My friends,
our union is beautiful!
It's like a soul, inseparable and
eternal —
Unyielding, free
and carefree,
It grew under the shade of friendly muses.
Do you remember these lines from Pushkin's poem "October 19th"? Written in 1825, it was dedicated to the founding day of the Lyceum, which was constantly celebrated by the students of the first graduating class. Praised and glorified by the poet, the Lyceum remained, even after 1843, when it was moved to Petersburg and renamed the Imperial Alexander Lyceum, in a broad sense, no less Pushkinian.
N.K. Teletova, a literary figure from Petersburg and the author of several books on the works of Pushkin, Tsvetaeva, and Nabokov, in her publication "The Case of the Lyceum Students" of 1925, writes about how reverently Lyceum traditions were observed, how solemnly and warmly the poet's days were celebrated, and his memorable dates were marked. She draws the readers' attention to one of the bright events of 1899. During the days when the centenary of the great poet's birth was celebrated, the director of the Tsarskoye Selo Gymnasium, Innokenty Fedorovich Annensky, addressed Lyceum students of different years gathered in the Chinese Theater of the Alexander Park with a lecture titled "Pushkin and Tsarskoye Selo." Annensky spoke about how Pushkin's glory illuminated the post-Pushkinian era Lyceum students with its special poetic light.
Could Annensky have known what role Pushkin's name would play in a much more terrifying era, a quarter of a century after the anniversary? It is difficult, of course, to imagine that in 1925 the "Case of the Lyceum Students" would emerge, as it was named by the survivors and their relatives. In the Chekist archives, however, it was given other names: "Case of the Students", "Union of the Faithful", "Counterrevolutionary Monarchist Organization".
This was one of the early terrorist acts of the young Bolshevik government. The best part of the intelligentsia, which made an invaluable contribution to the development of Russian culture, science, and the successes of Russian diplomacy, was decapitated.
The persecution of former Lyceum students became one of the bloody pages in this tragic chronicle, and arrests in this case were made in Leningrad on the night from Saturday to Sunday — from February 14 to 15, 1925. No one tried to hide because no one knew of any guilt. All cases were crudely concocted. What were these people not accused of! From espionage to organizing mutual aid funds in the Lyceum, to the "October 19th conspiracy"... Once a year, on the "sacred day of the Lyceum", its students gathered for a dinner at one of their comrades, conversed, and reminisced. These traditional friendly gatherings became one of the reasons for the conspiracy accusation. They were even incriminated for ordering memorial services in one of the churches for deceased comrades and members of the imperial family.
Trials in this case were held secretly, unknown to the general population. Often, even the "participants in the organizations", as they were called in punitive bodies, did not know what they were accused of. Only articles of the criminal code were mentioned in the case materials. The arrested were placed in the prison on Shpalernaya Street. There they were sentenced.
The diary of the art historian N.N. Punin has been preserved. The entry dated July 18, 1925, reads: "Lyceum students were shot. They say 52 people, the rest were exiled, property up to children's toys and winter clothes confiscated."
Those sentenced to exile were taken away in ordinary trucks (special transport would be invented, or rather revived, later) to the Nikolayevsky Railway Station (renamed the Moscow Railway Station a year earlier). Along Znamenskaya Street, from early morning, relatives and loved ones stood: the word of mouth was more reliable than the silent newspaper. "To Solovki!" - someone shouted from the truck.
How many Lyceum students fell victim to repression in total? Today, it is impossible to find a complete list of those involved in the case, but we have tried to reconstruct it from memories and documents. Ekaterina Adasova-Shilder greatly assisted us; her relatives were involved in this case. In 2012, she published her book, where she tried to understand the tragedy of the Shilder family. We are very grateful to her for her help; without her, we would not have been able to establish a complete list of those involved in the case.
Today we can speak of the names of 82 accused in the "Case of the Lyceum Students". According to the case records, 35 people fell under the highest measure of punishment for two of the most severe articles. On June 22, 1925, during a meeting of the OGPU Collegium, the list of those sentenced to the highest measure of punishment was approved. However, the name of 70-year-old Vladimir Alexandrovich Shilder had to be removed. He died in prison.
Among the accused were eight women, in various degrees associated with the Lyceum. Among them was 69-year-old Anna Mikhailovna Shilder, the wife of the Lyceum's director. Their son, Lyceum student Mikhail, was shot, while his mother's death sentence was commuted to exile in the Solovki labor camps. The second female prisoner of the Chekist dungeons was Natalia Mikhailovna, the wife of Lyceum student A. S. Putilov, who was sentenced to the highest measure of punishment. The fate of this woman, also deeply unfortunate, was tinged with a certain degree of romance. After her husband's execution and receiving a 10-year sentence in the labor camps, she was sent to Solovki. There she found a second love. But the ray of light in the life of this charming woman was short-lived. Her beloved, also in exile, was among the 300 "hostile to the Soviet government" who were shot. Natalia faced a different fate. In 1937, while serving as an engineer in Arkhangelsk, she was arrested again on fabricated charges (espionage in favor of Japan) and was shot a year later.
