Roman Fedorovich von Ungern-Sternberg. Ungern von Sternberg Roman Fedorovich Baron Roman Fedorovich Ungern von Sternberg

“The White Army, the Black Baron are again preparing the royal throne for us...” - this is about Ungern. The song is dashing, but, like any propaganda, it does not go into shades. Not everyone in the White Army wanted the revival of autocracy; many were in favor of the Constituent Assembly. And the “black baron” coincided with the whites only in anti-Bolshevism, since he went much further than the most convinced monarchist. If they wanted to build a world federation of councils, the baron dreamed of “global absolutism.” Restoring the “royal throne” was only part of the plan for him.

The Bolsheviks tried to raise Western countries on their hind legs, but Ungern also wanted to remake Western Europe, the foremother of revolutionary ideas.

The communists hoped for the proletariat, the baron - for the restoration of the empire of Genghis Khan. From the Pacific Ocean to the Caspian Sea. And then a powerful horde - to the West. As the baron believed, the white peoples had lost their age-old foundations; their only hope was in Asia, which was capable of renewing the Old World.

The chaos that reigned in the head of the mystic baron, who combined Christianity and Buddhism in his soul, is evidenced by his standard: a yellow banner trimmed with red Mongolian ornaments with the image of the Savior Not Made by Hands. And the black swastika is an ancient symbol, so it is not very clear what meaning Ungern put into it. Then there was an era of boundless ideas and unbridled fantasies, but they left a mark on history.

The Bolsheviks created the USSR, and without the baron there would not have been today’s Mongolia, it would still have belonged to China.

Even at that unmerciful time, Ungern was particularly cruel. For which he found an excuse: “The old foundations of justice have changed. There is no “truth and mercy.” Now there must be “truth and ruthless severity.” And since he understood the truth in a unique way, many who met on his way became victims. No wonder they called him “the black one.” , and - a “mad baron.” The Kappelites threatened to hang Ungern on the nearest branch for discrediting the white idea and the rank of a Russian officer.

Like any purebred baron, you can’t immediately pronounce his full name: Robert-Nikolai-Maximilian (Roman Fedorovich) von Ungern-Sternberg. From an old German-Baltic family. The baron himself added the blood of the Huns to this cocktail, finding his ancestors surrounded by Attila. In various biographies he is called a Russian general, although he received this title not in the tsarist army and not even from or, but from Ataman Semenov. It is possible that he could have become a general earlier, but his violent character got in the way. Entered the Naval Cadet Corps but was expelled for behavior. After graduating from military school, he went to the Cossack regiment. After a clash with a colleague, the court of honor forced him to transfer to another unit on the Amur.

This move to the Chinese border predetermined the baron's future fate. A couple of years later, having risen to the rank of centurion, he resigned and went to Mongolia.

The legends about Ungern of that period are a reflection of later events. In fact, at that time he was only part of the Russian consulate convoy. Another thing is that these years allowed him to “unmongolize” considerably and immerse himself in the turbulent political situation in the region. He returned here later. After a break on .

As it quickly became clear, war was his true element. It is no coincidence that the Mongols later revered Ungern as the god of war and believed that he was invulnerable to bullets. How else? He was wounded five times and returned to duty untreated. Five orders for bravery.

And yet, his career advancement was slow. In 1916 he became an esaul, not much - a rank equal to a captain in the infantry. We find an explanation from another well-known baron in our history - Peter Wrangel (at one time Ungern served under his command): “This is not an officer in the generally accepted sense of the word, this is a type of amateur partisan, hunter-pathfinder from the novels of Mine Reid... Undoubtedly original and sharp intelligence and next to this an astonishing lack of culture and an extremely narrow outlook, amazing shyness and even savagery and next to this an insane impulse and unbridled temper."

In 1917, on the Caucasian front, fate brought Ungern together with Ataman Semenov, with whom, after February, the baron went back to the Far East.

The task - to form national units for the front in Transbaikalia - was not completed by the friends. But the idea itself—reliance on national formations, but now to fight the revolution—remained.

Ungern's troops resembled the Honghuz, the Manchu bandits who were then active in the Far East. The officers are Russians, the privates are Mongols and Buryats. The detachment contains only cavalry. The main tactic is raids. in Transbaikalia was carried out with varying success, but when by 1920 a turning point came and Kolchak was shot, the baron with a thousand horsemen went to Mongolia. However, leaving for the territory occupied by the Chinese was caused not only by the changed situation, but also by the plans that formed in the baron’s head. He decided to begin the struggle for world absolutism in Manchuria, restoring the monarchies in Mongolia and China. A year before, Ungern had already visited here, found the necessary contacts and married Princess Ji from the overthrown Qing dynasty.

On the second attempt, the baron managed to take the Mongol capital Urga and place the Great Khan of Mongolia, Bogd Gegen VIII, on the throne. This victory not only brought him popularity among the local population, grateful for the liberation from Chinese occupation. The title of Mongol Khan was added to the baronial title, and Ataman Semenov awarded Ungern the rank of lieutenant general. Finally, it was during the siege of Urga that an episode occurred that turned the “black baron” into a legend.

To reconnoiter the situation in Urga, Ungern, dressed in a Mongolian robe with shoulder straps and the Order of St. George on his chest, drove into the city gates at a leisurely pace in broad daylight.

He looked around the streets, looked into the palace of one of the Chinese dignitaries and just as slowly left the city. And on the way out, he taught a lesson to the sleeping guard: having whipped him for negligence, he ordered him to tell his superiors that Baron Ungern had punished him. It was after this that they started talking about the supernatural abilities of the “black baron,” and the suspicious garrison fell into deep despondency. And although there were many more Chinese, when Ungern’s detachment attacked again, they fled.

Urga was robbed long and thoughtfully, destroying everything Chinese and Jews, whom the baron considered responsible for the spread of revolutionary ideas. Thus, Outer Mongolia, in the smoke of fires and amid a mountain of corpses, gained independence. In the end, the result turned out to be, however, the opposite of what the baron had hoped for. After Ungern's unsuccessful campaign in 1921, the Reds occupied Urga. “The Sovietization of Mongolia was not the result of a consistent, thoughtful and organized plan. If it were not for Ungern ... we would not have Sovietized Mongolia,” wrote the Bolshevik and diplomat Joffe.

The versions of how the baron fell into the hands of the Reds are contradictory, but it seems that when Ungern decided to take his defeated detachment to Tibet, the others did not like it very much.

The officers were shot, and the baron himself, who “was not taken by the bullet,” was tied up and left in the steppe. Where one of the red partisan detachments found him.

Having learned about the arrest of the baron, he recommended “arranging a public trial, conducting it with maximum speed and shooting.” The recommendation was followed exactly. The demonstration process took place in the summer theater of the Sosnovka park in the city of Novo-Nikolaevsk. And it only took five hours and twenty minutes. The sentence is to shoot.

But the legend lives on. Someone is still sure that the baron fled and took refuge in one of the Buddhist monasteries.

And some pessimists believe that the god of war cannot be shot at all. Evil is unkillable.

“Bloody Baron” R.F. Ungern: myths and facts

Today, literature about life and
activities of R.F. von Ungern-Sternberg is quite large. On
throughout the Soviet period, certain
trends associated with the mythologization of his image. Despite the fact that in
modern Russian literature assessment of the activities of R.F. Ungerna
has undergone significant changes, the clichés that developed during the Soviet
time still continue to exist. One of the first studies about
fight R.F. Ungern against the Soviet regime was written by A.N. Kislov. First
his small work “The Defeat of Ungern” was published in the magazine “War and
revolution" in 1931. The author set as his goal a review of military operations,
therefore, he dwelled little on the atrocities of the “bloody baron.” At
He was the only one who accused R.F. of this. Ungern in the burning of the village of Kulinga with
by all residents, including women and children, at the entrance of the Asian Horse
divisions to Mongolia. In 1964, A.N. Kislov’s work was published in the form
monographs under the same title. The author was more eloquent in describing
the deeds of the baron, whose image has already firmly established itself in Soviet literature:
“The brutal bandits robbed and killed peaceful Soviet citizens,
shot communists and Soviet workers, sparing neither women nor
children... Ungern took about a hundred hostages with him, threatening cruel
reprisal in case of any opposition from residents,”
wrote A.N. Kislitsyn without any reference to the source of information.

The next researcher in the fight against R.F. Ungern
turned out to be even more severe. B. Tsibikov's monograph was written in 1947
year, at that time Soviet literature was filled with denunciations
atrocities of fascism. From the author’s point of view, R.F. Ungern was the forerunner
fascist ideology and, accordingly, simply had to be bloody
executioner To B. Tsibikov’s credit, it should be noted that he did not falsify
data, drawing information from the press of the 20s. For example, he stated
that by order of R.F. Over 400 people were killed at Ungern in Urga. Author
described in great detail the massacres of Jews, citing specific
surnames. B. Tsibikov colorfully painted pictures of how the soldiers of the Asian
divisions, taking them by the legs, tore the children into two halves, and R.F. himself.
Ungern supervised the slow burning at the stake of a man caught on the road
a random traveler in order to find out from him where the money is kept.

Subsequently, Soviet authors no longer resorted to
such artistic techniques to depict the baron’s atrocities, but the image
“bloody” was assigned to R.F. Ungern is very durable. In 1957 G.
Kurgunov and I. Sorokovikov wrote in their book: “Ungern is a sophisticated
sadist, for him pleasure is not only in the death of his victim, but in
the unbearable torment of this victim caused by various tortures. Here and
burning alive at the stake, tearing out pieces of meat from the back with hooks,
cauterization of the heels with a hot iron, etc.” In the monograph “The Crash
anti-Soviet underground in the USSR" D.L. Golikov announced R.F. Ungern
“a fanatical Black Hundreds,” indicating that the baron left ashes behind him
burned villages and corpses, he distributed all the property of the “rebellious”
to the members of his gang and fed on robbery. Based on
newspaper publications during the Civil War, the author stated that Ungern
burned huge villages along with women and children, as well as hundreds
shot peasants. Similar trends have continued in the literature and
90s. Author of the monograph “Political History of Mongolia” S.K. Roshchin
wrote that R.F. Ungern was “a tyrant, a maniac, a mystic, a cruel man,
withdrawn, drunkard (in his youth).” At the same time, the author did not refuse the baron
and in some positive qualities - asceticism, frantic energy,
bravery.

