Kamo (Bolshevik)
Encyclopedia
Kamo, real name Semeno Aržakovitš Ter-Petrossian (27 July 1882, Gori, Georgia
– 14 July 1922, Tiflis
), was a Georgian
revolutionary
of Armenian
descent, and an early companion to Soviet leader Joseph Stalin
. From 1903–1912, Kamo, a master of disguise, carried out a number of militant operations on behalf of the Bolshevik
faction of the Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party, mostly in Georgia, then part of the Russian Empire
. He is best known for his central role in the 1907 Tiflis bank robbery
, organised by Bolshevik leaders to raise funds for their party activities. For his militant activities he was arrested in Berlin
in 1907 but simulated insanity both in German
and later Russian prisons, eventually escaping from prison and fleeing the country. He was recaptured in 1912 after another attempted armed robbery and sentenced to death. The death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment as part of the celebrations of the Romanov dynasty tricentennial.
Kamo was released after February 1917 Russian Revolution. He died in 1922 in a freak accident after being hit by a truck while riding a bicycle in Tiflis. Kamo was buried and had a monument erected in his honor in Puskin Gardens, near Yerevan Square, but this monument was later removed during Stalin's rule and his remains moved to another location.
. His parents were Armenian, and his father was a wealthy contractor.
As a child, Semeno liked to get into fights with his peers and would come home beaten. When he was seven, his parents gave Semeno a personal tutor
who taught him how to read and write Russian. Semeno's grandfather, a priest
, wanted to send Semeno to the Tiflis Theological Seminary, but Semeno's mother felt he was too young to go away to school. As a result, Semeno stayed at home and was enrolled in 1895 in a local Armenian school, where he remained three years, until he was expelled. Semeno later recounted his experiences in the local school:
After being expelled, Semeno was sent off to Tiflis
to enter the Theological Seminary as his grandfather had advocated. In Tiflis, Semeno met Joseph Stalin
, who at the time was named Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili. His mother was a friend of Kamo's father. Stalin was a day student at the seminary and helped Semeno prepare to enter the Seminary. In 1901, Kamo was expelled from the seminary and rejoined Stalin who tried to teach him Russian and Marxism
but gave up in despair. He had wanted to be an army officer but his father had just gone bankrupt, losing all control over his son.
One day while Stalin was tutoring Semeno, a friend named Slushi entered the room and began to tell an anecdote. Semeno tried to ask for information about who the story was about so he tried to ask his friend "Whom, Slushi, Whom?", which would have been "Komu, Slushi, komu?" in Russian, but Semeno instead said "Kamo, Slushi, Kamo?" This error entertained his friends so much that afterwards he was nickname
d Kamo, a name which stuck with him for the rest of his life.
. As a member of this secret revolutionary organization, Kamo was given the tasks of distributing leaflets, organizing meetings, gathering outlawed publications, and moving illegal printing presses. After the Batumi
uprising, Kamo was imprisoned along with Stalin.
In February 1903, the organization asked Kamo along with other revolutionaries to hand out leaflets at a local theatre. Though Kamo's colleagues did not show up to hand out leaflets, Kamo proceeded to the theater by himself and hurled 500 leaflets out of the balcony of the darkened theater before the curtain went up. He then left the theatre before the police arrived. Kamo then watched from across the street as the police proceeded to search everyone exiting the theatre and arrest suspects. Because of his daring during this episode, the revolutionary organization entrusted Kamo with more dangerous tasks.
In December 1903, a gendarme
stopped Kamo, searched his bag, and found outlawed revolutionary literature. Kamo was arrested and imprisoned for the crime. For his first four months in prison, Kamo was put in solitary confinement
, and then moved to the general prison population. After being moved, Kamo caught malaria
and as part of his therapy, was allowed to walk in the prison yard during the morning. One day while walking through the prison yard, he noticed that his guard was not looking and quickly scaled the nearby prison wall. After escaping from the prison, Kamo quickly hailed a passing carriage and was able to meet up with fellow revolutionaries. Kamo described this experience later by stating:
During the 1905 revolution he never wrote anything, instead he trained new revolutionaries. He claimed the best places to hide from the Okhrana were brothels, he had affairs with his landlady, a Jewish nurse and other women just to get money to survive. He became friends with the Georgian Bolshevik Ordzhonikidze
begging him to "become my assistant." In late 1905 he fatally shot an Armenian 3 times for stealing money he was meant to guard.