N.K. Teletova made the greatest contribution to the study of the Lyceum students' case. Her conclusion about this case is that, despite the undeniable innocence of these people, the Chekist authorities approached their selection quite deliberately and purposefully. These were honorable people who did not hesitate to hold memorial services for the deceased — both for comrades and for the imperial family. These people sacredly preserved the traditions of the Lyceum. Neglecting the danger, they invariably met on traditional October days. Many of those who fell victim to repression had their roots almost in the Pushkin's first course. For example, Baron Alexander Nikolaevich Grevens, sentenced to execution. The highest measure of punishment was imposed on Prince Nikolai Golitsyn, Boris Pleske, Alexei Richter, whose pedigrees date back to the mid-19th century. In the view of the Chekist top, these people posed a danger with their influence on society and needed to be isolated or destroyed.
Two Lyalin family names are listed in the "execution group" — an uncle and his nephew. The elder was the commander of Empress Maria Feodorovna's yacht "Polar Star". For this, he was accused of espionage, that is, of aiding the Romanovs who fled abroad. He was also "caught" in several conspiracies. The nephew, Nikolai Lyalin, after graduating from the Lyceum in 1910, became a captain in the Semenovsky Regiment. After the revolution, he became an accountant-agronomist, but in November 1924, he was dismissed from this job. To support his family, he had to pawn his wedding ring, a silver cigarette case, and a pen, then called an "eternal pen". The receipts for the items pawned that were found during the search exacerbated the guilt of the former Lyceum student, officer, and participant in World War I.
One of the central figures in the "Case of the Lyceum Students" was Mikhail Shilder, the son of the former director of the Alexander Lyceum, familiar to readers. Mikhail was sentenced to death for "military espionage," expressed in the fact that since the summer of 1924, together with another Lyceum student, I.A. Blinov, they were compiling a World Statistical-Economic Handbook for Gosizdat. Moreover, M. Shilder collected information about former Lyceum students, was a member of one of the church parish councils, and corresponded with someone abroad through an American organization providing economic assistance to Soviet Russia... All these accusations cost the former Lyceum student his life. And his comrade I.A. Blinov was "lucky" — he only got away with ten years of labor camps.
Brief Overview of the Case:
"The Case of the Lyceum Students" was a fabricated case by the Unified State Political Directorate (OGPU) under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR in 1925 in Leningrad, accusing a group of graduates from the Alexandrovsky Lyceum of creating a counter-revolutionary monarchical organization. The OGPU referred to the case as "No. 194 B," also known as the "Counter-Revolutionary Monarchical Organization," as well as "the Case of the Students" and "the Union of the Faithful."
A total of over 150 people were arrested in connection with the case on the night of February 15, 1925.
The arrested individuals were charged under Articles 61 ("Participation in the organization or assistance to an organization acting in the direction of aiding international bourgeoisie") and 66 ("Participation in espionage of any kind, expressed in the transmission, communication, or collection of information that has the character of state secrets, especially military, to foreign states or counter-revolutionary organizations for counter-revolutionary purposes or for reward") of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR.
Investigators (identified):
Authorized for counter-revolutionary organization affairs (KRO) PP OGPU of the Leningrad Military District Lange (Migachevsky), Alexander Ivanovich (1887-1935). In the bodies of the Cheka-OGPU-NKVD: since 1920, an employee of the Pskov provincial Cheka; since 1921, head of the counterintelligence department of the Pskov provincial Cheka; since February 1922, head of the counterintelligence department of the Pskov provincial GPU; since 1924 (? until November 25th), authorized for KRO PP OGPU for the Leningrad Military District; ... ? ...; since ? (until October 34th), deputy authorized for the 7th (economic intelligence; Soviet colonies) department (D.M. Smirnov) of the NKVD Foreign Department; ... ? ...
Authorized representative of the OGPU in the Leningrad Military District Stanislav Adamovich Messing (1890-1937). In the bodies of the Cheka-OGPU-NKVD: from December 1918, head of the secret-operational department of the Moscow Cheka, in July 1920 approved as a member of the Cheka collegium. On January 3, 1921, appointed chairman of the Moscow Cheka. Since October 1922, simultaneously commanded the troops of the GPU of the Petrograd region, then - head of the Leningrad OGPU and deputy chairman of the OGPU. In this position, he carried out a series of operations to identify emigrant and White Guard agents, as well as to eliminate political opponents. From October 27, 1929, to July 31, 1931, - 2nd deputy chairman of the OGPU, headed the Foreign Department of the OGPU. On June 15, 1937, he was arrested, sentenced in a special procedure. Shot on September 2, 1937. Rehabilitated posthumously on October 6, 1956.
