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, Faibishenko and Yakovlev were shot in 1961.
Due to the ideology of the time, which said that every person should be happy in their poverty, three quite prominent people died. And Rokotov Yan Timofeevich, who modernized the currency sphere, remained in history a thief and enemy of the people.
Yan Rokotov: family, short biography
Today, a huge number of inconsistencies are distinguished 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 Yana Rokotov's family is not known.
A little Jewish boy left without care was noticed by a representative of the creative intelligentsia of the Soviet Union - Timofey Adolfovich Rokotov. Not much is known about the life of his adoptive father either, one can only say for sure that in the period from 1938 to 1939 he held the positioneditor of the journal "International Literature". Until that moment, he worked in the Far East, took part in the construction of the Gas and Helium Plant.
The fate of the family of Yana Rokotov (reception) also did not work out in the best way. The boy's adoptive mother, Tatyana Rokotova, died when he was only 3 months old. The woman died, like a real heroine, while defending Soviet power from Zeleny's gangs. Most of the time, little Jan was raised by his grandmother.
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 law degree (interrupted due to arrest). It should be noted that in the first grade, one of Rokotov's classmates pierced his eye with a pen, which later led to partial blindness.
Despite his excellent mental abilities, Yan Rokotov, whose life facts are of great interest, could not find himself, his vocation, and spent all his free time on parties.
An interesting fact is that when receiving the first passport, the young man asked to be entered in the nationality column - Ukrainian. Many modern scientists who have studied Rokotov's biography explain this by the fact that his mother (adopted) was Ukrainian.
In the post-war period, being left unattended by his foster father (Timofey Rokotov was arrested and then shot before the war), the young man "started into all serious things." Multiple offenses resulted in multiple arrests.
Rokotov's first arrest
For minor offenses in 1946, a decree was signed on the arrest of Rokotov. Investigators raided the man's home unexpectedly, but he did not lose his head and, during the search, escaped from the house, using the window in the toilet. After a successful escape, the young man immediately went to the apartment of the investigator Sheinin (his wife was a relative of Rokotov), where he received a rather large amount 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 had not yet been arrested at the time of 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 at the logging site, he was subjected to severe beatings every day by his cellmates, since his physical strength did not make it possible to fulfill the daily work quota. Such a life has contributed to significant he alth problems, namely memory loss and mental disorders.
A year before his release, Rokotov's case was reviewed. As a result, he is completely released with rehabilitation, which included reinstatement in an educational institution in the 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 Rokotovdecided to leave the institute. From this moment begins his "immersion" in the currency sphere.
Role of Oblique, Vladik and Dim Dimych on the black market
In the 1960s, the "black market" of Moscow did not differ much from the various currency markets of the Arab East.
This area even had its own hierarchy, which included the following groups:
- runners;
- dealers;
- keepers of goods;
- connected;
- guards;
- intermediaries;
- merchants.
Merchants are people who occupied a strong position in the "black market", but hid their identity in the shadows. It was this group that included Rokotov, Faibishenko and Yakovlev.
After his release from prison, Yan Rokotov, whose photo you see in the article, almost immediately took up work 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 “girls of easy virtue.”
The development of his business was facilitated by cooperation with employees of various embassies located on the territory of Moscow, and with Arab military personnel who studied at Moscow academies. This group of people continuously supplied Rokotov with gold coins.
People from whom Yan Timofeevich Rokotov bought coins transported them across the border using hidden belts under their clothes. Each belt was able to hold about 500 coins with a face value of 10 rubles. Each of these was sold on the "black market" at a price of 1500-1800 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 OBKhSS, since he held the position of a secret informant for them. A man without a twinge of conscience betrayed young students who just wanted to make money. At the same time, Rokotov protected his main accomplices in every possible way.
The second figure in their trio of merchants was Vladislav Faibishenko. His acquaintance with Rokotov happened at the Moscow Festival of Youth and Students, when Faibishenko began to trade in fartsovka. It was 1957, the man at that time was only 24 years old.
Despite his youth, Faibishenko 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 lonely woman.
And, of course, Dmitry Yakovlev should be noted. Being a native of the B altic States, it was there that he did the bulk of his activities related to the monetary sphere. Yakovlev grew up in a fairly we althy and intelligent family. He had a wide literary knowledge and was fluent in three languages. Such intelligence helped him greatly in the foreign exchange business, as he simply magically managed to hide from surveillance.
But young people should not have expectedluck will always be on their side. At the beginning of 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, Yana Rokotov and Vlad Faibishenko were arrested.
Rokotov's second arrest
Rokotov's second arrest came in the last spring month of 1961. This time the man was convicted along with his friends Vladislav Faibishenko (nickname "Vladik") and Dmitry Yakovlev (nicknamed "Dim Dimych"). The reason for the arrest was the organization by young people of a complex system of intermediaries for buying money and other things of foreign production from tourists. It was this arrest that became the final one in the life of young people.
First Trial
After the arrest of Rokotov and his accomplices, law enforcement agencies began to withdraw all foreign and domestic finance from the hiding places of young people. According to estimates, only 344 rubles, 1524 gold coins and a large amount of foreign currency were seized from the Rokotov cache. If you convert everything found in the cache into dollars, then the amount will be one and a half million.
