A MOUSE-TRAP
(Notes on the Jewish history, 2007, №13, http://berkovich-zametki.com/2007/Zametki/Nomer13/ALokshin1.htm)
These notes tell about the fact that Svjatoslav Richter's moving from the Heinrich Neuhaus' apartment to the apartment of Vera Ivanovna Prokhorova , which has occurred in 1942, was (I am sure, secretly from participants of the moving) planned in NKVD (the Soviet Secret Police).These notes also tell about other events in the apartment of Vera Prokhorova, a grand daughter of the last owner of the ThreeMountain manufactory (and a daughter of its last co-director).
Citation 1.
“On November, 4th, 1941 daddy [i.e. Heinrich Neuhaus] had been arrested <…>. For all of us and for Slava [Richter] daddy's arrest was a hard blow. One room was sealed up in our apartment. From this point on in a room with two grand pianos there lived Slava, Serezha and grandmother, and I have moved to mum.” (Neuhaus M. G. “Svjatoslav Richter in Heinrich Gustavovich Neuhaus' family” / In: “Recollecting Svjatoslav Richter. – Мoscow: Constanta, 2000, p.35-36)
Citation 2.
“In 1942 when it became dangerous to Slava [Richter] to live in our apartment, Vera [Prokhorova] and her family (her mother and her sister) have invited him to move to them. Slava lived at Vera’s apartment till 1946”. (See the above-quoted article of M. G. Neuhaus, p. 34)
Citation 3.
“During the war Svjatoslav [Richter] lived in my family though he had been registeredd at Neuhaus’ apartment with whose family I am a relative. Heinrich Gustavovich was imprisoned at this time. [Discrepancy: H.H.Neuhaus was released from the prison on July, 19th, 1942; see the article by M. G. Neuhaus quoted above, p. 36.] Before war Svetik [Sviatoslav Richter] lived at his apartment <…>. Once Svetik had received the summons:“ Lihter has to be in police station with the passport ”. Svetik told:“ I am not Lihter, I am Richter, therefore I will not go anywhere ”. It was dangerous to stay at Neuhaus’ apartment, and it has been decided that he will move to us on the Furmanov street (nowadays it is the Nashchokinsky lane). By diligence of the Secret Police IT TURNED OUT RELEASED [allocated by me - А.L.] a room in our common apartment and we turned out to be owners of three rooms (the cousin and the uncle had been arrested). And Svjatoslav began to live there. In the afternoon he often went to Neuhaus ‘ apartment where he played the piano, but in the evening he always returned to us. By the way, there was A SHADOWING AFTER HIM [ allocated by me – А.L.] not only in the wartime, but also after the war, because his mother was abroad [ she had left on the West the occupied Odessa]. (See: Prokhorova V. I. “He was entirely in life …” / Recollecting Svjatoslav Richter. - Мoscow: Constanta, 2000, p.46-47)
Two things seem inexplicable here at the first sight:
Why the "released" room has not been sealed up;
How it turned out possible to Richter, WHO HAD BEEN WATCHED, to live FOR YEARS DURING THE WAR in Prokhorova’s apartment without a residence permit.
About the extreme role that the residence permit played during the war one can read, for example, in George Efron's "Diaries" (Мoscow: VAGRIUS, 2004, v. 1, p. 433):
“[July, 8th, 1941] the owner of the room where we now do live, has left to the house-committee the document that we leave on August, 1st. It means that since August, 1st we have no right to spend the night here. <…> but whereas her husband [i.e. the owner of the room] has written that we leave since August, 1st how can we live without a residence permit till September, 1st? It is impossible”. Two following citations explain, in my opinion, both mentioned strangenesses.
Citation 4.
“Mother of Vera [Ivanovna Prokhorova], Nadezhda Nikolaevna, is nee Guchkova. The Moscow mayor Nikolay Ivanovich Guchkov is her father. Alexander Ivanovich Guchkov is her native uncle. According to the Soviet historiography , each of his posts was a sedition: he was the founder and the leader of the Oktiabrist-party, the chairman of III State Duma, the Minister of War of Provisional government [and also – in addition to posts - one of the organizers of the Intervention, an influential figure in White emigration. Has died in Paris in 1936]. In the USSR for a person originating from such a family tree it was impossible to find a work, moreover it was impossible to live . <…>
By 1930 [!] to mum [i.e. , V. I. Prohorova’s mother] all the same was allowed to work as a translator with foreign tourists, including high-ranking ones[!!!] ”. (See: Grigoriev А. “Prohorovy from Three mountains ”/ Izvestia, May, 12th, 1998)
Citation 5.
<<In the evening of their life when many people start to live on recollections, Vera Aleksandrovna Guchkova-Suvchinskaja-Trail [a famous Soviet spy, daughter of A.I.Guchkov] needed a worthy interlocutor. She writes <…> [to another Soviet spy] Rodzevich:
"<…> Many years ago Ezhov [chief of the Secret Police in the USSR] adored me (certainly, in absolutely
innocent sense), however, I wrote about it in my book.">> (see: Aniskovich L. “Sofia Parnok and Konstantin Rodzevich. Two sides of one moon”. Мoskow: Cyrillics, 2005, p. 319)
And this is one more fragment from L. Aniskovich's book (p. 311): <<Most of all participants of dismantling of documents [belonging to Rodzevich which were found after his death] were amazed with a certain magic phrase in one of Vera Trail’s letters: “They must , at last, stop annoying me with this story [about murders] of Reiss and Trotsky’s son ; I have an absolute alibi!”>>
Two last citations, no doubt, mean that the apartment of Prokhorova was carefully listened by the Secret Police. This obviously explains the above mentioned strangenesses, accompanying Richter's moving to this apartment.As I believe, NKVD (the Secret Police) has planned this moving (certainly, secretly from Richter and Prochorova’s family): loyalty of the super-talented musician required round-the-clock check.