Course of the Case:
On February 15, 1925, the suspects were arrested. Investigative Case No. 31855.
On May 7, 1925, the authorized KRO PP OGPU of the Leningrad Military District, Lange A.I., after reviewing the investigative case on charges of counter-revolutionary and espionage activities and involvement in the monarchical organization, petitioned the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR for permission to consider the case out of court in the Collegium of the OGPU. A list was attached (a total of 81 people). Authorized Lange A.I. drew attention to the fact that "the activity of the monarchical organization, to which the enumerated accused were adjacent, is extensive, and that its active activity in recent times has taken very serious forms, that it is being developed with the help of an extensive apparatus, both foreign intelligence and internal intelligence on the territory of the entire Republic, that at present, about 400 persons involved in the activities of this organization have been identified in Leningrad, and that the consideration of this case in a court session will lead to the unconditional decryption of the measures taken to eliminate this activity and will seriously threaten the valuable apparatus of foreign intelligence, and, taking into account at the same time, that the hearing of the case in court will be ... ... ... unfavorable, since the publicity of the activity not only abroad but also in quite large layers of the anti-Soviet population of the Republic will give rise to the assumption of, allegedly, the existence of large hidden forces, under its management of monarchists, and thereby will serve as a stimulus, prompting active struggle against the Soviet government." The petition was accompanied by interrogation protocols.
On June 22, 1925, by the Collegium of the OGPU under Case No. 31855, on the so-called "monarchical counter-revolutionary organization," the following verdicts were rendered:
to execution - 35 people;
to imprisonment in a labor camp for 10 years - 6 people;
to imprisonment in a labor camp for 5 years - 9 people;
to imprisonment in a labor camp for 3 years - 10 people;
to exile to the Urals for 3 years with confiscation of property - 13 people:
conditionally to imprisonment in a labor camp for 5 years with release - 1 person;
to deprivation of the right to reside in 6 cities, with release - 3 people.
On June 22, 1925, the Collegium of the OGPU on case No. 31855 decided on the execution:
1. PUTILOV Alexander Sergeyevich, born in 1872, born in St. Petersburg, - for committing crimes under articles 61, 63, 66 part 1 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR.
2. TYULLENEN Foma Gavrilovich, born in 1897, born in the St. Petersburg province.
3. RUZHENTSOV Sergey Petrovich, born in 1879 in St. Petersburg, - for committing crimes under articles 61 and 66 part 1 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR.
4. SHILDER Mikhail Fedorovich, born in 1893 in St. Petersburg;
5. RIKHTER Alexey Alexandrovich, born in 1876 in Kiev;
6. LYALIN Mikhail Mikhailovich, born in 1880;
7. GYUTINYE Henry Augustovich, born in 1884 in St. Petersburg;
8. VILAND Alexander Mikhailovich, born in 1890 in St. Petersburg;
9. KOEN (KOYUNEN) Ivan Semenovich, born in 1873 in the St. Petersburg province;
10. UKHTOMSKY Peter Pavlovich, born in 1884 in the Ustyuzhansky district, Novgorod province;
11. GERAKOV Nikolai Nikolaevich, born in 1891 in St. Petersburg;
12. TURTSEVICH Konstantin Konstantinovich, born in 1897 in St. Petersburg;
13. MATVEEV Dmitry Nikolaevich, born in 1876 in the Oryol province;
14. ORANGIEREEV Nikolai Dmitrievich, born in 1888 in the city of Nikolsk, Kherson province;
15. LOZINO-LOZINSKY Vladimir Konstantinovich, born in 1885 in the Smolensk province;
16. ZVEREV Antonina Konstantinovna, born in 1902 in St. Petersburg;
17. IORDANOV Nikolai Pavlovich, born in 1894 in St. Petersburg;
18. LIPKO-PARAFIEVSKY Boris Ivanovich, born in 1877 in St. Petersburg province;
19. FITSTUM Mikhail Nikolaevich, born in 1882 in St. Petersburg;
20. BREMER Nikolai Alexandrovich, born in 1891 in St. Petersburg;
21. LYALIN Nikolai Konstantinovich, born in 1889 in St. Petersburg;
22. RIKHTER Elena Pavlovna, born in 1876 in Kursk province;
23. PUTILOVA Natalia Mikhailovna, born in 1896 in St. Petersburg;
24. ZABUDSKY Vladimir Nikolaevich, born in 1888 in St. Petersburg;
25. PLESKE Boris Eduardovich, born in 1887 in St. Petersburg;
26. GREVENITS Alexander Nikolaevich, born in 1874 in Vilna province;
27. MALEVANOV Ivan Lvovich, born in 1885 in... province;
28. MEDVEDOVSKY Nikolai Nikolaevich, born in 1891 in St. Petersburg;
29. PRONIN Boris Semenovich, born in 1873 in the city of Kremenchug, Poltava province;
30. GOLITSYN Nikolai Dmitrievich, born in 1847 in Moscow;
31. TUR Nikolai Ivanovich, born in 1891 in Tavricheskaya province;
32. SHILDER Anna Mikhaylovna, born in 1856 in St. Petersburg;
33. DELAROV Boris Pavlovich, born in 1887 in St. Petersburg;
34. KUTEPOV Sergey Pavlovich, born in 1883 in Arkhangelsk province, - for committing a crime under article 61 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR.;
