<< Kirov’s biography
The death of Kirov. Facts and version // Rodina (Homeland): Russian Historical illustrated magazine. 2005. № 3. C. 57-65.
ISSN 0235-7089
Sergey Deviatov — Head of the Center for Relations with the press and the public FSO of Russia, doctor of historical sciences.
Valentin Zhilyaev — consultant, editor of the Center for Relations with the press and the public FSO Russia.
Sergey Zosimov — forensic expert of forensic 111th Center for forensic examinations of Defense of the Russian Federation, Honored Doctor of the Russian Federation, Candidate of Medical Sciences.
Victor Kolkutin — the chief medical examiner of Defense of the Russian Federation, Head of the 111th Center for forensic examinations of Defense of the Russian Federation, professor, colonel of medical service.
Tatiana Suharnikova — head of a branch of the "Museum of S.M. Kirov" of State Museum of History of St. Petersburg.
The authors of the translation – Viktorya Avanskaya, Igor Tarbeev
For more than seventy years Russia continues to discuss the murder of Sergei Kirov. For more than seventy years, the doubt that the truth will ever be established has been passed from generation to generation. The interest led to the creation of the Party and prosecutor commissions, additional checks that literally drowned in a monstrous political swamp of lies and falsifications. Only now, for the first time in the history of "Kirov" case, real steps have been taken for the objective forensic medical examinations. In December 2004, by the request of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation experts of 111th Center for forensic examinations of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation with the assistance of the Museum of S.M. Kirov employees and the participation of employees of the FSO specific studies have been conducted. Their results are now available to the general public.
Official version
December 1, 1934 a member of the Presidium of the USSR Central Executive Committee, member of the Politburo and secretary of the Central Committee of the VKP (b), the Secretary of the Leningrad Regional and City Party Sergei Kirov was killed in the Smolny, Leningrad. In the morning, Kirov left his apartment in the building number 26/28 on Red Dawn Street (now Kamennoostrovskoy Avenue) and at about 16.30 arrived in Smolny. He went by the central staircase up to the third floor, passed the main corridor and went towards the left side corridor to his office. At this time, Kirov was shot in the head with a revolver. A murderer was captured at the scene of the crime, it was Leonid Vasilyevich Nikolayev, who used revolver gun number 24778 produced in 1912. He also had five bullets, two used cartridges in the drum and briefcase with documents. During the investigation, aside from Nikolayev 13 people were arrested and prosecuted in the case. December 29, 1934 the Military Collegium of the USSR Supreme Court recognized that the murder of Kirov was committed by backstreet terrorist organization inspirited by Zinoviev’s ideas and headed by so-called "Leningrad center". All 14 defendants were sentenced to death.
The preliminary and judicial investigation
The message about the tragedy caught the chief of the NKVD Administration of Leningrad region F. D. Medved’ at the workplace, in a building on Liteynyy prospect, 4. He and his deputy arrived in Smolny immediately. The first commandment was ordered to block all entrances and exits to the Smolny, and send to Medved’ at least three dozen operations officers. Everyone who was in the building at the time of the murder were detained and later interrogated.
At 16:37 Kirov was moved to his office, and doctors continued to provide him useless medical care.
Kirov’s cabinet in Smolny, consisting of two rooms, was sealed on December 1 at 21.30. "The doors are sealed up: the door from the inside of the second room of cabinet and the other door of the office leading to the reception."
The first interrogation began at 16 hours and 45 minutes, 15 minutes after the shot: Milda P. Draule*, killer’s wife answered on the investigator's questions in one of the neighboring to Kirov's office rooms. Leonid Nikolayev was not able to give testimony, he was in a state of hysterical fit. He started to say something coherent only after 21.00, when he was interrogated twice. On the same evening his apartment on the Batenin street 9/39, was searched and left with ambush by NKVD agents.
Stalin actively influenced on the course of the preliminary investigation and the judicial proceedings in this and all subsequent cases related to the case ofKirov’s murder. We know that not only from investigative materials of the case, which he corrected personally. In December 1934 - January 1935, the most frequent visitors to his office were the actual executors of the "Leningrad Center" fabricated case Yagoda, Agranov, USSR Prosecutor I.A. Akulov, RSFSR prosecutor A.Y. Vyshinsky, the chairman of the Military Collegium of the USSR Supreme Court V. Ulrich.
