Then the newspaper Sotsial-Demokrat published a request for information about the Bolsheviks who died during the October events in Moscow. And on November 7, the Moscow Military Revolutionary Committee decided to arrange a mass grave on Red Square and scheduled a funeral for November 10. 238 coffins were lowered into mass graves. In 1919, Yakov Sverdlov was buried in a separate grave on Red Square. Later, 15 more mass graves of the fighters of the revolution, who died at different times, or died together in disasters, appeared near the Kremlin wall.
After 1927, the practice of fraternal burials in the Revolutionary Necropolis ceased. Since that time, the necropolis was replenished with only two types of burials: especially prominent figures of the party and government (Sverdlov, Frunze, Dzerzhinsky, Kalinin, Zhdanov, Voroshilov, Budyonny, Suslov, Brezhnev, Andropov, Chernenko, Stalin) are buried near the Kremlin wall to the right of without cremation - in a coffin and in a grave with sculptural portraits; and 114 people were cremated, and urns with their ashes are walled up in the wall on both sides under memorial plates with names and dates of life. Politicians who were in disgrace or retired at the time of their death were not buried in the necropolis near the Kremlin wall (for example, NS Khrushchev and AI Mikoyan are buried at the Novodevichy cemetery).
It is known that in 1953 the Council of Ministers and the Central Committee of the CPSU decided to liquidate the revolutionary necropolis and transfer the ashes of those who were buried at the Kremlin wall, as well as the bodies of I.V. Stalin and V.I. Lenin to the projected Pantheon. But this project was soon forgotten.
Necropolis at the Kremlin wall- a memorial cemetery on Moscow's Red Square, near the wall (and in the wall that serves as a columbarium for urns with ashes) of the Moscow Kremlin. The burial place of prominent figures (mainly political and military) of the Soviet state;
in the 1920s-1930s, foreign communists were also buried there (John Reed, Sen Katayama, Clara Zetkin).
History of the necropolis
Mass graves
The necropolis began to take shape in November 1917.
On November 5, 7 and 8, the newspaper Sotsial-Demokrat published appeals to all organizations and individuals to provide information about those who fell during the October 1917 events in Moscow, fighting on the side of the Bolsheviks.
On November 7, at a morning meeting, the Moscow Military Revolutionary Committee decided to arrange a mass grave on Red Square and scheduled a funeral for November 10.
On November 8, two mass graves were dug: between the Kremlin wall and the tram rails parallel to it. One grave began from the Nikolsky Gate and stretched to the Senate Tower, then there was a small gap, and the second went to the Spassky Gate.
On November 9, newspapers published detailed routes of the funeral processions in 11 city districts and the hours of their arrival in Red Square. Taking into account the possibility of White Guard provocations, the Moscow Military Revolutionary Committee decided to arm all the soldiers participating in the funeral with rifles.
On November 10, 238 coffins were lowered into mass graves. In total, 240 people were buried in 1917 (November 14 - Lisinova and November 17 - Waldovsky) (the names of 57 people are precisely known).
In the future, 15 more mass graves of the fighters of the revolution appeared near the Kremlin wall, who died at different times by their deaths and were later buried in common graves, or died together in disasters (for example, in the crash of an air car, in which Artyom (Sergeev) and a number of other Bolsheviks died) ...
After 1927, this practice ceased.
As a result, more than 300 people were buried in mass graves, the names of 110 people are known exactly. In the book of Abramov, a martyrology is given, in which 122 more people are indicated, who, most likely, are also buried in mass graves.
In the early years of Soviet power, on November 7 and May 1, an honorary military guard was exhibited at the Mass Graves, and the regiments took the oath.
In 1919, on Red Square, Ya. M. Sverdlov was buried for the first time in a separate grave.
In 1924 the Lenin Mausoleum was built, which became the center of the necropolis.
