"Unknown" Dzerzhinsky. Materials of the Presidential Library illustrate life and work of of the director of Cheka, marking his anniversary

"Iron Felix", "Guardian of the Revolution", "The Man with a Burning Heart" and even "The Red Executioner"... September 11, 2020, marks the 143rd anniversary of Dzerzhinsky. His nicknames express his fidelity to principles and invincible fortitude in the struggle for ideals of the revolution. And only those who knew Dzerzhinsky well understood how difficult it was for him to follow this way...

Journalist Lev Sosnovsky wrote: The Dzerzhinsky's personality is unknown to the masses. They know the statesman Dzerzhinsky, the leader Dzerzhinsky, the fighter Dzerzhinsky. But they did not know Felix as a personality, bright and harmonious, a charming idealist (in the best sense of the word), a sincere and true family man, a kind and responsible comrade, a man without cracks and flaws". These words can be found in the publication "Felix Dzerzhinsky" (1927), which is available on the Presidential Library's portal.

...The future revolutionary was born near Minsk, on the family estate of a Polish landowner. He received two Christian names - Latin and Polish - Felix Szczensny, which mean "happy". The family of Dzerzhinsky's mother was related to Juliusz Słowacki, the XIX century Polish poet. An interesting fact provides the video lecture "Unknown Dzerzhinsky" released on the Presidential Library's portal: at the end of the XX century, the monument to Dzerzhinsky was dismantled in Warsaw. It was replaced by a monument to the poet Juliusz Słowacki - a relative of the revolutionary.

Dzerzhinsky had a lot of life collisions. For example, as a child, Felix longed to be a priest but became a professional revolutionary. After the revolution, he wanted to work in education - but was appointed head of the Cheka...

"I was forged by prison, by the tortures of loneliness, longing for peace and life... - wrote a "happy" Felix in his diary in 1908, comparing his cell with a grave. Sometimes prison is a bad and dreadful place. But... if I had to start life again, I would start it the same way... ". It was not Dzerzhinsky's first imprisonment - in total, he spent 11 years in custody. But prison did not harden him. When he spoke about his wardens, he sought excuses for them: "the gendarmes, in general, are tired people, and it is clear that they are afraid of the authorities, and that they hardly bear the cruel discipline. Someone treated me with sympathy... ”. It is possible to read these unique materials thanks to the publication "Felix Dzerzhinsky" (1931), which digital copy is available in the electronic reading room of the Presidential Library. The prison experience, like any other, was not in vain for Dzerzhinsky. Years later, as the head of the Cheka, he said: "Anyone who becomes cruel and whose heart remains insensitive towards the prisoners must leave this site. Here, like in no other place, you need to be kind and noble. "

The All-Russia Extraordinary Commission to Combat Counter-revolution and Sabotage was created on December 20 (7), 1917. From the very first day, Dzerzhinsky was appointed its chairman, but he never strived for this. Six months later, during the revolt of the Left branch of the Socialist Revolutionary Party, Dzerzhinsky personally appeared at the party's headquarters demanding the extradition of the murderers of the German ambassador Mirbach and was taken hostage. Soon he stated: "Because I am undoubtedly one of the main witnesses in the case of the murder of the German ambassador Mirbach, I do not think it is right for me to be a member of the All-Russia Extraordinary Commission any more...". The honest, generous act of the Cheka head was appreciated - already on August 22, 1918, he returned to office. His courage and endurance were also appreciated - "Only Dzerzhinsky could, without hesitation, during the revolt of the Left branch of the Socialist Revolutionary Party in 1918, go to the detachment led by the Socialist-Revolutionary Popov... Only he, disarmed, could apply to Popov: "Give me a revolver to blow out your brains!" - writes the Soviet party leader, a friend of Dzerzhinsky Yakub Ganetsky in the above-mentioned publication "Felix Dzerzhinsky" (1931).

