To Kill Rasputin: The Life and Death of Grigori Rasputin

APPENDIX 1

SUPREME COURT – NEW YORK

SERGIUS MICHAILOW TRUFANOFF, being duly sworn deposes and says:

I reside in the Borough of Bronx, City, County and State of New York.

The defendant is a domestic corporation and engaged in the publication of a magazine known as the Metropolitan at 432 4th Avenue, Borough of Manhattan, New York City.

Annexed hereto is the complaint in this action which I herewith make part of this affidavit as if herein fully set forth.

I arrived in the United States of America on June 18th, 1916. On or about the 19th day of June, 1916 I called at the office of the Metropolitan magazine and met Mr. H.J. Wigham, whom I am informed, is the President of the defendant. At this conversation was present Mr. Herman Bernstein, myself, Mr. Tobenkin and a Stenographer. Tobenkin is a well known writer who is employed by the Metropolitan Magazine. I do not speak English. The conversation between me and Mr Wigham was interpreted by Bernstein. I was then told in the presence of Mr. Wigham by Mr. Bernstein in Russia that I was to give interviews to Mr. Tobenkin regularly and the information which I was to furnish him would be written into five articles or stories. These articles would be published once a month commencing with the issue of October, 1916.

While no definite amount was mentioned in this conversation, I received on May 13, 1916 a telegram from Mr Bernstein who was the go-between the defendant and myself as follows:

Communicated arrangement for manuscript, $5000. Entire sum will be paid before August 1st in several instalments; sending money now. Please send immediately rzsevsky chapter, also originals of letters or photographs. Copies in Bergen cable reply

BERNSTEIN

1781 Clay Avenue

I understood at this conversation that $5000 was to be paid to me by August 1st, 1916. From time to time I talked with Mr. Tobenkin in accordance with this agreement and gave him the data and material out of which he was to write the English story for the defendant. I did not keep dates of my conversations with him. These interviews were taken away by Mr. Tobenkin and were given by me about two or three times a week. This work started some time in June 1916 and continued right up to the latter part of September 1916. These interviews or stories of what I said are still in the possession of the defendant.

In the early part of September, I believe it was around the 9th, the Archbishop Evdokin and one Michael Oustinoff called to see me at my residence in the Borough of Bronx. My wife who was then looking out of the window told me that they were there and I went down to meet them. They took me into an automobile and we drove through Bronx Park. They told me that they had read in the Metropolitan that I was going to write some articles on Rasputin and the Czarina of Russia. They begged me not to publish the articles. They said it would hurt Russia very much and they offered to give me $25,000 and a full pardon so that I could return to Russia if I did not publish them. They also told me that if I refuse the offer the articles would not be published in the Metropolitan Magazine as the owner of the Company was their best friend. They also stated that they had enough influence with the magazine that the slightest wish regarding publication would be respected. They further stated that the only reason for their trying to buy the article was to prevent my publishing same in some other paper or magazine. I told them that I would refrain from publishing this article; that I believed it was necessary for the good of Russia and that the destruction of the influence of Rasputin would not be an injury to Russia but the best help in the world to that Country. I have been in prison for eleven months in Russia for my patriotism and my desire to save Russia. They continued to insist that I should not publish this article and solely for the purpose of seeing to what extent they would go and to learn whether or not they had any official authority, I pretended to take up these negotiations. I told them that I had already given the articles to the Metropolitan Magazine and even if I would agree not to publish it, the defendants might publish it themselves, and they told me that they would arrange with the magazine to get these articles back. I asked them if they would consent to the return of the articles and would also consent to the cancellation of my agreements with them, and if they would pay $25,000 within three days.

An affirmative answer would have shown me they were acting without communicating with Rasputin. They asked time to communicate with Petrograd in order to arrange for my pardon and for the money and I granted time so that I might definitely learn if said Rasputin was carrying on these negotiations and what he would try to do.

On or about the 14th day of September, 1916 they again called at my house. They told me that they had arranged a pardon for me and they had the money in their possessions. They asked me to call at the Consul’s office for the money on the following day. Next day I called at the office of the Russian Consul, 22 Washington Square. I saw the Consul-General Oustinoff and the Consul Rutsky. I spoke to both of them. The Consul-General then told me that he had arranged with the Metropolitan that they were not to publish the articles, but nevertheless he said he ordered the Consul to pay me $1000 and he gave me the $1000 and I signed a receipt in Russian for the same. This receipt I left with the Consul-General. In this conversation I was given to understand that they would send word to Petrograd that they had arranged to stop the publication and would pay me the balance of the money as soon as they had heard from Petrograd. They also gave me to understand that they had made this arrangement with the consent of the defendant herein and that they would obtain from the magazine the articles that were written by Tobenkin and the written interviews, which I gave them. At that time I began to believe that said Rasputin was in charge of this matter and I was extremely desirous of having a tender of monies made thereunder.

