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Anniversary of tragic events at Lena goldfields (“Lena Massacre”)
4 (17) April 1912, during a strike at the fields of the Lena gold-mining partnership "Lenzoloto", located near the town of Bodaybo, Irkutsk Province, along the Lena River and its tributaries, Vitim and Olekma, government troops opened fire against the workers. The tragic events were made part of historical literature and nonfiction under the name "The Lena Massacre."
In April 1912, all Russian newspapers responded to the tragic events that occurred in Siberia in the Lena goldfields, located deep in the taiga, nearly 2, 000 miles from the Siberian railway. The reasons for the strike, according to one version, had been extremely difficult working and living conditions, to the other - the rivalry between shareholders of the London Society «Lena Goldfields Co., Ltd.», headed by various international banks, which owned approximately 70% of the "Lenzoloto."
The miners who worked in the goldfields, called their life "a free penal servitude." They often worked knee-deep in icy water, and their working day lasted for 10-12 hours. In addition, a part of workers' wages was issued in the form of vouchers that could be realized only in the shops of the company, often in return for poor-quality goods. The immediate reason for the strike was the fact that workers had been given horse meat in the guise of beef (according to another version it was rotten meat).
In the early days of the strike, the workers elected the Central Strike Committee and the Central Office. To comply with the order, elders were chosen in the workers’ barracks. 3 (16) March, 1912 the participants of the strike adopted a petition to the administration, which contained the demands of the 8-hour workday, higher wages and a separate payment for overtime work, the abolition of fines, prohibition of dismissal during the winter months, the improvement of living conditions and medical service, dismissal of a number of administration officials. The administration of "Lenzoloto" had agreed to consider the petition, provided the resumption of work from 6 (19) March. Otherwise it expressed the intention to dismiss and evict the workers.
Attempts of the governor of the Irkutsk, F. A. Bantysh, to resolve the conflict between the administration of mines and the strikers had not given a positive result. On the night of 4 (17) April, by order of the gendarmerie captain N. V. Treschenkov, 11 members of the Central Office were arrested. On the same day, several thousand workers went to Nadezhda Mine with a written petition to the provincial prosecutor asking for the release of prisoners. On the approaches to goldfield the workers were met by over 100 soldiers, who, on the orders of the gendarmerie captain, opened fire on the crowd. Official information on the number of victims of the shooting is not available; various sources claim from 83 to 270 killed, and 100 to 250 wounded.
The rumor of the Lena events quickly spread in Russia. State Duma deputies have made a request to the Government. The causes and circumstances of the event of 4 (17) April 1912 were investigated by a government commission headed by former Minister of Justice, S. S. Manukhin along with the commission headed by the leader of the parliamentary faction of the Trudoviks, A. F. Kerensky, created by groups of liberals and socialists of the State Duma. Both commissions recognized the conditions in the mines incompatible with human dignity, and the use of weapons - not provoked by the actions of workers who persecuted solely economic goals. The primary responsibility for the incident was assigned to the company management, local authorities and personally captain Treschenkov, who was dismissed from service in the gendarmerie, demoted to the ranks, and enlisted in the foot militia of the St. Petersburg province. 7 (20) June 1913 was published an official government report on the Lena Massacre.
Kerensky later recalled: "As a result of an open investigation, the monopoly position of the company was liquidated and its administration completely reorganized. Slums, where the workers and their families lived, destroyed, and in their place built new houses. Wages were increased significantly and working conditions improved.”
The bloody drama on the Lena goldfields in April 1912 provoked wide public resonance. The strike lasted until August 1912, after which more than 80% of the workers left the mines, and mass rallies and protests began all over the country, attended by over 300, 000 people. Liberal and socialist parties had accused the Russian government of the tragedy. The Bolsheviks led by Lenin saw a wave of public protest as evidence of "a new revolutionary upsurge" in Russia.
In 1967 in the village of Aprilsk, Bodaibo District, Irkutsk Region has been erected a monument to the victims of the Lena Massacre.
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Based on the Presidential Library’s materials: