Operation Rasputin: facts, versions, intrigues. Part II
On the night of December 16 1916, Grigory Rasputin goes by car to “visit” Prince Felix Yusupov. But for what? For what reason does a man suddenly in the winter night go to the Yusupov Palace, while, according to numerous testimonies, stating that he knows about the assassination attempt on him? Why does the “old man” Rasputin not refuse the invitation of the young prince?
The reason for this may lie in how Yusupov met Rasputin.
In the first part it was mentioned that the rumors about the weirdness of Felix’s sexual behavior at one time reached his parents. There is no exhaustive evidence, but some contemporaries of Prince Yusupov say that the prince returned to home with obvious homosexual affections, which he did not leave even after he became the spouse of one of Nicholas II's nieces - Princess Irina Alexandrovna. One of Yusupov's “friends”, according to some sources, was the same prince Dmitry Romanov, who, judging by Yusupov's memoirs, was in the palace on the night of the murder of Grigory Rasputin. It was the homosexual predilections of the son that caused the parents of the young Yusupov, Prince Felix Yusupov (Sumarokov-Elston) and Zinaida Yusupova, to go for, say, extraordinary measures, namely the use of alternative medicine. Grigory Rasputin was considered the chief specialist in expelling all kinds of demons and etching out demonic power from people in the capital of that time, who already had access to many houses of noble Petersburgers (Petrograd), and, most importantly, to the Gosudarev Palace. Whether Rasputin was a typical charlatan or really had the gift of healing is a separate question. Most historians are inclined to believe that Rasputin had something similar to the gift of healing and foresight (at least the evidence that he had repeatedly helped Tsarevich Alexei suffering from hemophilia, which doctors, including Alexei, were also treating), but often the people themselves clearly exaggerated the “old man's” healing ability.
So, Prince Yusupov could get acquainted with Rasputin in some way similar to a request (patronage) from his own parents, who wished their son to get rid of his, let's say, “illness”. The following testimonies can be found in the memoirs of Felix Yusupov (junior) regarding the healing abilities and authority of Rasputin:
And, a specific narrative about how one of the prince’s treatment sessions took place, in his memoirs calling his “illness” a “weakness in the body”:
Based on this information, it can be assumed that Rasputin himself wished to look at his wife (and, possibly, help Irina) Yusupov in order to understand why a prince who was married cannot get rid of his youthful passions. In other words, Rasputin could have gone to the Yusupov Palace: a) out of sheer curiosity (and curiosity is a character trait noted by many people familiar with the “old man”), b) to perform the next treatment session. That is why he was not embarrassed by the late invitation time.
There is an opinion that Yusupov conspired against Rasputin for a very banal reason: those “treatment” methods (hypnosis and beating with a whip) that the “old man” allegedly practiced against him were offensive to him. In other words, some parts of the version add up to the following picture: Yusupov was offended by Rasputin’s actions against himself, and not by his influence on the empress, but by agents of British intelligence, among whom was Yusupov’s friend, Oswald Rainer, who allegedly worried Rasputin’s involvement in imperial palace.
However, there are also certain inconsistencies. The fact is that, if you believe the youngest prince, his mother, to put it mildly, disliked Rasputin and tried to turn the Empress Alexander Fyodorovna against him. In this regard, the version that Yusupov’s parents “brought” their son to an “old man” looks somewhat strange ...
According to another version, Rasputin, who was not only actively, but very actively interested in politics, was looking for contacts with Yusupov himself, knowing about his connections with agents of British intelligence. Why did you search? Then, in order to confirm for themselves information about Yusupov’s connection with British officers in Petrograd, and then inform the royal persons that secret negotiations with Great Britain are being held behind their backs about the overthrow of the monarchy. And here the problem was added with what sexual habits Prince Yusupov has ... But this version leads to the necessity of assuming that Rasputin, going to the Yusupov Palace, knew perfectly well what was going on and that he was not going there alone . If we take this particular version as a basis, then we should assume that Rasputin’s guards (on his instructions, moved under their own power to the Yusupov Palace (she was not in the car next to him). However, this version of the historians is also far from “all-explaining”.
