On April 5, 1917 (March 23, old style), the victims of the February Revolution were buried on the Field of Mars in Petrograd (St. Petersburg).
The organizer of the funeral was the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies, which decided to appoint the funeral of the victims of the February Revolution on March 23 (March 10, old style). This day was declared "a day of remembrance of the victims of the Revolution and a national holiday of the Great Russian Revolution for all time."
The funeral on April 5 was not only a Petrograd, but also an all-Russian event. In Kronstadt on this day, a memorial service was held for the victims of the revolution. Up to 50 thousand people participated in the funeral procession here. In other cities of Russia, a new wave of "Freedom Holidays" took place. In Moscow, some enterprises did not work, rallies were held in factories and offices; memorial services were performed in some institutions. Demonstrations dedicated to the memory of "freedom fighters" were held in Kyiv, Odessa, Samara, Riga, Simbirsk. Often, the burial places of the victims of the revolutions of 1905 and 1917 became the centers of these demonstrations.
Later, the burials of participants in the October Revolution and the Civil War were added to the victims of the February Revolution, which began with the solemn funeral of V. Volodarsky in June 1918.
In 1918-1940 the Field of Mars was called the Square of the Victims of the Revolution.
In 1919, a monument to the fighters of the revolution was opened on the Field of Mars, designed by the architect Lev Rudnev. The author of the inscriptions on the monument was the first Soviet People's Commissar of Education Anatoly Lunacharsky.
The material was prepared on the basis of information from RIA Novosti and open sources
On April 5, 1917 (March 23, old style), the victims of the February Revolution were buried on the Field of Mars in Petrograd (St. Petersburg).
The organizer of the funeral was the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies, which decided to appoint the funeral of the victims of the February Revolution on March 23 (March 10, old style). This day was declared "a day of remembrance of the victims of the Revolution and a national holiday of the Great Russian Revolution for all time."
The funeral on April 5 was not only a Petrograd, but also an all-Russian event. In Kronstadt on this day, a memorial service was held for the victims of the revolution. Up to 50 thousand people participated in the funeral procession here. In other cities of Russia, a new wave of "Freedom Holidays" took place. In Moscow, some enterprises did not work, rallies were held in factories and offices; memorial services were performed in some institutions. Demonstrations dedicated to the memory of "freedom fighters" were held in Kyiv, Odessa, Samara, Riga, Simbirsk. Often, the burial places of the victims of the revolutions of 1905 and 1917 became the centers of these demonstrations.
Later, the burials of participants in the October Revolution and the Civil War were added to the victims of the February Revolution, which began with the solemn funeral of V. Volodarsky in June 1918.
In 1918-1940 the Field of Mars was called the Square of the Victims of the Revolution.
In 1919, a monument to the fighters of the revolution was opened on the Field of Mars, designed by the architect Lev Rudnev. The author of the inscriptions on the monument was the first Soviet People's Commissar of Education Anatoly Lunacharsky.
The material was prepared on the basis of information from RIA Novosti and open sources
“Soon, with God’s help, the bright dawn of rebirth will shine over our Russia (...) then they will remember you, the valiant martyr of the policeman (...) and your grateful compatriots who know how to appreciate the true greatness of the spirit and true services to the Motherland will build a monument over your modest grave ”wrote in exile Colonel of the Imperial Guard, Master of the Horse of the Highest Court F.V. Vinberg.
The words of the Russian officer turned out to be prophetic. On May 27, 2008, on the Field of Mars, in the presence of the highest officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Emergency Situations, St. Petersburg passed the Day of Remembrance of the Petrograd policemen who martyred in the February days of 1917. A memorial service was served, mournful speeches were delivered ...
The leadership of the St. Petersburg security forces on the Field of Mars in May 2008
According to the city authorities, 170 policemen were buried on the Field of Mars, who found a cruel death at the hands of Petersburgers during the February Revolution of 1917. Today, the names of 78 neighborhood heroes have been established.
Is the Field of Mars really the largest police necropolis in Russia? It should be noted that this question occupied Petersburgers at the beginning of the 20th century. There were three reasons for talking about the burial of policemen and gendarmes on the Champ de Mars.