An interesting point is that all the people who were familiar with Rokotov claim that he was a fairly rational person and would not keep money in just one cache. It is quite possible that part of Rokotov's savings is still kept in yet another secret place.
According to the court decision, young peoplethreatened with imprisonment for up to 8 years with complete confiscation of all financial assets and various securities.
While in the cell, Yan Rokotov, whose arrests had already become a habit, was not worried at all, as the investigator reassured him, saying that in case of exemplary behavior, the young man would be released in 2-3 years.
Secondary hearing
In 1961, Khrushchev visited Berlin, where he was reproached for the fact that the "black market" is flourishing in the Soviet Union, and its scale is so great 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 remarks, Khrushchev decided it was time to take a closer look at all the big currency cases. And, of course, he came across information about Rokotov and his gang.
Having learned that Rokotov and his friends were sentenced to 8 years in prison, Khrushchev became even more angry. According to some reports, he even threatened Prosecutor General Rudenko that if the term was not extended, he would leave his post.
In addition, Khrushchev read out a letter sent by the workers 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" - the Soviet system. It was noted that for such actions there should be the highest punishment, namely execution. Many signatures were attached to the letter.
OnAt this point in time, there is great doubt that this letter was genuine. Because somehow it fell into the hands of Khrushchev very successfully, when all the correspondence passed through the hands of his assistants, and only a small fraction of the letters got to him.
Such actions by Khrushchev led to a review of the case, as a result of which the term of imprisonment was increased to 15 years.
Third trial
But such changes in the verdict also did not satisfy Khrushchev, because at that stage he was trying with all his might to prove his importance 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 changed again. Instead of 15 years in prison, the 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 law enforcement officers.
There were many illegal actions in such a decision, the main of which is that the law on 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 at the time of their illegal actions. It follows from this that more than 8 years of imprisonment could not be presented to young people.
Also worth itto note the point that Yakovlev, who provided the court with a lot of useful information and was seriously ill, did not receive any leniency.
After this trial, the chairman of the Moscow City Court, Gromov, also suffered, he was removed from his post due to an unfair initial verdict.
Letter to Khrushchev
In July 1961, when Rokotov found out that he and his comrades were in danger of being shot, he tried in every possible way to reason with the representatives of the law. Then Yan 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 secrecy, asked for mercy on him. 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 had reborn him, he realized his own mistakes and was ready to change. He noted that he would become an indispensable member of communist society.
It is not known for certain whether the letter reached Khrushchev. But even if it did, 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 failed to rise on the deaths of others.
Yan Rokotov: quotes
Yan Timofeevich, despite the fact that he lived a very short life, was a fairly smart person who, even in the face of death, did notshied away. This is confirmed by one of his quotes: “They will shoot me anyway, their life is impossible without executions, but for at least a few years I 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 issue of building a communist society, I always argued that it would be built in at least 2 thousand years, and therefore never. To put it another way, 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 famous people:
- Issak Filshtinsky (historian, literary critic): “Rokotov has a highly developed entrepreneurial spirit. Everyone despised him for it, but I, on the contrary, admire him. If he ended up in 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 know only from printed publications. At the same time, I, like most people, am convinced that such actions are not justified by any moral considerations or the state structure in the country. Their deaths 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 biggest businessmen, he was able to organize the sale of currency and imported things in the Soviet Union. The German bankers thought he was worthy of the Nobel Prize.”
Rokotov's life in films and literature
At this point in time, all communist foundations are in the past. Therefore, the stories of a large number of people who suffered because of the desire of various kinds of leaders to achieve even greater power are considered. And, of course, you simply cannot ignore the story of Rokotov and his friends.
That is why two documentaries and one feature film have been shot about the life of this famous money changer.
The section of documentaries about Rokotov includes the following:
- “Chronicle of one execution. Khrushchev vs. Rokotov";
- “Soviet mafias. Execution of Oblique.”
These films are recommended for viewing by anyone who is interested in what kind of person Yan Rokotov was. The film "Fartsa", which was released in 2015, falls into the section of artistic television projects. It is 8 episode. The role of Yan Rokotov was played by the famous Russian actor Yevgeny Tsyganov.
The plot of the film is that a young man named Konstantin Germanov lost a huge amount of money to bandits. The deadlines for repaying the debt are approaching, but there is no money. Therefore, in order to somehow help out Kostya, his three friends - Sanyok, Boris and Andrey, decide to unite again. The four heroes are forced to take on the role of black marketeers andspeculators, because this is the only way to make money quickly.
Naturally, the film is built not only on the basis of Rokotov's biographical data, a lot of invented information is inserted there.
According to the producers of the film, at least 3 more seasons are planned, each of which will be 8 episodes.
Photos of Yan Rokotov are few and far between, as well as reliable facts from his life. But as a result of the information received about Rokotov and his comrades, one can draw an unambiguous conclusion: his death was not deserved. Yes, Rokotov was not a model of purity and virtue, but he did not deserve such a death.
Khrushchev wanted to prove to all countries and peoples his importance as a statesman, but with such actions he only opened up the wounds of Soviet residents. The calm in the country was shaken, because no one was sure that the government was just. And Khrushchev's days in office were numbered.
As a result, the death of seemingly simple money changers affected the lives of all people inhabiting the Soviet Union. Their outlook has changed forever.
