Evstratiy (Evstrat) Pavlovich Mednikov(December, Yaroslavl - December 2, St. Petersburg) - figure in Russian political investigation, ally of S.V. Zubatov, creator of the school of surveillance agents.
Biography
Feedback from a colleague
Characteristics of E.P. Mednikov given by his colleague A.I. Spiridovich:
| Mednikov was a simple, illiterate man, an Old Believer, who had previously served as a police supervisor. His natural intelligence, intelligence, cunning, ability to work and perseverance brought him to the forefront. He understood filibustering as a contract for work, went through it with hump and soon became an orderly, instructor and controller. He created his own school in this matter - the Mednikovsky, or as they said then, the “Evstratkina” school. His own for the spies, who were mostly soldiers even then, he knew and understood them well, knew how to talk, get along and manage with them. Zubatov was unmercenary in the full sense of the word, he was an idealist of his cause; Mednikov is reality itself, life itself. He has all the calculations. Working for ten people and often spending the night on a leather sofa in the department, at the same time he did not miss his private interests. Near Moscow he had “a small estate with bulls, cows and ducks, there was also a house,” he had everything. The working hands were free - do what you want; your person - a good wife, simple woman, ran the household. Arriving in Moscow, I found Mednikov already a senior official for assignments, with Vladimir in his buttonhole, who at that time gave the rights of hereditary nobility. He had already straightened out all the documents for the nobility, had a charter and was drawing up a coat of arms for himself; The coat of arms featured a bee as a symbol of hard work, and there were also sheaves. |
In popular culture
Mednikov is the prototype of Evgrafy Petrovich Medyannikov in the series “Empire Under Attack,” who, together with titular adviser Pavel Nesterovich Putilovsky and lieutenant Ivan Karlovich Berg, was part of a special investigative group to combat the terrorist Combat Organization of the Social Revolutionaries. However, Evgrafy Petrovich, unlike his protagonist, is only an experienced spy, is, apparently, in the rank of non-commissioned officer and continues his career after 1906. Medyannikov was played by actor Valentin Bukin. The image of Mednikov was also used in B. Akunin’s novel “State Councilor” when depicting Evstratiy Pavlovich Mylnikov, head of the spy service of the Security Department. Later Mylnikov appears in "
Mednikov E.P.
Mednikov Evstratiy Pavlovich (1853-1914), a prominent member of the secret police. Since 1881, supernumerary district supervisor of the police reserve of the Moscow police, seconded to the security department as a spy, since 1890 - an official in the office of the Moscow police chief, and in fact the head of the external surveillance service, one of the creators and leader (1894) of the Flying Detachment of Spies of the Moscow Security departments and the Police Department; from 1902 to 1906 he headed the external surveillance service throughout Russia.
Materials used from the book: "Security". Memoirs of leaders of political investigation. Volumes 1 and 2, M., New Literary Review, 2004.
Evstratiy Pavlovich Mednikov. A simple man, one of the peasants, loyal to the throne and the fatherland, capable and cunning, with his own mind, Mednikov (simply Evstrat) adored Zubatov. At the same time, he adored Spiridovich. Apparently, Spiridovich knew how to charm the people he needed. All this is easy to see from several letters Mednikov wrote to Spiridovich in the period 1902-1905 and during the revolution of 1917, discovered during a search in the latter’s apartment *).
These letters begin in May 1902, i.e. from the time when A.I. Spiridovich received the first independent position on political investigation in the South of Russia. These letters breathe genuine love and are full of Mednikov’s concerns for Spiridovich. In them he gives advice, tells official news, warns about the possible appearance in Kyiv of the most dangerous and active terrorists at that time: Gershuni, Melnikov and others.
After the arrest of Gershuni by Spiridovich, E.P. Mednikov sends him directly enthusiastic letters. When a secret officer wounds Spiridovich with a shot from a revolver, Evstrat expresses his feelings so ardently that there is no doubt about the author’s touching love and devotion to his student, and then to the talented head of the search in Kyiv.
When I compare my first steps on the political search in Saratov, the atmosphere hostile to me, the absence of any advice, with that atmosphere of benevolence and prompted instructions, which is now evident from the letters of E.P. Mednikov, I can only envy Spiridovich. I think that with the selection of employees when filling vacancies in the Kiev Security Department, Evstrat did not offend Spiridovich: all of these were employees of the Moscow Security Department.
Notes:
A.P. Martynov. My service in the Separate Corps of Gendarmes. In the book: "Security". Memoirs of leaders of political investigation. Volumes 1 and 2, M., New Literary Review, 2004.
Read here:
III department His Imperial Majesty's Office.
Tsarist gendarmes(employees of the III department and the Police Department)
From Mednikov's papers:
Instructions to the spies of the Flying Squad and the spies of the search and security departments, October 31, 1902 (Mednikov is personally mentioned in the instructions).
Letter from the head of external surveillance of the police department, E.P. Mednikov, to the head of the Tavrichesky security department, A.I. Spiridovich about the results of the development of BO AKP member M.M. Melnikova
Letter from the head of external surveillance of the police department, E.P. Mednikov, to the head of the Kyiv security department, A.I. Spiridovich, on the development of the BO RPS
Letter from the head of external surveillance of the police department, E.P. Mednikov, to the head of the Kyiv security department, A.I. Spiridovich, about the investigation into the murder of V.K. Plehve
And Zavarzina P.P - “Mednikov’s spies were distinguished by high professionalism and in their ability to secrecy were not inferior to professional revolutionaries.”
Mednikov Evstratiy Pavlovich, as professional specialist upper class, was in great demand in the criminal detective police, despite the change of six ministers of internal affairs (Sipyagin, Pleve, Svyatopolk-Mirsky, Bulygin, Durnovo and Stolypin), he managed to maintain his position in the Moscow Security Department until the end of his career.
A spy is a detective, an agent of the Security Department or the criminal investigation police in Russian Empire late 19th century - early 20th century, whose duties included conducting external surveillance and secretly collecting information about persons of interest.
Filer F. Krylov in common folk clothes. 1903
A separate Special Detachment of Observation Agents or the "Flying Detachment of Spies" was used in special responsible political cases to search for revolutionaries in all provinces of the Russian Empire; the "Flying Detachment of Spies" led by Mednikov was subordinated directly to the Police Department of the Russian Empire.
A group of spies and heads of external surveillance services in Moscow and St. Petersburg.
Memories from the memoirs of Spiridovich A.I. "Notes of a Gendarme":
"Right hand Zubatov was Evstratiy Pavlovich Mednikov, a man at that time about fifty years old. He was in charge of surveillance agents, or spies, who, observing the persons given to them on the streets, found out outwardly what they were doing, with whom
met and what places they visited. External surveillance developed data from internal agents.
Mednikov was a simple, illiterate man, an Old Believer, who had previously served as a police supervisor. His natural intelligence, intelligence, cunning, ability to work and perseverance brought him to the forefront. He understood filibustering as a contract for work, went through it with hump and soon became an orderly, instructor and controller. He created his own school in this matter - the Mednikovsky, or as they said then, the “Evstratkina” school. His own for the spies, who were mostly soldiers even then, he knew and understood them well, knew how to talk, get along and manage with them.
Twelve o'clock at night. A huge low room with a large oak table in the middle is full of filers. Young, elderly and old, with weathered faces, they stand around the walls in the usual pose - with their legs apart and their hands behind them. Each one in turn reports observation data to Mednikov and then submits a note where what was said is noted by hour and minute, with a note of money spent on service.
What about the Wolf? - Mednikov asks one of the detectives.
“The wolf, Evstratiy Pavlovich,” he answers, “is very careful.” The exit checks when entering somewhere, and it also checks, again, at turns, and sometimes around corners too. Grated.
“Rivet,” reports another, “like a hare, he runs around, sees nothing, no conspiracy, completely stupid...
Mednikov listens attentively to reports about all these Rivets, Wolves, Clever, Fast and Jackdaws - these are the nicknames of all those who were observed. He makes conclusions, then nods his head approvingly, then expresses dissatisfaction.
But then he approached the spy, who apparently liked to drink. He looks embarrassed; He is silent, as if he feels that he has done something wrong.
Well, report back! - Mednikov says ironically.
Confused and stuttering, the agent begins to explain how he and another agent Aksenov watched “Kulik”, how Kulik went to “Kozikhinsky Lane, building No. 3, but never came out, they didn’t wait for him.”
“It never came out,” Mednikov continues to sneer.
- He didn’t come out, Evstratiy Pavlovich.
- How long have you been waiting for him?
- Long time, Evstratiy Pavlovich.