After all, if we assume that the guards did follow Rasputin to the palace on the Moika Embankment, how to explain further events. We turn first to the memoirs of Purishkevich and Prince Yusupov, and then to an alternative account of events, for example, by the British press.
According to the memoirs of Purishkevich and Yusupov, Rasputin went to the basement that was prepared for his “reception” and waited for “guests to leave” from Irina Alexandrovna, and she would go down to the meeting with the “old man”. In this room, he allegedly ate some cakes with a killer dose of cyanide in front of Prince Yusupov who was with him all this time. Cyanide did not work (and should not, since glucose neutralizes this poison). The prince, seeing that the “old man” was still alive, began to lose patience, as, incidentally, Rasputin himself, who was expecting to meet the prince’s wife, and, according to his memoirs, drank wine bottle by bottle. Then Felix rose to other conspirators (they were in one of the rooms of the palace), those indignantly expressed their desire to break into the basement and finish off Grigory Rasputin. Felix (as he says in his memoirs) decided to make a shot himself, so as not to let the "old man" go away when he heard the rumble made by people quickly going down to the basement. So, according to official figures, it happened. Yusupov entered the basement, called Rasputin to evaluate the wooden crucifix of Christ and pray. The elder allegedly humbly approached the image, and at that moment Yusupov shot Rasputin “in the very heart”. (Then the investigation revealed that not one of the bullets fired at Rasputin had fallen into his heart) ...
Further, in the memoirs describes the complete mysticism. Yusupov returned to the conspirators to report that everything was over, but then for some reason decided that he needed to check whether Grigory Rasputin was dead. Having gone down, he saw the old man twitching eyelid, leaned over him, and he suddenly opened his eyes, jumped up and clutched at his throat. At that moment, the rest of the conspirators came running to the basement. Purishkevich shot Rasputin, and he fell. After that, allegedly Rasputin was wrapped in the blue canvas mentioned in Part I, carried to the bridge and thrown into the river.
If the guard of Rasputin really arrived at the Yusupov Palace after the “guarded”, then what did the guards do for more than two hours? ..
If we turn to an alternative version of events, then as soon as Rasputin Yusupov brought to the palace, representatives of British intelligence took it up. Birmingham Mail calls the protagonist Oswald Reiner (that he was the day (or more precisely the night) the murder in the Yusupov Palace was written by his chauffeur at the time), but Stephen Alley could also be involved. This is another close friend of Yusupov, whom he met in Foggy Albion. The figure of Stephen Alley appears due to the fact that in Britain a letter was published by Alley to British intelligence officer John Scale from 24 December 1916 of the year (just over a week after the murder of Rasputin). This letter contains the following words:
Of course, Reiner could have covered some other traces ... But, in fairness, it should be noted that there are still more reasons to think about the “traces” on Rasputin’s body and the “traces” around the elder’s murder. Especially considering that Rasputin was cremated after the “first funeral”. Cremation - is this not a trace of traces that could provide answers to many questions. Yes, and the relative loyalty of the dynasty to those who declared “with their own hands” about the murder of Rasputin - does this loyalty mean that the monarch could guess from where this murder actually grows legs ...
So, according to this version, Rasputin arrives at the Yusupov Palace, where he is immediately seized by British intelligence officers and begin to torture. Traces of torture, by the way, are indeed found on the body.
The purpose of torture is to allegedly find out from Grigory Rasputin the “secret plan” of the separate peace of Russia with Germany, which, under his dictation, “was written by the German empress”. Pulling out the subtleties of the plan, the British and kill the "old man". What the Rasputin guards are doing at this moment, if you continue to trust the version that Rasputin knew what he was doing, it is not clear ...