In the 1990s, researchers had access to
memories of R.F. Ungern’s contemporaries, and most importantly, you can use them
was free to reference in publications. It suddenly turned out that
the baron's associates were no less strict towards his activities than the Soviet
literature.

For the first time, adequate coverage of life and activities
R.F. Ungern was received in a fictionalized book by Leonid Yuzefovich. TO
Unfortunately, the author's approach to the memories of the baron's contemporaries was
practically devoid of criticism. In the work of A. Yuzefovich R. F. Ungern was
captured exactly as he was reflected in the memories of his comrades.
At the same time, the assessment of the baron’s activities was generally positive. Author
monograph “Baron Ungern von Sternberg” E.A. Belov was careful with
testimonies of the baron's associates. But objectivity failed him in
describing the actions of the Asian Cavalry Division during the campaign in Russia. On
Based on the testimony of R.F. Ungern during interrogations, the author concludes that
that “in the temporarily occupied territory of Siberia, Ungern behaved like
a cruel conqueror, killed entire families of communists and partisans, without sparing
women, old people and children." In fact, execution by order
R.F. Ungern of three families from dozens of villages occupied by the division was
exception (here the baron was guided by some unknown to us, but
very specific reasons). In addition, E.A. Belov in the description
the baron's atrocities on Soviet territory referred to the
unscrupulous memoirist N.M. Ribot (Rezukhin). Hence the descriptions
mass robbery of civilians, rape of women, torture and even
burning of an old Buryat man at the stake. All this is not confirmed by others
sources and therefore cannot be considered reliable.

S.L. Kuzmin, editor of collections of documents and author
introductory article to them, deliberately distanced himself from memoirists,
focusing on military and political activities
R.F. Ungern.

Despite the large number of publications on
this topic, the personality and some aspects of the activities of R.F. Ungern and
remain in the shadows. Until now there was not enough information to confirm
or refute the traditional cliche of the “bloody baron”,
spread both in Soviet literature and in memoirs
contemporaries of R.F. Ungern. The situation was changed by the publication of documents and
memoirs, edited by S.L. Kuzmin in 2004. Now
an opportunity has arisen to highlight this area of ​​activity of R.F. Ungern,
separate facts from myths. How many victims did the “bloody baron” have?
it was he who fell by his hand, which was what R.F. Ungern was guided by when determining
punishments to enemies, one’s own subordinates and “random people”, and,
finally, how exceptional his actions were against the general background
Civil War - this material will answer these questions.

The materials published by S.L. Kuzmin are divided into
two blocks 1) documents; 2) memoirs. In turn, in the meeting
documents highlight the materials of the investigation and trial of R.F. Ungern.
Getting to know these sources leaves a strange impression. All three
groups of documents portray to us their own image of the baron, not
similar to the others.

Biographical materials, documents about activities
R.F. Ungern at the head of the Asian Cavalry Division and his correspondence are depicted
baron as a purposeful person, strategist, talented commander and
organizer From the leaders of the white movement A.V. Kolchak, A.I. Denikin,
N.N. Yudenich R.F. Ungern was distinguished by the fact that he was a convinced monarchist and
I did not think of any other state structure for Russia.
The commanders-in-chief of the white armies stood in positions of non-decision,
believing that the army should not participate in politics. Baron from the very
the beginning of the revolution already had his own plan for creating the Middle Kingdom,
uniting all nomadic peoples of Mongolian origin, “in their own way
organizations not susceptible to Bolshevism." These nomadic peoples must have
further liberate Russia, and then Europe, from the “revolutionary
infection."

Ungern began to implement his plan as early as
Caucasian front. In April 1917, he formed a detachment of
local residents of the Aysars, who brilliantly proved themselves during the fighting
actions. His initiative was supported by Captain G.M. Semenov, who wrote
A.F. Kerensky regarding national formations and June 8, 1917
went to Petrograd to implement these plans. Activity
R.F. Ungern and G.M. Semenov was continued after the October Revolution
already in the Far East, where they entered into the fight against Soviet power.

Having spent almost the entire Civil War on the most important
railway point of communication between the Far East and China at Dauria station,
R.F. Ungern continued to work on realizing his plans for
restoration of the monarchy on a worldwide scale. The main hope in this
relationship became China, where the civil war also continued between
republicans and monarchists. Traces of global plans are already visible in
letter from R.F. Ungern to G.M. Semenov on June 27, 1918, where he proposed,
so that the Chinese in their units fight the Bolsheviks, and
Manchus - with the Chinese (apparently Republicans), Ungern believed that
this will also be beneficial for Japan. November 11, 1918 in a letter
P.P. Malinovsky R.F. Ungern was interested in the preparation of a peace conference
in Philadelphia and found it necessary to send there representatives from Tibet and
Buryatia. Another idea that R.F. Ungern gave to his
correspondent, was about the organization of a women's society in Harbin and
establishing its ties with Europe. The last line of the letter read:
“Political affairs occupy me entirely.”

At the beginning of 1918 in Manchuria, G.M. Semenov collected
peace conference, where representatives of the Kharachen and
bargut. A brigade was created from the Kharachens as part of the white troops. Second
The conference took place in February 1919 in Dauria. She wore
pan-Mongolian character and aimed at creating an independent
Mongolian state. At the conference a temporary
government of "Great Mongolia", command over the troops
awarded to G.M. Semenov. During the Civil War, R.F. Ungern began to cook
their officers to work with the Mongols. As can be seen from the order
Foreign Division dated January 16, 1918 (probably an error in
reality 1919), its commander paid special attention to training
personnel speaking the Mongolian language. Since January 1919, R.F. Ungern was
appointed by G.M. Semenov responsible for the work of gold mines,
under the control of the ataman.

It is obvious that potential opponents
R.F. Ungern and G.M. Semenov were not only Bolsheviks, but also Kolchakites. IN
in the event of successful actions of the Eastern Front and the capture of Moscow, to power
Republican-minded generals from A.V. Kolchak’s entourage would come. TO
R.F. Ungern was preparing for the continuation of the war against the revolution in any person,
forming detachments from Buryats, Mongols and Chinese.

Regarding the departure of units of the Asian Cavalry Division to
Mongolia is not completely clear. This was the period of the collapse of the white movement
Far East. Its leaders were not confident in the future and
began to look for escape routes. In his monograph E.A. Belov gives
information that during this period R.F. Ungern asked the Austrian
The government gave him a visa to enter the country, but he did not receive permission.
The baron's decision to go to Austria could have been dictated by others
motives. E.A. Belov provides a draft international treaty,
compiled at the headquarters of G.M. Semenov. It provided for the introduction into Russia
troops of Great Britain, France, America and Japan for the purpose of restoration
monarchy and subsequent annexations of territory. Possibly in Europe
R.F. Ungern was destined for the role of diplomat, which he had already played with
February to September 1919 during his trip to China.

S.L. Kuzmin believed that by order of G.M. Semenov
R.F. Ungern was supposed to conduct a partisan raid through Mongolia with the aim of
cut the railway and then rebel against the Bolsheviks
in the area of ​​Irkutsk - Nizhneudinsk - Krasnoyarsk. G.M. Semenov wrote that
he had a single plan in case of defeat of the white movement on
Far East. In this case, the White Army base should have been
moved to Mongolia. According to G.M. Semenov, the agreement on this was
reached between representatives of the Principality of Khamba, the authorities of Mongolia,
Tibet and Xinjiang. Detachments of Chinese were to take part in the campaign.
monarchists General Zhang Kui-yu. Mongolia was supposed to be liberated
from the Chinese Republican troops, after which the fighting
it was planned to move to Chinese territory. Capture operation
Mongolia was preparing in complete secrecy. Everything stated by G.M. Semenov is completely
confirmed by diplomatic efforts undertaken by R.F. Ungern
after the Urga class.

This “Mongolian” plan was not destined to
come to life in its full form due to refusal of support
G.M. Semenov of both the Japanese and Chinese monarchists. Instead of that
would "retreat to Urga", the ataman himself fled to China, and most of him
troops ended up in Primorye. The fall of Chita happened much earlier than
G.M. Semenov expected, so the partisan raid of the Asian Cavalry Division
turned into an independent operation to create a new base in Mongolia
white movement.

After the capture of Urga, R.F. Ungern intensified his
diplomatic activities. To the Chinese and Mongol princes and
Emissaries were sent to the generals. The Baron sent letters to many
prominent figures from Mongolia and China. Lama Yugotszur-khutukhta, appointed
Bogdo-gegen commander of the troops of the eastern outskirts of Khalkha, the baron wrote about
that his diplomatic assistance is necessary for the agreement with
the head of the monarchists Sheng Yun, princes Aru-Kharachiin-van and Naiman-van.
R.F. Ungern in his letter proclaimed the unification of Tibet, Xinjiang,
Khalkha, Inner Mongolia, Barga, Manchuria, Shandong into one
The Middle State. The Baron also provided for the possibility of temporary
defeats in the fight against revolutionaries: “Temporary failures are always
possible, therefore, when you collect a sufficient amount
troops, I could, in case of failure, retreat with the remnants of the Khalkhas to
You, where I would recover and, uniting with you, begin to continue what I started
a holy work under your leadership.” R.F. Ungern's plan for unification of forces
Russian counter-revolution, Mongols and Chinese monarchists was calculated
for a long time. The trip to Russia in 1921 was only the first step in
practical implementation of these projects. Betrayal of one's own officers
gave the baron the opportunity to take further steps in this direction.

Many contemporaries considered R.F. Ungern’s campaign to
Transbaikalia is an adventure. But there may be a different view on this question.
V.G. Bortnevsky, who studied the activities of the white emigration, noted that
The emigrants began 1921 with firm confidence that a new campaign was imminent.
against the Bolsheviks. This hope was reinforced by news of the uprising in
Kronstadt, mass peasant uprisings and worker unrest,
infighting within the party leadership. Materials from the collection “Siberian Vendee”
show that in 1920-21 Siberia was engulfed in anti-Bolshevik
uprisings. The areas liberated from whites have already experienced all the “delights”
surplus appropriation. The uprisings were led by former partisans
commanders. It was obvious that in 1921, after the harvest, the struggle
will begin with renewed vigor. I wanted to lead this peasant mass
R.F.Ungern. He could not foresee that the policy of the Soviet government
will change and there will be a transition to the NEP.