On the 19th I received a telephone message from consul Rutsky and he said to me that he was sorry to say that they were all through with this subject and would drop the whole matter. The Consul-General also talked to me at the same time asking me to call at the office for a friendly call. I went there on the 20th and he told me that they received word from Petrograd that I was not to receive the money. The Consul-General told me that he had talked to a Mr Whitney, the largest stockholder of the defendant and had induced him to agree not to publish the articles, and he asked me what I was going to do and I told him that I did not know. He then advised me to be very careful as to what I was doing as it may keep me away from Russia for the rest of my life.

The day before, the 19th, Mr Wigham telephoned and asked me to call. I went to see him and he told me that the articles would possibly never be published, but might be published after the war or within one year; he would give no definite date. He said he was very sorry for me but he would pay an additional $2,000. Up to this time I had received $2,000 from the defendant. This money I refused.

Subsequently I again saw Mr. Wigham and he repeated that he would not publish them at all.

During all my conversations with the defendant it was agreed that the article was to be published commencing October, 1916 and be continued thereafter and there would be five articles at $5,000. The money was to be paid me on August 1st. I only received $2,000.

It seems now and with the connivance of the Russian government, the Metropolitan Magazine refused to publish these articles and is willing to pay me in order to suppress them. I would never agree to suppress my articles. My intention was to publish them and my agreement with the defendant was for the publication of the articles and not for their suppression. My object in coming to this Country and giving this information to the Metropolitan Magazine was to have published in a neutral country this information of such great interest to Russia and my people. I have suffered imprisonment in my opposition to Rasputin, and would not permit this defendant or anybody else to silence my voice in this matter. The money I received is only small compensation for my expenses and the money is the least of my objects in this matter. The suppression of this article by this magazine, the copyrighting of the subject matter in part at least, prevent other magazines from publishing it and thereby the exposure which I desire to have it made is completely suppressed.

The defendant claims that they are the owners of the said articles written from the data which I gave them, and they consider it their property to do with what they please, and that they publish what they please concerning the same and that they will enjoin me from publishing the same, and will interfere with any other publication of this matter.

That in the November issue, the defendant published on the cover my picture or a picture, which was supposed to be of myself, but the article itself did not appear.

Since that time the defendant has repeatedly attempted to have me accept the $2000 but I refused to do so.

The defendant has committed a breach of its contract in that it failed to pay the money by August 1st, 1916 and has failed to carry out its agreement to publish the said articles and in violation thereof has intended and does intend to suppress the same.

I intend to use the material which I gave to them and the other material which I gave to them and the other material which I have concerning the Russian Emperor, the Czarina and the Russian Court in my own way and I desire an injunction order restraining the defendant from publishing or using the said manuscripts or any information which I gave them or from making the same public or from showing the same to any person, persons or corporation whatsoever until the trial of this action, and from interfering with my publication through other channels.

Russia in conjunction with the allies is now at war with Germany and its allies. The information which I have obtained in my close connection at Russian courts and with the Russian government has a peculiar importance at this time, during the war. It is a problem just how much value this information may have after the war. Russian court life and anything that pertains to the Russian government are now an interesting topic for literature, magazines and newspapers and it is possible that this interest may not exist after the war. Further, and more important, the suppression of this information at this time when it may weaken or destroy the Rasputin influence and intrigues may work an incalculable injury to Russia, and will defeat the purpose for which I am working and have suffered imprisonment.

As appears in the complaint herein I have graduated from the Imperial Sacred College of Petrograd and have been ordained a priest and also a monk priest. I was also a monk priest. I was also a professor of oratory and sermons. I was also a preacher of wide fame throughout Russia. I was also an Abbott at Tsaritsin Convent. I was prominently identified with the revolutions of 1905. I was strongly identified with the suppression of same and throughout Russia have been given the credit of being instrumental in their overthrow.

I was a confidential friend and advisor of Rasputin an illiterate and uneducated peasant who is known as a Pilgrim possessing certain supernatural gifts and he now dominates the Russian Court and the Empress Czarina and the Czar to a certain extent. My relations with Rasputin have been so intimate and friendly that I am acquainted with the secrets of the Russian Court and the wild orgies of the Russian Courtiers headed by the Empress. This Rasputin is strongly pro-German and has such influence over the Czarina through his personal relations with her as to obtain her influence against the allies and in favour of Germany. This has recently resulted in a change of ministry of the Russian government. Rasputin is now engaged in a conspiracy to bring about a separate peace with the Russian government to apply for a loan of three million roubles from the English government with the threat that in case the money is not forthcoming a separate peace will be signed this winter. I am also informed that there is now a Russian officer, a relative of Rasputin, sent specially to spy upon me, from Russia.