The revolutionary and publicist Karl Radek saw the source of Dzerzhinsky's endurance in his invincible belief in the rightness of the revolution. In the book "Felix Dzerzhinsky" (1927), he gives the following example: when Dzerzhinsky was asked about the possibility of mistakes and "acts of injustice" by the Cheka, he replied: "The Cheka is not a court... The Cheka is the defence of the revolution, and as an army in a civil war, it can not recognise the harm to individuals... so, the Cheka must defend the revolution and defeat the enemy, even if its sword accidentally falls on the heads of innocent people". However, considering it, Dzerzhinsky tried to remain faithful to his principles. When he became the People's Commissar of the RSFSR in 1919, he abolished the practice of the death penalty. Later, the death penalty restored, but it was used only against official criminals, bandits and spies.

"He didn’t like to talk about his reflections during sleepless nights, but, from time to time, he mentioned how difficult it was for him…". Karl Radek continued: "Dzerzhinsky told me: "When we win, I will leave the People's Commissariat for Education". The comrades who listened to this conversation laughed. Dzerzhinsky squirmed. But these words revealed something clear to everyone who knew Dzerzhinsky. Destruction and violence were only a means, very essence of Dzerzhinsky was the deepest longing for the construction of a new life".

In early 1921, Dzerzhinsky became chairman of the newly formed Commission for the Improvement of Children's Lives. Many historians say that the main achievements of Felix Dzerzhinsky were the successful solution of the problems of homelessness and the creation of orphanages and "communes". Returning children to a normal life, he performed his dream - created a new life.

In February 1924, Dzerzhinsky, "holding the sword in one hand, grasping the pick by another" - he was appointed chairman of the Supreme Council of the National Economy of the USSR (VSNKh). In the article "The Builder of Socialism", from the publication "Felix Dzerzhinsky" (1927), Radek asks the question: "His university was a prison, where he read, like everyone else, Marxist literature. He had no special inclination to study economics. Why did he, being a very humble man, far from arrogance, decide to rebuild the economy?". And he answers: "... he was deeply interested, worried about the building of socialism. <…> He knew how difficult it is to create it. He had to study day and night to understand the structure of economic relations ... And he studied and worked with such attention and force, as no one else, with all his knowledge and energy".

The Presidential Library's portal provides a unique edition of 1927 "Felix Dzerzhinsky. Three last speeches", which includes the records of his speeches, which took place right before and on the day of his death. On July 20, 1926, according to the memoirs of Lev Sosnovsky, "Felix worked all night on a report of high state importance. At 8 a.m. he was already in one institution, at 10½ - in another. At noon he was already sitting at the plenary session of the Central Committee of the party, preparing for his speech - alas, the last...". Dzerzhinsky's two-hour emotional speech was devoted to the fight against bureaucracy. Nikolai Bukharin, in an article preceding Dzerzhinsky's autobiography (1926), describes this event as follows: "A strange blush plays on the cheeks, suddenly flashing and disappearing. Eyes shine feverishly, shining with inner fire and at the same time so sick. <...> Hot speech, hot gestures, powerful force of will... But look: what is with him? Hands convulsively hang on the chest, as if he wanted to eliminate the sucking pain. And, suddenly, the voice, sounding so passionately, almost exalted, sinks to almost a whisper. Beads of sweat run down the forehead, dropping in streams. <...> And I hear the sinister inner voice saying: "doomed, doomed". Three hours after his speech, at 4:40 p.m, Dzerzhinsky died of a heart attack. "It looked like the boiling lava of the revolution, not simple human blood, flowed and boiled in his veins. It is strange to imagine Dzerzhinsky sleeping. It is almost impossible to imagine him dead", continues Bukharin. "If I work, I work all day long", he said in his last speech ... and died. And this work was his whole life...".

Joseph Stalin called Dzerzhinsky in his farewell speech "a terror of the bourgeoisie", Jacob Ganetsky - "an ascetic of the revolution", Karl Radek - "a fearless fighter", Lev Sosnovsky - "severe and gentle". But, probably, only Sofya Dzerzhinskaya "a faithful modest friend and companion of Felix, and, indeed, Yas' - Felix's beloved son", knew what his real nature was...