- Until when?
- Until eleven, Evstratiy Pavlovich.
Here Mednikov can no longer stand it any longer. He already knows from the elder that the spies left their post for the pub at about 7 o’clock, without waiting for the person under observation to leave, which is why he was not followed through further. And at Kulik it was supposed to take place in the evening interesting date with a revolutionary "visiting" to Moscow, who needed
install. Now this unknown "newcomer" has been missed.
Turning purple, Mednikov grabs the policeman’s face with his hand and begins calmly stabbing him. He just hums and, finally freeing himself with his head, sobs:
Evstratiy Pavlovich, excuse me, it’s my fault.
You're guilty, you bastard, just say you're guilty, speak straight, don't lie! You're too young to lie to me. Got it, you're young! - Mednikov said with emphasis. - Stupid! - and poking again, more for show, Mednikov, who had already mastered himself, said
calmly: - A fine for both of them! And next time - out; straight out, don't lie! In our service you cannot lie. If you didn’t finish it, blame yourself, repent, don’t lie!
This reprisal is personal; its own, Evstratkina system. Only the detectives and Mednikov knew what was happening in the police station. There are rewards, punishments, salary increases, fines, and expenses, i.e. payment of what is spent on service, what
it is difficult to take into account and that entirely depends on Mednikov.
Having looked at the consumption, Mednikov usually said:
- “Okay, good.” Finding exaggerations in the account, he spoke calmly:
“Take off fifty dollars; you’re paying too much for the cab driver, knock it off.”
And the agent “threw off”, knowing that, firstly, Evstratiy Pavlovich was right, and, secondly, all sorts of disputes were useless anyway.
In addition to its spies, the Moscow branch also had a flying spy squad of the police department, which Mednikov was also in charge of. This detachment traveled around Russia, developing intelligence information from Zubatov or the department, working as if under the latter’s firm. In terms of efficiency, experience and seriousness of the spies, who were mostly drawn from Moscow spies, the flying detachment was an excellent observation apparatus, not inferior in ability to adapt to circumstances, in mobility and secrecy, to professional revolutionaries.
It was the old Mednikov school. There were no better detectives than his, although they drank heavily and to any outsider they seemed undisciplined and unpleasant. They recognized only Mednikov. The Mednikovsky filler could lie in the tank above the bathtub (which was needed once) for the whole evening; he could wait for long hours in the terrible cold for the person being observed in order to then take him home and establish where he lived; he could jump on the train without luggage behind the person being observed and leave suddenly, often without money, thousands of miles away; he ended up abroad without knowing any languages, and knew how to get out.
His agent stood like a cab driver in such a way that the most experienced professional revolutionary could not recognize him as an agent.
He knew how to pretend to be a match dealer and a hawker in general. If necessary, he could pretend to be a fool and talk to the person being observed, allegedly failing himself and his superiors. When the service demanded it, he continued to monitor even the militant with complete selflessness, knowing that if he failed, he risked getting a Browning bullet or a knife on the outskirts of the city, which happened.
The only thing that the Mednikovsky policeman did not have was the consciousness of his own professional dignity. He was an excellent craftsman, but was not convinced that there was nothing shameful in his profession. Mednikov could not instill this in them; he was not enough for this. In this regard, the provincial gendarmerie non-commissioned officers, who wore civilian clothes and performed the duties of spies, stood much higher, understanding their work as a public service. Later, civilian spies, subordinate to gendarmerie officers, were brought up in precisely this new direction, which ennobled their service and greatly helped the cause.
A policeman's pocket album with photographs of members of the Socialist Revolutionary Party and descriptions of their features.
In all the disclosures of the department, the role of external surveillance was very large, thanks mainly to which Mednikov became Zubatov’s closest confidant. A woman close to Mednikov had Zubatov’s main safe house, where Mednikov himself lived, where meetings with some of them took place.
employees and other persons in search cases. He knew that they protected other places where meetings between Zubatov and other ranks of the department took place, if they were allowed to participate in this matter.
Not everyone was allowed in, since the agency, this holy of holies of the department, was carefully guarded from any not only outsiders, but also from their own departmental gaze.
Mednikov was also in charge of the cab driver's yard, where there were several trips that were no different in appearance from ordinary Vaneks. The combination of mounted observation with foot observation brought great benefits in observation.
