Telegin Konstantin Fedorovich (1899-1981) - Soviet military leader, lieutenant general (1943). In the Red Army since 1918. Member of the RCP (b) since 1919. Member of the Civil War, assistant military commissar of a rifle regiment. Since 1936 - in the military-political work in the NKVD troops. Member of the fighting on Lake Khasan and the Soviet-Finnish war. In 1940-1941 - in the central apparatus of the NKVD of the USSR. In June 1941 - brigade commissar. During the Second World War, from July 1941 - a member of the Military Council of the Moscow Military District, from December - the Moscow Defense Zone (MZO), in 1942-1945 - a member of the Military Councils of the Don, Central and 1st Belorussian Fronts. Participated in the preparation and implementation of hostilities in the Moscow, Stalingrad and Kursk battles, in the battle for the Dnieper, the liberation of Belarus, in the Vistula-Oder, East Pomeranian and Berlin operations. After the war - a member of the Military Council of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany. In 1947, he was dismissed from the army, arrested on Stalin's personal order in 1948. First of all, he was charged with violating the procedure for awarding orders, slandering the Soviet Army and anti-Soviet statements. For example, in 1945 Telegin allegedly stated: “ We are ashamed in front of foreign countries for our troops in Germany, because they look so dirty and ragged, while the Anglo-American troops are dressed "to the point"» (Military History Journal. 1989. No. 6. P. 75). The second part of the corpus delicti was more weighty. From the indictment of the Ministry of State Security: “... The investigation established that Telegin, being in 1944-1946. together with the Soviet troops on the territory of Poland and Germany, using his official position, he was engaged in acquisitiveness, buying for next to nothing and appropriating valuables and property that was to be handed over to the state. During the search, a large number of valuables were seized from Telegin, over 16 kilograms of silverware, 218 cuts of woolen and silk fabrics, 21 hunting rifles, many antique items made of porcelain and earthenware, fur, tapestries made by French and Flemish masters of the 17th and 18th centuries, and other expensive things». ( ibid.). Based on the totality of his deeds, Telegin was sentenced to 25 years in a forced labor camp. There were letters and petitions for pardon. The convict wrote to K. Voroshilov and V. Molotov about unlawful methods of investigation (Telegin was severely beaten by investigators and jailers). At present, most historians have no doubt that, in ordering the arrest of Telegin, Stalin pursued very specific goals. " After the victory near Moscow, the authority and popularity of Marshal G.K. Zhukov increased sharply. This, apparently, did not suit the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. The selection of "compromising evidence" on Zhukov resumed. The most noticeable links in these actions: the arrest in 1942 of the head of the Western Front's operations department, Major General V.S. Golushkevich; the arrest in 1945 of Air Chief Marshal A.A. Novikov; arrest in January 1948. closest associate of Zhukov, Lieutenant General K.F. Telegin» ( Pavlenko N. The history of the war has not yet been written // Ogonyok. -1989. - No. 25). In 1953 he was rehabilitated. In 1955-1956, he was deputy head of the Shot courses for political affairs. Author of the memoirs "They didn't give up Moscow" and a number of military-historical works about the Great Patriotic War.

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In addition to those tapestries and guns, a search of Lieutenant-General Telegin found a lot of other things.

Lieutenant-General Telegin stole so much that his deeds became, as it were, a standard, a starting point. When it was necessary to compare someone's crimes with something, they compared them with Telegin. About someone they followed with respect they said: he stole almost like Telegin!

And when it came to Zhukov, the scope of his theft and exorbitant Zhukov's greed was compared precisely with Telegin's theft and greed. Zhukov was ordered to write an explanation. The case for the investigation of Zhukov's criminal activities was led by the secretary of the Central Committee Zhdanov Andrey Aleksandrovich. Zhukov's explanatory note is addressed to Zhdanov. Zhukov wrote: “The accusation that I competed in thrift with Telegin is slander. I can’t say anything about Telegin. I think that he acquired the situation in Leipzig incorrectly. I personally told him about this. , I don't know". (Military archives of Russia. 1993 No. 1 P. 243)

It follows from Zhukov's written explanation that Lieutenant-General Telegin illegally acquired the "situation" in Leipzig. I dare to suggest that we are not talking about soldiers' stools. Zhukov admits that he knew about Telegin's theft. Zhukov allegedly expressed to Telegin his displeasure with illegal actions. We don't know if this is true. But even if Zhukov expressed displeasure to Telegin, it did not go further. It also follows from Zhukov's written explanation that the furniture purchased by Telegin is not known where. It is clear that Telegin illegally acquired "furnishings", but it is not clear where she is. From this, in turn, it follows that in addition to the intercepted train that Telegin sent to the “countrymen”, and in addition to what was found in his apartments and dachas, there were other very expensive things that Telegin illegally received and sent to no one knows where. The secretary of the Central Committee A.A. tried to deal with this issue. Zhdanov.

In the language of thieves, a buyer of stolen goods was called a huckster, the owner of a brothel - a bandersha. And surrounded by Zhukov, a couple crept up in which the roles changed. He was the owner of an underground brothel, she was a buyer of stolen goods. His name was Kryukov Vladimir Viktorovich, her name was Ruslanova Lidia Andreevna.

In addition to maintaining an underground brothel, Kryukov Vladimir Viktorovich was engaged in looting and huckstering on a grand scale. To cover up his violent activities, he had a related profession - he was a lieutenant general, commander of the 2nd Guards Cavalry Corps. We have already met Kryukov in the chapter on orders. Kryukov commanded a regiment in Zhukov's division back in 1932. Then Zhukov dragged Kryukov along and hung him with orders, violating Stalin's orders and the laws of the Soviet Union.

Kryukov was convicted of theft, arrested and imprisoned. From the case file it follows that he took out of Germany a huge black car "Horch 951A", two "Mercedes" and "Audi". I'll tell you about "Horch 951A". This car was created as a Hitlervagen, i.e. car for Hitler. It was an eight-seat car with an engine displacement of 4944 cc. see. The car was equipped with every conceivable and unthinkable convenience. For example, the right front fender could be lifted up to have a built-in washbasin underneath. There were curtains on the windows. On the rear door pillars there were special mounts for three flower vases. The driver's compartment was separated from the passenger compartment by a soundproof sliding partition. Above the passenger compartment is a sliding sunroof. At that time, car radiators were decorated with miniature figurines: hounds, running deer, hawks, silver ghosts. Horch's symbol is a flying cannonball. To emphasize that it flies, and does not lie on the hood, the core was made with unfolded eagle wings. This symbol was diluted with low-key humor. Astride a cannonball, Baron Munchausen flew over Germany. This is what we had in mind when choosing the symbol: we have put fiction into practice, we can fly anywhere in our car, like on a cannonball. This gentle humor suited anyone, but not the head of the German state. Hitler did not want in any way to associate his name with the name of the world-famous baron who flew on the core. The Horch 951A is a very large, powerful, comfortable and prohibitively expensive machine. It was made only for individual orders. The only drawback: there was no three-pointed star on its radiator. "Mercedes" was the symbol of Germany, because Hitler chose "Mercedes". However, Hitler's inner circle, for example Goering and Rosenberg, chose the Horch 951. Hitler presented such a car to Marshal Mannerheim, as a token of Germany's gratitude for the fact that Mannerheim did not let the Red Army into the deposits of Swedish ore and thereby saved Germany from immediate defeat in the war.

This is the car that the commander of the 2nd Guards Cavalry Corps, the keeper of the brothel, Zhukov's favorite, Hero of the Soviet Union, Lieutenant General Kryukov, took for himself in Germany. In Russian, there is an exact expression for such a situation: you take it not according to your rank. The car, which was intended for the head of the Third Reich, which could only be owned by the richest and most influential people in Germany, was simply too big in size for the communist Kryukov, who killed a fair number of people in the war for the sake of universal material equality.

The Mercedes, which Lieutenant-General Kryukov accidentally grabbed in Germany, were also not just any, but picked up with understanding and love. One of them is the 540K convertible. This is a sporty model of stunning grace.

In addition to cars, three Moscow apartments and two dachas, 700,000 rubles in cash were confiscated from Cavalry General Kryukov. This is already after the monetary reform of 1947, when the ruble was stabilized, when Stalin bankrupted many underground millionaires with the monetary reform. Lucky Kryukov even slipped through the Stalinist monetary reform, saving more than half a million in cash. For comparison: the general of the MGB at that time received 5-6 thousand rubles a month.

(Letter from Colonel-General I.A. Serov to Stalin on February 8, 1948. Military Archives of Russia. 1993 No. 1 P. 212)

In addition to all this, the valiant general found 107 kilograms of silverware, 35 antique carpets, antique tapestries, many antique sets, furs, bronze and marble sculptures, decorative vases, a huge library of old German books with gold trim, 312 pairs of model shoes, 87 suits, piles of silk underwear and bed linen, etc., etc.

All this was captured by Kryukov and taken out of Germany only thanks to the patronage of Zhukov. Therefore, during interrogation on October 1, 1948, Lieutenant General Kryukov was asked the question: “You said that, sinking lower and lower, you essentially turned into a looter and robber. Can we assume that Zhukov, who received from you gifts, knowing their origin?"

What could the owner of a brothel object to such a question?