Many of R.F. Ungern’s actions were calculated as
times for the peasant masses. During the uprisings in Siberia, repeatedly
the slogan “For Tsar Michael” was put forward, and R.F. Ungern raised a flag with a monogram
Michael II (although the Romanov dynasty was completely at odds with
creation of the Middle Empire). A common slogan was "against
Jews and commissars." R.F. Ungern immediately became an anti-Semite. In the troops
G.M. Semenov was a Jewish company, the agents of R.F. Ungern himself were
the Volfovich brothers, but in Urga the baron staged an ostentatious Jewish pogrom. IN
Order No. 15, he ordered the extermination of Jews along with their families.

If successful on Russian territory
R.F. Ungern could not dream, like other white military leaders, of reaching
Moscow. His task was to create a Middle State, and only then
liberation from the revolution of China, Russia and Europe. On his trip he
should have stopped, for example, on the Ural line. Release this
territory from Soviet power was theoretically possible, but to withstand
the offensive of the five million Red Army is impossible. R.F. Ungern should have
rely on the help of one of the great states. Most likely they
should have been Japan. Who, if not her emperor, should take care of
restoration of destroyed thrones? In 1932, in one of the parts
In China, the Japanese managed to restore the monarchy. To the puppet throne
The state of Manchukuo was imprisoned by the representative of the Qin dynasty, Pu Yi.

Latest Activity Researcher
R.F. Ungern S.L. Kuzmin believed that one of the incentives,
forced the baron to make a trip to Siberia, there was incorrect information,
reported by defectors. They talked about the weakness of Soviet power and
population dissatisfaction. Analysis of documents of the Siberian Bureau of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) and
Siberian Revolutionary Committee suggests that
R.F. Ungern was very well aware of the situation in the Far Eastern Republic.

The food crisis in the Far Eastern Republic caused conflict in
army command and in the highest party leadership. In the end of April
1921 The Politburo in Moscow decided to replace the commander-in-chief
DVR G.H.Eikhe V.K.Blyukher, “since the army is close to disintegration.” Due
With the decision made, a split occurred among the communists of the Far Eastern Republic. By
By order of the Dalbureau, G.H. Eikhe was subjected to house arrest. thirty
April 1921 I.N. Smirnov via direct wire reported to V.I. Lenin and
L.D. Trotsky that thanks to the inactivity of G.H. Eikhe the army
decays, his authority has completely fallen. G.H.Eikhe introduced in everyone
headquarters of Semyonovtsy and Kappelevtsy, which paralyzes the trust of the military masses in
to the command. I.N. Smirnov demanded that the Dalburo be removed by recalling its members
together with G.H. Eikhe to Moscow. In turn, G.H. Eikhe telegraphed
L.D. Trotsky that the Buffer government ignores the instructions of the center and goes
along the separatist path, the “partisan-intrigue” is clearly manifested
flow" (which he reported on several times). Reorganization work
partisan detachments into regular units were met with furious
resistance at the top of the partisan command, which decided to
a real coup in the army, as reported by G.H. Eikhe.

In the spring of 1921, the Far Eastern Republic was experiencing a serious crisis.
caused, among other things, by the actions of the Asian Cavalry Division in
Mongolia. In light of all of the above, R.F. Ungern’s plan was completely
real outlines. This is exactly how the RVS of the Fifth Army assessed him in his
letter to V.I. Lenin: “If Ungern succeeds, the highest Mongolian circles,
having changed their orientation, they will form a government with the help of Ungern
autonomous Mongolia under the de facto protectorate of Japan. We will
faced with the fact of organizing a new White Guard base,
opening a front from Manchuria to Turkestan, cutting us off from everything
East". I.N. Smirnov’s message to the Central Committee of the RCP looked even more pessimistic
(b) May 27, 1921. He stated that the internal situation of the Far Eastern Republic is good
known to the enemy. I.N. Smirnov assessed the position of the army of the Far Eastern Republic as
hopeless and predicted catastrophic consequences.

R.F. Ungern was tried twice. The first trial of the baron
was committed by his associates. The officers of the Asian Division, making up
conspiracy, they decided to kill their commander. For many years after these
events in their memoirs, they continued to condemn the baron for
ruthlessness and cruelty. The second trial took place in Novonikolaevsk 15
September 1821. This time Ungern was tried by his communist enemies.

Ungern's defense lawyer at the trial in Novonikolaevsk
said: “A man who, during his long military career, subjected
himself of the possibility of constantly being killed, a fatalist who, on his own
captivity is viewed as fate, of course, personally does not need protection. But
Essentially speaking, the historical truth around us needs protection
named after Baron Ungern... which was created.” For the sake of this historical
truth, the researcher often must assume the functions of an investigator,
which in Ungern’s case is simply necessary, since his enemies are in white,
so in the red camp they were interested in distorting the historical
reality. The officers of the Asian Mounted Division needed to be acquitted
their rebellion against the commander during hostilities, and the Reds
wanted to use the “bloody baron” in their propaganda.

At the trial, R.F. Ungern was accused of
offensive by his troops against the population of Soviet Russia (in
as a system of conquest) methods of wholesale slaughter were used
(down to the children who, according to R.F. Ungern, were cut out during that
case so as not to leave “tails”). Regarding the Bolsheviks and
“Reds” were subjected to all types of torture by Ungern: breaking in mills,
beating with sticks according to the Mongolian method (the meat fell off the bones and
in this form the person continued to live), landing on ice, on a hot roof
etc.

From this the conclusion was drawn that Ungern was guilty:
“in brutal massacres and torture of a) peasants and workers, b)
communists, c) Soviet workers, d) Jews who were slaughtered
without exception, e) slaughtering children, f) revolutionary Chinese, etc.

Let's see how proven these accusations were.

During interrogation about the measures he used
Ungern said that he used the death penalty. To the question about
Regarding the types of execution, he answered: “they hanged and shot.” To the question “A
Have you ever used the Mongolian method of hitting until they fly away?
pieces of meat? - Ungern, apparently with surprise, answered: “No, then
he will die..." Ungern admitted that he put people on ice and roofs. During interrogation
At the trial, Ungern was asked how many sticks he ordered to be given to
form of punishment. Ungern replied that only soldiers were punished with sticks,
They beat me on the body and gave me up to 100 blows. In the literature you can find
an indication that 200 blows put a person on the verge of death. This
the statement raises serious doubts. For example, common in
Russia in the 18th - first half of the 19th centuries, punishment with spitzrutens (the same
sticks) led to death in the region of 4000 blows, there are cases when
Those who received 12,000 blows also survived. Information about avoiding punishment
Someone died with sticks in the Asian Cavalry Division, not available.

Apparently, investigators were never able to understand
the meaning of the punishments imposed by the baron. They believed that landing on
ice and on the roof was a form of torture, so sometimes “on
hot roof."

During the interrogation of the accused, the judges were interested in
for which R.F. Ungern beat the adjutant during the First World War. His
They asked: “Did you often beat people?” “It happened a little, but it happened,” he answered.
baron

R.F. Ungern was repeatedly asked whether he ordered
he burns villages. He answered in the affirmative, but at the same time explained
that the “red villages” were burned empty, since the inhabitants of them
ran away. When asked if he knew that the corpses of people
were ground in wheels, thrown into wells and generally repaired all sorts of
atrocities, R.F. Ungern replied: “This is not true.”

The only specific question about family shootings
was asked to R.F. Ungern during interrogation on August 27 in Troitskosavsk. Baron
admitted that he ordered 2 families (9 people) in Novodmitrovka to be shot
together with the children. At the same time, he added that in Kapcharaiskaya there was
Another family was shot, about which investigators had no information.

Commanding personnel and political workers were shot 232
regiment and staff commander of the 104th Kannabikh regiment. In Gusinoozersky datsan for
robbery of the convoy R.F. Ungern ordered all the lamas to be flogged. For misappropriation of money
they hanged the centurion Arkhipov, gave the order to shoot Kazagradni for
the fact that he serves both him and the Reds.

During interrogations, only one name was mentioned
a civilian executed by order of R.F. Ungern is a veterinary
doctor V.G. Gey, old member of the Centrosoyuz cooperative. From R.F. Ungern's answer
it can be concluded that he was asked whether the murder of Gay was caused
mercantile interests. He replied that Gay had metal money
It turned out to be almost completely absent. No questions were asked about the fate of Gay's family.

In a summary compiled by interrogation investigators
R.F. Ungern on September 1 and 2, 1921, it was said that he first
denied "beating up the entire male population of Mandal village" and then
admitted that this was done with his knowledge. In this case, Baron,
apparently, he complied with the investigators and took the blame upon himself.
M.G. Tornovsky mentions the village of Mandal, but without any comments.
The situation was different with the capture of the village of Maimachen.
Chahar commander Naiden-van conducted this raid independently, without
baron's permission. The capture of Maimachen was accompanied by robbery and possibly
killings of civilians. After this incident the chahars were
sent by the baron back to Urga.

Only once was R.F. Ungern asked a question about whether he knew
Is he talking about violence against women committed by L. Sipaylov? R.F. Ungern
He replied that he did not know this and considered these rumors to be nonsense. During
interrogation R.F. Ungern recalled that there was one woman whom he ordered
put on ice (spent the night on the ice of a frozen river).

When asked about the motives for his cruelty towards his
subordinates R.F. Ungern answered that he was cruel only with bad
officers and soldiers and that such treatment was caused by demands
discipline: “I am a supporter of cane discipline (Frederick the Great, Paul I,
Nicholas I)". The entire army was held to this discipline.

Strange as it may seem, investigators and judges are completely
made no effort to find out the scale of R.F. Ungern’s crimes. IN
there is no evidence in the published materials of the investigation and trial
witnesses, it is only mentioned a few times that they were present. What
the baron denied the robberies and executions of civilians accused of him, and
also the burning of villages along with women and children, the court did not take into account
accepted. Specific crimes to which the baron admitted himself
guilty, three families were shot (2 families of 9 people, number
the third is unknown), his comrades Arkhipov, Kazagrandi and
cooperator Gaia. The number of Jews executed by order of R.F. Ungern,
members of the Central Union and captured Red Army soldiers were not identified. IN
the investigation materials indicated that the captured Red Army soldiers were baron or
released or accepted into the ranks of the division. There were cases when he took
command positions of captured communists.

It appears that the communist investigators were
amazed at the modesty of the baron’s “cruelties.” All identified crimes
wave fit into the daily practice of the Bolsheviks themselves. But
R.F. Ungern at the trial had to correspond to the image of the “bloody baron” and
serve as a bogeyman for the Russian population. Hence the attempts to give
disciplinary punishments practiced by the baron, a type of torture (imprisonment
on a hot roof, beating with sticks until the meat separates), and obvious, not on
than the unfounded repeated exaggeration of the victims of the activity
R.F. Ungern.

