History 21/02/20 Photo: GLOBAL LOOK rgery “Masquerade”: true bugs cleaned from Odessa bandits
Georgy Zhukov is known not only as Marshal of the Victory, but as a person, to understand with the Odessa underworld. But in the postwar years, the local bandits were worse than the Italian mafia. Ruin and famine in the country, a huge number of unregistered weapons, a distinct lack of the male population – all contributed to the deterioration of the crime situation. And this problem had to be solved somehow.
From the commander in chief of the gangster in Odessa
according to Ivan Stepanovich Konev in his “Notes of the front commander”, the trouble for Zhukov began with trumped-up “aviation business”. And if the trophies that bugs “in significant quantities” exported from Germany to forgive, it was still possible, with the accusation from the person of Stalin: “Appropriated the development of the operations had no relationship” couldn’t be helped. In the end, Commander of the land forces was dismissed, expelled from the party and appointed commander of the Odessa district.
About who in the city is the real boss, Zhukov demonstrated on the first day. His trophy Mercedes-Benz was stolen, but later returned with a note of apology – say, the case was released by mistake. But that was not the Marshal, to forgive and forget such antics. Despite the capital’s disgrace, the authority Zhukov was strong enough. Frequently asked me for advice, and his orders (or rather wishes) is readily performed, even those who formally Marshal did not obey. It is not surprising that immediately after the arrival of Zhukov to Odessa, it immediately contacted the local leadership of the interior Ministry with a request for assistance in the fight against banditry.
the Myth of gangster Odessa
let’s Start with debunking the main myth – particularly criminogenic about the status of Odessa. According to information from the archives that I managed to get the Maxim Faytelberg working on a documentary a movie about Marshal Zhukov, 1946 throughout the country registered more than half a million crimes. In the overall statistics Odessa nothing stood out.
About the situation in the capital and provincial Kursk, and Rostov-on-don, and worse. The source of this myth was the fact of arrival to the city Marshal of the Victory. about the real reasons for its opals knew little and said even less. The simple people believed that the times sent the Zhukov, then it is on the personal control of Stalin or Beria, at least.
the Operation “Masquerade”
the operation “Masquerade” (or in other sources – “the Carnival”), which allegedly designed and brought to life by Zhukov himself, is also very similar to the myth. In official documents it is not mentioned, and the Marshal says nothing about it in his memoirs. Almost all that we know is the memoirs of General of the interior Ministry of the USSR Zazulina, who told me that in the last years of his life in conversations Georgy mentioned that it was on his orders plainclothes military officers eliminated gang leaders on the streets of Odessa.
But, for example, the Colonel of the Odessa police Isai Bondarev, in those years worked in one of the most criminogenic areas of the city, did not recall of any mass killings. But he probably would have had to face them – dozens of corpses to hide so just fail. So the operation “Masquerade”, and the participation of Zhukov raises many questions and doubts. While denying that if not directly, then indirectly, Marshal of the Victory helped to cope with the Odessa banditry impossible.
Authority and a kind word
some features of Odessa postwar banditry had. It tells Viktor Savchenko in the book “the Odessa Masonic”, a large part of the crimes was the share of military personnel. Yesterday’s soldiers – most of them quite young and reckless – feel the winners of that country, in the face of ordinary people have. And to get “his” they readyyou’ve been in a lot – the good arms and the ability to kill them there.
says military historian Nikolai Barbashin, it is the authority and temper Zhukov contributed to the fact that the discipline in the County were very quickly restored. Their results gave the military to patrol streets together with police. Impact and good harvest in 1947, which had a positive impact on the standard of living in the country. But “Masquerade” is too similar to the post-war myth, the emergence and spread of beetles which he decided not to interrupt.
Yaroslav Gorbunov
Source:
© Russian Seven
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