Let Comrade Frunze not be called by us the leader of our party, the leader of our revolution, let his name not flaunt next to the name of Lenin and our other leaders - but comrades who were close to him, who came across him, must say that it was the greatest worker, this was the best leader of our Red Army. In the sense of military knowledge, in the sense of organizing the military forces, Comrade Frunze had no equal among our Party members.

Ordzhonikidze GK Articles and speeches. - M., 1956.T. 1. - S. 410–411

The milestones set by M. V. Frunze on the path of development of the armed forces of our state will continue to serve as an indication to us in which direction to go to achieve the goals that are dear to us, for which he served, for which he gave everything that he had the best in life , and the very life of M. V. Frunze.

Voroshilov K. E. Articles and speeches. - M., 1936. -S. 84–86

It is authentically known that Mikhail Vasilyevich Frunze died on October 31, 1925 at 5:40 am in the former Soldatenkovskaya hospital (now Botkinskaya), located in Moscow. On November 3, he was buried with great honors on Red Square near the Lenin Mausoleum. By that time, few had received such an honor.

IN Soviet times about the death of M.V. Frunze adhered to one official version: after an operation on the stomach, Mikhail Vasilyevich died of heart failure. For more than 60 years, no one doubted this version.

In the 90s of the XX century, in connection with the beginning of "perestroika" and "glasnost", soviet history began to come under sharp criticism. Doubts and revisions began to be subjected to any historical facts. At the same time, the researchers did this both based on new documents and developing all kinds of bold versions of their own. In the 90s, especially after the abolition of censorship, everyone began to write about everything. Out of habit, many people believed what was published. So legends and versions were elevated to the rank of facts. This also happened with respect to the death of M. V. Frunze.

To date, there are several versions. There is no direct evidence for any of them. I consider it my duty to offer some to the reader.

In March 1989, an article by Roy Medvedev "On the death of M.V. Frunze and F.E. Dzerzhinsky" was published in the Military History magazine. This year was one of the last in the history of Soviet power. Author - doctor historical sciences, already in the 60s was in opposition to the communists. Therefore, of course, I tried to portray everything exclusively in black.

In his article, in particular, he writes that the death of 40-year-old M.V. Frunze gave rise to many rumors. Any experienced physician, even in 1925, knew well that with a stomach ulcer, conservative treatment should first be carried out and only if it was unsuccessful, resort to surgical intervention. M. V. Frunze did not want to undergo an operation, preferring conservative treatment, especially since by the autumn of 1925 he felt very well - peptic ulcer almost did not make itself felt.

The question arises why, despite such an obvious success of conservative treatment, both councils decided to perform an operation? This decision, incredible for experienced doctors, can only be explained by pressure from outside. And there was such pressure. It is known that the question of M. V. Frunze's illness was discussed even at the Politburo, and it was Stalin and Voroshilov who insisted on the operation.

In his letter to his wife, M. V. Frunze feigned some controversy, since he was not satisfied with the decision of the two councils. The bravest commander found himself in a rather difficult position. Refusing the operation meant incurring reproaches of fear, of indecision, and he reluctantly agreed.

This is to a certain extent confirmed and concretized by the memoirs of the old Bolshevik and personal friend of Mikhail Vasilyevich I.K. Gamburg, published in 1965.

“Shortly before the operation,” writes Hamburg, “I went to see him. He was upset and said that he would not want to lie down on the operating table ... The premonition of some kind of trouble, something irreparable depressed him ...

I urged Mikhail Vasilyevich to refuse the operation, because the thought of it depresses him. But he shook his head negatively.

Stalin insists on the operation; says that it is necessary once and for all to get rid of stomach ulcers. I decided to go under the knife."

The operation took place on the afternoon of 29 October. Chloroform was used as anesthesia, although even then it was known more effective remedy- ether. According to Hamburg, Frunze did not sleep well, anesthesia had little effect on him. Professor Rozanov, who led the operation, decided to almost double the dose of chloroform against the norm, which was extremely dangerous for the heart. The question involuntarily arises - why such a risk was needed?

The operation began at 12:40 pm, and its complete uselessness was immediately revealed. The surgeons did not find an ulcer, only a small scar on the duodenum testified that it had once been. However, for the heart of M. V. Frunze, the increased dose of anesthesia turned out to be unbearable - the condition of the operated person deteriorated sharply. At 5 pm, that is, after the operation, Stalin and Mikoyan arrived at the hospital, but they were not allowed into the ward to see the patient. Stalin gave Frunze a note: “Druzhok! I visited Comrade Rozanov today at 5 pm (me and Mikoyan). They wanted to come to you, - they didn’t let me, an ulcer. We had to submit to the force. DON'T BE MISSING, MY DEAR. Hello. We will come, we will come… Koba.” But neither Stalin nor Mikoyan had to see Mikhail Vasilyevich alive. 30 hours after the operation, MV Frunze's heart stopped beating.

On November 1, 1925, a government message was published in Pravda: “On the night of October 31, the chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR, Mikhail Vasilyevich FRUNZE, died of heart failure after an operation.” On the same day, the “Anatomical Diagnosis” was also published in the newspapers, which, in particular, said: “A healed round ulcer of the duodenum with a pronounced cicatricial induration ... Superficial ulcerations of various prescriptions for the exit of the stomach and upper part of the duodenum ... Acute purulent inflammation of the peritoneum. Parenchymal degeneration of the muscle of the heart, kidneys, liver ... "

It is quite obvious that M. V. Frunze did not have acute purulent inflammation of the peritoneum before the operation, since, according to himself and his friends, he felt quite healthy and able to work. Acute peritonitis, undoubtedly the main cause of death, was one of the consequences of the operation, during which an infection was introduced into the abdominal cavity of the operated person. Postoperative peritonitis usually develops very quickly - within a day, and in 1925 they still did not know how to deal with them. As for the degeneration of the muscles of the heart, kidneys, liver, all this was the result of an increased dose of chloroform introduced into the body. Any drug reference indicates that chloroform is a highly toxic substance that causes heart rhythm disturbances, dystrophic changes in the myocardium, fatty degeneration, cirrhosis and liver atrophy. It also disrupts metabolism, in particular carbohydrate metabolism.

Pravda also contained a rather vague "conclusion" about the disease. “The disease of M. V. Frunze,” it said, “as the autopsy showed, consisted, on the one hand, in the presence of a round ulcer of the duodenum 12, which underwent scarring and entailed the development of scar growths ... On the other hand, as consequences from the operation in 1916 - removal of the appendix, there was an old inflammatory process in the abdominal cavity. The operation, undertaken on October 29, 1925, for a duodenal ulcer, caused an exacerbation of the chronic inflammatory process that had taken place, which led to a rapid decline in cardiac activity and death. The underdevelopment of the aorta and arteries discovered at autopsy, as well as the preserved thymus gland, are the basis for the assumption that the body is unstable in relation to anesthesia and in the sense of its poor resistance to infection.

On November 3, 1925, Pravda published several articles dedicated to the memory M. V. Frunze. (“Can we reproach the poor heart,” Mikhail Koltsov wrote, for example, “for surrendering before 60 grams of chloroform, after it withstood two years of suicide, the executioner’s rope around his neck.”) An official article was also placed here“ To the medical history of comrade. Frunze”, which stated: “In view of the interest that the question of Comrade’s medical history represents for comrades. Frunze… the editors consider it timely to publish the next document.” Next came the protocols of two consultations at the bedside of M. V. Frunze and the conclusion about the operation. In particular, it said: “On October 29 ... Comrade M. V. Frunze was operated on at the Botkin Hospital by Professor V. N. Rozanov, with the participation of Professor I. Grekov, Professor A. Martynov and Dr. A. D. Ochkin ... Operation , performed under general anesthesia, lasted 35 minutes. Upon opening the abdominal cavity ... found ... a diffuse induration of the pylorus and a small scar at the beginning of the duodenum 12, apparently at the site of a healed ulcer ... The patient had difficulty falling asleep and remained under anesthesia for one hour and 5 minutes.

It would be useful to cite here one more document - a record of a conversation full of all sorts of contradictory and vague arguments with Professor G. Grekov, published in Izvestia on November 3.

“The last consultation was on October 23,” Grekov said. - All the details of this meeting were set out by Comrade. Frunze, and he was offered an operation. Despite the fact that the possibility of an unfavorable outcome from Comrade. Frunze did not hide, he nevertheless wished to undergo an operation, since he considered his condition depriving him of the opportunity to continue responsible work. Tov. Frunze only asked to operate on him as soon as possible. After the operation, the poor activity of the heart caused alarm ...

To the patient ... of course, no one was allowed, but when Comrade. Frunze was informed that a note had been sent to him by Comrade. Stalin, he asked me to read this note and smiled happily ... The operation was classified as not serious. It was produced in accordance with all the rules of surgical art, and its sad outcome would have seemed completely inexplicable if we did not weigh the data obtained during the operation and the autopsy. It is clear that in the body of the deceased ... there were features that led to the sad outcome. It was further said that the revolution and the war had weakened Frunze's organism. “The question involuntarily arises,” Grekov finished his conversation, “whether it was possible to do without an operation. All the changes that were discovered during the operation, undoubtedly speak in favor of the fact that Comrade. Frunze was incurable without an operation and was even under the threat of imminent and possibly sudden death.