And the wife of the heroic General Kryukov, the buyer of stolen goods Lidia Ruslanova, pretended to be a singer as a cover for her activities. Kryukov and Ruslanova, Bander and lady, were legally married. They are the closest friends of almost St. George Zhukov.

I am sure that there will be those who will object: Ruslanova did not pretend to be a singer, she was one. I will not argue. If you want to call her a singer, call her. And I will stand by my opinion. I was taught to clearly distinguish between a person's main profession and a cover profession. The main thing in the life of Lidia Ruslanova is enrichment. Acquisitiveness is her passion and purpose of life. By stealing, looting, buying up and selling stolen goods, she made a fabulous fortune. No matter how many songs she sang, in the Soviet Union she could not even buy a frame from an Aivazovsky painting with all her money. And she had an art gallery. Therefore, its underground business should be considered the main occupation. The rest is cover.

Art Gallery of Lidia Ruslanova - 132 paintings by great Russian masters: Shishkin, Repin, Serov, Surikov, Vasnetsov, Vereshchagin, Levitan, Kramskoy, Bryullov, Tropinin, Vrubel, Makovsky, Aivazovsky and others. Just out of curiosity, I went into the British National Gallery in Trafalgar Square and started counting the first 132 paintings from the entrance. I decided to figure out how much wall area you need to have in order to hang so many paintings. The paintings come in different sizes: small, medium, large. So, no matter what pictures you take, even the smallest, you still need a very large area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe walls to hang 132 paintings. I recommend my experience to everyone who wants to repeat it. Lydia Ruslanova Square had enough walls to hang all these treasures to the delight of guests and household members.

Lydia Ruslanova "Red Star" affectionately calls the socialist nightingale. Where did this nightingale get so much money?

The casket opened easily. Money was not required. There were many ways to collect treasure without money. Huge values ​​were concentrated in Leningrad. And in Leningrad during the blockade - cannibalism. It is interesting that immediately after the war there was a museum of the Siege of Leningrad, and in it several rooms were devoted to the theme of cannibalism. But soon after the war, this topic was closed, the exhibits were hidden, or even completely destroyed. It is understandable: one Soviet person could not eat another Soviet person. This shouldn't have happened. And if it shouldn't, then it didn't.

Money in besieged Leningrad, and in the whole country, had no price. Why do you need money if you are starving? You need bread, but you can't sell it with money. Bread is given out on cards. So, in besieged Leningrad, the black market flourished in an unprecedented color. The hardest currency of besieged Leningrad is American canned meat. Cars were coming to the besieged city on the ice of Lake Ladoga in a continuous line. They carried bread, lard, meat, cereals, sugar. "In those days, for the circle" Krakow "you could get Levitan, Kandinsky, Somov: For a kilo of fat - you could get a Rublev icon." (Yu. Aleshkovsky. Hand. The Executioner's Narrative. New York. Russika. 1980. P. 74)

Someone distributed thousands of tons of food. If the distributor could turn left a ZIS-5 car loaded with boxes of stewed meat or smoked sausage, then a good entrepreneur could pay for such a load not only with Nesterov’s canvases or emeralds from the royal collections, he could deliver you whatever you order.

Just please don't think bad. I did not say that the commander of the Leningrad Front, and later - the Deputy Supreme Commander-in-Chief, General of the Army Zhukov, turned the trucks with food to the left. I don't even hint at it. I'm just saying that Zhukov had such an opportunity during the war, and Zhukov's girlfriend Lidia Ruslanova suddenly had countless treasures during the same war. And Zhukov himself, too. Of course, there is not and could not be any connection between the treasures of Ruslanova, Kryukov, Zhukov and the stew, which was supplied by the good Uncle Sam and distributed by the good Uncle Zhukov. We will clearly establish: treasures separately, stew - separately.

But the ambiguity remains: where, then, are the treasures?

They explain that Lidia Ruslanova gave concerts, and bought masterpieces with her labor money. We won't believe this.

There are many reasons. First of all, we did not have free art and free creativity. All creative workers were united in the relevant unions and teams. Slender state structures towered over all creative teams and unions. During the war (and during the world - too), the artists carried out the will of the state: they distracted the broad masses of the people from bad moods. The artist was a civil servant. And our state is tight-fisted. Here is an example. Oleg Popov. The most outstanding clown of the twentieth century. And the Guinness Book of Records does not even make such restrictions. This book simply says: the funniest clown in the world. No indication of which century. Oleg Popov had a truly planetary popularity. Everyone knew him. He carried the glory of his Motherland around the world and brought income to the state in many tens of millions of dollars. In the circus arena, he spent the entire second half of the twentieth century, right from 1950. He traveled the entire planet many times, from Melbourne to Toronto, from Rome to Beijing, from Caracas to Sydney. It also performs in the new millennium. In gratitude for all this, our native state robbed him to the skin and threw him out, having determined for him a beggarly pension. It's time to go begging.

Lidia Ruslanova did not have even a hundredth of the success of Oleg Popov. Outside the borders of our country, she was known only in Mongolia. She did not carry any dollars to the treasury. Moreover, during the war, neither soldiers at the front, nor the wounded in hospitals, nor hard workers in military factories, nor collective farmers in field camps paid money for concerts. To raise the morale of the broad masses of the people, the concerts were overwhelmingly free. They were organized by our native state, then, with a stingy state hand, they settled with the artists - bread cards and money, for which it was still impossible to buy anything. Therefore, the artist could not get a lot of money.

But even if he had received it, then all the same, during the war, the people did not believe in money. The people still remembered the Civil War: at the beginning of it, you walk in full on a ruble, and very soon you can’t buy a pinch of salt for a million of the same rubles. Today - money with eagles and crowns, and tomorrow - Kerenki, the money of the Provisional Government. After them - the first communist money with swastikas. If anyone remembers: before the invention of the hammer and sickle, there was a hammer and a plow, and before them - our own communist swastika. Hitler later adopted the swastika from Lenin.

So, people did not believe in money. Today they have a price, and tomorrow - inflation. Or monetary reform. Therefore, during the war, there was an exchange in kind throughout the country. Those who were dying of hunger gave everything they had for bread. The one who distributed bread and lard suddenly and rapidly grew rich. Money could not even buy a crust of bread. Therefore, Lidia Ruslanova's path to treasure could not be paved with her labor savings. But if we assume that this path to the treasure was not paved with cans of stew, then - with what?

Explain to me, the dull one, how huge valuables from besieged Leningrad could get into the palaces of Lidia Ruslanova if they were not sold for money?

Ruslanova and her patron Zhukov had many ways to treasure. Here's another one. The Nazis robbed our museums and took the stolen goods to Germany. Then the liberators came to Germany and appropriated the loot. A certain comrade from Literaturnaya Gazeta (August 5, 1992) considers such a practice natural: “In some justification for the wonderful singer Ruslanova, I will note not only her good taste, but also the undoubted circumstance that the “132 genuine paintings” brought by her from Germany belonged to Most of them are the brushes of outstanding Russian artists (Repin, Levitan, Aivazovsky, Shishkin and others), who, in turn, were taken out by the Nazi occupiers from Russia and Ukraine.

Like this. If the Nazis took away treasures from our museums, then they are marauders. And if after that Ruslanova appropriated the property of Ukraine and Russia stolen by the Nazis, then these values ​​​​are considered already "laundered" and therefore, as it were, no longer stolen.

I am only interested in the question: for what such merits is the commander of the 1st Belorussian Front, Marshal of the Soviet Union G.K. Zhukov illegally awarded the socialist nightingale with military orders, and even allowed her to scour the vaults of trophy property, take everything she likes, and freely take it to her numerous apartments, palaces and dachas?

Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov himself was not lost either. He himself was a great connoisseur and connoisseur of art. He was also a collector. His collection included paintings from the collection of the Dresden Gallery. Here, of course, there was no stew. After the war, Zhukov is the master of conquered East Germany. Therefore: that naked woman in a gilded frame - to my chambers! And this one too!

Meanwhile, in the spring of 1942, when Zhukov's girlfriend was shopping in besieged Leningrad, in the 2nd shock army, Lieutenant General A.A. Vlasov, hunger raged. The army broke through to the besieged Leningrad, but no one broke through to meet it, and the neighbors also fell behind. The 2nd shock army found itself alone deep behind enemy lines. The army had to be withdrawn, but the comrades in the Kremlin were sorry to leave the territory that the 2nd shock army had already conquered. Therefore, there was an order to hold on, although there were no opportunities to supply the 2nd shock army. Here the same scenario was repeated, in the spring of 1942, when Zhukov drove the 33rd Army into the rear of the enemy and threw it to death: I can’t supply the army, but I don’t allow it to retreat!

The deputy commander of the Volkhov Front, Lieutenant General Vlasov, was left to rescue the 2nd Shock Army. He had to deal with other people's mistakes, blunders and crimes. Vlasov was made responsible for the 2nd shock army, the operation of which he did not plan, did not prepare, did not start and did not carry out. He was put in command of an army that was impossible to supply, at the same time it was not allowed to withdraw it. When the order to leave the encirclement was finally received, there was no one to leave the encirclement, and the one who could get out of the encirclement could not stand on his feet from exhaustion.

Vlasov did not betray, but Vlasov was betrayed.

