If you are not confident in your abilities. Uncertainty about your actions. The person is considered insecure by other people

Probably, there were not so many terrible myths about a single Soviet official as about Lavrentiy Beria, the chief of Stalin’s state security. One of them concerned his personal life. They argued that Beria not only loved women - he loved to take them by force, and he had many broken destinies to his credit.

Sarkisov's list

Beria's adjutant and head of security, State Security Colonel Rafael Sarkisov, even kept a list of his boss's mistresses. According to some sources, there were 39 names, according to others – 75, according to others – 115.

According to myths again, Beria was little concerned about the social background of his lovers and even their age. Among them were students, actresses, and ordinary employees.

Later, during interrogation, Lavrenty Pavlovich will say the following: “I easily got along with women, had numerous short-term relationships. These women were brought to my home.” However, a womanizer is not such a rare occurrence. They said about Beria that he was not only a lover of women, but also a rapist. During his trial, he was also charged with numerous rapes of young women. Many of them were married. Yes, Hero Soviet Union Sergei Shchirov was sentenced to 25 years for threatening the People's Commissar, who persuaded his wife to have sex.

Beria was married to the beautiful Nino Gegechkori. He met his future wife back in Georgia. Nino's brother was arrested, and someone advised her to seek help from a high party leader.

Lavrenty promised to help. But as a “payment for the service” he demanded that the girl give herself to him. He subsequently proposed to Nino and they got married.

True, Nina Teymurazovna herself denied these details of meeting her future groom. She claimed that Beria simply asked her to marry him after several months of dating.

Scary mansion

Sarkisov carried out the instructions of his boss, delivering to him the women and girls he liked. It usually happened like this. Beria, sitting in the car, pointed to this or that person. Sarkisov had to get out of the car, approach her and invite her to ride with them. Sometimes the head of security was first instructed to follow the “object”, find out his name, surname, and address. After this, Sarkisov was supposed to bring the woman to Beria’s mansion. Soon all of Moscow already knew Beria’s armored Packard.

The head of state security did not disdain schoolgirls either. Any more or less attractive high school student had a chance to end up in Beria’s bed.

During a search in Beria's office, they found a mountain of women's underwear and pornography. Beria simply raped those who did not agree to intimacy voluntarily.

If the girl turned out to be accommodating, she could get dividends from this. Thus, a high-ranking lover helped one ballerina from Podolsk get an apartment in Moscow. Those who resisted could be thrown into prison. Actress Zoya Fedorova, who was breastfeeding her child at that time, being brought to the mansion, began to beg to let her go, as her breasts hurt from the flow of milk. Beria was furious and soon ordered her arrest. He simply raped another actress, Tatyana Okunevskaya, at his dacha. Since Okunevskaya did not show the necessary enthusiasm, she was also arrested and sent to Siberia for logging.

At the end of the love meeting, Sarkisov, on the orders of the boss, handed the woman a bouquet of flowers. If she refused to accept the bouquet, this entailed arrest.

It is possible that Beria even killed some of his victims. In the mid-90s, during work in the garden on the territory of the former Beria mansion on Malaya Nikitskaya, the remains of several women were found. It is assumed that these were Beria's mistresses or those who refused to become them.

Innocently slandered?

What did Beria’s relatives think about all this? His son Sergo believes that his father did not rape anyone and, although he loved the female sex, but not on such a scale as is attributed to him. True, he does not deny that the father had an illegitimate daughter. As for his wife, in 1990 she gave a short interview in which she stated that all the women on Sarkisov’s list were in fact state security agents. She claimed that her husband disappeared all day at work and he simply did not have time to have affairs.

However, there is a version that Lavrenty Beria was deliberately made into a “lustful monster” in order to denigrate his moral character. This served as additional justification for his execution. But what really happened and what is true and what is fiction, we will probably never know.

The mansion, overlooking Sadovaya-Kudrinskaya, Malaya Nikitskaya and Vspolny Lane, built in 1884 for the mayor of Stepan Tarasov, at one time attracted the attention of the almighty Lavrentiy Beria. Since then, he has been surrounded by ominous rumors. There was a time when the old residents of these places, instinctively muffling their voices, told horrors about what was happening on the territory of the ancient estate. This is how a legend developed, in which truth can no longer be distinguished from fiction.

