New-York tribune. [volume], March 13, 1921, Page 9, Image 71

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]?uTpAUL DUKES as a \
|*J Bolshevist, one of his j
many disguises
i-,-.-:
By Joseph Shaplen *
?rjOn' Sir Paul Dukes British
\1 ;':;?;' officer, lived for
iykteen months in Petrograd, Mos
wavd other Russian centers, posed
u an official of the Extraordinary
"ffntmiss-ion, became a member of the
?(troc~r>? S une?1 worked in a mii^
?turn factory, joined the Red army,
nn an extensive intelligence service
'vr his gon:ernment, end in the face
if grave danger of almost certain
where and execution gathered val
-a?/> material on conditions in the I
nul of L?nine and Trotzky. A friend
i wl colleague of his ivam captured \
Bhot.
NT of the most fascinating
cha] ters in the history of the
Russian revolution has been
iritten by a young Englishman, now
jniy ir. his thirties, Paul Dukes.
Jukes spent eighteen months in
briet Russia. When as a member
lithe Red army he was to be sent
? the Eastern front he deserted in
?he winter of las. year, crossed into
?t?t?and, and for six months fol
wed the i ilish armies and peasant
Bsurrections ir, the region of Mozir,
ius pel again into Soviet
tacit ry
Witl the crushing of the peasant
firolts y the Bolsheviki Dukes
England and is now on
? lecture tour in this country. On
return to England he was
r his services.
Price on His Head
Dukes has been outlawed by the
Sol he-vik government and the
the notorious Extraordi- .
mission, maddened by
i
rceii in tbility to effect his cap- !
have finally issued a decree I
ing any Russian citizen '
atching Dukes on Soviet territory j
to shoo*, him on the spot. He was ?
?ceused by the Bolshevik authori- l
ties of being personally responsible j
for many disorders and uprisings ',
n Soviet Russia and of being the j
head of the counter revolutionary !
conspiracies which have given the j
Bojsheviki so much trouble within I
the last two years.
Dukes denies emphatically that
he ever ei gaged in any conspiracies
against the Bolshevist-, government
and says that his entire activity in i
was confined to gathering
information.
A member of a distinguished :
British family, Dukes was virtually
brought tip in Russia. He lived
??ere for twelve years, studied at
one of the Russian universities and
after a course in the PetrogTad
Conservatoire became assistant to
?he director of the celebrated
Marinsky Theater. He speaks and
??rites Russian fluently.
After the outbreak of the war in
19U, Dukes was appointed a mem- ;
her of the Anglo-Russian commis-!
-?on and served with great credit S
during the war. On the outbreak |
of the revolution in 1917, Dukes, |
w"o had close connections with '
evolutionary circles in the Rus- \
sian capital, joined the rebellion
and participated in the street
??gating which resulted in the over- ;
?**r<-'V o? the Czar.
Back as a Volunteer
Bitterly opposed to the Bolshe
?d and regarding them-as the real
?unter revolutionists, Dukes vol?
unteered to go into Soviet Russia
j1" -November, 1918, after he had
! ?ready left the country, and take I
charge of the British.Intelligence j
Service. This was soon after the
?nurder of Captain Cromie, the
?*val attach? of the British Em-j
??assy in Petrograd, by the Bolshe- j
70, His offer was accepted by j
*? authorities in London and he j
J4 out for Finland, reaching the !
3,-?8o-Finnish frontier.
Let Dukes himself tell how he
?-tered Soviet Russia and his first
?speriences on arrival:
"In November, 1918, I found ray
*" at the Finnish town of Viborg,
(cj?* to the Russian frontier. My
0Wect was to enter Soviet Russia
88 a British intelligence officer. My
entrance had to be made in secret,
coarse, as far as the actual croaa
?f into Soviet territory was con
P-erae^ Once on Soviet territory, I
p*4 ta ?fe ready to play a p.*rt that
r
English Spy Penetrates Council of Soviets
Sir Paul Dukes, as the Agent of the British Secret Service, Disguising Himself, Sometimes as a Bolshevik Fac?
tory Worker, Again as a Soldier and Even as a Member ?f the Notorious Extraordinary Commission, Got
Close t0 Lenine ^ Trotzky. Soviets Placed a Price on His Head and Authorized Any Russian to Kill Him
would give me a free road to Pe?
trograd.
