90 years ago - November 22, 1920 - several thousand Russians were thrown onto the bare coast near the small dilapidated Greek town of Gallipoli.
The shipwreck, which caused the appearance of such a large number of Robinsons and Fridays, should rather be called a Birthmark. These half-starved people, almost without money and belongings, were the remnants of the Russian army of General Wrangel. 25 596 men, 1153 women and 356 children, who did not want to surrender to the mercy of the victorious Bolsheviks and went into obscurity on the remnants of the Black Sea squadron. Alexey GRIGORIEV, chairman of the Union of the Descendants of Gallipoli, told AiF the details of the tragedy.
After the earthquake of 1912, frequent bombing during the First World War and the campsites of various armies, Gallipoli was in a deplorable state. Therefore, in the town itself, only the command and control of the troops and a small part of the officer corps were located - those who arrived with their wives and children. The main part of the army set up camp six kilometers from the city.
Black Andryusha
The locals watched with apprehension the disembarkation of so many dirty, ragged armed people. These fears were soon dispelled. The arrivals, having barely settled down, set about cleaning the city, repairing the old water supply system built by the Romans, repairing the sewerage system and other installations. The number of Russians was several times higher than the number of local residents. But they soon felt safe. During the entire stay of the Russians in Gallipoli, there was only one case of robbery: a soldier robbed and badly wounded a Gallipoli dentist, but was arrested, tried and severely punished. Relations with the Greeks, the largest community in the city, began immediately thanks to Metropolitan Constantine, who provided the opportunity to serve in the only surviving church. At Christmas, the Greeks arranged a Christmas tree for children with treats and gifts. The Turks attended all the Russian parades and ceremonies. The head of the Gallipoli Russian army, General Kutepov, was renamed Kutep Pasha. It got to the point that they turned to him to resolve disputes among themselves. Both of them, as far as possible, sheltered Russian families. In addition to Greeks and Turks, Armenians and Jews, a battalion of Senegalese riflemen - 800 people - added diversity to the inhabitants. Formally, there was a Greek prefect in the city, but in fact the power belonged to the French commandant - the battalion commander of these black subjects of the European ally. The Senegalese - Seryozha and Andryusha, as the Russians called them - were sweet, primitive people. Only the French were wary of our army, refusing to call the Russian army anything but refugees.
Mosque-barracks
The Russians lived very modestly. Several families were accommodated in one room. Those who have premises for
there was not enough standing, they dug dugouts with their own hands or erected shacks from split stones and half-rotten logs among the ruins. The cadets were settled in the most unexpected places. The technical regiment occupied the caravanserai - a centuries-old building with many cracks in the walls that arose during the earthquake. The students of the Kornilov school made their way to the heavily damaged mosque. The choirs that collapsed at night killed 2 and wounded 52 cadets. Four officers were injured then. The hospitals occupied the best preserved buildings, large tents. The most pressing issue was nutrition.
The rations given out by the French barely reached 2 thousand calories - very little for healthy men. By the way, it was later calculated that over 10 months of life in Gallipoli, the French authorities spent about 17 million francs on food for the Russians. The value of the goods received from Wrangel in payment by the Allied authorities amounted to 69 million francs. Earnings were almost impossible. Some leaving on
many kilometers from Gallipoli, they brought firewood for sale. Someone learned to catch octopuses with their hands - the Russians did not eat them themselves, but sold them to the locals. Once the Greek prefect, visiting General Kutepov, said: “For more than six months now, Russians have been living in our homes, eating only what they get in rations, hundreds of chickens and other birds roam safely around their houses. I assure you that any other army would have eaten them long ago. Having seen the Turks, Germans, British and French, the prefect knew what he was talking about.
The troops were tormented by typhus, 1,676 people fell ill with it, that is, almost every tenth Russian. Only thanks to the efforts of the sanitary personnel, the mortality rate did not exceed 10%. General Shifner-Markevich died of typhus, who became infected while visiting the sick. Malaria was soon added to the epidemic. After all, the soil under the tent camp, as soon as it began to rain, turned into a swamp. During periods of drought, despite all the preventive measures, scorpions and poisonous snakes were regularly taken to the tents. Despite the severity of living conditions and constant hunger, military discipline was maintained everywhere. The apathy that was a consequence of the catastrophe experienced gradually gave way to hope. In many ways, this was facilitated by regular sports and parades. The parade was especially brilliant in February - on the occasion of the arrival of General Wrangel and in July - on the occasion of the consecration of the monument in the Russian cemetery. The materials for its construction were stones brought by every Russian who happened to be in Gallipoli by the will of fate.
In August 1921, the withdrawal of troops began. Officers and cadets were scattering around the world … But everyone left, taking the words of General Kutepov to their hearts: “The history of Gallipoli is closed. And I can say that it closed with honor. And remember: no work can be humiliating if a Russian officer is working."