The death sentence of R.F. Ungern was imposed in
Kremlin. On August 26, 1921, V.I. Lenin telephoned the Politburo
his conclusion on the baron’s case, ending with the words: “... to arrange
public trial, conduct it with maximum speed and shoot.” On
the next day, V.I. Lenin’s conclusion in the same edition was approved
Politburo. The party leaders did not take into account at all that 17
January 1920, the Council of People's Commissars adopted a resolution on
abolition of the death penalty against enemies of Soviet power. In that
In relation, the trial of R.F. Ungern was in strong contrast with a similar
case heard in early March 1921. In Soviet newspapers that
the process was covered under the title “The Bloody Feast of Semenovshchina.” Were going to trial
Fourteen participants in the massacre of prisoners in Krasny were brought in
barracks of the city of Troitskosavsk on January 8 and 9, 1920. In those days it was
up to 1000 people were killed. City Duma in order to stop executions,
was forced to ask for Chinese units to enter the city. Although in my hands
Soviet authorities caught far from the main culprits of the events in the Red
barracks, but some of them were also accused of participating in the murders:
prisoners were hacked with sabers, stabbed with bayonets, beaten with rifle butts and tried
poison The result of this noisy trial was the verdict: seven
defendants - to twenty years of community service, one - to ten
years, one received a ten-year suspended sentence, three were acquitted, and one
expelled from the Far Eastern Republic.

The court of the baron's associates was strict, but it is possible
assume that it is as little objective as the Bolshevik.
Many researchers have noticed that the officers and ranks of the Asian cavalry
divisions that left their memories were directly related to
uprising against R.F. Ungern. They were interested in blackening
baron to relieve himself of responsibility for the failure of the campaign and the murder
commander At the same time they tried to shift to the baron
responsibility for everything bad that was done by the division during the campaign
to Mongolia. Hence the attempts to present R.F. Ungern as innately cruel
a person who demonstrated this quality at all periods of his life.

What could his judges from R.F. Ungern present?
white camp? It turns out that very little (if we
let's take it on faith). Indeed, by order of the baron, people not only
they were hanged and shot, but even burned alive. Justify these actions
impossible, even referring to the emergency situation of that time. But
you can try to understand why R.F. Ungern acted one way or another
he was guided in passing sentences, what goals he set for
yourself. Were the baron's contemporaries, led by the poet Arseny, right?
Nesmelov (A.I. Mitropolsky) who claimed that R.F. Ungern with his
did he simply satisfy his sadistic passion with cruel acts?

The main accuser of R.F. Ungern was destined to become
M.G.Tornovsky. He spent many years collecting material to
write an “impartial” picture of the activities of the Asian Horse
divisions. Of the ten specific individuals killed by order of R.F. Ungern and
listed by M.G. Tornovsky (Chernov, Gey, Arkhipov, Lee, Drozdov,
Gordeev, Parnyakov, Engelgart, Ruzhansky, Laurenz), from other memoirists
found: A.S.Makeev - 6; N.N. Knyazev - 3; at M.N.Ribo - 2; at
Golubeva - 1.

M.G. Tornovsky (1882 - after 1955) - graduate
Irkutsk Military School. During the First World War he was a commander
battalion on the Russian-German front. Received the rank of colonel and was
seconded to work at the Irkutsk Military School. After the revolution
went to Harbin, where he joined the anti-Bolshevik organization “Committee
defense of the Motherland and the Constituent Assembly." Later in the army of A.V. Kolchak
commanded the 1st Jaeger Regiment. In 1919 he was sent to headquarters
A.V. Kolchak, but on the way he received news that the admiral had been shot, and
stayed in Urga.

During the siege of the city by R.F. Ungern M.G. Tornovsky
was imprisoned by the Chinese, where he spent about two months. 10 or
On January 11, 1921, he was released by order of the Minister of War from
Beijing. After the announcement in Urga about the admission of volunteers to the Asian Cavalry
division M.G. Tornovsky came to the headquarters of R.F. Ungern and introduced himself
General B.P. Rezukhin. He was appointed to the position of chief of staff.
M.G. Tornovsky recalled that he “didn’t have a heart for the Semyonovites,”
since their activities were well known to him. Colleague
M.G. Tornovsky lieutenant A.I. Orlov and centurion Patrin, who transferred in 1919
year from G.M. Semenov to A.V. Kolchak, they generally fled from Urga so as not to
serve with R.F. Ungern. It is surprising that the baron appointed to the post
the chief of staff of an officer unfamiliar to him. In the eyes of R.F. Ungern
M.G. Tornovsky was even compromised by the fact that he was a member of the “Committee
defense of the Motherland and the Constituent Assembly." Not to mention the fact that
For completely understandable reasons, the regiment commander left the theater of operations and
for a year he was engaged in business in Urga, while
The Asian division waged continuous battles. R.F. Ungern is generally very
was suspicious of Kolchak's chief officers, preferring not
recruit them. Most likely, M.G. Tornovsky was assigned to
headquarters for a more thorough check. After two weeks of work, apparently
Having received a favorable review from B.P. Rezukhin, R.F. Ungern appointed him to his
personal headquarters M.G. Tornovsky himself admitted that he did not have at his disposal
there was not a single person and he did not receive tasks (except for interrogation
Colonel Laurenz).

R.F. Ungern was extremely cold with his new
subordinates. On February 5, M.G. Tornovsky entered service in the Asian
cavalry division, and already on March 17 he was wounded and out of action for two
month. Until the division left Urga, M.G. Tornovsky did not have access to
information and used only rumors about what was happening. Says a lot
the fact that, when setting out on a campaign, R.F. Ungern did not leave his
the former chief of staff (who was still on crutches and could not
get on the horse yourself). On June 14, M.G. Tornovsky caught up with the division and
received the appointment of a “camping quartermaster,” although the quartermaster at that time
the division did not have time. Thus, the description of the fighting
The author also conveyed the Asian Cavalry Division in his memoirs with
other people's words.

Soon a new circumstance appeared, very
which turned M.G. Tornovsky against the division commander. According to
memoirist, Captain Bezrodny arrived on the Selenga River, bringing a lot
documents that compromised Kolchak’s officers. About
M.G. Tornovsky Bezrodny managed to obtain testimony that he
bows before V.I. Lenin and sympathizes with his activities. There was a denunciation
based on a conversation that actually took place, where M.G. Tornovsky
noted that Lenin will go down in Russian history forever. Only
the intercession of General B.P. Rezukhin forced R.F. Ungern to abstain
from reprisals against an imaginary Bolshevik. Although the memoirist later received
the task of promoting the goals of the anti-Bolshevik campaign in the villages,
He never earned the trust of R.F. Ungern. This is a "recruitment campaign"
Bureau recruited only three volunteers in 15 days of work. IN
As a result, on August 10, by order of R.F. Ungern, M.G. Tornovsky was
assigned as a simple horseman to the first regiment, where, however, he was assigned
senior over orderlies.

M.G. Tornovsky stated that he knew nothing about
conspiracy. The murder of B.P. Rezukhin was a complete surprise for him. Them
However, M.G. Tornovsky was elected brigade commander by the officers and took
her to China. He never saw R.F. Ungern again. Even from this brief
The review shows that M.G. Tornovsky had no reason to love R.F. Ungern.
They served together for a very short time and their relationship did not work out. Considering
all of the above, M.G. Tornovsky can hardly be considered impartial
witness. Most of his memories are recorded from other people's words.
The memoirs of R.F. Ungern’s comrades in general repeat in many places
each other. This is understandable; none of the fighters of the Asian Cavalry Division
could be simultaneously in all places of operation of its units.
It turns out that there are practically no witnesses to the baron’s “atrocities.” All
Memoirists convey rumors or other people's stories. To be until the end
objective, let’s use the testimony of the most “impartial”
prosecutor M.G. Tornovsky, who compiled the memories of his
predecessors.

The most impressive of the punishments inflicted
R.F. Ungern, there was reprisal against warrant officer Chernov. First execution
Chernov was described by Golubev (1926), apparently serving in the Asian Cavalry
division (there is no other information about him). According to his story, after
the failure of the first attacks on Urga, the Asian division retreated to Aksha,
having with him a large convoy of wounded. The former commandant was in charge there
Dauria Colonel Lawrence and Ensign Chernov. Having agreed among ourselves,
they decided to kill the patients who had money. Later to
ease the convoy, they gave the order to poison the seriously wounded, but the paramedic did not
followed these instructions. When R.F. Ungern received information about
abuses in the convoy and the infirmary, he ordered the arrest of the ensign
Chernov, flog him, and then burn him alive at the stake. Further
the message about the crime and execution of Chernov was repeated with various
variations by many memoirists. For example, in 1934 N.N. Knyazev wrote,
that Chernov was burned for the murder and robbery of several wounded
horsemen lying in the infirmary. It is obvious that R.F. Ungern specifically
gave Chernov's execution an indicative, demonstrative character so that
prevent the recurrence of such cases in the future.

According to Golubev, Lieutenant Colonel Laurents
was an accomplice in Chernov's crime. M.G. Tornovsky, who personally
interrogated Laurenz, confirmed this message. According to his testimony,
Laurenz was accused of robbing the Mongols and wanting to poison the wounded,
who were in the hospital. It can be assumed that M.G. Tornovsky
indeed, it was ordered to interrogate Lauretz about his official
activities, but he knew nothing about the actual accusation.
Lieutenant Colonel Laurenz, as commandant of Dauria, was the closest collaborator
R.F. Ungern. He, together with the commander of the Annenkovsky regiment, Colonel
Tsirkulinsky was wounded during the second assault on Urga. Then Tsirkulinsky and
Laurenz received a special assignment and was sent to China.

About the mission of Lieutenant Colonel Laurenz can be obtained
information from a letter to R.F. Ungern from an unknown military foreman 25
January 1920: “Lieutenant Colonel Laurenz for accurate reconnaissance of the position on
In some places he travels to Hailar, probably to Harbin...” Two letters survive
Laurenz to R.F. Ungern on February 1 and 7, where he reported on the implementation
tasks. On March 2, 1921, R.F. Ungern wrote to Zhang Kun about
did not believe Colonel Laurenz because he fled.