After the 1905 Russian Revolution, the Russian government demanded that revolutionaries turn over arms to the State. The Russian Social Democratic Labour Party
("RSDLP") were split between more moderate Mensheviks who favored giving the arms over, and the hard line Bolsheviks, who wanted to retain the arms. Because Bolsheviks would not hand over their arms, Russian security forces tried to take the arms by force. Kamo led the defense of the Bolshevik's Tiflis
stronghold from Russian security forces. On January 18/31 1906, General Fyodor Griiazonov, commander of the Caucasus crushed the rebels in the Tiflis workers' district. Kamo, who was almost killed in the firefight, lost the battle; the Russian security forces seized the arms, and imprisoned Kamo once again. He was tortured by the Cossacks who nearly cut off his nose, but he said nothing. Stalin said: "He could bear any pain, an astonishing person." Kamo soon escaped from prison a second time by "exchanging identity papers with an ignorant peasant." After his escape, Kamo went to the bomb factory of Leonid Krasin
, a fellow Bolshevik revolutionary.
On July 15/28 he was at Stalin's wedding reception.
, a leader of the Bolshevik faction of the
RSDLP, endorsed the use of "expropriation
s", which was a euphemism for armed robbery of state banks. Lenin instructed Stalin to create a group of expropriators that would not be directly affiliated with the Bolsheviks to engage in these activities. Lenin told Stalin "put at the head of the group an individual who would die rather than reveal the plan should he be arrested." Stalin appointed Kamo to head this group.
Kamo's group consisted of approximately 10 people.
In creating his band of expropriators, Kamo enlisted young Georgian women that utilized their looks to gain information regarding transfer of State Bank funds.
In the fall of 1906, Maxim Litvinov
was sent to the Caucasus by Krasin to work with Kamo to gain more funds for the revolutionary cause. Litvinov and Kamo worked to obtain ammunition abroad in Varna
that was to be smuggled into the Caucuses. The ammuniition was loaded onto a small yacht called "Zara", and Kamo planned to smuggle the ammunition by sailing the boat back into Russia with five other sailors. While on the ship, Kamo acted as the cook. Kamo had the boat rigged to explode with the detonator in his bedroom to ensure that if Russian forces took the boat, they would not take the ammunition or the revolutionaries alive. A storm hit the Zara as it was leaving Varna causing the boat to leak and water to flood the engines. Seeing that the boat had been disabled, Kamo tried to detonate the bomb, but it would not explode. Instead, the Zara was stranded and without means of calling for help. After twenty hours, and half-frozen and half-dead, they were found by a fishing boat. Soon after all of the men got off the boat, the Zara capsized. The sailors on the boat all made it back to Russia separately with most of them getting arrested. Kamo managed to make it back to Russia without getting captured by authorities.
In April 1907, high ranking Bolsheviks decided that Stalin and Kamo should organize a robbery in Tiflis to obtain funds to purchase arms. Through his connections, Stalin managed to discover from an old friend that there was going to be a large shipment of money by horse-drawn carriage to the Tiflis Bank on 26 June 1907.
In preparation for the robbery, Kamo's gang smuggled bombs into Tiflis by hiding them inside a sofa. Only weeks before the robbery, Kamo accidentally set off one of Krasin's bombs while trying to set the fuse. The blast from the bomb severely injured Kamo's eye, leaving a permanent scar. Kamo was confined to his bed for a month due to intense pain, and had not fully recovered by the time of the robbery.
On the day of the robbery, the robbers all took their places in Yeveran Square
dressed as peasants and waited on street corners with revolvers and grenades. In contrast to the other robbers, Kamo was disguised as a cavalry captain and came to the square in a horse–drawn phaeton
, a type of open carriage.
The bank's stagecoach made its way through the crowded square at about 10:30 am. When the stagecoach was close enough, one of the robbers gave a signal to attack. Once the signal was given, robbers pulled the fuses on their grenades and threw them at the carriage. The resulting explosions killed horses and guards. The robbers then began shooting at the various security men guarding the stagecoach, as well as those securing the square.
Though the explosions had killed many of the guards and horses, one of the horses harnessed to the stagecoach was injured but still alive. The bleeding animal bolted from the scene pulling the stagecoach with it. Two of the robbers and Kamo chased after the runaway money-laden stagecoach. One of the robbers threw another grenade at the escaping stagecoach killing the horse and stopping the stagecoach. After the stagecoach was stopped, Kamo raced to the stopped carriage in his phaeton, firing his pistol as he drove. Once he got to the stagecoach, other robbers who had reached the coach helped throw the money into Kamo's carriage.