The circumstances connected with the unexpected death of M. V. Frunze, as well as the extremely confused explanations of the doctors, caused bewilderment in wide party circles. The Ivanovo-Voznesensk communists even demanded the creation of a special commission to investigate the causes of death. In mid-November 1925, under the chairmanship of N. I. Podvoisky, a meeting of the board of the Society of Old Bolsheviks was held on this occasion. N. A. Semashko, People's Commissar for Health, was summoned to him for a report. It followed from his report and answers to questions that Frunze's death required additional investigation.

A commission of the Central Committee was appointed. This commission was headed by people about whom Semashko spoke with great disapproval. It also turned out that Stalin and Zinoviev called V. N. Rozanov before the consultation, and that already during the operation, from too much anesthesia for the patient, there was a threat of death on the operating table. I had to take emergency measures.

After the death of M. V. Frunze, Professor Rozanov became so ill that the chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR A. Rykov went to him to calm him down and inform him that no one lays responsibility on him for the unfavorable outcome of the operation, the board of the Society of Old Bolsheviks after discussing the causes of M. V. Frunze decided on an ugly attitude towards the old Bolsheviks. It was agreed to bring this decision to the attention of the Party Congress.

At the XIV Congress of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks in December 1925, the issue of the death of M.V. Frunze was not discussed. However, in the fifth issue of the magazine New world"For 1926," The Tale of the Unextinguished Moon "by B. Pilnyak was published. True, in the preface to it, the author wrote: “The plot of this story suggests that the death of M.V. Frunze served as the reason for writing it and as material. Personally, I hardly knew Frunze, I barely knew him, having seen him twice ... I find it necessary to inform the reader of all this so that the reader does not look for genuine facts and living faces in him. However, in reality, the story was about the death of M.V. Frunze, and B. Pilnyak showed a very good knowledge of all the circumstances associated with the operation and the death of a major military leader named "Gavrilov", which was read by many as "Frunze". Here are some excerpts from this work:

“…. Before leaving home, the professor, with a solemn face and with some respectful fear, rang the telephone: by all sorts of roundabout telephone routes, the professor penetrated that telephone network, which had only some thirty or forty wires; he called the office of house number one, he respectfully asked if there would be any new orders, a firm voice on the telephone suggested that he come immediately after the operation with a report. The professor said: "All the best, it will be done," he bowed in front of the pipe and did not immediately hang it up.

A little lower, describing the operation, Pilnyak reveals another important secret:

“... on the shiny meat of the stomach, in the place where the ulcer should have been - white, as if fashioned from wax, similar to the mask of a dung beetle - there was a scar - indicating that the ulcer had already healed - indicating that the operation was pointless …

... The patient had no pulse, no heart beat, and no breathing, and his legs were cold. It was a heart shock: an organism that did not take chloroform was poisoned by chloroform. It was that a person will never come to life again, that a person must die ... It was clear that Gavrilov must die under the knife, on the operating table.

After the operation was completed, the professor "delved into that telephone network, which had thirty or forty wires, bowed to the receiver and said that the operation went well."

After that, “... in a covered Royce (Rolls-Royce), Professor Lozovsky urgently drove to house number one; "Royce" silently entered the gate with vultures, past the sentries, stood at the entrance, the sentry opened the door; Lozovsky entered the office, where there were three telephone sets on the red cloth of the writing table...”.

The author's fantasies were very similar to reality, many understood this. Therefore, it is not surprising that the entire circulation of the magazine with Pilnyak's story was confiscated. By chance, only a few issues have been preserved, which today represent a huge bibliographic rarity.

The authorities acted very decisively and quickly. Already in the next issue of Novy Mir, the editors admitted that the publication of Pilnyak's story was "an obvious and gross mistake."

I do not know whether the story was published in the émigré or Western press at the end of the 1920s, but in 1965 the Flegon Press publishing house in London published it in Russian under the title Death of the Commander.

The son of the famous revolutionary and Soviet statesman and military leader Antonov-Ovseenko, the historian A.V. Antonov-Ovseenko has no doubt that the death of Frunze as a result of the operation was a “political action of elimination”, which was organized by Stalin.

But there were other opinions as well. The American historian and Sovietologist A. Ulam, in his book on Stalin, strongly objects to this version. He believes that the whole thing was extremely bad condition medical care in the USSR in 1925. A. Ulam recalls that even under Lenin, the practice of party authorities interfering in medical affairs was introduced, and many party leaders were forcibly prescribed rest or treatment. So the decision of the Politburo about the operation that should be transferred to Frunze was not something unusual. A. Ulam considers Pilnyak's story an undeniable slander, which “Pilnyak undertook under the influence of someone who wanted to hit Stalin ... It is noteworthy,” Ulam wrote, “that there were no consequences for Pilnyak and the editor at that time. Whether out of contempt for lies, or out of calculated restraint, or perhaps both, Stalin chose not to react to slander, which, even in a democratic society, would provide sufficient grounds for the criminal prosecution of its author and publisher.

A. Ulam, of course, is wrong when he writes about Stalin's "contempt" for lies. Medical care in the USSR in 1925 was indeed very poorly organized, but not for the highest leaders of the country. When it came to their health, the best doctors were involved, including doctors and consultants from Germany. The Politburo took care of the health of the members of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, prescribing doctors, medicines or sending Soviet leaders to the best clinics in Switzerland, Germany, resorts Western countries. But the Politburo never insisted on this or that method of treatment, and even more so on operations, so in this respect the case of M.V. Frunze was just an exception, and, moreover, very strange in its persistence. To take any measures of retribution against Pilnyak or the editor of the magazine would mean for Stalin only to draw excessive attention to this matter. There was no question of a democratic trial over "slander", such a trial could also highlight such details of the treatment of M.V. Frunze, which they wanted to quickly forget about.

I.V. Stalin dealt with B. A. Pilnyak himself later. As soon as the "great terror" of 1937-1938 began, Boris Andreevich was one of the first to be arrested. It is not known whether he died in prison or was shot.

Speaking on November 3, 1925, at the funeral of M. V. Frunze, Stalin said: “Perhaps this is exactly what is needed, so that old comrades sink into the grave so easily and so simply.” Of course, neither the people nor the party needed this. But this turned out to be very important for Stalin, since instead of M.V. Frunze, K.E. Voroshilov was appointed to the post of People's Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs, who, although he had certain services to the party and the revolution, did not neither intelligence, nor military talent, nor the authority of Frunze, but he was under the strong influence of Stalin since the time of the battles near Tsaritsyn.

The version of the murder of M.V. Frunze was then developed by many. In particular, Leonid Mikhailovich Mlechin devoted a chapter of his book “The Russian Army between Trotsky and Stalin”, published in 2002, to the question of the death of Mikhail Vasilyevich. Developing the theme, as one of the evidence, he writes that Frunze was operated on by Vladimir Nikolaevich Rozanov, a Stalinist doctor. In the early 1920s, he performed a successful operation on Stalin, cutting out his appendix under difficult conditions. Of course, this argument does not stand up to scrutiny.

V. N. Rozanov - senior doctor of the surgical department of the Soldatenkovskaya hospital, since 1919 he was a consultant to the Medical and Sanitary Department of the Kremlin. He treated many, even assisted during the operation, when they removed the bullet to Lenin after the assassination attempt on him by Fanny Kaplan in 1918. But at a time when the revolution forced many members of the intelligentsia to emigrate or retire, any doctor was registered.

As for the state of health of M. V. Frunze, of course, the exile and prisons he endured in his youth were not in vain. So, Konstantin Frunze, the elder brother of the military leader, a doctor by profession, found Mikhail Vasilyevich with a stomach disease back in 1906. When Mikhail was serving time in the Vladimir Central, he complained of pain in the stomach.

In 1916, he was operated on for acute appendicitis. On October 11, Frunze wrote from Minsk to his sister Lyudmila: “Tomorrow I am going to the hospital. I'm doing an appendicitis operation. After the operation, Frunze went to Moscow, rested. But the operation was not very successful and will still make itself felt.

Frunze suffered from stomach pains for many years, he was diagnosed with duodenal ulcer. Then he began to have dangerous intestinal bleeding, which put him to bed for a long time.

During the Civil War, he sometimes had to lead the fighting without getting out of bed. He did not like to be treated when he was in pain, he swallowed baking soda diluted in water. In 1922, they wanted to send him to drink medicinal waters in Karlsbad (Karlovy Vary), which helps many ulcers. He flatly refused.

The severity of Frunze's illness was obvious to those who knew him closely. On April 20, 1923, the well-known party worker Sergei Konstantinovich Minin, who worked in Petrograd as the secretary of the Northwestern Regional Bureau of the Central Committee, turned to Voroshilov, Stalin and Ordzhonikidze, with whom he was on friendly terms:

"Klim. Stalin. Sergo.