The mission of Laurents and Tsirkulinsky turned out to be
risky. The Chinese began arresting people associated with the baron.
Tsirkulinsky was arrested while trying to carry out transport with
medicines in Urgu. He was imprisoned in China and tortured.
The cargo was confiscated. For his loyalty, R.F. Ungern forgave
Tsirkulinsky not only the loss of cargo, but also the desertion of a hundred officers
Annenkovsky regiment, whose commander Tsirkulinsky was before his injury.
When he returned, R.F. Ungern appointed him chief of defense
Urgi. Apparently, Laurenz behaved differently and, while carrying out the baron’s task, did not
He showed steadfastness and loyalty to the white cause, for which he was shot.

During the trial of R.F. Ungern they mentioned
several names of persons shot by order of the baron. Special attention
priest F.A. Parnyakov used the judges. When asked about this topic
question R.F. Ungern answered that he ordered to kill the priest because he
was the chairman of some committee. Later the Bolsheviks
continued to “play the card” of F.A. Parnyakov: “A Christian who believes in
God, sends another Christian - priest Parnyakov to the next world,
since he is red... Baron Ungern is a religious man, I am in this
I have no doubt, and this emphasizes that religion never
saved anyone from the greatest crimes,” he exclaimed angrily
prosecutor E. Yaroslavsky.

What did the baron’s associates write about the priest whose
death was used by the Bolsheviks to expose religion?
Colonel V.Yu. Sokolnitsky, chief of staff of Kaigorodov’s detachment, wrote,
that Fyodor Parnyakov was a Bolshevik and chairman of one of
cooperatives of Urga. Member of the Military Board of the Yenisei Cossack
troops of K.I. Lavrentyev, during the siege of Urga, imprisoned by the Chinese in
prison, claimed that Fr. Fyodor Parnyakov played a provocative role in
the fate of Russian prisoners. He slowed down their transfer to a warm room.
F.A. Parnyakov, who lived since 1820, described the activities of F.A. Parnyakov quite specifically.
year in Urga M.G. Tornovsky. He called the priest a "Bolshevik"
activist", one of the main promoters of communist ideas.
M.G. Tornovsky blamed F.A. Parnyakov and his comrades for the deaths of about 100
Russian people shot based on their denunciations in Urga and its environs. IN
Elsewhere, the memoirist wrote that F.A. Parnyakov and his sons were
involved in the terrorist group of revolutionaries since 1905. Myself
the priest was “a drunkard, a bawdy, an undoubted atheist.” It's obvious that
the order to shoot the priest R.F. Ungern gave at the request of some of the residents
Urgi, who considered F.A. Parnyakov a Bolshevik and an agent of the Chinese.

Doctor S.B. Tsybyktarov headed the hospital at
Russian consulate in Urga. After Ungern took the city, he was
arrested on charges of Bolshevism and shot. On this occasion
M.G. Tornovsky in his memoirs suggested that S.B. Tsybyktarov was
slandered or killed by someone in order to requisition his property. From
memories of D.P. Pershin, who accompanied S.B. Tsybyktarov to the baron
after his arrest, it follows that the latter was very remorseful for what he had said
speeches at a meeting in Urga in the presence of escorted Cossacks. R.F. Ungern himself
spoke about S.B. Tsybyktarov: “At a meeting in Chita, I heard him
crucified for the communists and for all kinds of freedoms.”

After the capture of Urga, some were shot
Kolchak chief officers. M.G. Tornovsky wrote what kind of panic rumors
Lieutenant Colonel Drozdov was shot. On this occasion A.S. Makeev
recalled that R.F. Ungern eliminated the panic mood by shooting
Lieutenant Colonel Drozdov, who spread rumors. After that more
no one dared to doubt the “sustainability of Urga life.”

In Urga, a former Kyakhti soldier was arrested and shot
Commissioner A.D. Khitrovo. According to the memoirs of D.P. Pershin, two days before
arrest Khitrovo came to him and talked about the horrors of the Semyonovism in
Troitskosavsk. He condemned the chieftaincy and considered it the cause of the collapse
A.V. Kolchak. A.D. Khitrovo took part in the decision of the Troitskosavsky
city ​​government to invite the Chinese to the city to stop
the arbitrariness of the Semyonovites. D.P. Pershin recalled that several members
city ​​government were shot by the Bolsheviks for inviting
Chinese. A.D. Khitrovo did not escape this fate, but by order
R.F. Ungern.

M.G. Tornovsky recalled that R.F. Ungern
confiscated a large tannery in Urga and put it in charge
Gordeev (formerly a large tanner-breeder on the Volga). Soon
Gordeev was hanged for an unimportant act. What is this “unimportant”
action"? M.G. Tornovsky mentioned that Gordeev stole 2,500 dollars and
some amount of sugar. K.I. Lavrentyev also pointed out that Gordeev
was shot for stealing sugar from the factory's warehouses. Commander of the Hundred
The Asian Cavalry Division received 30 rubles a month, in comparison with this
the theft of $2,500 was a very serious matter (looters R.F. Ungern
hanged for a stolen piece of fabric).

Since 1912, a cooperative has operated in Mongolia
Centrosoyuz, engaged in the procurement of meat and leather. After the revolution
the leadership of the Central Union reoriented itself towards contacts with the Soviet
Moscow. Cooperative employees supplied money and food
Red partisans, at the same time disrupted the supply of meat to the white front.
Before the occupation of Urga, R.F. Ungern was committed to total extermination
employees of the Central Union as Bolsheviks. But before the assault on Ungern
two Transbaikal Cossacks, grassroots employees of the cooperative, ran across, and
transmitted information about all Central Union employees. During the last
battle for Urga, former White Guards from among the employees of the cooperative
joined the Ungern fighters and began to exterminate their former colleagues
Bolsheviks. Subsequently, R.F. Ungern continued repressions against members
Central Union, whom he suspected of Bolshevism. So he was killed along with
family veterinarian V.G.Gey. M.G. Tornovsky, who described his death
mentioned that R.F. Ungern had information that V.G. Gey was in
constant communication with the headquarters of the 5th Soviet Army in Irkutsk.
F. Ossendovsky in his book “Beasts, People and Gods” wrote about V.G. Geya: “He
conducted business on a grand scale, and when in 1917 the Bolsheviks captured
power, began to cooperate with them, quickly changing his beliefs. In March 1918
the year when Kolchak's army drove the Bolsheviks out of Siberia, veterinarian
arrested and tried. He was, however, quickly released: after all, he was
the only person capable of shipping from Mongolia, and
he really immediately handed over to Kolchak everything he had in his possession
meat available, as well as silver received from Soviet commissars.”

R.F. Ungern was often shot for theft and
their own officers, even honored ones. M.G. Tornovsky, apparently from
memoirs of A.S. Makeev, borrowed the story about the execution of the baron’s adjutant and
his wife Ruzhansky. Adjutant, having received 15,000 using a forged document
rubles, fled, hoping to capture his wife, a nurse, at the hospital, but they
were caught and executed. After this, he received the post of adjutant
A.S.Makeev.

Most memoirists describing imprisonment
Ungernovskaya epic, mentioned the execution of Colonel P.N. Arkhipov. He
joined the Asian Cavalry Division before the final assault on Urga,
bringing with him a hundred cavalry of 90 Cossacks. M.G. Tornovsky dedicated
death of P.N. Arkhipov, a separate subsection of his work. At the end of June
R.F.Ungern received news from L.Sipailov that P.N.Arkhipov had concealed
part of the gold seized during the capture of the Chinese bank (according to various
according to information 17-18 pounds or three and a half pounds). Colonel in everything
confessed and was executed (according to various sources, he was shot, hanged or
strangled after torture).

Despite the fact that R.F. Ungern was forced
resort to the services of executioners and informers, this does not mean that he
treated these people with respect and love. The Baron tolerated them until then
pores while they were needed. N.N. Knyazev pointed out that during the period of withdrawal
from Troitskosavsk R.F. Ungern gave a written order to the general
B.P.Rezukhin to hang his chief executioner L.Sipailov when he
will arrive to the detachment. At the same time, the division's chief physician was severely punished
A.F. Klingenberg. The reprisal against him was remembered by many memoirists.
M.G. Tornovsky described this reprisal against the doctor (June 4, 1921) as follows:
R.F. Ungern, seeing a poorly bandaged wounded man, ran up to
A.F. Klingenberg and began to beat him first with a tashur, and then with his feet,
resulting in his leg being broken. After this, the doctor was evacuated to Urga. At
A careful examination of the biography of A.F. Klingenberg must admit that
the baron could have had another reason, besides poor patient care, for
punishment of their chief physician. Memoirist Golubev described it this way:
activities of A.F. Klingenberg: having fled from the Reds from Verkhneudinsk, he
began working as a doctor in Kyakhta, where he became friends with local Jews. Finding yourself
mobilized into the division of R.F. Ungern after the capture of Urga, A.F. Klingenberg
led the massacre of Jews. At the head of the Cossacks he came to
apartments of his old acquaintances, confiscated money and valuables, and then
shot the owners. Then A.F. Klingenberg became an informant and reported
to the baron about conversations among the wounded in the hospital, “shortening the lives of many.”
For this he was shot by order of Colonel Tsirkulinsky already
after White left Urga.

There is no clarity about the circumstances of the death of the other two
doctors M.G. Tornovsky reported on the execution of the Korean dentist Lee and
medical paramedic from Omsk Engelgardt-Ezersky. Moreover, the last one
was burned in the same way as ensign Chernov. M.G. Tornovsky did not know the reason
these executions. They were mentioned in passing by A.S. Makeev (about Lee), D.D. Aleshin and
N.M. Ribot (about Engelhardt-Yezersky). If we take these messages on faith,
then some unusual partiality of the baron towards
medical workers. G.M. Semenov recalled that when he was in
Hailare R.F. Ungern gave the order to shoot Dr. Grigoriev, who was leading
propaganda against the baron. Among the orders of R.F. Ungern on a separate
The Asian Cavalry Brigade retained the order dated December 20, 1919
regarding the arrest of the doctor of the Ilyinsky brigade. The Baron ordered the arrest
doctor for one day and two nights for the same thing for which he was already arrested
him two weeks ago: “I’ll see who gets tired of it first: should I imprison
Should he sit,” wrote R.F. Ungern (note that, contrary to opinion,
prevailing in historical literature about the regime at Dauria station, speech in
the order is only about arrest, physical pressure is not at all
provided). The doctors responded to the baron with dislike, one of them -
N.M. Ribot - took an active part in the conspiracy against the commander of the Asian
cavalry division. It is obvious that R.F. Ungern was an ultra-right monarchist
beliefs. In his eyes, anyone who did not share his
views on government. Thus, among these
“Bolsheviks” included almost the entire Russian intelligentsia of that time.
R.F. Ungern had close encounters during the division’s actions in
mostly with doctors. With them, as representatives of the “revolutionary
intelligentsia,” he was sometimes, to put it mildly, excessively harsh.