Burials in the 1920s-1980s
In the future, the necropolis was replenished with two types of burials:
- especially prominent figures of the party and government (Sverdlov, and then Frunze, Dzerzhinsky, Kalinin, Zhdanov, Voroshilov, Budyonny, Suslov, Brezhnev, Andropov and Chernenko) are buried near the Kremlin wall to the right of the Mausoleum no cremation, in the coffin and in the grave. In the same grave, in 1961, the body of JV Stalin, taken from the Mausoleum, was buried. Above them are monuments - sculptural portraits by S. D. Merkurov (busts on the first four burials in 1947 and Zhdanov in 1949), N. V. Tomsky (busts of Stalin, 1970, and Budyonny, 1975), N. I. Bratsun (bust of Voroshilov, 1970), I. M. Rukavishnikov (busts of Suslov, 1983, and Brezhnev, 1983), V. A. Sonin (bust of Andropov, 1985), L. E. Kerbel (bust Chernenko, 1986).
- most of the persons buried at the Kremlin wall in the 1930s-1980s were cremated, and urns with their ashes were walled up in the wall (on both sides of the Senate Tower) under memorial plates on which the name and dates of life are indicated (114 people in total) ... In 1925-1936 (before S. S. Kamenev and A. P. Karpinsky) urns were mostly walled up on the right side of the Necropolis, but in 1934, 1935 and 1936 Kirov, Kuibyshev and Maxim Gorky were buried on the left side; starting in 1937 (Ordzhonikidze, Maria Ulyanova), burials were completely transferred to the left side and were made only there until 1976 (the only exception is G.K. Zhukov, whose ashes were buried in 1974 on the right side, next to S.S. Kamenev); from 1977 until the termination of burials, they again "returned" to the right side.
Politicians who were in disgrace or retired at the time of their death were not buried near the Kremlin wall (for example, N. S. Khrushchev, A. I. Mikoyan and N. V. Podgorny rest at the Novodevichy cemetery).
If this or that person was posthumously condemned by the party, his burial in the Kremlin wall was not liquidated (for example, the urns with the ashes of S. S. Kamenev, A. Ya. Vyshinsky and L.Z. Mekhlis were not touched in any way).
In the necropolis near the Kremlin wall, in addition to party and state leaders of the USSR, there are the ashes of outstanding pilots (1930s-1940s), deceased cosmonauts (1960s-1970s), prominent scientists (A.P. Karpinsky, I.V. . Kurchatov, S. P. Korolev, M. V. Keldysh).
Until 1976, all those who died in the rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union were buried at the Kremlin wall, but starting with P.K. Koshevoy, marshals were also buried in other cemeteries.
The last buried at the Kremlin wall was K.U.Chernenko (March 1985). The last one whose ashes were placed in the Kremlin wall was D.F.Ustinov, who died in December 1984.
Registration
On June 28, 1918, the Presidium of the Moscow City Council approved a project according to which mass graves should be framed with three rows of lindens.
In the fall of 1931, Blue Spruces were planted along the mass graves instead of lindens. In our land, in conditions of low temperatures, blue spruce takes root poorly, it gives almost no seeds. The breeder Ivan Kovtunenko, Ivan Porfirievich (1891-1984), worked on this problem for more than 15 years.
Until 1973, in addition to firs, mountain ash, lilac and hawthorn grew in the necropolis. And in the 1920s, the palm tree also grew, but later the palm did not take root.
In 1973 - 1974, according to the project of architects G.M. Wolfson and V.P.Danilushkin and sculptor P.I.Bondarenko, the necropolis was reconstructed. Then banners of granite appeared, wreaths on marble slabs, flower vases, new blue spruces were planted in groups of three (since the old ones, which grew as a solid wall, blocked the view of the Kremlin wall and memorial plaques), the stands and granite of the Mausoleum were renewed. Instead of four spruces, they planted one for each bust.
The fate of the necropolis
In 1953, a resolution was adopted by the Council of Ministers and the Central Committee of the CPSU on the liquidation of the necropolis and the transfer of the ashes of those resting at the wall, as well as the bodies of Lenin and Stalin into the projected Pantheon;
this project was soon forgotten.
Since 1974, the necropolis has been protected by the state as a monument. In the 1990s-2000s, the question of liquidating the necropolis (for political, religious or other reasons) was repeatedly raised; However, this is contradicted by the current legislation, which prohibits the transfer of ashes without the will of relatives (for most of those buried near the Kremlin wall, it is difficult to obtain such consent, not to mention the fact that not all those buried in mass graves are known by name).