When workers once excavated a pit for a heating plant on Kachalova Street (as Malaya Nikitskaya was called in Soviet times), they came across bones.
The common grave dates back to the times of Stalinist repressions. But the closer the pit got to the mansion, the more skeletons they dug up. Thus, rumors about women raped by Beria and killed on his orders received indirect confirmation.
As Anton Antonov-Ovseenko narrates in his book about L. Beria, a stone crusher was found in the basement of the mansion, with the help of which, apparently, the remains of murdered women were crushed before they were lowered into the sewer.
According to other sources, a small crematorium was equipped in the courtyard of the estate, in which the bodies of victims of the sexist executioner were burned. In any case, the arrest report of L. Beria contains an inventory of women's blouses, stockings, slips, tights, scarves, and scarves seized during a search in his mansion. The “Collector,” apparently, did not deny himself the pleasure of leaving something as a souvenir of his charming captives.
The children's sizes of some items confirm rumors that teenage girls were often the prey of the voluptuous marshal. Colonel Rafael Sarkisov supplied sex slaves to his boss. He usually went to negotiate with a lady Lavrenty Pavlovich liked, politely but persistently asked for a phone number and delivered the guest to the mansion at night.
Beria brutally raped some, treated others and entertained them with conversation - it all depended on the mood and the time available. It did not bother him if the woman was married, because he knew that there was no knight in the country who would dare to defend the honor of his wife if such a gentleman liked her.

However, there was at least one exception. In 1944, the “harem” on Vspolny was replenished with another beauty - Sofia Shchirova. She married ace pilot Sergei Shchirov, a Hero of the Soviet Union, who shot down 21 enemy aircraft during the war and distinguished himself by the most difficult conditions mountainous terrain and bad weather, he brought Marshal Josip Broz Tito out of the fascist encirclement.
The honeymoon had not yet finished when Beria was flattered by the newlywed. Returning from a business trip on the tenth day after the wedding, Sergei did not find his wife at home. She was brought by a car at two o'clock in the morning. The hero dared to defend his wife’s honor. Sofia smelled of expensive wine. She did not deny it and, bursting into tears, confessed everything to her husband.
Sharp and direct, Shchirov began to loudly threaten Beria. He was soon arrested and a case was fabricated against him. The pilot believed that at the trial he would tell the whole truth about the seducer-rapist. The naive hero did not imagine that 25 years in the camps would be assigned to him without providing an acquittal.
As Colonel Sarkisov, the head of the security of the chief of the NKVD of the USSR, later showed during interrogation at the Prosecutor General’s Office, Sofia Shchirova was on the list of women brought to the mansion under number 117 (in total, the hunter’s “trophies” were numbered at more than 200, according to other sources - 760, however, Beria’s wife Nina Teymurazovna assured that all these women were intelligence officers - agents and informants).
In 1953, immediately after Stalin's death, Shchirov was released. Fearfully looking around, the hunched, toothless 37-year-old man found his beloved - Sofia, who had already married someone else, disgustedly slammed the door in front of her ex-husband. The ace pilot drank himself to death within three years.

The Tatar janitor Raisa, who served under Beria and for some reason enjoyed his respect, once noticed that the owner was picking up her teenage daughter by the elbow, fearlessly shouted: “Come on, let go of your daughter, Satan!” Lavrenty Pavlovich, who did not expect such a rebuff, immediately turned everything into a joke. Raisa later said that under Vspolny Lane there was an underground passage from the estate, where the guards of the house dragged the torn female bodies. When the underground passage was excavated, dozens of skeletons were removed from it. Beria remained unpunished for many years, until in 1953, during a fierce struggle for power with Nikita Khrushchev, the recent executioner himself became a victim.

Top secret

Comrade Malenkov G.M.

I present a copy of the interrogation protocol of the arrested Beria Lavrentiy Pavlovich dated July 14, 1953.
Appendix: on 13 sheets.

[pp.] R. Rudenko

Interrogation protocol

1953, July 14th, USSR Prosecutor General Rudenko interrogated
accused Beria Lavrentiy Pavlovich.
The interrogation began at 22:50.

QUESTION: During interrogation on July 8, 1953, you admitted your criminal moral corruption. Tell the investigation in detail about this.

ANSWER: I easily got along with women, had numerous relationships, short-lived. These women were brought to my home; I never visited them. They delivered them to me at the house of the Sarkises and Nadarayas, especially the Sarkises. There were cases when, having noticed this or that woman from the car that I liked, I sent Sarkisov or Nadarai to trace and establish her address, get to know her and, if desired, deliver her to my house. There were many such cases.

