Andrew Cook - To Kill Rasputin

Yusupov’s famously gothic account of the murder, translated by, and essentially co-written with, Oswald Rayner in 1927, naturally makes no mention of British involvement. Despite a degree of cynicism about Yusupov’s account on the part of historians, the book more or less became the authorised account of the murder for the best part of nine decades. Rayner himself certainly felt that it was very much a shared endeavour and ensured that his name appeared in big bold letters, only slightly smaller than Yusupov’s, on the title page of the British edition. In fact, it seems that it was he, rather than Yusupov, who initially approached London publishers Jonathan Cape with a proposal for the book. According to Yusupov, the conspiracy was all his own idea. He talked to Princess Irina first, and she agreed with him that something must be done. He began (no date is given) by making sure he was doing the right thing.

I decided to attach no particular importance to all the disturbing rumours which were rife, but first of all to obtain irrefutable evidence of Rasputin’s treason. 5

He put the case against Rasputin to Mounya Golovina, and she happily admitted that the Tsar and Tsarina discussed affairs of state with the man he called an ‘unenlightened and uneducated muzhik .’ ‘There are obviously people behind him who are secretly directing him,’’he told her sternly.

She wouldn’t listen; he didn’t understand the essential holiness of Rasputin, she said. That was enough.

I realised that no more time must be wasted in talk; it was necessary to take action, deliberately and with energy, while all was not yet lost. 6

He decided ‘To consult certain influential people’ and to tell them all he knew of Rasputin’s doings. These were all people who in the past had bemoaned the man’s influence, but now that he approached them with a view to taking action, backed off. They had ‘an addiction to a quiet life, and an eager desire for their own welfare’. One who saw the point of what he was saying, but was not in a position to do anything, was Rodzyanko, a relation of Yusupov’s, a huge fellow who was Speaker of the Duma at the time. He agreed that it was all quite dreadful, but what could one do when ‘The entire Government, and those who are in close contact with the Emperor, are without exception Rasputin’s nominees?’ The only way out, said Rodzyanko, was ‘To kill the blackguard’. 7

This was more like it. Yusupov was full of trepidation, but an inner voice strengthened his resolve:

Every murder is a crime and a sin, but in the name of your country you must take this sin on your conscience. You must take it without faltering. At the front, millions of innocent men have been killed… 8

His decision was made, and he wondered ‘To whom I could entrust my secret’. This is typical of Yusupov, as it begs the question of why he didn’t just get on and figure out how to do it alone, or pay for it to be done, in a way that would remain undiscovered. But his first impulse was to unburden himself – of what by now was barely secret.

He decided on Dmitri Pavlovich and Lt Sukh-otin. Sergei Sukh-otin, from the smart Preobrazhenski Regiment, was twenty-nine, like Yusupov, and currently convalescing in the Anglo-Russian Hospital from wounds received in action. Yusupov visited him practically every day.

Both agreed at once to participate in the plot. Yusupov dismissed a qualm of trepidation about ‘The most distressing possibilities’ that might arise from all this, as

I was buoyed up by the hope that the destruction of Rasputin would save the Tsar’s family, and that the Emperor, roused from the spell which had been cast on him, would lead the country to a decisive victory at the head of his united people.

Somehow, all three of them convinced themselves that inside that weak little man was a valiant warrior, all ready to burst forth in shining armour brandishing the sword of freedom. Yusupov’s inner hero was not much in evidence at the moment; Dmitri Pavlovich, who had to go back to the Stavka soon, was sure he was being drugged.

They arranged that when Dmitri next returned from the Stavka, between Saturday 10 December and Thursday 15 December, they would ‘work out a detailed plan for Rasputin’s destruction, and prepare everything for its fulfilment’. 9

When Dmitri left Petrograd, the convalescent Sukhotin (who had been upstairs from Dmitri’s in the Anglo-Russian Hospital all the time) paid Yusupov a visit ‘at home’ – possibly at the palace of his father-in-law, Grand Duke Alexander, where he was staying while the Yusupov Palace apartments were being finished; or, more likely, Privately at the Yusupov Palace. They decided that Yusupov should get to know Rasputin better, and try to persuade or bribe him to go away from Tsarskoye Selo. But,

…we had to decide on the method to use in case this failed and we were obliged to resort to violence. I proposed that we cast lots to decide which of us would shoot the starets . 10

Two meetings took place between Yusupov and Rasputin; the first on the pretext that Yusupov required healing, and the second because Rasputin wanted to hear gypsy music (which the Prince was still good at, despite no longer being a soprano). Then he had to work for an exam, and did not see Rasputin for a while, until Mounya Golovina insisted he go with her to Rasputin’s flat.

When their car was quite close, she told the driver to stop around the corner, and explained to Felix that Okhrana men watched Rasputin round the clock and kept a record of visitors. Yusupov explained later that she ‘knew how intensely my family disliked the starets, and spared no effort to keep my relations with him secret’. 11

After the meeting at Gorokhovaya Street, Yusupov was sure that Rasputin was too comfortably set up to leave Petrograd of his own volition, and not at all in need of money; he could have as much as he wanted from people seeking positions of power. He went back to Rasputin’s again, this time for a hands-on healing session. ‘After this hypnotic séance I repeatedly went to him, sometimes with Mounya, sometimes alone.’ He recounts Rasputin’s boasting in detail and claims that Rasputin, drunk, told him,

When it’s all settled, we’ll hail Alexandra as Regent for her young son and we’ll send ‘him’ [the Tsar] to Livadia for a rest… There! Won’t that be a treat for him? To be a market gardener! He’s worn out… he must have a rest. 12

At one point in this account mysterious strangers enter and Yusupov peeps from behind a door.

Four of them were typically and unmistakeably Jewish in appearance. The remaining three were singularly alike; they were fair-haired, with red faces and small eyes. 13

German spies, the lot of them! That settled it. Yusupov was now convinced that Rasputin ‘was at the root of all the evil, and the primary cause of all the misfortunes which had befallen Russia’.

However he also perceived that, were Rasputin to be shot in his own flat, the Tsar would interpret his death as a ‘demonstration against the Tsar and his family’. The consequences that might arise from this are not stated. Yusupov, therefore, thought it would be best for Rasputin to disappear in such a way that assassination , rather than accidental murder, was not provable and no perpetrators could be discovered.

If he really wanted this, he had certainly failed to grasp that the more people knew about the murder, the more likely it was that he would be found out. And as if being overheard in the Fire Club was not bad enough, he proceeded to enlist more conspirators.

There had recently been two outbursts against Rasputin in the Duma: one from Maklakov, and one from Purishkevich (on 19 November). This was significant in that it was the first time that Rasputin had been openly denounced by name, as opposed to coded references such as ‘Dark Forces’. Maklakov was a distinguished lawyer. Purishkevich was the same monarchist anti-Semite who before the war had so despised the Duma that he once attended a session wearing a flower in his fly-button. Since the Tsar had fallen under Rasputin’s spell, Purishkevich had changed. He now saw the point of the Duma, and was an active member. With his loudly expressed disdain for ‘Titled riff-raff’, as he called them, he had even attracted a popular following.