All this information furnished and was to furnish the basis for the articles to appear in the Metropolitan and all of which are now suppressed by it.

Mr. Wigham, the president of the defendant, stated that he considered this article and information the property of the magazine, the defendant, and that in the event that I intend to make any arrangements with any other publication, to publish these articles or give the substance or interviews to anybody concerning Rasputin and the Russian Court, they would consider that an interference of their title to said manuscripts and they would prevent the publication thereof and would impair and impede my rights to publish the same in any way that they could. They also claim that they had copyrighted the said articles and that I have no right to publish the same.

They may also publish the information that I gave them to detriment of any arrangements that I may make with any magazine for the publication of these articles.

No application for this has been made. I therefore ask for an injunction restraining the said Metropolitan Magazine from interfering with me in the publication of my articles and giving out any information concerning them, From showing any articles or anything written as a result of my conversations with them to any person or corporations and from making the same public and from doing any other thing that might interfere with the publication thereof by me.

Sworn to by me this 17th day of October 1916

APPENDIX 2

Police Report – December 17th 1916

To-day at about 2.30 in the morning, the policeman who stands on guard at the house of the Home Office situated on the Morskaia heard a detonation from the palace of Prince Yusupov situated on the opposite side of the Moika. As this post is a special one and the policeman on duty is forbidden to leave it, he went into the Home Office premises and communicated by telephone with the sergeant on duty at the adjoining station. Then the news of the shooting was passed on to the Kasan police district in which the palace is situated. The chief police officer, Colonel Rogov, with a detachment of men, proceeded to the spot. Examination of the dvornik on duty at the adjoining house elicited the fact that the shot had been fired from the young Prince’s side of the palace. In order to ascertain the causes of the shooting in the palace, the assistant police officer, Captain Krylov, was ordered to enter the building, and he was informed by the butler that a reception was proceeding inside, and that one of the guests, while practising at a target, had missed his aim and fired into the window, in proof whereof Captain Krylov was shown the broken window on the ground floor overlooking the forecourt of the adjoining house. The data obtained through the investigations were communicated by Colonel Rogov the same night to the Police Master of the second division, Major-General Grigoriev, and to M. Chaplygin, the official on duty at the Prefecture.

Scarcely had the police officers left the palace when a motor-car drove up along Moika Canal quay and stopped near a small footbridge almost facing the palace. Four men were seen to alight from the car. The moment they had left it the chauffeur extinguished the lights, and, putting on full speed, made off along the canal. This scene was witnessed by a detective belonging to the Okhrana, named Tihomirov, who had been detailed by the police department to look after Rasputin. Tihomirov – presuming that the men who entered the palace, not by the main entrance, but from a door situated on the side of the palace and opening into the forecourt of the adjoining house, were robbers hurried across the canal to the police station, and thence telephoned a report of what was observed to the Chief of the Secret Police.

Colonel Rogov had no sooner returned to his home than he was notified from the Ochrana that information had been received relative to an attack on the palace of Prince Yusupov. A number of police officers were again dispatched there. The butler came out and explained to them that some very highly placed guests had just arrived from the environs of Petrograd. A report about this was made during the course of the night to the Prefect, General Balk.

Shortly after 6a.m., at the police station beside the palace, while the police officers who had come off duty were being questioned in the ordinary course as to the events of the night, the sound of several police whistles was heard from the street. This drew the police constables and police sergeants to the windows, whence they perceived that from the main entrance of the Prince’s palace two women were being helped out, and that they were offering resistance to their ejection and refusing to enter a motor-car, and doing their best to force a way back into the palace. In response to their protestations the detectives stationed along the canal had sounded the alarm. By the time the police rushed out of the police station the motor-car was already whirling off along the quay. Hastening out after his men, the police inspector, Colonel Borozdin, hailed the motor-car belonging to the Secret Police, which was permanently on duty at the Home Office building, and started off in pursuit. At the same time his men were hurried to the palace. It was impossible to overtake the fugitive car on account of its superior speed; moreover, it carried neither number nor lights. To the police who came to inquire at the palace the explanation was offered that two ladies belonging to the demi-monde had been misconducting themselves and been invited to leave the palace.

