilyich and immediately told his companions about it. Lenin was closely surrounded and a conversation began.
Soon a sizeable crowd of peasants gathered around Vladimir Ilyich. Everyone wanted to look at Lenin, hear his speech and ask a question. Ilyich listened carefully to everyone and answered willingly.
An old, gray-haired peasant suddenly stepped out of the crowd and addressed his fellow villagers:
- Listen, people! Here before us is the most important Bolshevik - Lenin. Let's tell him about our misfortune. Who else, if not him, will help us...
People started talking immediately. Trying to outshout each other, they began to tell Lenin about something very serious and, apparently, painful. Vladimir Ilyich stopped them.
- Well, comrades, this is no good. I won’t understand anything if you talk right away. Choose one who can really tell me everything. And you listen and if he misses something or says something wrong, correct him.
They chose a gray-bearded grandfather. He told Vladimir Ilyich about the disgrace reigning in their village. It turns out that the village council, violating the law, took away all the grain and seed from the poor. The people did not have a pound of flour or a single potato left.
Vladimir Ilyich listened with intense attention. Having listened to the peasants to the end, he asked them to write to him about this on paper, without missing a single fact or a single name.
- Be sure to describe everything exactly so that I don’t forget or get confused. Enemies are at work here, seeking to displease the peasants. “We’ll investigate and screw up whoever we should,” said Lenin (Vladimir Ilyich liked to use the word “bloat”).
About three hours later, on the way back, we stopped again in Bogdannkha. The letter was already ready. Lenin carefully hid it in his pocket, said goodbye to the peasants, and we left. Lenin sent a letter with his comments to the Cheka.
Vladimir Ilyich's assumption turned out to be correct. The enemies of the Soviet regime—kulaks and criminals—were active in the village. The kulak nest was opened and destroyed.
For some reason, most of the memories remain about the autumn of 1920. I remember another episode.
One Sunday, Vladimir Ilyich went by car to the village of Monino, located seventy kilometers from Moscow along the Northern Road.
According to one huntsman who lived in Monino, the forest adjacent to the village was an excellent place for autumn hunting for hares and black grouse.
We went to Monino for the first time. A familiar huntsman met us and took us to a small, very neat house located in the center of the village. Vladimir Ilyich noticed that the house we were heading to stood next to the church.
The owner greeted us cordially and asked us to make ourselves feel at home. He was an elderly, stately man who looked little like a peasant, more like a teacher or an agronomist. The books on the shelves caught my eye. .
Vladimir Ilyich’s sociability found a lively response in our hospitable host. Vladimir Ilyich loved to talk with people and knew how to provoke his interlocutor to be frank.
“Well, tell me, Comrade Predtechin,” Vladimir Ilyich turned to the owner, “how your peasants live, what they think about the Soviet government, what their mood is.”
Predtechin, who did not suspect that Lenin was speaking to him, willingly and wittily told how the peasants lived before the revolution, how they perceived the Soviet system. Then they started talking about agriculture, about the lives of individual peasant families, about the future of the Soviet village. At the same time, our host discovered very interesting views on the life of a peasant and expressed interesting thoughts to Lenin about agriculture
“Yes, all this is extremely interesting,” said Vladimir Ilyich. —You must be an agronomist? No?
“No...” Predtechin answered evasively and became a little embarrassed.
Lenin stood up and said:
- Well, now - into the forest! Go hunting! “Come with us, Comrade Predtechin,” he suggested to the owner!
He agreed, brought a gun from the next room, and we set off.
We went deeper into the forest. The dogs were sent forward, and the huntsman led the hunt. We divided into two groups: Vladimir Ilyich and Predtechin went to the right, and I and the huntsman went to the left. Somehow unexpectedly the huntsman turns to me:
What do you think is the profession of this Predchetin? I’ll surprise you: he is a priest, a minister of worship.
- What? Pop? Are you joking...
- Not at all. He serves in the very church that is next to his house. But he is not like other priests... He is not a fanatic. You see, he went hunting with us.
I decided to immediately tell Vladimir Ilyich about this. I think he will be amazed! He will probably be indignant that he was brought to the priest's hut.
But we were able to talk about this only in the evening, when we were returning from hunting.
The hunt was successful: each of us had a lot of dead hares hanging around. Vladimir Ilyich was in excellent spirits.
Approaching Predtechin's house, Vladimir Ilyich and I fell behind a little, and then I told him:
- But Predtechin is not an agronomist or a teacher, but a priest.
Lenin stopped and narrowed his eyes at me in disbelief.
- How so - pop? Probably an ex?
I explained that I was not an ex at all. Vladimir Ilyich at first refused to believe. A few minutes later, a conversation ensued between Lenin and Predtechin, which remained in my memory forever.
“Listen,” Vladimir Ilyich began, “there are rumors about you that you are a priest.” That it is true?
- Is it true. I have been a member of the clergy for about twenty years.
“I don’t understand, what kind of priest are you?” Your head is cropped, your clothes are ordinary, and before my eyes you killed animals!
Predtechin smiled and after a pause said:
- I understand your bewilderment. My appearance and my behavior are not in harmony with religion... It's true.
- What about beliefs? Do you really serve a religious cult out of sincere conviction?
Predtechin apparently realized that in front of him was a person with whom he had to speak frankly or stop talking altogether.
“You see,” said Predtechin, “I am a minister of worship only at certain hours, on Sundays...
- How can I understand you?
— Beliefs do not always keep pace with the profession. This happens often in life.
Vladimir Ilyich smiled knowingly and said:
- But it’s scary to cheat your whole life, huh? Confess!
Predtechin spread his hands and answered evasively:
“I myself am often surprised: the whole village sees me, knows that I violate religious rules left and right, but they go to church, listen and believe me.