List of resting at the Kremlin wall
Separate graves
(from right to left)
Chernenko Konstantin Ustinovich (1911-1985)
Budyonny Semyon Mikhailovich (1883-1973)
Voroshilov Kliment Efremovich (1881-1969)
Zhdanov Andrey Alexandrovich (1896-1948)
Frunze Mikhail Vasilievich (1885-1925)
Sverdlov Yakov Mikhailovich (1885-1919)
Brezhnev Leonid Ilyich (1906-1982)
Dzerzhinsky Felix Edmundovich (1877-1926)
Andropov Yuri Vladimirovich (1914-1984)
Kalinin Mikhail Ivanovich (1875-1946)
Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich (1878 / 79-1953)
Suslov Mikhail Andreevich (1902-1982)
Mass graves of the fighters of the revolution
1917 year
Andreev Pavlik, Baskakov T.A., Valdovsky Ya.M., Vever O., Virzemnek O.K., Voitovich V.E.
« Dvintsy»
Sapunov E.N., Voronov A.P., Skvortsov G.A., Timofeev A.T., Zaporozhets A.P., Nazarov I.A., Usoltsev M.T.,
Trunov N.R., Gavrikov Ya.V., Vladimirov S.V., Inyushev A.A., Nedelkin T.F., Timofeev G.
"Kremlin people"
Dudinsky I.A., Agafoshin S., Goryunov S., Zvonov, Zimin I., Ivanov I., Kokorev S., Kosarev A., Kospyanik P., Krashenilnikov V., Leshchikov A., Lisenko F., Lysenkov F ., Petukhov I., Romanov V., Ryzhev M., Smirnov A., Sologudinov F., Soplyakov, Fedorov S., Khokhlov S., Tsiplyakov S., Shefarevich V.
Elagin G.L., Zweinek Ya.E., Kireev A.A.
Lisinova L.A., Mikhailov L.F., Morozov V.E ..
"Scooters"
Tomskiy G.V., Drozdov F., Esaulov D ..
Sakharov, Snegirev N.M., Stepachev I.G., Sukharev A.A., Shiryaev S.A., Shcherbakov P.P ..
Vantorin A.I., Tyapkin P.G., Erov I.S.,
Barasevich F.K., Gadomsky A.V., Draudyn M., Zasukhin P.A., Kvardakov A.V., Kuchutenkov A.A., Pekalov S.M., Pryamikov N.N., Smilga I.I ., Khorak A., Shvyrkov E.P.,
Zweinek G.P., Zagorskiy V.M., Volkova M., Ignatova I.M., Kvash A.L., Kolbin, Kropotov N.N., Nikolaeva A.F., Razorenov-Nikitin G.N., Safonov A.K., Titov G.V., Khaldina A.N., Mokryak M.I., Stankevich A.V.
Podbelsky V.N., Bocharov Ya.I., Khomyakov I.M., Yanyshev M.P., Osen A., Armand I.F., John Reed, Kovshov V.D.
Karpov L. Ya., Rusakov I. V.,
aerial car crash
Abakovsky V.I., Artyom (Sergeev F.A.), Gelbrich O., Konstantinov I., Struat O., Freeman D., Hewlett V.D.
Afonin E. L., Zhilin I. Ya.
Vorovskiy V.V., Vorovskaya D.M.
Nogin V.P., Likhachev V.M.
Narimanov N ..
The necropolis near the Kremlin wall, located in the very center of the capital, has long become a stumbling block between those who demand its transfer and those who consider it an indecent deed. The fact is that the Kremlin necropolis is a memorial burial, which means that the ashes of those who are buried here can be transferred only with the permission of relatives. Apparently, no such notification has been received by the state authorities.
So how did the necropolis near the Kremlin wall appear?
The history of the necropolis at the walls of the ancient Kremlin
The first burials on Red Square took place back in 1917. This was the beginning of the creation of the Kremlin necropolis here. At that time, the victims of the October protest in Moscow were interred and buried in a mass grave on the site allocated by the city's revolutionary committee near the Kremlin wall. About 200 people were buried in two burials, but over time the number of mass graves increased to almost two dozen. This revolutionary tradition of mass graves of the first years of Soviet power was stopped only closer to the beginning of the 1930s.