Mednikov also had a cash register in his hands. Zubatov was unmercenary in the full sense of the word, he was an idealist of his cause; Mednikov is reality itself, life itself. He has all the calculations. Working for ten people and often spending the night in
compartment on a leather sofa, he at the same time did not miss his private interests. Near Moscow he had “a small estate with bulls, cows and ducks, there was also a house,” he had everything. The working hands were free - do what you want; his own person - his wife, a good, simple woman, ran the household.
Arriving in Moscow, I found Mednikov already a senior official for assignments, with Vladimir in his buttonhole, who at that time gave the rights of hereditary nobility. He had already straightened out all the documents for the nobility, had a charter and was drawing up a coat of arms for himself; The coat of arms featured a bee as a symbol of hard work, and there were also sheaves."
In 1906, Mednikov Evstratiy Pavlovich retired with the rank of court councilor with the right of hereditary nobility.
He settled on his estate in the Gorokhovetsky district of the Vladimir province, where he studied agriculture. To recent years life maintained correspondence with Sergei Zubatov and his students on the police investigation case.
In 1910, Mednikov fell ill with a serious mental illness and was treated in a psychiatric hospital until 1913. Some authors associate Mednikov’s mental illness with L.P.’s betrayal. Menshchikova .
Menshchikov Leonid Petrovich former member People's Volya circle, under arrest, confessed and agreed to become an informant for the secret police, subsequently entered service in the Moscow Security Department as an external surveillance agent (snoop), transferred to the clerk of the office in charge of secret documentation of the Security Department, then appointed senior assistant clerk of the Police Department, transferred to St. Petersburg as a collegiate assessor of the Police Department, dismissed from service by the director of the Police Department Trusevich, in 1909 Menshchikov emigrated to France, got in touch with the leaders of banned Russian political parties(Russian liberal opposition of a radical kind) in the Russian Empire, and gave out all the secret information at his disposal about the Security Department of the Police Department of the Russian Empire, and published secret information exposing the foreign agents of the Police Department of the Russian Empire, numbering about 2000 people, in Parisian newspapers articles under the pseudonym "Ivanov" secret information exposing the foreign agents of the Police Department of the Russian Empire, after the October 1917 coup in the Russian Empire, actively collaborated with the Soviet government as an expert in the work of the commission for analyzing the archives of the former foreign agents of the Police Department of the Russian Empire, part of the secret documents and sold his collection of revolutionary illegal literature from his personal large library to the Lenin Institute (Moscow, USSR) for a symbolic sum of 10,000 francs (130-150 US dollars), sold part of the secret documents from his archive in Prague to the Russian Foreign Historical Archive (RFIA) .
Memories of Menshchikov from the memoirs of Spiridovich A.I. "Notes of a Gendarme":
"Gloomy, silent, correct, always coldly polite, a respectable blond man with gold glasses and a small beard, Menshchikov was a rare worker. He kept to himself. He often went on business trips, but when he was at home, he “sat for illustration,” i.e. wrote to the police department answers to his papers regarding the clarification of various illustrated letters. He also wrote general reports to the department based on internal intelligence data. This was considered a very secret part, closely adjacent to the agents, and we officers were not allowed near it, leaving it in the hands of officials. The Menshchikovsky Mahogany Bureau inspired us with special respect for it. And when one day, apparently on orders from his superiors, Menshchikov, who treated me very well, while leaving on a business trip, gave me the key to his office and several papers for answers to the department, this created some sensation in the department. They started congratulating me.
Menshchikov knew the revolutionary environment, and his reports on revolutionary figures were comprehensive. He had one big thing to do. They said that in those years the department had acquired the reports and all the data with which a certain foreign representative of one of the revolutionary organizations had to travel around a number of cities and give his groups appropriate instructions. Menshchikov was given the obtained information and, armed with it, he, as a delegate, visited all the necessary points, met with representatives of local groups and carried out a supervisory audit. In other words, he successfully played the revolutionary Khlestakov, and as a result the entire organization was destroyed.
Menshchikov received a good order for this out of turn. Later, taken to St. Petersburg, to the department, serving for many years in the civil service, which undoubtedly brought great benefit to the government, he was dismissed from service by the director of the police department, Trusevich. Then Menshchikov again took the side of the revolution and, while abroad, began to publish the secrets that he knew."