- Why don’t you renounce? You could do some useful work.
Predtechin waved his hand:
- Late. The age is not the same... At my age, it is difficult to take up any craft. But the church still provides for me. This must be taken into account... My grandfather was a priest, my father too, and I followed the same path. Inertia! And what is most surprising is that both my father and grandfather very vaguely believed... One word - profession!
We approached the Forerunner's house. It was already evening. We had to get ready to hit the road in order to arrive in Moscow before nightfall. Saying goodbye to Vladimir Ilyich, Predtechin somehow said guiltily:
“Don’t judge me, citizen, there are a lot of contradictions in this world... Come to us, let’s go hunting.”
This meeting made an impression on Vladimir Ilyich. Sitting next to me in the car, he said:
- Have you seen, Comrade Gil, what religion is based on?
Once in winter, Vladimir Ilyich, driving past a station near Moscow, saw a church from which people were pouring out. It was obviously a holiday - Vladimir Ilyich laughed and said:
“And remember, Gil, how the priest and I hunted.” “Profession,” he said. - Inertia!
***
In December 1920, one Saturday evening, Vladimir Ilyich called me:
“I would like, Comrade Gil, to go somewhere far away tomorrow, about seventy miles away.” Is your sled in order?
- All right.
- How long do you think it will take us to cover seventy miles?
I explained that everything depends on the road and snow drifts. If the drifts are not very strong, we will get there in four hours.
“Well then, we’ll leave early, at six in the morning.”
I prepared the car, and early in the morning, long before dawn, we set off. The morning was frosty and windy, but this did not stop Vladimir Ilyich from making a long trip.
We drove along the Leningradskoye Highway. The road was very snowy, but quite smooth, and we reached the place in three and a half hours.
Vladimir Ilyich hunted foxes for several hours in a row and, despite the cold, went further and further into the thicket of the forest. He didn't get off his skis all day. I didn’t leave the car, warming it up. As dusk fell, we went to a nearby state farm to warm ourselves and drink tea.
At six o'clock in the evening we headed back, hoping to be home by nine o'clock. But then an incident happened, which Vladimir Ilyich later talked about cheerfully and with humor.
It was twenty degrees below zero. A fierce wind was blowing in the open field. We drove about fifteen kilometers, passed the Podsolnechnaya station, and suddenly the car started shooting. I look: the air pressure in the gasoline tank is normal, which means there is a blockage. We drove a little more and the car finally froze. I began to unscrew the gasoline pipe, my hands were numb in the cold. We’ve only been standing there for about ten minutes, and the water is already freezing. Vladimir Ilyich asks:
- How are you?
- It’s very bad, it’s impossible to go.
- Well, what should we do?
I advised leaving the sled and going to Podsolnechnaya station. Probably some train will go to Moscow, and we will get home. There was no other way out.
“Yes, that’s right,” said Vladimir Ilyich, “let’s go.”
We decided to go to the local Council and find out if there would still be a train to Moscow today. We came to the Council, we are looking for the chairman.
At first, no one recognized Vladimir Ilyich. But then I noticed a man who was looking intently at the portrait of Lenin, then at Vladimir Ilyich.
Then he began to whisper something in the ear of another comrade. They quickly went into the next room, it became clear: they recognized Vladimir Ilyich.
Soon the Council began to be in turmoil. Someone invited Vladimir Ilyich into one of the rooms. A lot of people began to gather. Everyone wanted to look at Lenin and talk to him. Many of those present tried in every possible way to help us in some way, giving advice on the best and easiest way to get to Moscow. —B Vladimir Ilyich behaved very simply, with his characteristic delicacy he thanked for the troubles and asked not to worry.
One of the leaders of the Council suggested that Vladimir Ilyich call a special steam locomotive from Moscow, proving that this was the surest way to quickly return home. Vladimir Ilyich flatly refused:
- Why a special locomotive? Completely unnecessary. We'll get there just fine and in a commercial way. Please don't worry, comrades.
We went out into the street and began walking along the station while waiting for the freight train. The wind died down, but the frost became even stronger. Hills of snow rose all around - traces of a long raging blizzard. There was not a shadow of irritation or dissatisfaction on Vladimir Ilyich’s face: he was still calm and joked at times. Inexhaustible cheerfulness did not leave him.
Soon a freight train arrived. The train is small - fifteen cars. We began to choose a carriage to get into. I noticed that the comrades from the Council were saying something to the station manager. He led us to the locomotive: next to it was a heated car, where the chief conductor and the crew were located.
A minute later we were in the carriage. It was quite warm here: the stove was blazing with all its might. We positioned ourselves around the stove, Lenin between me and one conductor.
“Yes,” says Vladimir Ilyich, smiling, “an adventure trip.” Well, it’s not bad here - it’s warm. We'll get there great. Everything needs to be experienced.
When we entered the carriage, there were several people there - conductors and security. But more and more people are gathering around the carriage and in the heated vehicle itself. It turns out that they learned from someone that Lenin was in the carriage, and everyone who was at the station at that time rushed to our carriage. Some people crowded around the open doors, and some of the bravest even climbed into the carriage.
We stood at the station for about fifteen minutes while the locomotive stocked up on fuel and water. But now the locomotive is attached, the chief conductor enters the carriage, followed by two Red Army soldiers. The station manager gives the departure signal, and we move to Moscow. The train went very quickly to the satisfaction of Vladimir Ilyich.
A few minutes later, one of the Red Army men turned to Vladimir Ilyich:
- Comrade Lenin, allow me to report...
Vladimir Ilyich looked up at him and said affably:
- Please tell me what's wrong. Sit down next to me, comrade,” and moved over to make room for the Red Army soldier.
