One of the main sights of the capital, by which even foreigners recognize Moscow, is the Kremlin wall. Initially created as a defensive fortification, now it performs, rather, a decorative function and is an architectural monument. But besides this, in the last century the Kremlin wall also serves as a burial place for prominent people of the country. This necropolis is the most unusual cemetery in the world and has become one of the most important capitals and a place visited by thousands of tourists.
History of the Kremlin wall
It took its modern form only at the beginning of the 16th century. The Kremlin wall was built of red brick on the site of the ancient white stone, and only in the eastern direction the territory of the Kremlin was slightly expanded. It was built according to the project of Italian architects. The shape of the wall repeated the outlines of the Kremlin fortress and looked like an irregular triangle. Its length is more than two kilometers, and its height is from five to twenty meters. The highest walls were from the side of Red Square. From above, the Kremlin wall is decorated with battlements, which are shaped like there are more than a thousand of them, and almost all of them have narrow loopholes. The wall itself is wide, about six meters, it has many loopholes and passages. Outside, it is smooth, made of massive red brick. Over 20 different towers are built into the wall. The most famous of them is Spasskaya, on which the Kremlin chimes are located. In addition to its architectural and historical value, the Kremlin Wall now attracts tourists also with the necropolis created in the last century. It is a kind of cemetery, which has become a memorial.
Creation of the Kremlin Necropolis
The first two near the Kremlin wall appeared in November 1917. They were located on Red Square between the Nikolsky and Spassky gates. About 200 nameless fighters who died during the October Revolution were buried in them. In the next ten years, more than ten mass graves appeared next to the wall. And of the three hundred Bolsheviks buried in them, only 110 names are known. Many streets and squares in the capital and other cities were named after them. Until 1927, near the Kremlin wall, the dead and even the leaders of the revolution who died a natural death were buried. There were also single burials of famous people of that time.
Who is buried at the Kremlin wall in the early years?
- The first single grave near the Kremlin wall appeared in 1919. Ya. M. Sverdlov was buried in it.
- In the early 1920s, many well-known party and government figures were buried in single graves: M. V. Frunze, F. E. Dzerzhinsky, M. V. Kalinin and others.
- In the first years of the creation of the necropolis near the Kremlin wall, foreign communists were also buried. Clara Zetkin and Sam Katayama are buried here.
- Since 1924, the Mausoleum, in which the body of V. I. Lenin rested, became the center of the Kremlin necropolis. This place later became a tribune for prominent statesmen.
Burials of the 30-80s
After 1927, it was decided to bury at the Kremlin wall only outstanding members of the party and government, as well as great scientists. Fraternal burials ceased, but until 1985 many famous people were buried in this necropolis.
- members of the party and government: Budyonny, Suslov, Brezhnev, Andropov and Chernenko;
- in the early 60s, the body of I.V. Stalin was taken out and buried near the Kremlin wall;
- all those who died in the rank of marshal, for example, Zhukov;
- outstanding pilots, such as Chkalov, cosmonaut Gagarin and many others;
- famous scientists Karpinsky, Kurchatov and Korolyov;
- visitors to the necropolis, who are interested in who else is buried near the Kremlin wall, can see the names of Lenin's mother, his wife, the writer M. Gorky, People's Commissar of Education Lunacharsky and many others.
How were they buried in the necropolis?
Until the early 80s, the Kremlin wall was used for the burial of famous people. Burials near it were of two types:
- To the right of the Mausoleum near the Kremlin wall are the graves of especially prominent figures of the party and government. They are decorated with sculptural portraits - busts by famous sculptors Merkurov, Tomsky, Rukavishnikov and others. The last person buried near the Kremlin wall was K. U. Chernenko, who was buried there in 1985.
- Most of those buried in the necropolis were cremated. The urns with their ashes are embedded in the Kremlin wall on both sides of the Senate Tower. Their names and dates of life are engraved on memorial plaques. In total, the ashes of 114 great people - scientists, military men, politicians and astronauts - rest in the wall. D. F. Ustinov was the last to be buried in this way.
What else is the Kremlin wall famous for?
Burials that attract tourists are not only on Red Square. The necropolis near the Kremlin wall includes the memorial "Tomb of the Unknown Soldier", located in the Alexander Garden. It was created in 1967 in honor of the 25th anniversary of the liberation of Moscow. The remains of an unknown soldier on a gun carriage as part of a funeral procession were brought from Zelenograd.
The modern form of the memorial did not immediately take. A tombstone with a cast bronze composition was installed on the soldier's grave. On the folds of the battle banner lies a soldier's helmet and a laurel branch. near the Kremlin wall completes the composition. Later, an alley with porphyry blocks was added, under which the land of ten hero cities is stored, and in 2010 a 10-meter granite stele appeared in the memorial. It also symbolizes the memory of hero cities. An important part of the entire composition of the memorial is the Kremlin wall itself. The photo of this place is known not only in Russia, but also abroad.
History of the necropolis
This kind of cemetery has existed for almost a hundred years. Its appearance changed several times, and in the 50s they even wanted to close it and transfer the ashes of those resting there to another place. They planned to create a special Pantheon for this, but this project was soon closed. The fate of the necropolis was not strongly reflected in the political events taking place in the country. Although politicians who were in disgrace were not buried near the wall, the already existing burials were not liquidated. Since 1974, the necropolis was included in the number of state monuments, and it began to be protected by the state. And part of it - the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier - has become the most popular place for tourists and visits of foreign statesmen. For many years now, there has been talk about the liquidation of the necropolis and the transfer of the ashes of those buried there to ordinary cemeteries. This is due not only to religious, but also to political considerations. But in accordance with the current legislation of Russia, for this you need to obtain the consent of relatives, which in most cases is impossible. Therefore, now the necropolis has become an architectural and historical monument. Many tourists tend to visit the Kremlin wall.
The value of the necropolis
From the first years of its creation, it became the place of the oath of the soldiers, parades were held in front of the Mausoleum. During holidays, wreaths are laid at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. And in recent years, a permanent guard of honor from the soldiers of the presidential regiment has been standing near it. This place is visited by foreign delegations and ordinary tourists not only on holidays, but also on ordinary days. Not everyone knows who is buried at the Kremlin wall, but the fact that such a memorial exists is known not only in Russia, but also abroad. This necropolis has become one of the most popular attractions in Moscow.