R.F. Ungern's suspicion of new people,
who ended up in the division was completely justified. At different levels
party leadership, including at the highest level, in Moscow,
directives were repeatedly issued to send agitators to the baron’s detachments with
the purpose of their decomposition. In a monograph devoted to the activities of the Cheka-GPU,
published in the 70s, it was argued that the capture of R.F. Ungern was
organized by the plenipotentiary representative of the GPU of Siberia I.P. Pavlunovsky. IN
The baron's detachments were operated by Soviet agents, who organized
conspiracy in the Asian Cavalry Division. Although such a statement
seems very doubtful, but the security officers are faced with such a task
they definitely set themselves.

A very telling example is the description in
memoirs of the reprisal of R.F. Ungern against the only horse artilleryman
division captain Oganezov. In the description of M.G. Tornovsky Oganezov was
sent to herd cattle as punishment for his battery firing from
closed position. Another version of this event is given by N.N. Knyazev. By
according to his recollections, Oganezov was punished for firing at the hill where in
At this time the baron was there. We will never know how it happened
these events. Other memoirists do not mention them. But if you combine
both stories, it turns out that Oganezov fired at the hill where he was
R.F. Ungern after his ban on shooting from a closed position

As you know, the tragedy of the White Cause lay primarily in the fact that most of its leadership did not repent for the perjury of March 1917 - treason against the Sovereign Emperor Nicholas II. The terrible Ekaterinburg atrocity was not fully realized either. In this regard, the ideology of the White Cause continued to remain mostly open-minded, and even republican. Despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of officers, soldiers and Cossacks who fought in the ranks of the White Army remained monarchists by conviction.

Back in the summer of 1918, the hero of the First World War, cavalry general F.A. Keller refused the proposals of A.I. Denikin’s envoys to join the Volunteer Army, declaring that he was a convinced monarchist and did not agree with Denikin’s political platform of “non-decision” and the Constituent Assembly . At the same time, Keller directly stated: “Let them wait until the time comes to proclaim the Tsar, then we will all come forward.” Such a time has come, alas, too late. Nevertheless, it should be noted that the monarchical component was becoming stronger in the White Army, and against the backdrop of the constantly deteriorating situation on the fronts of the war with the Red International. Already in the fall of 1918, General F.A. Keller in Kyiv began to form the Northern Pskov monarchist army. In his address to soldiers and officers, the general stated:

For the Faith, the Tsar and the Fatherland, we swore an oath to lay down our heads, the time has come to fulfill our duty... Remember and read the prayer before the battle - the prayer that we read before our glorious victories, sign the Sign of the Cross and, with God's help, forward for the Faith, for the Tsar and for our whole indivisible homeland Russia.

His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon blessed Keller with a prosphora and an icon of the Mother of God Sovereign. However, General Keller was soon killed by the Petliurists. In addition to Keller, staunch monarchists in the ranks of the White Army were Major General M. G. Drozdovsky, General M. K. Diterichs, General V. O. Kappel, Lieutenant General K. V. Sakharov and others.

Among these military leaders, General Roman Fedorovich von Ungern-Sternberg occupies a special place. This special place is determined by the fact that Ungern, a 100% monarchist, can hardly be called the leader of the White movement. Hating Bolshevism and waging an irreconcilable struggle with it, Ungern never recognized the power of the supreme ruler, Admiral A.V. Kolchak, or General A.I. Denikin. Perceiving the monarchy as a God-given power, Ungern saw it in the Russian Autocrat, the Chinese Bogdykhan, and the Mongolian Great Khan. His goal was to recreate three empires that would become a shield against the godless West and the revolution that came from it. “We are not fighting a political party,” Ungern said, “but a sect of destroyers of modern culture.”

For Ungern, Kolchak and Denikin were the same products of Western civilization as the Bolsheviks. Therefore, he refused any forms of cooperation with them. Moreover, the Kolchakites were potential opponents of Ungern. If their actions were successful and Moscow was captured, republican-minded generals would come to power.

Western and Bolshevik propaganda portrayed Ungern as a half-crazed sadist. Modern biographers of R. F. Ungern write that the fruits of the fantasies of Soviet historians, as well as the desire to wishful thinking and to show the opponents of Soviet power in the most unsightly light formed the basis of the myths about Baron Ungern.

As my comrades in exile testified:

Baron Ungern was an exceptional person who knew no compromises in his life, a man of crystal honesty and insane courage. He sincerely suffered in his soul for Russia, which was enslaved by the red beast, painfully perceived everything that contained the red dregs, and brutally dealt with those suspected. Being himself an ideal officer, Baron Ungern was particularly scrupulous about the officers, who had not escaped the general devastation, and who, in some cases, showed instincts that were completely inappropriate for the officer rank. The baron punished such people with inexorable severity, while his hand touched the mass of soldiers very rarely.

R. F. Ungern comes from an old German-Baltic (Baltic) count and baronial family. The Ungern-Sternberg family of barons belongs to a family that dates back to the time of Attila; one of the Ungerns fought alongside Richard the Lionheart and was killed under the walls of Jerusalem. When the Bolshevik interrogating Ungern asked in a mocking tone: “How did your family distinguish itself in Russian service?”, the baron calmly replied: “Seventy-two killed in the war.”

Since childhood, Roman Ungern wanted to be like his ancestors. He grew up as a secretive and unsociable boy. For some time he studied at the Nikolaev Revel Gymnasium, but due to poor health he was kicked out. Then the parents decided to send the young man to some military school. The novel was assigned to the St. Petersburg Maritime School. But the Russian-Japanese War began, Ungern dropped out of school and expressed a desire to take part in battles with the Japanese. But I was too late, the war was over.

After the war of 1904-1905, Ungern entered the Pavlovsk Military School. In addition to military disciplines, which were studied here especially carefully, general education subjects were taught: the law of God, chemistry, mechanics, literature, and foreign languages. In 1908, Ungern graduated from college as a second lieutenant. In the same year, he decided to transfer to the Transbaikal Cossack Army. His request was granted, and the baron was enlisted in the 1st Argun Regiment in the Cossack class with the rank of cornet. While serving in the Far East, Ungern turned into a hardy and dashing rider. The centurion of the same regiment described him in his certification: “He rides well and dashingly, and is very durable in the saddle.”

According to people who knew Ungern personally, he was distinguished by extraordinary persistence, cruelty and instinctive flair. In 1911, the cornet Ungern was transferred by the Highest Decree to the 1st Amur Cossack Regiment, where he headed equestrian reconnaissance. Soon the efforts of the energetic officer were noticed, and in the fourth year of service he was promoted to centurion. According to the recollections of fellow soldiers, Baron Ungern “was not familiar with the feeling of fatigue and could go for a long time without sleep and food, as if forgetting about them. He could sleep side by side with the Cossacks, eating from a common cauldron.” Ungern's regimental commander was another baron, P. N. Wrangel. Subsequently, already in exile, he wrote about Ungern:

Such types, created for war and an era of upheaval, could hardly get along in the atmosphere of peaceful regimental life. Thin and emaciated in appearance, but of iron health and energy, he lives for war. This is not an officer in the generally accepted sense of the word, for he is not only completely ignorant of the most elementary regulations and basic rules of service, but often sins both against external discipline and against military education - this is the type of amateur partisan, hunter-pathfinder from novels Mine Rida.

In 1913, Ungern resigned, left the army and went to Mongolia, explaining his action with a desire to support Mongolian nationalists in the fight against Republican China. It is quite possible that the baron was carrying out a task for Russian intelligence. The Mongols did not give Ungern either soldiers or weapons; he was enlisted in the Russian consulate convoy.

Immediately after the outbreak of the First World War, Ungern-Sternberg immediately went to the front as part of the 34th Don Cossack Regiment, operating on the Austrian front in Galicia. During the war, the baron showed unparalleled courage. One of Ungern’s colleagues recalled: “In order to fight like that, you must either seek death, or know for sure that you will not die.” During the war, Baron Ungern was wounded five times, but returned to duty. For his exploits, bravery and courage he was awarded five orders, including St. George of the 4th degree. Until the end of the war, military foreman (lieutenant colonel) R. F. Ungern von Sternberg became a holder of all Russian orders that an officer of a similar rank could receive (including the St. George's Arms).

At the end of 1916, after another violation of military discipline, Ungern was removed from the regiment and sent to the Caucasus, and then to Persia, where the corps of General N.N. Baratov operated. There the baron participated in organizing volunteer detachments of Assyrians, which again suggests that Ungern belonged to intelligence. The fact that Ungern was fluent in Chinese and Mongolian also speaks in her favor. The “hooligan” nature of Ungern’s actions also raises doubts. Here, for example, is what was said in his certification: “He is known in the regiment as a good comrade, loved by the officers, as a boss who has always enjoyed the adoration of his subordinates, and as an officer - correct, honest and above all praise... In military operations he received 5 wounds. "In two cases, being wounded, he remained in service. In other cases, he was in the hospital, but each time he returned to the regiment with unhealed wounds." And General V.A. Kislitsyn stated: “He was an honest, selfless man, an officer of indescribable courage and a very interesting interlocutor.” Somehow these words are at odds with the image of a “hooligan” and “rowdy.”

Ungern met the February coup with extreme hostility, nevertheless swearing allegiance, like most officers of the Imperial Army, to the Provisional Government. In July 1917, A.F. Kerensky instructed Esaul G.M. Semenov, the future ataman, to form volunteer units from the Mongols and Buryats in Transbaikalia. Semenov took Ungern with him to Siberia, who in 1920 formed the Asian Cavalry Division, subordinate to himself personally, from Russians, Mongols, Chinese, Buryats and Japanese. Ungern, knowing that many peasant uprisings in Siberia put forward their slogan “For Tsar Michael,” raised a standard with the monogram of Emperor Michael II, not believing in the murder of Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich by the Bolsheviks. The baron also intended to return the throne to the Mongolian Bogdo Gegen (sacred ruler), which the Chinese had taken from him in 1919. Ungern stated:

Now it is unthinkable to think about the restoration of kings in Europe... For now it is only possible to begin the restoration of the Middle Kingdom and the peoples in contact with it to the Caspian Sea, and then only to begin the restoration of the Russian monarchy. Personally, I don't need anything. I am glad to die for the restoration of the monarchy, even if not of my own state, but of another.