The Red Army soldier sat down on the edge of the bench and timidly began his story, full of misadventures.
— I am the head of the team accompanying this train. We transported twenty carriages of medicine from Riga to Moscow. On the way, the axle boxes caught fire, and we lost several cars. I insisted that they not uncouple, but do the reloading, because I cannot leave guards on the cars. We have very little food, and without a change, people will disappear in this cold...
Vladimir Ilyich became wary, listening to the Red Army soldier with increasing attention.
“They didn’t pay any attention to my words,” continued the head of security. — the uncoupling was done, and I still had to leave people to guard the cars. I will give an incomplete composition and therefore I will probably end up in court. Please advise what I should do, Comrade Lenin?
Vladimir Ilyich listened very seriously, without interrupting, and, after a short silence, said:
- Yes, this is an amazing disgrace. Such cargo as medicines is now of great value to us. All this needs to be strictly investigated. And you, comrade, don’t worry, you won’t go to trial. When we arrive in Moscow, come with me, I will take measures.
The train stopped at the station. Vladimir Ilyich, accompanied by Red Army soldiers, went to Ortochek at the station. Lenin knocked on the window, it opened, and a man in military uniform appeared - Ortochek’s duty officer.
“Here’s the case, comrade...” began Vladimir Ilyich and told how, due to the fault of transport workers, several wagons with medicines got stuck on the way to Moscow. Having outlined everything in detail, he asked to provide the Red Army soldiers with a place to rest and not to disturb them until further notice.
Ortochek’s duty officer listened and was perplexed: who could this man in civilian clothes be, giving such responsible instructions? Vladimir Ilyich understood the bewilderment of the duty officer and took out his official pass from the Council of People's Commissars.
“I am Lenin,” he told the duty officer, handing over his identification.
The duty officer stood up:
- I obey, Comrade Lenin! Everything will be fulfilled.
Then Vladimir Ilyich said a friendly goodbye to the head of the train security, nodded his head to the duty officer, and we went to the Kremlin.
***
Once, while hunting near the Firsanovka station, where the “Silence” rest house was then located (now the “Mtsyri” sanatorium), we met an old man picking mushrooms.
Vladimir Ilyich became interested in him, sat down on the grass next to the old man and started a conversation. The conversation between the leader and the unfamiliar peasant went on for a long time and warmly. The old man was fascinated by his interlocutor.
- They say that some Lenin rules us. Now, if he, that Lenin, were like you, how good it would be! - he said.
***
Even during the days of his illness, Vladimir Ilyich, due to his characteristic mobility, did not give up walking, boating, playing croquet or playing small towns. If he met a good partner, Vladimir Ilyich played chess with great enthusiasm. He was an excellent chess player, in his youth he loved chess very much, but in recent years he still preferred physical entertainment, especially hunting. He believed that the only rest from mental work could be physical entertainment in the fresh air. He sometimes told me during meetings:
“It’s okay, Comrade Gil, I’ll soon get back on my feet, I’ll get better, and then we’ll get back to our old ways again!” It would be nice to go hunting for black grouse now! Is it true?
But Vladimir Ilyich never had to hunt again...
Humble and simple
Vladimir Ilyich was categorically against personal security, ceremonial meetings and all kinds of honors. He never stood out from the crowd, dressed extremely modestly, and was naturally simple in his dealings with employees and subordinates.Peasant walkers who came to Ilyich from hundreds, even thousands, of kilometers away, worried before entering Lenin’s office, left him encouraged and cheerful.
- How simple, how kind! - said the walkers. - This is a man!
I repeatedly had to observe how quietly and unnoticed Vladimir Ilyich appeared at crowded rallies, how modestly he made his way onto the stage or stage, although within a minute thousands of hands enthusiastically applauded him, having learned who this short man in an old-fashioned coat and an ordinary cap was.
In August 1918, I brought Vladimir Ilyich to the Polytechnic Museum, where Red Army soldiers gathered for a political report. It was noisy all around, there were a lot of people.
There are armed men at all twelve entrances. In front of the central entrance, some formidable sailor with a carbine on his shoulder and a bandolier on his chest checks passes and holds back the crowd. But it becomes more and more difficult to contain the pressure, people are banging on the door, and the Red Army soldiers came to the sailor’s aid.
In the midst of this chaos, a modestly dressed citizen in a black cap barely made his way to the sailor, trying to explain something. But his voice was drowned in the general chaos. The sailor did not deign to pay attention to the persistent citizen in the cap. He, like others, was carried to the side by the pressure of the crowd.
- Comrades, let me through! - the citizen shouts at the top of his voice, supported on one side by the crowd, and on the other by the Red Army soldiers. - Let me pass!
The sailor finally paid attention to the citizen in the cap and shouted to him:
- Where are you going? Show me your trade union book!!
“Please let me through,” the citizen insists. - I am Lenin.
But Lenin’s voice is drowned in noise, the sailor’s attention is already directed in another direction. One of the Red Army soldiers finally heard the name and said loudly in the sailor’s ear:
- Just wait! Do you know who this is? Lenin!
The sailor jumped to the side, and a passage instantly formed. Vladimir Ilyich safely made his way inside the building, where the front-line soldiers were impatiently waiting for him.
***
One feature was very characteristic of Vladimir Ilyich: the complete absence of arrogance, arrogance, and arrogance. Whether he spoke with the People's Commissar, with a major military leader, with a scientist or with a peasant from a remote Siberian village, he always remained simple, natural, humanly “ordinary.” His gestures, smile, jokes, sincere tone - everything instantly endeared him, eliminated tension and created an atmosphere of friendliness.
Vladimir Ilyich loved to tell funny stories, especially from the distant times of childhood and the period of emigration, but he also loved to listen to others. While listening, he unexpectedly asked questions, inserted a humorous phrase and laughed infectiously.