In the forests near Lyuban, where the Vlasov army held the defense, the bark on the trees, the buds and the first leaves were stripped at the level of human growth. A soldier received 50 grams of breadcrumbs a day. And it's all. The horses in the 2nd shock army were eaten and the corpses of the fallen horses were also eaten. Leather bags, belts and boots were eaten. Then the fun life ended, the soldiers and officers stopped giving those 50 grams of bread crumbs. Vlasov reported on June 21, 1942 to the headquarters of the Volkhov Front: "There is a group mortality from starvation." Planes threw quite a bit of crackers and canned food. All this had to be searched through the swamps, found and handed over. Concealed a can of canned food - execution. ("Red Star" February 28, 1996)

In general, in the Red Army, robbers and marauders were treated harshly. Front-line soldier N. Tolochko testifies: in July 1944, the foreman of the artillery battery of the 179th rifle division took a horse from a Lithuanian peasant to transport a cannon to a firing position. The foreman's actions were qualified as looting. The verdict is short: execution. (VIZH. 1992 No. 1 p. 49)

Military doctor Olga Ivanenko testifies: 1942, 238th rifle division, war, burned city, broken abandoned house, two soldiers pull out a broken bed from under the ruins. Behind this occupation they are caught. Their actions are regarded as looting. The verdict in this case is the only possible one: execution. The verdict is passed by the chief of staff of the regiment, senior lieutenant Kapustyansky. He doesn't even need a tribunal. Your power is enough. ("Russian Thought" June 21, 2001).

I can tell thousands of such cases with references to specific witnesses, archival documents, publications, letters from front-line soldiers.

And the socialist nightingale took away an entire art gallery. And these are not just canvases - this is the national treasure of Russia and Ukraine. But she is forgiven - she is a friend of almost St. George, the greatest commander of the twentieth century.

In 1948, Telegin, Kryukov, Ruslanova were imprisoned. They sat comfortably. Pianist T. Baryshnikova told about the appearance of Ruslanova in the camp barracks: "in a monkey coat with black-brown cuffs, in boots made of the thinnest chevro, in a huge downy white shawl." ("Russian Thought" February 8, 2001) Siberian frosts are not terrible in such attire. Z-k Ruslanova flaunted around the camps and transfers in such outfits (taken out of liberated Germany) that not only the wife of the head of the Ozerlag, but also the wife of the first secretary of the Irkutsk Regional Committee of the Communist Party, did not dream of. It is clear that Ruslanova was on a special allowance and had many privileges. At least she didn’t carry rails on herself and didn’t roll a wheelbarrow.

All this cheerful company sat in resort conditions and for a very short time. Soon, a strange death befell the secretary of the Central Committee, Comrade Andrey Alexandrovich Zhdanov, who was trying to restore order in the country. The Minister of State Security, Colonel-General Abakumov, was arrested. Then Stalin also died a very strange death. And then Telegin, Kryukov and Ruslanova were released. The judges who judged these thieves, marauders and robbers immediately acquitted them.

And why?

According to newly discovered circumstances.

What kind of circumstances are revealed? The investigation files of Zhukov's friends do not specify this. Circumstances have been revealed, and that's it - come out, comrades, from the prisons.

But one does not have to guess for a long time about the reasons for the quick release. Comrade Zhukov broke through to the very heights of power. This was the very newly discovered circumstance. And therefore, the thieving friends and associates of the great strategist were solemnly released into the wild.

This is where it turned out that after all, Comrade Telegin was driving a train of stolen goods not for his beloved fellow countrymen, but for himself. After leaving prison, he demanded that the echelon of goods be returned not to fellow countrymen, but to him personally. A strange situation has arisen. On the one hand, Lieutenant General Telegin is a thief, marauder, plunderer of trophy property. On the other hand, by order of Zhukov, he was released from prison, his criminal record was expunged. It turns out that he is no longer a thief, and not a marauder. What to do with the confiscated echelon of trophy property? If we admit that Telegin is not a thief, then the confiscated echelon with trophy property belonged to him, then Telegin needs to return the echelon with good or reimburse the cost. But it is clear to everyone that the Soviet communist general could not even buy one 60-ton carriage of silk lingerie with his labor savings. And here is the train.

Solomon's solution was found in the Chief Military Prosecutor's Office and the General Prosecutor's Office of the USSR. Lieutenant General Telegin was told: you are not a thief, you are an honest person, live in freedom, but you stole a trainload of trophy property, so we cannot return it to you. Chief Military Prosecutor of the Soviet Army Lieutenant General A.A. Cheptsov, "on behalf of the Prosecutor General of the USSR Rudenko, unambiguously reminded the persistent complainant that the things he demanded to be returned were "illegally acquired," and therefore are not subject to return. (VIZH 1989 No. 6 p. 82)

Lidia Ruslanova also demanded her treasures back. She was offered compensation of 100,000 rubles for the confiscated diamond box. "And she demanded a million. According to L. Ruslanova, among the jewelry seized from her were unique items, and the cost of the box where these valuables were stored was 2 million." (Russian thought. February 22, 2001)

What is two million rubles according to the concepts of 1948, when Ruslanova was arrested? After the monetary reform of 1947 and until 1953, when Ruslanova was released from prison, there were virtually no inflationary trends. Now let us recall the above excerpt from the letter of Colonel-General I.A. Serov to Stalin on February 8, 1948: the general of the MGB at that time received 5-6 thousand rubles a month. This is 60-72 thousand per year. It follows from this that the Chekist General had to arrest people from 28 to 33 years old, interrogate and torture them, tear their nails and nostrils, break their spines, burn villages, shoot hostages and captured officers, drive their own and others' echelons to camps and to be shot in order to save up money for one Ruslanova's casket. Of course, all these years the Chekist General would have had to add up all the money he received, and not spend a penny.

According to the good communist tradition, an army officer and a general received exactly half as much as a Chekist, who had an equal number of stars on shoulder straps. Consequently, in order to save up money for one such box, an army general had to command a division or corps twice as long - from 56 to 66 years. And don't waste anything.

The daughter of the great singer and heroic general, Margarita Vladimirovna Kryukova, in the same article, which reports on the cost of a diamond box of two million rubles, continues the story about her most honest parent: "V. Kryukov for all his life could not distinguish a diamond from a cobblestone: "his interests lay on a different plane. He was an intelligent, educated person. And his special weakness was Russian classical literature, and what he sat and slept on was of no interest to him." (Russian thought. February 22, 2001)

Weak in classical literature, General Kryukov did not care what he ate from: from a copper soldier's bowler hat or from an aluminum bowl. Therefore, he ate from silver dishes with gold ornaments stolen from the Potsdam Palace. He didn't care what to ride: on a broken Soviet Moskvich car or on an old rusty bicycle. Therefore, he drove a car that was created for the Fuhrer of the German Reich. He did not distinguish between diamonds and cobblestones. But, come on, you didn’t fill the treasured box with cobblestones.

Neither Telegin, nor Ruslanova, nor Kryukov ever declared their innocence after their release.

The USSR Prosecutor General's Office, obeying Zhukov's orders, released his friends from prison. However, in all official documents it was emphasized that only part of the property was returned to them, because the rest was acquired through robbery, theft and looting.

In his explanation to the Central Committee of the Communist Party, Zhukov did not deny that Lieutenant General Telegin stole.

And now the problem for our agitators: how to justify the marauders, robbers and thieves Telegin, Kryukov, Ruslanova? The candidate for Saint George has a very dirty environment.

Justification marauders found quickly. And not one.

The first excuse: they took only good things, they have an artistic taste. This justifies them. They did not take diamonds less than two carats. Is this not evidence of excellent taste? Is this not an excuse for the unfortunate victims of Stalinism? I like this argument. During the Yeltsin era, the Diamond Fund of Russia was plundered. It got to the point that the management was forced to arrange an exhibition. It was necessary to show: a lot was stolen, but something still remained. Let's announce that there is no need to look for the plunderers of the Diamond Fund of Russia, because they did not take any rubbish, but things that were really valuable, beautiful, and simply magnificent. For excellent taste, let's take pity on them.

The second excuse: Kryukov, Telegin, Ruslanova are Zhukov's friends. And almost everything is forgiven to the friends of the saint. Like almost St. George himself.

The third excuse: Ruslanova announced that all the good belongs to her husband Kryukov. And she was forgiven. And her husband Kryukov announced that all the good belongs to his wife Ruslanova. Then he had to be forgiven.

After the arrest, investigator Major Grishaev interrogated Ruslanova:

INVESTIGATOR: The materials of the investigation reveal that during your stay in Germany you were engaged in robbery and misappropriation of trophy property on a large scale. Do you recognize it?

RUSLANOV: sharply replies that he does not recognize.

INVESTIGATOR: But during a search at your dacha, a large number of valuables and property were seized. Where?

RUSLANOV: This property belongs to my husband. And it was sent to him as a gift from Germany. Most likely co-workers. (A. Bushkov. Russia, which was not. P. 560.)

In 1951, Kryukov confessed to everything in court. But soon, in 1953, Zhukov was at the very pinnacle of power, he ordered all his friends to be released from prison, and their cases to be reviewed and an "additional check" carried out. Submissive prosecutors immediately reviewed the case. Here is the result of the revision:

“Kryukov did not deny in court his guilt in embezzlement of state property. At the same time, as indicated in the conclusion of the Chief Military Prosecutor's Office, compiled on the basis of an additional check carried out in 1953, the values ​​confiscated during Kryukov's arrest belonged to his wife, Ruslanova. L. A., acquired by her with personal money. (N. Smirnov. Up to the highest measure. P. 156-157)

The circle is closed. It turned out to be an old Jewish anecdote in a Russian way.