QUESTION: Sarkisov’s testimony is being read to you:

“Beria made acquaintances with women in various ways. As a rule, such acquaintances took place during his walks. Walking around his house, Beria noticed some woman who interested him. In this case, he sent me, Nadarai or security officers to find out her last name, first name, address or telephone number. I followed such a woman and tried to talk with her in order to find out the information that interested Beria. At the same time, I told such a woman who was interested in her and asked if she wanted to convey anything. If I managed to establish contact with such a woman and the necessary information about her apartment, I reported this to Beria. After which, on his instructions, he either drove for her himself or sent his car, having previously agreed on a meeting.
In the same way, Beria made acquaintances while traveling through the streets in a car. As a rule, he drove through the streets very quietly and always looked at the women passing by. If Beria noticed any woman who told him
I liked him and paid attention to him, he gave me instructions to establish a connection. I, along with some employee, got out of the car, followed her and also either tried to talk with her, or simply kept track of where she lived, and then found out her name, surname and other information.
In a number of cases, Beria met women through letters and telegrams that were sent to him with various requests. civilian population or congratulations. Receiving such letters, Beria often instructed me or Nadaraya to identify the female authors of interest to him using the addresses on the envelopes. We visited such women, and if they turned out to be attractive in appearance, we reported
about this Beria, made acquaintance with them on his instructions and then, depending on the agreement, brought them to Beria’s apartment or to the dacha.
Women were brought to Beria’s apartment, as a rule, overnight.”

Is Sarkisov's testimony correct?

ANSWER: Largely true.

QUESTION: On your instructions, Sarkisov and Nadaraya kept lists of your mistresses. Do you confirm this?

ANSWER: I confirm.

QUESTION: You are presented with nine lists in which 62 women appear. Are these lists of your roommates?

ANSWER: Most of the women who appear on these lists are my cohabitants with whom I had short-term relationships. These lists have been compiled over a number of years.

QUESTION: In addition, Nadarai kept thirty-two notes with the addresses of women. They are presented to you. Are these also your roommates?

ANSWER: There are also my cohabitants here, but very few.

QUESTION: Do you admit that you systematically forced your cohabitants to have abortions?

ANSWER: I know of only two cases in which I forced abortions. I don’t remember the names of these women.

QUESTION: Are you aware that the law establishes criminal liability for forced abortion?

ANSWER: It is known that I am to blame for this.

QUESTION: You are telling a lie here that there were only two cases of forced abortion. I expose you with Nadarai’s testimony on this issue:

“One girl, Olya, as I learned from Sarkisov, was given an abortion on Beria’s orders. Sarkisov was looking for a doctor. Actually, they performed a lot of abortions, Sarkisov was involved in this matter.”

Sarkisov shows the same thing. This is right?

ANSWER: I remember about Olya. I don’t know about many cases, but I don’t deny that maybe there were.

QUESTION: In particular, Katushenok, who was subsequently convicted of having sex with foreigners, during the period of acquaintance with you, were you forced to have an abortion?

ANSWER: I didn’t force her to have an abortion, she herself asked to have an abortion, and I instructed Sarkisov to help her.

QUESTION: Now I read out to you Sarkisov’s testimony that you turned him and Nadarai into pimps:

“On Beria’s instructions, I was engaged in pimping, that is, I looked for girls and women for him with whom he cohabited. Beria had a lot of such women, and I kept a special list where I indicated the names of the women, their phone numbers and other information of interest to Beria. Besides me, my deputy Nadaraya was also involved in pimping. He, like me, on Beria’s instructions, looked for women for him and had a list.”

Do you admit that you have turned your home into a den of debauchery, and your personal guards into pimps?

ANSWER: I did not turn the house into a den of debauchery, but that I used Sarkisov and Nadaraya for pimping is a fact.

QUESTION: Did you use only Sarkisov and Nadaraya for pimping or other persons from the security?

ANSWER: It is possible that he also used other security personnel for pimping.

QUESTION: In addition, did you recruit new mistresses through your cohabitants?

ANSWER: Maybe someone introduced them to other women, but did not specifically recruit them.

QUESTION: Nadaraya’s testimony is read to you:

“Some of the women listed on the list, such as Subbotina Dina, Maksimova Rita, at his request, Beria, themselves looked for women for him.”

Do you admit it?

ANSWER: To a large extent, this testimony is correct.

QUESTION: Do you admit that you have sunk morally to the point of cohabiting with women convicted of treasonous anti-Soviet activities?