On the one hand, this version (the version that the participation of British officers was not done) is somewhat more plausible than the description of Rasputin’s 2-hour seat in the basement, which ate cakes and washed down with wine, as Felix Yusupov writes in his deliberately derogatory memoirs. But on the other hand the very course of the further stories says that Rasputin was not needed for the murderers for the "secrets of a separate world." Yes, Rasputin’s statements about the need to put an end to the bloody war are well known. However, are they a reason to believe the memoirs of Yusupov, in whom Rasputin is supposedly the main “crafty villain” in Russia, who is trying to destroy the country, setting the weak king on the throne and taking power into his own hands. With the same "success" it is possible to declare that Felix Yusupov himself (along with Purishkevich) wanted to entrust himself with the laurels of "the destroyer of the satanic spirit" and "savior of Russia", having received more chances to come closer to power. Black PR from the prince? Why not ... At the same time, the PR, as you can see, did not pass without ideological assistance from the British Crown ...
Prince Felix Yusupov didn’t come close to power after the murder of Rasputin, but Purishkevich turned into a kind of mouthpiece, as they would say now, a non-systemic opposition. Purishkevich himself at one time stated that he "made the first shot of the revolution." In March 17, Nicholas II abdicated the throne ... A simple coincidence, not related to the murder of Rasputin? Maybe. Still, it seems more plausible that, with the murder of Rasputin, the royal couple lost a man who could explain in everyday language whether it was worth going to suggestions from the “well-wishers” of the Crown or not.
The version that the British acted solely in order to prevent Russia from concluding a separate peace with Germany does not look logical. After all, the prevention of a separate world worried France, another ally of the Empire. However, no "French trace" in the conspiracy is not manifested. But here it is worth remembering the promises of Britain, given in relation to Russia 12 March 1915. These promises are connected with the “guarantee” of the transfer of the Russian Empire of Constantinople with the adjacent territories, which included the western coast of the Bosphorus and the Sea of Marmara, the Gallipoli peninsula, South Thrace along the Enos-Medes line and, moreover, the eastern coast of the Bosphorus and the Sea of Marmara to the Izmitky Bay, all the islands of the Sea of Marmara, as well as the islands of Imbros and Tenedos in the Aegean Sea in case of victory over Germany and its allies. Obviously, realizing that such a “gift” in relation to Russia may turn out to be too generous, a “Rasputin card” was played out. It consisted in the fact that the “old man” was represented by the main villain of Russia, who was setting up a German woman by birth Alexander Fedorovna against Tsar Nicholas II, and that Russia could be sold to Germany. The people, by the way, pecked at such a bait, and the very personality of Rasputin turned into the incarnation of sin for the majority of the Russian population. PR worked. The flywheel was launched — Rasputin was removed, the tsar was “persuaded” to give up the throne, and then the result is known to all ...
The reason for this may lie in how Yusupov met Rasputin.
In the first part it was mentioned that the rumors about the weirdness of Felix’s sexual behavior at one time reached his parents. There is no exhaustive evidence, but some contemporaries of Prince Yusupov say that the prince returned to home with obvious homosexual affections, which he did not leave even after he became the spouse of one of Nicholas II's nieces - Princess Irina Alexandrovna. One of Yusupov's “friends”, according to some sources, was the same prince Dmitry Romanov, who, judging by Yusupov's memoirs, was in the palace on the night of the murder of Grigory Rasputin. It was the homosexual predilections of the son that caused the parents of the young Yusupov, Prince Felix Yusupov (Sumarokov-Elston) and Zinaida Yusupova, to go for, say, extraordinary measures, namely the use of alternative medicine. Grigory Rasputin was considered the chief specialist in expelling all kinds of demons and etching out demonic power from people in the capital of that time, who already had access to many houses of noble Petersburgers (Petrograd), and, most importantly, to the Gosudarev Palace. Whether Rasputin was a typical charlatan or really had the gift of healing is a separate question. Most historians are inclined to believe that Rasputin had something similar to the gift of healing and foresight (at least the evidence that he had repeatedly helped Tsarevich Alexei suffering from hemophilia, which doctors, including Alexei, were also treating), but often the people themselves clearly exaggerated the “old man's” healing ability.