There was no way you could remain secretive, withdrawn or insincere in Lenin’s presence—his penetrating, slightly narrowed eyes seemed to tear off the veil of tension or secrecy from you, demanding frankness and truth. He was a very kind and sensitive person.
There was a case when I was driving with Vladimir Ilyich along Myasnitskaya (now Kirovskaya) street. There is a lot of traffic: trams, cars, pedestrians. I drive slowly, I’m afraid I’ll run into someone, I honk my horn all the time, I’m worried. Suddenly I see: Vladimir Ilyich opens the car door, walks up to me on the running board, risking being knocked over, sits down next to me and reassures me:
- Please do not worry. Gil, go like everyone else.
At the dacha, in the mornings, when I was preparing the car for departure, Vladimir Ilyich often helped me, and not with advice, but with deeds, with his hands. While I was busy with the engine, Ilyich, standing in front of the pump, pumped air into the chambers, and did it energetically and with pleasure.
Sometimes on the road, somewhere on Kashirskoye or another highway, the car gets stuck and you have to change the wheel or tinker with the engine. Vladimir Ilyich calmly got out of the car and, rolling up his sleeves, helped me like a real worker. He responded to my requests not to worry with jokes and continued his work.
During the years of the brutal civil war, there was an acute shortage of fuel. The city of Baku was captured by the whites, and a “gasoline famine” began. I had to work on bad fuel - gasoline, which clogged the engine and led to damage to the car. .
- Why do we stop so often? - asked Vladimir Ilyich. - What's the matter?
“Trouble, Vladimir Ilyich,” I answered. - A car needs light fuel, gasoline, but we use this rubbish - gasoline. What can you do!
- That's how it is! How to get out of this situation? — and then added: “We’ll have to be patient.”
When Baku again became Soviet, a tank with excellent gasoline arrived in Moscow addressed to the Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars, Lenin. Having learned about this surprise, Vladimir Ilyich said:
- Wonderful, Comrade Gil, wonderful! But why do we need so much gasoline? Need to share with others.
And he ordered the gasoline to be sent to some organization that was in charge of fuel. It was located in a large mansion on Kropotkinskaya Street.
***
Before me is a note written in the hand of Vladimir Ilyich at the end of 1919: “Comrade Gil! Comrade told me. Fotiev, that Rykov gave the order to issue short fur coats, felt boots, mittens and hats to you and 4 assistants today. Did you receive it or not? Lenin."
The story of this note is as follows. Vladimir Ilyich learned that, despite the winter cold, my garage assistants and I work without felt boots, mittens, or anything else. He could not ignore this fact and took care of each of us.
Ilyich’s sensitive and sympathetic nature did not tolerate inattention or neglect of a person. I don’t remember a time when he did not notice someone’s unhappiness, grief or dejected state, when Ilyich did not respond to a request, dissatisfaction or demand. He sometimes addressed me with the words:
- What's wrong with you, Gil? I see you are preoccupied with something today. No, no, my friend, don’t deny it, you’re alarmed about something! Isn't it true?
After such words, will you hide or conceal anything?
Having once met my wife, he inquired about her from time to time and inquired about our baby Mishutka. On the days when I took Vladimir Ilyich out of town for Sunday rest, he sometimes addressed me:
- Why didn’t you, Comrade Gil, capture your wife? Be sure to invite her next time too!
Nadezhda Konstantinovna was as simple and cordial in her dealings with people as Ilyich. On the way out of town, she always asked my wife about her work in the Kremlin cooperative, about living conditions, about her relatives who remained in Petrograd.
Treating the needs of his comrades with amazing sensitivity and responsiveness, striving in every possible way to improve their working and living conditions, Vladimir Ilyich himself, at the same time, was amazingly modest and undemanding.
I remember the following. When the Soviet government moved from Petrograd to Moscow, Lenin was offered a spacious and comfortable apartment. But he rejected this offer and settled in a small apartment with low ceilings, tiny rooms and the simplest furniture.
I also remember something else: one of the directors of state farms near Moscow decided to send him fruit during the days of Vladimir Ilyich’s illness. Vladimir Ilyich tore the “helpful” director to smithereens, and ordered the fruit to be immediately sent to a children’s sanatorium.
Vladimir Ilyich’s modesty was not feigned, not artificial, but natural, coming from the heart. In 1921, in the Kremlin, I witnessed the following episode. It happened in the Kremlin hairdresser. Several people were waiting in line. Suddenly Lenin entered, asked who was last, and modestly sat down on a chair. He took a magazine out of his pocket and began to read. A chair became vacant, and Ilyich was asked to take a seat out of turn.
“No, no, comrades, thank you,” said Vladimir Ilyich, “we must respect the queue.” After all, we ourselves established this order. I'll wait. "
Vladimir Ilyich terribly disliked excessive attention to his person and could not stand sycophancy or servility. He did not like to be called “great” or “brilliant”. He winced and waved his hand when at rallies or meetings they began to exalt him and give him a standing ovation. He simply forbade adding any epithets or titles to his name.
- I'm sorry, what? - he mockingly stopped his interlocutor, who called him “comrade of the Council of People’s Commissars.” - Why so magnificently, my dear? Call me by my last name or first name. It's much easier! - and laughed good-naturedly.
***
One of Lenin's remarkable traits was his love for children. It manifested itself in Vladimir Ilyich in a special way, as in very courageous and gentle people.
I remember an episode that I witnessed back in the period when the capital of the newly created Soviet state was in Petrograd.
The war took everything to the last crumb. The huge city was gripped by unemployment and hunger. A harsh, merciless winter was approaching. Not only ordinary residents, but also state leaders were starving. Vladimir Ilyich's breakfast often consisted of a glass of tea without sugar and a small slice of black bread.