Firstly, the very name “cemetery of the victims of the revolution” suggested that only loyalists who fell at the hands of revolutionaries could be “victims of the revolution”. Secondly, initially, the press published unified lists of victims of revolutionary events. So the newspaper "Birzhevye Vedomosti" dated March 23, 1917 placed a list of 266 names who died during the revolutionary days. Of these, 87 were soldiers, 49 workers, 33 employees, etc. The list also included 19 police officers and 14 officers - possible defenders of the Sovereign. Finally, thirdly, 42 of the dead remained unidentified, which gave rise to rumors that they could be policemen or gendarmes.
It must be said that the authorities and public authorities of Petrograd made great efforts to ensure that among those buried on Palace Square there were no policemen, gendarmes or officers. As the mouthpiece of the St. Petersburg business Birzhevye Vedomosti wrote, “... They will be interred in a mass grave ... 180 fighters for people's freedom, accurately identified and known as those who died in the fight against the old regime. In view of the fact that there are many still unidentified corpses in the mortuary hospitals ... an energetic investigation is carried out and the exact categories of victims of the revolution are established, and the true fighters for freedom are carefully separated from the adherents of the old regime. The documents of the executive committee of the Petrograd Soviet also contain a statement by the committee of the Volynsky regiment that the opponents of the uprising, “head captain I.S. Lashevich and ensigns of the same regiment I.K. Zelenin and M. Danilov are on the list of fallen heroes. ... the regimental committee petitions for the calculation of those from the lists of fallen heroes. On the back of the application there is a resolution - “We undertake not to bury these persons. Member of the funeral committee A. Malyshev.
The funeral of the victims of the revolution. Postcard 1917
Ultimately, 184 bodies were selected for the first burial on the Field of Mars (according to other sources, 178 or 181). The names of most of the buried were known. Thus, the bodies of Afanasy Ivanov and Fyodor Kozlov, a worker of the Baltic Plant, were the first to be lowered into the grave. Several unidentified victims of the revolutionary events were also buried. The authorities considered it unlikely that those killed were police officers, since the bodies of the latter were identified by relatives living in St. Petersburg. Most likely it was about non-residents and visitors.
Thus, the facts available today at the disposal of historical science make it unlikely that at least one policeman was buried on the Field of Mars. However, it is possible that the city authorities and the leadership of the St. Petersburg police have new, hitherto unknown archival materials that completely refute the traditional historiography dedicated to the necropolis on the Field of Mars.
in 2 parts
part 1, beginning, -
part 2 ending, -
description of the location of the Champ de Mars
Field of Mars is the largest memorial and park complex in the center of St. Petersburg, covering an area of almost nine hectares. The majestic panorama of the vast parterre square with a monument to the victims (now this is just a myth - why? Read on) of the February Revolution is limited on the south and east sides by the Summer and Mikhailovsky Gardens, and the north side goes to the Neva and Suvorov Square. The history of the Field of Mars dates back to the first years of the founding of St. Petersburg.
The oddities of the Field of Mars have been known for a long time, and in addition to the covens of witches, researchers also give another reason for the peculiarity of the Field of Mars. The fact is that the burials of the Bolsheviks (!!!, and not their victims - what a brotherhood) of 1917-1933 were made in a cemetery laid without church consecration and, figuratively speaking, on the blood of people who died during fratricidal clashes. Only this initially did not allow turning the graves into a place of eternal rest for the dead, which happened in the spring of 1942.
But back to the history of the place, at the beginning of the 18th century, the territory on which the Field of Mars is now located was a swampy land with trees and shrubs.
In 1711-1716, canals were dug around the space from the west of the Summer Garden to drain the territory - Lebyazhy and Red canals. The resulting rectangle between these channels, the Neva and the Moika began to be called the Big Meadow. It was used for military reviews, parades and holidays in honor of the victories in the Northern War. The festivities were often accompanied by festivities with fireworks, which were then called "funny lights". From them the Field began to be called Amusing.
Under Catherine I, the field began to be called the Tsaritsyn Meadow, since the place where the Mikhailovsky Castle now stands was then the Empress's Summer Palace. In the 1740s, they wanted to turn Tsaritsyn Meadow into a regular garden, M. G. Zemtsov drew up a corresponding project. Paths were laid in the meadow, bushes were planted. However, further work was stopped for various reasons, and military parades and parades were again held here.
In 1765-1785, the Marble Palace was built in the northern part of the meadow. During construction, the Red Canal was filled up. In 1784-1787, the Betsky house was built, and the Saltykov house was built nearby at about the same time.