ANSWER: It is possible, but I categorically deny the fact that during the period of communication with them I knew about their anti-Soviet treasonous activities.

QUESTION: Have you ever had syphilis?

ANSWER: I suffered from syphilis during the war, I think in 1943, and underwent a course of treatment.

QUESTION: Sarkisov’s testimony is being read to you:

“A year or a year and a half ago, Beria’s wife told me in a conversation that as a result of Beria’s connections with prostitutes, he suffered from syphilis.”

Is this correct?

ANSWER: I don't deny this. Sarkisov himself knows that I was treated for syphilis.

QUESTION: So far we have been talking about your numerous unscrupulous connections. Now give a truthful answer. Have you raped women?

ANSWER: No, I have never raped anyone.

QUESTION: You are lying, do you know Drozdova’s last name? Well known?

ANSWER: Yes, well known.

QUESTION: It has been established that you raped Drozdova at a time when she had not reached the age of majority. Do you admit that you are a rapist?

ANSWER: No, I don’t admit it.

“In 1949, I studied in the 7th grade of school No. 92 in Moscow. I was sixteen years old. That same year, on March 29, my grandmother suddenly died. Due to her death, my mother became seriously ill and was sent to the hospital on Sokolinaya Gora. I was left alone. We lived then on the street. Herzen, 52, apt. 20. Almost opposite our house there was a mansion where Beria lived, but I didn’t know it then.
Around May 6, 1949, I went to the store to buy bread. At this time, a car stopped, from which an old man in pince-nez and a hat got out. With him was a colonel in an MGB uniform. The old man stopped and began to examine me very carefully. I got scared and ran away, but noticed that some man in civilian clothes followed me and followed me home.
The next day, as a neighbor who came from Lvov to the Chashnikovs told me, an unknown man came to our apartment several times and asked me by name.
At about three o'clock in the afternoon, when I came home from school, this unknown man knocked on the apartment, who, as I later found out, turned out to be Zolotoshvili. He called me for a moment into the yard, where the colonel, who later turned out to be Sarkisov, was already there. The Pobeda car was waiting for him.
Sarkisov was aware of all our family affairs, he knew that my mother was in the hospital, that she was lying in the corridor, that she was in very serious condition, he said that we needed to go for the professor, help her and transfer her to a separate ward. He wanted to arrange all this. I believed him, returned home, closed the door and rode in the car with him. I could not help but believe him, since he told everything correctly about our family and about my mother, who was indeed in a very serious condition at that time. In this car, he immediately took me to the mansion, which, as I later found out, belonged to Beria.
There he told me that his friend would help me - very responsible worker, who helps everyone, who learned about the difficult situation of our family and also decided to help us.
At about 5-6 pm, the old man who had seen me on the street the day before came into the room where I was sitting with Sarkisov. He greeted me very kindly and said that there was no need to cry, that my mother would be cured and everything would be fine. Then he invited me to have lunch with him and, despite my refusals, they still sat me down at the table. He was very kind and treated me to wine, but I didn’t drink. Sarkisov was also present at dinner. Then Beria invited me to go look at the rooms, but I refused and asked to go to the professor as soon as possible to bring him to my mother.
Then Beria grabbed me, despite the fact that Sarkisov was in the room, and dragged me into the bedroom. Despite my screams and resistance, Beria raped me. No one came to his bedroom when I screamed. Then they didn’t let me leave the house for three days. I had a very serious condition, and I cried all the time. Beria told me: “Just think, nothing happened, otherwise it would have gone to some brat who wouldn’t have appreciated it.”
Before letting me out of the house and before that, Beria and Sarkisov told me not to say a word about this to anyone, since both I and my mother would die. He forbade even his mother to speak, otherwise she would die. I saw that it was very big man, since the whole situation, the guards around him and in the yard were talking about it. In addition, Sarkisov, who did not tell me that it was Beria, hinted that he was a very big man who could do anything to me and my mother if I told about what happened.
I returned home, but at first I didn’t say anything to any of the neighbors. I got sick too and didn’t even go to school.
A few days later, Sarkisov came to me and, at gunpoint, and also under threats that they would exile my mother and me, he brought me back to the mansion.
That's when I found out that Beria raped me, since I saw inscriptions on the gifts addressed to him (on the lamp).
This time Beria only persuaded me and demanded that I remain silent, otherwise he would say: “I will immediately wipe it off the face of the earth.”
When my mother returned from the hospital, I told her everything, and Sarkisov came to pick her up by car at the hospital.
As soon as I told her everything and my mother said that we would write to Comrade Stalin, Sarkisov came and immediately ordered my mother and me to go to Beria, saying that he was calling us. At first my mother doubted that Beria could commit such a crime against me. When she met him and became convinced that Beria had raped me, she became so nervous that she slapped him in the face. Beria immediately told both me and my mother that if anyone knows about all this, then you will not live. To his mother’s words that it was impossible that Comrade Stalin would not pay attention to this, Beria replied, “that all the statements will still come to me.”
They didn't bother me for a while. We were afraid to write about what happened anywhere. Then Sarkisov began to come for me, but we hid, turned out the lights, locked ourselves in, and yet, at gunpoint, Sarkisov forced me to come to Beria, with whom I had to live.
In 1950, I became pregnant from him. Beria demanded that I have an abortion. Sarkisov demanded this from my mother, but she slapped him in the face. He gave money for an abortion, but I didn’t have an abortion, and my mother said that if they forced me to do it by force, she would write to Comrade Stalin, go out into the street and scream - then let them do what they want with her.
Afterwards, Beria demanded that I send the child somewhere to the village to be raised, but I refused.
By committing violence against me, Beria crippled my whole life.”