On the nocturnal adventures on the Moika a joint personal report was made to the Prefect in the morning by Colonel Rogov and Colonel Borozdin. The whole affair seemed to be at an end when suddenly from the forecourt alongside the palace four shots were heard in succession. Once more the alarm was sounded in both police stations, and again detachments of police appeared at the palace. This time an official wearing colonel’s uniform came out to them and announced categorically that within the Prince’s palace there was present a Grand Duke, and that H.I.H. would make in person to the proper quarters any explanations that might be necessary. After such a declaration, the police inspector, unable to obtain any enlightenment whatsoever, returned to his official’s duties, leaving a patrol on the opposite side of the Moika by way of precaution. About an hour had passed when suddenly from the direction of the Blue Bridge a motor-car drove up to the palace. The servants, assisted by the chauffeur, in the presence of an officer wearing a long fur cloak, carried out what looked like a human body and placed it in the car. The chauffeur jumped in, putting on full speed, made off along the canal side and promptly disappeared. Almost the same time General Grigoriev was informed from the Prefecture that Rasputin had been killed in the Yusupov Palace.

The police officials on arriving at the palace were met this time by Prince Felix Yusupov himself, who told them that it would be necessary to draw up a report as to the killing of Rasputin. At first this announcement was not accepted seriously in view of all the strange occurrences of the night. But the police officials were invited to come into the dining-room in the basement, and were there shown the spot where the body had been lying. They saw on the floor a pool of congealed blood, and traces of blood were also visible on the snow in the forecourt of the adjoining house. In answer to the question where the body was, the Prince replied that the body was where it should be, declining to give any further explanation.

Soon afterwards the palace was visited by the Director of the Police Department, the Chief of the Secret Police, and the whole of the Generals of Gendarmerie. The police patrols were then relegated to their various stations, and at the subsequent investigation sent over to the officials of the Police department. At 5 o’clock on the following afternoon with a view to ascertaining the itinerary of the motor-cars, which had come up to the Prince’s palace during the night, and one of the one which had been removed Rasputin’s body in the morning. At the same time numerous police patrols were dispatched to the islands in the Neva and to the suburban districts.

APPENDIX 3

The following three reports (CTG. 91, CTG. 95, and CTG. 119) sent by Sir Samuel Hoare to Mansfield Cumming, the Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service, are reproduced below in full:

From: Lt Col Sir Samuel Hoare (Petrograd)

To: ‘C’ (London)

January 1st 1917

In the early morning of Saturday, December 30th, there was enacted in Petrograd one of those crimes that by their magnitude blur the well-defined rules of ethics, and by their results change the history of a generation.

Gregory Efemich Novikh – for Rasputin, ‘The rake’, was only the nickname that his excesses gained him in his village – had governed Russia since the day, four years ago, when first he showed in the Imperial palace in Poland his healing powers over the Tsarevich. To describe the influence that he possessed, the scandals that surrounded his life and the tragedies that followed in his path, is to rewrite a Dumas romance.

Three times he was within an inch of being murdered. Once, an outraged peasant girl from his native Siberia stabbed him – the wound did not prove fatal. Next the monk Heliodor seemed to have him at his mercy in the Petrograd cell of the Metropolitan of Kiev – Rasputin’s great strength and the arrival of help saved his life. Again, only ten months ago in a reserved room of one of the best Petrograd restaurants, the Bear, certain officers of the Chevalier Gardes would have killed him, if his familiars of the secret police had not appeared in time. The papers said nothing of these things. Indeed, to mention his name brought a fine of three thousand roubles. Day and night, the secret police were near him. Because he withdrew them, Khvostov, the Minister of the Interior, was dismissed. Only from time to time the mujik’s uncontrollable appetite for debauch left him defenceless before his enemies. There is in Moscow a former officer of the Guards, now relegated to the Gendarmes, who boasts that the achievement of his career was the beating he gave Rasputin during some wild orgy. There are others who have seen him madly drunk in the streets and public places. Of one of these incidents there is a photograph, and a photograph that is said to have been shown to the Emperor. True to his nickname, it was at an orgy that Rasputin met his death.

On December 29th, the Duma session was abruptly closed twenty-four hours before the appointed time. On November 14th the debates had begun with Milyukov’s fierce attack upon the ‘Dark Forces’that had become the synonym for Rasputin’s activities, an attack in which for the first time a Member dared to mention Rasputin by name. They ended with another onslaught, less personal, less sensational, but hardly less effective. ‘The atmosphere is charged with electricity,’ so ran Milyukov’s peroration, ‘no one knows where or when the blow will fall (applause).’The following morning the blow, the effects of which cannot be gauged, had already fallen.