I am surprised why you do not pay the necessary attention to Frunze's illness. True, the Central Committee last year decided that Frunze should be treated and provided funds. But this is not enough. You need to follow the implementation. His disease is severe (stomach ulcer) and can be fatal. Doctors recommend four months of serious treatment. Next year it will be six months, and so on. And then, when Mikhail Vasilyevich is out of action, we will say that this is how he worked, forgetting a serious illness and the like.

As I see, Frunze is not at all going to be treated properly: there will be maneuvers and so on.

It is necessary to force them to be treated in a comradely and party way, as Comrade Lenin seems to have done with many.

In 1925, Mikhail Vasilyevich, in addition to all other troubles, got into car accidents three times. And in early September, he fell out of the car at full speed and was badly hurt. He took a vacation and on September 7 he left for the Crimea. Stalin and Voroshilov rested in Mukhalatka. Frunze wanted to go hunting, he assured me that everything would work out in the fresh air. But the doctors, fearing for the life of a high-ranking patient, almost forcibly put him to bed.

On September 29, all three left for Moscow. On the way, Mikhail Vasilievich also caught a cold. In Moscow, Frunze was immediately admitted to the Kremlin hospital.

On October 8, under the leadership of the People's Commissar of Health of the RSFSR Nikolai Aleksandrovich Semashko, a dozen doctors examined Frunze. They came to the conclusion that there is a danger of perforation of the ulcer, so the patient is shown a surgical operation. Although some doctors were in favor of conservative treatment. In particular, Vladimir Nikolaevich Rozanov doubted the necessity of the operation.

L. M. Mlechin, a political observer for the TVC television company, author and host of the “Special Folder” and “Special Opinion” programs, in his version of the death of M. V. Frunze, writes that Rozanov was invited by Stalin and Zinoviev, asked his opinion about Frunze’s condition. Rozanov suggested postponing the operation, while Stalin allegedly asked not to delay: the country and the party needed the chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council. Maybe you should not blame the famous surgeon for not being able to defend his opinion.

“In the twentieth of October 1925,” says the memoirs of Anastas Ivanovich Mikoyan (then he was secretary of the North Caucasian Regional Committee of the Party), “I came to Moscow on business and, going to Stalin’s apartment, learned from him that Frunze was going to have an operation. Stalin was clearly worried, and this feeling was transmitted to me.

Or maybe it is better to avoid this operation? I asked.

To this, Stalin replied that he was also not sure of the need for the operation, but Frunze himself insisted on it, and the most prominent surgeon in the country, Rozanov, who treated him, considered the operation "not one of the most dangerous."

So let's talk with Rozanov, - I suggested to Stalin.

He agreed. Soon Rozanov appeared, whom I had met a year earlier in Mukhalatka. Stalin asked him:

Is it true that the operation to be carried out by Frunze is not dangerous?

Like any operation, - answered Rozanov, - it, of course, poses a certain amount of danger. But usually with us such operations pass without any special complications, although you probably know that ordinary cuts sometimes lead to blood poisoning. But these are very rare cases.

All this was said by Rozanov so confidently that I somewhat calmed down. However, Stalin nevertheless asked one more question, which seemed tricky to me:

Well, if instead of Frunze there was, for example, your brother, would you perform such an operation on him or would you abstain?

Would refrain, - the answer followed.

You see, Comrade Stalin, - replied Rozanov, - peptic ulcer disease is such that if the patient follows the prescribed regimen, you can do without surgery. My brother, for example, would strictly adhere to the regime assigned to him, but Mikhail Vasilyevich, as far as I know him, cannot be kept within the framework of such a regime. He would still travel a lot around the country, participate in military maneuvers, and certainly not follow the prescribed diet. Therefore, in this case, I am for the operation ... "

Then Anastas Ivanovich Mikoyan was told that Frunze himself, in letters to his wife, objected to the operation, wrote that he generally felt much better and he did not see the need to do something radical, he did not understand why the doctors were talking about the operation.

“This struck me,” writes Mikoyan, “because Stalin told me that Frunze himself insisted on the operation. I was told that Stalin played a show with us "in his own spirit," as he put it. He might not have involved Rozanov, it was enough for the GPU to “treat” the anesthetist…”

Memoir literature is not the most reliable source when it comes to specific facts, since memories are created many years after the events described. In addition, memoirs are usually corrected, and sometimes added to by editors and compilers.

In reality, Frunze not only did not resist the operation, but, on the contrary, asked for it. This is evidenced by letters to his wife, Sofia Alekseevna, who was treated in Yalta for tuberculosis. Frunze sent her to Finland and the Crimea, but nothing helped. Sophia Alekseevna felt bad, did not get up. Doctors recommended that she spend the whole winter in Yalta. She was worried: will there be enough money?

Frunze replied:

“I can manage money somehow. Provided, of course, that you will not pay for all the doctor's visits from your own funds. There is not enough money for this. The last time I took money from the Central Committee. I think we'll survive the winter. If only you stood firmly on your feet ... "

“I'm still in the hospital. On Saturday there will be a new council. I am completely healthy now. I'm afraid that they will refuse the operation."

Seventeen specialists took part in the next consultation on October 24. They came to the same conclusion:

"The age of the disease and the tendency to bleed, which may be life-threatening, do not warrant the risk of further expectant treatment."

At the same time, the doctors warned Frunze that the operation could be difficult and serious and did not guarantee a 100% cure. Nevertheless, Mikhail Vasilyevich, as Professor Grekov later said, "wished to undergo an operation, because he believed that his condition made it impossible for him to continue responsible work."

Ivan Mikhailovich Gronsky met Frunze at the Kremlin Hospital, which was then located in the Poteshny Palace:

“The hospital, despite its big name, was more than small. And, as I found out, there were few patients in it: only about ten or fifteen people.

There was nothing remarkable in a small clean room - a ward on the second floor, where I was placed: a simple metal bed, two or three Viennese chairs, a bedside table and a simple table, that, perhaps, was the whole situation. I was struck only, perhaps, by the thick walls of the Amusing Palace ... "

Troisky was warned that he might have to be operated on.

Well, - Frunze told him, - if an operation is needed, then we will go to the Botkin hospital together.

Why to the Botkin hospital? - asked Gronsky.

There is no surgical department in the Kremlin hospital, which is why surgical patients are sent there.

And why are you, Mikhail Vasilyevich, being sent there? Need an operation? Anything serious?

Doctors find something wrong with the stomach. Whether an ulcer, or something else. In a word, an operation is required ...

A day later, Gronsky met Frunze again:

“He was standing by the wardrobe next to the stairs. He was in critical condition. The face has acquired an unusual dark color. Mikhail Vasilievich received clothes. After saying hello, I asked: is he going to the Botkin hospital?

You guessed. I'm going there. Let me know when you arrive. Let's continue our conversations.

MV Frunze was, as always, calm. He spoke exactly. The only thing was that he didn't have the usual friendly smile on his face. It was focused and serious. We shook hands tightly. I went to the consultation and did not suspect that I would never see this charming person again ...

I learned about Frunze's death from Professor Rozanov, who was supposed to operate on me as well. Luckily, I didn't need surgery."

On the eve of the operation, Frunze wrote his last letter to his wife Sofia Alekseevna in Yalta:

“... You should try to seriously take up treatment. To do this, you must first take yourself in hand. And then everything somehow goes from bad to worse. Your concern for children is worse for you, and ultimately for them. I somehow had to hear such a phrase about us: “The Frunze family is somehow tragic ... Everyone is sick, and all misfortunes are pouring on everyone! ..” Indeed, we represent some kind of continuous, continuous infirmary. We must try to change all this decisively. I took on this business. You have to do…”

This letter explains why Frunze himself wanted the operation. He was tired of being among the sick. He hoped to get rid of his ailments at once. The wife did not receive a suicide letter. A telegram came about the death of Mikhail Vasilyevich ...

Nevertheless, with all his courage, Frunze, like any person, was afraid of the operation. After his death, these words will seem like a premonition of death. But he acted like any person waiting for major surgery. Who and when gladly went under the knife of surgeons?

To the wife of Mikhail Pavlovich Tomsky, a member of the Politburo and secretary of the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions, who came to visit him, he said:

I shaved my head and put on a new white shirt. I feel, Maria Ivanovna, that I am going to die, but I do not want to die.

An old friend of Joseph Karlovich Hamburg, with whom he was exiled in Siberia, he asked, if he died under the knife, to bury him in Shuya. Lying in a hospital bed, Frunze seemed to be saying:

If something happens to me, I ask you to go to the Central Committee and tell me about my desire to be buried in Shuya. I think it will also have political implications. Workers will come to my grave and remember the stormy days of 1905 and the Great October revolution. This will help them in their great work in the future.

If Mikhail Vasilievich really said something like that, this would indicate a real megalomania. But since Frunze was not seen in anything of the kind, it remains to be assumed that his old friend, appointed in 1925 as assistant chief Air force Red Army, embellished the conversation in the spirit of that time ...

In the memoirs of Marshal Budyonny, there is also a story about visiting Frunze in the hospital.

It’s hard to believe that today is an operation, ”Frunze said to Budyonny.