35. KAULIO Matvey Gavrilovich, born in 1880, resident of the village of Novye Kiryasaly, Leningrad region.
By the same decision, the following individuals were sentenced to 10 years in labor camps:
1. Ivan Andreevich Blinov, born in 1875, born in Moscow province;
2. Maximilian Vladimirovich Osten-Saken, born in 1899, born in St. Petersburg, - for committing a crime under Article 61 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR.
3. Alexander Alexandrovich Sivers, born in 1894, born in St. Petersburg, - for committing crimes under Articles 61 and 66, Part 1 of the Criminal Code.
4. Dmitry Konstantinovich Popov, born in 1901, born in Oryol province;
5. Pavel Mikhailovich Voeikov, born in 1890, born in the village of Koptevo, Tula province;
6. Nikolai Mikhailovich Khrushchev, born in 1898, born in St. Petersburg, - for committing crimes under Articles 61 and 68 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR.
By the same decision, the following individuals were sentenced to 5 years in labor camps:
1. Arkady Petrovich Vayner, born in 1875, born in Astrakhan province;
2. Sergey Vladimirovich Mikhnevich, born in 1887, born in Kiev;
3. Georgy Mikhailovich (Nikolaevich) Kharlamov, born in 1898, born in St. Petersburg, - for committing a crime under Article 61 of the Criminal Code.
4. Lev Yevgenyevich Kondratyev, born in 1891, born in Kharkov province;
5. Alexander Alexandrovich Kalery, born in 1892, born in St. Petersburg;
6. Nikolai Anatolyevich Stromberg, born in 1897, born in Courland province;
7. Nikolai Nikolaevich Golitsyn, born in 1883, born in Arkhangelsk;
8. Nikolai Vladimirovich Verkhovsky, born in 1877, born in St. Petersburg, - for committing crimes under Articles 61 and 68 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR.
9. Alexander Dmitrievich Viktorov, born in 1878, born in St. Petersburg, - for committing crimes under Articles 61 and 68, Part 1 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR.
By the same decision, the following individuals were sentenced to 3 years in labor camps:
1. Yakov Mikhailovich Savitsky, born in 1881, born in Novgorod province;
2. Boris Nikolaevich Zhevanov, born in 1876, born in St. Petersburg province;
3. Mikhail Nikolaevich Frolovsky, born in 1895, born in St. Petersburg;
4. Yuri Nikolaevich (Apollonovich) Eropkin, born in 1894, born in Ryazan province;
5. Alexey Alexandrovich Arnoldi, born in 1892, born in Tver province;
6. Pyotr Nikolaevich Yumatov, born in 1874, born in Saratov;
7. Nikolai Petrovich Zalessky, born in 1899, born in Bobruisk;
8. Alexander Yevgenevich Shilder, born in 1893, born in Vitebsk province;
9. Karl Yevgenevich Shilder, born in 1895, born in Pskov province;
10. Petr Mikhailovich Tomilin, born in 1868, born in Tver province, - for committing crimes under Articles 61 and 68 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR.