Smolny in those days was guarded by armed workers and sailors. A group of female workers approached one of the entrances to Smolny and demanded to be allowed to see Lenin.
“The children are starving,” they said, “and we have to go to Siberia.” If we don't get there, we'll die along the way. Please skip!
But security did not let them inside the building. Suddenly a short man in a black coat with a shawl collar and a hat with earflaps appeared, stopped, listened and quietly said to the senior guard:
- Let them through.
The amazement of the women petitioners was great when the same man entered the reception room, but without a coat and hat, and said:
- I am Lenin. Are you coming to me, I think?
One woman cried:
- I’m going to Siberia... Five children... I wish I had some milk!
- They won’t let you go? - asked Ilyich.
- They released one can of condensed milk, but it took three whole weeks...
Vladimir Ilyich turned to others:
-Are you also involved in this matter?
The women confirmed. Then Lenin went to the phone, called and ordered that each of the women be given five cans of condensed milk. The women were touched. After all, Lenin himself ordered the milk to be given to them!
Vladimir Ilyich wished the women a happy journey and went to his office.
After one of Lenin’s speeches at the Trekhgornaya Manufactory factory, the children of the workers of this factory performed recitations and revolutionary songs. Ilyich listened to them attentively and with pleasure. After the “concert,” Lenin stayed in the factory club and talked for a long time with the workers, answering numerous questions.
One of the kids, no more than six or seven years old, came up to Vladimir Ilyich and said:
- Uncle Lenin, I am also a Bolshevik and a communist!
Vladimir Ilyich burst out laughing, took the child in his arms and exclaimed:
- These are the wonderful people we have growing up! I just learned to walk, and I’m already a communist!
Vladimir Ilyich, busy with government affairs, found time to inquire whether Moscow children were provided with milk and vegetables.
When the Lesnye Polyany state farm near Moscow began supplying Moscow hospitals and children's institutions with milk and other products, Vladimir Ilyich said that local authorities were acting correctly, that this system should be supported and developed, that a ring of such large state farms should be organized around Moscow - they should “fill milk” with Moscow children.
In the last years of Lenin's life, food parcels from different cities and villages often arrived in his name. Lenin's domestic worker, Sanya Sysoeva, usually reported:
- Vladimir Ilyich, again a parcel of food in your name. Accept?
“Accept, definitely accept,” answered Ilyich, “and immediately, Sanya, send me to a nursery or a children’s hospital.” Won't you forget?
And the next day, as usual, I coped:
- Well, Sanechka, how did you send the parcel?
One day, fishermen from the Volga brought Ilyich sturgeon.
Sanya was delighted and began cutting the fish.
“That’s good,” she said, “that’s enough for a few days.” Otherwise, our Vladimir Ilyich lives from hand to mouth.
Suddenly Ilyich entered the kitchen and noticed the fish.
- Wonderful fish! - he exclaimed. -Where is she from?
And when he found out that the fishermen had brought it to him as a gift, he sternly said to Sana:
“You must have forgotten my request: do not accept any gifts!” And wrap up this fish and immediately send it to an orphanage!
- Vladimir Ilyich, but you also need to eat! You work as hard as you can, but the food you eat is worse than ever!
- Well, here we go again! Children all around are starving, and you decided to treat me to sturgeon. Send it to your kids today!
Everyone who knew Lenin was struck by his very special, attentive and very serious attitude towards children.
In Gorki, I often saw Vladimir Ilyich walking with his little nephew Vitya, the son of Dmitry Ilyich Ulyanov. He talked to him like an adult, forced him to read poetry out loud and tell fairy tales. Ilyich laughed infectiously as he listened to the six-year-old boy.
In the same way, Lenin was “friends” with the janitor’s little daughter, Verochka, who lived in Tarasovka, at Bonch-Bruevich’s dacha. “Friendship” was the most sincere; Verochka always joyfully greeted “Uncle Volodya”, walked with him for a long time and always told him something in detail. And Ilyich, holding her hand, listened intently, at times frowning, at times laughing cheerfully.
Vladimir Ilyich was a great and sincere friend of children all his life - he loved them, understood them and believed in them.
In Gorki
The last years of Vladimir Ilyich’s life were closely connected with the village of Gorki near Moscow. The villainous attempt on Ilyich’s life in August 1918 and exceptionally hard work undermined his health. At the insistence of doctors, Lenin was forced to leave the city.At the end of September of the same year, Vladimir Ilyich first came to the Gorki estate. And starting from the winter of 1921, he came here especially often to relax and work.
I remember we often played gorodki in Gorki. Vladimir Ilyich loved this simple and cheerful game and always willingly joined those playing. He played with animation. He good-naturedly scolded those who played ineptly:
- What kind of players are you? I just started playing and I’m beating everyone! Not ashamed?
He reprimanded workers who played gorodki poorly:
- What kind of proletarians are you? Do proletarians beat you like that?
This was followed by a well-aimed blow from Vladimir Ilyich and his words:
- That's how you hit it!
Vladimir Ilyich was sincerely pleased with his success and laughed merrily when the blow was especially successful. He once said with a grin to one construction worker:
“For playing like this, I’m making you a second-hand master!”
If you drive along the Kashirskoye Highway from Moscow towards the Pakhra River, then on the wall of the house on the left side of Kolkhoznaya Street in the village of Gorki, you can see a marble plaque with the words: “V. I. Lenin spoke in this house on January 9, 1921 at a meeting of peasants in the village of Gorki.”
It was a difficult year. The young Soviet Republic, having repelled the invasion of countless hordes of White Guards and interventionists, emerged from the civil war with a disorganized national economy. There was a shortage of bread, salt, fuel, and consumer goods.