Then why do you need surgery if everything is fine? the marshal was surprised. - Finish with this business, and we go home. My car is at the entrance.

Distinguished by good health, Semyon Mikhailovich lived up to more than ninety years old, rarely went to doctors and sincerely did not understand what Frunze was doing in the hospital.

Budyonny rushed to the wardrobe, gave Frunze uniforms and boots. Mikhail Vasilyevich seemed to agree. He put on his trousers and had already thrown his tunic over his head, but lingered for a moment and took it off.

What am I doing? he said in bewilderment. - I'm going to leave without even asking the permission of the doctors.

Budyonny did not retreat:

Mikhail Vasilyevich, get dressed, and I will immediately agree with the doctors.

But Frunze refused this service. He resolutely undressed and climbed back into bed.

There is a decision of the Central Committee, and I am obliged to comply with it ...

Memories of Budyonny were written by military journalists,

specially attached to the marshal by the Main Political Directorate Soviet army And Navy so this story needs to be treated with caution.

The operation began on October 29 in the afternoon. Rozanov operated, assisted by the famous surgeons Ivan Ivanovich Grekov and Alexei Vasilyevich Martynov, anesthesia was given by Alexei Dmitrievich Ochkin. The operation was monitored by employees of the Medical and Sanitary Department of the Kremlin.

Frunze had difficulty falling asleep, so the operation was started half an hour late, Viktor Topolyansky writes. The whole operation lasted thirty-five minutes, and he was given anesthesia for more than an hour. Apparently, he was first given ether, but since Frunze did not fall asleep, they resorted to chloroform - this is a very strong and dangerous remedy. An overdose of chloroform is deadly. During the operation, sixty grams of chloroform and one hundred and forty grams of ether were used. This is much more than could be used.

Speaking before the board of the Old Bolshevik Society (chaired by Nikolai Ilyich Podvoisky), People's Commissar for Health Semashko said bluntly that the cause of Frunze's death was the improper administration of anesthesia, and added that if he had been present at the operation, he would have stopped anesthesia ...

During the operation, Frunze's pulse began to drop, and they began to inject him with drugs that stimulate cardiac activity. In those days, adrenaline was such a drug, because it was not yet known that the combination of chloroform and adrenaline leads to heart rhythm disturbances.

And immediately after the operation, the heart began to fail. Attempts to restore cardiac activity were unsuccessful. Thirty-nine hours later, at five thirty in the morning on October 31, Frunze died of heart failure.

Literally ten minutes later, Stalin, head of government Alexei Ivanovich Rykov, deputy chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council Iosif Stanislavovich Unshlicht, head of the Political Administration of the Red Army Alexei Sergeevich Bubnov, secretary of the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee Avel Sofronovich Enukidze and secretary of the North Caucasian regional committee of the party Mikoyan arrived.

A government report stated that "on the night of October 31, the chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR, Mikhail Vasilyevich Frunze, died of heart failure after an operation."

The Bulletin on the death of M. V. Frunze said:

“After 24 hours on October 30 Comrade. Frunze M. V., despite all the measures taken to increase cardiac activity, with continuous consultation of professors I. I. Grekov, A. V. Martynov, D. D. Pletnev, V. N. Rozanov, P. I. Obrosov and doctors A. D. Ochkin and B. O. Poyman, at 5 o'clock. 40 min. On October 31, he died with symptoms of heart paralysis. Blackout of consciousness began 40 min. until death."

Before the autopsy of the body, the leaders of the Central Committee, the government, the Revolutionary Military Council again came to the anatomical theater of the Soldatenkovskaya hospital.

Professor Aleksey Ivanovich Abrikosov (the future academician and Hero of Socialist Labor), who performed the autopsy, drew up a conclusion, also published on November 1, 1925 in Pravda:

“The disease of Mikhail Vasilyevich, as shown by the autopsy, consisted, on the one hand, in the presence of a round ulcer of the duodenum, which had undergone scarring and entailed the development of cicatricial growths around the duodenum, the exit of the stomach and gallbladder; on the other hand, as a consequence of the operation in 1916 - the removal of the appendix, there was an old inflammatory process in the abdominal cavity.

The operation, undertaken on October 29, 1925, for a duodenal ulcer, caused an exacerbation of the chronic inflammatory process that had taken place, which led to an acute decline in cardiac activity and death. The underdevelopment of the aorta and arteries discovered at autopsy, as well as the preserved thymus gland, are the basis for the assumption that the body is unstable in relation to anesthesia and in the sense of its poor resistance to infection.

Recently observed bleeding from the gastrointestinal tract is explained by superficial ulcerations (erosions) found in the stomach and duodenum and are the result of the cicatricial growths mentioned above.

An autopsy confirmed the diagnosis made to Mikhail Vasilyevich: he really needed a surgical operation in all respects. “Sharp organic narrowing of the outlet part of the stomach (pyloric stenosis), repeated intestinal bleeding and the presence of a deep callous ulcer that is not amenable to therapeutic intervention have been and remain direct indications for surgical intervention,” writes Viktor Topolyansky.

But the autopsy did not give a clear answer to the question: why did Frunze die immediately after the operation?

Vladimir Nikolaevich Rozanov was an experienced and talented surgeon who treated his patients with great care. Equally highly regarded are his assistants, who were among the best surgeons in the country. So there can be no doubt about the surgical team. But the doctor who gave anesthesia, according to experts, did not have sufficient experience.

Alexey Dmitrievich Ochkin is a famous doctor, a monument was erected to him in the courtyard of the Botkin hospital. The Moscow public knew him well also because he married the sister of the founder of the Moscow Art Theater, Konstantin Sergeevich Stanislavsky.

Ochkin's actions arouse Viktor Topolyansky's suspicions: in January 1920, Ochkin was appointed chief physician of the Budyonny Surgical Hospital in the First Cavalry Army. “Most likely, Ochkin was involved in the performance of professional duties that were not characteristic of him by order of the authorities,” writes Topolyansky. - Appropriate instructions could bring him, in particular, his former commander Budyonny, who suddenly appeared in his clinic on the morning before the operation.

But such stories only happen in adventure novels. Least of all was the rubak Budyonny fit for the role of a liaison in such a delicate matter. Yes, he did not belong to the narrow circle of Stalin's personal associates. The Secretary General always supported and protected him, but there was little personal communication between them.

The idea of ​​the deliberate murder of M. V. Frunze by order of I. V. Stalin is expressed in publications former assistant Secretary General Boris Bazhenov, who later fled abroad. But, having escaped the borders of the USSR, this man took an openly anti-Soviet position. No other conclusions could be expected from him. In his later reasoning, Bazhenov even went so far as to suspect Mikhail Vasilievich of organizing an anti-government conspiracy on the basis that Frunze, heading the military department, appointed people to senior command posts "selected on the basis of their military qualifications, but not on the basis of their communist devotion." On this basis, Bazhenov wrote: “Looking at the lists of senior command personnel that Frunze brought, I posed the question to myself: “If I were in his place, what kind of personnel would I bring to the military elite?” And I had to answer myself: it was these cadres who were quite suitable for a coup d'état in case of war.

Such serious accusations on such shaky ground from the lips of a defector sound very unconvincing.

And again, this sounds unconvincing. By 1925, after the defeat of L. D. Trotsky, if desired, I. V. Stalin could relatively easily nominate another person for the post of People's Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs. But for some reason he chose M.V. Frunze. Perhaps this was a forced step taken under the pressure of specific circumstances (unfavorable foreign policy situation, personnel "hunger"). But information about such circumstances has not been preserved.

The May 1926 issue of Novy Mir magazine published The Tale of the Unextinguished Moon by the writer Boris Andreevich Pilnyak (Vogau), republished by the Moscow Book Chamber publishing house in 1989. In this work, the author, without naming Stalin, Frunze and others, sets out his version of the murder of a major Soviet military leader on the operating table. Contemporaries easily conjectured and placed many big names in this story.

The publication of this story caused a great scandal. The press, as if on command, attacked its author, who was abroad at the time, accusing him of distorting the true facts, slandering the Soviet system and the Communist Party.

On May 13, 1926, the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks adopted a resolution in which it recognized “that Pilnyak’s The Tale of the Unextinguished Moon is a malicious, counter-revolutionary and slanderous attack against the Central Committee and the Party” and ordered the fifth issue of the Novy Mir magazine to be withdrawn from use . The members of the editorial board of the journal were severely reprimanded, and B. A. Pilnyak himself was excluded from the lists of employees of the country's leading journals.

This reaction of the party leadership clearly enough indicates that too bright parallels between fiction and reality were drawn in the writer's work. The sudden death of M. V. Frunze made a lot of noise, and many were ready to see it as a well-planned action.

At the same time, B. A. Pilnyak himself, having returned to the USSR from abroad and learned about the reaction to his work, began to make excuses. In the preface to the book by B. A. Pilnyak, published in 1989, his son B. Andronikashvili-Pilnyak cites a letter in which the disgraced writer writes:

“After writing Luna, I gathered a group of writers and my acquaintances from the party (as I usually do) to listen to their criticism - including the editor of Novy Mir. The story was listened to by a comparatively large number of people, approved, and immediately accepted for publication for Novy Mir... faux pas. But believe me that in the days of writing I did not have a single unworthy thought - and when I, returning from abroad, heard how my story was accepted by our public, I had nothing but bitter bewilderment. because in no way, not for a single minute, did I want to write things “insulting the memory of Comrade Frunze” and “maliciously slandering the party” (as was written in the June Novy Mir).”