By the same decision, the following individuals were deported to the Urals for 3 years with confiscation of property under Article 38 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR:
1. Maria Vladimirovna Purgolts, born in 1870, born in St. Petersburg;
2. Alexey Alexandrovich Pazukhin, born in 1883, born in Simbirsk;
3. Petr Petrovich Veyner, born in 1880, born in St. Petersburg province;
4. Alexander Sergeyevich Olkhin, born in 1871, born in St. Petersburg;
5. Nikolai Pavlovich Berednikov, born in 1876, born in St. Petersburg;
6. Boris Sergeyevich Olkhin, born in 1882, born in St. Petersburg;
7. Grigory Vladimirovich Zhukovsky, born in 1904, born in St. Petersburg province;
8. Alexander Ivanovich Smirnov, born in 1872, born in St. Petersburg;
9. Leonid Leonidovich Burkov, born in 1884, born in St. Petersburg;
10. Georgy Pavlovich Blok, born in 1888, born in St. Petersburg;
11. Pavel Yevgenevich Reymbot, born in 1855, born in Poltava province;
12. Valerian Adolfovich Chudovsky, born in 1882, born in St. Petersburg;
13. Leonid Nikolaevich Filimonov, born in 1902, born in Yaroslavl province, - for committing crimes under Articles 61 and 68 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR.
By the same decision, he was conditionally sentenced to five years in a labor camp with release from custody.
1. Grum-Grzhimaylo Alexey Grigoryevich, born in 1894, born in St. Petersburg.
By the same decision, they were deprived of the right to reside in Leningrad, Moscow, Kharkov, Kiev, Odessa, Rostov-on-Don, and the mentioned regions, with simultaneous release from custody:
1. Ukhtomskaya Lidia Ivanovna, born in 1894, born in Kharkov province;
2. Matveeva Olga Afrikanovna, born in 1881, born in Troitsk;
3. Klingenberg Elizaveta Nikolaevna, born in 1891, born in St. Petersburg, - for committing crimes under Articles 61 and 68 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR.
By the same decision, the case was terminated and the following individuals were released from custody:
1. Goryainov Vsevolod Yuryevich, born in 1893, born in Yekaterinoslav;
2. Krasovsky Alexander Appolinariyevich, born in 1866, born in Moscow.
Regarding:
1. Krupensky Grigory (Georgy) Vasilievich, born in 1893 in Saint Petersburg, a decision was made to "further investigate the case."
2. Skolon-Andreeva (Skalon) Elizaveta Mikhailovna, born in 1861 in Kursk Province, a decision was made to "postpone the hearing."
3. Shilder Vladimir Alexandrovich, born in 1855 in Vitebsk Province, the case was terminated due to the death of the defendant.
The final decision resulted in the execution of 27 individuals. According to a letter from the Special Department of the OGPU in the Leningrad Military District, signed by Messing S.A. and addressed confidentially to the OGPU Collegium, the sentence for the following individuals was carried out on July 2, 1925: Gyutin G.A., Viland A.M., Koynen I.S., Ukhtomsky P.P., Gerakov N.N., Turtsevich K.K., Oranzhireev N.D., Zverev A.K., Iordanov N.P., Lipko-Parafievsky B.I., Bremer N.A., Lyalin N.K., Zabudsky V.N., Pleske B.E., Grevenits A.N., Malevanov L.L., Golitsyn N.D., Pronin B.S., Tyullenen F.G., Ruzhentsov S.P. (total of 20 individuals).
According to another letter from the Special Department of the OGPU in the Leningrad Military District, again signed by Messing S.A. and addressed confidentially to the OGPU Collegium, the sentence for the following individuals was carried out on July 3, 1925: Lyalin M.M., Delarov B.P., Kaulio M.G. (total of 3 individuals).
According to a third letter from the Special Department of the OGPU in the Leningrad Military District, signed by Messing S.A. and addressed confidentially to the OGPU Collegium, the sentence for the following individuals was carried out on July 9, 1925: Putilov A.S., Shilder M.F., Richter A.A., Richter E.P. (total of 4 individuals).
A final decision resulted in 12 individuals being sentenced to 10 years of hard labor in the concentration camps: Blinov I.A., Osten-Saken M.V., Sivers A.A., Popov D.K., Voyekov P.M., Khrushchev N.M., Matveev D.N., Lozino-Lozinsky V.K., Fitsum M.N., Putilova N.M., Medvedovsky N.N., Tur N.I.
A final decision resulted in 10 individuals being sentenced to 5 years of hard labor in the concentration camps.
A final decision resulted in 10 individuals being sentenced to 3 years of hard labor in the concentration camps.
A final decision resulted in 13 individuals being exiled to the Urals for 3 years via the Special Department of the OGPU.
REHABILITATION
On January 31, 1994, the military prosecutor of the Leningrad Military District issued a conclusion regarding an archival criminal case concerning the so-called "monarchist counter-revolutionary organization." The conclusion states:
According to the conclusion of the authorized representative of the Special Department of the OGPU of the Leningrad Military District dated May 7, 1925, considering that the consideration of the mentioned case in a judicial session "will lead to the unconditional decryption of the measures taken to liquidate the activities of the monarchist organization and will seriously threaten the apparatus of the foreign intelligence agency," it is necessary to file a petition before the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR to allow the consideration of the mentioned case outside of the court proceedings in the Collegium of the OGPU.
