Yan Rokotov ... Who is he? In the modern world, when there is a currency exchange point on almost every corner, it is very difficult for people to understand why three Soviet currency traders - Rokotov, Faybishenko and Yakovlev - were shot in 1961.
Because of the ideology of the time, which stated that everyone should be happy in their poverty, three quite prominent people died. But Rokotov Yan Timofeevich, who modernized the currency sphere, remained in history a thief and an enemy of the people.
Yan Rokotov: family, a brief biography
To date, a huge number of inconsistencies are singled out in the biography of Yan Rokotov. It is known for certain that the man was born into a Jewish family, but due to the persecution of representatives of this nationality, he was separated from his parents. The further fate of the family of Jan Rokotov is not known.
Timofey Adolfovich Rokotov, representative of the creative intelligentsia of the Soviet Union, who was left without guardianship, was noticed by a small Jewish boy. Not much is known about the life of his adoptive father either, it can only be said for certain that from 1938 to 1939 he served as editor of the journal International Literature. Until that moment he worked in the Far East, took part in the construction of the Gas-Helium Plant.
The fate of the family of Yan Rokotov (reception) was also not well formed. The boy’s adoptive mother, Tatyana Rokotova, died when he was only 3 months old. The woman died, like a real heroine, while protecting the Soviet regime from the gangs of Green. Most of the time, grandmother was involved in the education of little Jan.
According to some sources, Yan Rokotov graduated from a seven-year school, and then dropped out of school. Other sources claim that the young man had a legal education (interrupted due to arrest). It is worth noting that in the first grade one of Rokotov's classmates pierced his eye with a pen, which subsequently led to partial blindness.
Despite his excellent mental abilities, Yan Rokotov, whose facts from his life are of great interest, could not find himself, his vocation, and spent all his free time on outdoor parties.
An interesting fact is that upon receipt of the first passport, the young man asked him to enter the nationality in the column - Ukrainian. Many modern scholars who studied the biography of Rokotov, explain this by the fact that his mother (foster) was Ukrainian.
In the post-war period, having been left unattended by his adoptive father (Timofei Rokotov was arrested before the war and then shot), the young man "went all out." Many delinquencies led to several arrests.
The first arrest of Rokotov
For minor offenses in 1946, a decree was signed to arrest Rokotov. Investigators suddenly rushed into the man’s home unexpectedly, but he was not taken aback and during the search made an escape from the house, using the window in the toilet. After a successful escape, the young man immediately went to the apartment of investigator Sheinin (his wife was a relative of Rokotov), ​​where he received a rather large sum of money. This financial assistance allowed him to go south unnoticed. But luck turned away from Rokotov, and in 1947 he was arrested already in the south.
It is noteworthy that the term of imprisonment was increased due to the addition of the clause “For escaping from a place of detention” to the article, although the man was not yet arrested during the escape.
After the arrest of Rokotov, Yan Timofeevich was sent to the camp, to the regime brigade. In addition to the fact that the man was forced to work on a logging site, he was brutally beaten every day by cellmates, as his physical strength did not allow him to fulfill the daily working norm. Such a life has contributed to significant health problems, namely memory loss and mental disorders.
A year before his release, Rokotov’s case was reviewed. As a result, he was completely released with rehabilitation, which included the restoration of the institution in his second year. But seven years in prison left a huge imprint on the soul of a man, so his further education did not work out. After several months of study, Yan Timofeevich Rokotov decided to leave the institute. From this moment begins his "immersion" in the currency sphere.
The role of Slanting, Vladik and Dim Dimych in the black market
In the 1960s, the “black market” of Moscow practically did not differ from the various foreign currency shreds of the Arab East.
In this area, there was even a hierarchy of its own, which included the following groups:
- runners;
- resellers;
- custodians of goods;
- connected;
- security guards;
- intermediaries;
- merchants.
Merchants are people who held a strong position in the black market, but hid their identities in the shadows. It was this group that included Rokotov, Faybishenko and Yakovlev.
After his release from prison, Jan Rokotov, whose photo you see in the article, almost immediately started working on the “black market”, which brought significant income. These finances were quite enough for a life in which you can not deny yourself anything. The man did not work and constantly spent time surrounded by “easy-going girls”.
The development of his business was facilitated by cooperation with employees of various embassies stationed in Moscow, and with Arab soldiers who studied at Moscow academies. This group of people continuously supplied Rokotov with gold coins.
People from whom Yan Timofeevich Rokotov purchased coins, transported them across the border, using secret belts under clothes. Each belt was able to accommodate about 500 coins with a face value of 10 rubles. Each of these was sold on the "black market" at a price of 1,500-1,800 rubles apiece.