Then the Social Democrat newspaper published a request for information about the Bolsheviks who died during the October events in Moscow. And on November 7, the Moscow Military Revolutionary Committee decided to arrange a mass grave on Red Square and scheduled a funeral for November 10. 238 coffins were lowered into mass graves. In 1919, Yakov Sverdlov was buried in a separate grave on Red Square. Later, another 15 mass graves of the fighters of the revolution appeared near the Kremlin wall, who died at different times of their own death or died together in catastrophes.
After 1927, the practice of mass burials in the Revolutionary Necropolis ceased. Since that time, the necropolis has been replenished with only two types of burials: especially prominent figures of the party and government (Sverdlov, Frunze, Dzerzhinsky, Kalinin, Zhdanov, Voroshilov, Budyonny, Suslov, Brezhnev, Andropov, Chernenko, Stalin) are buried near the Kremlin wall to the right of without cremation - in a coffin and in a grave with sculptural portraits; and 114 people were cremated, and the urns with their ashes were immured in the wall on both sides under memorial plates with names and dates of life. Politicians who were in disgrace or retired at the time of death were not buried in the necropolis near the Kremlin wall (for example, N.S. Khrushchev and A.I. Mikoyan rest at the Novodevichy cemetery).
It is known that in 1953 the Council of Ministers and the Central Committee of the CPSU decided to liquidate the revolutionary necropolis and transfer the ashes of those who were buried near the Kremlin wall, as well as the bodies of I.V. Stalin and V.I. Lenin to the projected Pantheon. But soon this project was forgotten.
The address: Moscow Red Square
Foundation date: 1917
Coordinates: 55°45"12.9"N 37°37"10.1"E
One of the most famous graveyards of the capital is located next to Red Square. The unusual necropolis has the status of a memorial and causes a lot of controversy. Some demand that the remains of those buried there were transferred to ordinary cemeteries, while others argue that everything should be left unchanged and stored as a piece of the country's history.
The history of burials on the territory of the Kremlin
It is not exactly known when the first burials appeared in the Moscow Kremlin. Over the centuries, there have been many cemeteries in the city center. It was customary to bury commoners near the walls of the Kremlin. On the site from Nikolskaya to the Spasskaya towers, there were 15 churchyards - according to the number of temples that existed inside the Kremlin.
Richer and more eminent citizens were buried inside the Kremlin walls. Grand dukes, tsars and members of royal families found their last refuge in the Archangel Cathedral, church patriarchs - in the Assumption Cathedral, in the very center of the Kremlin.
In 1557, Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible personally participated in the burial of the famous Moscow holy fool Vasily the Blessed. The saint was buried in the cemetery of the Trinity Church in the Kremlin Moat, where later, at the will of the sovereign, the majestic Intercession Cathedral was built. Graveyards at the Kremlin churches existed until the middle of the 17th century, and then burials began to be carried out in ordinary city cemeteries.
mass graves
During the days of the October armed uprising that took place in 1917, there were many dead in the city. In early November, the new authorities, through the newspaper, turned to Muscovites with a request to provide information about everyone who fought on the side of the Bolsheviks. When the dead were collected, two large graves 75 meters long were dug between the Kremlin wall and the tram tracks that ran along Red Square.
The solemn funeral took place on 9 November. Several funeral processions came to Red Square from different parts of the city, and the next day 238 coffins were buried in the graves. Church authorities objected to mass burials near the Kremlin without a funeral ceremony, and in order to protect the funeral participants, they were armed with rifles. V. I. Lenin spoke at the funeral ceremony, and a choral cantata to poems by the poet Sergei Yesenin was performed.
The names of only 57 people from the first buried people have survived to this day. The fact is that many participants in the October events could not be identified, since their bodies were destroyed by explosions.
Over the following years, several more mass graves appeared near the walls of the Kremlin, where they buried people who died a natural death, died during catastrophes or from terrorist acts. In 1921, the victims of the accident on the Moscow-Tula railway were buried here. Abakovsky, a self-taught engineer, designed a railcar with an aircraft engine capable of reaching speeds of up to 140 km / h and called it an “aero wagon”. Near Serpukhov, the car derailed, resulting in the death of 7 people, including the designer himself.
Every year on the Day of International Solidarity of Workers - May 1 and on the anniversary of the October Revolution, a guard of honor was placed near the necropolis, and the soldiers took the oath. The practice of burial in common graves near the Kremlin wall continued until 1928. In total, more than three hundred people rest in mass graves, but the names of only 110 of them are reliably known.
Personal niches and graves
The first to be buried separately from everyone else was Yakov Sverdlov, who died in 1919. By that time, he was acting as chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, that is, he was the formal head of the republic.
Among those who rest in the urns, it is worth mentioning the writer Maxim Gorky, Lenin's younger sister - Maria Ulyanova and his wife Nadezhda Krupskaya, one of the organizers of the mass repressions of the Red Army Lev Mekhlis, military leader Georgy Zhukov, scientist Mstislav Keldysh and pilot Valery Chkalov. Next to them lie the first Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin and the famous designer Sergei Korolev. Until the mid-1970s, marshals of the USSR were buried in the necropolis.
Grave of I. V. Stalin
In some cases, the dead were buried without cremation. M. V. Frunze, Ya. M. Sverdlov, A. A. Zhdanov, F. E. Dzerzhinsky, K. E. Voroshilov, S. M. Budyonny, M. I. Kalinin, L. I. Brezhnev, M. A. Suslov, Yu. V. Andropov and I. V. Stalin. The last to be buried in a separate grave was K. U. Chernenko, but after 1985 the practice of such burials was stopped.
Regardless of whether the deceased was cremated or not, the inhabitants of the country received an official message about the "burial near the Kremlin wall." It is noteworthy that burials in such an honorable place have always been awarded to those who were in favor in power. Disgraced politicians - Nikita Khrushchev, Anastas Mikoyan and Nikolai Podgorny got a place in another part of Moscow - at the Novodevichy cemetery.
Today, more than 400 people lie at the wall. It is noteworthy that 50 of them are citizens of other countries. Almost all of them were communists or prominent figures in the political movement. Near the Kremlin there was a place for the American John Reed, the German Clara Zetkin and the Japanese Sen Katayama.