After securing the money, Kamo quickly rode out of the square and encountered a police carriage ridden by the deputy police chief. Instead of turning away, Kamo pretended to be part of the security forces and shouted to the deputy that "the money's safe. Run to the square." The deputy obeyed the apparent captain of cavalry, and it was only much later that he realized that he had been fooled by an escaping robber.
Kamo then rode to the gang's headquarters where he changed out of his uniform. All of the robbers quickly scattered, and none were caught in the act by the authorities
Fifty people lay wounded in the square along with the dead humans and horses. The authorities stated that only three people had died, but documents in the Okhrana archives reveal that the true number was around forty.
The State Bank was not sure how much it actually lost from the robbery, but the best estimates were that around 341,000 rubles
were stolen, worth approximately $3.4 million in 2008 United States Dollars. Of the 341,000 in rubles taken, about 91,000 were in small untraceable bills, but around 250,000 rubles were in large 500-ruble notes with serial numbers known to the police. This made them very difficult to exchange undetected.
A large portion of the stolen money was eventually moved by Kamo, who took the money to Lenin in Finland
, which was then part of the Russian Empire
. Kamo then spent the remaining summer months staying with Lenin at his dacha
. That fall, Kamo left Finland to buy arms for future activities; he traveled to Paris, then to Belgium
to buy arms and ammunition, then to Bulgaria
to buy 200 detonators.
After being arrested in Berlin, Kamo received a note from Krasin through his lawyer Oscar Kohn telling Kamo to feign insanity so that he would be declared unfit to stand trial. To demonstrate his insanity, Kamo refused food, tore his clothes, tore out his hair, attempted suicide by hanging himself, slashed his wrists, and ate his own excrement. In order to make sure that Kamo was not faking his condition, German doctors stuck pins under his nails, struck him in the back with a long needle, and burned him with hot irons, but he did not break his act. After all of these tests, the chief doctor of the Berlin asylum wrote in June 1909 that "there is no foundation to the belief that [Kamo] is feigning insanity. He is without doubt mentally ill, is incapable of appearing before a court, or of serving sentence. It is extremely doubtful that he can completely recover."
In 1909, Kamo was extradited to a Russian prison where he continued to feign insanity. In April 1910, Kamo was tried for his role in the Tiflis robbery. At trial, Kamo continued to act insane by ignoring the proceedings and instead openly feeding a pet bird that he had snuck into the proceedings in his shirt. The trial was suspended while officials examined Kamo's sanity. The court eventually found that he was sane when he committed the Tiflis robbery, but was presently mentally ill and should be confined until he recovered.
In August 1911, after feigning insanity for more than three years, Kamo escaped from the psychiatric ward of the Tiflis prison by sawing through his window bars and climbing down a homemade rope.
Kamo later discussed his experiences at feigning insanity for over three years:
After escaping, Kamo met up with Lenin in Paris. Kamo was distressed to hear that a "rupture had occurred" between Lenin, Bogdanov, and Krasin. Kamo told Lenin about his arrest and how he had simulated insanity while in prison. After leaving Paris, Kamo eventually met up with Krasin and planned another armed robbery. Kamo was caught before the robbery took place and was put on trial in Tiflis for his exploits including the Tiflis bank robbery. This time while imprisoned, Kamo did not feign insanity and was given four death sentences.
Seemingly doomed to death, Kamo then had the good luck along with other prisoners to have his sentence commuted to a long prison term as part of the celebrations of the Romanov dynasty tricentennial. Kamo was released from prison after the February Revolution
in 1917.
until he was allowed to create his own band of men who would help raid money on the other side of the Eastern Front
to support the country.
Having been given permission to create his own gang, Kamo would test all of his new members to make sure that they were up to the task. Kamo would test his new recruits by taking the new recruits to a forest clearing and have them be attacked by fake White army members
, bound to a tree, and then put through a fake execution
to test their courage. Kamo said that with this test "you could be absolutely sure [your comrades] wouldn't let you down." On one occasion, a recruit revealed himself to a be a spy when tested by Kamo; he was shot on the spot. Kamo then cut open the man's chest and tore out the man's heart showing it to the other recruits. When Lenin heard about Kamo's test, he was so disturbed that he sent a message stating that he never wanted to see him again.
After the wars were over, Kamo worked in the Soviet Customs office, by some accounts because he was too unstable to work for the secret police
. Kamo died in a 1922 road accident when a truck hit him while he was cycling. While there is no proof, some have theorized that Kamo's death was no accident, with the orders for his demise given by Stalin.