For Mednikov this was a heavy blow. Evstratiy Pavlovich Mednikov died on December 2, 1914 in one of the psychiatric clinics in St. Petersburg.
The head of the Moscow security department, S.V. Zubatov, did not look at cooperation as a simple purchase and sale, but saw it as an ideological matter and tried to instill this in the officers. He also taught to treat employees with care.
“You, gentlemen,” he said, “must look at an employee as a beloved woman with whom you are in an illegal relationship. Take care of her like the apple of your eye. One careless step of yours, and you will disgrace her. Remember this, treat these people the way I advise you, and they will understand you, trust you and work with you honestly and selflessly. Drive the shtuchnikov away, these are not employees, they are corrupt people. Never tell anyone the name of your employee. even to your superiors. Forget his real name and remember only by his nickname.
Remember that in the work of an employee, no matter how devoted he is to you, and no matter how honestly he works, there will come a moment of psychological turning point. Don't miss this moment. This is the moment when you should part ways with your employee. He can't work anymore. It's hard for him. Let him go. Break up with him. Take him carefully out of the revolutionary circle, get him a legal job, get him a pension, do everything humanly possible to thank him and say goodbye to him on good terms.
Remember that having stopped working in a revolutionary environment, having become a peaceful member of society, he will continue to be useful to the state, although not an employee, he will be useful in a new position. You lose an employee, but you gain a friend for the government in society, useful person for the state."
Thanks to such views of Zubatov, the search work acquired an interesting character. By putting these views into practice, Zubatov managed to raise internal intelligence to a rare height. The department's awareness was amazing. Engaging in revolutionary work in Moscow was considered a hopeless endeavor.
Zubatov spoke beautifully and convincingly, preparing future leaders of the political investigation from officers, but it was difficult for them to immediately perceive this state point of view on internal agents. They accepted, as indisputable, all advice regarding the employee, and yet the latter, in the eyes of the officers, were traitors to their comrades.
Zubatov’s right hand was Evstratiy Pavlovich Mednikov, a man about fifty years old at that time. He was in charge of surveillance agents, or spies, who, observing the persons given to them on the street, found out outwardly what they were doing, who they were meeting with, and what places they were visiting. External surveillance developed data from internal agents.
Mednikov was a simple, illiterate man, an Old Believer, who had previously served as a police supervisor. His natural intelligence, intelligence, cunning, ability to work and perseverance brought him to the forefront. He understood filibustering as a contract for work, went through it hump and soon became a contractor, instructor and controller. He created his own school in this matter - Mednikovsky, or, as they said then, “Evstratkinu school”. His own for the spies, who were mostly soldiers even then, he knew and understood them well, knew how to talk, get along and manage with them.
It’s twelve o’clock at night, a huge low room with a large oak table in the middle is full of fillers. Young, elderly and old, with weathered faces, they stand around the walls in the usual pose - with their legs apart and their hands behind them.
Each one in turn reports observation data to Mednikov and then submits a note where what was said is noted by hour and minute, with a note of money spent on service.
- What about the Wolf? – Mednikov asks one of the detectives.
“The wolf, Evstratiy Pavlovich,” he answers, “is very careful.” The exit checks when entering somewhere, and it also checks again at turns, and sometimes around corners too. Grated…
“Rivet,” reports another, “runs like a hare, no conspiracy... Completely stupid...”
Mednikov listens attentively to reports about all these Rivets, Wolves, Smart, Fast and Jackdaws - these were the nicknames of all those who were observed. He makes conclusions, then nods approvingly, then expresses dissatisfaction.
But then he approached the spy, who apparently liked to drink. He looks embarrassed; He is silent, as if he feels that he has done something wrong.
- Well, report! - Mednikov says ironically. Confused and stuttering, the spy begins to explain how he and another spy Aksenov watched Kulik, how he went “to Kozikhinsky Lane, building 3, but never came out, they didn’t wait for him.”
“It never came out,” Mednikov continues to sneer.
- He didn’t come out, Evstratiy Pavlovich.
- How long have you been waiting for him?
- Long time, Evstratiy Pavlovich.
- Until when?
- Until eleven, Evstratiy Pavlovich.
Here Mednikov can no longer stand it any longer. He already knows from the elder that the spies left their post for the pub at about seven o’clock, without waiting for the person under observation to leave, which is why he was not followed through further. And Kulik was supposed to have an interesting meeting in the evening with a visitor who needed to be established. Now this unknown visitor has been missed.