On Saturday afternoon I was at the Restriction of the Enemy Supplies Committee. Several times during the sitting individual members left the room and returned with whispered messages to their neighbours. At the time I paid no attention to these interruptions of business. When the Committee broke up, I went with the chairman and the secretary to another room for the purpose of discussing various points connected with the publication of the Russian Black List. Before we could go far with our discussion, a well-known official of the Ministry of Commerce entered with the news that Rasputin had been murdered that morning by the Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich and Prince Yusupov. Professor Struve, Chairman of the Committee, at once sent out for an evening paper. In a few minutes the Bourse Gazette was brought in with the news actually published in it. The Bourse Gazette is always a paper of headlines. In this case, the first heavy type was devoted to the peace proposals, the second to the fight in Romania. Then came a headline, ‘Death of Gregory Rasputin in Petrograd.’ In the body of the paper there was little more than a single line, and that on the second page. The announcement ran as follows: ‘A six o’clock this morning Gregory Rasputin Novikh died after a party in one of the most aristocratic houses in the centre of Petrograd.’

To one who had only been in Russia a few months the news was almost overwhelming. To Russian public men like Professor Struve, a publicist whose name has for a generation been in the forefront of Russian political and economic life, it seemed almost incredible. As I had no wish to appear to meddle in Russian internal affairs, I did not attempt to discuss the situation nor, needless to say, could I continue our prosaic conversation about the Black List.

Since Saturday, I have made it my business to discover as many details as I can about the murder, and I have been in touch with various people representing different classes and sections of opinion.

The result of my inquiries is as follows: Rasputin has not been seen since the evening of Friday, the 29th December, when he left his flat in company with an officer in a motor car. Prince Yusupov had a party on the same evening that was attended by one or two of the Grand Dukes. On the evening following Rasputin’s disappearance, the Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich had another party in his rooms in the Palace of the Grand Duchess Elizaveta Fyodorovna, the upper floors of which are used by the Anglo-Russian Hospital. The party seems to have been of a most riotous description and did not break up until 7.30 on Sunday morning.

The details of the story vary. Some people say that Rasputin was got into a room and told to kill himself. I have heard it said that he did kill himself. I have also heard it stated that he fired the revolver that was given him at 2 o’clock in the morning in self-defence. The generally accepted story, however, is that he was shot. A motor is supposed to have taken the body to the Islands, where it was thrown into the sea or one of the rivers. This story is generally supported in Petrograd.

There seems also general agreement that he was killed either by the Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich or by Prince Yusupov. Many people say that lots were drawn as to who should kill him and that the lot fell upon the Grand Duke Dmitri, but that Prince Yusupov undertook the duty.

The Grand Duke Dmitri was brought up by the Grand Duchess Elizaveta Fyodorovna in the palace in which he is now living on the Nevsky Prospekt. He has had a gay career, and not long ago was in disgrace for some escapade.

Prince Yusupov, who is also Count Sumarokov-Elston, is the Count Elston who had so great a success in London society a year or two before the war. It will be remembered that during one season he was regarded as the greatest catch in London. This view of his eligibility was certainly correct, as he is one of the richest men in Russia. He has since married the Grand Duchess Irene, who a fortnight ago signed the protest of Princess Vassilshchikova to the Empress against the ‘Dark Forces.’

Whether it was the Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich or Prince Yusupov who actually did the deed, it seems certain that it was planned and carried out by some of the best known people in Petrograd society. I am informed that the Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich and Prince Yusupov were together all the afternoon of December 31st, and that, when asked, they make no secret of the fact that Rasputin has been killed. Perhaps the fact that Rasputin had recently been meddling more than usually in the domestic affairs of the Imperial family hastened the event.

There have often been rumours of Rasputin’s death. As recently as March, the Times, for instance, published a telegram from Bucharest announcing his murder. It will, therefore, be suggested that this is another rumour, and that after a few weeks of retirement he will reappear.

What then is the evidence that differentiates this case from the groundless rumours of the past?

It should be stated at once that the story is officially denied. The denial, however, is half-hearted, and given with conflicting details. The official answer was at first that nothing had happened. It now seems to have been modified to the extent of admitting that something has happened, that Rasputin has been wounded, but that he is going on well.

I am informed that an inquiry at his flat in the English Prospekt brought the answer that on Friday evening, the 29th December, he left in a motor with an unknown officer and has not since been seen. In the meanwhile, interested people seem to be purposely spreading fantastic and impossible rumours with the object of discrediting the whole story. The fact that no one has seen Rasputin’s body goes to support all these official denials and contradictions.

The following facts, however, seem to afford overwhelming proof for the fact of Rasputin’s death.

In the first place, the whole of Russia regards it as established beyond doubt. The news published in the Bourse Gazette has already been circulated through the provinces. The mysterious telegrams that are already appearing in the Petrograd press show how widespread is the conviction of the truth of the announcement.

Secondly, Rasputin’s entourage is in a state of deep depression and great anxiety. His flat is filled with commotion and lamentation. His principal supporter at Court, Madame Vyrubova, has refused to leave her rooms and the guard of secret police outside them has been trebled.