Citizen Kryukov, where do you get so much money?

In a nightstand.

And who puts them there?

Wife of Lydia Ruslanova.

Where does she get them?

Document

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Officer corps of the army of lieutenant general al. Vlasov

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The officer corps of the army of Lieutenant General A. A. Vlasov 1944-1945 - St. Petersburg: Publishing house "Russian-Baltic information center "BLITs"", 2001.

G. P. Homizuri chronology of terror

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The collapse of the communist regime in the USSR and in the countries of Eastern Europe at first gave hope that communism would soon be ended once and for all.

Having failed in organizing the destruction of Zhukov through the case of "aviators", Stalin did not abandon his idea and continued the intrigue with the same goal. New instructions followed, new arrests, torture and falsification of the Zhukov conspiracy. Why such monotony? Because only such an accusation could, more or less convincingly in the eyes of public opinion, bring the marshal under the highest measure.

The next victim was Lieutenant General K. F. Telegin, a longtime colleague of the marshal, who participated as a member of the military council of the front in major operations, from the defeat of the Nazis near Moscow to Berlin.

Documents testify to the fact that Stalin himself was the organizer of the new accusatory attack on Zhukov. I will quote just a few lines from a letter from the Minister of State Security of the USSR Abakumov dated March 5, 1948 to Stalin:

“In accordance with your instructions, the property and valuables taken from the arrested Lieutenant General K. F. Telegin were transferred on March 4, 1948, according to acts, to Comrade Chaadaev…”

Well, if Stalin gave instructions on such “little things” as the seizure of valuables, can there be any doubt that both the essence of the accusation and the desired testimony during interrogations of Telegin also came from him.

Telegin himself will best tell you what the shoulder masters did in the dungeons of the Lubyanka.

From a letter from General Telegin to the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR K.E. Voroshilov.

“Kliment Efremovich!

I apologize for addressing you with this letter, but the terrible tragedy of my life compels me to bring to your attention the cruel injustice that has befallen me.

I, a (former) lieutenant general, a member of the military council of the Moscow Military District, the Stalingrad, Central, 1st (th) Belorussian Front, the Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany Telegin Konstantin Fedorovich, was sentenced by the court to 25 years in labor camp and deprived of everything that was deserved 30 years of honest, impeccable service to the Motherland and the party in the border guard and the Soviet Army ...

On January 24, 1948, I was arrested by the USSR Ministry of State Security and put in an inner prison. On January 30, I was charged under articles 58-10-11 of the (head) code of the RSFSR and 193-17; "give evidence about their criminal activities against the party and the state." I demanded that he specifically accuse me of what exactly my “hostile activity” consists of, for I have never conducted such a thing at all and I don’t know. Abakumov answered me that what is my fault, I must tell myself, and if I don’t say, then “we will send you to a military prison, we will beat you ..., you will tell everything yourself.” So this conversation set the tone for the course of the investigation...

For a month, the investigator for responsible cases, Sokolov, and his assistant Samarin, without letting me sleep almost completely day or night, drove me to complete despair. Having failed to get the desired testimony from me about participation in the leadership of a military conspiracy consisting of G.K. Zhukov, A.I. and conspiracy plans.

After they unambiguously announced the arrest of Zhukov, Serov and other "conspirators", believing them, the organ of our party and state, I tried to remember everything that I could not attach importance to before and that in a completely new situation could take on a different color and will help the party to expose the "enemies-conspirators" to the end.

A number of facts that I had difficulty remembering were stipulated by the fact that at that time I did not see anything criminal in them. The investigation, taking advantage of my helplessness and exhaustion, deliberately distorted them, giving them a brightly anti-Soviet coloring, adding from themselves what they wanted. During this month, every day I was threatened with being sent to a military prison for torture if I did not testify about the "conspiracy." This further increased the exhaustion of my nervous system, driving (me) to insanity.

And on February 16, 1948, the leadership of the MGB, finally, not satisfied with my testimony, carried out its threat and sent me to the Lefortovo prison, and on the same day in the evening in the investigation building (room 72) I was subjected to the most severe beating with rubber truncheons (Sokolov, Samarin). Two guards were already dragging me from the room to the cell - I could not move. On February 27, 28, 29, March 1 and 2, I was again subjected to severe beatings by the same two persons already in the 31st room of the investigation building. I became insane, I could not walk, they were not allowed to lie down, I could not sit.

Having fallen on the floor with the back of my head, it seemed that I had already reached the extreme tension of the nervous system, the pain and noise in my head finally undermined my strength; mind, heart and will were paralyzed. For six months I could not sit, and I began to walk little by little in the fourth month. The torturers pulled out pieces of meat from the body, injured the spine, femur, and beat on the legs. All this brought me to complete despair, complete indifference to my fate and left only one desire - soon the end, soon death, the end of torment.

On March 13 (1948) I was transferred back to the inner prison. And despite the fact that I could not walk and sit, that I was in the stage of complete exhaustion of my strength and nervous system, they continued to call me for interrogations, repeating threats to take me back to Lefortovo for new tortures. But I could no longer endure this, and, without realizing it, I signed whatever they wanted, so long as they didn’t torment or torture.

From September 1948 to September 1951, all interrogations ceased, I was left alone, and at the end of 1949, having begun to recover a little, recalling my testimony, I was horrified at the thought that if I myself am indifferent to my life, then after all there, in my testimony, there are other persons about whom the investigation deliberately distorted the facts. With this they (MGB) will deceive the party and people will suffer. I began to persistently seek correction of the testimony, explanations for them, since the investigation categorically did not accept any of my motivations. This was resolutely refused to me, and only in September 1950 (ode) was one protocol drawn up, changing the previous testimony about the alleged “systematic conversations that took place between Zhukov, Serov and me, condemning and ridiculing the Supreme High Command and personally I. V. Stalin, telling anti-Soviet jokes. All this, of course, was sheer nonsense, a deliberate distortion of the facts I reported about conversations between us.

I am addressing you, Kliment Efremovich, knowing your sensitivity and attention to a living person and who knows me a lot. I believe that your personal intervention will help to quickly remove from me this most difficult undeserved punishment and shame, will give me the opportunity to return to honest work for the good of our Motherland ...

Now tormented, crippled, I still don’t want to write off myself as an expense, but as much as I have the strength, experience, knowledge (I want) to work for the glory of our party and Motherland ...

(Signed) TELEGIN.

Voroshilov did not help Telegin free himself. Everything related to the ongoing preparations for the final massacre of Marshal Zhukov was kept in the strictest confidence. Those who knew the questions asked by the investigators about Zhukov were not taken out of the walls of the inner prison. Seven "saboteurs" of aviators, led by Novikov, were kept in prison even after the expiration of the term for which they were sentenced by the court. The setting of nets and traps continued.

The marshal's vigilance had to be weakened. Let him think that the trouble has passed. Another attempt to revive the charge of the marshal in a conspiracy through Telegin failed. Zhukov's almost broken comrade-in-arms either testified, then, having gathered his strength, refused them. He was "sealed" for 25 years! But the matter is not concocted - there is no convincing material for the "Zhukov conspiracy."

Stalin is preparing new moves. He demands from Abakumov new evidence of Zhukov's criminal activities. The young, energetic Minister of State Security (he was then 40 years old) is ready to do anything to please Stalin, on whom not only well-being, but also life depended. Since this executor of many tricky cases against Zhukov is found repeatedly in my story, I will introduce readers to him in more detail so that you know the price of the person who poisoned the life of the great commander.

Viktor Semenovich Abakumov was born in Moscow in 1908. He was of proletarian origin of the highest standard - his father was a stoker in a hospital, his mother was a cleaner in a technical school. Education, as he himself defined, is “lower” - he graduated from a city school in Moscow, he does not remember the time of graduation. Worked as a loader. In 1930 he joined the party. It can be seen that the 22-year-old loader was already thinking about how to break out somewhere higher. And how without education, without the support of influential relatives and friends. If there aren't any, you should. Started - there is no doubt that he became a "snitch". This is confirmed by the fact that new acquaintances appreciated his abilities, and his appearance was attractive: he was tall, broad-shouldered. In general, they took him to an official job in the NKVD. For a long time he was the smallest detective. But then in Moscow, in the Secret Political Department of the NKVD. In 1939, repressions began in the organs as well. Descending replacement was required. And Abakumov went uphill - immediately the head of the NKVD department of the Rostov region. He was moved by the immediate head of the special department, Kabulov (Beria's right hand). In 1940, the ministry was divided into the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of State Security. Frames were required. Of course, theirs. And Kabulov nominates Abakumov for the post of Deputy People's Commissar. And in the same year he became the head of the Special Department of the Red Army (later this institution became known as the Main Directorate of Counterintelligence "Smersh" - death to spies). In this position, Abakumov worked throughout the war and received two Orders of Suvorov, the Order of Kutuzov (commander in status), the Order of the Red Banner (also a military award). After the war, Deputy People's Commissar for State Security finally replaced Merkulov as People's Commissar. To characterize Abakumov as a person, I will cite an excerpt from his letter to Stalin.

“If there were any specific facts that would make it possible to catch on, we would have skinned Etinger, but we would not have missed this case ...

