The Washington times., 1935-11-07
DEFIANT PRINCE
IS PUNISHED
BY 0GPU
BY GEORGE KITCHIN
CHAPTER XLVI

BY GEORGE KITCHIN
CHAPTER XLVI
Nearly 10 years Of Imprisonment
had not broken the old mans
spirit. Ulrich. the president OF
the Military Tribunal Of the Su-
preme Court, wrote special arti-
Gle for the press devoted entirely
to Oukhtomsky's courage. He
recognized him to be an enemy OF
the Soviet government and con-
sidered it necessary to continue TO
keep him in confinement, but said
that men with such strong conVlc-
tions deserve unqualified respect.
At our prison the Prince was
given the nickname Of THE Last
Of the Mohicans." Whether 1t was
due to the visits Of influential
personages, or to Ulrich's article.
or to the strength Of his person
ality, he was favored with quite
exceptional treatment by tn e
prison authorities. Contrary to
the general rules, OukhtomSky
was not required to do any work
and could dispose of his time as
he saw fit. He spent his leisure
hours in writing notes on the his
tory Of the World War.
Outside Of the few roubles per
month he received from the Red
Cross, he had no income what
ever. Nevertheless he declined
the offer of the State Publishing
House to pay him 10000 roubleS
for his notes on the World War.
He said in reply that his work
was not intended for them.
Prince Oukhtomsky lived very
poorly and existed exclusively on
prison fare. His allowance was
expended entirely on cigarettes.
All Of his years in prison he had
spent in solitary confinement. He
had never permitted any Of the
visiting delegates to enter his cell
and they were only allowed to get
q glimpse of him through the
observation opening in his door.
The only man whom he admitted
to his cell was q monk who was
serving q five-year sentence for
cdncealing some church treasures.
What nobility, willpower, and
dignity Of character! But he did
not escape the fate which awaited
almost all of us, prisoners Of the
LefortovSky Isolation Prison. He
was one of the first contingent
sent to the penal labor camps.
remembered running into him
upon our arrival in KotlaS. 1t
was shortly after the examination
of my belongings which had been
scattered in the snow. Oukhtom-
sky was dressed in q large and
worn fur coat and was accom-
panied by two convoy soldiers. Be-
hind them came two more soldiers
carrying his baggage. When he
came near me, he winked at me.
pointing to the soldiers nd ex-
planned that they were his
"porters," furnished him after he
had refused to bulge from the
railway carriage unaided; camp
commander Monakhov had then
gone in personally to see him, had
provided this escort, and arranged
for a special sleeping shelf for him
in the barracks. Every time that
I came in contact with this "laSt
Of the MohicanS" I admired more
and more his steadfaStneSS and
the determined line Of conduct
which he unSwervingly pursued.
Oukhtomsky was taken to the
privileged barracks. He was
placed in a building occupied by
office workers and foremen. I
did not see him for a long while.
Then, when I returned from my
inspection trip with Zakhariantz,
I ran into my old friend again
at the Kotlas Transfer Station.
Oukhtomsky was idle, for an or
der direct from the camp admin
istration had just put stop to
the work assigned him, namely,
to deliver instructive lectures to
the prisoners.
Oukhtomsky laughed as he told
me about it and said that the
order was signed by the omnipot-
ent Vaskov himself, and bore his
own notation: "You dumbbellS,
inviting the goat into the veg
etable garden. Stop it immedi-
ately."
After the execution of the
eighty-two, when I was denoted
to the status Of a common con-
vict, I again met my old friend
Oukhtomsky at the First Work
Post. He had been transferred
to Ust-Sysolsk together with the
socialist-revolutionary sailor with
whom had become acquainted
at the Sixth Work Post. Both
Of them lived in the old stables
which had been changed to bar
racks and both showed remark
able determination.
OukhtomSky was in bad health,
but as a matter Of principle never
asked the authorities to improve
his living conditions. He ate the