In 1799, an obelisk in honor of P. A. Rumyantsev was opened in front of house number 3. In 1801, a monument to A. V. Suvorov was erected on the Tsaritsyn Meadow near the Moika River (sculptor M. I. Kozlovsky). In 1818, at the suggestion of K.I. Rossi, the monument was moved to Suvorovskaya Square, which was formed nearby. At the same time, the Rumyantsev obelisk was transferred to Vasilyevsky Island.
In 1805, the Tsaritsyn meadow was renamed the Field of Mars, after the ancient god of war - Mars. According to another version, the Field of Mars got its name from the monument to A.V. Suvorov, because the monument is quite unusual - the commander is depicted in the armor of the god of war Mars.
Soon the green meadow turned into a dusty parade ground. The dust raised by the boots of the soldiers was carried by the wind to the Summer and Mikhailovsky Gardens, and settled on the trees. By the middle of the 19th century, the Field of Mars was often called the "Petersburg Sahara" by the people.
There is a rumor that Emperor Paul I had a weakness for military parades and often held a review of troops on the Field of Mars. Once, as the legend says, Pavel was extremely dissatisfied with the way the Preobrazhensky regiment marched. The enraged emperor shouted to the negligent soldiers: “All around ... march! To Siberia! Not daring to disobey, the regiment turned around and, in full force, marched in formation towards the Moscow outpost, and from there outside the city, intending to fulfill the emperor’s order at any cost. Only in Novgorod did Paul's messengers manage to find the regiment, read out to him an order of pardon, and return the soldiers back to Petersburg.
In 1817-1821, to accommodate the Pavlovsky regiment, according to the project of V.P. Stasov, regimental barracks were built (Marsovo Pole, 1). In 1823-1827, the Adamini house was built (Marsovo Pole, 7). In 1844-1847, an office building of the Marble Palace was built from the northern part of the field (Dvortsovaya Embankment, 6).
In the second half of the 19th century, festivities were again organized on the Field of Mars. On Shrove Tuesday, booths, carousels, rolling hills were arranged here.
But in March 1917, on the Field of Mars, they decided to bury those who died during the February Revolution (180 nameless coffins with the victims of February - there are no names or surnames anywhere -doubts that these are Russian workers of the Republic of Ingushetia ... as they say now the PR action of the Provisional Government).
The truth then soon happened the burial of terrorists and the destroyers of Russia, the executioners of the Russian people, criminals and rapists, among whom there were no Russians as such, there was no stamping, the place was not consecrated and became a mystical Sotanian image no longer of St. Petersburg but of the so-called LENINGRAD !, a curse of a kind of city
It should be noted that these criminals, rapists, money-grubbers and murderers were buried as heroes (but of course they were not heroes of pain, but were murderers and criminals who arrived in St. Petersburg to rob and rape the population of St. Petersburg and Imperial Russia), and soon the Field of Mars turned into a place for a long time burial places of commissars killed by Russian avengers.
In 1918, the Field of Mars was renamed Revolution Square. Over the graves in 1919, according to the project of L.V. Rudnev, a monument was erected to the “Fighters of the Revolution”. To create it, granite blocks of the warehouse-wharf of Salny Buyan (an island at the mouth of the Pryazhka River) were used. 180 revolutionaries were buried. The funeral lasted all day, and each Bolshevik buried was saluted by the guns of the Peter and Paul Fortress. Later, Bolshevik fighters of the Civil War, prominent Soviet statesmen were buried on the Field of Mars.
In 1923 a square was organized here.
In the summer of 1942, the Champ de Mars was completely covered with vegetable gardens, where vegetables were grown for the inhabitants of the besieged city.
and the graves were arbitrarily destroyed this spring, alas. An artillery battery was also stationed here.
On January 27, 1944, guns were installed here, from which a salute was fired in honor of the lifting of the blockade of Leningrad.
In 1944, the square returned to its former name.