"I set out to look for such sssist
i anee as was necessary to facilitate
the execution of my aim. Fortu
! nately, I encountered at Viborg two
Russian officers who had been col?
laborators of Captain Cromie. I
told them of my plan and they glad?
ly agreed to help me. One of them
undertook to precede me to Petro?
grad and warn an English friend of
mine, to whom I will refer as Mr.
March, of my forthcoming arrival.
I had never met March before, but
I knew that he was a friend of
Captain Cromie. The other Rus?
sian officer offered me the hospi
| tality of his home in Petrograd,
where he had left a housekeeper
and a servant.
into Red Russia
"On November 24 I found myself
in a little cottage on the bank of the
River Sestra, separating Finland
from Russia. The cottage belonged
to some Finnish patrols. They were
friends of the two Russian officers
and were engaged in smuggling but?
ter and Finnish money into Petro?
grad. They fixed me up with a
paper which was a precise replica of
the papers held by employees of the
Extraordinary Commission, purport?
ing me to be an official in the office
of the chief commissar of the
Extraordinary Commission in Petro?
grad.
"At 3 o'clock next morning we set
out from the cottage and walked si?
lently for a mile up the river, until
we came to a ramshackle house or
the Finnish side. Here the patrols
dragged out a small boat from be?
hind some bushes, to the stern ol
which there was attached a long
rope, and let it silently into th<
water. They put a long pile insid?
and told me to push myself acrosi
to the Russian side, saying the;
would drag the boat in after me b*
the rope.
" 'Beware,' they said, 'of that cot
tage you 6ee on the other side. Then
are the Red patrols. God help yoi
if they see you.'
"The Russian bank consisted of i
meadow, the only open place alon*
the river, and I asked my patrol:
why they had chosen that open spo
as my landing place, instead of di
recting me to the woods. They sail
4
heard them Are two shots at the
Finnish side, but the Finns made no
reply. In about five minutes the
Reds retired to their cottage. All
was still and I proceeded. After
jumping across some fences and
-.ther barriers I found myself at an
old deserted house,"close to an open
road. I concealed myself in the
house until daybreak and then
boldly walked toward the frontier
railway station of Bielo-Ostroff and
presented my papers. They were
examined carefully by the station
commissar, who approved them after
asking me many questions, and gava
me permission to proceed to Petro?
grad.
"As an employee of the Extraor?
dinary Commission I, of course,
traveled first class. Disguised In a
worker's jacket, black leather
breeches, fur cap with a tassel or.
top and a scarf, I resembled many
of the other workers traveling in
the same train and reached the Fin?
land station in Petrograd after o
short ride. On arrival at the station
my papers were again examined, al?
though this time in a rather cursory
manner, and I passed out into streets
with a throb.
His First Day
"One of the first things I ob?
served when I came out of the Fin?
land station was an old man lean?
ing up against a gutter pipe, sob?
bing. I stopped.
"'What's the matter, old man?
I asked. 'Why are you weeping?'
" 'I am cold and hungry," repli?e
the old man. 'For three days '.
have had nothing to eat.'
"I pushed a 40-ruble note int<
his hands. He looked at the money
then at me, and said:
" 'Thank you, but what's thi
good of this money? Where shall
get bread?'
"I gave him a small loaf which
had brought along from Finland an
passed on.
"My first destination was the horn
of Mr. March, who lived on the For
tanka, a street close to the Anitch
kin Palace. Walking up the Nevsk
?I thought I would be feast likel
to attract attention by walking rs
ther than by riding?I looked at th
half-deserted, disheveled street, one
the glory of Petrograd, the street <
<I???3BEn.. ?tiffiCCAP
U_K.KJIfi$?.COB.
PAD .a '-Pv-APM.^E?l
918 p.
\ \
y S 0 C T O B E P S H H E.