I must tell you directly, Comrade Stalin, that I myself am not a person who would not have shortcomings. I have shortcomings both personally and in my work ... At the same time, with an open soul, I assure you, Comrade Stalin, that I give all my strength to obediently and clearly carry out the tasks that you put before the organs of the Central Committee. I live and work, guided by your thoughts and instructions, Comrade Stalin, I try to firmly and persistently solve the questions that are put before me. I cherish the great trust that you have shown me and have shown me throughout the entire time of my work both during the Patriotic War - in the bodies of the Special Departments and Smersh, and now in the USSR Ministry of State Security.

I understand what a big deal you, Comrade Stalin, have entrusted to me and I am proud of it, I work honestly and give my all, as befits a Bolshevik, in order to justify your trust. I assure you, Comrade Stalin, that no matter what task you give me, I am always ready to carry it out under any conditions. There can be no other life for me than to fight for the cause of Comrade Stalin. V. Abakumov.

It is not difficult to imagine with what zeal such a person carried out not only the "instructions received", but also the guessed desires of the leader. He does everything possible to “catch on” at least for something and “tear off the skin” from Zhukov. Having not received "iron" evidence for the creation of a case about Zhukov's conspiracy, but having "sealed" the general for 25 years, Abakumov probably decided to try to put the marshal on trial on similar charges. In the same 1948, Lieutenant-General Kryukov, widely known in the country, and his wife, the popular artist Lyudmila Ruslanova, were arrested and convicted of "junk stuff".

It was known that Zhukov also had a lot of trophy property. These are, of course, trifles. We need something loud, large-scale, corresponding to such a block as Marshal Zhukov. I don’t know who first came up with this, but it’s known for sure that it was at the beginning of 1948 that the legend of the “jeweled suitcase” surfaced and began to take root, which Zhukov supposedly keeps and carefully hides. The fact that Stalin accepted and approved this version is confirmed by the document (stored in Stalin's personal archive, abbreviated):

"Top secret.

Comrade Stalin I.V.

In accordance with your instructions on January 5, A covert search was carried out at Zhukov's apartment in Moscow. The task was to find and seize a suitcase and a box with gold, diamonds and other valuables from Zhukov's apartment.

During the search, the suitcase was not found, and the box was in a safe in the bedroom ... According to the conclusion of the employees who conducted the search, Zhukov's apartment gives the impression that everything that could compromise him was seized from there. Not only is there no suitcase with valuables, but there are not even any letters, notes, etc. Apparently, the apartment has been put in such order that there is nothing superfluous in it.

On the night of January 8-9 this year. a secret search was carried out at Zhukov's dacha, located in the village of Rublevo, near Moscow ...

A group of operatives of the Ministry of State Security of the USSR was sent to Odessa to carry out an unofficial search in Zhukov's apartment. I will inform you about the results of this operation additionally. As for the suitcase with jewelry that was not found in Zhukov’s Moscow apartment, as the arrested Semochkin testified, it turned out during the check that Zhukov’s wife keeps this suitcase with her all the time and takes it with her when she travels. Today, when Zhukov and his wife arrived from Odessa to Moscow, the indicated suitcase reappeared in his apartment, where he is currently located.

Apparently, one should directly demand from Zhukov the delivery of this suitcase with jewelry. At the same time, I present photographs of some valuables, materials and things found in Zhukov's apartment and dacha.

V. Abakumov

Let's analyze the contents of this document. "According to your instructions." This means that Stalin not only supported the version about the suitcase, but also gave direct instructions to Abakumov to carry out a covert search in three places.

Highly qualified craftsmen acted - they opened and closed the safe, took photographs, put everything back “as it was before”. They didn't find anything. The apartment is in order. But it's a crime! There can be no order in the apartment of the suspected marshal - it means "everything that can compromise him has been seized." These people do not even have the thought that the marshal does not have any things compromising him at all, and the order in the apartment is the usual state of a clean family. And what does “a suitcase with jewelry” mean, as the arrested Semochkin testified? And this means that this suitcase was knocked out of the arrested adjutant Zhukov, Major Semochkin, just as they knocked out a “letter” from Air Chief Marshal Novikov. And finally, "directly demand from Zhukov the delivery of this suitcase with jewelry." They demanded! Summoned to the Central Committee. They showed Zhukov the testimony of his former adjutant and offered to hand over the suitcase. To what humiliations the illustrious marshal was brought! He had to write an explanation for almost every phrase of Semochkin, undoubtedly beaten out of him at the Lubyanka or in the Lefortovo prison.

Here is the full text of Zhukov's letter.

"TO THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE CPSU(b)

To Comrade Andrey Alexandrovich Zhdanov

The written statement of my former adjutant Semochkin announced to me in the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks is clearly slanderous in its design and main issues.

First. The accusation that I was hostile to comrade Stalin and in a number of cases belittled and kept silent about the role of comrade Stalin in the Great Patriotic War does not correspond to reality and is a fiction. The facts stated in Semochkin's statement were concocted by Semochkin and are the result of the fact that Semochkin at the end of 1947 learned about the nature of Novikov's slanderous statement personally from me.

I admit that I made a gross and deeply unpartisan mistake when I shared with Semochkin about the nature of Novikov's statement. This I did without any ulterior motive and without pursuing any purpose.

The point of accusation of me in a non-Party speech in Frankfurt before the "allies" does not correspond to reality, which Comrade Vyshinsky, who was with me and personally spoke, can probably confirm. At the reception in the 82nd Parachute Division, I was with Sokolovsky, Serov and Semyonov. I did not speak there, but everything I said, I consider deeply partisan.

Second. The accusation that I sold the car to the artist Mikhailov and presented it to the writer Slavin is not true:

1) The car was given to Slavin by order of Comrade. Molotov. The appropriate attitude was in the case;

2) I allowed Mikhailov to buy a car through the fund department. Comrade Mikhailov processed this case through the customs, and not through me, he paid the money to the customs and the bank, and not to me.

I responsibly declare that I have never sold cars to anyone.

I never asked Slavin or anyone else to write anything about myself, and I did not order any book from Slavin. Semochkin writes a clear lie.

Third. About my greed and desire to appropriate trophy values.

I recognize it as a serious mistake that I bought a lot of material for the family and my relatives, for which I paid the money I received as a salary. I bought in Leipzig for cash:

1) per mink coat 160 pcs.

2) per monkey coat 40-50 pcs.

3) on a coat of a cat (art.) 50-60 pcs. and something else, I don’t remember, for children. For all this I paid 30,000 marks.

About 500–600 meters were bought of flannel and wallpaper silk for upholstery and various curtains, since the dacha, which I received for temporary use from the state security, had no equipment.

In addition, Comrade Vlasik asked me to buy 500 meters for some special object. But since Vlasik was removed from work, this material remained lying in the country.

I was told that more than 4 thousand meters of various manufactures were found in the country house and in other places, I do not know such a figure. I ask you to allow me to draw up an act of actual state. I consider this to be incorrect.

Pictures and carpets, as well as chandeliers, were indeed taken from abandoned mansions and castles and sent to equip the MGB dacha, which I used. 4 chandeliers were transferred to the MGB by the commandant, 3 chandeliers were given to equip the office of the commander in chief. It's the same with carpets. Carpets were partly used for offices, for giving, part for an apartment.

I thought that all this goes to the MGB fund, since the dacha and the apartment are under the jurisdiction of the MGB. All this was transported and used by the MGB team, which has been serving me for 6 years. I don’t know if all this was taken into account, because I’ve been absent for a year and a half and it’s my fault that I didn’t ask where everything was on the account.

Regarding gold things and watches, I declare that the main thing is gifts from various organizations, and various rings and other ladies' trinkets were purchased by the family over a long period and are gifts from friends on her birthday and other holidays, including several valuables presented to my daughter by Molotov's daughter Svetlana. The rest of all these things are mostly artificial gold and have no value.

About services. I bought these sets for 9200 marks, one set for each daughter. I can present documents for the purchase and Comrade Serov can confirm, through whom the services were bought, since he was in charge of all economic issues.

About 50 thousand received from Serov and allegedly spent on personal needs.

This is slander. The money taken for hospitality expenses was fully returned in the amount of 50 thousand by the head of the security of the MGB Bedov. If I were mercenary, I could appropriate them for myself, because no one should have asked for an account for them. Moreover, Serov offered me 500 thousand for expenses at my discretion. I did not take that kind of money, although he pointed out that Comrade Beria had allowed him, if necessary, to give me the money I needed.

Silver spoons, knives and forks were sent by the Poles in honor of the liberation of Warsaw, and there is an inscription on the boxes testifying to the gift. Part of the plates and something else was sent as a gift from the soldiers of Gorbatov's army.

All this was lying around in the pantry, and I did not think of building my own accumulation on this.

I admit that I am very guilty that I did not hand over all this junk that I did not need somewhere to the warehouse, hoping that no one needed it.

As for the tapestries, I instructed Comrade Ageyev from the MGB to hand them over to a museum somewhere, but he left the team without handing them over.

Fourth. The accusation that I competed with Telegin in thrift is slander.

I can't say anything about Telegin. I believe that he acquired the furnishings in Leipzig incorrectly. I spoke to him about this personally. Where he's doing it, I don't know.

Fifth. Hunting rifles. I had 6-7 pieces before the war, I bought 5-6 pieces in Germany, the rest were sent as gifts. Of all the guns the team hunted, some of the fittings sent as a gift, I was going to give somewhere. I plead guilty to the fact that in vain I kept so many guns. I made a mistake because, as a hunter, it was a pity to hand over good guns.