Another reason for filing the mentioned petition, as evident from the conclusion, is that "the hearing of the case may not only abroad but also among quite significant segments of the anti-Soviet population of the Republic give rise to the impression of allegedly existing... under the control of the monarchists and thereby may serve as a stimulus prompting active struggle against the Soviet government."
The petition was supported by the provincial prosecutor's office.
Examination of the materials of the archival criminal case regarding the so-called "monarchist counter-revolutionary organization" (the case of "lyceum students," "graduates," the "loyal union") showed that the decision by non-judicial authorities to initiate it was unfounded, and there is no evidence of the accused persons committing counter-revolutionary crimes in the case.
For example, Ukhtomsky P.P., a former captain of the Izmailovsky Regiment and a prince, stated that around 1923, he and some other graduates of the Alexander Lyceum, who maintained contact with each other, conceived the idea of organizing an enterprise aimed at positively influencing the difficult financial situation of all former lyceum students residing mostly in Leningrad. It was during this period that discussions were held among them about creating a certain cooperative, and then the "Lyceum Fund," which existed before the revolution in the form of a mutual aid fund. When organizing it, Ukhtomsky P.P. told his comrades that the enterprise in its activities should not touch upon politics, with which everyone agreed. Former lyceum students Shilder M.V., Putilov A.S., Tur N.N., Matveev D.N., Grekov N.N., Medvedovsky N.N. attended the first meeting of the fund.
Additionally, lyceum students in Leningrad (about 200 people) annually gathered for organized memorial services and religious ceremonies, which were served for the deceased lyceum students, members of the royal family, and Nicholas II.
Although political discussions took place at the meetings and gatherings of former lyceum students, which, however, had a general character, no specific plans were made to organize armed resistance against the Soviet government. Communication among those present was mainly devoted to... their current financial situation. No "committee" of lyceum students was organized at the meetings.
(т.1 л.д. 6-12, 15-24).
PUTILOV A.S., former head of the financial department of the Council of Ministers' chancellery, actual state councilor, stated that indeed in the early 1920s some graduates of the Alexander Lyceum had plans to organize some commercial enterprise. This "wild idea" primarily arose among the younger lyceum graduates. The purpose of creating the enterprise was to assist comrades who were in difficult financial situations.
He did not take any actions aimed at undermining or overthrowing the Soviet government. He did not collect any information classified as state secrets or transmit it to foreign states. Conversations held among lyceum graduates at meetings had a general political direction, typical of discussions among most Russian intellectuals.
(т.1, л.д. 49-51, 55-73).
GERAKOV N.N., former official with special assignments at the State Bank of Russia, stated that he learned about plans to create a trade or financial enterprise to aid former Alexander Lyceum students in the spring of 1923 from UKHTOMSKY P.P. and MATVEEV D.N. The participants were supposed to be former lyceum students who knew each other well and shared common beliefs forged through years of joint study.
(т.1, л. д. 89-93, 96-107).
RICHTER A.A., former colonel who served in the Semenovsky Regiment before the revolution, explained that discussions with PUTILOV A.S., SHILDER M.V., ORANGIREEV N.D., and other lyceum graduates at meetings had a general political character. Although dissatisfaction with the existing government and a desire to change it were expressed, no specific violent actions to achieve this were even discussed. Criticism of the Soviet government was of a scientific-historical nature and was prompted by the changes each person experienced after the revolution.
(т.1, л. д. 155-170).
GOLITSYN N.D., former Chairman of the Council of Ministers (since January 1917), actual privy councilor, prince, stated that in his opinion, the lyceum committee essentially did not exist and had no financial resources. He, GOLITSYN N.D., and other Alexander Lyceum graduates participated in memorial services, religious ceremonies. For example, on October 19, 1923, about 50-60 lyceum graduates attended a memorial service held at the church of "Kuzma and Demian."
Conversations at meetings of former lyceum students were primarily reminiscences and exchanges of opinions on current political conditions and material difficulties.
(т.1, л. д. 272-276, 279-280).
RUZENTSEV S.G. - head of the technical department of the Northern Industrial District explained that although he kept secret documents at home related to his work, he did not pass them on to anyone or show them. He did not receive or execute any orders from former lyceum students. He saw no "collapse" in the work of military industry in the department he supervised and could explain everything related to the true state of affairs in this area due to his position in the Northern Industrial District.
(т.1, л. д. 569-588).