Decoration of the necropolis and burial traditions
The first improvement of the new cemetery was carried out in the spring of 1918. The ground above the burials was leveled and decorated with turf. Flower beds were planted on the territory, electric lighting was installed, and a memorial plaque was fixed on the Senate Tower.
In 1924, the wall was lined with trees and shrubs. In 1931, the rows of lindens were replaced by slender blue spruces. The trees were constantly monitored, and if one of them dried up, a new one was immediately planted instead.
Monuments and tombstones of the same type did not appear at the cemetery immediately, but only in the 1930s. After the war, under the leadership of the architect Isidor Aronovich Frantsuz, individual graves and mass graves were united into a common architectural ensemble and connected to the guest stands of the mausoleum. The tombstones were decorated with red granite and bronze laurel branches, and the names of the dead appeared on the slabs near the mass graves.
The last alteration of the necropolis was carried out in the 1970s. Bowed red granite banners, stone flower vases and laurel wreaths were added to the decor. At the same time, ornamental shrubs growing near the graves were removed, and blue spruces were planted instead.
Days of mourning were declared several times in the country, when state flags were flown at half mast and entertainment programs were not broadcast on television. Cinemas, concert venues and theaters were closed in all cities. Schoolchildren did not attend classes, and mourning meetings were held at factories and enterprises. Some funerals were shown on TV so that all citizens of the country could see them.
The military post near the mausoleum existed until 1993, and then it was abolished. True, after 4 years, a guard of honor was installed near the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
The Lenin Mausoleum is only a part of the grave ensemble near the Kremlin wall: On the territory of Red Square there are several mass graves, more than a dozen single ones and urns with ashes in the wall between the Spasskaya and Nikolskaya towers. From time to time the question of moving the body of Lenin is raised, but there is no talk of reburial of other figures of the Soviet state. This may seem strange if you study the biography of some of them.
mass graves
According to historians, the remains of 550 people (including Lenin) rest near the walls of the Kremlin. Among them, 422 people are in mass graves, the names of 110 are precisely known. The first mass grave was laid in 1917. Then 247 coffins were buried with those who died during the October armed uprising. Funeral processions stretched over 11 city districts. The new government knew that such a large-scale procession could cause discontent among Muscovites, and the military revolutionary committee responsible for conducting the funeral distributed loaded rifles to the soldiers.
One of the first mass graves, 1917
Later, 15 more mass graves of the fighters of the revolution appeared near the Kremlin wall; the practice of mass graves ceased only after 1927.
Ideologist of the "Red Terror"
The first to be buried in a separate grave (even before the construction of the Mausoleum) was Yakov Sverdlov. A born organizer and schemer, as Trotsky said, Sverdlov with his "leather jackets" was the personification of the revolution.
Yakov Sverdlov
Sverdlov is considered the initiator of the so-called "Red Terror", during which citizens objectionable to the regime were destroyed. In 1918, at the Fifth Congress of Soviets, Yakov Sverdlov made a report on the threat of counter-revolution and the activation of "enemies of Soviet power." On behalf of the people, he declared that "the whole of working Russia will react with full approval to such a measure as the execution of counter-revolutionary generals and other enemies of the working people," and the Congress approved the new doctrine.
The "Red Terror" formally became a response to the assassination of the chairman of the Extraordinary Commission of Petrograd and to another assassination attempt on Lenin. A day after these events, more than 500 professors, teachers, and former officials were shot in the city.
Crimean terrorists
Worst of all things were in the Crimea. The ideologists of the "Red Terror" were particularly zealous here.
How many people were shot on the peninsula is still not known exactly. According to various estimates, from 12,000 to 120,000 in the three years from 1918 to 1921.
“Now there are 300,000 bourgeoisie in Crimea. This is a source of future speculation, espionage, all kinds of help to the capitalists. But we are not afraid of them. We say that we will take them, distribute them, subdue them, digest them,” Lenin said at a meeting in Moscow in 1920.
Mikhail Frunze conducts a military review
The commander-in-chief of the Red troops Mikhail Frunze and Rozalia Zemlyachka are considered responsible for the executions. It was Zemlyachka, as part of a group of detectives of the Crimean Revolutionary Committee, headed by Bela Kun, who brought Frunze directives from the capital ordering to organize punitive actions.
"Red Rose of Terror" - Rosalia Zemlyachka
They were so massive and cruel that even the initiators did not support them: "Bela Kun, one of those workers who needs a deterrent center ... Here he turned into a genius of mass terror. I personally also stand for mass terror in Crimea in order to clear peninsula from the White Guards. But in our country, not only a lot of random elements die from the red terror, but also people who provide all kinds of support to our underground workers who saved them from the noose, "Yuri Gaven, Bela Kun's deputy, wrote to Moscow.
Mikhail Frunze was buried for his services in a separate grave near the Kremlin wall. The ashes of Zemlyachka are located in the niche of the wall, covered with a memorial plaque.
"Heroes" of the 30s
In the Kremlin necropolis, one can also find the burial places of those who signed the execution lists of the 1930s. These are Kliment Voroshilov (185 lists, 18,000 people) and Andrey Zhdanov (177 lists).
Klim Voroshilov at a meeting with Stalin
Voroshilov was a big fan of increasing "limits" - quotas for the number of repressed. The quotas for repression against more than 260,000 people established by order of the NKVD No. 00447 were exceeded by several times.
Telegram from the secretary of the Irkutsk regional committee about increasing the limit on the number of those who were shot by 4,000 people. Voroshilov's signature is third from the right.
Exceeding the limits was perceived by local authorities as any other change in planned indicators, food or industrial. Stakhanov's pace was encouraged by the Politburo. There are no known cases when local "troikas" would be afraid to exceed quotas.
"Troika" was the name of an extrajudicial body consisting of the head of the regional NKVD, the secretary of the regional committee and the regional prosecutor. This is the notion of the People's Commissar of Internal Affairs Nikolai Yezhov. It was these structures that issued pre-trial sentences according to the "hit lists". Their decisions were not subject to appeal.
Yezhov himself did not find a place either at the brick wall or inside it, however, there were figures for whom the "troika" opened the way to great power. For example, Alexander Shcherbakov. The first secretary of the Moscow Regional Committee, the head of the Main Political Directorate of the Red Army during the war years, Shcherbakov began his political activity precisely as the secretary of the regional committee in Donetsk, and, therefore, of the local "troika".
