How a Lyon University Graduate Became a Fury of Red Terror: The Zigzags of Fate of Rosalia Zemlyachka

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

A civil war is the worst thing that can happen in a country. But in the formation of a new social and social system, it is practically inevitable. In the 20s of the last century, Russia was divided into two camps - red and white. Both sides organized terror against each other, trying to physically destroy and mentally break the enemy. The bloodshed did not free the women revolutionaries from participation in it, for whom the internal enemy was sometimes more dangerous than the external enemy.

Where was the future comrade "Demon" born and how was brought up

The future revolutionary Rosalia Zemlyachka was born on March 20 (April 1), 1876 in the city of Mogilev. Her father, a merchant of the 1st guild, Samuil Markovich Zalkind, was a very wealthy person and dreamed that his children would become educated people. Samuil Markovich's dream came true - his sons received the profession of engineer and lawyer, and daughter Rosa, after graduating from the Kiev women's gymnasium, entered the medical faculty at the University of Lyons.

An intelligent, inquisitive girl had every chance of becoming an excellent doctor, however, when Vladimir Ulyanov's brochure “What are“friends of the people”, who came to her at the age of 17, made her change plans for the future. Carried away by the ideas of social equality, Rosalia soon quit her studies and, returning to Kiev, joined the ranks of the local social democratic organization, choosing for herself the pseudonym "Demon".

From that moment on, revolution became her profession, and a measured comfortable existence turned into life from a series of conspiratorial meetings, campaigning activities, prison sentences and long exile.

Rosalia Zalkind's participation in the civil war

A year after the revolution, Zemlyachka, as her fellow wrestlers began to call her by that time, was sent to the Red Army. At first Rosalia was appointed commissar of the brigade to the Southern Front, and a little later she was entrusted to lead the political departments of the 13th and 8th Army. The military unit, where Zemlyachka arrived, was distinguished by a complete lack of discipline due to demoralization, which by that time had become practically unfit for action.

Rosalia, giving work 20 hours a day, not sparing herself and others, began to rebuild the army, replacing commanders and selecting real - ideological - political workers. Thanks to her iron firmness and toughness of actions, Zemlyachka managed to update the army units, returning discipline and organization to them. The top management appreciated the result of her dedication, presenting the Order of the Red Banner - an award that had not been awarded to any woman in the new Soviet state before Zemlyachka.

What did the most brutal security officer in Crimea do?

After a long and fierce resistance, Wrangel surrendered his positions, starting on November 7, 1920, a hasty retreat under the onslaught of the Red Army. And already on November 10, he issued an order to evacuate the army and the civilian population. After 5 days, the last ships left Yalta with the remnants of the White Guard army and a population that did not want to recognize the power of the Bolsheviks.

Due to the lack of ships, not everyone was able to leave the peninsula - many soldiers and officers of the White Army remained in the Crimea, counting on the leniency of the new government. And they had a reason for that, since Frunze himself, the commander of the Southern Front of the Red Army, promised immunity to the conquered enemy. However, Mikhail Vasilyevich did not cheat - he really treated the prisoners humanely, ordering them to preserve their life and freedom if they go over to the side of the “red”. Because of this attitude towards the enemy, he often displeased the capital's leadership, and, for objective reasons, could not always keep his word.

After the flight of Wrangel, Rosalia Zemlyachka and Bel Kun arrived on the peninsula to "restore order" by order of V. Lenin. The compatriot was appointed secretary of the Crimean Revolutionary Committee, Kun - special commissioner for the Crimea. Fanatically loyal to the Soviets, both of them hated the class enemies of the revolution just as much: therefore, having fallen into the "hotbed" of such, they embarked on a cruel "purge."

The documentary confirmation of the mass executions of the White Guards and the civilian population is a letter from the doctor of the Special Department of the Feodosia Revolutionary Committee S. V. Konstantov, which he wrote to the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) on December 26, 1920. In the words of the old Bolshevik: “… the Red Terror that has been established since the end of November is terrifying in scale and inhumanity. In addition to the military, who passed the voluntary registration of persons serving in Wrangel's army, civilians were also shot, including workers, minor officials, and doctors. Describing in detail the events that he witnessed, Konstantov said that the number of those killed (according to rumors) only in Simferopol and Feodosia exceeded 7,000 people.

According to the historian of the time Melgunov, a longtime opponent of Bolshevism, the arrested were drowned by barges, allegedly saving bullets after the execution of 96,000 people. True, Melgunov took his information from the White Guard newspapers, which also told readers that Zemlyachka personally participated in the executions, and was later kidnapped and killed by one of the "green" gangs.

How was the fate of Zemlyachka after the civil war

After the Civil War, Rosalia Zalkind held a number of party responsible posts, worked in the commissariat of communications and in the workers 'and peasants' inspection. In 1924-25 she was the secretary of the Motovilikhinsky regional committee of the RCP (b) of the city of Perm.

When the Great Patriotic War began, Zemlyachka refused to go to the rear, remaining to help the city prepare to confront the enemy. For her active work during this period, Rozalia Samuilovna, who turned 65 in 1941, received medals "For Valiant Labor in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945." and "For the Defense of Moscow".

After two marriages at a young age, the personal life of Rosalia Zalkind (by her husband's Samoilova) did not work out, they also failed to give birth to children. The revolutionary died in 1947 on January 21: on the same day as Lenin - a man whom Zemlyachka had venerated all her life.

In my time red commissars determined the fashion and customs of that era.