IORDANOV N.P., former assistant to the head of the Finance Ministry, hereditary nobleman, explained that he met with graduates of the Alexander Lyceum at memorial services and lyceum holidays. The theme of their conversations was reminiscing about the past, the current life of each person, inquiries about the absentees' lives. He, IORDANOV N.P., knew that lyceum graduates wanted to create a mutual aid fund. He did not attend the first meeting to organize the fund, believing that such a fund would not be able to help anyone materially anyway, and also fearing possible responsibility.
(т.3 л. д. 222, 223, 227).
OSTEN-SAKEN M.V., hereditary nobleman, explained that the lyceum organization only manifested its activity in conducting memorial services, religious ceremonies, and formal dinners attended by former lyceum students residing in Leningrad. Memorial services were held for lyceum graduates who had died during the current year and for members of the royal family. Conversations at these events were of a general nature "about the difficult personal life," "about the political time experienced." Plans were made, but the attempts by lyceum students to engage in trade or commercial ventures to alleviate their difficult financial situation were unsuccessful.
(т. 3 л. д. 8-9,17).
GREVENITS A.N., hereditary nobleman, former colonel, graduate of the Page Corps, stated that only in the spring of 1918 did he have a conversation with RICHTER A.A., his fellow soldier in the Semenovsky Regiment, about a possible escape abroad with the help of the tsar's family. GREVENITS A.N. also mentioned other acquaintances and comrades, however, without indicating any anti-Soviet activity on his or their part.
(т. 2 л. д. 314-315).
Similar testimonies were provided by other individuals, all former students of the Alexander Lyceum, who were involved in the case.
However, the examination of this case showed that the majority of them were interrogated only about their acquaintances, their whereabouts at the time... of the Alexander Lyceum students, about acquaintances who had permanently moved abroad. This constituted the content of the overwhelming majority of the interrogations.
For instance, former chief librarian of the Russian Public Library, CHUDOVSKY V.A., was interrogated twice (т.2, л. д. 289 and 292), and on both occasions, questions about any committed or planned actions related to counter-revolutionary activities were not addressed. PAZUKHIN A.A., a researcher whose name CHUDOVSKY V.A. recalled as the only former lyceum student he had met in the library recently, was immediately arrested and prosecuted after this.
From the case materials, it is evident that the creation by former Alexander Lyceum students of the so-called "Lyceum Mutual Aid Fund" aimed at organizing material assistance to needy lyceum graduates did not pursue counter-revolutionary goals, and the members of this organization did not commit any actions envisaged by Article 57 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR.
Furthermore, it can be gleaned from the case materials that this "organization" did not imply a specific permanent and mandatory membership. Former lyceum students, when meeting, engaged in conversations primarily characterized by reminiscences. Their discussions, with a political nature, took the form of personal expressions. Concrete actions aimed at overthrowing or weakening the Soviet government were not carried out, planned, or even discussed. Some organized meetings of lyceum students had a pronounced cultic character; for example, memorial services and religious ceremonies were periodically held.
The connections of former lyceum students with individuals living abroad also had a personal and humanitarian character. Moreover, they did not engage in any activities to gather secret information and transmit it to representatives of foreign states.
Additionally, it is evident from the materials of the archival criminal case that the only evidence of the guilt of the participants in the so-called "monarchist counter-revolutionary conspiracy" was their own testimonies, in the absence of any documentary evidence or witness testimonies indicating the commission of the criminal offenses attributed to them.
Considering the above, it is concluded that the actions of the mentioned individuals lack signs of the elements of crimes provided for in Articles 61, 63, 66, and 68 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR, and in accordance with Articles 3 and 5 of the Law of the RSFSR "On the Rehabilitation of Victims of Political Repression" dated October 18, 1991, -
I WOULD PROPOSE:
To repeal the Resolutions of the Collegium of the OGPU dated June 22 and 29, 1925, on the criminal case of the so-called "Monarchist Counter-Revolutionary Conspiracy."
To consider rehabilitated under this criminal case the following individuals: a list of 75 people.
List of individuals involved in the "Case of Lyceum Students":
1. PUTILOV Alexander Sergeyevich (1872-1925) - employee of the State Bank, executed on July 9, 1925, in the "case of Lyceum students." His wife Natalya Mikhailovna was executed in Arkhangelsk in 1938.