Stalin personally edited a draft indictment, which was handed to the secretariat of the Central Committee of the VKP (b) on December 25, 1934. He ordered to carry out the process in two days, and shoot all the 14 accused. The sentence was printed in Moscow before the start of the trial, so that the fate of the defendants was determinate. The trial was short. Closed session of the Military Collegium was held in Leningrad from 14:20 on December 28 to 06:40 December 29, 1934 (thus the court session lasted 16 hours and 20 minutes). An hour after the announcement the sentence was carried out. Less than a month passed since the assassination of Kirov.
*It is hard to find and bring Draule to Smolny in 10-15 minutes, so, she was in the building at that time. - Ed.
Inspection materials
In April 1956, the Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee decided to set up a commission to verify the circumstances of Kirov's murder and other cases of "the cult of personality” epoch. It was the first attempt to revise the "Kirov" case. All six commissions who worked at different times and independently from each other, agreed that there was no underground terrorist Trotsky-Zinoviev organization in Leningrad and members of the former opposition, including those who were convicted in the Nikolaev’s case, were not involved in Kirov's assassination. However, the rehabilitation of 13 people who were shot was organized only in 1989.
Decisions of the commissions directly depended on the political situation. There was enough contradictions in the "Kirov" case, but all commissions did not pay attention or "had no right" to work in this direction. It is unlikely, for example, that the head of the first committee of the CPSU (1956-1957), V. Molotov, who was in Leningrad together with Stalin in December 1934, did not know the objective picture of events.
Security in Smolny
The entrance to the Smolny was free until 1932. The building, which housed many Party, Soviet, Komsomol organizations and institutions, was guarded by army posts and police. Smolny commandant's office was manned by civilians who were composed in the office at the headquarters of the Leningrad City Council. Since 1933, the local commandant's office was staffed with Operations Division (Operoda), Plenipotentiary of the OGPU in LVO and arms guarding were replaced by curfew Division OSNAZ of troops OGPU in LVO.
More detailed description of the organization of the protection of Smolny on the eve of the December tragedy can be found in a memo of Chief of the Operations Division Alekhine to the Chief of NKVD in Leningrad region L. M.Zakovsky on December 12, 1934:
"I report that prior to December 1, 1934 in Smolny building housed more than 15 different institutions and organizations related to the Leningrad City Council and the Regional Executive Committee; main building, thanks to a special annex, is communicated with other housings, and therefore in addition to 1829 people working in Smolny, the building was overrun by thousands of other people.
It is important that more than 160 families are living in other housing connected to the main building and the Peasant House is placed there, and in the main building are placed two commissions and some other institutions, with other unwanted visitors.
Special entrance door was unguarded and could be opened with a special key, copies of which were distributed to a number of individuals. Technical staff also used this entrance, and anyone visiting the barber shop which is placed in the same house (on the ground floor -. Ed.). This turned the very existence of a special entrance into security fiction without any sense.
Smolny’s security consisted of 3 commissar posts on which the passes should be checked, and only one scout. All other posts were military ones, 7 in total, and the composition of the guard was 23 people in total. Three posts of intelligence service and 3 policemen were placed at the entrance."
Add that there was a large number of other agencies and organizations, including sty to supply the canteens of Smolny in communicating buildings.
To enter the third floor one should use party card or special permits for non-party people. Monitoring of common areas of the third floor and the visitors was organized by the post of intelligence service (bypass position).
Small corridor of the left wing of the third floor was not separated from the common corridor. Anyone who entered to the regional committee (city committee) of the VKP (b), could freely be in the area of Kirov's office, at the door of his reception. Behind the entrance to the reception a small corridor was overlapped by the glass partition with a door which was locked with a key only in special cases. Behind the partition there were two doors one to the Kirov's office, the other in the living room (dining room). This lounge was often used as a dining room for leaders of city committee of the Regional Committee of the VKP (b), the Leningrad City Council and Executive Committee. On the right side the special elevator entrance was located. The waitress room, "Pantry", exit to the landing leading to the second and first floors were next to the elevator.