Having turned purple, Mednikov rakes the snooper’s face with his hand and begins to calmly give blows. He just moans and, having freed himself, finally sobs:
- Evstratiy Pavlovich, forgive me, it’s my fault!
“You’re guilty, you bastard, just say you’re guilty, speak directly, don’t lie!” You are too young to lie to me! Understood?
This is punishment in one's own way. What was happening in the spy room was known only to the spies and Mednikov. There are rewards, punishments, salary increases, and fines...
Looking at the consumption. Mednikov usually said: “Okay, good.” Having found an exaggeration in the account, he said calmly: “Take off fifty dollars, you’re paying too much for the cab driver, knock it off!” And the spy “threw off”, knowing that, firstly, Evstratiy Pavlovich was right, and secondly, arguments were useless anyway.
In addition to his spies, the Moscow Security Department also had a flying spy squad, which Mednikov was also in charge of. This detachment traveled around Russia, developing intelligence information from Zubatov or the department.
It was the old Mednikov school. There were no better agents than his, although they drank heavily and to any outsider they seemed undisciplined and unpleasant. They recognized only Mednikov. A Mednikovsky fisher could lie in a tank above the bathtub (which was needed once) for the whole evening, could wait for long hours in the terrible frost for the person being observed in order to then take him home and establish where he lived; he could jump on the train without luggage behind the person being observed and leave suddenly, often without money, thousands of miles away; he ended up abroad without knowing any languages, and knew how to get out.
His spy stood like a cab driver in such a way that the most experienced and professional revolutionary could not recognize him as an agent. He knew how to pretend to be a match dealer and a hawker in general. If necessary, he could pretend to be a fool and talk to the person being observed, allegedly failing himself and his superiors. When the service demanded it, he continued to monitor even a militant with complete dedication, knowing that he risked getting a bullet or a knife on the outskirts of the city, which happened.
The only thing that the Mednikovsky spy did not have was the consciousness of his own professional dignity. He was an excellent craftsman, but was not convinced that there was nothing shameful in his profession. Mednikov could not instill this in them. In this regard, the provincial gendarmerie non-commissioned officers, who wore civilian clothes and performed the duties of spies, stood much higher, understanding their work as a public service. Later, civilian spies, subordinate to gendarmerie officers, were brought up in precisely this spirit, which ennobled their service and greatly helped the cause.
In all the disclosures of the Moscow branch, the role of external surveillance was very large.
The department had its own good photographer and a decipherer of secret letters, as well as his learned Jew, who knew everything about Judaism, which was a great help when working in the Pale of Settlement. Finally, there was one more figure who later made a splash in the revolutionary world, an official on behalf of E.P. Menshikov, once, as they said, was a member of one of the revolutionary organizations, who then ended up in the department and made a great bureaucratic career in it, and then in the Police Department.
Gloomy, silent, correct, always coldly polite, a respectable blond man with gold glasses and a small beard, Menshikov was a rare worker. He kept to himself. He often went on business trips, but while at home he “sat on censorship,” that is, he wrote to the Police Department answers to his papers on clarification of various clarified letters. He also wrote general reports to the department based on internal intelligence data.
Menshikov knew the revolutionary environment, and his reports on revolutionary figures were exhaustive. He had one big thing to do. They said that in those years the department acquired the reports and all the data with which a certain foreign representative of one of the revolutionary organizations had to travel around a number of cities and give the groups appropriate instructions. Menshikov was given the obtained information and, armed with it, he, as a delegate, visited all the necessary points, met with representatives of local groups and conducted a supervisory audit. In other words, he successfully played the revolutionary Khlestakov.
Later, taken to St. Petersburg, to the department, who served for many years in the civil service, undoubtedly bringing great benefit to the government, he was fired by the director of the department, Trusevich. Then Menshikov, while abroad, began to publish the secrets that he knew.
Admission to search institutions of persons who were previously members of revolutionary organizations was, of course, unacceptable. The underground revolutionary environment had too much of a corrupting effect on its members through unscrupulousness, idleness, and chatter for a decent official to emerge from it. He was either a bad worker or a traitor to the interests of the state in the name of partisanship and revolution.
There were, of course, exceptions, but they were just that: exceptions.
But since the government allowed this, then correcting the mistake in such a surgical way, which Trusevich resorted to, only brought new harm to the same government.
