, 1923-02-18

N~
only to receive, instead of permission
for an interview. the usual nswer
mot on the register OF this prison."
or n mysterious, hazy: Gone to the
city with his things" There would be
neither official notification of death.
nor n farewell meeting. nor wen a sur
render of the dead body for decent
family burial, nothing.
The terror of Bolshevlsm is without
mercy. 1t knows no pity. neither for
It's foes nor for children crying for
their lost fathers.
TT was only a year, n yer hat
not quite complete, and yet, what
a wealth of memories, impress
Eions; what a multitude of faces; how
nan lives, how many deaths!
Among all this constellation of high
er authorities in the Butyrld Prison.
Moscow, special distinction was gained
by the Commandant, Liakhin. his as
sistant, Karinkevich, and the chair
man Of the Communist nucleus, the
totally illiterate L~inkevich.
1t was in this prison-representing
a tangled knot of scandal, intrigue.
thievery, mutual espionage and arbi-
trariness at the top. and an ocean OF
suffering, humiliation, treachery, de-
nunciation and intimidation at the
bottom-that a fresh current of or
ganization at last made its appearance
among the inmates.
This started at the close of March
INT the beginning of April. 1919. when
compact mass of $50 to 200 Socialist
Revolutionists and Menshevlki, upon
-. IT. Pan -. ~. ra-a-- a.
was then made to descend. found itself
in the prison. Up to that time So
cialists occurred among the prisoners
as single individuals, being implicated
only accidentally; and after spending
two or three months there they used
to be released without n further
consequences. This time, however. the
number OF arrested Socialists, the ex-
t~ensiveness OF these arrests. as we'll
as the tone of the Soviet press, showed
plainly hat n systematic campaign
had been started by the authorities
against the Socialist parties as such.
with the object of destroying their
organizations. 1t was now obvious
that Socialists were henceforth to
form a permanent category of prison
ers. And thus there commenced a
hard and painful, stubborn struggle,
with distractions, hunger strikes,
riots and other well known a
The overwhelming majority Of these
prisoners were well acquainted with
this picture from their experiences In
Tsarist prisons.
1t is not my object to describe here
all the vicissitudes of this truly
agonizing struggle, nor all of its differ
ent stages and the actions of the au-
thorities, who. starting with shooting
at the cells OF the Socialists md beat
ing them individually and wholesale.
finished by transporting them to pro-
vincial prisons and scattering them
over the borderlands. Nor shall 1
dwell on the attempts made to tame"
the Socialists by granting them all
manner of privileges and advantages,
all the way down to that temporary
"Socialistic Garden OF Eden" so boast
fully described by M~eshtcheriakov in
the Prada in 1921. All this is a very
interesting and instructive story, but
It requires Independent treatment,
By organized protest and rebellion
in the prison the Socialists did man
age to have the harsh regime some
what mitigated. a systematic CAM
paign to have all Socialists concen-
trated on one corridor was started, n
more liberal constitution, a reform of
the quarantine and the concentration
of the Communists in a separate
Communicate corridor were de-
manded. In this way the evil of es-
nionage and denunciation was consid-
erably lessened. If not abolished en-
tIrely.
Liakhin left; Rarinkevich was re-
duced in rank and became more quiet.
Tho kitchen, hospital, bakery and
rarity also the repair shop became ac-
cessible for Socialists to work in.
Searches of the former cooks and
bakers disclosed veritable heaps Of
money and precious stones. alcohol,
entire wardrobes of clothing and
boots. And all of this had been piled
up Mt the expense of the prisoners
mess kettle. The food, OF course, was
improved. and living conditions be-
came more bearable.
But Just then n different kind of
horror was approaching. in the face
OF which all hardships and sufferlngs
paled into insignifcance. Out Of the
South Beniken was drawing carer
tho number of discovered plots was
growing and shootings increased.
NotabIes of Former Regime in
Cells; Most of Them Old Men
As early as March. 1919, there be-
gan n concentration of prominent
representatives of the old regime and
titled personages who had been spared
during the FIRST wave of wholesale
shootings in September md October,
1918. They were beginning to on
centrate them in the ButyrH Prison
from the Moscow convict camps and
from other cities. Thus tho follow
ing persons, among others, found
themselves In the Butyrki in the sum
mer Of 1919: former Minister of the
Interior, %Afakarov; the former com
mander OF the special gendarmery
corps, d. N. Tatishtchev: the per-