The peasants of the village of Gorki invited Vladimir Ilyich to talk with them about government affairs and their needs.
- Well, with pleasure! - Vladimir Ilyich answered, after listening to the peasants who came to him with an invitation. - If I’m not busy tomorrow, then wait in the evening, around six o’clock.
The peasants decided to convene a meeting in the hut of Vasily Shulgin. At dusk, more than a hundred people gathered. As they say, there was nowhere for the apple to fall. Having learned that Lenin would speak, residents of neighboring villages also came to Gorki. Naturally, I was also interested in this meeting, and I went to Shulgin’s hut.
At six o'clock Vladimir Ilyich came here together with Nadezhda Konstantinovna, and the meeting began. Ilyich spoke quietly, emphasizing particularly important parts of his speech with an energetic wave of his hand or lightly tapping his palm on the table.
People listened to the leader with bated breath. Vladimir Ilyich, as I remember; said something like this:
“Let’s put an end to the war and establish a life that our fathers never dreamed of.” Farm labor, poverty, and lack of culture will disappear forever. Bast shoes, torch, epidemic diseases, etc. will become a thing of the past. We just need to defend Soviet power from its enemies - that is our main task!
At this meeting, Vladimir Ilyich noticed that there was no electricity in Gorki. Isn’t it time, he said, to stop lighting the huts with a torch? A nearby state farm power station could provide electricity for the village.
“I will help you in any way I can,” Ilyich said to the assembled peasants and inquired: does anyone have any questions?
Many questions were asked, and Lenin answered them willingly. The meeting ended late.
After some time, electric lighting appeared in the houses of Gorki.
***
In Gorki, near the house where Vladimir Ilyich lived, there is a dense and beautiful park with alleys and small areas. At the end of one alley, on the sides, two huge and very thick spruce trees grew. They stood here, apparently, for many decades, towering over the entire park.
From the very first days of his life in Gorki, Vladimir Ilyich drew attention to these giant trees and often admired their height and slenderness.
- These are the trees! - he admired. - Just a miracle!
One summer evening in 1919 we arrived from the Kremlin to Gorki. Vladimir Ilyich got out of the car and began to walk along the alleys of the park as usual. He breathed deeply, enjoying the silence and the smell of spruce and pine trees. After a walk, he sat down on a bench and leaned back. I sat down next to him. Vladimir Ilyich asked me about something. Suddenly he fell silent, his gaze directed into the distance. I looked in the same direction, but saw nothing. Vladimir Ilyich said:
- Look, Gil, where is the other tree?
At the end of the alley there was only one orphaned spruce. There was no second one. Instead, there was a gap. I was surprised: only a few days ago, on our last visit to Gorki, both trees stood!
We quickly headed to the end of the alley and made sure that the tree had recently been cut down. What remained was a powerful stump, fresh and fragrant. Vladimir Ilyich stood silently for a minute, then spoke indignantly:
- This is anarchy! Who dared to do this? We need to find out whose hands this was. We won't leave it like this...
It turned out that only two days ago the commandant of the house in Gorki ordered the cutting down of one of the fir trees. She seemed withered and unnecessary to him.
I told Vladimir Ilyich about this. He thought about it and said:
- He should be punished thoroughly!
And the zealous commandant received a strong punishment.
Vladimir Ilyich was very careful about living nature and tried to instill the same attitude towards it in the people around him. He reacted with great intolerance to the damage and destruction of natural resources.
One Saturday evening, Vladimir Ilyich called me to his place.
“That’s it, Comrade Gil,” he said, looking at the map. — We’ve been to Sokolniki, but we haven’t seen anything except the park. You should check out this place. Shall we go?
The next morning we moved to Sokolniki. Nadezhda Konstantinovna and Maria Ilyinichna came with us.
We toured Sokolniki Park and stopped often. Vladimir Ilyich got out of the car, walked around, and was interested in every little thing. From the park we headed towards the Bogatyr factory. A wonderful view opened up before us: on both sides, at some elevation, there was a dense forest. The green pines and white birches looked especially beautiful on this sunny morning. Everyone really liked the area. It was decided to come here next Sunday.
The next visit to Sokolniki was overshadowed by one circumstance. Having passed the “Bogatyr” and finding himself in a beautiful, dense and fragrant forest, Vladimir Ilyich drew attention to the stumps of recently cut down pine and birch trees.
Getting out of the car and going deeper into the forest, we saw many more felled trees, stacks of chopped firewood, and then the woodcutters themselves. Unhindered by anyone, they cut down the forest. Vladimir Ilyich spoke to them and learned that Bogatyr, which lacks fuel, was sending people to cut down the forest. Following the example of “Bogatyr”, the population of Sokolniki also cuts down forests to prepare fuel for the winter.
This outrage deeply outraged Vladimir Ilyich.
- What a disgrace! - he said. - They are plundering and destroying such a forest! We need to end this.
Vladimir Ilyich spoke several times that day about the bacchanalia taking place in the forests.
— They cut down the forest, and then what? Where will the population rest? It’s simple and easy to destroy, but when will we grow it again?
In the evening Vladimir Ilyich told me:
- That's it, Comrade Gil, tomorrow you will remind me of this story. We must take action!
Vladimir Ilyich often asked me to remind him of an issue that arose during one of his trips.
The next day, Vladimir Ilyich gave the order: immediately stop the destruction of trees in Sokolniki and organize the protection of all forests and parks.
Soon a decree was signed on the strictest protection of suburban forests in a thirty-verst strip around Moscow.
Lenin's decree saved many of our wonderful parks and forests from destruction.