Alexander Shcherbakov (first from right)
The urn with the ashes of Shcherbakov in the wall immediately behind the Lenin Mausoleum.
The Art of Public Prosecution
The prosecutor's office zealously defended the Stalinist regime from the Trotskyist conspirators and the right opposition. The evidence for this is the Moscow trials.
Andrei Vyshinsky, nicknamed "Yaguarovich"
USSR Prosecutor Andrei Vyshinsky was the state prosecutor in all three cases, which were later found to be falsified. After Vyshinsky's death, he was cremated, and the urn was placed in the Kremlin wall. Whether he received such an encouragement for his work in the commission of the NKVD of the USSR, which considered 200-300 sentences to death per day, or for his work as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, is unclear. The remains of Vyshinsky, who was involved in the Great Terror, were not thought to be transferred.
The Genius of Fabrication
The last, third Moscow process, aimed to find those responsible for the murder of the chairman of the OGPU of the USSR Vyacheslav Menzhinsky.
Long ill at the end of his life, forced to hold operational meetings lying on the couch, Menzhinsky tried to keep up with his predecessor Felix Dzerzhinsky until the end of his days.
The record holder for the longest tenure as head of the secret services of the Stalin era (8 years), Menzhinsky is known for the comprehensive strengthening of state security agencies and the successful destruction of Stalin's ideological opponents.
Vyacheslav Menzhinsky
The most famous operations of Menzhinsky include the “Case of the Labor Peasant Party”: at least 1,296 people throughout the Union were convicted for involvement in a party that never existed in order to compromise many political figures. A similar "Industrial Party Affair" imprisoned more than 2,000 engineers and technicians and caused a shortage of personnel in factories. 49 specialists of the coal industry were involved in the "Shakhty case".
"Everyone knows that there was no sabotage. All the noise was aimed at blaming their own mistakes and failures on the industrial front onto someone else's head ... They needed a scapegoat, and they found him in the dolls of the Shakhty trial," wrote a corresponding member in a suicide note. Academy of Sciences of the USSR Vladimir Grum-Grzhimailo.
Menzhinsky was cremated, and his ashes were placed in an urn in the Kremlin wall.
assassin diplomat
"The revolution must be cruel to the overthrown monarchs," Pyotr Voikov, a Soviet diplomat and member of the board of the People's Commissariat for Foreign Trade, explained his participation in the execution of the royal family. He went down in history as one of the participants in the punitive action on July 17, 1918.
Petr Voikov
Voikov was present at the execution of the sentence as a delegate of the Ural Party Committee. The Committee unanimously decided to shoot the family of Nicholas II against the wishes of the Moscow authorities.
"Voikov was also instructed to read the decree on execution to the royal family, with a motivation consisting of several lines, and he really learned this decree by heart in order to read it as solemnly as possible, believing that by doing so he would go down in history as one of the main characters of this tragedy. Yurovsky, however, who also wanted to "go down in history", got ahead of Voikov and, after saying a few words, began to shoot ... Voikov told me that it was a terrible picture. The corpses lay on the floor in nightmarish poses, disfigured from horror and blood faces," wrote Grigory Besedovsky, a diplomat and comrade of Voikov.
Voikov was also instructed to dispose of the corpses, for which he used 11 liters of hydrochloric acid. It was not completely possible to get rid of the corpses in this way, and near the mine a "huge mass of human stumps, arms, legs, torsos and heads" was formed. They were burned with gasoline for two more days.
The place of execution, the premises of the Ipatiev house in Yekaterinburg
In the future, Voikov tried to relieve himself of direct responsibility, arranging the matter in such a way that the Executive Committee of the Ural Regional Council ordered him to fulfill the prescribed. Voikov was solemnly buried near the Kremlin wall in Moscow.
Military Mephistopheles
The main political department of the Red Army, "a cage with mad dogs," as Khrushchev later called it, was headed by Lev Mekhlis. This man, according to Stalin, was not suitable for "constructive deeds": "To destroy, destroy, destroy something - he is suitable for this."
It was Mekhlis who was responsible for the defeat of the military command during the years of Stalin's purges. In the country, just before the war, three out of five marshals, 13 out of 15 division commanders, 57 out of 85 corps commanders and 110 out of 195 division commanders, or, in total, nine out of ten generals and eight out of ten colonels were liquidated.
Lev Mekhlis
These were people who had an idea about the fighting. Many of them went through the Civil War, others took part in the First World War. Largely because of this purge, the Soviet Union lost so many people at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War.
But not only the generals and chiefs suffered from the furious zeal of Mehlis. In 1941-1942, about 1 million soldiers appeared before the field court, 157,000 of them were sentenced to death. And this is during the offensive of the enemy.
Lev Mekhlis became the "conductor" of the Kerch offensive catastrophe.
The office worker decided to take matters into his own hands, forbidding the soldiers to dig trenches. "Everyone who prefers a comfortable position 100 meters from the enemy to an uncomfortable position 30 meters from the enemy" will be considered an alarmist - such was the opinion of the political commander. In the hottest moments of the operation, he drove a car along the front line and fired at his subordinates. In 12 days, the Red Army lost about 70% of its personnel (176 thousand people killed and captured), 350 tanks and 400 aircraft. As a result, the army was evacuated from the peninsula, losing control over the Black Sea and opening the way for the Germans to the North Caucasus.
“You have taken a strange position of an outside observer who is not responsible for the affairs of the Crimean Front. This is a convenient position, but it smells bad. On the Crimean Front, you are not an outside observer, but a (responsible) representative of the Headquarters, responsible for all the successes and failures of the front and obliged to correct at the site of the command’s mistake," Stalin accused of trying to shift the blame to Kozlov Mekhlis.
Lev Mekhlis appeared before a military court and was demoted to a corps commissar, but after the war he held high positions as Minister of State Control of the USSR and a member of the Presidium of the Council of Ministers of the USSR. During this time, he showed himself as a man, according to Khrushchev, "crazy, which was expressed in his mania to see enemies and traitors everywhere." For example, for an accident at a petrochemical plant in Saratov, which led to an oil spill into the Volga, Mekhlis executed Bratkin, head of the Saratov Glavneft, plant director Bogdanov, and Saratov University professor Orlov.