Kamo was buried with honors and a wreath was placed on his bier with an inscription stating "To the unforgettable Kamo, from Lenin and Krupskaya." Immediately after Kamo died, Stalin sent someone to collect all of Kamo's records and papers so that they would not embarrass Stalin.
Ironically, Kamo, the man who had been found guilty and sentenced to death for the bloody robbery that took place in Yerevan Square, was buried and had a monument erected in his honor (replacing Pushkin's statue) in Pushkin Gardens, near Yerevan Square. Kamo's monument was later removed during Stalin's rule and his remains moved to another location.
Gori, Georgia
Gori is a city in eastern Georgia, which serves as the regional capital of Shida Kartli and the centre of the homonymous administrative district. The name is from Georgian gora , that is, "heap", or "hill"...
– 14 July 1922, Tiflis
Tbilisi
Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...
), was a Georgian
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
revolutionary
Revolutionary
A revolutionary is a person who either actively participates in, or advocates revolution. Also, when used as an adjective, the term revolutionary refers to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor.-Definition:...
of Armenian
Armenians
Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....
descent, and an early companion to Soviet leader Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
. From 1903–1912, Kamo, a master of disguise, carried out a number of militant operations on behalf of the Bolshevik
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
faction of the Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party, mostly in Georgia, then part of the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
. He is best known for his central role in the 1907 Tiflis bank robbery
1907 Tiflis bank robbery
The 1907 Tiflis bank robbery, also known as the Yerevan Square expropriation, was an armed robbery by Bolshevik revolutionaries of a bank cash shipment in the Georgian city of Tiflis . The robbery occurred on 26 June 1907 in Yerevan Square...
, organised by Bolshevik leaders to raise funds for their party activities. For his militant activities he was arrested in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
in 1907 but simulated insanity both in German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and later Russian prisons, eventually escaping from prison and fleeing the country. He was recaptured in 1912 after another attempted armed robbery and sentenced to death. The death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment as part of the celebrations of the Romanov dynasty tricentennial.
Kamo was released after February 1917 Russian Revolution. He died in 1922 in a freak accident after being hit by a truck while riding a bicycle in Tiflis. Kamo was buried and had a monument erected in his honor in Puskin Gardens, near Yerevan Square, but this monument was later removed during Stalin's rule and his remains moved to another location.
Early life (1882-1902)
Semeno Aržakovitš Ter-Petrossian, later named Kamo, was born on 27 July 1882, in Gori, GeorgiaGori, Georgia
Gori is a city in eastern Georgia, which serves as the regional capital of Shida Kartli and the centre of the homonymous administrative district. The name is from Georgian gora , that is, "heap", or "hill"...
. His parents were Armenian, and his father was a wealthy contractor.
As a child, Semeno liked to get into fights with his peers and would come home beaten. When he was seven, his parents gave Semeno a personal tutor
Tutor
A tutor is a person employed in the education of others, either individually or in groups. To tutor is to perform the functions of a tutor.-Teaching assistance:...
who taught him how to read and write Russian. Semeno's grandfather, a priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
, wanted to send Semeno to the Tiflis Theological Seminary, but Semeno's mother felt he was too young to go away to school. As a result, Semeno stayed at home and was enrolled in 1895 in a local Armenian school, where he remained three years, until he was expelled. Semeno later recounted his experiences in the local school:
During the three years I spent at school, I not only failed to learn a single thing, but what's more, I forgot what I had learned previously. I forgot entirely how to speak Russian and I was a terrible student. In my spare time, I would go fishing or steal fruit. On a few occasions I was almost caught. But when I reached high school, I grew fond of geography and history. I loved to read about wars and heroes. I was deeply religious and sang in the church choir.
After being expelled, Semeno was sent off to Tiflis
Tbilisi
Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...
to enter the Theological Seminary as his grandfather had advocated. In Tiflis, Semeno met Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
, who at the time was named Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili. His mother was a friend of Kamo's father. Stalin was a day student at the seminary and helped Semeno prepare to enter the Seminary. In 1901, Kamo was expelled from the seminary and rejoined Stalin who tried to teach him Russian and Marxism
Marxism
Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
but gave up in despair. He had wanted to be an army officer but his father had just gone bankrupt, losing all control over his son.
One day while Stalin was tutoring Semeno, a friend named Slushi entered the room and began to tell an anecdote. Semeno tried to ask for information about who the story was about so he tried to ask his friend "Whom, Slushi, Whom?", which would have been "Komu, Slushi, komu?" in Russian, but Semeno instead said "Kamo, Slushi, Kamo?" This error entertained his friends so much that afterwards he was nickname
Nickname
A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....
d Kamo, a name which stuck with him for the rest of his life.