The first separate burial in the necropolis near the Kremlin wall in Moscow took place in 1919, when the revolutionary and statesman Yakov Sverdlov was buried here. Further, more, the churchyard was already a place of honor and began to gradually expand. Here they buried military leaders, the party elite of the country of the Soviets and even foreigners - prominent figures of the communist movement from abroad.
After the death of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, the center of the memorial was built for the leader, which was erected on this place in 1924 according to the project of the architect.
The laying of urns with the ashes of prominent figures in the walls of the Kremlin began in the 30s. The memorial plaques themselves were installed at the bottom, but then they began to be installed directly into the niche. The columbarium is located to the left and to the right of the Moscow Kremlin standing here.
In addition to party and state leaders, the ashes of prominent scientists and famous people of the Soviet Union are buried in the main necropolis of Moscow, including Sergei Pavlovich Korolev and Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin.
The last burials in the necropolis near the Kremlin wall took place in the mid-80s of the last century: in 1984, an urn with the ashes of Dmitry Fedorovich Ustinov was installed in the Kremlin wall, and in 1985 the body of the then General Secretary Konstantin Ustinovich Chernenko was buried.
Here is just a part of the list of those who rest on the churchyard, built near the walls of the ancient Kremlin.
Who is buried in the Kremlin acropolis?
Individual graves:
- Sverdlov Yakov Mikhailovich
- Frunze Mikhail Vasilievich
- Dzerzhinsky Felix Edmundovich
- Kalinin Mikhail Ivanovich
- Zhdanov Andrey Alexandrovich
- Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich
- Voroshilov Kliment Efremovich
- Semyon Mikhailovich Budyonny
- Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev
- Suslov Mikhail Andreevich
- Andropov Yuri Vladimirovich
- Chernenko Konstantin Ustinovich
Urns with ashes in the Kremlin wall of the necropolis (part of the list):
- Kirov Sergey Mironovich
- Gorky Alexey Maksimovich
- Chkalov Valery Pavlovich
- Raskova Marina Mikhailovna
- Krupskaya Nadezhda Konstantinovna
- Shaposhnikov Boris Mikhailovich
- Tolbukhin Fedor Ivanovich
- Vyshinsky Andrey Yanuarevich
- Gagarin Yuri Alekseevich
- Rokossovsky Konstantin Konstantinovich
- Grechko Andrey Antonovich
- Dmitry Ustinov
- Alexey Kosygin
- Keldysh Mstislav Vsevolodovich
- Zhukov Georgy Konstantinovich
- Zetkin Clara
- Krasin Leonid Borisovich and others ...
The Kremlin can be called a real necropolis. There are 12 tombs of famous revolutionaries near the Kremlin wall. There are also about 15 brotherly graves. Moreover, 115 urns with ashes are embedded in the walls. The Kremlin necropolis is over a hundred years old. In the center of a complex necropolis is the Mausoleum.
Thus, the Kremlin is an unusual public cemetery in Russia. Until in 1917, Soviet mass graves were multiplying near the Kremlin walls.
Whose ashes are walled up within the walls of the Kremlin, and why is the necropolis in the center of Moscow not being liquidated? Factrum invites you to take a closer look at the past, present and future of the Kremlin necropolis.
Who is buried at the Kremlin wall?
The Moscow columbarium keeps the ashes of not only prominent Bolsheviks. For example, the remains of the writer Maxim Gorky, the cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the pilot Valery Chkalov, and the great designer Sergei Korolev are embedded in the wall. A total of 115 urns are placed in the wall. The ashes are protected by thick memorial plates. Interestingly, the remains were never removed from the walls. Even in ideologically controversial situations. So, the commander of the army Sergei Kamenev, whose ashes are immured here, was posthumously accused of conspiracy against the USSR. There was no talk of extracting the remains. The commander was "rehabilitated" after a few years.
Mass graves at the Kremlin wall
The necropolis near the Kremlin wall began with mass graves. In the fall of 1917, the new government issued a decree on the burial of the remains of people who fought for the revolution under the walls of the Kremlin. A message appeared in one of the Social Democratic newspapers urging citizens to provide information about the fallen revolutionaries. Two mass graves were dug between the wall and the tram rails, which then ran parallel to it. On November 10, 1917, 240 people were solemnly buried in them, of which less than a quarter were identified.