So, Prince Yusupov could get acquainted with Rasputin in some way similar to a request (patronage) from his own parents, who wished their son to get rid of his, let's say, “illness”. The following testimonies can be found in the memoirs of Felix Yusupov (junior) regarding the healing abilities and authority of Rasputin:
... the "elder" quickly entered into force. Infinite petitioners burst into him. There were here both big officials, and church hierarchs, and ladies of high society, and many others. Rasputin acquired a valuable assistant - therapist Badmaev, a man of Eastern origin, a doctor-ignoramus, who said that he had brought magic herbs and potions from Mongolia that he had obtained from Tibetan magicians with truth and untruth. In fact, he himself brewed these potions from powders taken from a druggie friend. He served his dope and pathogens as “Tibetan elixir”, “Balsam Nguyen-Chen”, “Essence of black lotus”, etc. Charlatan and “old man” cost each other and quickly found a common language.
And, a specific narrative about how one of the prince’s treatment sessions took place, in his memoirs calling his “illness” a “weakness in the body”:
- I will cure, - he answered, - in three days I will cure. Let's drink a seagull first, and then go to my office, so that we do not interfere. I will pray to God and take the pain out of you. The Elder put me in a canape. Then, penetrating me in the eyes, he began to drive his hand over my chest, head, neck. He knelt down, put his hands on my forehead and whispered a prayer. Our faces were so close that I only saw his eyes. He stayed like that for a while. Suddenly he jumped up and began to make passes for me. Rasputin's hypnotic power was immense. I felt an unknown force penetrating into me and pouring heat all over my body. At the same time, there was a daze. I was stiff. I wanted to speak, but the language did not obey. Slowly, I plunged into oblivion, as if I had drunk a sleeping potion. I just saw a burning Rasputin look before me. Two phosphorescent rays merged into a fiery spot, and the spot was now near, then moved away.
I heard the voice of "old man", but could not make out the words. I lay there, unable to shout or move. Only the thought remained at liberty, and I understood that I was gradually in the grip of the hypnotist. And by an effort of will, I tried to resist hypnosis. His strength, however, grew, as if surrounding me with a dense shell. The impression of the unequal struggle of two individuals. All the same, I realized, until the end he did not break me. I could not move, however, until he himself ordered me to get up.
I heard the voice of "old man", but could not make out the words. I lay there, unable to shout or move. Only the thought remained at liberty, and I understood that I was gradually in the grip of the hypnotist. And by an effort of will, I tried to resist hypnosis. His strength, however, grew, as if surrounding me with a dense shell. The impression of the unequal struggle of two individuals. All the same, I realized, until the end he did not break me. I could not move, however, until he himself ordered me to get up.
Based on this information, it can be assumed that Rasputin himself wished to look at his wife (and, possibly, help Irina) Yusupov in order to understand why a prince who was married cannot get rid of his youthful passions. In other words, Rasputin could have gone to the Yusupov Palace: a) out of sheer curiosity (and curiosity is a character trait noted by many people familiar with the “old man”), b) to perform the next treatment session. That is why he was not embarrassed by the late invitation time.
There is an opinion that Yusupov conspired against Rasputin for a very banal reason: those “treatment” methods (hypnosis and beating with a whip) that the “old man” allegedly practiced against him were offensive to him. In other words, some parts of the version add up to the following picture: Yusupov was offended by Rasputin’s actions against himself, and not by his influence on the empress, but by agents of British intelligence, among whom was Yusupov’s friend, Oswald Rainer, who allegedly worried Rasputin’s involvement in imperial palace.