Amo en? H o c a $ y _$iip?.ro a
Tom ?.TO oh cjiyxHT y Hp?8Bbn.f{0M_ccapa U.M.R,
neTD.CoB.Pa?.n, Kp.-Apu.?en. b KaqecTBe k?h
. c
ue^KocKaro cny-samaro, ??to noAnnc?w h npoo ?;:?_
HneM neqaTH y?OCTOBepH?TCH.
Eemp?ip. Tpy?oc. IiOMMynu
(kxgtmp*
HPHIS is a certificate, forged, I
! representing Sir Paul |
I Dukes to be in the service of ;
! the Extraordinary Commis?
sion. It is written on a letter- I
head of the Chief Commissar !
of the Central Executive \
Committee of the Petrograd
| Soviet of Work-men's and ?
| Red Guards' Deputies, dated
! November 25, 1918. It was
j this certificate that was pro
j vided for Sir Paul Dukes
! when he first entered Soviet
j Russia from Finland. It
| bears his picture, in the dis
\ guise he wore on that occa?
sion, and says:
"This is given to Joseph
Afirenko in certification
j that he is employed by the
: Chief Commissar of the Cen
j tral Executive Committee of
j the Petrograd Soviet of
I Workman's and Red Guards'
\ Deputies in the capacity of
? office clerk, which fact is con?
firmed by the appended sig
? natures and nhotoaranh."
yjlOCTOBEPEHHE
ABTOHO?MHHfeifl
)iDeyi VtU-? toau
-, .L ?pe? ?BHTe^b cero ecTb Ae?cTBMTejibHo BAHKAy AJ?EK
**Gg-jf?.^..CHH ^?'//.CAHAPBoeHHoc.nyxainH? Abto-Ot?wo VIII-oB a^uvj^^To, a
it on -IT TaKxe h co?CTseHHopyMHaJ! noAnHCb ero,
?/.A iXAJm(^L?>
' no?nwCAUM h npH-noaeiMiteu neqaTti yttocTOBep?eTcs.
,ia?taa?M4ir. *A*?TO-0T?e.ta
VLU Ap.i?.j
non-iTwse
?KMCCKM.i ?v/ >
HPHIS is the certificate obtained by Sir Paid Dukes from the Bolshevist authorities when he
?* served in the Red Army. It shows him to be a member of the automobile section of the
VIHth Bolshevist army, under the name of Alexander Ban kau, one of the many names he
assumed in Russia. The certificate says:
The bearer of this, Bankau, Alexander, is in military service, Automobile Division. VIHth
Army, to which is appended his own signature Bankau and which is certified to by the follow?
ing signatures and seals."
The certificate bears the letterhead:
"Russian Socialist Federated Soviet Republic, Automobile Division of the VIHth Army."
It is dated May 25, 1919, town of Svatovo, and is countersigned by the names of the
Chief of the Automobile Division, VIHth Army, the political commissar in charge, and an
official whose title may be translated as secretary-manager. The seals are those of the Auto?
mobile Division of the VIHth Army.
The photograph attached represents the disguise affected by Sir Paul Dukes when serv?
ing in the automobile division.
they had chosen that spot because
it was completely open and was the
least likely to be watched. We shook
hands and, taking a large drink of
whisky from my flask, I jumped into
the boat and was off.
"On coming very close to the
Russian side I found difficulty in
pushing my boat because of the ice
that had formed along the bank.
Realizing I had little time to lose, I
abandoned my boat and made the
bank across the ice. The noise, how?
ever, attracted the Red patrols. My
Finn friends on the other side of the
river saw them running out of their
cottage with rifles in their hands
and shouted to me:
"'Run for your life!'
"I scrambled up on the bank, and
seeing the lights aglow brightly !n
the Red cottage I ran for my life
seros? the meadow. When half?
way across I lay down and watched
the Reds rua toward the bank. 1
great business, of gayety and fash?
ion. A pall hung over the famous
thoroughfare. The hand of death
seemed to be resting upon it. Most
o? the stores were closed, barricaded
with boards. Others that were still
open yawned at the passerby with
tneir empty windows. Now and then
a lone cabman would wind his way
in and out of the various intersec?
tions. Huge piles of dirt and snow
graced the edges of the pavements.
The miasma of Bolshevism polluted
tlie very air. I was glad when I
reached the corner of the Nevsky
and and the Fontanka and turned
toward the home of Mr. March.