Similar economic purges were also carried out in Leningrad, Minsk, and the Sverdlovsk region. Often random people died as a result of punitive operations and investigations of Mephistopheles.
Mekhlis died a few days before the death of Stalin, he was given a place of honor in the niche of the Kremlin wall.
And who likes it, apparently, to have a cemetery in a place of festivities.
On November 7, the Moscow Military Revolutionary Committee decided to arrange a mass grave on Red Square and scheduled a funeral for November 10.
On November 8, two mass graves were dug - between the Kremlin wall and the tram rails that lay parallel to it. One grave started from the Nikolsky Gate and stretched to the Senate Tower, then there was a small gap and the second went to the Spassky Gate.
On November 10, 238 coffins were lowered into mass graves. In total, 240 people were buried in 1917 (14.11-Lisinova and 17.11.-Valdovsky) (the names of 57 people are known for sure.
Later, 15 more mass graves of revolution fighters appeared near the Kremlin wall, either who died at different times of their own death and were later buried in common graves, or who died together in disasters (for example, during the crash of an air car in which Artyom (Sergeev) and a number of other Bolsheviks died ). After 1927 this practice ceased.
As a result, more than 300 people were buried in mass graves, the exact names of 110 people are known. Abramov's book contains a martyrology, which lists another 122 people who, most likely, are also buried in mass graves.
In the early years of Soviet power, on November 7 and May 1, an honorary military guard was posted at the Mass Graves, and the regiments took the oath.
In 1919, Ya. M. Sverdlov was buried for the first time in a separate grave on Red Square.
In 1924, the Lenin Mausoleum was built, which became the center of the necropolis.
Burials in the 1920s-1980sSubsequently, the necropolis was replenished with two types of burials:
especially prominent figures of the party and government (Sverdlov, and then Frunze, Dzerzhinsky, Kalinin, Zhdanov, Voroshilov, Budyonny, Suslov, Brezhnev, Andropov and Chernenko) are buried near the Kremlin wall to the right of the Mausoleum without cremation, in a coffin and in a grave. In the same grave, in 1961, the body of I.V. Stalin, taken out of the Mausoleum, was buried. Above them are monuments - sculptural portraits by S. D. Merkurov (busts at the first four burials in 1947 and Zhdanov in 1949), N. V. Tomsky (busts of Stalin, 1970, and Budyonny, 1975), N. I. Bratsuna (bust of Voroshilov, 1970), I. M. Rukavishnikov (busts of Suslov, 1983, and Brezhnev, 1983), V. A. Sonin (bust of Andropov, 1985), L. E. Kerbel (bust of Chernenko, 1986).
most of the people buried near the Kremlin wall in the 1930s-1980s are cremated, and the urns with their ashes are immured in the wall (on both sides of the Senate Tower) under the memorial plates, which indicate the name and dates of life (total 114 people). In 1925-1936 (before S. S. Kamenev and A. P. Karpinsky), urns were mostly walled up on the right side of the Necropolis, but in 1934, 1935 and 1936 Kirov, Kuibyshev and Maxim Gorky were buried on the left side; starting from 1937 (Ordzhonikidze, Maria Ulyanova), burials completely switched to the left side and were carried out only there until 1976 (the only exception is G.K. Zhukov, whose ashes were buried in 1974 on the right side, next to S.S. Kamenev ); and from 1977 until the cessation of burials, they again “returned” to the right side.
...
In the necropolis near the Kremlin wall, in addition to the party and state leaders of the USSR, there are the ashes of outstanding pilots (1930s-1940s), dead cosmonauts (1960s-1970s), prominent scientists (A.P. Karpinsky, I.V. Kurchatov, S. P. Korolev, M. V. Keldysh).
Until 1976, all those who died with the rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union were buried near the Kremlin wall, but, starting with P.K. Koshevoy, marshals were also buried in other cemeteries.
The last person buried at the Kremlin wall was K. U. Chernenko (March 1985). The last one whose ashes were placed in the Kremlin wall was D. F. Ustinov, who died in December 1984.
http://dic.academic.ru/dic.nsf/sie/8791/%D0%9A%D0%A0%D0%90%D0%A1%D0%9D%D0%90%D0%AF
A. I. Rogov. Moscow.
List of those buried in Red Square near the Kremlin wall.
Abakovsky, Valerian Ivanovich (5.X.1895 - 24.VII.1921) - designer of the air car. Died in a plane crash. Antonov, Alexei Innokent'evich (15.IX.1896 - 18.VI.1962) (K. s). Ariand (Steffen), Inessa (Elizaveta) Feodorovna (26.IV.1874 - 24.IX.1920). Artem (Sergeev), Fedor Andreevich (7.III.1883 - 24.VII.1921).