2. TYULLENEN Foma Gavrilovich
3. LYALIN Mikhail Mikhailovich
4. RUZHENCOV Sergey Petrovich
5. SHILDER Mikhail Fedorovich
6. RIKHTER Alexey Alexandrovich
7. GYUTIN Henry Augustovich
8. VILAND Alexander Mikhailovich
9. KOENE (KOYUNEN) Ivan Semenovich
10. UHTOMSKIY Petr Pavlovich
11. GERAKOV Nikolay Nikolaevich
12. TURTSOVICH Konstantin Konstantinovich
13. MATVEEV Dmitry Nikolaevich
14. ORANZHIREEV Nikolay Dmitrievich
15. LOZINO-LOZINSKIY Vladimir Konstantinovich
16. ZVEREV Antonin Konstantinovich
17. IORDANOV Nikolay Pavlovich
18. LIPKO-PARAFAEVSKIY Boris Ivanovich
19. FITSTUM Mikhail Nikolaevich
20. BREMER Nikolay Alexandrovich
21. LYALIN Nikolay Konstantinovich
22. RIKHTER Elena Pavlovna
23. PUTILOVA Natalya Mikhailovna
24. ZABUDSKIY Vladimir Nikolaevich
25. PLESKE Boris Eduardovich
26. GREVENITS Alexander Nikolaevich
27. MALEVANOV Ivan (Lev) Lvovich
28. MEDVEDOVSKIY Nikolay Nikolaevich
29. PRONIN Boris Semenovich
30. GOLITSYN Nikolay Dmitrievich
31. TUR Nikolay Ivanovich
32. SHILDER Anna Mikhailovna
33. DELAROV Boris Pavlovich
34. KUTEPOV Sergey Pavlovich
35. BLINOV Ivan Andreevich
36. OSTEN-SAKEN Maximilian Vladimirovich
37. SIVERS Alexander Alexandrovich
38. POPOV Dmitry Konstantinovich
39. VOYKOV Pavel Mikhailovich
40. KHRUSHCHEV Nikolay Mikhailovich
41. VAYNER Arkadiy Petrovich
42. MIKHNEVICH Sergey Vladimirovich
43. KHARLAMOV Georgiy Mikhailovich (Nikolaevich)
44. KONDRATYEV Lev Evgenyevich
45. MALERI (KALERI) Alexander Alexandrovich
46. SHTROMBERG Nikolay Anatolyevich
47. GOLITSYN Nikolay Nikolaevich
48. VERKHOVSKIY Nikolay Vladimirovich
49. VIKTOROV Alexander Dmitrievich
50. SAVITSKIY Yakov Mikhailovich
51. NEVANOV (ZHEVANOV) Boris Nikolaevich
52. FROLOVSKIY Mikhail Nikolaevich
53. EROPKIN Yuriy Nikolaevich (Apollonovich)
54. ARNOLDI Alexey Alexandrovich
55. YUMATOV Petr Nikolaevich
56. ZALESSKIY Nikolay Petrovich
57. SHILDER Alexander Evgenyevich
58. SHILDER Karl Evgenyevich
59. TOMILIN Petr Mikhailovich
60. TURGOLD (PURGOLTZ, PURGOLD) Maria Vladimirovna
61. PAZUKHIN Alexey Alexandrovich
62. VEYNER Petr Petrovich
63. OLKHIN Alexander Sergeyevich
64. BEREDNIKOV Nikolay Pavlovich
65. OLKHIN Boris Sergeyevich
66. ZHUKOVSKIY Grigoriy Vladimirovich
67. SMIRNOV Alexander Ivanovich
68. BURKOV Leonid Leonidovich
69. BLOCK Georgiy Pavlovich
70. CHUDOVSKIY Valerian Adolfovich
71. FILIMONOV Leonid Nikolaevich
72. GRUM-GRZHMAYLO Alexey Grigoryevich
73. UHTOMSKAYA Lydia Ivanovna
74. MATVEEVA Olga Afrikanovna
75. KLINGENBERG Elizaveta Nikolaevna
76. REYNBOT Pavel Evgenyevich
77. GORYAINOV Vsevolod Yuryevich
78. KRASOVSKIY Alexander Appolinarevich
79. KRUPENSKIY Grigoriy (Georgiy) Vasilyevich
80. SKOLON-ANDREEVA Elizaveta Mikhailovna
81. SHILDER Vladimir Alexandrovich
82. KAULIO Matvey Gavrilovich (1880-1925) - peasant, executed on July 3, 1925, in the "case of Lyceum students."
During the preparation of the article, materials from Ekaterina Adasova-Shilder's book "From the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum to the 'Case of Lyceum Students'" were used, as well as:
Teletova N.K. "The Case of Lyceum Students" in 1925 // Zvezda. 1998. No. 6. P. 115-131.
Lyceum Students in Solovki: From Memoirs // Russkaya Mysl. November 18 and 23, 1949.
Aksakova-Sivers T.A. Family Chronicle. Books 1-2. Paris, 1988.
Materials from Nina Kaulio (conclusion of the Prosecutor's Office of St. Petersburg on the rehabilitation of Kaulio M.G.).