"Looking about me carefully but
unostentatiously and convincing my?
self that the street was clear I en?
tered Mr. March's house. I was con?
fronted at the door by a man who
might and might not have been the
porter. He let me in, closed the door
behind him. locked it and placing
himself in front of it ask.d in stern
voice:
"Whom do you want?'
" T want to see Mr. March,' I re?
plied calmly. " Can you tell me the
number of his flat?'
"I knew well the number of his
flat, but thought it advisable to pre?
tend ignorance on this point, in order
not to show any close association
with him in case of trouble, which I,
of course, by this time suspected.
My expectations proved correct.
" 'Mr. March is not here,' bellowed
the man. " 'He is arrested and his
flat is sealed. Do you know anything
about him?'
"My first impulse was to flaunt
my paper before him, showing that I
was an official in the service of the
Extraordinary Commission. On sec?
ond thought, however, I realized it
would have been a serious mistake
for me to do that, for aa an official of
the Extraordinary Commission call
O IR PAUL DUKES as a Bolshevist worker, speaking to
**-** villagers in Soviet Russia
ing on March I should have known ;
| that he had been arrested, if his ar?
rest were really a fact.
" T don't know him and never saw
j him in my life,' I said, instead. 'But
I was sent here by a friend of his to
give him this little parcel.'
i "Here I produced a parcel con-1
taining some handkerchiefs and a ?
pair of socks, virtually the only bag- ?
gage I brought with me into Russia.
" 'He left this at the house of a
\ friend in Alexandrovsk the other
| night,' I added. 'Of course, if he
I has been arrested I will take it back.' j
"The man, who was undoubtedly
! an agent of the Extraordinary Com
( mission, eyed me suspiciously for a
' moment or two, and said:
" 'Well, then, you had better
leave it.
"I left the parcel and he let me
i out into the street.
"Later, I discovered that there
had been a raid on March's house
shortly before my arrival, that Mrs.
March, his wife, was arrested, but
that he himself escaped by running
out the back door and jumping over
i a fence.
1 "That night I stayed at the home
! of my second officer friend, who
| had offered me the hospitality of his
': place when I met him in Viborg. He
himself had not yet returned. I
presented myself at the door of his
house and was met by the house
i keeper. She was very suspicious
j and refused to let me in. When I
' mentioned the name of her master
and said I was a friend of his every
: thing went well. I was received
into the house and grew so friendly
; with the occupants that I was able
to tell them next morning that I
was an Englishman and had come
? to Petrograd on important govern
| ment business.
"On the third day of my stay at
i the house a sheet of paper *^*as
found slipped under the door, ad
\ dressed to Paviol Pavlovitch, my
; Russian Christian name and patro
inymic. The note said:
' " 'You can meet March after din
ner between 5 and 6 p. m. on the
third bench from the iron gate in
the Summer Garden. He will be
blowing his nose continually with a
red handkerchief. You can meet
me at the Fifth Soviet eating house
on the Nevsky.'
"The note was signed 'Melnikoff,'
the pseudonym of the first officer ;
who preceded me. I
Plotting an Escape
"I met March and he told me the
story of his escape. He said that
his wife was arrested, that he was
being dogged by agents of the Ex?
traordinary Commission, and that
it was essential that he flee cross
the frontier.
"I made it my first object to ob?
tain the release of Mrs. March. I
did this with the aid of a former se?
cret service official of trie Czar to
whom I was introduced by March
and who had also been in the serv?
ice of Captain Cromie and was
now a school inspector under the
Bolsheviki. I will refer to him as
Romanoff. An initial payment of
10,000 rubles sufficed to prepare the
way for bribing the petty officers
of the Extraordinary Commission?
guards, sentries, etc.
"Mrs. March was kept in a room
with sixty other prisoners. They
were huddled together amid inde?
scribable filth and slept on wooden
bunks. The place of detention was
the famous, or infamous, 'Goroch
ovaya, No. 2,' formerly the city
prefecture and now the place of
the Bolshevist inquisition in Petro?
grad and house of preliminary incar?
ceration. All prisoners are first
taken for interrogation to 'Goroch
ovaya Dva,' as the Russians call it.