Baron Ungern proclaimed himself the heir of Genghis Khan. He dressed in a yellow Mongolian robe, over which he wore Russian general's shoulder straps, and on his chest was the Cross of St. George.

Ungern never recognized the authority of the supreme ruler Admiral A.V. Kolchak. Photo: TASS

In 1919, the Reds defeated Kolchak’s troops, in October 1920, Ataman Semenov was defeated, and Ungern with his division (1045 horsemen, 6 guns and 20 machine guns) went to Mongolia, where the Chinese revolutionaries (Kuomintang), who at that time were allies, ruled the Bolsheviks, who generously supplied them with military advisers. Everywhere in Mongolia, Chinese soldiers plundered Russian and Buryat settlements. The Chinese removed from power and arrested the spiritual and temporal ruler of Mongolia, Bogdo Gegen Jabdzavandambu (Jebtsundambu) Khutukhtu. By arresting the Mongolian “living god,” the Chinese generals wanted to once again demonstrate the undivided power of their power over Mongolia. 350 heavily armed Chinese guarded Bogdo Gegen, who was under arrest with his wife in his Green Palace.

Ungern planned to free the capital of Mongolia, Urga, and the captive Bogd Gegen. At that time, there were up to 15,000 (according to some sources, even up to 18,000) Chinese soldiers in Urga, armed to the teeth, with 40 artillery pieces and more than 100 machine guns. In the ranks of the advanced units of Baron Ungern advancing on Urga, there were only nine cavalry hundreds with four guns and ten machine guns.

The assault on Urga began on October 30 and lasted until November 4. Unable to overcome the desperate resistance of the Chinese, the baron's units stopped 4 miles from Urga. Ungern organized skillful agitation among the Mongols in order to convince them to rise up to fight for the liberation of the Bogd Gegen.

Lieutenant General Mikhail Diterichs

In broad daylight, Baron Ungern in his usual Mongolian attire - a red-cherry robe with gold general's shoulder straps and the Order of St. Great Martyr and Victorious George on his chest, in a white hat, with a tashur in his hand, without drawing his swords, freely entered Urga occupied by the Chinese. He stopped by the palace of Chen-I, the chief Chinese official in Urga, and then, having passed through the consular town, calmly returned to his camp. Driving past the Urga prison on the way back, the baron noticed a Chinese sentry who had fallen asleep at his post. Outraged by such a blatant violation of discipline, Ungern whipped the sleeping guard. Ungern, in Chinese, “brought it to mind” to the awakened and deathly frightened soldier that the sentry at the post was forbidden to sleep and that he, Baron Ungern, personally punished him for his misconduct. After that, he calmly moved on.

This “unannounced visit” of Baron Ungern to the snake’s nest created a colossal sensation among the population in besieged Urga, and plunged the Chinese occupiers into fear and despondency. The superstitious Chinese had no doubt that some powerful and supernatural forces stood behind the daring baron and helped him.

At the end of January 1921, Ungern was liberated from captivity by the Bogd Gegen. 60 Tibetans from the Cossack hundred of Ungern killed the Chinese guards, took Bogdo-gegen (he was blind) and his wife in their arms and fled with them to the sacred mountain Bogdo-Ula, and from there to the Manchushri monastery. The daring abduction of Bogdo Gegen and his wife from under their noses finally led the Chinese soldiers into a state of panic. Ungern's calls to fight for the independence of Mongolia and expel the "Red Chinese" were supported by the broadest sections of Mongolian society. The baron's army was flooded with Mongolian arats, who had suffered in bondage to Chinese moneylenders. On February 3, 1921, Baron Ungern selected a special Shock Detachment from the Transbaikal Cossacks, Bashkirs and Tatars and personally led it in an attack on the outskirts of Urga. The strike force, like a battering ram, crushed the guard posts of the “Red Chinese” and cleared the outskirts of the city of them. The demoralized "Gamines" hastily rushed to retreat to the north. Retreating to the Soviet border, the Chinese soldiery massacred hundreds of Russians, including women and children. With a skillful maneuver, Baron Ungern, who had only 66 hundreds, i.e. about 5,000 bayonets and sabers, managed to “pincer” the Chinese who outnumbered him many times over. The capital of Mongolia was liberated.

Soviet historians loved to depict the horrors of Ungern’s reprisals against the “civilian” population of Urga. They really happened and there are no excuses for them. However, firstly, as they say, “whose cow mooed,” and secondly, we must take into account what caused these reprisals.

Urga was governed by a red council, headed by Russian and Jewish communists: the priest Parnikov was the chairman and a certain Sheineman was his deputy. On the initiative of the administration, Russian officers, their wives and children living in Urga were imprisoned, where they were kept in inhumane conditions. Women and innocent children especially suffered. One child froze from cold and hunger, and the prison guards threw the frozen child’s corpse outside the prison. The dead child was chewed up by dogs. Chinese outposts caught Russian officers fleeing from the Uriankhai region from the Reds and escorted them to Urga, where the Red government placed them in prison.

Having learned about this after the liberation of Urga, Ungern ordered the senior officers present:

I don't divide people by nationality. Everyone is human, but here I will do things differently. If a Jew cruelly and cowardly, like a vile hyena, mocks defenseless Russian officers, their wives and children, I order: when Urga is taken, all Jews must be destroyed, slaughtered. Blood for blood!

As a result, not only the Jews who were part of the Red Council were killed, but also innocent civilians - mainly merchants and their families. To be fair, it should be added that the number of killed Jews did not exceed 50 people.

In Urga, Ungern gave the following orders: “For looting and violence against residents - the death penalty. All men to appear in the city square on February 8 at 12 noon. Those who do not comply will be hanged.”

Ungern received colossal trophies, including artillery, rifles, machine guns, millions of cartridges, horses and more than 200 camels loaded with booty. His troops were stationed just 600 miles from Beijing. The Chinese were in panic. But Ungern had no intention of crossing the border just yet. He planned a campaign against Beijing with the aim of restoring the throne of the overthrown Qing dynasty, but at a later time, after the creation of the pan-Mongol power.

Baron Ungern accepted Mongolian citizenship, but he never accepted Buddhism, contrary to numerous legends and rumors on this matter! Proof of this, among other things, is the marriage of Ungern to a Qing princess, who before the wedding converted to Orthodoxy with the name Maria Pavlovna. The wedding took place in Harbin according to the Orthodox rite. On the Ungern standard there was an image of the Savior, the inscription: “God is with us” and the imperial monogram of Michael II. In gratitude for the liberation of Urga, Bogdo-gegen awarded Ungern the title of khan and the princely title of darkhan-tsin-van.

Under the command of the baron, there were 10,550 soldiers and officers, 21 artillery pieces and 37 machine guns. Meanwhile, in the north, the 5th Red Army approached the borders of Mongolia. Lieutenant General Ungern decided to launch a preemptive strike on it and on May 21, 1921, issued his famous order No. 15. It said: “The Bolsheviks came, bearers of the idea of ​​​​destructing original folk cultures, and the work of destruction was completed. Russia must be built anew, piece by piece. But among the people we see disappointment, distrust of people. They need names, names known to everyone, dear and honored. There is only one such name - the rightful owner of the Russian Land, ALL-RUSSIAN EMPEROR MIKHAIL ALEXANDROVICH."

On August 1, 1921, Baron Ungern won a victory at the Gusinoozersky datsan, capturing 300 Red Army soldiers, 2 guns, 6 machine guns, 500 rifles and a convoy. The White offensive caused great concern among the Bolshevik authorities of the so-called Far Eastern Republic. Vast areas around Verkhneudinsk were declared in a state of siege, troops were regrouped, and reinforcements arrived. Ungern's hopes for a general uprising were not justified. The Baron decided to retreat to Mongolia. But the Mongols did not want to fight anymore, all their “gratitude” quickly dissipated. On the morning of August 20, they tied up Ungern and took him to the whites. However, they were soon encountered by a Red reconnaissance group. Baron von Ungern was captured. Just like the fate of A.V. Kolchak, the fate of the baron was predetermined even before the trial began by Lenin’s telegram:

I advise you to pay more attention to this case, to ensure that the credibility of the accusation is verified, and if the evidence is complete, which, apparently, cannot be doubted, then arrange a public trial, conduct it with maximum speed and shoot.

On September 15, 1921, a show trial of Ungern took place in Novonikolaevsk. The main prosecutor at the trial was E.M. Gubelman (Yaroslavsky), the future head of the “Union of Militant Atheists”, one of the main persecutors of the Church. The whole thing took 5 hours 20 minutes. Ungern was charged on three counts: acting in the interests of Japan; armed struggle against Soviet power with the aim of restoring the Romanov dynasty; terror and atrocities. On the same day, Baron Roman Fedorovich Ungern von Sternberg was shot.

Years later, the legend about the “curse of Ungern” began to circulate: supposedly many who were involved in his arrest, trial, interrogation and execution died either during the civil war or during Stalin’s repressions.

(When writing this article, materials from the Internet were used).

Ungern Sternberg, Roman Fedorovich von - (born January 10, 1886 - death September 15, 1921) - baron, one of the leaders of the counter-revolution in Transbaikalia and Mongolia, lieutenant general (1919) 1917-1920. - commanded the Horse-Asian Division in the troops of G. M. Semenov, was distinguished by extreme cruelty. 1921 - de facto dictator of Mongolia, his troops invaded the territory of the Far Eastern Republic and were defeated. On August 21, he was handed over by the Mongols to the partisan detachment P.E. Shchetinkin and was shot by the verdict of the Siberian Revolutionary Tribunal.

Who really was Baron Ungern?

Baron Ungern is one of the most mysterious and mystical figures in the history of Russia and China. Some call him the leader of the White movement in the Far East. Others consider him the liberator of Mongolia and an expert in ancient Chinese history. Still others are a romantic of the civil war, a mystic and the last warrior of Shambhala.