Were you the old man in the pince-nez?

ANSWER: Yes, it was me.

QUESTION: Do you admit that you raped the minor Drozdova?

ANSWER: No, I don’t admit it. I had the best relationship with Drozdova. At the moment when she was brought to me for the first time, I cannot say whether she had reached adulthood or not, but I knew that she was a student

7th grade, but she was absent from school for one or two years.

What she describes in her testimony, how she was brought to me, how Sarkisov persuaded her - I don’t know this, but I admit that she is telling the truth. I don’t remember whether there was a conversation about how I would provide assistance in treating her mother, but I admit that this could have been discussed, but Valentina Drozdova did not cry.
QUESTION: An extract from the testimony of Valentina Drozdova’s mother is being read to you - Akopyan

“On the issue of the atrocity that was committed by Beria and my daughter Valentina Drozdova, I can show the following:
...Upon arrival from the hospital, it seems on the second or third day, my daughter told me about the monstrous crime that Beria committed against her.
She said that on May 6, 1949, she went to buy bread in the afternoon when she returned from school. She walked past Beria's mansion. At this time, a car stopped, a colonel and an old man in pince-nez got out. The old man pointed it out to the colonel and began to examine it carefully. The daughter said that she felt somehow uneasy, she got scared and quickly went home. She noticed that a man in civilian clothes was also following her.
The next day, when she came home, her neighbors told her that someone had asked her. Indeed, soon an unknown person came and called her. Sarkisov was waiting for her somewhere (both she and I found out his last name later), who deceived her, saying that I felt bad, he could help her and me, that we should invite a professor, etc. In general, he deceived took her to Beria's mansion.
As my daughter told me, Sarkisov began to tell her that he had a great man - a comrade who helps everyone, both the sick and children, whom he loves very much, etc. He said that we must wait for this comrade, he will arrive soon. Soon the same old man in pince-nez arrived, whom she had seen on the street the day before. He was aware of all our family affairs, consoled my daughter, who was crying, and said that he would help and cure me.
Then he sat her down for dinner and wanted to give her wine, but she didn’t drink. Sarkisov was also having lunch at the table. My daughter was only 16 years old at the time; she studied at
7th grade 92 schools. She studied very well, had excellent behavior, and was a good social activist.
After dinner, he wanted to show his daughter the rooms first, and when she refused, he grabbed her and, dragging her into the bedroom, raped her. She screamed, but to no avail. Sarkisov was present when Beria grabbed and dragged my daughter into the bedroom.
After that, as my daughter told me, they kept her in the mansion for three days, not letting her go outside. It says that she was in a terrible state and was crying all the time. Beria told her that nothing special had happened, but it would have gone to some brat who didn’t understand anything. He and Sarkisov threatened her in every possible way so that she would remain silent and not tell anyone about this, otherwise it would be bad for both me and her, that we would be destroyed.
When my daughter told me about this, at first I did not believe that Beria could have committed such vileness. I thought that one of his subordinates did this, but my daughter said that he did this violence.
I went with Sarkisov and my daughter by car. We were met at the mansion by Beria, who introduced himself. He said don’t worry, everything will be fine, and began to invite us to the table, which was set with food and wine. I refused and told him: “So this means you raped my daughter?” Then he turned to his daughter and said: “What happened, Lyalya? (that was my daughter's name). I told you that you shouldn’t upset your mother, you obviously don’t love her?” He said this in a seemingly gentle tone, but his eyes sparkled with anger. The daughter was crying at this time. Then he began to tell me that he loved her, and that he could not control himself. When I asked him: “Well, did you invite me to say that you will marry her?” He replied that although he was formally married, he had not lived with his wife since 1935, but that he could not marry, because he had many envious people, and this marriage could compromise him. Of course, I had no idea of giving her up even in this situation for him - a rapist, an old lecherous man, but I wanted to fully find out his intentions. Then, when I began to shout at him, he told me not to forget myself and remember who and where I was talking to. Then I, unable to restrain myself, began to scold him in every possible way and hit him on the cheek. He turned pale, jumped up furiously and began shouting something to me, breathless. I then shouted to him: “Kill us both, here, in your mansion, and let two corpses be taken away from you, this will be the best thing you can do for us now.”
Then he sat down and began to repent, saying that you are right, I feel like a villain, a criminal, etc. At this time I began to have a heart attack. When he passed, my daughter and I went out. When we were leaving, Beria told us not to tell anyone about what had happened, that he would talk to us again, otherwise it would be very bad for us.
During our conversation in the apartment, Beria also threatened to destroy us if we told anyone about what had happened.
I wrote Beria a letter, where I scolded him in every possible way and wrote that I would write about everything to Comrade Stalin. That night, Beria Sarkisov called me to see me. Beria began to tell me that I was acting recklessly, that I shouldn’t further traumatize my daughter, since this had happened, and that I would then completely destroy her. He suggested that I better think about the fate of my daughter, since, firstly, this letter of mine will not reach Stalin, because it will get to Poskrebyshev, and he will immediately give it to him and say that some crazy woman is writing. Then you will either be expelled or imprisoned, or maybe even shot for insult.
He said that no matter where I wrote, he would have all the statements.
So my daughter turned into a slave-concubine of his harem, for, as far as I know, he had many women...”