Sixth. Accusing me of licentiousness is a false slander, and Semochkin needed it in order to curry favor more and show himself repentant, and me dirty. I confirm one fact - this is my close relationship with Z., who throughout the war honestly and conscientiously served in the security team and the commander-in-chief's train. Z. received medals and orders on an equal footing with the entire security team, received not from me, but from the command of the front that I served at the direction of the Headquarters. I am fully aware that I am also to blame for the fact that I was associated with her, and for the fact that she lived with me for a long time. What Semochkin shows is a lie. I never allowed myself such vulgarities in my office, about which Semochkin lies so shamelessly.

K. was indeed arrested on the Western Front, but she was only 6 days at the front, and I honestly declare that I had no connection.

Seventh. The fact that he did not want to subscribe to the loan is also slander. Never less than 1 1/2–2 monthly salaries have I subscribed. This can be documented.

Eighth. It was indeed Semochkin who paid the party dues, since I was a member of the party organization of the General Staff, and for the most part I was at the front and, in order not to overstay the party fee, instructed Semochkin to pay the party fee.

In conclusion, I declare with all responsibility:

1. Semochkin is clearly slandering me. I beg you to check whether I had a similar conversation with Konev and others, how to deceive comrade. Stalin about the situation.

2. Semochkin is slandering me, counting on the fact that he is the second, after Novikov, witness of my supposedly anti-Soviet views and that he will certainly be believed.

I am deeply aware of my mistake in sharing with him information about Novikov's slanderous statement and giving him a trump card for dishonest talk, anti-Soviet talk, and, finally, against me.

3. I ask the Central Committee of the Party to take into account the fact that I made some mistakes during the war without malicious intent and in fact I have never been a bad servant of the Party, the Motherland and the great Stalin.

I always honestly and conscientiously carried out all the instructions of Comrade. Stalin.

I take a strong Bolshevik oath not to make such mistakes and stupidities.

I am sure that the Motherland, the great leader comrade, will still need me. Stalin and the party.

Please leave me in the party. I will correct the mistakes made and will not allow the high rank of a member of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) to be soiled.

Member of the CPSU (b) Zhukov

Molotov also considered it necessary to explain himself, not so much to justify Zhukov, but to take care of his reputation.

"Tov. Zhdanov

1. On my instructions, in accordance with the order of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR dated August 23, 1945, one trophy passenger car was issued to the writer Slavin to compensate for the car stolen from him at the beginning of the war (a similar order was given on the same day for the writers Kirsanov and Lidin and others .).

2. I found out that in 1945 my daughter Svetlana made one valuable gift for the birthday of her friend - Zhukov's daughter - a gold ring with a diamond, bought in a thrift store for 1200 rubles. Other gifts in similar cases are worthless trinkets.

V. Molotov

So the suitcase version collapsed. It is not difficult to imagine in what terms Stalin expressed his opinion to Abakumov on this matter. The Minister of State Security (by that time the former people's commissars were called so) had to somehow maintain his reputation in front of his “father”.

In February 1948 (previous events took place in January), Abakumov drew attention to the protocol of interrogation in the case of embezzlement of jewelry by high-ranking employees of the State Security Service in Berlin. This was what Abakumov needed. Here, the hated Serov can be sat down and the jewels again take on a real meaning.

By the way, on the same Abakumov, in his denunciation to Stalin, Serov wrote the following:

“It’s unpleasant for me, Comrade Stalin, to recall the numerous facts of Abakumov’s self-supply during the war at the expense of trophies, but I consider it necessary to report on some of them.

... during World War II, a trainload of more than 20 wagons with trophy property arrived in Moscow, including Abakumov's zealous sycophants from Smersh sent him a full wagon loaded with property, with the inscription "To Abakumov".

... in the Crimea, the blood of soldiers and officers of the Soviet Army, who liberated Sevastopol, was still shed, and his adjutant Kuznetsov (now "protects" Abakumov) flew to the head of the Smersh counterintelligence department and loaded a full aircraft of captured property ... "

But for now, Stalin forgave Abakumov everything.

So, here are a few paragraphs from the protocol of the interrogation of the former head of the operational sector of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Berlin, Major General Sidnev.

« Question. After your departure from Berlin, large thefts of valuables and gold were uncovered, in which you were directly involved. Show about it.

Answer. To be frank, I have been worried for a long time, expecting that the crimes committed by me in Germany will be revealed, and I will have to answer for them.

As you know, the units of the Soviet Army that captured Berlin captured large trophies. Every now and then in different parts of the city, storages of gold things, silver, diamonds and other valuables were found. At the same time, several huge vaults were found, in which there were expensive furs, fur coats, different types of fabric, the best linen and many other property. Not to mention such things as cutlery and sets, there were countless of them. These valuables and goods were stolen by various persons.

I must say frankly that I belonged to those few leading officials who had all the possibilities in their hands to immediately organize the protection and accounting of everything valuable that was captured by Soviet troops on German territory. However, I did not take any measures to prevent robberies and I consider myself guilty of this.

Question. Have you ever robbed yourself?

Answer. I admit it. Ignoring the high rank of a Soviet general and the responsible position I held in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, while in Germany, I fell for easy prey and, forgetting about the interests of the state, which I was supposed to protect, began to enrich myself.

How embarrassing to talk about it now, but I have no choice but to admit that in Germany I was engaged in theft and appropriation of what was supposed to become the property of the state.

At the same time, I must say that when I sent this illegally acquired property to my apartment in Leningrad, I, of course, took a little extra.

Question. A search of your apartment in Leningrad revealed about a hundred gold and platinum items, thousands of meters of woolen and silk fabric, about 50 expensive carpets, a large amount of crystal, porcelain and other goods.

Is this "a bit too much" for you?

Answer. I do not deny that I brought many valuables and things from Germany.

Question. And where did you “grab” three gold bracelets with diamonds?

Answer. These bracelets were taken by me in one of the discovered German vaults, I don't remember exactly where. If I'm not mistaken, one of the gold bracelets was brought to me by the accountant of the Berlin operations sector, Nochvin.

Question. 15 gold watches, 42 gold pendants, necklaces, brooches, earrings and chains, 15 gold rings and other gold items seized from you during the search, where did you steal it?

Answer. As well as the gold bracelets, I stole these valuables from German vaults.

Question. But the money was also stolen by you, wasn't it?

Answer. I didn't steal money.

Question. Not true. Arrested ex. During interrogation, the head of the operational sector of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Thuringia, G. A. Bezhanov, testified that you embezzled large amounts of German money, which you used for personal enrichment.

Correctly shows Bezhanov?

Answer. Correctly. During the occupation of Berlin by one of my task forces, more than 40 million German marks were found in the Reichsbank.

Approximately the same number of millions of marks were confiscated by us in other vaults in the Mitte region (Berlin).

All this money was transferred to the basement of the building, which housed the Berlin operational sector of the Ministry of the Interior.

Question. But this cellar with money was in your charge?

Answer. Yes, in mine.

Question. How much money was in there?

Answer. There were about 100 sacks in the basement containing more than 80 million marks.

Question. Do you know where all the DM spending records are now?

Answer. As Nochvin told me, folders with reporting materials on spent German marks, collected from all sectors, including records for money issued by me, were burned on Serov's instructions.

All that remained was a list of the names of the burned materials, compiled by employees of the financial group of Serov's apparatus.

Question. Who exactly burned these reporting materials and records?

Answer. I do not know this, but most likely the financial workers of Serov's apparatus or his secretary Tuzhlov, or maybe all of them together, participated in the burning.

I believe that Serov instructed to burn all these materials in order to cover up the traces, since if they had been preserved, then all the crimes committed by Serov, me, Klepov, Bezhanov and other persons close to him would have been opened much earlier and, apparently, we would have been in prison for a long time.

Question. And where did you put the reports on the seized gold and other valuables that you had?

Answer. This reporting, as well as reporting on German marks, was transferred to Serov's apparatus and burned there.

Question. Did you do this in order to hide the theft of gold and other valuables?

Answer. I handed over these documents to Serov because he demanded them from me.

I have already testified about the theft of valuables on my part. Serov also appropriated values, therefore, obviously, there was a need to destroy these documents in order to hide the ends in the water.

And the case of the Berlin marauders, probably, would also have been put on the brakes if the short-sighted general had not mentioned that Abakumov was looking for this.

Continued extract from the protocol of interrogation.

« Answer. Serov, in addition to organizing his personal affairs, spent a lot of time in the company of Marshal Zhukov, with whom he was closely associated. Both of them were equally unclean and covered each other.

Question. Can you explain your statement?

Answer. Serov saw very well all the shortcomings in Zhukov's work and behavior, but because of the established relationship, he covered everything.

When I was in Serov's office, I saw on his desk a portrait of Zhukov with an inscription on the back: "To the best fighting friend and comrade as a keepsake." The second portrait of Zhukov hung on the wall in the same office of Serov.

Serov and Zhukov often visited each other, went hunting and rendered mutual services... Somewhat later, a crown was sent to me from Zhukov, which by all indications belonged to the wife of the German Kaiser. Gold was removed from this crown to finish the stack that Zhukov wanted to present to his daughter on her birthday.

Interrogation aborted.

