In the days before the Revolution, one man haunted Russia—he was the arch-conspirator, Gen. Boris Savinkov.
One snowy day in Moscow, the Grand Duke Sergius was blown to pieces at the Kremlin gate—one Kalayev threw the bomb; but the man who engineered the plot was the arch-Terrorist, Gen. Boris Savinkov.
Three Ministers of the Tsar died violent deaths; and three men were hanged for their deeds. They and the girl, Fanny Kaplan, who came within an ace of killing Lenin in 1918, took their orders from the archfiend, Gen. Boris Savinkov.
One gray morning, the body of Father Gapon was discovered on an island in Lake Ladoga, near St. Petersburg. He has been strangled to death, so the police said, by the strong hands of the arch-murderer, Gen. Boris Savinkov.
Then came the Revolution of 1917, with Kerensky at its head; the active support of his regime was the arch-revolutionary Gen. Boris Savinkov.
When Kerensky was ousted by the Bolsheyiki, Savinkov fled to Paris.
In Paris, a Russian was told that his country was enslaved by a tyranny surpassing that of the Tsars. Others told him that his Fatherland was at last free. Recently he decided to go to Russia and find out the truth for himself.
At the frontier, the Bolsheviki were awaiting him. He was imprisoned and brought up for trial at Moscow, scene of many of his assassinations. The opening days of his trial were held in camera. He told his judges that President Masaryk of Czechoslovakia had contributed several thousands of dollars to a murder plot against Lenin, Trotzky and other Bolsheviki. He told of his disagreement with Lenin—how he had advocated murder and Lenin had advocated the organization of the proletariat to oust the Tsar from his throne. He told of a plot to kill Rakovsky (now Charge d'Affaires in Great Britain), and Foreign Minister Tchitcherin in Berlin as they returned from the Genoa Conference in 1922. He told of many more interesting things.
The final day of the trial came last week; and the Soviet Government opened the courtroom to the public. There was the Supreme Judge of the Military Tribunal, Ulrich, guarded by three stalwart soldiers. There was Kamenev, Acting Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars, sitting with his beautiful wife. Side by side sat Krassikov, President of the Supreme Court; Kursky, Commissioner of Justice; Minjiniki Elyava, Head of the Trans-Caucasian Federation; Karl Redek, famed diplomat; another arch-devil, Bela Kun, quondam Red Dictator of Hungary. In the dock a small man, quite bald, about 45, dressed in a cheap double-breasted grey sack suit and a thin black tie. His face was reminiscent of a youthful Napoleon, but "cadaverous and drawn with deep shadows under the eyes." He was unafraid and viewed the spectators lazily. He was the arch-desperado, Gen. Boris Savinkov.
The trial began. "Make your final statement," said the Judge. Replied the prisoner, in a low, weak voice:
"I am not afraid to die. I know your sentence already, but I do not care. I am Boris Savinkov, who always played on the threshold; Boris Savinkov, revolutionary and friend of revolutionaries, to be judged now by your revolutionary court.