Security of Kirov was assigned to the 4th department (Head is M. I. Kotomin) of Operations Division (Head of Department is A. Gubin) of NKVD in Leningrad region. Department consisted of two parts: the commandant of the Smolny and group of personal protection. Since mid-1933 to February 1934 the number of personal protection of Kirov has risen from 3 to 12 people. At this time he was elected as a member of the Politburo of the CPSU (b) and secretary of Central Committee. He was followed by car with a group of Operoda employees (usually two people) during his trips and visits. Measures have been taken to enhance the protection of Smolny on the outside, the house number 26/28 on Red Dawn Street, Kirov’s rooms in cottage on Kamennyy Island.
December 1, 1934 Kirov’s security was provided by 4 people from the group of personal protection and 5 employeescommandant. His leave from home was protected by 2 Operoda staff (A. V. Smirnov and N. M. Trusov). Kirov was accompanied by car of operative Commissioner K. Pauzer and group employee, P. P. Lazyuk, on this day. They went with Sergei Mironavich to the entrance to Smolny, but not to the Cabinet. They did not enter the building, but they should have done it in accordance with the official duties.
At the entrance to the Smolny Kirov’s security provided three staff commandants on duty outside the building. In Smolny Leningrad Bolshevik leader met the operational Commissioner Borisov, who was appointed February 1, 1934. Since October 1929, he was involved in Sergei Mironavich’s protection as an ordinary employee of Operoda. The duties of the commissar included: escort of the protected person wile moving through Smolny, the rest of the time he had to be in the reception of N. F. Sveshnikov. Another commandant officer N. N. Dureyko was a sentinel of the third floor.
It is known that Sergey Myronovych was weighed down by security. In November 1934, the Chief Operoda Gubin reported to management that Kirov still did not allow the organization of security. Security guards (except for escorting persons) have been instructed to stay away from the protected person and did not appear in his sight. The question of the allocation of the special commissioner for the permanent protection of Kirov has not been resolved.
Such an attitude to security was typical not only for Kirov. Many leaders of the state and the party did not take security up to December 1, 1934.
December 3, 1934 People's Commissar of Internal Affairs Yagoda signed the order: "Remove the NKVD Administration Guide Leningrad region from their positions and bring to justice for negligence in their duties of the State Security Protection in Leningrad."
Milda Draule
Draule is perhaps the most enclosed figure of "Kirov" case about which almost nothing is known. It lead to an incredible amount of speculation around her, mainly as a heroine of Kirov’s "romantic" passion and the woman, which woke up the murderous jealousy in her husband. Reliable information about the wife of Leonid Nikolayev can be found in archival documents.
"Autobiography of a member of VKP (b) Draule Milda Petrovna
Born in August of 1901 (in Petrogradskoy province).
My parents came from the peasants. My father, the younger son of his father, has not received a plot of land so, he was forced to go and work for wage. 35 years ago he moved from Latvia to Russia. He worked for the landlords.
Since I was 9, I also began to work for the landlord, I was herding pigs, cows and when I grew up I was working in the garden and on field work (for free). I studied during the winter. In 1916 I graduated from the school.
I was working on field work after graduating from school until 1919.
In 1919 I worked in the Province Executive Committee (Volispolkom), where I was soon seconded to the Province Courses of Food and Statistics, after which I worked at the disposal Food Committee and Statistic Bureau during the 1920 and 1921.
In 1921 I went back to Volispolkom, and worked as a secretary, then as a member of it. In July 1922 Luzhskiy regional Committee took me to work at Head Registration and Distribution. I have been working there until 1926. After that, I moved to Leningrad because of family reasons and went to work in the Communications Office. In 1927 I was working remotely in the Vyborg RK VKP (b), and than for the head of "Progress" factory. In 1928, I had to leave work temporarily because of the sickness of my child.
In 1929, on proposal of collective I began to work on the factory "Red worker " as an accountant, then as property administrator. From 1930 to 1932 I was working as a record keeper in the HR department in the Region Committee.
I am a member of the VKP (b) since 1919.
Starting from 1921, I constantly took part in Party work as a branch committee or collective member, carrying out different organizational work. In 1930 I was chosen to become an executive secretary of the factory "Red Worker" collective.
From 1921 to 1926 I participated in the Komsomol work in organization of village units, as a member of the Bureau of collective, as a member of the Uyezd Committee, then as the chairman's fellow comrades' court at Uyezd Committee.