For ten years, about 15 mass graves have appeared near the walls of the Kremlin. The Moscow necropolis was also replenished with several graves of famous figures. Separate burials were decorated with bas-relief granite slabs. In 1924, a Mausoleum was built in the center of the Kremlin's "city of dead Bolsheviks" - right on the site of the former rostrum from which Vladimir Ilyich spoke.
Burials in the Kremlin: urns and ashes
In 1930, the Kremlin necropolis was replenished with a columbarium located right within the walls next to the Senate Tower. The bodies of famous politicians, scientists, military men were first cremated and then placed in special urns. The containers were walled up into the walls and covered with memorial plates. The people called the columbarium "the wall of the Communards". It is interesting that not only Russian communists are buried in the wall. The ashes of the American writer John Reed and the Japanese communist Sen Katayama are also immured here. The last urn was placed in the Kremlin wall in 1985.
The endless "life" of the Kremlin graves
The question of eliminating the necropolis with all the graves and a columbarium was raised repeatedly. For the first time they started talking about it in 1953. Then the prominent figures were offered to be reburied, and Lenin and Stalin should be taken to the pantheon - a separate crypt. The idea did not find support. In 1974, the situation was aggravated by the fact that the necropolis was recognized as a historical monument. At the end of the 20th century, UNESCO declared burials as a cultural heritage of mankind. It is impossible to transfer the remains from a legal point of view. For transportation, the consent of the relatives is required. But how can you find the relatives of the nameless revolutionaries buried in mass graves at the beginning of the 19th century?
The necropolis at the Kremlin wall is a memorial cemetery located on Red Square in the wall that serves as a columbarium for urns, as well as at the wall of the Moscow Kremlin. This is the place where the ashes of the outstanding figures of our country lie. In 1920 - 1930, foreign communists John Reed, Sen Katayama, Clara Zetkin and others were buried there. The necropolis appeared in 1917, this happened after the appearance of two mass graves on Red Square, where the participants in the assault on the Kremlin in November 1917 in Moscow were buried. The soldiers fought on the side of the Bolsheviks. There is evidence that 238 people are buried there. In 1919, Ya. M. Sverdlov was buried on Red Square, in the same year in the fall, after the explosion in Leontievsky lane, the victims of that tragedy were buried there, including the 1st secretary of the Moscow City Conservatory, V.M. Zagorsky. In the 1920s, fifteen more mass graves appeared near the Kremlin wall, in which the fighters of the revolution were buried. The center of the necropolis was the Lenin Mausoleum, which was erected in 1924. After 1924, mass graves ceased. There were only two exceptions for burial: especially prominent government and party figures were buried here (Sverdlov, and then Frunze, Dzerzhinsky, Kalinin, Zhdanov, Voroshilov, Budyonny, Suslov, Brezhnev, Andropov and Chernenko). I must say that these people are buried in a coffin without cremation to the right of the Mausoleum. In 1961, Stalin's body, taken out of the Mausoleum, was buried in the same coffin. Above each grave there is a sculptural portrait by M.V. Tomsky and others. The second exception was the burial of the ashes of the deceased in an urn. In 1930 - 1980, on both sides of the Senate Tower, urns were walled up into the wall. A total of 114 people are buried here. The politicians of our country, who were in disgrace, were not buried near the Kremlin, for example, N. S. Khrushchev, A. I. Mikoyan and N. V. Podgorny were buried at the Novodevichy cemetery. Famous pilots, deceased cosmonauts and prominent scientists are buried in the necropolis near the Kremlin wall. Until 1976, the Marshals of the Soviet Union were also buried only near the Kremlin, after 1976 burials began to be carried out in other cemeteries as well. The last two people who were buried in the necropolis are K.U. Chernenko (March 1985, buried at the wall) and D.F. Ustinov (1984, ashes placed on the wall). In 1953, the government of the country issued a decree on the liquidation of the necropolis and the transfer of all remains to the cemetery, although quite soon they forgot about all this and the plan remained unfulfilled. Since 1974, the necropolis has been considered a monument and protected by the state. Recently, the question of transferring the remains from the walls of the Kremlin has often been raised, but this action contradicts the law, which states that it is prohibited to transfer the remains of the dead without the consent of relatives (for most of those buried from the Kremlin, it is simply impossible to obtain permission, if only because the names of many people resting in mass graves are unknown).