The place has since the advent of
the Bolsheviki acquired the reputa?
tion of a house of blood and tears.
Some day, when the full story of
'Gorochovaya Dva' is written it will
eclipse the most grewsome tales of
the torture chambers of the Middle
Ages.
"AU prisoners, especially Mrs
March, were subjected to daily in?
terrogation. She wan asked the ?
same questions fifty times a day and ;
her answers were invariably com
pared. She was also made to write j
her autobiography. Final interro-1
gation lasted from 10 o'clock in the i
morning until 6 ?'clock in the eve- ;
ning without interruption until sh*? \
swooned and fell in a faint- In the
evening she was informed that she
probably would be executed. ' On
that same day Romanoff informed
me that he had made final arrange?
ments for Mrs. March's escape. He
told me to be waiting at 6 o'clock
in the evening"in a dark corner in
the interior of St. Isaac's Cathedral,
a short distance from 'Gorochovaya
Dva.' I was to have a woman's hat
and cloak concealed in the cathe?
dral. I purchased these from one
of the many women of the intelli
genzia who were selling out their
last belongings on the Nevsky.
"About 5 o'clock the next day Mrs.
March was called out of her cell,
thinking it to be her last interview
on earth. The guard led her along a
pas.iage to the women's lavatory and
motioned her to enter. She obeyed.
In the lavatory, to her surprise, she
found a shabby hat, a green shawl
(by which I was to recognize her)
and two slips of paper. One was a
pass signed by the proper officials?
the signatures, of course, being
forged?saying that she entered
'Gorochovaya Dva* to see some pris?
oner relatives and that she was to be
allowed out before 7 p. m. The other
said, 'Walk straight to St. Isaac's
and go in.'
"Mrs. March told me afterward
that she was at first so bewildered
that she did not know what to do'.
She followed the instructions, how
i ever, and walked past half a dozen
i guards into the street, giving up hei
; pass at the door. She walked
i straight to St. Isaac's and I met her.
; She donned the hat and cloak I hac
! provided, and that evening she wa:
j transferred safely across the Finnish
j frontier by Finnish smugglers of Ro
manoff's acquaintance. There sh
joined her husband."
A great deal of his timo was de
voted by Sir Paul Dukes to th
j study of the machinery and opera
; tion of the Extraordinary Commis
i sion. He formed no fewer than fiv
! *,
, organizations of assistants?late
I reduced to two?many of whom wer
i planted by him in the Extraordin?r
' Commission as agent?, and thus ob
i tained an inside view of that mos
terrible of all Bolshevist institutions
Russia's Terror
So great is the powei* of th
Extraordinary Commissiom thi
giant octopus with a million ten
tacles extending into the home o
nearly every inhabitant of the Rus
sian cities, said Sir Paul, that eve:
high Bolshevist offic;als live in tei
ror of it. Its authority often es
ceeds that of the centra! governmenl
and there have bepn conspicuous ir
stances when even L?nine and Trot;
ky themselves were unable to ovei
ride the decisions of the Extraord
nary Commission.
The councils of five decide the fat
of the people who are gathered b
investigators. Below the invest
gators is an army of agents who?
duty it is to follow the doings nc
only of the entire population of th
towns, but also of the army and th
lower ranks of the Communist part;
"Investigators vary greatly. It
in the hands of the investigator th*
the fate of any given victim real!
lies. Some investigators are sincei
but demoniacal visionaries, who s<
the dawn of proletarian liberl
through mists of non-proletaria
blood. They are actuated by a wi!
longing for revenge. There ai
others who are merely corrupt, wh
are ready to sell themselves for
price and regard their jobs as meai
of making fortunes by bribery.