This story is also ambivalent. On the one hand - the negative reaction of the leadership of the CPSU (b), behind which it is easy to see I. V. Stalin. The story, of course, worked in favor of the enemies of the Soviet system, of which there were many in the country and abroad. Not without reason, subsequently, it was repeatedly reprinted in various countries with relevant comments.

On the other hand, the author, when writing it, did not have any documents and even competent evidence. It is unlikely that writers and ordinary party members could express something more significant than personal guesses, and go further than an assessment of the literary style of a work. The topic was too "hot", and this is what predetermined the publication of the work, and the allegorical characters freed the author and others from responsibility.

Subsequently, B. A. Pilnyak wrote a number of other works, some of which were also recognized as anti-Soviet. He was arrested on October 25, 1937 at his dacha in Peredelkino. On April 21, 1938, B. A. Pilnyak-Vogau was convicted by the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR and sentenced to death. The sentence was carried out on the same day.

Thus, the history of the death of M.V. Frunze is covered with a web of all kinds of versions, conjectures and conjectures. They have been exaggerated for many years, especially in last years when it became especially fashionable to denounce the Soviet government and personally I.V. Stalin in various crimes. Some authors and screenwriters have already reached the point that they have witnessed the murders of many political and military figures, scientists, writers ... Literary permissiveness, the virtual absence of censorship and scientific editing has led to the fact that abundant streams of custom-made and amateurish lies have poured into the people, which many accept for the truth. As a result, history is distorted and even changed beyond recognition. The democrats, who blamed many regimes for this, including the Soviet one, themselves easily and quickly adopted anti-scientific tricks and began to rewrite history to their own advantage. The life and death of M. V. Frunze became part of this “renewed” history.

It is quite obvious that Mikhail Vasilyevich was objectionable to many, hindered many in achieving their ambitious plans. The civil war ended victoriously for the communists, it is time to share power and receive privileges. There was a long line behind them. New positions were created. But the bureaucratic apparatus could not be dimensionless. Gradually filled all its cells. Soon, any advancement became possible only after the liberation of the higher level.

At the same time, those who managed to occupy the highest levels of power tried in every possible way to stay on them. For the sake of this, they put their people on the lower steps, mercilessly clearing the way for them.

The armed forces, although weakened, were a serious power that all politicians and all officials had to reckon with. At that time, there were too many people in their ranks who were used to defending their interests with weapons in their hands. There were also supporters of other parties. It was necessary to take this force under strict control, to ensure its unconditional devotion to power. This was finally done only at the end of the 30s.

M. V. Frunze did not fully fit into any of these frameworks. At the same time, according to his authority, he claimed a leading role in the Soviet structure, and received this role. Subsequently, he was to be expected big problems. As you know, death solved many of them. And M. V. Frunze died. It remains to build versions about the true cause of this death.

On October 31, 1925, Mikhail Frunze, chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR, died after an operation. No one still knows the circumstances under which his death occurred. We will consider 5 versions of the death of the great statesman and a military leader.

Official version

For almost 10 years, Frunze was tormented by pain in the abdomen. Three times doctors diagnosed intestinal bleeding, the last time in September 1925 after a car accident. Experienced doctors knew that with a stomach ulcer it is necessary to use conservative treatment, and then, in the absence of a result, decide on a surgical intervention. Bed rest and treatment improved Frunze's well-being. But bouts of pain sometimes chained him to bed, and entire medical consultations were held on this occasion - only in October 1925 there were three of them. On October 27, the third council decided to transfer Frunze from the Kremlin hospital to the Botkin hospital, where on October 29, Dr. Vladimir Rozanov began the operation. He was assisted by doctors Grekov, Martynov, anesthesia was performed by Alexei Ochkin. On October 31, 1925, 40-year-old Mikhail Frunze died after an operation. According to the official conclusion, he died from a general blood poisoning.

anesthesia

Drug addict Alexei Ochkin had 14 years of work experience (since 1911, when he graduated from Moscow University). Of course, he knew what general anesthesia was, and knew how to do it. However, according to official data, Frunze endured anesthesia very badly and fell asleep hard - they could start the operation only after 30 minutes. For general anesthesia, Ochkin used ether, and then switched to anesthesia with chloroform, which is quite toxic, the difference between a soporific and a lethal dose is very small. The combined use of ether and chloroform enhances negative impact. Ochkin could not help but know this, since since 1905 many works have been published concerning the use of chloroform. Nevertheless, some scientists admit the version that Frunze's heart stopped because Ochkin inadvertently administered anesthesia.

Stalin is a killer

At Frunze's funeral, Stalin delivered the following speech: “Perhaps this is exactly what is needed for old comrades to descend into the grave so easily and so simply. Unfortunately, our young comrades rise to replace the old not so easily and far from so simply. Some noticed a secret, hidden meaning in these words, and with enviable regularity information began to appear that true reason death of Frunze - Joseph Stalin.
Lenin dies in 1924. Frunze is among those who could decide the most important questions. His authority is indisputable. Naturally, this could not please Stalin, especially since Frunze never bowed his head helpfully to anyone. His death would change the balance of power in the party and strengthen the influence of Stalin, who could take control of the leadership of the Red Army by placing his man there. This happened later.

The writer Boris Pilnyak was also convinced that Frunze was killed on Stalin's personal order. In 1926, he writes The Tale of the Unextinguished Moon, in which he expresses his version. From the book one could understand that the forty-year-old Frunze was stabbed to death by surgeons during a heart operation - on orders from above. It was on sale for two days, it was immediately withdrawn.

Voroshilov and Budyonny

Frunze had no obvious enemies among the leadership of the USSR, unless one takes into account his difficult relationship with party leader Kliment Voroshilov and Soviet military leader Semyon Budyonny, who could easily persuade Stalin.

Frunze, being a talented people's commissar, did not fit into the ranks of the jealous and uneducated rulers of the country. It is also necessary to take into account the fact that the composition of the council was determined by the medical commission of the Central Committee of the RCP (b). Dr. Vladimir Rozanov initially did not want to have an operation, and only after being called to the Politburo, where he was called to account, did he radically change his position.

Shot on the hunt

It is known that in 1925, after an incomplete vacation in the Caucasus, Stalin came to the Crimea, where Kliment Voroshilov and Matvey Shkiryatov (party leaders) were already there, and summoned Frunze there. The suggestion is to improve your health. During the rest, a hunt took place, which, according to the testimonies of the participants, ended unsuccessfully. Some theorists put forward the assumption that during this very hunt in Frunze, one of the comrades-in-arms shot - by accident or not, is unknown. If the wound really happened while hunting, then it is clear why a team of doctors from Moscow was urgently called to the Crimea, including Vladimir Rozanov, a “bullet specialist” (on April 23, 1922, in the Soldatenkovskaya hospital, he removed the bullet that remained in Lenin’s body from during the assassination attempt on him by Fanny Kaplan in 1918). When comparing all the data, it turns out that Frunze was wounded in the abdominal cavity, treated for several weeks, but could not be saved, and in order not to raise a fuss, they published a completely different cause of death.

In the late autumn of 1925 Moscow was agitated by a rumor that Trotsky's men had killed Frunze. However, very soon they started talking that this was the work of Stalin! Moreover, the Tale of the Unextinguished Moon appeared, which gave this version an almost official sound, because, as Boris Andronikashvili-Pilnyak, the son of the author of the Tale, recalls, it was confiscated and destroyed! What really happened 85 years ago? What do the archives show? The investigation was conducted by Nikolay Nad (Dobryukha).

The well-known personal conflict between Stalin and Trotsky was a reflection of the political clash in the party of the two main currents of which they were leaders. The fire of this conflict, which had been smoldering within the core of the party even under Lenin, after his death in January 1924, flared up by autumn so that it threatened to "burn" the party itself.

On the side of Stalin (Dzhugashvili) were: Zinoviev (Radomyslsky), Kamenev (Rosenfeld), Kaganovich, etc. On the side of Trotsky (Bronstein) are Preobrazhensky, Sklyansky, Rakovsky and others. The situation was aggravated by the fact that military power was in the hands of Trotsky. He was then the Chairman of the RVS, i.e. the main man in the Red Army for military and naval affairs. On January 26, 1925, Stalin managed to replace him with his colleague in the Civil War, Mikhail Frunze. This weakened the position of the Trotsky group in the party and the state. And she began to prepare a political battle with Stalin.

This is how it all looked in Trotsky's notes: "... a delegation of the Central Committee came to me ... to coordinate with me changes in the personnel of the military department. In essence, it was already a pure comedy. The renewal of personnel ... had long been carried out at full speed for with my back, and it was only a matter of observing the decorum. The first blow within the military department fell on Sklyansky. "..." To dig under Sklyansky, in the future and against me, Unshlikht was placed in the military department by Stalin ... Sklyansky was removed. Frunze was appointed in his place... During the war, Frunze discovered the undoubted abilities of a commander..."