Mednikov and Menshikov
The head of the Moscow security department, S.V. Zubatov, did not look at cooperation as a simple purchase and sale, but saw it as an ideological matter and tried to instill this in the officers. He also taught to treat employees with care.
“You, gentlemen,” he said, “must look at an employee as a beloved woman with whom you are in an illegal relationship. Take care of her like the apple of your eye. One careless step of yours, and you will disgrace her. Remember this, treat these people the way I advise you, and they will understand you, trust you and work with you honestly and selflessly. Drive the shtuchnikov away, these are not employees, they are corrupt people. Never tell anyone the name of your employee. even to your superiors. Forget his real name and remember only by his nickname.
Remember that in the work of an employee, no matter how devoted he is to you, and no matter how honestly he works, there will come a moment of psychological turning point. Don't miss this moment. This is the moment when you should part ways with your employee. He can't work anymore. It's hard for him. Let him go. Break up with him. Take him carefully out of the revolutionary circle, get him a legal job, get him a pension, do everything humanly possible to thank him and say goodbye to him on good terms.
Remember that having stopped working in a revolutionary environment, having become a peaceful member of society, he will continue to be useful to the state, although not an employee, he will be useful in a new position. You lose an employee, but you gain in society a friend for the government, a useful person for the state."
Thanks to such views of Zubatov, the search work acquired an interesting character. By putting these views into practice, Zubatov managed to raise internal intelligence to a rare height. The department's awareness was amazing. Engaging in revolutionary work in Moscow was considered a hopeless endeavor.
Zubatov spoke beautifully and convincingly, preparing future leaders of the political investigation from officers, but it was difficult for them to immediately perceive this state point of view on internal agents. They accepted, as indisputable, all advice regarding the employee, and yet the latter, in the eyes of the officers, were traitors to their comrades.
Zubatov’s right hand was Evstratiy Pavlovich Mednikov, a man about fifty years old at that time. He was in charge of surveillance agents, or spies, who, observing the persons given to them on the street, found out outwardly what they were doing, who they were meeting with, and what places they were visiting. External surveillance developed data from internal agents.
Mednikov was a simple, illiterate man, an Old Believer, who had previously served as a police supervisor. His natural intelligence, intelligence, cunning, ability to work and perseverance brought him to the forefront. He understood filibustering as a contract for work, went through it hump and soon became a contractor, instructor and controller. He created his own school in this matter - Mednikovsky, or, as they said then, “Evstratkinu school”. His own for the spies, who were mostly soldiers even then, he knew and understood them well, knew how to talk, get along and manage with them.
It’s twelve o’clock at night, a huge low room with a large oak table in the middle is full of fillers. Young, elderly and old, with weathered faces, they stand around the walls in the usual pose - with their legs apart and their hands behind them.
Each one in turn reports observation data to Mednikov and then submits a note where what was said is noted by hour and minute, with a note of money spent on service.
- What about the Wolf? – Mednikov asks one of the detectives.
“The wolf, Evstratiy Pavlovich,” he answers, “is very careful.” The exit checks when entering somewhere, and it also checks again at turns, and sometimes around corners too. Grated…
“Rivet,” reports another, “runs like a hare, no conspiracy... Completely stupid...”
Mednikov listens attentively to reports about all these Rivets, Wolves, Smart, Fast and Jackdaws - these were the nicknames of all those who were observed. He makes conclusions, then nods approvingly, then expresses dissatisfaction.
But then he approached the spy, who apparently liked to drink. He looks embarrassed; He is silent, as if he feels that he has done something wrong.
- Well, report! - Mednikov says ironically. Confused and stuttering, the spy begins to explain how he and another spy Aksenov watched Kulik, how he went “to Kozikhinsky Lane, building 3, but never came out, they didn’t wait for him.”
“It never came out,” Mednikov continues to sneer.
- He didn’t come out, Evstratiy Pavlovich.
- How long have you been waiting for him?
- Long time, Evstratiy Pavlovich.
- Until when?
- Until eleven, Evstratiy Pavlovich.
Here Mednikov can no longer stand it any longer. He already knows from the elder that the spies left their post for the pub at about seven o’clock, without waiting for the person under observation to leave, which is why he was not followed through further. And Kulik was supposed to have an interesting meeting in the evening with a visitor who needed to be established. Now this unknown visitor has been missed.