It is noted that Yan Rokotov, whose biography turned out to be very difficult, was one of the first to create a complex system of runners, since it was not difficult for him to identify gullible people and draw them into his business.
For a long time, Yan Timofeevich was under the protection of the OBHSS, since he held the position of secret informant in them. A man without a twinge of conscience betrayed young students who simply wanted to make money. At the same time, Rokotov guarded his main accomplices in every possible way.
The second figure of their three merchants was Vladislav Faibishenko. His acquaintance with Rokotov happened at the Moscow Festival of Youth and Students, when Faybishenko began to hunt with fartsovka. It was 1957, the man at that time was only 24 years old.
Despite his youth, Faybishenko had an extraordinary mind, this is manifested in the fact that the guy kept the received currency in a special cache in an apartment that he rented from a single woman.
And, of course, Dmitry Yakovlev should be noted. Being a native of the Baltic states, it was there that he cranked up the bulk of his activities related to the currency sphere. Yakovlev grew up in a fairly wealthy and intelligent family. He possessed wide literary knowledge and was fluent in three languages. Such intellectual abilities greatly helped him in the foreign exchange business, as he simply magically managed to hide from surveillance.
But young people should not have expected that luck will forever be on their side. In early 1960, the operations department found out that it was these three people who dominated the black market. But the lack of complete information about their accomplices and hiding places forced the police to postpone the arrest for a while.
Nevertheless, in the spring of 1961, Dmitry Yakovlev, Jan Rokotov and Vlad Faibishenko were arrested.
The second arrest of Rokotov
Rokotov's second arrest came in the last spring month of 1961. This time the man was convicted together with his friends Vladislav Faibishenko (nickname "Vladik") and Dmitry Yakovlev (nickname "Dim Dimych"). The reason for the arrest was the organization by young people of a complex system of intermediaries for buying up money and other things of foreign production from tourists. It was this arrest that became the final in the lives of young people.
First trial
After the arrest of Rokotov and his accomplices, law enforcement agencies began to remove all foreign and domestic finances from the caches of young people. According to estimates, only their Rokotov cache was seized 344 rubles, 1,524 gold coins and a large amount of foreign currency. If you translate everything found in the cache into dollars, then the amount will be one and a half million.
An interesting point is that all people who were familiar with Rokotov claim that he was a fairly rational person and would not keep money in only one cache. It is possible that part of Rokotov’s savings is still stored in another secret place.
According to the court, young people were threatened with imprisonment for up to 8 years with the complete confiscation of all financial resources and various securities.
While in the cell, Yan Rokotov, for whom the arrests had already become commonplace, was not at all worried, because the investigator reassured him that he would release the young man in 2-3 years in case of rough behavior.
Second hearing
In 1961, Khrushchev visited Berlin, where he was accused of the “black market” flourishing in the Soviet Union, and its scale is so large that no country in the world is able to compete with it. And most importantly, indecency is under the guardianship of law enforcement agencies.
Angry at such statements, Khrushchev decided that it was time to familiarize himself with all the major currency matters in detail. And, of course, information about Rokotov and his gang came to his hand.
Upon learning that Rokotov and his friends had been sentenced to 8 years, Khrushchev became even more angry. According to certain information, he even threatened the Prosecutor General Rudenko that if the term does not increase, then he will leave his post.
In addition, Khrushchev read out a letter sent by employees of the Moscow Instrument Plant. The essence of the letter was that Rokotov and his friends were no longer normal people, that they dared to encroach on the “holy” - Soviet system. It was noted that such actions should be the highest punishment, namely the execution. The letter was accompanied by many signatures.
To date, there are huge doubts about the fact that this letter was genuine. Since somehow very successfully it fell into the hands of Khrushchev, when all the correspondence passed through the hands of his assistants, and only a small fraction of the letters came to him.
Khrushchev’s similar actions led to a review of the case, as a result of which the prison term was extended to 15 years.
Third trial
But such changes in the verdict also did not satisfy Khrushchev, because at that stage he tried with all his might to prove his significance as a leader.
After the second trial, Khrushchev decided to act openly, so a new law was passed that stated that currency traders and speculators could be shot.
After the release of this law, the sentence of Rokotov and his comrades was again amended. Instead of 15 years in prison, men were sentenced to death.
The day after the trial, the sentence was executed.
This decision caused a lot of protests not only from ordinary citizens, but even from the side of law enforcement officials.
There was a lot of illegal actions in such a decision, the main one of which was that the law on the execution was issued after the young people had committed illegal currency transactions. Accordingly, the court was obliged to judge them according to the law that was in force during the period of their illegal actions. It follows that for more than 8 years of imprisonment, young people could not be presented.
It is also worth noting that Yakovlev, who provided the court with a lot of useful information and was also seriously ill, did not receive any mitigation.
After this trial, the chairman of the Moscow City Court, Gromov, also suffered; he was removed from his post due to an unfair initial sentence.
Letter to Khrushchev
In July 1961, when Rokotov learned that he and his comrades were threatened with execution, he tried in every possible way to reason the representatives of the law. Then Jan Rokotov decided to write a letter to Khrushchev. The move was quite decisive. But what came of it?
The essence of the letter sent to Khrushchev was that Yan Rokotov, whose biography is shrouded in curtains of secrets, asked for mercy. The man claimed that he was not a murderer, spy or bandit and, despite a number of his mistakes, he did not deserve to die. Rokotov said that the approaching execution revived him, he realized his own mistakes and was ready to change. He noted that he would become an indispensable member of a communist society.
It is not known for certain whether the letter reached Khrushchev. But even if it came to that, the statesman did not consider it necessary to change his own decision.
The only good news is that such actions of Khrushchev did not arouse the approval of the masses and he did not succeed in exalting himself on other people's deaths.
Yan Rokotov: quotes
Yan Timofeevich, despite having lived a very short life, was a smart enough person who, even in the face of death, did not hesitate. This is confirmed by one of his quotes: "They will still shoot me, their life is impossible without executions, but at least for several years I have lived as a normal person, and not as a trembling creature."
In a letter to Khrushchev, the young man claimed that he had changed and was ready to take part in the construction of communism, this was a big step for him. Since before that, Rokotov quite clearly expressed his opinion about the communist society: “Considering the question of building a communist society, I have always argued that it will be built in at least 2 thousand years, and accordingly, never. In other words, I never believed in the idea of ​​building a communist society. ”
Statements of famous people about Rokotov
There are the following statements about Rokotov from the lips of famous people:
- Issak Filshtinsky (historian, literary critic): “Rokotov has a highly developed entrepreneurial vein. Everyone despises him for this, but I, on the contrary, admire him. If he came to some capitalist country, he would definitely become a millionaire. ”
- Lev Golubykh (doctor and candidate of sciences): “I am not familiar with people sentenced to death; I only know from print media. At the same time, I, like most people, am convinced that such actions are not justified by any moral considerations or state structure in the country. Their death will not add money to the state bank. Cancel the sentence. Revenge should not rule in the Soviet Union. ” This statement is from a letter to Khrushchev.
- Garegin Tosunyan (banker): “Rokotov was one of the largest businessmen, he was able to organize the sale of currency and imported items in the Soviet Union. German bankers thought he was worthy of the Nobel Prize. ”
Rokotov’s life in films and literature
At present, all communist foundations are in the past. Therefore, the stories of a large number of people who have suffered because of the desire of various kinds of leaders to achieve even more power are examined. And, of course, one simply cannot ignore the history of Rokotov and his friends.
That is why two documentaries and one feature film were shot about the life of this famous currency dealer.
The section on documentaries about Rokotov includes the following:
- “Chronicle of one execution. Khrushchev against Rokotov ";
- “Soviet mafia. The shooting of the Slant. "
These films are recommended for viewing by anyone who is interested in what kind of person Ian Rokotov was. The film "Farza", which was released in 2015, falls into the section of television art projects. It is 8-serial. The role of Yana Rokotova was performed by the famous Russian actor Evgeny Tsyganov.
The plot of the film is that a young man named Konstantin Germanov lost a huge amount of money to the bandits. Debt repayment periods are approaching, but there is no money. Therefore, in order to somehow help out Kostya, his three friends - Sanya, Boris and Andrey, decide to rally again. Four heroes are forced to assume the role of farmers and speculators, because this is the only way to make money quickly.
Naturally, the film was built not only according to Rokotov’s biographical data, a lot of invented information was inserted there.
According to the producers of the motion picture, at least 3 more seasons are planned, each of which will be from 8 episodes.
Photos of Yan Rokotov are not many, as well as reliable facts from his life. But as a result of the information received about Rokotov and his comrades, one can make an unambiguous conclusion: his death was not well-deserved. Yes, Rokotov was not a model of purity and virtue, but he did not deserve such an end.
Khrushchev wanted to prove to all countries and peoples his importance as a statesman, but by such actions he only wrecked the wounds of the Soviet inhabitants. Calmness in the country was shaken, as no one was sure that the authorities were fair. And the days of Khrushchev at the post were numbered.
As a result, the death of seemingly simple currency traders affected the lives of all the people living in the Soviet Union. Their worldview has changed forever.