Becoming a revolutionary
In 1902, Kamo joined a secret Social Democratic organization of TiflisSocial democracy
Social democracy is a political ideology of the center-left on the political spectrum. Social democracy is officially a form of evolutionary reformist socialism. It supports class collaboration as the course to achieve socialism...
. As a member of this secret revolutionary organization, Kamo was given the tasks of distributing leaflets, organizing meetings, gathering outlawed publications, and moving illegal printing presses. After the Batumi
Batumi
Batumi is a seaside city on the Black Sea coast and capital of Adjara, an autonomous republic in southwest Georgia. Sometimes considered Georgia's second capital, with a population of 121,806 , Batumi serves as an important port and a commercial center. It is situated in a subtropical zone, rich in...
uprising, Kamo was imprisoned along with Stalin.
In February 1903, the organization asked Kamo along with other revolutionaries to hand out leaflets at a local theatre. Though Kamo's colleagues did not show up to hand out leaflets, Kamo proceeded to the theater by himself and hurled 500 leaflets out of the balcony of the darkened theater before the curtain went up. He then left the theatre before the police arrived. Kamo then watched from across the street as the police proceeded to search everyone exiting the theatre and arrest suspects. Because of his daring during this episode, the revolutionary organization entrusted Kamo with more dangerous tasks.
In December 1903, a gendarme
Gendarmerie
A gendarmerie or gendarmery is a military force charged with police duties among civilian populations. Members of such a force are typically called "gendarmes". The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary describes a gendarme as "a soldier who is employed on police duties" and a "gendarmery, -erie" as...
stopped Kamo, searched his bag, and found outlawed revolutionary literature. Kamo was arrested and imprisoned for the crime. For his first four months in prison, Kamo was put in solitary confinement
Solitary confinement
Solitary confinement is a special form of imprisonment in which a prisoner is isolated from any human contact, though often with the exception of members of prison staff. It is sometimes employed as a form of punishment beyond incarceration for a prisoner, and has been cited as an additional...
, and then moved to the general prison population. After being moved, Kamo caught malaria
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
and as part of his therapy, was allowed to walk in the prison yard during the morning. One day while walking through the prison yard, he noticed that his guard was not looking and quickly scaled the nearby prison wall. After escaping from the prison, Kamo quickly hailed a passing carriage and was able to meet up with fellow revolutionaries. Kamo described this experience later by stating:
I shall never forget the sensation of freedom which I experienced after scaling that wall. The sun shone, the waves sparkled, I had freedom at last. I wanted to run. Never did I experience such joy.
During the 1905 revolution he never wrote anything, instead he trained new revolutionaries. He claimed the best places to hide from the Okhrana were brothels, he had affairs with his landlady, a Jewish nurse and other women just to get money to survive. He became friends with the Georgian Bolshevik Ordzhonikidze
Grigoriy Ordzhonikidze
Grigol Ordzhonikidze ორჯონიკიძე - Grigol Orjonikidze, , generally known as Sergo Ordzhonikidze ; – February 18, 1937) was a Georgian Bolshevik, later member of the CPSU Politburo and close friend to Joseph Stalin...
begging him to "become my assistant." In late 1905 he fatally shot an Armenian 3 times for stealing money he was meant to guard.
After the 1905 Russian Revolution, the Russian government demanded that revolutionaries turn over arms to the State. The Russian Social Democratic Labour Party
Russian Social Democratic Labour Party
The Russian Social Democratic Labour Party , also known as Russian Social Democratic Workers' Party or Russian Social Democratic Party, was a revolutionary socialist Russian political party formed in 1898 in Minsk to unite the various revolutionary organizations into one party...
("RSDLP") were split between more moderate Mensheviks who favored giving the arms over, and the hard line Bolsheviks, who wanted to retain the arms. Because Bolsheviks would not hand over their arms, Russian security forces tried to take the arms by force. Kamo led the defense of the Bolshevik's Tiflis
Tbilisi
Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...
stronghold from Russian security forces. On January 18/31 1906, General Fyodor Griiazonov, commander of the Caucasus crushed the rebels in the Tiflis workers' district. Kamo, who was almost killed in the firefight, lost the battle; the Russian security forces seized the arms, and imprisoned Kamo once again. He was tortured by the Cossacks who nearly cut off his nose, but he said nothing. Stalin said: "He could bear any pain, an astonishing person." Kamo soon escaped from prison a second time by "exchanging identity papers with an ignorant peasant." After his escape, Kamo went to the bomb factory of Leonid Krasin
Leonid Krasin
Leonid Borisovich Krasin July 1870, Kurgan – November 24, 1926) was a Russian and Soviet Bolshevik politician and diplomat.-Early years:Krasin was born in Kurgan, near Tobol'sk in Siberia. His father, Boris Ivanovich Krasin was the local chief of police...