However, there are also certain inconsistencies. The fact is that, if you believe the youngest prince, his mother, to put it mildly, disliked Rasputin and tried to turn the Empress Alexander Fyodorovna against him. In this regard, the version that Yusupov’s parents “brought” their son to an “old man” looks somewhat strange ...
Zinaida Yusupova (mother of Felix Yusupov)
According to another version, Rasputin, who was not only actively, but very actively interested in politics, was looking for contacts with Yusupov himself, knowing about his connections with agents of British intelligence. Why did you search? Then, in order to confirm for themselves information about Yusupov’s connection with British officers in Petrograd, and then inform the royal persons that secret negotiations with Great Britain are being held behind their backs about the overthrow of the monarchy. And here the problem was added with what sexual habits Prince Yusupov has ... But this version leads to the necessity of assuming that Rasputin, going to the Yusupov Palace, knew perfectly well what was going on and that he was not going there alone . If we take this particular version as a basis, then we should assume that Rasputin’s guards (on his instructions, moved under their own power to the Yusupov Palace (she was not in the car next to him). However, this version of the historians is also far from “all-explaining”.
After all, if we assume that the guards did follow Rasputin to the palace on the Moika Embankment, how to explain further events. We turn first to the memoirs of Purishkevich and Prince Yusupov, and then to an alternative account of events, for example, by the British press.
According to the memoirs of Purishkevich and Yusupov, Rasputin went to the basement that was prepared for his “reception” and waited for “guests to leave” from Irina Alexandrovna, and she would go down to the meeting with the “old man”. In this room, he allegedly ate some cakes with a killer dose of cyanide in front of Prince Yusupov who was with him all this time. Cyanide did not work (and should not, since glucose neutralizes this poison). The prince, seeing that the “old man” was still alive, began to lose patience, as, incidentally, Rasputin himself, who was expecting to meet the prince’s wife, and, according to his memoirs, drank wine bottle by bottle. Then Felix rose to other conspirators (they were in one of the rooms of the palace), those indignantly expressed their desire to break into the basement and finish off Grigory Rasputin. Felix (as he says in his memoirs) decided to make a shot himself, so as not to let the "old man" go away when he heard the rumble made by people quickly going down to the basement. So, according to official figures, it happened. Yusupov entered the basement, called Rasputin to evaluate the wooden crucifix of Christ and pray. The elder allegedly humbly approached the image, and at that moment Yusupov shot Rasputin “in the very heart”. (Then the investigation revealed that not one of the bullets fired at Rasputin had fallen into his heart) ...
Further, in the memoirs describes the complete mysticism. Yusupov returned to the conspirators to report that everything was over, but then for some reason decided that he needed to check whether Grigory Rasputin was dead. Having gone down, he saw the old man twitching eyelid, leaned over him, and he suddenly opened his eyes, jumped up and clutched at his throat. At that moment, the rest of the conspirators came running to the basement. Purishkevich shot Rasputin, and he fell. After that, allegedly Rasputin was wrapped in the blue canvas mentioned in Part I, carried to the bridge and thrown into the river.
Rasputin's body, taken from the river
If the guard of Rasputin really arrived at the Yusupov Palace after the “guarded”, then what did the guards do for more than two hours? ..
If we turn to an alternative version of events, then as soon as Rasputin Yusupov brought to the palace, representatives of British intelligence took it up. Birmingham Mail calls the protagonist Oswald Reiner (that he was the day (or more precisely the night) the murder in the Yusupov Palace was written by his chauffeur at the time), but Stephen Alley could also be involved. This is another close friend of Yusupov, whom he met in Foggy Albion. The figure of Stephen Alley appears due to the fact that in Britain a letter was published by Alley to British intelligence officer John Scale from 24 December 1916 of the year (just over a week after the murder of Rasputin). This letter contains the following words:
... not everything went according to plan, our goal was achieved ... Rainer sweeps up traces and, undoubtedly, will contact you for instructions.