In addition, I was working in voluntary associations and so forth. In Party education I graduated standards, school and Marksist-Leninist Section.
I live with my family of two children (6 and 1 1/2 years old) and sick father and mother (75 and 70 years).
17 / V1-33. Draule "
The younger sister of Milda, Olga, wrote in 1926:
"... So we lived until 1917. I remember when there was a vote, the sister said (she was still a minor), that we should vote for the Bolsheviks. I do not know whether she was familiar with it, but still my father voted for the Bolsheviks ... After October Revolution landowners were not driven out of their big estates and were full owners of it up to 19 year. Only in the '19 revolutionary committee evicted landowners. The blame for their eviction they piled on our family, sister then was already the party member. A week later, it was offensive of Yudenich and landlords, nestling in their defenders’ places, made every effort to hand over my sister to Whites, who arrested her and take her to be shot, but suddenly they were attacked by Reds and my sister survived .... Artel, where my parents lived was an educational farm, and in the end of 1924 there was a reduction of workers. The number of cuts hit my father. Reducing changed the situation. Due to only one friend of my father, he manage to find a hut for shelter and we can temporary use the garden. Sister and I helped our parents. Painful and senile state of the parents do not allow them to engage in the work. "
Milda Draule and Leonid Nikolayev got married in 1925 in Luga. There is a photo where Milda and Leonid are near each other. They are both young and cute. The newlyweds settled in Leningrad at the end of 1925 in Nikolayev mother's apartment on Lesnoy Avenue, 13/8, Apt. 41. There lived Leonid’s mother Maria Tikhonovna 52 years old, his grandmother Evdokia Larionovna 71 years old, his sister Yekaterina 28 years with her husband Ivan Lvovich Rogachev 31 years, younger sister Anna, 19, and Nikolayev’s relative Vasiliev Alexander 52 years old.
Mother with his younger sister took a room of 10.67 square meters, Leonid and his wife lived in 17.37 square meters, older sister and her husband took 20.41 square meters. Vasiliev, "the shoemaker", worked and lived in the kitchen.
Nikolayev’s family suffered from unemployment, it was a common occurrence in Leningrad during the second half of the 1920s. More or less stable was the job of his mother, she was washer in tram fleet. Milda and her husband were helped by the relatives of Nikolayev with finding job. In 1927, the first child by the name of Marx was born in Nikolayev’s family. In September 1930, Milda got a new job as accounting clerk in the regional party committee, then the assistant head of the sector of light industry personnel. It remains unclear who did work favors to Draule. But it is obvious that his reputation was enough so Milda could found the job in the regional committee.
In 1931, Milda gave birth to her second child named Leonid and the family received a two-bedroom apartment in a new building on the Batenin street in the Vyborg district. Milda was registered by the party organization of the Smolny. Like every party member, she had a social burden and as branch committee member she checked arrears of party organizations. But she was more likely to have to ask for leave from party meetings which were regularly held after working hours:
"The Bureau of collective of VKP (b) of the Smolny. From Draule M. P. Party card № 0155606. In view of the fact that I had to leave a young child unattended for the whole day, I cannot stay at today's meeting. 24/III-31."
October 26, 1932 the city committee of the Party branch committee decided "to recognize the non-attendance at school (political instruction - Ed.) of Draule for good reasons to release her from visiting the meetings." Perhaps it was an exceptional case for the party organization of the Smolny. Milda had no special reason not to attend the party meeting because as we already know, Nikolayev and Draule lived with Milda’s parents and the grandmother looked after children.
In April 1931 Nikolayev was accepted to take a position at the Leningrad Regional committee of the CPSU (b) as an instructor-referent. The couple worked side by side in Smolny for six month.
In September 1931 Leonid was transferred from the Party work to the regional council of the society “Doloybezgramotnost” (Down with illiteracy). It was his thirteenth place of work, which was included in “Labor List”. Nikolaev lasted there for a year. In August 1932he was enlisted as an inspector in prices’ inspection of Workers’ and Peasants’ inspection with a salary of 250 rubles a month. Inspection was located in Smolny. It is still unknown who recommended Nikolaev there.