The protocol is written down from my words correctly, read it to me.

Sidnev.

Interrogated: Art. Investigator of the investigative unit for especially important cases of the USSR Ministry of State Security

lieutenant colonel Putintsev».

The full text of the interrogation protocol was immediately sent to Abakumov.

Abakumov was in a hurry - the interrogation protocol bears the date 6.2.48. This protocol lay on the table of Abakumov on the same day. The transmittal to Stalin was also printed on 6.2.48. And, probably, on the same day, Stalin had everything.

A new major case was planned, in which Zhukov would appear surrounded by seasoned marauders, and the evidence would be millions of marks, kilograms of gold items, diamonds, hundreds of carpets, paintings, tapestries, and so on. The point is true: living people are already confessing and convicting the marshal as a participant in this looting. Well, if something is not very firm and definite in their testimony, rubber clubs will help them speak more accurately.

And more characteristic features of that time: Abakumov weaves a net against Serov, his longtime not enemy, but his rival and competitor for the post of minister, all those arrested, indicated in Abakumov's letter, are from Serov's entourage. Abakumov asks Stalin for permission to arrest Tuzhlov, Serov's former assistant. It is very characteristic that Abakumov asks for this permission not from the prosecutor, not on the basis of the conclusion of the investigating authorities, but from Stalin, who legally does not have the right to give sanctions either to arrests or to searches.

Yes, what rights can we talk about if marshals and generals are beaten with clubs, turning them into a chop!

In a conversation with Konstantin Simonov, recalling this period of his life, Zhukov told him:

“When I was already removed from the post of deputy minister and commanded the district in Sverdlovsk, Abakumov, under the leadership of Beria, prepared a whole case of a military conspiracy. A number of officers were arrested, and the question arose of my arrest.

Beria and Abakumov reached such absurdity and meanness that they tried to portray me as a man who, at the head of these arrested officers, was preparing a military conspiracy against Stalin. But, as the people present at this conversation later told me, Stalin listened to Beria's proposal for my arrest and said:

No, I will not allow Zhukov to be arrested. I don't believe in all this. I know him well. During the four years of the war, I got to know him better than myself.

So this conversation was passed on to me, after which Beria's attempt to end me failed.

Documents that are known to readers and were not known to Zhukov irrefutably prove that Stalin personally directed all the "measures" aimed at first compromising the marshal and then destroying him.

As for Zhukov's opinion that Stalin did not offend him, it is not true, and this rumor ("they told me the conversation") may have been planted from the Lubyanka to lull Zhukov's vigilance.

In January 1948, Lieutenant General K.F. Telegin visited his homeland, in the Rostov region. More and more often he felt a vague anxiety, it seemed that he was being watched, and he saw shadows walking behind him. In Rostov, he visited his front-line comrade, Lieutenant General Boyko; the whole evening they remembered the war, mutual acquaintances, complained about the elimination of Zhukov and Rokossovsky. Konstantin Fyodorovich slowly drank tea, spoke quietly, occasionally glancing at the leatherette-studded door, as if he was waiting for someone; he smoked a lot, going out into the corridor, stroking his shaved head. Suddenly there was a knock on the door, followed by a long ring. Boyko opened the door. Before him rose three, resolutely stepping into the corridor.

Telegin? - the elder approached Konstantin Fedorovich.

ME: What do you want?

You are under arrest. Follow us.

This is a misunderstanding. Is there an arrest warrant? - asked Telegin, still hoping that a tragic mistake had occurred and everything would be settled.

The order will be presented later. Get dressed!

Telegin put on an overcoat, a hat, said goodbye to the bewildered hospitable hosts.

He was taken to Moscow under strict supervision: two guards, like idols, sat side by side, keeping their eyes on him, not answering his questions, not taking their right hands out of the deep pockets of their overcoats. “What happened? By what right, without presenting a warrant, were they seized and put into this dark, rattling at the junctions of the rails, a wheeled hut? - Telegin asked himself, lifting the stiff collar of the general's overcoat. What charges can be brought against me? I'm not a thief, not a murderer, not a robber. He honestly fulfilled his duty at the front from the beginning to the end of the war. Is it really because of this ill-fated order ... ”I remembered last year's autumn, a trip for mushrooms and fishing. He happily walked with a purse through the hushed forest strewn with yellowed leaves, impatiently raking the moss with a branchy stick, the soft leafy cover that had time to cake, parting the thorny branches of fir trees, bushes, tall strands of withered grass; he was pleased with the red-headed boletuses, and the strong white ones with brown hats, and the yellowish volnushki - the best mushrooms for pickling. Then, after being expelled from the Party, a trip to the countryside helped him to survive and endure, for he touched the mother earth, absorbing the smells of the forest, the blue of the sky washed away by the first autumn rains, and the heavenly, undisturbed by anyone and nothing village soothing silence.

Now, in the prison car, he was seized with an anxiety that did not give him rest day or night. “We dealt with Zhukov - it’s clear there,” Telegin reflected. - Stars and orders, glory and people's love - all this overshadowed the image of the father of all nations. But why do they need me? I am not applying for any position. Is it really a repetition of the terrible thirty-seventh? .. "

In Moscow, Lieutenant General Telegin, as a particularly dangerous criminal, was sent directly from the station to the internal prison of the Ministry of State Security. “Here, for sure,” thought Telegin, “they will figure it out.”

The “analysis” began immediately, as soon as Konstantin Fedorovich crossed the threshold of the prison:

Take off your striped pants, general! - barked the kid in foremen's shoulder straps.

Excuse me, - a delicate, in the recent past member of the military council of a group of troops, a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR, tried to resist, - what will I be?

There, in the corner, choose any riding breeches and tunic.

Telegin went up to a pile of rags thrown on the floor and was horrified - dirty, torn uniforms, suitable, perhaps, for floor rags or as rags for cleaning military equipment.

I am a general! I was not deprived of this title, and I refuse to wear it, - Telegin looked sideways towards a pile of used - used uniforms.

What? - the foreman roared and with a strong blow knocked down the lieutenant general, tore off his shoulder straps, pulled off his chrome boots, tore the side of his tunic.

An hour later, two more entered the cell; having brutally beaten the general, they twisted their arms, unclenched their jaws by force and tore out the gold crowns along with their teeth with pincers ...

The beating lasted almost continuously: they beat him at night, during the day, at dawn; investigators changed, executioners with half a pound fists, guards with empty, faded eyes and swollen faces, and only their victim, having lost count of days, remained in a pool of blood, helpless, incapable of either physical resistance or a sound understanding of what was happening; the victim was doused with cold water, dragged like a sack into the cell, thrown on the cement floor, some papers were shoved up to his face ...

Having failed to obtain confessions in a non-existent conspiracy, the MGB investigators left the lieutenant general in solitary confinement for some time, allowed him to sleep at night, brought food on time, and did not summon him for interrogations. "What is it for? Telegin thought. - Maybe they figured it out and changed their mind? After all, there was nothing like what the investigators were talking about.”

A person lives almost all his life with hopes, and if you deprive him of this feeling inherent in nature, then his mental balance breaks down and a slow relaxation of the will and muscles begins.

Telegin, at his request, was waiting for a meeting with an official of the MGB and had high hopes for this communication, which, perhaps, would stop all these bullying, beatings, attempts to gain recognition in something that did not exist, which he, Telegin, never did , and when he was told that there would be a meeting with the Minister of State Security Abakumov himself, he experienced a double feeling. The hope of liberation did not leave him, but a vague feeling of anxiety appeared ...

The night before the meeting with the minister, he hardly slept - he mentally built the upcoming conversation, prepared questions, worked out answers to the minister's supposed clarifications.

He saw Abakumov from the threshold: he was sitting in a leather armchair at a huge table under a portrait of Dzerzhinsky; not far from the window, at a small table, there were investigators who beat Telegin more than once during interrogations ...

Abakumov swore angrily, lit a cigarette, unbuttoned the collar of his tunic, slammed his palm on the table.

Let's agree: frankly admit everything - you will ease your lot. If you remain silent or refuse to testify, we are forced to apply physical measures ...

Abakumov hoped that Telegin would “break down” during the first interrogations, and therefore was in no hurry to meet with the general, it is important to come when the person is “ready” to say everything that the investigation needs, after which you can go to report to Lavrenty Pavlovich. Faced with a stubborn unwillingness to slander Zhukov, Abakumov became furious:

And no one will help you! We haven't forgotten what you did in 1941 when you called Comrade Stalin about German tanks! Panic, bitch! We all knew better than you, but we were in no hurry to see Comrade Stalin, like you, unfortunate sexot! Decided to curry favor with Comrade Stalin! It didn't work! And do not try to complain - the sanctions for your arrest are given from above. Understood?.. Warlords, bitches, strategists x..! Dance now on the stone floor until you are all slapped together!

“Now everything has fallen into place,” thought Telegin. - They need to deal with Zhukov and need evidence. Beria and Abakumov do not have them yet. But they need them, and they will stop at nothing to get them ... Beria did not forget that call to Stalin, now he is taking revenge.

In the cell, Telegin sank helplessly to the floor - his legs could not hold, closed his eyes and felt hot tears roll down his cheeks ...