On November 6, 1957, the first eternal flame in the USSR was lit in the center of the monument to the Fighters of the Revolution. It was ignited by a torch lit in the open-hearth furnace of the Kirov plant. It was from this fire that Sotan's eternal flame was lit at the walls of the Moscow Kremlin and the victims of the blockade of the Piskarevsky cemetery (to the delight of the sotan). The family of director Herman lived at that time on the square
and Herman himself confirms everything that is written here and adds that there were attempts to bury the victims of the famine (arranged by Koba, who fiercely hated both the city itself and its Imperial generation, dooming them, this generation, who lived under the Republic of Ingushetia, to death) during the Blockade
Despite the significant area of the Champ de Mars, which is comparable to the area of the Summer Garden, it seems much smaller. The reason lies in the fact that the Field of Mars is a kind of large area, an open space with strict lines and a clear organization of components. On the Champ de Mars, everything looks very neat and reservedly solemn: green lawns, flower beds, paths.
Champ de Mars is a great place to relax, but it's more of an evening rest. In moments of scorching summer heat, this is not the best place for walking - there is nowhere to hide from the sun on the Champ de Mars. There are very few trees covering from the heat and noise of the city, therefore, being in any part of the Champ de Mars, you feel as well as possible that you are in the center of the city.
The Field of Mars, blown by the winds and scorched by the sun, is a place where you clearly feel like a small grain of sand in the huge wheel of the history of our people. This is that integral part of St. Petersburg, which carries the spirit of history and the continuity of traditions.
History of the Field of Mars
At the beginning of the 18th century, to the west of the Summer Garden, there was an undeveloped area, which was called "Amusing Field" or "Big", and later "Tsaritsyn Meadow". Military parades were held in the meadow. In 1798-1801, monuments were erected there to the commanders P. A. Rumyantsev (architect V. F. Brenna), and A. V. Suvorov (sculptor M. I. Kozlovsky). In 1818, the Rumyantsev obelisk was moved to Vasilyevsky Island, but the name Field of Mars was established behind the square (similar to the Field of Mars in ancient Rome and Paris). From 1918 to 1944 it was called the Square of Victims of the Revolution.
The planning and landscaping of the Field of Mars was carried out according to the project of the academician
I. A. Fomina.
The memorial complex in the center of the square was created by the architect L. V. Rudnev.
The memorial was also worked on by:
artists - V. M. Konashevich and N. A. Tyrsa,
text author — A. V. Lunacharsky
The memorial was opened on November 7, 1919.
Materials: pink and gray granite, forged metal.
Who is buried (there was no burial service and the place was not registered as a cemetery either ...) ???
Mass grave on the Field of Mars after the February Revolution
The first to be buried on the Field of Mars were those who died in the February Revolution (180 coffins, unknown persons).
Buried on the Field of Mars Petrograd workers (again, there are doubts whether they are workers - after all, there are no names and surnames!) who died during the Yaroslavl uprising on July 6-21, 1918, participants in the defense of Petrograd from the troops of General N. N. Yudenich.
as well as:
Moses Solomonovich Uritsky - the first head of the Petrograd Cheka (killed on August 30, 1918 by Leonid Kannegiser, a hero of the Russian white movement). The murder of Uritsky, along with the assassination attempt on V.I. Lenin, led to the beginning of the Red Terror!!!
V. Volodarsky (Moses Markovich Goldstein) - propagandist, commissar for the press, propaganda and agitation (killed on June 20, 1918 by a Socialist-Revolutionary on the way to a rally - which they did not share, one can only guess ...).
Several Latvian riflemen, including their commissar, comrade S. M. Nakhimson.
Seven victims of the attack on the Kuusinen Club on August 31, 1920, including two members of the Central Committee of the Finnish Communist Party, Jukka Rahja and Väino Jokinen.
Soviet military leader Rudolf Sievers (1892-1919), who died in battle.
young actor-agitator Kotya (Ivan Alexandrovich) Mgebrov-Chekan (1913-1922), who died under very strange circumstances and was declared a "hero of the revolution."
Mikhailov, Lev Mikhailovich (1872-1928) - Bolshevik, chairman of the first legal St. Petersburg Committee of the RSDLP (b).
Ivan Ivanovich Gaza (1894, St. Petersburg - 1933, Leningrad) - Soviet politician. Member of the RSDLP(b) since April 1917.
In 1920-1923, a park was laid out on the Square of the Victims of the Revolution. At the same time, lanterns taken from the Nikolaevsky Bridge, renamed the Lieutenant Schmidt Bridge (now the Blagoveshchensky Bridge), were used.
Until 1933, they continued to bury Soviet party workers.