Spouses were fired from Smolny almost in the same time. In August 1933 Nikolaev used his regular vacation and was fired on October 1st with the wording “because of education leave”. August 23rdDraule was send “to work as a head of accounting group of the office of Commissioner of the Commissariat of Heavy Industry with a salary of 275 rubles”, but at first to a temporary post as an inspector with a salary of 250 rubles. Only January 19, 1934 Mildajoined the staff with a salary of 275 rubles. Evasive answer about the reason for her transfer to the Regional Committee of the People’s Commissariat was found in the minutes of the meeting of the city committee of the party cell, where Milda together with Draule’s friend was undergoing party purge in November 1933.
Debates:
ComradLarin. I worked with her for over a year. On the production line she is working pretty well. Recently she has been sent to work in People's Commissariat of Heavy Industry where she started to adjust the work. Social work was also carried out well, she was doing all of it. She is very discreet. Modest.Worthy of being a member of the party.
Tov.Karmanova. She was working as an accounting clerk at first, then was promoted to assistant to the head of sector, then for some reason ended up to be unemployed.
Tov.Larin (provides information). There was a downsizing, that is why comrade Draule started to be unemployed.”
We should note that the decision to reduce the staff of the Leningrad city and regional committees of the CPSU (b) was never taken in 1933. The reasons for Nikolayev’s dismissal and Draule’s transfer, in our opinion, were the desertion of Leonid’s brother from Red Army and the arrest of Milda’s brother for money embezzlement.
MildaPetrovna was having penalties and promotions, she was warned and given rebuke for being late on November 13 and December 28, 1933, in both cases she was late for 3 minutes. During her time at the People's Commissariat Draule was awarded "in connection with the detected savings over 9 months adm.household expenses, on telegraph and telephone expenses, traveling. "MildaDraulepersonally gave 'savings against the established limit by 49.5%".Papers were signed for 4 days before the tragedy - November 26, 1934.
Draule had to take sick leaves in the Office of the People's Commissariat due to her children’s illness with duration of 13 and 4 days in October and November 1933, 4 and 3 days in September 1934. The next holiday in August 1934, she had spent with her children in Sestroretsk, as was revealed during the investigation. Note that while they were thereKirov was also resting in Sestroretsk...
Despite the arrest, Milda accrued salary for the first half of December 1934: 137 rubles 50 kopecks. Income tax was withheldfrom it - 4.63 rubles; on the loan - 15 rubles; 5.25 rubles were also retained "for Spanish workers."
Draulewas fired from work because of "redundancy" on January 1, 1935, and on January 7 she was expelled from the CPSU (B) "for a complete lack of Bolshevik vigilance, for hiding from a party KR her husband’s work and his brother’s desertion from Red Army in order to be involved with terrorist activities, and that by doing soDraule rolled into the camp of open enemies of the Party and the working class. "
There was a characteristic attached to the minutes:
"She is by nature extremely closed. She did not communicate with co-workers, carefully avoided talks about her private life. Draule always avoided major social loads, limited herself to fulfillment of a minor technical instructions. Her rejection of the party and the public loads Draule invariably motivated by extremely painful condition of her family, which is known to be untrue from the indictment in the case of the murder of Kirov. This desire to move away from the range of issues that need initiative, is strongly emphasized in relation to her work: Assistant to the head of Sector turned out to be a weak technical secretary, she carefully avoided any manifestation of initiatives and strive to fulfill only what she was told to do and nothing more. Honest and loyal Party member living under the same roof with Nikolayev, could not have helped but would have payed attention to a number of facts from personal life of Nikolayev. For example him clearly being of a non-partisan nature, which was exposed in later indictment against the murderers of Kirov, in particular - his repeated refusal to offered jobs, his controversial source of funds given Nikolayev’s long-term unemployment, and so on. Draule didn’t talk to anyone about all these facts with which she daily encountered. We can see a typical party renegade, deliberately avoiding serious tasks and waiting for "better times".
Key witnesses
In the Office of the FSB of Russia in St. Petersburg and Leningrad region one can find preserved accounting and personal cards of arrested Milda and Olga PetrovnaDraule, as well as Olga’s husband Roman Kulisher who was also a part of "Kirov"case.