Afonin, Efim Lavrentievich (1871 - 21.VII.1922) - member. RCP (b) since 1917, member of the civil. wars, ch. Moscow City Council, worked in MOZO. Baranov, Pyotr Ionovich (6.IX.1892 - 5.IX.1933) (K. s). Biryuzov, Sergei Semenovich (VIII.21.1904 - X.19.1964) (K. s). Bocharov, Ivan Yakovlevich (1888 - 8.III.1920) - participant in October. revolution in Moscow Military Revolutionary Committee of the Basmanny District, member. Moscow City Council. Waldovsky, Jan (d. Nov. 1917) - Red Guard worker, participant in Oct. Revolution (buried 17.XI.1917). Vannikov, Boris Lvovich (September 7, 1897 - February 22, 1962) (K. s). Vasenko, Andrey Bogdanovich (28.XII.1899 - 30.I.1934) - engineer. He died during the catastrophe of the stratospheric balloon "Osoaviakhim" (K. s). Vakhrushev, Vasily Vasilievich (28.II 1902 - 13.I.1947) - owl. state figure. Hero of the Socialist Labor (K. s). Vladimirov, Miron Konstantinovich (15.XI.1879 - 20.III.1925) (K. s). Vladimirov, Stepan Vladimirovich (d. 1917) - Ensign of the 642nd Sterlitamak Regiment. Died during Oct. fighting in Moscow. Vladimirsky, Mikhail Fedorovich (20.II.1874 - 2.IV.1951) (K. s). Voikov, Petr Lazarevich (1888 - 7.VI.1927). Voitovich, Vasily Ermolaevich (1891-1917). Volkova, Maria (d. 29.IX.1919) - worker, member. RCP(b) since 1918, an employee of the MK RCP(b). She was mortally wounded in an explosion in the building of the Moscow Committee of the RCP (b) in Leontievsky Lane on September 25, 1919. Borovsky, Vatslav Vatslavovich (15.X.1871 - 10.V.1923). Voronov, Alexander Petrovich (1894 - 27.X.1917) - soldier of the 303rd Senno regiment. Member RSDLP (b) since 1917. Died during Oct. revolution in Moscow in battle with the junkers on Red Square. Vyshinsky, Andrey Yanuarievich (10.XII.1883 - 22.XI.1954) (K. s). Gavrikov, Yakov Vasilievich (d. 27.X.1917) - soldier of the 303rd Senno regiment. He died in battle with the junkers on Red Square. Heckert, Fritz (March 28, 1884 - April 7, 1936) (K. s). Gelbrich, Oscar (d. 24.VII.1921) - member of the Communist Party of Germany, delegate to the 1st Congress of the Profintern. Killed during an air wagon accident. Govorov, Leonid Alexandrovich (22.II.1897 - 19.III.1955) (K. s). Goltsman, Abram Zinovievich (24.XII.1894 - 5.IX.1933) - owl. part. and Mrs. figure. Member VKP(b) from Apr. 1917. Died in an aircraft accident (K. s). Gorky, Alexei Maksimovich (March 28, 1868 - June 18, 1936) (K. s). Gusev, Sergei Ivanovich (1.I.1874 - 10.VI.1933) (K. s). Dzerzhinsky, Felix Edmundovich (30.VIII.1877 - 20.VII.1926). Dovgalevsky, Valerian Savelyevich (November 23, 1885 - July 14, 1934) (K. s). Dygay, Nikolai Alexandrovich (11.XI.1908 - 6.III.1963) - owl. part. and Mrs. figure. Member CPSU since 1929. Prev. Executive Committee of the Moscow City Council (K. s). Efremov, Alexander Illarionovich (23. IV.1904 - 23.XI.1951) - Sov. part. and Mrs. figure. Member VKP(b) since 1924 (K. s). Zhdanov, Andrey Alexandrovich (26.II 1896 - 31.VIII.1948). Zhilin, Ivan Yakovlevich (1871-1922) - member of the civil. wars, ch. Moscow City Council. Member RSDLP since 1902. Died of tuberculosis. Zhuk, Sergey Yakovlevich (22.III (4.IV).1892 - 1.III.1957) - engineer, acad. Academy of Sciences of the USSR (1953). Member CPSU since 1942. Hero of the Socialist. Labor (1952) (K. s). Zavenyagin, Avraamy Pavlovich (1 (14). IV. 1901 - 31. XII. 1956) - owl. part. and Mrs. figure. Member CPSU since 1917. Twice Hero of the Socialist. Labor (K. s). Zagorsky (Lubotsky), Vladimir Mikhailovich (1883 - 25.IX.1919). Zaporozhets, Anton Petrovich (d. 27.X.1917) - soldier of the 144th Kashirsky regiment. He died in battle with the junkers on Red Square. Zemlyachka, Rosalia Samoilovna (1.IV.1876 - 21.I.1947) (K. s). Ignatova, Irina Matveevna (d. 25.IX.1919) - worker, participant in October. revolution, ch. RCP(b) since 1917, an employee of the Khamovniki District Committee of the RCP(b). She died during an explosion in the building of the Moscow Committee of the RCP (b) in Leontievsky Lane on September 25, 1919. Inyushev, Andrei Alekseevich (d. 1917) - ensign of the 143rd Dorogobuzh regiment. Died Oct. 1917 in the battle for the Sov. power in Moscow. Kalinin, Mikhail Ivanovich (7(19).XI.1875 - 3.VI.1946). Kamenev, Sergei Sergeevich (4.IV.1881 - 25.VIII.1936) (K. s). Karpinsky, Alexander Petrovich (26.XII.1846 (7.I.1847) - 15.VII.1936) - President of the USSR Academy of Sciences (K. s). Karpov, Lev Yakovlevich (18.II (2.III.1879 - 6.I.1921). Katayama, Sen (5.XII.1859 - 5.XI.1933) (K. s.) Kvash (d. 25. IX.1919) - First Secretary of the Bureau of Subbotniks at the MK RCP (b.) He died during an explosion in the building of the MK RCP (b) in Leontievsky Lane on September 25, 1919. Kirkizh, Kupriny Osipovich (September 29, 1888 - 24. V.1932) (C.S.) Kirov (Kostrikov), Sergei Mironovich (15(27).III.1886 - 1.XII.1934) (C.S.) Kovshov, Vitaly Dmitrievich (1895 - 12.XI. 1920) - member of the RCP(b) from March 1917, in 1918 - chairman of the Zlatoust Military Revolutionary Committee, participant in the civil war, assistant commander of the 8th rifle division, then brigade commander. Killed in battle with Bulak-Balakhovich's gang. Kozlov, Frol Romanovich (18.VIII.1908 - 30.1.1965) - member of the CPSU from 1926. Hero of Socialist Labor (1961) In 1957-64 - member of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the CPSU, secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU Kolbin (d. 25.IX .1919) - a student