Trotsky describes the further course of events as follows: “In January 1925, I was relieved of my duties as People’s Commissar for Military Affairs. Most of all they feared ... my connection with the army. my military designs.

Based on these explanations, the unexpected death of Frunze as a result of

"unsuccessful operation" turned out to be in the hands of Trotsky in that it gave rise to a lot of talk. At first, there was a rumor that Trotsky's people did this in retaliation for the fact that the "troika" Stalin-Zinoviev-Kamenev replaced Trotsky with their Frunze. However, having got their bearings, Trotsky's supporters blamed Stalin's "troika" for this. And, in order to make it look more convincing and memorable, they organized the creation of the Tale of the Unextinguished Moon, a well-known writer of that time, Boris Pilnyak, which left a heavy residue in the souls.

Frunze with his wife, 1920s (photo: Izvestia archive)

The "Tale" pointed out the deliberate elimination of another objectionable to the Stalinist "troika" Chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council, who had not worked even 10 months. "The Tale" described in detail how a completely healthy commander of the Civil War tried to convince everyone that he was healthy, and how man N 1 nevertheless forced him to be operated on. publicly stated: "The purpose (photo: Izvestia archive) of the story was by no means a report on the death of the People's Commissar of War", readers came to the conclusion that Trotsky in Pilnyak did not accidentally see his own, calling him a "realist" ... "The Tale" clearly pointed to Stalin and his role in this "case": "The non-stooping man remained in the office... Without hunching over, he sat over the papers, with a thick red pencil in his hands... One and the other entered the office - people from that "troika" who did..."

Best of the day

Trotsky was the first to speak about the existence of this “troika”, which handled all the affairs: “The opponents whispered among themselves and groped for ways and methods of struggle. At that time, the idea of ​​a “troika” (Stalin-Zinoviev-Kamenev) had already arisen, which was supposed to oppose me ... "

The archives contain evidence of how the idea of ​​"The Tale" arose. It began, apparently, with the fact that Voronsky, as a member of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, was introduced to the "Commission for organizing the funeral of comrade M.V. Frunze." Of course, at the meeting of the Commission, in addition to ritual issues, all the circumstances of the "unsuccessful operation" were discussed. The fact that Pilnyak dedicated "The Tale of the Unextinguished Moon" to Voronsky speaks for the fact that Pilnyak received the main information about the reasons for the "unsuccessful operation" from him. And clearly from the "point of view" of Trotsky. Not without reason already in 1927 Voronsky, as an active participant

Trotskyist opposition, was expelled from the party. Later, Pilnyak himself would also suffer.

So, Pilnyak was a member of the literary circle of Voronsky, who, in turn, was a member of the political circle of Trotsky. As a result: these circles closed.

Cut or slaughtered?

Despite the mutual accusations of politicians, public opinion after all, most of all they blamed the death of Frunze on the doctors. What happened in the operating room is quite reliable and widely discussed in the newspapers. One of these openly expressed opinions (it, like many other materials cited here, is stored in the Russian State Military Academy) was sent to Moscow on November 10, 1925 from Ukraine: "... doctors are to blame - and only doctors, but not a weak heart. According to According to newspaper information... Comrade Frunze's operation was performed on a round duodenal ulcer, which, by the way, turned out to be healed, as can be seen from the autopsy report. during this time, 60 grams of chloroform and 140 grams of ether (this is seven times more than the norm. - OVER). From the same sources, we know that, having opened the abdominal cavity and not finding in it the work that the consultants were counting on, surgeons out of zeal or for other reasons, they made an excursion to the area where the abdominal organs are located: the stomach, liver, gallbladder, duodenum and caecum were examined.As a result, "weak heart activity" and 1.5 days later, after a terrible struggle between death, - the patient died of "paralysis of the heart." Questions arise by themselves: why the operation was not performed under local anesthesia - as you know, less harmful general anesthesia ..? By what considerations do surgeons justify the examination of all the abdominal organs, which caused a certain injury and required time and unnecessary anesthesia at a time when the patient, in the presence of weakness of the heart, was already terribly overloaded with it?" And, finally, why did the consultants not take into account that is a pathological process going on in Comrade Frunze's heart - namely, the parenchymal degeneration of the heart muscle, which was recorded by the autopsy?

But there were representatives of another group that no less passionately defended the "obligation of surgical intervention", referring to the fact "that the patient had a duodenal ulcer with a pronounced cicatricial seal around the intestine. Such seals often lead to a violation of the evacuation of food from the stomach , and in the future - to obstruction, which is treated only surgically. "

As it turned out, Frunze's internal organs were thoroughly worn out, about which the doctors warned him back in the summer of 1922. But Frunze pulled to the last, until he began to frighten even his bleeding. As a result, "the operation was for him the last resort to somehow improve his condition."

I managed to find a telegram confirming this fact: “V. (handle) Urgently. Tiflis Narkormvoen of Georgia comrade Eliava Copy to the Commander of the OKA comrade Yegorov. for this, under all sorts of pretexts, he has so far delayed his departure, continuing to work yesterday, after receiving all the documents, he completely refused to travel abroad and on the twenty-ninth of June he leaves for you in Borjomi, the state of health is more serious than he apparently thinks if the course of treatment in Borjomi is unsuccessful, he will have to resort for surgery, it is extremely necessary to create conditions in Borjomi that somehow replace Karlsbad, do not refuse the appropriate orders, three dashes, four rooms, possibly isolated "June 23, 1922 ..."

By the way, the telegram was given when Frunze was not yet a Pre-revolutionary Military Council and a candidate member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the RCP (b). In other words, three years before the tragic death of Mikhail Frunze. Naturally, in such a critical state of the body, colleagues from Frunze's entourage turned to Stalin to convince their illustrious commander to seriously take care of their health. And, apparently, already at that time, Stalin made some suggestions. When Frunze was appointed Commissar of the Navy, that is, one of the main leaders of the country, the entire Stalinist part of the leadership became worried about his well-being. Not only Stalin and Mikoyan, but also Zinoviev, almost by order of command (you belong not only to yourself, but also to the Party, and above all to the Party!) began to insist that Frunze take care of his health. And Frunze "surrendered": he himself began to seriously fear those pains and bleeding that tormented him more and more often. Moreover, the story of a neglected appendicitis was fresh, because of which Stalin almost died. Dr. Rozanov recalled: "It was difficult to vouch for the outcome. Lenin called me in the hospital in the morning and evening. And not only inquired about Stalin's health, but also demanded the most thorough report." And Stalin survived.

Therefore, regarding the treatment of the People's Commissariat of Defense, Stalin and Zinoviev also had a detailed conversation with the same surgeon Rozanov, who, by the way, successfully removed a bullet from a seriously wounded Lenin. It turns out that the practice of taking care of associates has developed a long time ago.

Last days

In the summer of 1925, Frunze's health deteriorated sharply again. And then the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR decided: "Allow Comrade Frunze to leave from September 7 of this year." Frunze leaves for the Crimea. But Crimea does not save. Well-known doctors Rozanov and Kasatkin go to Frunze and prescribe bed rest

But alas... On September 29, I had to urgently go to the Kremlin hospital for an examination. On October 8, the council concludes: an operation is needed to establish: is it only the ulcer that causes suspicious bleeding? However, doubts about the advisability of surgical intervention remain. Frunze himself writes about this to his wife in Yalta: “I am still in the hospital. There will be a new one on Saturday.

council. I'm afraid that the operation will be refused ... "

The fellow members of the Politburo, of course, continue to control the situation, but mainly by inciting doctors to a more diligent attitude in order to resolve the issue once and for all. However, because of this, doctors could overdo it. Finally, a "new consultation" took place. And again, the majority decided that the operation was indispensable. The same Rozanov was appointed surgeon ...

Frunze announces his move to the Soldatenkovskaya (now Botkinskaya) hospital, which was then considered the best (Lenin himself had an operation in it). Nevertheless, Frunze is agitated by the hesitation of the doctors and writes a very personal letter to his wife, which turns out to be the last in his life ...

By the way, when Rozanov operated on Stalin, he was also "overdosed" with chloroform: at first they tried to cut him under local anesthesia, but the pain forced him to switch to general anesthesia. As for the question - why did the surgeons, not finding an open ulcer, examined all (!) organs of the abdominal cavity? - then this, as follows from the letter, was the desire of Frunze himself: since they had already cut it, everything should be examined.

Frunze was buried at the Kremlin wall. Stalin delivered a short speech. Trotsky was not seen at the funeral. Widow Frunze, according to rumors, before last day was convinced that he was "stabbed to death by doctors." She survived her husband by only a year.

P.S. These and other unknown materials about Stalin's time will soon see the light in the book "Stalin and Christ", which will be an unexpected continuation of the book "How Stalin was killed."

The commander - to his wife Sophia: "Our family is tragic ... everyone is sick"

"Moscow, 26.10.

Hello dear!