Far more conclusive, however, than this hearsay evidence is the attitude of the Petrograd press. The Bourse Gazette would never have risked its existence for a rumour. Even had it done so, a mere rumour would not account for the meeting that was held on the evening of the 30th December of representative of all the Petrograd press, at which they discussed the question as to what policy they should adopt with reference to the publication of the news. The matter was decided for them, for during the conference they received a notice from the censorship, forbidding any publication of the event. None the less, both on the 31st December and 1st January there have appeared numerous indirect and mysterious references to the murder in most of the Petrograd papers. For instance, in the Novoe Vremya in a remote corner and in small print there is the following paragraph:

On December 30th, at the Zeloti Concert, as a result of a unanimous request, in view of events that are taking place, the National Anthem was sung amidst tumultuous applause.

Still more marked in the Ruskaya Volya there are no less than four more remarkable references to the event. It should be remembered that the Ruskaya Volya is a new daily paper that has just appeared, and that it is supposed to have particularly close connections with the Government. In addition to a poem, the motif of which are the words ‘rasputin’ and ‘novikh’ (Rasputin’s names, and also the word for ‘rake’ and the genitive plural of the work ‘new’), there are two leading articles in which the clearest reference is made to the news. In the first of them, Alexander Amphiteatrov, the editor, ends with the following words:

‘I wrote so far, and then there came the news of the Bourse Gazette! In its big type was announced the sensational news that there had passed from the scene of life the strangest and the most notorious embodiment of the present reactionary might.’

The second article, entitled ‘Short Chronicle,’ deals in detail with the great excitement in Petrograd and states that never had the city passed through so nervous a day; never had the telegraph worked so incessantly as on Saturday, December 30th.

‘Yesterday was the great day. About it no one can say more.’

Again, on page 6, there is a paragraph of twenty lines, headed:

On January 1st these references became more explicit. The Rech, for instance, published in its ‘Latest News’ the following paragraphs:

The Bourse Gazette of January 1st, in a remote corner of it pages and in very small print, publishes the same story under the heading of ‘Mysterious Discovery.’ The only additional detail that it gives is that the divers found nothing.

The Novoe Vremya has another small paragraph entitled ‘Mysterious Crime.’ Much the same details are given in it with the addition that the secret police are guarding the river, and that photographs have been taken.

The feeling in Petrograd is most remarkable. All classes speak and act as if some great weight had been taken from their shoulders. Servants, isvostchiks, working men, all freely discuss the event. Many say that it is better than the greatest Russian victory in the field.

What effect it will have in Government circles, it is difficult to say. My present view is that it will lead to immediate dismissal of Protopopov and of various directors of the Secret Police, whilst in the course of the next few weeks the most notorious of Rasputin’s clientele will gradually retire into private life. I would suggest, for instance, that careful attention should be paid to any changes that take place in the Department of the Interior and the Holy Synod, where Rasputin’s influence was always strongest.

It is certainly fortunate for the cause of liberalism in Russia that the crime cannot even be remotely identified with the democratic movement or any revolutionary plot.

Further evidence of his death will, I also suggest, be forthcoming in the developments of such causes celebres as those of Sukhomlinov and Manuilov. For the moment, owing to the pressure that Rasputin applied, both trials have been stopped. If the proceedings are restarted, the fact will provide confirming evidence of the removal of the guiding hand that had hitherto stopped them.

Nowhere will any regret be felt for the crime except amongst those over whom Rasputin exercised a hypnotic influence, and the unscrupulous intriguers whom he used for his own ends and rewarded with innumerable appointments in the Church and State.

Of such a man no one can honestly say ‘de mortuis nil nisi bonum.’

If one cannot write good about the dead, one can at least say about the death ‘nothing but good.’

From: Lt Col Sir Samuel Hoare (Petrograd)

To: ‘C’ (London)

Date: January 2nd 1917

Since writing the above memorandum I have received definite information that the body of Rasputin has been discovered in the river Nevka, near the Petrovsky Bridge. I received this information in strict confidence from the Chief of the Department of Military Police in the General Staff. He has himself seen the body. It appears that traces were purposely left about the hole in the ice, into which the body was thrown, in order that it should be discovered. The chief officials of the Ministry of the Interior, the Petrograd Prefecture, the River Police and the Department of Public Prosecutions have held investigations upon the spot, and a rough map has already been published in the Evening Times under the heading of ‘Mysterious Murder.’