In our history, Ungern is known as a bloody baron and White Guard, responsible for the death of thousands of people. And also as a person, because of whom the largest province of China turned into independent Mongolia.

early years

He comes from an old German-Baltic count and baronial family. He graduated from the Pavlovsk Military School (1908) and, being enrolled in the Cossack class, was released as a cornet into the Transbaikal Cossack Army. Took part in the 1st World War 1914-1918. For beating an officer, he was sentenced to 3 years in prison, but the February Revolution of 1917 saved him from imprisonment.

Bloody Baron

Since Baron Ungern was able to conquer Transbaikalia, entered Mongolia and gained power, he responded by unleashing his own, even more cruel and bloody. To this day, in Soviet textbooks, films and books, the baron appears as a bloodthirsty, uncontrollable psychopath with the habits of a dictator. This was not so far from the truth, historians believe, judging by the factual materials published, including in Russia. Probably, such a person as Baron Ungern, the general commander of the division that fought against the Bolsheviks, could not have done otherwise...

Baron's atrocities

In his blind cruelty, the baron no longer distinguished who was in front of him - a Red Army soldier, a traitor or an officer of his division. The attacks of rage, which came unexpectedly and disappeared just as quickly, cost the lives of many people devoted to him.

Terror in Russia began long before the October Revolution.

He believed that this was a necessity, that the world was mired to such an extent in dishonor, in unbelief, in some kind of horror that this could only be corrected by cruelty. And it was not for nothing that they were given the order to burn the offending officer alive. At the same time, he brought the entire division to this execution. This man was burned alive in front of everyone, but Ungern himself was not at the place of execution. There was no sadism in the baron; he never experienced pleasure from executions that were carried out on his orders, from executions. He was never even present with them, because for him it was impossible. He had a sufficiently fine nervous system to endure all this.

But spiritual delicacy did not prevent the bloody baron from giving orders according to which people were not only shot or hanged, but also subjected to inhuman torture - their nails were torn off, their skin was torn off alive, and they were thrown to be torn to pieces by wild animals. In the testimonies of the soldiers who served next to Ungern, there are references to the fact that in the attic of the house he kept wolves on a leash, which the baron’s executioners fed with live people.

What caused the cruelty?

Historians to this day argue about what caused such blind cruelty of Baron Ungern. The wound he received in the war in his youth? It is known that after this injury the baron suffered from severe headaches. Or perhaps the baron actually liked to inflict inhumane suffering on people?! When his army entered the Mongol capital Urga, he ordered the merciless extermination of all Jews and revolutionaries. He considered the latter the embodiment of evil, and the former guilty of overthrowing the monarchy and. As Ungern believed, Jews spread harmful ideas throughout the world and do not deserve the right to live...

In these views, the baron was very close to the bloodiest dictator of the 20th century, who was born only 4 years later than Ungern. And, I must say, he could have fit well into the SS if he had lived to that time. It was not for nothing that the color of the SS uniform was black. And Hitler himself, as you know, was obsessed with mysticism and esotericism.

Characteristics

This time luck turned against the white generals and their armies...

Historians agree on one thing: Baron Ungern felt like a messiah sent to earth to defeat chaos and return humanity to morality and order. The baron set his goals on a global scale, so any means were suitable, even mass murder.

His hatred of the Bolsheviks and Jews was pathological. He hated and destroyed both of them, in a short time he exterminated 50 people, although it cost him quite a lot of effort - they were hiding under the protection of local authoritative merchants. Most likely, he held the Jews responsible for the overthrow of his beloved monarchy, and, not unreasonably, considered them guilty of regicide - and took revenge for it.

At the trial, the baron denied his bloody deeds, saying “I don’t remember,” “anything can happen.” This is how the version of the baron’s madness appeared. But some of the researchers assure: he was not crazy, but he was definitely not like everyone else - because he manically followed his chosen goal.

According to contemporaries

According to contemporaries, the baron easily flew into a rage and, on occasion, could beat anyone nearby. Ungern did not tolerate advisers; those who were particularly arrogant could even lose their lives. It didn’t matter to him who to hit – a simple private or an officer. He beat me for violation of discipline, for debauchery, for robbery, for drunkenness. He beat me with a whip, a whip, tied him to a tree to be eaten by mosquitoes, and on hot days he planted me on the roofs of houses. He once beat even his first deputy, General Rezukhin, in front of his subordinates. At the same time, handing out cuffs, the baron respected those officers who, after receiving a blow from him, grabbed their pistol holster. He valued such people for their courage and did not touch them again.

In Urga, captured by the army of Baron, in the first days there was looting and violence everywhere. Historians still argue to this day whether the baron thus gave the soldiers rest and the opportunity to enjoy the victory, or whether he simply could not keep them. However, he was able to restore order quickly. But he could no longer cope without blood. Repressions, arrests, and torture began. They executed everyone who seemed suspicious - and everyone was: Russians, Jews, Chinese and even the Mongols themselves.

Kuzmin: “I will not specify what kind of document it is - it is quite well known to those who study this history. It says that Ungern exterminated the Russian population of the city of Urga. But this is absolutely not true. Here, according to my calculations, approximately 10% were exterminated.”

Under the baron, Commandant Sipailo, nicknamed Makarka the Murderer, operated in Urga. This fanatic was distinguished by his particular cruelty and bloodthirstiness; he personally tortured and executed both his own and others. Sipailo said that his entire family was killed by the Bolsheviks, so now he is taking revenge. At the same time, he personally strangled not only captured Red Army soldiers, traitors and Jews, but even his mistresses. The Baron could not help but know this. Just like the others, Sipailo fell from time to time from Ungern, who considered the commandant unprincipled and dangerous. “If necessary, he can kill me too,” said the bloody baron. But Ungern needed such a person. After all, the main thing - the obedience of people - rested on animal horror and fear for life.

Not all researchers are convinced that Baron Ungern fought only in the name of his high goal. Some historians believe that the actions of the disgraced general could have been skillfully managed.

Protocols of interrogation of Baron Ungern

General Wrangel criticized Denikin both for the methods of military leadership and on issues of strategy...

Relatively not so long ago, previously unknown interrogation protocols of Baron Ungern came into the hands of historians. One of the charges was espionage for Japan. The baron never admitted this, but some facts suggest that he actually had close relations with the governments of two states - Japan and Austria. This can be confirmed by correspondence with the adviser of the Austro-Hungarian embassy and a large number of Japanese officers in the ranks of the Asian Division. That is why some historians have put forward the version that Ungern could well have been a double agent, working in parallel for both intelligence services. Austria was his native country, and Japan was a welcome ally in the fight against Chinese and Russian revolutionaries.

Moreover, the Japanese government willingly supported Ungern’s friend and former commander, Ataman Semenov. There is evidence that Ungern corresponded with the Japanese, hoping for their support in his campaign against Bolshevik Russia. Although historians still argue about the reliability of these versions. There was no evidence that the Japanese supplied Ungern with weapons. Moreover, when the baron marched towards Russia, he was completely disoriented in the situation - he hoped that the Japanese had already moved to Transbaikalia, and somewhere there the Whites were advancing.

Japanese weapons, Japanese mercenaries in the ranks of the division, secret correspondence - all this was enough for the Reds to recognize Baron Ungern as an agent of foreign intelligence at the trial. However, there was something else that interested the Bolsheviks much more than the intelligence transmitted to the Japanese. After all, when the baron fell into the hands of the Bolsheviks, he was not killed on the spot as his worst enemy according to the law of war. It turns out that the Reds needed Ungern alive? But why? Trying to answer this question, historians have put forward completely incredible versions. According to one of them, Ungern was offered to go into service with the Bolsheviks and he accepted the offer. According to another version, the Bolsheviks did not need the bloody baron himself, but his countless treasures, which he hid somewhere in Mongolia...

Roman Fedorovich von Ungern-Sternberg is perhaps the most extraordinary personality in the entire White movement. He belonged to an ancient warlike family of knights, mystics and pirates, dating back to the times of the Crusades. However, family legends say that the roots of this family go back much further, to the times of the Nibegungs and Attila.
His parents often traveled around Europe; something constantly attracted them to their historical homeland. During one of these trips, in 1885, in the city of Graz, Austria, the future irreconcilable fighter against the revolution was born. The boy's contradictory character did not allow him to become a good high school student. For countless offenses, he was expelled from the gymnasium. The mother, desperate to get normal behavior from her son, sends him to the Naval Cadet Corps in St. Petersburg. He was only one year away from graduating when the Russo-Japanese War began. Baron von Ungern-Sternberg quits training and joins an infantry regiment as a private. However, he did not get into the active army and was forced to return to St. Petersburg and enter the elite Pavlovsk Infantry School. Upon completion, von Ungern-Sternber is enrolled in the Cossack class and begins service as an officer in the Transbaikal Cossack Army. He again finds himself in the Far East. There are legends about this period in the life of the desperate baron. His persistence, cruelty and flair surrounded his name with a mystical aura. A dashing rider, a desperate duelist, he had no loyal comrades.
The culture of the East had long attracted the noble Teutonics. He resigns and leaves for Mongolia, where at that time the troops of the robber Ja Lama were conducting military operations. But even here the proud baron failed to achieve military glory.
The baron greeted the First World War with delight. He again finds himself in the active army. Fighting with desperate courage, he was even awarded the St. George Cross. But his commanders did not seek to promote him. The baron's desperate character raised concerns. Soon expelled from the active army for beating an adjutant, he joins the Kornilov mutiny, and then goes to Baikal. Here he was caught first by the February and then by the October revolutions. An ardent monarchist, he finds himself in the close circle of Ataman Semenov, who became his only friend and like-minded person. Baron von Ungern-Sternberg calls for an Asian campaign against Europe, which he considered the cradle of all revolutions.
The “wild baron,” whom Semyonov promoted to major general, creates his own Asian division and “with fire and sword” imposes a cruel feudal order. Roman Fedorovich's dream of a Great Asian Power was relegated to the background. Hatred of Bolshevism turned out to be stronger. He begins active combat operations, however, the forces of his division were already weakened. Ungern hides in the Mongolian steppes and gathers a new army. Now he is busy conquering Urga, over which the Chinese held power. Fierce fighting took place with varying success, and eventually the city was captured. The Baron again announces a campaign against Soviet Russia.
In the summer of 1922, as a result of a conspiracy, Baron von Ungern-Sternberg fell into the hands of the red patrol. On September 15, 1922, the trial took place. The baron was found guilty of all charges. A death sentence was imposed, which was carried out that evening. The last knight of the Middle Ages, an irreconcilable fighter against the revolution, a controversial personality, but a very cruel person, has passed away.