Well, finally, the end of my trials has come! Tomorrow (in fact, the transfer took place on 10/28/1925. - NAD) in the morning I am moving to the Soldatenkov hospital, and the day after tomorrow (Thursday) there will be an operation. By the time you receive this letter, you will probably already have a telegram in your hands announcing its results. I now feel absolutely healthy and it’s even somehow ridiculous not only to go, but even to think about an operation. Nevertheless, both councils decided to do it. I am personally satisfied with this decision. Let them once and for all take a good look at what is there, and try to outline the real treatment. I personally have more and more often the thought that there is nothing serious, because, otherwise, it is somehow difficult to explain the fact of my quick recovery after rest and treatment. Well, now you have to do it... After the operation, I still think I will come to you for two weeks. I received your letters. I read them, especially the second one - a large one, right with flour. What is it really piled on you all the disease? There are so many of them that one cannot directly believe in the possibility of recovery. Especially if you, without having time to start breathing, are already engaged in the arrangement of all sorts of other things. You need to try to take treatment seriously. To do this, you must first take yourself in hand. And then everything somehow goes from bad to worse. From your worries about children, it turns out that it is worse for you, and ultimately for them. I somehow had to hear such a phrase about us: "The Frunze family is somehow tragic ... Everyone is sick, and all misfortunes are pouring on everyone! ..". Indeed, we represent some kind of continuous, solid infirmary. We must try to change all this decisively. I took on this business. You have to do it too.

I consider the advice of doctors regarding Yalta to be correct. Try spending the winter there. I can manage the money somehow, provided, of course, that you don’t pay for all the doctor’s visits from your own funds. There is not enough money for this. On Friday I send Schmidt with instructions to arrange everything for living in Yalta. The last time I took money from the Central Committee. I think we'll survive the winter. If only you were firmly on your feet. Then everything will be fine. And it all depends entirely on you. All doctors assure you that you can certainly get better if you take your treatment seriously.

I had Tasha. She offered to go to the Crimea. I refused. This was shortly after my return to Moscow. The other day this proposal was repeated on her behalf by Schmidt. I said that let him talk about it with you in the Crimea.

Today I received an invitation from the Turkish ambassador to come with you to their embassy for a celebration on the occasion of the anniversary of their revolution. Wrote an answer from you and from myself.

Yes, you are asking for winter things, and not writing what exactly is needed. I don't know how Comrade Schmidt will resolve this issue. He, poor fellow, is not at home either, thank God. Everyone is barely coping. I’m already telling him: “Why is it that such a cross has been entrusted to you and me to have sick wives? NOT otherwise, I say, I’ll have to get new ones. You start, you are older ...”. And he goes over his fingers and grins: "I, he says, walks ..." Well, you don't even walk. After all, it's just a shame! Good for nothing, signora cara. Therefore, if you please, get better, otherwise, as soon as I get up, I will definitely start a "lady of the heart" ...

And what is this Comrade G. freaked out! Here is a woman ... It seems that you are "disappointed" once again. Apparently, you are only afraid, remembering my numerous past ridicule, to burst into praises (only not of a flattering nature).

) at her address. I'll think about Tasha, really. She seems to want to go to Yalta herself. However, as you know. If you stand up on your own, of course, there will be no need for this.

Well, all the best. Kiss you well, get better. I am in a good mood and completely calm. If only you were safe. I hug and kiss again.

On October 31, 1925, the chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council and People's Commissar of the USSR for Military and Naval Affairs, Mikhail Vasilyevich Frunze, died from the consequences of a surgical operation. Since then and to this day, statements have not ceased that Frunze was killed on purpose under the guise of an operation.

From Worker to Commander-in-Chief

Mikhail Frunze was born in 1885 in the family of a paramedic (Moldovan by nationality) on a distant colonial outskirts Russian Empire- in Bishkek (this city, the capital of Soviet Kyrgyzstan, was later named after him for a long time). Unlike most red military leaders who had experience before the revolution army service, Frunze advanced to military posts directly from the revolutionary struggle. Nevertheless, he showed that even a civilian without a military education can be a first-class strategist and organizer. Of course, Frunze used the advice and help of military experts, of whom the former tsarist general Fyodor Novitsky was closest to him.

Becoming, without intermediate steps, immediately commander of the army, Frunze in the spring of 1919 stopped the offensive of Kolchak's armies on Samara. In the future, Frunze, in the posts of commander of the army group and the front, did not know defeat. After civil war Frunze wrote and published several military-theoretical works. He also showed himself in the diplomatic field, having traveled to Ankara at the end of 1921 to Mustafa Kemal Pasha in order to conclude a military alliance between the Soviet and Turkish republics.

In the intra-party struggle

The last rise of Frunze was preceded by participation in the struggle for power between two groups within the top of the CPSU (b). With the incapacity of Lenin, which began in 1922, Trotsky, who was revered by everyone as the organizer and leader of the Red Army, automatically became his successor. It was this circumstance that aroused fear and hatred for him on the part of his comrades-in-arms. They were afraid that Trotsky would use his position and his popularity to seize full power. In 1923, the triumvirate of Zinoviev, Kamenev and Stalin began to fight against Trotsky. Frunze became their battering ram

At the end of October 1923, at the plenum of the Central Committee of the RCP (b), Frunze delivered a report that criticized Trotsky's activities at the head of the Red Army. It is noteworthy that this plenum took place against the background of reports (which turned out to be greatly exaggerated) about the beginning of a revolution in Germany. The decision on this revolution was made by the executive committee of the Comintern under the leadership of Zinoviev in September 1923. At the decisive moment, Trotsky, who had always advocated a speedy world revolution, was unable or unwilling to send the Red Army to the aid of the German workers. This weakened Trotsky's position in the inner-party struggle.

The Central Committee at that moment left Trotsky in his posts, but in March 1924 made Frunze, as it were, the "chief watcher" for him, appointing him Trotsky's deputy for the positions of chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council and People's Commissar for Military Affairs. Frunze himself, according to general evidence, did not have great power ambitions. His performance on the side of the "first triumvirate" in the Bolshevik leadership was dictated, in many respects, by a good personal attitude towards Kliment Voroshilov.

Voroshilov, like Frunze, also came to military positions directly from among the revolutionary workers. The conflict between Voroshilov and Trotsky happened at the end of 1918, during the defense of Tsaritsyn, and was caused by Trotsky's excessive, according to Voroshilov (and also Stalin), Trotsky's predilection for using the tsarist military experts. Frunze was close to such a position. Perhaps this prompted him to criticize Trotsky at the plenum. The fact that Frunze in this case acted more in the interests of others than in his personal interests can probably be evidenced by Trotsky's remark that Frunze "poorly understood people."

Be that as it may, having become Trotsky's successor in both important posts since January 1925 and virtually single-handedly heading the Red Army, Frunze in many respects continued his line of building the Red Army.

Operation not required

From 1922, Frunze often had bouts of abdominal pain, and from 1924 intestinal bleeding began. Doctors ascertained that he had a duodenal ulcer. According to the tradition of importunate concern for the health of his comrades-in-arms, which Lenin introduced in the party, the leadership persistently encouraged Frunze to go under the surgeon's knife, although not all doctors recognized the need for an operation. The last, specially selected council decided to cut the people's commissar.

At the same time, the People's Commissar himself felt good, which he wrote about in his last letter to his wife on October 26, 1925. But he completely trusted the conclusion of the doctors and wanted to be operated on as soon as possible and eliminate the source of constant anxiety. On October 29, an operation took place in the current Botkin hospital. Two days later, Frunze's heart stopped. Official conclusion: general blood poisoning during the operation.

Even the government version pointed to the incompetence and carelessness of surgeons during an elementary operation. But it is suspicious that she did not correspond to reality. There is evidence that surgeons, having easily operated on the ulcer (it turned out to be harmless), for some reason began to rummage through Frunze's entire abdominal cavity, looking for other possible sources of his ailments. According to the doctor and historian Viktor Topolyansky, the cause of death was intoxication from an overdose of painkillers. When ether general anesthesia did not work, the doctors added chloroform to Frunze through a mask. It is possible that both of these reasons were combined.

Who could benefit

The inability of the doctors who operated on Frunze, according to any of the versions, looks so monstrous that doubt inevitably creeps in that an unintentional mistake became the cause of death. And since then, there have been two main versions of Frunze's murder on the operating table.

The first in time, which arose immediately, connected the mysterious death of Frunze with his speech against Trotsky and his subsequent replacement in leadership positions. Immediately in response, a version appeared accusing Stalin of killing Frunze. It gained a long life thanks to Boris Pilnyak's Tale of the Unextinguished Moon (1927) and later campaigns to expose Stalin's crimes.

However, if Trotsky had a motive to take revenge on Frunze, then Stalin's motives do not look convincing. The modified version, which, of course, has no evidence, looks like this. Replacing Trotsky with Frunze did not provide Stalin with control over the Red Army, he wanted to put his old friend Voroshilov into these posts, which he managed to do after Frunze's death.

Whether the death of Frunze was organized on someone's orders, and on whose exactly, we are unlikely to ever know.