It is also certain that Rasputin was actually killed in Prince Yusupov’s house and not in the motor. During the evening there seems to have been a certain amount of promiscuous shooting, in which a dog was killed in the courtyard and a window broken. Early in the morning, six men appeared in the courtyard with a body dressed in a shuba, that they put in a motor that was waiting. I understand that these facts are stated in detail in the report of the four secret police, who were waiting for Rasputin in the courtyard. A very well-known Russian told me that one of his friends had seen this report, in which were stated all the details of the arrivals and departures to and from Prince Yusupov’s house during the evening.

It is also said that the company did not assemble at the house until very late in the evening, as most of the people had previously been to a party at the house of Mme. Golovina.

I am also informed, upon absolutely reliable authority, that the Empress was informed of the crime whether late on Saturday night or early on Sunday morning. As late as six o’clock on Saturday afternoon, when the news had already been published in the Bourse Gazette, she appears to have known nothing of what had happened. On Sunday morning, however, she ordered that a Liturgy should be performed in the Imperial chapel at Tsarskoe, and that special prayers should be said for Rasputin.

I also hear, but on less reliable authority, that Her Majesty sent the following telegram to the Emperor, who was still at the Stavka:

“Our friend had been taken from us. Dmitri and Felix (Prince Yusupov) are parties to it.”

A cousin of Yusupov told me that his intended departure to the Caucasus had been stopped, and that the Grand Duke Dmitri and he had both been placed under domiciliary arrest.

From: Lt Col Sir Samuel Hoare (Petrograd)

To: ‘C’ (London)

Date: February 5th 1917

Further details obtained from the Examining Magistrates and other reliable sources.

The following particulars may be taken as quite accurate as they have been given by people directly connected with the affair.

For some days before his death, Rasputin had been nervous and unwell. He had received a shock from what appeared to be the attempted suicide of the Cossack officer who was engaged to his daughter. As he was always in fear of his life, he took the greatest precautions for keeping his movements secret. He, however, always made it a practice to tell his two confidants, Simonovich and Bishop Isidor, where he was and where he was going. Simonovich is an unbaptised Jew, a curiosity seller, and Isidor a bishop who, for bad behaviour was compelled to retire from his see. They live together in the Nikolaevsky Street. It was Rasputin’s habit to telephone to them, whenever he left his house, and to tell them where he was to be found. On the evening of the 29th December, he was at his flat at No. 64, Gorokhovaya, with his two daughters, a niece and a secretary, all of whom acted as servants for the flat. Late in the evening he sent away the detectives of the Secret Police, and told them that they were not wanted any more. Shortly afterwards, a motor with a cape cart hood arrived and someone came and knocked at the back door. This proved to be a boy who frequently visited Rasputin, and to whom Rasputin always opened the door himself. The boy said something to Rasputin, and Rasputin answered ‘I will come with you.’The two then went off in the motor in the direction of the Fontanka, and at the Fontanka Bridge were seen to turn right. Nothing more can be heard of the motor. A motor shortly afterwards drove up to Prince Yusupov’s house. This, however, was a closed motor, and not the motor that had been seen to leave 64, Gorokhovaya. The dvornik at Prince Yusupov’s house seemed either very stupid or very clever, and very little could be got out of him. He, however, admitted that the driver of the motor was in uniform, and was a very simple-looking person. He is supposed to have been the Grand Duchess Irene’s brother.

At 12.30 the gorodovoi (i. E. The policeman) outside the Ministry of the Interior in the Moika heard four shots. This fact he reported to the Criminal Investigation Department, this is situated close by. At 3.30 the gorodovoi standing outside Prince Yusupov’s house was called into the house by a man in general’s uniform. The unknown general said, ‘Do you know me?’ To which the gorodovoi replied, ‘Not at all.’ ‘Are you a patriot?’ was the next question. ‘Certainly’. The general then said, ‘Rasputin is destroyed, You can go.’ Shortly afterwards a motor left the house and was not seen again. The gorodovoi seems to have taken some time to think about what had happened, but after a time went off, and reported the matter to the nearest police station.

In the early morning the Minister of Justice, Makarov, was rung up by an unknown voice that said ‘Rasputin has been murdered, look for his body in the Islands.’