In 1948 my father was invited in this mouse-trap .
I have already written in detail about the consequences of this invitation in my book “Genius of Evil”, Мoscow, 2005
In brief, the essence is as follows. In 1950 Prokhorova has been arrested, and seditious conversations which occurred between my father and Prokhorova when they stayed alone, had been shown to her by the inspector: ”Each our conversation with Shura [i.e. A.L.Lokshin] has been presented as my monologue, my statement or my personal opinion.” (See: Prokhorova V. “Tragedy of treachery” / the Russian musical newspaper, 2002, №4). And on the basis of this Prokhorova has written the article, having accused my father of the arrest.
It is inexplicable, however, how could Prokhorova dare to hold a whole series of many anti-Soviet conversations in her listened apartment. She has counted 12 or 13 anti-Soviet conversations between her and my father….
It is very strange, because my father was EXTREMELY afraid of INTERCEPTION (see Prokhorova’s article).
It is quite strange, because Richter WHO WAS WATCHED, continued to happen in this apartment (see Prokhorova’s article).
It is especially strange, when having such a specific relative as a Soviet spy Vera Guchkova-Trail.
It is also strange, because Jury Nagibin regularly happened in Prokhorova’s apartment. During that time Nagibin was the SON-IN-LAW of STALIN’s FAVOURITE I. A. LIKHACHEV, the former People's Commissar of Mechanical Engineering (!) and a FORMER SECURITY OFFICER. ( See: Nagibin J. ”The Eternal Music”. – Мoscow: ACT, 2004, p. 346-355; see also: Nagibin J. ”My Golden Mother-in-Law”. - Мoscow: ACT, 2004, p. 228-229 where I. A. Likhachev is deduced as "V. K. Zvyagintsev")
By the way, Prokhorova writes about conversations between her and my father the following: “<…> And all the conversations began to have especially political character.” But someone should begin conversations on political themes . Especially during the terror. Especially, if interlocutors are know each other no more than one year. Probably, it was the person who was not afraid of interception …
And what did Vera Guchkova-Trail do in that 1949 in which anti-Soviet conversations in the Prokhorova’s apartment took place? She also held anti-Soviet conversations, but in English.
“Already in 1949, - Alain Brossat writes, - when Victor Kravchenko during the epoch of rise of the cold war has opened eyes to the western public opinion by the sensational book“ I Choose Freedom ”, she accompanies the deserter on public statements as a translator. In a photo published on May, 4th, 1949 in the newspaper “Evening news ”, Vera Trail stands near to Kravchenko, being nervously tightened by a cigarette …” (see the book of L.Aniskovich quoted above, p. 314-315).
Perhaps, Prokhorova did not know about Vera Guchkova-Trail profession. But as the outstanding expert on her own family tree she could have guessed.
* * *
In general, Soviet Secret Police could use taps creatively. Below I adduce a citation from Elena Bonner's memoirs. These memoirs tell about later times (1971), but the”handwriting” of the Secret Police is the same:
“We [i.e. Elena Bonner and Andrey Sakharov] have passed to his room which, for months that have passed since December, I already knew to last nail in a wall. We drank coffee, gnawed cookies and all that he has told me in these hours <…> has been then retold in a dirty-disgusting tonality in the Italian newspaper "Sette Giorni ”referring to me that I ostensibly told it about him to my girlfriends. Listening [by the Soviet Secret Police] has been adjusted well in his apartment”. (See: Sakharov А., Bonner E. Diaries, v. 1. Мoscow: Vremia, 2006, p. 65)
As it is known, it turned out impossible to discredit Elena Bonner in Sakharov’s opinion with the help of a tap. In my father’s story everything has turned out quite differently: persecution from outside the progressive public has not stopped even after his death …
P.S. Recently I have found an incredibly surprising document placed in the book “Lubjanka in days of the fight for Moscow . Under the declassified documents of FSB of the Russian Federation“ – Мoscow: the Publishing House "Zvonnitsa", 2002, p. 82 - 90:
<<THE INQUIRY ON THE ORGANIZATION OF SUBVERSIVE AND TERRORIST GROUPS WITHIN THE LIMITS OF REALIZATION OF "THE MOSCOW PLAN”
On October, 14th, 1941 Top secret
For comrade L. P. Beria
<…> The Agent "Lekal" is a former officer of the imperial army, an old checked up agent. He is left in back of the enemy with tasks of prospecting character. For successful performance of the task under our task he has married the daughter of the former owner of "the Prokhorov’s manufactory”, who has large communications among employees of German embassy in Moscow and the White emigration. In case where the factories will be returned to his wife "Lekal" will operate them and will occupy a corresponding social standing.<…>
With all abovementioned heads of groups and agents there are established passwords for communication.
KOBULOV
Central Archives of FSB of Russia, <…>
The original. The hand-written copy is executed by N. I. Ejtingon.>>
I leave this document without comments.
Alexander A. Lokshin