On the last journey
It was a moonlit, transparent evening. The severe frost brightened the windows. There was a lot of snow in the morning and there were snowdrifts on the streets. There was no sign of misfortune.Suddenly my assistant entered the room where I was and froze at the door. He was pale, his hands were noticeably shaking. Something sank in my chest and I became wary. In an intermittent voice, almost a whisper, he said:
- Lenin died...
A cry escaped me:
- What? When did he die? Well, speak up!
I ran out of the house and went to Gorki. The thought kept piercing the road: “Has he really died? Is it really the end?
I am approaching the House where Vladimir Ilyich lived for several years. The colonnade is already entwined with black and red panels. Someone's caring hand scattered flowers near the façade. They stand out brightly against a snow-white background. I remember how Vladimir Ilyich loved winter, snow, how he loved the park behind the house, the river, winter evenings... All this is there, exists, but Vladimir Ilyich is no longer there. Died!..
The quiet rooms are dim and quiet. The windows and mirrors are covered with black crepe. People speak in low voices. Towards Nadezhda Konstantinovna, quiet, sad. Doctors and nurses walk silently.
After passing through two or three dimly lit rooms, I found myself in a small hall, where Vladimir Ilyich was lying on a table in the middle of the room. The table was covered in flowers and greenery. The balcony is open, the room is cold. I approached the table.
Vladimir Ilyich...
He lay calm, little changed. No signs of suffering. Has he really died?..
Memories flash through my head. Petrograd, Smolny, rallies... Then Moscow, the Kremlin, walks, an event at the Mikhelson factory, hunting in the forest, his laughter and jokes... And now he lies forever silent, his heart no longer beats. Never again will I hear his charming laugh, his slightly guttural voice, his “comrade Gil,” “well, bye.”
The room is crowded with people. They speak in a whisper. Quiet, hidden sighs of Maria Ilyinichna, Anna Ilyinichna, Nadezhda Konstantinovna.
The silence lasts a long time. Everyone stands without taking their eyes off Vladimir Ilyich’s face. Then they went into another room. They walked silently, dejectedly, quietly. The room was empty.
In another room, doctors, led by Semashko, were drawing up a report on the illness and death of Vladimir Ilyich. Someone started talking about an autopsy.
The time was approaching midnight. It was time to return to Moscow. All those present again reached out to Vladimir Ilyich, again surrounded him in a tight ring and for a long time could not tear themselves away or leave the room.
In Moscow, almost no one knew about the death of Vladimir Ilyich. By morning, not only all of Moscow, but also the whole world learned about Lenin’s death. Great mourning began.
Alarm beeps were heard in factories and factories. Rallies were organized everywhere. Work has stopped. Signs of mourning and sadness began to appear on houses, squares, trams, and enterprises.
All the streets of Moscow began to quickly fill with people. Huge masses of people stood in the streets. Everyone was talking about Lenin's death. Newspapers and leaflets passed from hand to hand. One thing was heard everywhere: “Lenin has died...”
The news spread that the body of Vladimir Ilyich would be transported to Moscow and the coffin with the body would be placed for the people to bid farewell to him in the Hall of Columns of the House of Unions.
Moscow residents and numerous delegations flocked to the Paveletsky station, where the train with Lenin’s body was supposed to arrive.
I was instructed to receive the coffin from the funeral home and deliver it to Gorki. It was hard to carry out such an assignment, it was hard to get used to the idea that Vladimir Ilyich was no longer alive...
A huge crowd gathered at the sled and around the funeral home. Strangers came up to me and persistently asked me to allow them to accompany the coffin to Gorki. Some people voluntarily squeezed into the sleigh and took refuge behind the coffin.
January 23. Moscow is in mourning. The whole city was buzzing with excitement. From early morning, the population of Moscow began to gather at the Paveletsky station and along the route of the funeral procession to the House of Unions.
The frost grew stronger, burning and stinging my face. But the cold had no effect on people. All of Moscow was on the street.
The funeral train delivered the coffin with the body of Vladimir Ilyich to Moscow. There are hundreds of thousands of people near the station square, on the platform and on the streets. The orchestra announced the arrival of the train with a funeral march. Despite the bitter cold, everyone bared their heads. Even children.
Vladimir Ilyich's closest friends, associates and relatives bear the coffin.
Here is the House of Unions. In the huge funeral hall, the coffin with the body of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin is installed on a pedestal.
At seven o'clock in the evening access was opened to bid farewell to the body. The doors are wide open. An endless line of thousands of people pours into the hall to take a last look at the features of dear Vladimir Ilyich.
The relatives and friends of the deceased are on the guard of honor. Factory workers, military men, peasants, and students are standing there.
I don’t take my eyes off his face, and my first meetings with him, his words, heartfelt laughter, inexhaustible cheerfulness are resurrected in my memory...
The night did not calm Moscow. Despite the brutal thirty-five degree frost, the streets are crowded with people. Everyone goes to the House of Unions. The queue is getting longer every hour. Huge fires are burning everywhere.
The people's farewell to their leader has been going on for three days. People are walking in continuous streams. They are coming from the center, from the outskirts of Moscow. They come from near and far cities and villages. Delegations with wreaths are moving from the stations.
The hour of parting is approaching. The mausoleum on Red Square is already ready. At exactly four o'clock in the afternoon the coffin was lifted to be carried to the Mausoleum.
A cannon salute rang out and gun salvos thundered.
At these moments, the entire life of the vast country stopped. Traffic on the streets, railways, on the seas and rivers, work in mines, factories and institutions - everything froze.
Stepan Gil Driver of the Imperial Garage. One of Lenin's personal drivers. The first head of the Special Purpose Garage. After the October Revolution, the garage passed to the Council of People's Commissars. Gil in his book...