of the Central School of Party Workers. Died during an explosion in the building of the Moscow Committee of the RCP (b) in Leontievsky Lane 25.IX.1919 Konstantinov, Ivan (12.VIII.1887 - 24.VII.1921) - activist of the Bulgarian Communist Party, delegate of the 1st Congress of the oftern. Died in a plane crash. Kravchenko, Grigory Panteleevich (5.X.1912 - 23.II.1943) - owl. pilot. Twice Hero of the Owls. Union (K. with). Krasin, Leonid Borisovich (15.VII.1870 - 24.XI.1926) (K. s). Krzhizhanovsky, Gleb Maksimilianovich (12 (24) .1.1872 - 31.III.1959) (K. s). Kropotov, Nikolai Nikolaevich (8.XI.1873 - 25.IX.1919) - desk. worker, member Moscow City Council. He died during an explosion in the building of the MK RCP (b) in Leontievsky per. 25.IX.1919. Krupskaya, Nadezhda Konstantinovna (26.II.1869 - 27.II.1939) (K. s). Kuzmin, Anatoly Nikolaevich (2.XI.1903 - 29.X.1954) - owl. part. and Mrs. figure. Member CPSU since 1926 (K.s.). Kuibyshev, Valerian Vladimirovich (25.V (6.VI).1888 - 25.I.1935) (K. s). Kurashov, Sergei Vladimirovich (1.X.1910 - 27.VIII.1965) - min. health care of the USSR, member. CPSU since 1938 (K. s). Kurchatov, Igor Vasilyevich (12.I.1903 - 7.II.1960) - owl. scientist. Member CPSU since 1948. Acad. Academy of Sciences of the USSR, member. Presidium of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. Thrice Hero of the Socialist. Labor (K. s). Kuusinen, Otto Wilhelmovich (4.X.1881 - 17.V.1964) (K. s). Kucherenko, Vladimir Alekseevich (18.VII.1909 - 26.XI.1963) - owls, state, party. and scientific doer (K. s). Member CPSU since 1942. Deputy. chairman of the Gosstroy of the USSR (K. s). Kuchutenkov, Alexander Amarosevich (d. 21.I.1918) - a worker in the workshops of the Moscow-Kazan railway. D. Krasnogvardeets. Landler, Jene (November 22, 1875 - February 24, 1928) (K. s). Larin (Yu. Larin), Mikhail Alexandrovich (4.VII.1882 - 14.I.1932) (K. s). Lepse, Ivan Ivanovich (2.VII.1889 - 6.X.1929) (K. s). Lisinova (Lisenyan), Lyusik (d. XI.1917). Likhachev, Vasily Matveyevich (1882 - X.1924) - revolutionary figure. movement, in 1906 - member. MK RSDLP; from Apr. to Oct. 1917 - Secretary of the MK RSDLP (b). Member Presidium of the Moscow City Council, before. MSPO and MSH. Likhachev, Ivan Alekseevich (15.VI.1896 - 24.VI.1956) (K. s). Lunacharsky, Anatoly Vasilyevich (11 (23) XI. 1875 - December 26, 1933) (K. s). Mac Manus, Arthur (1889-1927) (K. s). Malyshev, Vyacheslav Alexandrovich (16.XII.1902 - 20.II.1957) (K. s). Menzhinsky, Vyacheslav Rudolfovich (1.IX.1874 - 10.V.1934) (K. s). Mekhlis, Lev Zakharovich (13.I.1889 - 13.II.1953) (K. s). Mikhailov-Ivanov, Mikhail Silverstovich (November 3, 1894 - September 27, 1931) - owl. state activist, member Presidium of the Supreme Economic Council of the USSR (K. s). Mokryak, Mark Isaevich (1886 - 23.X.1919). Nazarov, Ivan Alekseevich (d. 27.X.1917) - soldier of the 480th Danilovsky regiment. Killed in battle for the Soviets. power in Moscow (K. s). Narimanov, Nariman Najar-ogly (2 (14). IV. 1870 - 19. III. 1925). Nedelin, Mitrofan Ivanovich (9.XI.1902 - 24.X.1960) (K.S.). Nedelkin, Timofei Fedorovich (d. 1917) - soldier of the 15th Special Regiment. Killed during the battles for the Soviets. power in Moscow. Nikolaeva, Anfisa Fedorovna (d. 25.IX.1919) - Secretary of the Railway District Committee of the RCP (b). She died in an explosion in the building of the MK RCP (b) in Leontievsky per. 25.IX.1919. Nikolaeva, Claudia Ivanovna (13.VI.1893 - 28.XII.1944) (K. s). Nogin, Viktor Pavlovich (2(14).II.1878 - 22.V.1924). Nosenko, Ivan Isidorovich (1.V.1902 - 2.VIII.1956) - owl. part. and Mrs. figure. Member CPSU since 1925 (K. s). Olminsky, Mikhail Stepanovich (3.X.1863 - 8.V.1933) (K. s). Ordzhonikidze, Grigory Konstantinovich (12 (24). X. 1886 - 18. II. 1937) (K. s). Osen, Augustilia (d. 4.VIII.1920) - Swedish society. activist. Delegate of the 2nd Congress of the Comintern. Tragically died during the aviation. competitions. Osipenko, Polina Denisovna (8.X.1907 - 11.V.1939) - owl. pilot, Hero of the Soviet Union. She died in the line of duty (K. s). Pamfilov, Konstantin Dmitrievich (25.V.1901 - 2.V.1943) - owl. state figure. Member VKP(b) since 1918 (K. s). Pekalov, Semyon Matveevich (d. 4.IV.1918) - policeman. He died during a fight with bandits near the Ustinsky bridge. Petrovsky, Grigory Ivanovich (4.II.1878 - 9.I.1958) (K. s). Podbelsky, Vadim Nikolaevich (XI.1887 - 25.II.1920). Pokrovsky, Mikhail Nikolaevich (17(29).VIII.1868 - 10.IV.1932) (K. s). Potemkin, Vladimir Petrovich (23.X.1878 - 23.II.1946) (K. s). Pryamikov, Nikolai Nikolaevich (1888-1918). Razorenov-Nikitin, Georgy Nikitich (1886 - 25.IX.1919) - member. RCP(b) since 1917. Killed in an explosion in the building of the MK RCP(b) in Leontievsky per. 25.IX.1919. Raskova, Marina Mikhailovna (March 28, 1912 - January 4, 1943) - owl. pilot. Hero of the Owls Union (K. s). Reed, John (October 22, 1887 - October 17, 1920). Rusakov, Ivan Vasilievich (1877 - 18.III.1921) - member. RCP(b) since 1904. Member. Presidium of the Moscow City Council. Died in Kronstadt. Rutenberg, Charles Emil (July 9, 1882 - March 2, 1927) - Secretary of the US Communist Party. Member ECCI. He died in prison in the USA. According to his will, his ashes were transferred to Moscow (K. s). Sapunov, Yevgeny Nikolaevich (1886 - 27.X.1917) - soldier, commander of the "Dvintsev" company of the 303rd Senno regiment of the 76th infantry division. Killed in