85 years ago, on October 31, 1925, the 40-year-old chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR, People's Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs Mikhail Frunze died in the Botkin hospital after a stomach operation. The causes of his death are still being debated among historians, politicians, and medical experts.

Version of the writer Pilnyak

Officially, the newspapers of that time reported that Mikhail Frunze had a stomach ulcer. The doctors decided to perform an operation. It was held on October 29, 1925 by Dr. V. N. Rozanov. He was assisted by doctors I. I. Grekov and A. V. Martynov, anesthesia was performed by A. D. Ochkin. In general, the operation was successful. However, after 39 hours, Frunze died "with symptoms of heart paralysis." 10 minutes after his death on the night of October 31, I. V. Stalin, A. I. Rykov, A. S. Bubnov, I. S. Unshlikht, A. S. Yenukidze and A. I. Mikoyan arrived at the hospital. The body was examined. The dissector wrote down: the underdevelopment of the aorta and arteries discovered during the autopsy, as well as the preserved thymus gland, are the basis for the assumption of the body's instability in relation to anesthesia and its poor resistance to infection. The main question - why did heart failure occur, leading to death - remained unanswered. Confusion about this leaked to the press. The note "Comrade Frunze is recovering", published by Rabochaya Gazeta just on the day of his death, saw the light of day. At work meetings they asked: why was the operation done; why Frunze agreed to it, if one can live with an ulcer anyway; what is the cause of death; Why is misinformation published in a popular newspaper? In this regard, the doctor Grekov gave an interview, published with variations in various publications. According to him, the operation was necessary, since the patient was in danger of sudden death; Frunze himself asked to be operated on as soon as possible; the operation belonged to the category of relatively easy and was performed according to all the rules of surgical art, but anesthesia was difficult; the unfortunate outcome was also explained by the unforeseen events discovered during the autopsy.

The end of the interview was pointedly politicized: no one was allowed to see the patient after the operation, but when Frunze was informed that Stalin had sent him a note, he asked to read this note and smiled joyfully. Here is her text: “Friend! I visited Comrade Rozanov today at 5 pm (me and Mikoyan). They wanted to come to you, but they didn’t let me in, the ulcer. We had to submit to the force. Don't be sad, my dear. Hello. We will come, we will come… Koba.”

Grekov's interview fueled distrust of the official version even more. All the gossip on this topic was collected by the writer Pilnyak, who created The Tale of the Unextinguished Moon, where everyone recognized Frunze as Commander Gavrilov, who died during the operation. Part of the circulation of Novy Mir, where the story was published, was confiscated, thereby, as it were, confirming the version of the murder. Director Yevgeny Tsymbal repeated this version once again in his film "The Tale of the Unextinguished Moon", in which he created a romantic and martyr image of a "real revolutionary" who swung at unshakable dogmas.

Romantic "folk bloodletting"

But let's see what the country's youngest military commissar really was like a romantic.

From February 1919 M.V. Frunze successively led several armies operating on Eastern Front against the Supreme Ruler of Russia, Admiral A.V. Kolchak. In March, he became commander of the Southern Group of this front. The units subordinate to him were so carried away by looting and robbery of the local population that they completely decomposed, and Frunze sent telegrams to the Revolutionary Military Council more than once with a request to send him other soldiers. Desperate to receive an answer, he himself began to recruit replenishment for himself "by the natural method": he took out trains with bread from Samara and invited the people left without food to join the Red Army.

IN peasant uprising, which rose against Frunze in the Samara Territory, more than 150 thousand people participated. The uprising was drowned in blood. Frunze's reports to the Revolutionary Military Council are full of figures of people shot under his leadership. For example, in the first ten days of May 1919, he killed about 1,500 peasants (whom Frunze calls "bandits and kulaks" in his report).

In September 1920, Frunze was appointed commander of the Southern Front, acting against the army of General P.N. Wrangel. He led the capture of Perekop and the occupation of the Crimea. In November 1920, Frunze addressed the officers and soldiers of the army of General Wrangel with the promise of complete forgiveness if they remained in Russia. After the occupation of Crimea, all these servicemen were ordered to register (refusal to register was punishable by execution). Then the soldiers and officers of the White Army, who believed Frunze, were arrested and shot directly according to these registration lists. In total, during the Red Terror in the Crimea, 50-75 thousand people were shot or drowned in the Black Sea.

So it is unlikely that any romantic associations were associated with the name of Frunze in the popular mind. Although, of course, many then might not have known about the military "arts" of Mikhail Vasilyevich. He carefully concealed the darkest sides of his biography.

His own commentary on the order to reward Bela Kun and Zemlyachka for atrocities in Sevastopol is known. Frunze warned that the awarding of orders should be done secretly, so that the public would not know what exactly these "heroes of the civil war" were awarded for.

In a word, Frunze fit into the system quite well. Therefore, many historians believe that Frunze's death was purely due to a medical error - an overdose of anesthesia. The reasons are as follows: Frunze was a protege of Stalin, a politician completely loyal to the leader. In addition, it was only 1925 - 12 years before the execution of the 37th. The leader did not yet dare to carry out "purges". But there are facts that are hard to dismiss.

A series of "accidental" disasters

The fact is that 1925 was marked by a whole series of "accidental" disasters. In the beginning - a series of tragic incidents with senior officials of Transcaucasia.

On March 19, in Moscow, the chairman of the Union Council of the TSFSR and one of the chairmen of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR, N. N. Narimanov, suddenly died “from a heartbreak”.

On March 22, the First Secretary of the Zakkraykom of the RCP (b) A.F. Myasnikov, the chairman of the ZakChK S.G. Mogilevsky and the authorized representative of the People's Commissariat of Posts and Telegraphs G.A. Atarbekov, who flew with them, died in a plane crash.

On August 27, near New York, under unclear circumstances, E. M. Sklyansky, Trotsky’s permanent deputy during the civil war, who was removed from military activities in the spring of 1924 and appointed chairman of the board of the Mossukno trust, and chairman of the board joint-stock company"Amtorg" I. Ya. Khurgin.

On August 28, at the Parovo station near Moscow, a longtime acquaintance of Frunze, a member of the Revolutionary Military Council of the 6th Army, died under a train during Perekop operation, member of the bureau of the Ivanovo-Voznesensk provincial party committee, chairman of the Aviatrust VN Pavlov.

Around the same time, F.Ya. Yes, and Mikhail Vasilyevich himself fell out of a car at full speed in early September, the door of which for some reason turned out to be faulty, and miraculously survived. So the “eliminations”, apparently, have already begun. Another question is whether Stalin or someone else from the political elite had a reason to eliminate Frunze? Who did he cross the road to? Let's turn to the facts.

Participant of the "cave meeting"

In the summer of 1923, in a grotto near Kislovodsk, a secret meeting of the party elite was held under the leadership of Zinoviev and Kamenev, later called the "cave". It was attended by vacationers in the Caucasus and party leaders of that time invited from nearby regions. At first, this was hidden from Stalin. Although the question was discussed specifically about limiting his powers in connection with Lenin's serious illness.

None of the participants in this meeting (except Voroshilov, who, most likely, was the leader's eyes and ears there) died a natural death. Frunze was present there as a military component of the "putsch". Could Stalin have forgotten this?

Another fact. In 1924, at the initiative of Frunze, a complete reorganization of the Red Army was carried out. He achieved the abolition of the institution of political commissars in the army - they were replaced by assistant commanders for political affairs without the right to interfere in command decisions.

In 1925, Frunze made a number of transfers and appointments in the command staff, as a result of which military districts, corps and divisions were headed by military personnel selected on the basis of military qualifications, but not on the basis of communist loyalty. Stalin's former secretary B.G. Bazhanov recalled: "I asked Mekhlis what Stalin thought about these appointments?" What does Stalin think? Mehlis asked. - Nothing good. Look at the list: all these Tukhachevskys, Korkis, Uboreviches, Avksentievs - what kind of communists they are. All this is good for the 18th Brumaire, and not for the Red Army.

In addition, Frunze was loyal to the party opposition, which Stalin did not tolerate at all. “Of course, shades should be and will be. After all, we have 700,000 party members leading a colossal country, and it is impossible to demand that these 700,000 people think the same way on every issue, ”wrote the People’s Commissar for Military Affairs.

Against this background, an article about Frunze, The New Russian Leader, appeared in the English monthly Airplane. “In this man,” the article said, “all the constituent elements of the Russian Napoleon were united.” The article became known to the party leadership. According to Bazhanov, Stalin saw in Frunze the future Bonaparte and expressed strong dissatisfaction with this. Then he suddenly showed a touching concern for Frunze, saying: "We do not at all monitor the precious health of our best workers," after which the Politburo forced Frunze, almost by force, to agree to the operation.

Bazhanov (and not only him) believed that Stalin killed Frunze in order to appoint his own man, Voroshilov, in his place (Bazhanov V.G. Memoirs of Stalin's former secretary. M., 1990. P. 141). They say that during the operation, just the anesthesia was used, which Frunze could not endure due to the characteristics of the organism.

Of course, this version has not been proven. And yet it is quite plausible.