Here are the main points of accounting and biographical cards of arrested figures (published for a first time with reductions):
DrauleMildaPetrovna: "Serial number of reception - 3640; arrested - 2 / XII 1934; arrived at the jail - 2 / XII 1934 .; under which documents arrived at the prison - SPD Order (Secret Political Department -Auto..) № 915; age - 1901 .; description of clothing - a black coat; signs: height - average, hair color - brown hair, eyebrows – ordinary, nose – also ordinary, distinguishing marks - none; enrolled detention for-SPD; selected during the search - a receipt 3614 / duffel '34 (receipt 895 / duffel '35, confiscated); signature of search conducter - Zhabrova "*.
Draule Olga: "Serial number of reception - 3770; arrested - 1 / XII 1934; arrived at the prison - 6 / XII 1934; under which documents arrived at the prison - the order number 1064; age - 1905 .; place of work before the arrest - Vyborg House of Culture, party secretary and head of club - methodological base; description of clothing: gray worsted coat with black fur collar, black shoes, hat of dark beige color; signs: height - average, hair color - brown hair, eyebrows - dark, nose - normal, slightly upturned; special signs - scar after surgery on appendicitis; where lived (the last address) - Leningrad, Tchaikovsky street, 31.; enrolled detention for - 2 DOD (2nd Department of Operations Division); selected during the search - a receipt 3742 / duffel '34, a receipt 4293 / duffel '34 (refused to get her stuff back), money (one ticket), valuables (one ticket). "
Kulisher Roman Markovich: "Serial number of reception - 3784; arrested - 1 / XII 1934 .; arrived at the prison - 6 / XII 1934 .; under which documents arrived at the prison - the order number 1059 dated 6 / XII; where from – city of Kiev; age - 1903 .; what was the occupation before the arrest - Lenshtamptrest, Head of Planning and Production Division; description of clothing: black leather jacket, dark blue suit, yellow shoes, Finnish leather hat of brown color with black fur; signs: height - average, hair color - black, eyebrows – black, nose - long; distinguishing marks - scar from operation on appendicitis and a small birthmark on the right side of the neck, where he lived (the last address) - Leningrad, Tchaikovsky street, 31; enrolled detention for - 2 DOD; selected during the search - a receipt 3743 / '34, search conductor - Grishin.
Olga Draule and Kulisher were arrested after Milda, though on the same day - December 1st. Spouses arrived at the inner prison of the NKVD Department 6th of December. It remains to be uncovered, where they were held between 1 and 6 December. It is also necessary to clarify the role of all three of those arrested in the events surrounding the murder of Kirov. Milda and Olga Draule were interrogated twice December 1, 1934. Milda as a possible witness, could have seen, and, therefore, explain the circumstances of the fatal shot. Olga and her husband, as witnesses, could have shed light on the relationship between Kirov, Nikolayev and Milda. But the testimony of the sisters and Kulisher did not fit into the framework of the official trumped process. The case of Milda, Olga and Kulisher had been separated from the criminal proceedings into a separate one. All three of them were shot on March 10, 1935.
* In Draule’s registration cards some corrections were made in the two paragraphs: "when arrested" and "when arrived in prison" - from 1 to 2 December 1934.
Results of examination
The working group of experts of 111th Center for forensic examinations was presented with Kirov’s garments, in which he was clothed during the murder, as well as the documents (certificates) relating to the events of December 1, 1934. The Working Group made a reconstruction of events on the basis of the official version on the spot of Kirov’s death in the corridor of the Smolny.
The research established that Kirov was killed by a single-blind gunshot bullet, which damaged cerebellum and the stem of the brain. Input fire damage was located in the occipital region to the left and above the occiput, the direction of the wound channel - back to front, right to left, top-down.
In the band of his cap they found a bulletdamage. A considerable thickness of band made it possible to establish the direction of the bullet channel - back to front, left to right and from top downwards at an angle of about 45 degrees to the horizontal plane. On the fold collar coat of Kirov they found tangential gunshot injury. Studies also indicate that the injury was caused by a bullet, previously interacted with an obstacle and thereby buckling. This obstacle could be the collar of his coat, which revealed the shear fire damage.
The study of input fire damage on the band of Kirov’s cap gave grounds for asserting that it was caused from distance outside of the scope of related products shot - from a remote distance (for a revolver pistol of 1895 - more than 1 meter).