battle for the Soviets. power in Moscow. Safonov, Alexander Kononovich (1875 - 25.IX.1919) - participant in the revolution. movement. Member RCP(b) since 1904. Member. RVS 2nd Army. He died in an explosion in the building of the MK RCP (b) in Leontievsky per. 25.IX.1919. Sverdlov, Yakov Mikhailovich (23.V (4.VI).1885 - 16.III.1919). Svidersky, Alexei Ivanovich (March 20, 1878 - May 10, 1933) (K. s). Serov, Anatoly Konstantinovich (20.III.1910 - 11.V.1939) - owl. pilot. Hero of the Owls Union. Killed during the aviation. catastrophes (K. s). Skvortsov-Stepanov, Ivan Ivanovich (8.III.1870 - 8.X.1928) (K. s). Smidovich, Pyotr Germogenovich (7.V.1874 - 16. IV.1935) (K. s). Smilga, Ivan (1898 - XI.1917) - worker. Member RSDLP(b) from Oct. 1917. Red Guard, participant in Oct. revolution in Moscow. Killed in the 1st Mosk. detachment of the Red Guard in the battle against the Whites in November. 1917 in Yekaterinoslav. Stalin (Dzhugashvili), Joseph Vissarionovich (XII.21.1879 - III.5.1953). Stankevich, Anton Vladimirovich (1862-1919) - general of the tsarist army. Commanding a division of the Red Army near Orel in 1919, he was betrayed by the chief of staff, who defected to the Whites. Once in captivity, Stankevich categorically refused to serve in the White Army, for which he was hanged. After the defeat of the whites near Orel, the body of A. B. Stankevich was transported to Moscow and on November 10. 1919 buried in Red Square. Stopani, Alexander Mitrofanovich (9.X.1871 - 23.X.1932) (K. s). Strupat, Otto (d. 24.VII.1921) - German. communist, delegate to the Congress of the Profintern. Died in a plane crash. Stuchka, Petr Ivanovich (July 26, 1865 - January 25, 1932) (K. s). Tevosyan, Ivan Fedorovich (4.I.1902 - 30.III.1958) (K. s). Timofeev, Alexander (d. 27.X.1917) - soldier of the 303rd Senno regiment. Killed in battle for the Soviets. power in Moscow. Timofeev, Gabriel (d. 1917) - soldier of the 1st Nevsky Regiment. Killed in battle for the Soviets. power in Moscow. Titov, Grigory Vasilievich (Kudryavtsev Alexander Ignatievich) (1886 - 25.IX.1919) - an active participant in Oct. revolution in Moscow and civil. wars in Ukraine and Belarus. Member RCP(b) since 1912. Died during an explosion in the building of the MK RCP(b) in Leontievsky per. 25.IX.1919. Tovstukha, Ivan Pavlovich (23.II.1889 - 9.VIII.1935) (K. s). Tolbukhin, Fedor Ivanovich (16.VI.1894 - 17.X.1949) (K. s). Triandofillov, Vladimir Kiriakovich (14.III.1894 - 12.VII.1931) (K. s). Trunov, Nikolai Rodionovich (1889 - 29.X.1917) - junior non-commissioned officer of the 719th Lisogorsky regiment. He died during the capture of the city administration in the battle for the Sov. power in Moscow. Ulyanova, Maria Ilyinichna (18.II.1878 - 12.VI.1937) (K. s). Usoltsev, Mikhail Timofeevich (d. 27.X.1917) - soldier of the 303rd Senno regiment. Mortally wounded in battle for the Sov. power in Moscow. Usyskin, Ilya Davidovich (13.XI.1910 - 30.I.1934) - engineer. Member Komsomol since 1927. Died during the catastrophe of the Osoaviakhim stratospheric balloon (K. s). Fedoseenko, Pavel Fedorovich (1.V.1898 - 30.I.1934) - an active participant in the civil. war, pilot-aeronaut. He died during the catastrophe of the stratospheric balloon "Osoaviakhim" (K. s). Freeman, John (d. 28.VII.1921) - leader of the labor movement in the United States and Australia. Delegate of the 2nd and 3rd congresses of the Comintern. Died in a plane crash. Frunze, Mikhail Vasilyevich (21.1(2. 11).1885 - 31.X.1925). Khaldina, Anya (d. 25.IX.1919) - an employee of the MK RCP (b). She died during an explosion in the building of the MK RCP(b). Haywood, William (Bill) (4.II.1869 - 18.V.1928) (K. s). Khomyakov, Ivan Mikhailovich (1886 - 17.IV.1920) - an employee of the Moscow Conservatory. Member RCP(b) from May 1917. Died in the line of duty. Khrulev, Andrei Vasilyevich (30.IX.1892 - 9.VI.1962) (K. s). Khrunichev, Mikhail Vasilyevich (4.IV.1901 - 2.VI.1961) (K. s). Hewlett, William John (d. 24.VII.1921) - English figure. labor movement, communist. Delegate of the 3rd Congress of the Comintern. Died in a plane crash. Zetkin, Clara (5.VII.1857 - 20.VI.1933) (K. s). Tsyurupa, Alexander Dmitrievich G. 18(30).VIII.1870 - 8.V.1928) (K. s). Chkalov, Valery Pavlovich (2.II.1904 - 15.XII.1938) (K. s). Shaposhnikov, Boris Mikhailovich (20.IX.1882 - 26.III.1945) (K. s). Shvyrkov, Yegor Petrovich (d. 4.IV.1918) - policeman. He died in a fight with bandits near the Ustinsky bridge. Shkiryatov, Matvey Fedorovich (15.VIII.1883 - 18.I.1954) (K. s). Steingart, Alexander Matveevich (23.IV.1887 - 19.II.1934) (K. s). Shcherbakov, Alexander Sergeevich (10.X.1901 - 10.V.1945) (K. s). Yudin, Pavel Alexandrovich (31.V.1902 - 10.IV.1956) (K. s). Yanyshev, Mikhail Petrovich (1883 - VII.1920). Yaroslavsky, Emelyan Mikhailovich (19.II.1878 - 4.XII.1943) (K. s).
1 Surnames of persons about whom special biographical information is given in the FIE. articles are given without explanation. Letters (К. с.) mark the names of persons whose urns with ashes are buried in the Kremlin wall. Dates of life, as a rule, are given as they are carved on tombstones. Some of the dates in this list have been updated.
PySy from Mikhalych:
As you can see, in the center of Moscow there is a huge pompous cemetery.
Burying Lenin is no big deal.
And what to do with the rest?
After all, very worthy people are buried there, and not just leaders of the party and government.