, a fellow Bolshevik revolutionary.
On July 15/28 he was at Stalin's wedding reception.
Expropriations
In order to fund the revolutionary activities of the Bolsheviks, Vladimir LeninVladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and communist politician who led the October Revolution of 1917. As leader of the Bolsheviks, he headed the Soviet state during its initial years , as it fought to establish control of Russia in the Russian Civil War and worked to create a...
, a leader of the Bolshevik faction of the
RSDLP, endorsed the use of "expropriation
Expropriation
Expropriation is the politically motivated and forceful confiscation and redistribution of private property outside the common law. Unlike eminent domain or laws regulating the foreign investment, expropriation takes place outside the common law and may be used to denote an armed robbery by...
s", which was a euphemism for armed robbery of state banks. Lenin instructed Stalin to create a group of expropriators that would not be directly affiliated with the Bolsheviks to engage in these activities. Lenin told Stalin "put at the head of the group an individual who would die rather than reveal the plan should he be arrested." Stalin appointed Kamo to head this group.
Kamo's group consisted of approximately 10 people.
In creating his band of expropriators, Kamo enlisted young Georgian women that utilized their looks to gain information regarding transfer of State Bank funds.
In the fall of 1906, Maxim Litvinov
Maxim Litvinov
Maxim Maximovich Litvinov was a Russian revolutionary and prominent Soviet diplomat.- Early life and first exile :...
was sent to the Caucasus by Krasin to work with Kamo to gain more funds for the revolutionary cause. Litvinov and Kamo worked to obtain ammunition abroad in Varna
Varna
Varna is the largest city and seaside resort on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast and third-largest in Bulgaria after Sofia and Plovdiv, with a population of 334,870 inhabitants according to Census 2011...
that was to be smuggled into the Caucuses. The ammuniition was loaded onto a small yacht called "Zara", and Kamo planned to smuggle the ammunition by sailing the boat back into Russia with five other sailors. While on the ship, Kamo acted as the cook. Kamo had the boat rigged to explode with the detonator in his bedroom to ensure that if Russian forces took the boat, they would not take the ammunition or the revolutionaries alive. A storm hit the Zara as it was leaving Varna causing the boat to leak and water to flood the engines. Seeing that the boat had been disabled, Kamo tried to detonate the bomb, but it would not explode. Instead, the Zara was stranded and without means of calling for help. After twenty hours, and half-frozen and half-dead, they were found by a fishing boat. Soon after all of the men got off the boat, the Zara capsized. The sailors on the boat all made it back to Russia separately with most of them getting arrested. Kamo managed to make it back to Russia without getting captured by authorities.
1907 Tiflis bank robbery
In preparation for the robbery, Kamo's gang smuggled bombs into Tiflis by hiding them inside a sofa. Only weeks before the robbery, Kamo accidentally set off one of Krasin's bombs while trying to set the fuse. The blast from the bomb severely injured Kamo's eye, leaving a permanent scar. Kamo was confined to his bed for a month due to intense pain, and had not fully recovered by the time of the robbery.
On the day of the robbery, the robbers all took their places in Yeveran Square
Freedom Square, Yerevan
Freedom Square or Liberty Square The statues of Hovhannes Tumanyan and Alexander Spendiaryan are located in the square.An underground parking was built in 2008-2010....
dressed as peasants and waited on street corners with revolvers and grenades. In contrast to the other robbers, Kamo was disguised as a cavalry captain and came to the square in a horse–drawn phaeton
Phaeton (carriage)
Phaeton is the early 19th-century term for a sporty open carriage drawn by a single horse or a pair, typically with four extravagantly large wheels, very lightly sprung, with a minimal body, fast and dangerous. It usually had no sidepieces in front of the seats...
, a type of open carriage.
The bank's stagecoach made its way through the crowded square at about 10:30 am. When the stagecoach was close enough, one of the robbers gave a signal to attack. Once the signal was given, robbers pulled the fuses on their grenades and threw them at the carriage. The resulting explosions killed horses and guards. The robbers then began shooting at the various security men guarding the stagecoach, as well as those securing the square.