It should be noted that in the summer of 1942 the Champ de Mars was completely covered with vegetable gardens, where vegetables were grown for the inhabitants of the besieged city. An artillery battery was also located here, and in the autumn of 1941 it was pitted with cracks of shelters from shelling and bombing, so it’s hardly appropriate to talk about the safety of the burials ... and it’s no longer correct to say where the remains disappeared ...
inscriptions
Text author: A. V. Lunacharsky (1875-1933), in the editorial and grammar of the author himself, comrade. Commissar Lunacharsky, as direct speech:
“Against wealth, power and knowledge for a handful, you waged war and fell with honor so that wealth, power and knowledge would become a common lot.
By the will of the tyrants, peoples tormented each other. You stood up in laboring Petersburg and were the first to start a war of all the oppressed against all oppressors, in order to kill the very seed of war.
1917-1918 inscribed in the annals of Russia great glory, mournful bright years, sowing your harvest will ripen, for all who inhabit the earth.
Not knowing the names of all the heroes of the struggle for freedom, who gave their blood, the human race honors the nameless. To all of them, this stone was placed in memory and honor for many years.
The one who died for a great cause is immortal, the people live forever who laid down his life for the people, worked, fought and died for the common good.
From the bottom of oppression, want and ignorance, you have risen a proletarian, gaining freedom and happiness for yourself. You will make all mankind happy and tear them out of slavery.
Not victims - heroes lie under this grave. Not grief, but envy gives birth to your fate in the hearts of all grateful descendants. In those terrible red days you lived gloriously and died beautifully.
The sons of St. Petersburg have now joined the host of the great heroes of revolts of various times who have passed away in the name of the heyday of life, the crowds of Jacobin fighters, 48 the crowds of Communards.
Vladimir Osipovich Likhtenstadt-Mazin 1882-1919 died in battle. Viktor Nikolaevich Gagrin (1897-1919) died at the front. Nikandr Semyonovich Grigoriev 1890-1919 was killed in action.
Semyon Mikhailovich Nakhimson 1885-1918 was shot by the White Guards in Yaroslavl. Pyotr Adrianovich Solodukhin died in action in 1920.
Here are buried those who died in the days of the February Revolution and the leaders of the Great October Socialist Revolution, who fell in battle during the Civil War.
I. A. Rakhya 1887-1920, Yu. V. Sainio 1980-1920, V. E. Jokinen 1879-1920, F. Kettunen 1889-1920, E. Savolainen 1897-1920, K. Linkvist 1880-1920, Yu. T. Viitasaari 1891-1920, T. V. Hyurskymurto 1881-1920. Killed by Finns-White Guards 31 VIII 1920
V. Volodarsky 1891-1918 was killed by the right SRs. Semyon Petrovich Voskov 1888-1920 died at the front.
Konstantin Stepanovich Eremeev 1874-1931, Ivan Ivanovich Gaza 1894-1933, Dmitry Nikolaevich Avrov 1890-1922.
To the young artist-agitator Kota Mgebrov-Chekan 1913-1922.
Moses Solomonovich Uritsky 1873-1918 was killed by the Right Socialist-Revolutionaries. Grigory Vladimirovich Tsiperovich 1871-1932.
Red Latvian Riflemen Indrikis Daibus, Julius Zostyn, Karl Liepin, Emil Peterson who died during the suppression of the White Guard rebellion in Yaroslavl in July 1918.
Rakov A. S., Tavrin P. P., Kupshe A. I., Pekar V. A., Dorofeev, Kalinin, Sergeev died in battle with the White Guards on May 29, 1919.
Rudolf Fedorovich Sievers 1892-1918 died after the battle from wounds, Nikolai Gurevich Tolmachev 1895-1919 died in battle with the Whites.
Lev Mikhailovich Mikhailov-Politkus 1872-1928, Mikhail Mikhailovich Lashevich 1884-1928, Ivan Efimovich Kotlyakov 1885-1929.
In 1956, the Sotan sacrificial Eternal Flame was lit in the center of the memorial.
In 1965, from the fire on the Field of Mars, the torch of another Sotanian eternal flame was lit in Veliky Novgorod, and on May 8, 1967, an Eternal flame no less than Sotanian at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Moscow.
In the early 2000s, the metal decorative fences around the lawn were removed.
links:
1. To the fighters of the revolution, a monument:: Encyclopedia of St. Petersburg
2. Petersburg diary, edition of the government of St. Petersburg, No. 40 (150), 10/15/2007
3. Nakhimson TSB, Semyon Mikhailovich