The Good Take Bribes
"The general public class the:
investigators quite simply as goi
or bad, the first being those wl
are human enough to take a bril
and let their victim go, and t]
second being those who show j
mercy. When any one is arrest
the first thing his friends do is
find out which investigator is e
trusted with the case. If he is
the second class hope is given
at once. If the investigator in qu<
tion is found to be 'good' the vict
is considered lucky and means a
taken to find out what the inves
gator's price is. The usual proc?
ure of such an investigator is to j
the victim through the usual int
rogation but to ask only such qu
tions as the victim is certain to i
swer satisfactorily. The investi]
tor then reports to the council tl
he had found no incriminating e
dence and it is up to the council
render the final verdict. In extre
cases, such as that of Mrs. Mar
release if achieved at all can
achieved only through the agei
of the lowest employees of the c<
mission. This has become rat
? ?IR PAUL DUKES, for
| **-** merly head of the Eng
\ lish Secret Service in Soviet
Russia
difficult recently as the Bolsheviki,
not trusting the lower employees,
took to changing the personnel of
subordinates every month or so and
are finally utilizing only Chinese as
the staff of guards.
"The usual method of interroga?
tion consists in asking the victim a
series of questions over and over
again. The answers are checked up
carefully. In case the authorities
feel that the victim was really guilty
of acts of 'counter-revolution' meth?
ods of torture are applied to elicit
the desired information.
Torture Resorted To
"When I was in the Communist
party I made the acquaintance of a
commissar who boasted of his connec?
tion with 'Goroehovaya Dva,' where
he was an investigator. Two of my
assistants, having obtained a bottle
of vodka one day, got him drunk and
persuaded him to tell of some of the
methods at '?Goroehovaya Dva.' He
said that in case the authorities felt
that a victim was concealing some?
thing from them they would apply
methods of torture. The torture con?
sisted in the rapid and consistent
firing of revolvers in the vicinity of
the place of interrogation, the feed?
ing of a prisoner for days on noth?
ing but salt herrings, but refusing
to give him water to drink, flogging
and the application f redhot needles
to the quick of the finders.
" 'It got so on my nerve?,' said
this Communist testily, 'that I gave
up that job and became a profes?
sional agitator.'
"It was as a professional agitator
that I knew this neophyte of B?)l
shevism.
"Durin-r strikes the Extraordinary
Commission sends agents into the
factories to detect he strike leaders
and at election time a strict watch
is kept upon the workers to mark
such as do not vote for the Com?
munist candidates.
"The Extraordinary Commission
is the strongest civil institution in
Russia. There are many instances
when it overrode the decrees of the
central government. ?A prominent
instance was the execution of four
former grand dukes, cousins of the
Czar, in the summer of 1919. They
were Pau! Alexandrovitch, George
Michailovitch, Nich las M;?-hailoviteh
and Dmitri Konstantinovitch. The
four were executed in the fortress of
Sts. Peter and Paul, in Petrograd,
on orders of the Extraordinary Com?
mission on the night preceding the
day appointed for their trial by the
centra! government. They were shot
and buried in a common grave by a
party of Lettish riflemen and Chi?
nese.
Shot 500 as Revenge
"After the murder of Uritsky, the
Bolshevist chief of police of Petro?
grad, five hundred so-called bour?
geois prisoners were . shot at one
stroke, without tria!, as a measure
of revenge. These prisoners had
nothing t > do with the assassination
of Uritsky. They consisted of offi?
cers, teachers, professors, coopera
tors and workmen. There were also
a number of women among them. A
further !^t of five hundred was pub?
lished in the official Bolshevist press,
with the warning that they would be
shot at the : r * atl ?: ?? I [.
nation of a Bolshevist commissar.
"Indeed, the Extraordinary I m
mission is all-powerful. The Bol?
shevist r?gime, basing itself solely
on force and violence, must either
kill or be killed. It leaves no room
for the functioning of the normal,
civilized impulses and agencies of
human existence. The Bolshevilri
kill because they are cowards, be?
cause they know that they are hated
and detested by the people and that
some day the people will rise ana
hurl them into oblivion. It is fear
of their own skins that prompts the
Bolsheviki in their indiscriminate
and unprecedented terror. It is a
r?gime that lives solely by the sword
and by the sword it shall perish.
That this is so is indicated in the
latest news of popular uprisings in
Ru?s-??u" .-??
(Next "Sunday Sir Paul Dukes wi?
tell how he became a member of ths
Communist Party, a mrtnitiona
worker, a guest of the Soviet and a
soldier in the Red army.)