Though the explosions had killed many of the guards and horses, one of the horses harnessed to the stagecoach was injured but still alive. The bleeding animal bolted from the scene pulling the stagecoach with it. Two of the robbers and Kamo chased after the runaway money-laden stagecoach. One of the robbers threw another grenade at the escaping stagecoach killing the horse and stopping the stagecoach. After the stagecoach was stopped, Kamo raced to the stopped carriage in his phaeton, firing his pistol as he drove. Once he got to the stagecoach, other robbers who had reached the coach helped throw the money into Kamo's carriage.
After securing the money, Kamo quickly rode out of the square and encountered a police carriage ridden by the deputy police chief. Instead of turning away, Kamo pretended to be part of the security forces and shouted to the deputy that "the money's safe. Run to the square." The deputy obeyed the apparent captain of cavalry, and it was only much later that he realized that he had been fooled by an escaping robber.
Kamo then rode to the gang's headquarters where he changed out of his uniform. All of the robbers quickly scattered, and none were caught in the act by the authorities
Fifty people lay wounded in the square along with the dead humans and horses. The authorities stated that only three people had died, but documents in the Okhrana archives reveal that the true number was around forty.
The State Bank was not sure how much it actually lost from the robbery, but the best estimates were that around 341,000 rubles
Russian ruble
The ruble or rouble is the currency of the Russian Federation and the two partially recognized republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Formerly, the ruble was also the currency of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union prior to their breakups. Belarus and Transnistria also use currencies with...
were stolen, worth approximately $3.4 million in 2008 United States Dollars. Of the 341,000 in rubles taken, about 91,000 were in small untraceable bills, but around 250,000 rubles were in large 500-ruble notes with serial numbers known to the police. This made them very difficult to exchange undetected.
A large portion of the stolen money was eventually moved by Kamo, who took the money to Lenin in Finland
Grand Duchy of Finland
The Grand Duchy of Finland was the predecessor state of modern Finland. It existed 1809–1917 as part of the Russian Empire and was ruled by the Russian czar as Grand Prince.- History :...
, which was then part of the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
. Kamo then spent the remaining summer months staying with Lenin at his dacha
Dacha
Dacha is a Russian word for seasonal or year-round second homes often located in the exurbs of Soviet and post-Soviet cities. Cottages or shacks serving as family's main or only home are not considered dachas, although many purpose-built dachas are recently being converted for year-round residence...
. That fall, Kamo left Finland to buy arms for future activities; he traveled to Paris, then to Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
to buy arms and ammunition, then to Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
to buy 200 detonators.
Captures and trials
After his purchase in Bulgaria, Kamo traveled to Berlin and delivered a letter from Lenin to a prominent Bolshevik, Dr. Yakov Zhitomirsky, asking the doctor for medical assistance to treat Kamo's still injured eye. Lenin had been hoping to help the man who had successfully executed the robbery, but unintentionally turned Kamo over to a double agent. Zhitomirsky had been secretly working as an agent of the Russian government and quickly informed the Okhrana about his encounter with Kamo. The Okhrana then asked the Berlin police to arrest Kamo. When they did so, they found a forged Austrian passport and a suitcase with 200 detonators, which he was planning to use in another large bank robbery.After being arrested in Berlin, Kamo received a note from Krasin through his lawyer Oscar Kohn telling Kamo to feign insanity so that he would be declared unfit to stand trial. To demonstrate his insanity, Kamo refused food, tore his clothes, tore out his hair, attempted suicide by hanging himself, slashed his wrists, and ate his own excrement. In order to make sure that Kamo was not faking his condition, German doctors stuck pins under his nails, struck him in the back with a long needle, and burned him with hot irons, but he did not break his act. After all of these tests, the chief doctor of the Berlin asylum wrote in June 1909 that "there is no foundation to the belief that [Kamo] is feigning insanity. He is without doubt mentally ill, is incapable of appearing before a court, or of serving sentence. It is extremely doubtful that he can completely recover."
In 1909, Kamo was extradited to a Russian prison where he continued to feign insanity. In April 1910, Kamo was tried for his role in the Tiflis robbery. At trial, Kamo continued to act insane by ignoring the proceedings and instead openly feeding a pet bird that he had snuck into the proceedings in his shirt. The trial was suspended while officials examined Kamo's sanity. The court eventually found that he was sane when he committed the Tiflis robbery, but was presently mentally ill and should be confined until he recovered.
In August 1911, after feigning insanity for more than three years, Kamo escaped from the psychiatric ward of the Tiflis prison by sawing through his window bars and climbing down a homemade rope.