Reconstruction of events (according to the official version) allowed to suggest multiple theoretically possible options of Nikolayev’s and Kirov’s locations during the shot. However, data from objective experiment allowed to doubt the correctness of the official version of the death of the head of the Leningrad Bolsheviks. It seems most likely that at the time of injury Kirov was not in an upright position.
During the forensic investigation of Kirov’s pants it was found that in the absence of traces of long wear after the last wash, one can find on the inner surface of the front on their top there is a considerable size stains of dried semen.
Lovers
It's time to address a delicate topic - the nature of the relationship between Sergei Kirov and MildaDraule. Without a doubt Kirov knew Draule through work. By the way, Sergey Myronovych knew all the members of the staff of the regional committee, remembered them by name and surname.
Rumors about the causes of the fatal shot and an intimate connection between Draule and Kirov crawled through Leningrad starting from11 pm on December the 1st. This kind of "information" during December of 1934 was collected, analyzed and reports were written by party committees, district committees, the regional committee and, finally, summarizes in local NKVD. Most of the "distributors" of these rumors were expelled from the party, some were arrested or shot.
Here are some typical examples:
Commercial office D.L.T. "Chief Accountant, nonpartisan Hasanov told employees that comrade Nikolayevkilled Kirov because Kirov was living with his wife. Nikolayev warned him in writing, but Sergei Myronovych did not listen, so he killed him for it."
"The candidate for party membershipGubleranswered to a non-partisan’s question“why comrade Kirov was murdered” that it happened "Because of the women." (failed to appear on a call to the party committee)"
Leningrad Wood Industry: "It is rumored that Kirov was killed because of personal accounts, as he lived with Nikolayev’s wife."
Rostorgovlya (Russian trade organization): "... people are tormented by questions, why Kirov was murdered and who killed him ... We have 40 people, including 6 party members. December the 2nd at 10 a.m. there were talks that the murder was committed on personal grounds and is associated with Nikolayev's wife, with which he was familiar..."
Southern tap station.Stepanov: "I know why Kirov was killed, I talked with his cook, she told me that he had been killed because of some woman out of jealousy."
There is a lot of such "information" - hundreds of reports and messages. Now these rumors can only be confirmed or denied. The first stage of expert research confirms the hypothesis about the intimate connection between Kirov and killer’s wife. Private life should be untouchable, but in this case this information is needed in order to establish the objective truth. Ironically, the principle of privacy in December 1934was actually followed, perhaps it was the only time. All possible steps were taken to conceal the circumstances of Kirov’s intimate case.
Further research may require a review and re offenseof Leonid Nikolayev’s crime from Article 58 paragraph 8 (a terrorist attack against a statesman) of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR, 1926, to article 136 (deliberate murder committed out of greed, jealousy and other base motives).
Big purge in Smolny
There are more than ten Smolny staff who witnessed the incident or to whom Nikolayev applied for invitation ticket to the Uritskogo Palace for Party activists meeting. All of them were interrogated on December 1st, but none performed as witnesses at the trial on 28th and 29th December 1934. Most of these people subsequently suffered from party penalties or were expelled from the party, as well as exempt from work. Witnesses S. M.Petrashevich, V. T.Vladimirov, E. P. Pockets, E. G.Shitik and A. P.Bauer-Rumyantsev were expelled from the party, the first three because of "behavior which was unworthy of Party members and a non-observance, which is especially bad for an employee of the regional committee, that was expressed in giving information about the work of the Regional Committee and, in particular, of comradeKirov to L. Nikolayev, who had no relation to the regional committee. " Kirov’s driver F. G. Ershov was dismissed from Lensovet garage. He was the one who brought Sergey Mironavich in Smolny on December the 1st.
The events of December the 1st were not discussed at SmolnyParty meetings. They only took the decision to "increase vigilance", there were calls "not to wander idly through the corridors of Smolny," lock cabinets and desks. In parallel, the identification of people formerly associated with the opposition began.
January 7, 1935 Office of the Leningrad Regional and City CPSU (b) adopted a resolution "On the unit UC and CC ', authorizing the dismissal and transfer to another job of 79 employees. It is interesting that this list included all witnesses of the tragic events. Thus, the main goal was achieved - source of dissemination of information that could contradict the official version was stopped. Some of these 79 people soon were arrested or exiled.