In February 1948, Telegin was transferred to the Lefortovo prison. Before the warder had time to close the door, investigators Sokolov and Samarin rushed into the cell and, after a few questions, led Telegin to the investigator's room. And this time, Telegin refused to slander Zhukov and other "conspirators", provoking the wrath of the investigators. Both of them pounced on the general, who was barely on his feet, and began to beat him with rubber truncheons, trying to hit him on the lower back, beat off the kidneys, causing bleeding - this was their tried and tested trick ...

On the third day, after being beaten and tortured, Telegin asked to see Abakumov.

Long time ago! Beria's assistant for bloody affairs barked from the threshold, having learned that General Telegin had asked for a meeting. - You were “finished” well, they added mind-reason. Here is the paper. Sit down, write.

I ask you to stay in the cell alone, - Telegin turned to Abakumov.

Abakumov waved his hand - the investigators disappeared behind the door. Telegin sat down at the table with difficulty, picked up a pen, and for a long time could not adjust to holding it. With his fingers trembling in pain, he hardly deduced: “To the Minister of State Security Comrade Abakumov. Please release me from torture. Please shoot me. Telegin. Having finished writing, Konstantin Fedorovich handed a sheet of paper to Abakumov. He glared at the uneven lines, jumped up from his chair and, swinging, hit Telegin in the face with all his might.

Look what you want, bitch! We still have time to shoot you! shouted Abakumov. - But after you, Siberian louse, sign everything we need!

Shoot right here, right in the cell, by the wall, - Telegin said, barely audible, barely parting his broken lips, pressing his back against the wall, feeling its coldness.

No, standing we will not let you die! You will die like a mad dog in your own shit, in a bloody puddle! And not here, near Moscow, but in Kolyma! They will throw you to the rats in the garbage pit, so that at night the hungry wolves will devour you! What death awaits you! Don't expect an easy death, no! Hey! - the minister roared loudly, turning around, - come in! This bitch in the punishment cell! Pour cold water on the floor - it's hot. Let it cool down!

After one of the interrogations, Lieutenant General Telegin was given protocols to sign. After reading them, Konstantin Fedorovich was indignant:

You misrepresented my testimony.

The investigators were not taken aback; brazenly looking into the face of the general, they answered:

We are not writers, but investigators. There was a conspiracy. We need facts, and we'll find them with your help.

The investigation sent requests in all directions, trying to convict Telegin of a crime. In response to a request from Moscow about the “squandering of state property” from Siberia, from the Omsk region, the prosecutor’s office reported: “To your No. 1/08975 dated March 9, 1948. On the issue of property sent from Germany to the Tatar City Council by Lieutenant General Telegin. Such property has been received. Since July 31, 1946, all property has been used in the city utilities. The prosecutor of the city of Tatarsk is a lawyer of the 2nd class Stepanov.

What kind of property did General Telegin "squander"? - engine 420 l / s, alternator Siemens - Schukert with a capacity of 405 kilovolt-amperes, electric motors, caterpillar tractors, excavator, sawmill frame (two), pendulum saw, planer and jointer, brick and tile factory equipment ...

List of the prosecutor on several pages. Not pianos, not carpets, not paintings by famous artists Telegin sent to his fellow countrymen, who throughout the long war provided the front with bread, shells, uniforms, but something without which the life of a modern town of a regional scale is impossible.

The son of Lieutenant-General K. F. Telegin, Colonel Konstantin Telegin, acquainted the author with a document that most fully reflects the savage actions of prison employees who tried to “break” a physically and morally innocent person. This is a letter from Konstantin Fedorovich from prison to V. M. Molotov, who knew the general well.

But prisoner Telegin did not know that Vyacheslav Molotov, Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, was actually out of work at that time, fulfilling one-time, insignificant orders of the leader. Soviet newspapers reported Stalin's departure for a vacation, but Western journalists saw something else in this information: a poorly disguised illness of the leader. Western newspapers willingly published the version of journalists that Molotov sent the weak, ill dictator away from Moscow, if the leader recovers, then Molotov will not do well. The information of Western agencies was deliberately placed on the leader's table. Suspicious, suspicious to the point of recklessness, Stalin "pecked" on the version of Western journalists, and after returning to Moscow, changes began in Molotov's fate - the leader alienated Vyacheslav Mikhailovich from himself, and at the same time from big and responsible affairs.

Stalin's departure for vacation caused concern to Beria and Malenkov: Stalin left himself in return for the party line of the secretary of the Central Committee Andrei Zhdanov, and for the Council of Ministers - the first deputy prime minister, chairman of the State Planning Commission Nikolai Voznesensky. This could not but alert Beria ...

The letter of General Telegin to V. M. Molotov survived quite by accident, thanks to the courage and courage of V. Kuznetsov, who risked releasing an appeal without guilt of a guilty person to the Deputy Prime Minister of the USSR.

“... Torture continued daily... Pieces of meat were torn out of me (the evidence of this is on my body)... My only desire and request to the executioners was that they would rather kill me, stop my torment. I was losing my mind, I couldn't take any more torture. The executioners, after torturing me, sat on my head and legs, beat me to the point of insanity, and when I lost consciousness, they poured water over me and beat me again, then dragged me by the feet along the stone floor to the punishment cell, beat my head against the wall, didn’t let me lie down, I couldn’t sit. could… I was starved, tormented by thirst, constantly not allowed to sleep - as soon as I fell asleep, the tormentors started all over again. I wished for death for a year and a half. I signed the protocols without reading - I had no strength, my eyes could not distinguish letters ...

Vyacheslav Mikhailovich!

Destroyed morally, crippled physically, I scream about this exceptional mistake, injustice and lawlessness committed by the MGB, the court and the prosecutor's office ... "

If Konstantin Fedorovich had known about how Molotov sent innocent people to Lubyanka, he would not have turned to the Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers ... In 1937, when Molotov was chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, Levin, a professor, one of the employees of the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs, addressed him with a letter with a request on the review of the case of Dr. L. G. Levin, his father, who was arrested due to a misunderstanding. Molotov inscribed at the request of the professor: “To Yezhov. Is this professor still in the People's Commissariat of Foreign Affairs, and not in the NKVD? And the petitioner was arrested after some time and disappeared forever, apparently, in one of the camps of the North ...

Sentenced to twenty-five years, K.F. Telegin ended up in the Pereborsk branch of the Volgolag of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs. From there, he turned to Marshal of the Soviet Union K. Voroshilov, who knew him well: “... I am Lieutenant General Telegin, a member of the military councils of the Moscow Military District, Stalingrad, Central, 1st Belorussian Fronts, Group of Forces in Germany. Sentenced by the court to 25 years in labor camp and deprived of everything that was deserved by 30 years of honest, impeccable service to the Motherland and the party. I was accused of embezzling socialist property, embezzlement and robbery.

On January 24, 1948, I was arrested and sent to the inner prison. 30.01. I was charged under articles 58-10-11 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR and 193-17. On January 27, I was summoned by Minister Abakumov, who from the very beginning of the conversation swore at me, called me an enemy, a robber and invited me to testify about my criminal activities against the party and the state.

I demanded from him a specific accusation against me, what exactly was my hostile activity. Abakumov answered me that what is my fault, I must tell myself, and if I don’t speak, then we will send to a military prison and beat your ass so that you can say everything yourself.

For a month investigators Sokolov and Samarin, not letting me sleep at all day or night, drove me to complete despair. Having failed to obtain from me the testimony they wanted about participation in the leadership of a military conspiracy consisting of Zhukov, Serov and a number of other generals, blackmailing me with the fact that Zhukov and Serov had already been arrested, they demanded evidence from me about the methods of work and plans of the conspiracy ...

Now crippled and tormented, I still do not want to write off myself as an expense, but as long as I have the strength, experience, knowledge, I want to work for the glory of our party and Motherland. 04/05/1954 Telegin.

Telegin did not receive an answer ...

The endless bullying, beatings and mockery of the executioners Beria - Abakumov had an effect - the general developed pulmonary tuberculosis ... And if it were not for the death of the generalissimo, then the disease would have finished off the prisoner Telegin ...

In 1953, when G.K. Zhukov became the first deputy minister of defense, K.F. Telegin's wife, Maria Lvovna, called the marshal's secretariat and asked for an appointment.

Georgy Konstantinovich met M. L. Telegina at the door, seated her in an armchair, and sat down next to her. As soon as Maria Lvovna, worried, began to talk about what she had experienced, the marshal put his finger to his lips, making it clear that she should speak more quietly - there must have been eavesdropping equipment in the office. The syndrome of the seven-year control of the department of Beria over every step of the commander worked.

Zhukov listened to M. L. Telegin and called the Minister of Defense N. A. Bulganin:

I have to come to you on urgent business!

Maria Lvovna was seized with fear - Bulganin is not one of those who will take the side of Telegin. In 1947, when Konstantin Fedorovich was expelled from the party and dismissed from the army, Bulganin, in response to a remark from someone present about an obvious error in the proceedings and the groundlessness of the accusations, said:

Let this be a warning to others!

She reached out to Zhukov to stop him, to prevent him from going to Bulganin, but, seeing the resolute face of the marshal, his strong-willed look, she stopped herself ...

In early July 1953, the telephone rang in the Telegins' apartment.

Hello, Maria Lvovna. Zhukov. Bake pancakes. Kostya is back...

Konstantin Fedorovich returned home seriously ill, and immediately he was sent to the Burdenko hospital, to the department where Galina Aleksandrovna worked - an experienced therapist, the wife of G.K. Zhukov ...