Kamo later discussed his experiences at feigning insanity for over three years:
"What can I tell you? They threw me about, hit me over the legs and the like. One of the men forced me to look into the mirror. There I saw − not the reflection of myself, but rather of some thin, ape-like man, gruesome and horrible looking, grinding his teeth. I thought to myself, 'Maybe I've really gone mad!' It was a terrible moment, but I regained my bearings and spat upon the mirror. You know I think they liked that....I thought a great deal:'Will I survive or will I really go mad?' That was not good. I did not have faith in myself, see?...[The authorities], of course, know their business, their science. But they do not know the CaucasiansCaucasian peoplesThis article deals with the various ethnic groups inhabiting the Caucasus region. There are more than50 ethnic groups living in the region.-Peoples speaking Caucasian languages:...
. Maybe every Caucasian is insane, as far as they are concerned. Well, who will drive whom mad? Nothing developed. They stuck to their guns and I to mine. In Tiflis, they didn't torture me. Apparently they thought that the Germans can make no mistakes."
After escaping, Kamo met up with Lenin in Paris. Kamo was distressed to hear that a "rupture had occurred" between Lenin, Bogdanov, and Krasin. Kamo told Lenin about his arrest and how he had simulated insanity while in prison. After leaving Paris, Kamo eventually met up with Krasin and planned another armed robbery. Kamo was caught before the robbery took place and was put on trial in Tiflis for his exploits including the Tiflis bank robbery. This time while imprisoned, Kamo did not feign insanity and was given four death sentences.
Seemingly doomed to death, Kamo then had the good luck along with other prisoners to have his sentence commuted to a long prison term as part of the celebrations of the Romanov dynasty tricentennial. Kamo was released from prison after the February Revolution
February Revolution
The February Revolution of 1917 was the first of two revolutions in Russia in 1917. Centered around the then capital Petrograd in March . Its immediate result was the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II, the end of the Romanov dynasty, and the end of the Russian Empire...
in 1917.
Later life and death
Kamo, after his release from prison and the seizing of power by the Bolsheviks, seemed bored with the new life outside of prison. Stalin introduced him to Lenin as: "The old bank robber-terrorist of the Caucasus." He paced the halls of the KremlinKremlin
A kremlin , same root as in kremen is a major fortified central complex found in historic Russian cities. This word is often used to refer to the best-known one, the Moscow Kremlin, or metonymically to the government that is based there...
until he was allowed to create his own band of men who would help raid money on the other side of the Eastern Front
Eastern Front (World War I)
The Eastern Front was a theatre of war during World War I in Central and, primarily, Eastern Europe. The term is in contrast to the Western Front. Despite the geographical separation, the events in the two theatres strongly influenced each other...
to support the country.
Having been given permission to create his own gang, Kamo would test all of his new members to make sure that they were up to the task. Kamo would test his new recruits by taking the new recruits to a forest clearing and have them be attacked by fake White army members
White movement
The White movement and its military arm the White Army - known as the White Guard or the Whites - was a loose confederation of Anti-Communist forces.The movement comprised one of the politico-military Russian forces who fought...
, bound to a tree, and then put through a fake execution
Mock execution
A mock execution is a stratagem in which a victim is deliberately but falsely made to feel that his execution or that of another person is imminent or is taking place. It may be staged for an audience or a subject who is made to believe that he is being led to his own execution...
to test their courage. Kamo said that with this test "you could be absolutely sure [your comrades] wouldn't let you down." On one occasion, a recruit revealed himself to a be a spy when tested by Kamo; he was shot on the spot. Kamo then cut open the man's chest and tore out the man's heart showing it to the other recruits. When Lenin heard about Kamo's test, he was so disturbed that he sent a message stating that he never wanted to see him again.
After the wars were over, Kamo worked in the Soviet Customs office, by some accounts because he was too unstable to work for the secret police
Secret police
Secret police are a police agency which operates in secrecy and beyond the law to protect the political power of an individual dictator or an authoritarian political regime....
. Kamo died in a 1922 road accident when a truck hit him while he was cycling. While there is no proof, some have theorized that Kamo's death was no accident, with the orders for his demise given by Stalin.
Kamo was buried with honors and a wreath was placed on his bier with an inscription stating "To the unforgettable Kamo, from Lenin and Krupskaya." Immediately after Kamo died, Stalin sent someone to collect all of Kamo's records and papers so that they would not embarrass Stalin.
Ironically, Kamo, the man who had been found guilty and sentenced to death for the bloody robbery that took place in Yerevan Square, was buried and had a monument erected in his honor (replacing Pushkin's statue) in Pushkin Gardens, near Yerevan Square. Kamo's monument was later removed during Stalin's rule and his remains moved to another location.