Stepan Gil
Driver of the Imperial Garage. One of Lenin's personal drivers. The first head of the Special Purpose Garage. After the October Revolution, the garage passed to the Council of People's Commissars. Gil, in his book of memoirs “Six Years with Lenin,” published in 1957, writes that he met Lenin on the third day - November 9, 1917.
On the first day of working with Lenin, the driver's car was stolen
And he drove him in a Turka-Meri limousine, which was stolen on the same day. Through the efforts of security officers and colleagues, the car was discovered on the outskirts of the city, in the barn of one of the fire brigades. It was stolen by employees of the same fire brigade, who wanted to repaint the car and take it to Finland.
Gil witnessed Fanny Kaplan's attempt on Lenin's life and even rushed after her until she threw herself into the fleeing crowd. Less than six months had passed before the car of the Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars was attacked by the raider Yakov Koshelkov. But this time everything worked out fine. The raiders were drunk and did not immediately understand who they were attacking.
After Lenin's death he was the driver of Krupskaya, Mikoyan and Vyshinsky. In 1930 he joined the CPSU(b). In 1945, he accompanied Vyshinsky on a trip to defeated Germany to select the highest quality captured car for him.
He died in 1966 at the age of 78.
Adolf Kegress
Personal chauffeur of Emperor Nicholas II. Kegresse was born in 1879 in France. Engineer, mechanic, inventor. From 1904 he worked as a technician at the Lessner company, which supplied cars to the royal garage. In 1906, he met Prince Orlov, who put the entire imperial court on the motor. The prince purchased two new Daimler-Lutskaya cars from the company for the Imperial garage, and he liked this young and smart specialist so much that he offered to become a technical director in Tsarskoe Selo with an annual salary of 4,200 rubles. The fleet of cars increased, and eventually he became the personal driver of the last king.
He drove the car perfectly at a speed of 65-75 km/h (the most powerful cars could already accelerate to 130 km/h). To any objections to such fast driving, Kegress replied that the Emperor liked it. The garage staff increased. A driver's school appeared. Now drivers had to not only transport royalty, but also repair their cars and act as bodyguards.
Kergess did not give up his inventive activity.
Nicholas II's personal driver invented a wheel-tracked propulsion system
He dealt with the problem of stability and cross-country ability of cars in winter. Invented a ski-track propulsion system for snowy slopes.
His inventions proved to be quite successful, and he patented them. Kegress created a whole series of half-track vehicles. Light, cargo and even armored.
After his abdication, he handed over all the property of the garage to the Provisional Government, and he and his family got into a car and left for Finland, from where they returned to their homeland. He collaborated with the Citroen company, which acquired his patent, thanks to which several other automobile factories bought his patents. In the USSR, its developments were also improved and continued to be produced until 1943. The same year the inventor himself died at the age of 63.
Hello, does the name Gil mean anything to you?
- What would you like? - answered a stern female voice.
Realizing that the entire subsequent conversation would depend on the answer I formulated, I tried to be as brief as possible. Leaning slightly towards the intercom, I began to speak, trying to be as polite as possible.
I live not far from you, and have already visited you twice, but the elderly woman answered me both times - come at another time. The thing is that I read in a book that in 1960 Lenin’s driver Gil lived in this apartment on Izmailovsky Boulevard.
So what? What exactly do you need?
I just wanted to know what happened to Stepan Kazimirovich? Does he have any descendants? Where can you find them?
Young man, who are you? Do you just consider it your duty to call our apartment every time you pass by?
- Sorry for the impudence, I am a journalist, I am confused by some inconsistencies in the assassination attempt on Lenin. So, I wanted to know how and where I can find the descendants of Stepan Kazimirovich? Tell me, how long have you been living in this apartment? – Having blurted out these phrases, I already realized that my pressure would not be crowned with success. In addition to this, for some reason I lied that I was a journalist. How many times have I been convinced that lying does not lead to good, and here it is again...
On this day, I again had the opportunity to visit the museum, The Myth of the Beloved Leader, where, as in previous years, a bullet-ridden coat was put on display, next to a small bullet stuck in the leader’s neck, which is why, filled with thoughts, I decided on a third assault on the apartment.
We have lived in this apartment all our lives, but sorry, we no longer give interviews. We don’t want journalists to ruin the memory of our grandfather again.
It's clear! Would you like me to give you a book where Gil indicates his address in the protocol?
Arguments and Facts recently re-published all materials related to the assassination attempt on Lenin. We won’t tell you anything new, and we have plenty of all these books. We no longer communicate with journalists. All the best.
“Thank you,” I barely had time to answer, when the connection at the other end had already been cut off, and angry beeps started beeping on the intercom.
Like this! I passed by this house so many times without even realizing that Lenin’s personal driver lived here. However, although Moscow is big, it still remains a small village.
Just think about it, so as not to create precedents for the struggle for power, from 1918 to 1922 Lenin walked with a bullet. Let me also remind you that S.K. Gil was Lenin’s personal driver, he covered Ilyich with his body during the second assassination attempt.
Years have passed, and now the granddaughter of S.K. Gil is hiding from journalists so that they do not “taint” the memory of her grandfather.
Historical information from Wikipedia.
Stepan Kazimirovich Gil (1888-1966) - Lenin’s personal driver, first head of the Special Purpose Garage (1920)
Pole. Before the revolution, he served as a driver in the Imperial Garage. Since 1917 - Lenin's personal driver. In 1920 - head of the Special Purpose Garage. He witnessed the assassination attempt on Lenin in 1918. After Lenin’s death, he continued to serve in the Special Purpose Garage, and was the driver of A.I. Mikoyan and A.Ya. Vyshinsky. Author of the memoirs “Six Years with Lenin” (1928). Member of the CPSU since 1930.