As a result of these incidents, two examining judges, Sereda and Zarvatsky, and the police, went round in the morning to Prince Yusupov’s house. The only trace that they could find of the murder was some bloodstains on the snow outside the small door that leads into the bachelor rooms which Prince Yusupov used before he married. They carefully collected the snow for examination. When they were there, Prince Yusupov came out, and said that he could explain the whole incident, and that all that had happened was that the Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich had shot a dog that had attacked him. The examining judges then went off to the Minister of Justice and congratulated themselves on having escaped the risk of being taken in, when all that had happened was the shooting of a dog. Whey they were waiting in Makarov’s ante-room, Prince Yusupov arrived and went into the Minister’s room. Shortly afterwards Makarov came out and said to the judges, ‘It is all right, Prince Yusupov has explained everything;it was only a dog, thank you, You can go.’At Gorokhovaya 64, Rasputin’s flat, there was in the meanwhile great excitement. At seven in the morning Simonovich and Isidor arrived. They could not understand why Rasputin had not told them where he was to be found. Shortly afterwards, there entered Mlle. Golovina, Rasputin’s friend, who said ‘I know where he is, he is all right, I will telephone.’She then, For some reason, telephoned in English, and, having got an answer, said to them, ‘He will be back soon.’ However, she seemed dissatisfied, and went out to telephone again, this time at the public call office in the street, as she evidently did not wish Simonovich and Isidor to know what she was saying. She then came back and said, ‘He has left the place where I thought he was and has gone away.’

In the meanwhile, in view of the mysterious telephone message and the reports of the police, a search had begun. When, there fore, a golosh was discovered near the Petrovsky Bridge, it was taken to 64 Gorokhovaya for recognition. The Rasputin family at once recognised it as Rasputin’s. The river in the neighbourhood was carefully searched. The great cold made this difficult, as the divers were not at all anxious to work. Eventually on Monday morning, something was seen in the ice. After great difficulty it was pulled out, and found to be Rasputin’s body, completely frozen into a block of ice. Both his hands were raised, and one side of his face was badly damaged by the fall into the river. The body was put into a motor lorry and ordered to be taken to the Vyborg Military Hospital. The whole party, examining judges, police and the rest, then went off to have luncheon with a German Jew who is known as Artmanov. They had not begun luncheon, when they received a telephone message from Protopopov saying that on no account must the body be taken to the Vyborg side, because it was a workman’s quarter, and there might be demonstrations. They replied that it had already been sent there, but Protopopov said that it must be stopped. They asked how could it be stopped. He said that he did not mind how, but that stopped it must be. Accordingly, they informed all the police at the street corners along the route through which it was to pass that they were to stop the lorry, when they saw it approaching. The lorry was finally stopped, and was ordered to proceed instead to the Chestminsky Almshouse, a desolate institution on the road to Tsarskoe. The examining judges had previously arranged that the post mortem examination should take place after twenty-four hours, as the body was so frozen that it was impossible to make any examination before that time. Protopopov, however, telephoned to say that the examination must be finished by 8.00a.m. the next morning. The judges and the doctor declared that it was impossible. Protopopov, however, said that it was necessary, and that the body was to be returned to the relations at 8 next morning. The judges then asked, how were they to reach the almhouse, that was some distance from Petrograd, as they could not afford a motor that would cost 200 roubles. Protopopov said that it would be all right as far as payment went. Accordingly Sereda, the examining judge, Got hold of Kosorotov, the well- known surgeon, and went off with him in a motor to the almshouse.

Their difficulties were not ended. Although the almshouse was lighted with electric light, there was no light in it at all when they arrived, and no means of lighting it. The three gorodovois, who were there, said that no light was necessary, as ‘dead men need no light.’The judge and the surgeon declared that they must have some light. Accordingly, they sent out, and obtained two small lamps to hang upon the wall, whilst one of the gorodovois held a lantern. After a while, the gorodovoi declared that he felt ill, and that he could not hold the lantern any more. The judge and the surgeon, therefore, were left alone in the partially lighted room.

They found that Rasputin, although 46 years of age, had the look of a man of only 36. He was dressed, as was his habit, like a Russian mujik. He was wearing, however, a pair of very expensive boots and a blue shirt with yellow cornflowers sewn upon it. This shirt had lately been given him by the Empress. It should also be noted in this connection that two days afterwards, when a small and periodical operation was being performed on the Tsarevich’s knee, the blue shirt was noticed by the surgeon to be under the operating table.

The examination showed that there were three wounds, one in his back and two in his head, all showing signs that they have been made by shots at a very close range.

Whilst the examination was proceeding, one of the gorodovois announced that two ladies had come for the body. Sereda and Kosorotov declared that this was impossible. A message then came back that they must give up the clothes. This, they did.

At last the examination was finished, and Sereda and Kosorotov returned, frozen and dispirited, to Petrograd. Since then, Zarvastsky, the other examining judge, has resigned, and another judge, Staravitsky, has been appointed to replace him. The body was subsequently taken to Tsarskoe. Whilst it was being conveyed from the station to the church, the garrison was confined to barrack in order to avoid any demonstration. Bishop Isidor, and not the Metropolitan Pitirim, conducted the service in the church.

APPENDIX 4

The following document, found among the Scale Papers, lists the members of the British Intelligence Mission in Petrograd at the time of Rasputin’s murder: