26 Baku Commissars - The Executions

The Executions

Official Soviet version

After the fall of the Baku Soviet in July 1918, the Bolshevik leaders and some loyal troops tried to reach Astrakhan, the only Caspian port still in Bolshevik hands. However, their ship was intercepted by the military vessels of the Caspian fleet and after undergoing an hour's bombardment in mid-sea they surrendered and returned to Baku. Most of the Bolshevik militants were arrested and remained in prison until, after the fall of Baku to the Turks, a commando unit led by Anastas Mikoyan freed them from their prison.

Shahumyan, Dzhaparidze, Azizbekov, and their comrades, along with Mikoyan, then boarded the ship Turkmen, intending to reach Astrakhan by sea. According to recent historians, the sailors chose instead to sail to Krasnovodsk for fear of being arrested in Astrakhan. At Krasnovodsk the commissars were arrested by the town's commandant who requested further orders from the "Ashkhabad Committee", led by the Socialist Revolutionary Fyodor Funtikov, about what should be done with them. Three days later, British Major-General Wilfrid Malleson, on hearing of their arrest, contacted Britain's liaison-officer in Ashkhabad, Captain Reginald Teague-Jones, to suggest that the commissars be handed over to British forces to be used as hostages in exchange for British citizens held by the Soviets. That same day, Teague-Jones attended the Committee's meeting in Ashkabad which had the task of deciding the fate of the Commissars. For some reason Teague-Jones did not communicate Malleson's request to the Committee, and claimed he left before a decision was made. He further claimed that next day he discovered the committee had eventually decided to issue orders that the commissars should be executed. According to historian Richard H. Ullman, Teague-Jones could stop the executions if he wanted since the Ashkabad Committee was dependent on British support and could not refuse a request from its powerful ally, but he decided not to do so.

On the night of 20 September, three days after being arrested, twenty-six of the commissars were executed by a firing squad between the stations of Pereval and Akhcha-Kuyma on the Trans-Caspian railway. How Anastas Mikoyan, who was part of the group, managed to survive is still uncertain, as is the reason why his life was spared. In 1922, V. Chaikin, a Socialist Revolutionary journalist, published a description of the moments before the execution.

Alternative version

During the evacuation of Baku with the advancing Ottoman forces, the deputy from the Bolshevik faction Anastas Mikoyan by means of threats requested the release of the Baku Commune members for conducting investigation and court trials over the arrested in Astrakhan where the evacuation was directed. In route to Astrakhan (held by the Reds), the team of the steamship led by naval officers turned to the city of Petrovsk (Makhachkala) that was held by the White forces. At that time all 27 commissars mixed with the other 600 refugees. At the arrival to Petrovsk during the passport checks conducted by military counterespionage officials Mikoyan was caught for unlawful possession of weapon and placed into an investigatory isolator of temporary detention. The chief of staff of General L.Bicherakhov garrison, simultaneously the chief of counterespionage team, Major General Aleksei Martynov during interrogations offered Anastas Mikoyan a deal - his life over the assistance in selecting among the refugees all of the commissars. Thanks to the help of Mikoyan all the commissars were detained and brought to court. Upon completion of the investigation all 26 members were sentenced to a death by firing squad, while Mikoyan was released on parole not to engage in anti-government activities. According to General Alexei Yevgenevich Martynov: of all the detainees, he was the worst scum, we should have dealt with him too, but I gave him my officer's word to spare his life...