Having turned purple, Mednikov rakes the snooper’s face with his hand and begins to calmly give blows. He just moans and, having freed himself, finally sobs:
- Evstratiy Pavlovich, forgive me, it’s my fault!
“You’re guilty, you bastard, just say you’re guilty, speak directly, don’t lie!” You are too young to lie to me! Understood?
This is punishment in one's own way. What was happening in the spy room was known only to the spies and Mednikov. There are rewards, punishments, salary increases, and fines...
Looking at the consumption. Mednikov usually said: “Okay, good.” Having found an exaggeration in the account, he said calmly: “Take off fifty dollars, you’re paying too much for the cab driver, knock it off!” And the spy “threw off”, knowing that, firstly, Evstratiy Pavlovich was right, and secondly, arguments were useless anyway.
In addition to his spies, the Moscow Security Department also had a flying spy squad, which Mednikov was also in charge of. This detachment traveled around Russia, developing intelligence information from Zubatov or the department.
It was the old Mednikov school. There were no better agents than his, although they drank heavily and to any outsider they seemed undisciplined and unpleasant. They recognized only Mednikov. A Mednikovsky fisher could lie in a tank above the bathtub (which was needed once) for the whole evening, could wait for long hours in the terrible frost for the person being observed in order to then take him home and establish where he lived; he could jump on the train without luggage behind the person being observed and leave suddenly, often without money, thousands of miles away; he ended up abroad without knowing any languages, and knew how to get out.
His spy stood like a cab driver in such a way that the most experienced and professional revolutionary could not recognize him as an agent. He knew how to pretend to be a match dealer and a hawker in general. If necessary, he could pretend to be a fool and talk to the person being observed, allegedly failing himself and his superiors. When the service demanded it, he continued to monitor even a militant with complete dedication, knowing that he risked getting a bullet or a knife on the outskirts of the city, which happened.
The only thing that the Mednikovsky spy did not have was the consciousness of his own professional dignity. He was an excellent craftsman, but was not convinced that there was nothing shameful in his profession. Mednikov could not instill this in them. In this regard, the provincial gendarmerie non-commissioned officers, who wore civilian clothes and performed the duties of spies, stood much higher, understanding their work as a public service. Later, civilian spies, subordinate to gendarmerie officers, were brought up in precisely this spirit, which ennobled their service and greatly helped the cause.
In all the disclosures of the Moscow branch, the role of external surveillance was very large.
The department had its own good photographer and decipherer of secret letters, as well as its own learned Jew, who knew everything about Judaism, which was a great help when working in the Pale of Settlement. Finally, there was one more figure who later made a splash in the revolutionary world, an official on behalf of E.P. Menshikov, once, as they said, was a member of one of the revolutionary organizations, who then ended up in the department and made a great bureaucratic career in it, and then in the Police Department.
Gloomy, silent, correct, always coldly polite, a respectable blond man with gold glasses and a small beard, Menshikov was a rare worker. He kept to himself. He often went on business trips, but while at home he “sat on censorship,” that is, he wrote to the Police Department answers to his papers on clarification of various clarified letters. He also wrote general reports to the department based on internal intelligence data.
Menshikov knew the revolutionary environment, and his reports on revolutionary figures were exhaustive. He had one big thing to do. They said that in those years the department acquired the reports and all the data with which a certain foreign representative of one of the revolutionary organizations had to travel around a number of cities and give the groups appropriate instructions. Menshikov was given the obtained information and, armed with it, he, as a delegate, visited all the necessary points, met with representatives of local groups and conducted a supervisory audit. In other words, he successfully played the revolutionary Khlestakov.
Later, taken to St. Petersburg, to the department, who served for many years in the civil service, undoubtedly bringing great benefit to the government, he was fired by the director of the department, Trusevich. Then Menshikov, while abroad, began to publish the secrets that he knew.
Admission to search institutions of persons who were previously members of revolutionary organizations was, of course, unacceptable. The underground revolutionary environment had too much of a corrupting effect on its members through unscrupulousness, idleness, and chatter for a decent official to emerge from it. He was either a bad worker or a traitor to the interests of the state in the name of partisanship and revolution.
There were, of course, exceptions, but they were just that: exceptions.
But since the government allowed this, then correcting the mistake in such a surgical way, which Trusevich resorted to, only brought new harm to the same government.
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