Of course, Reiner could have covered some other traces ... But, in fairness, it should be noted that there are still more reasons to think about the “traces” on Rasputin’s body and the “traces” around the elder’s murder. Especially considering that Rasputin was cremated after the “first funeral”. Cremation - is this not a trace of traces that could provide answers to many questions. Yes, and the relative loyalty of the dynasty to those who declared “with their own hands” about the murder of Rasputin - does this loyalty mean that the monarch could guess from where this murder actually grows legs ...
So, according to this version, Rasputin arrives at the Yusupov Palace, where he is immediately seized by British intelligence officers and begin to torture. Traces of torture, by the way, are indeed found on the body.
Rasputin's death photo
The purpose of torture is to allegedly find out from Grigory Rasputin the “secret plan” of the separate peace of Russia with Germany, which, under his dictation, “was written by the German empress”. Pulling out the subtleties of the plan, the British and kill the "old man". What the Rasputin guards are doing at this moment, if you continue to trust the version that Rasputin knew what he was doing, it is not clear ...
On the one hand, this version (the version that the participation of British officers was not done) is somewhat more plausible than the description of Rasputin’s 2-hour seat in the basement, which ate cakes and washed down with wine, as Felix Yusupov writes in his deliberately derogatory memoirs. But on the other hand the very course of the further stories says that Rasputin was not needed for the murderers for the "secrets of a separate world." Yes, Rasputin’s statements about the need to put an end to the bloody war are well known. However, are they a reason to believe the memoirs of Yusupov, in whom Rasputin is supposedly the main “crafty villain” in Russia, who is trying to destroy the country, setting the weak king on the throne and taking power into his own hands. With the same "success" it is possible to declare that Felix Yusupov himself (along with Purishkevich) wanted to entrust himself with the laurels of "the destroyer of the satanic spirit" and "savior of Russia", having received more chances to come closer to power. Black PR from the prince? Why not ... At the same time, the PR, as you can see, did not pass without ideological assistance from the British Crown ...
Prince Felix Yusupov didn’t come close to power after the murder of Rasputin, but Purishkevich turned into a kind of mouthpiece, as they would say now, a non-systemic opposition. Purishkevich himself at one time stated that he "made the first shot of the revolution." In March 17, Nicholas II abdicated the throne ... A simple coincidence, not related to the murder of Rasputin? Maybe. Still, it seems more plausible that, with the murder of Rasputin, the royal couple lost a man who could explain in everyday language whether it was worth going to suggestions from the “well-wishers” of the Crown or not.
The version that the British acted solely in order to prevent Russia from concluding a separate peace with Germany does not look logical. After all, the prevention of a separate world worried France, another ally of the Empire. However, no "French trace" in the conspiracy is not manifested. But here it is worth remembering the promises of Britain, given in relation to Russia 12 March 1915. These promises are connected with the “guarantee” of the transfer of the Russian Empire of Constantinople with the adjacent territories, which included the western coast of the Bosphorus and the Sea of Marmara, the Gallipoli peninsula, South Thrace along the Enos-Medes line and, moreover, the eastern coast of the Bosphorus and the Sea of Marmara to the Izmitky Bay, all the islands of the Sea of Marmara, as well as the islands of Imbros and Tenedos in the Aegean Sea in case of victory over Germany and its allies. Obviously, realizing that such a “gift” in relation to Russia may turn out to be too generous, a “Rasputin card” was played out. It consisted in the fact that the “old man” was represented by the main villain of Russia, who was setting up a German woman by birth Alexander Fedorovna against Tsar Nicholas II, and that Russia could be sold to Germany. The people, by the way, pecked at such a bait, and the very personality of Rasputin turned into the incarnation of sin for the majority of the Russian population. PR worked. The flywheel was launched — Rasputin was removed, the tsar was “persuaded” to give up the throne, and then the result is known to all ...
- Alexei Volodin
- Operation Rasputin: facts, versions, intrigues. Part I
Operation Rasputin: facts, versions, intrigues. Part II
Information