Duchesses Marie & Anastasia

The Emperor & Princess Marie

The Imperial Yatch Standart

Breakfast Room at Peterhof Palace

he Emperor,Prince Orlov,Bodkine &Babitzine

The Tsarevitch playing

Pages 176 - 177

CHAPTER 10

SUMMARY, — Years 1907-1908. — Concerns at the end of 1907. —S.R. terrorist plans — Our precautionary measures. — The matter surrounding Lossiny Ostrov and Maquery the cornet. - Christmas. — Their Majesties Christmas tree at Tsarskoe Selo - Gatchina. — The Imperial hunt. — The Emperor hunting. – Shooting expedition by the members of the Imperial house. — Leaving for the hunt at Ropsha. — Ropsha Palace. — Spring hunting for grouse.

We spent the end of 1907 in a constant state of worry. From Petersburg, we were informed that the worst events were yet to come, even an attack with the help of an aeroplane, but all the information we were given was vague, obscure, and unspecific. We saw Azef doing his double-dealing, bribing the Okhrana with information, and at the same time deceiving the party. But danger was much closer than we realised. During October of that same year, a meeting was held in Vyborg with the Central Committee of the S.R. party to discuss ways of assassinating the Tsar. Participating in this meeting were, Azef, Gershuny, Argunov, Avksentyev, Rakitnikov, Chernov and Savinkov. It was decided to reestablish the old combat organisation and start preparing an attack on the Tsar. Azef and Gershuny offered their services. Azef was named head of the combat organisation, and he was given Karpovitch
as an assistant.

Danger was thus very close at hand for us; and without having as yet any specific details, we knew that the threat was imminent and that we had to be on our guard. We did everything within our power, the registration service for the inhabitants of the Imperial residences worked very well; the identity of each new person was immediately verified; we thoroughly monitored the Imperial itineraries, and at the same time worked on training and educating new agents for the security service. In order to ensure our agents knew the main representatives of the S. R. party, we systematically placed a certain number of them at the disposal of the head of the Okhrana, which, under the direction of Okhrana agents, entrusted them with monitoring the revolutionaries.

At the same time, I submitted a project to my superiors, consisting of occasionally sending our men abroad to assist with the undercover operations we ran there, in order to get them to know the main migrant terrorists by sight. My project was accepted, implemented, and was of great use.

One of our best agents, an old Cossack from the Imperial escort, Dzotzoyev, told us about one of these missions abroad. In charge, along with our French agents, of tailing the head of the terrorist combatants, Savinkov, he was forced to follow him to Monte-Carlo. As Savinkov went to the casino every day to play roulette, our agents, who shadowed him constantly, were able to see our gallant terrorist, accompanied by a pretty lady, lose considerable sums of money. ‘But, Colonel,’ Dzotzoyev asked me later, ‘where does he get the money that he's able to lose so much gambling? Doesn’t he always talk about the people? Isn’t he one of those who claim they have nothing to their name, and that they own nothing? I often had the urge to stab him while he was playing.’ ‘Don’t worry, Dzotzoyev,’ I responded, ‘You can now see the type of people these socialist are, and their flamboyant lifestyles. You’ve seen them yourselves, living the high life in Paris, gambling in Monte- Carlo, now go and tell those who don’t know the real truth, what sort of people these vultures and frauds are, and how they spend their time.’

I often thought that the Tsarist government was too considerate of the reputation of these socialists, and that it was wrong not to show them up in public. We would have dethroned more than one revolutionary hero, and it couldn't have been easier to destroy their public image, if we had told the people, by stating names and dates, of the way which Savinkov, as an example, gambled away a fortune in Monte-Carlo; how the maximalists, led by Sokolov-Medved, had nights of debauchery in Imatra; how the socialist V. L. Bourtsev, who had condemned the investigation methods employed by the government, but had also conducted investigations, recruiting his own security agents from the socialists, and his spies from failed government officials.