Do you admit to committing violence against Valentina Drozdova?

ANSWER: This is absolutely not true. I want to add that this is all made up by Drozdova’s mother.

QUESTION: The resolution dated 14.VII is read to you. 1953 about the additional charge that in May 1949 he fraudulently lured a minor 7th grade student Valentina Drozdova to his mansion, taking advantage of her difficult moral state in connection with the death of her grandmother and the serious illness of her mother, as well as her helplessness, and raped her her, that is, in the crime provided for by the 2nd part of the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of January 4, 1949 “On strengthening criminal liability for rape.”

Do you plead guilty?
ANSWER: No, I don’t admit it. Everything about rape is far-fetched. My relationship with Drozdova was so good that I thought about marrying her.

QUESTION: Explain why you found yourself in your office in the Kremlin a large number of women's foreign lingerie. Who delivered it to you?

ANSWER: Not only women’s underwear was stored there, but also material for men's suit and things for the child. Kobulov delivered these things to me from Germany once or twice for a fee. I kept women's clothes for the purpose of giving birthday gifts. I gave only to the Drozdovs, my wife and sister.

QUESTION: Now let's move on to other circumstances that characterize your moral decline. Tell me, before the credit reform was carried out in 1947, were you aware of it?

ANSWER: I knew.

QUESTION: Do you admit that, having used this knowledge for criminal mercenary purposes, you gave the order to Ludvigov to place your money in the amount of 40 thousand rubles in the savings bank in order to avoid revaluation?

ANSWER: Since Ludvigov says, he probably did.

QUESTION: Ludvigov’s testimony on this issue is read to you:

“On December 13, 1947, on the instructions of Beria, I handed over his money in the amount of approximately 40 thousand rubles to the savings bank (more precisely: after the reform, there were 30 thousand rubles left). I put this money in a savings book in my name, which Beria reported...”

Do you admit it?

ANSWER: Since Ludvigov says that I gave instructions, I do not deny this, but he put the money in his name or in my name, I don’t know.

QUESTION: Do you consider these actions of yours to be criminal?

ANSWER: Absolutely.

QUESTION: An excerpt from the testimony of your close associate S. A. Goglidze is now being read to you, characterizing your moral character:

“I have the opinion that Beria is a man of a despotic character, power-hungry, and does not tolerate any criticism of himself. He created an aura of infallibility around himself. He played the role of the leader of the Georgian people. He brought sycophants, people-pleasers, and even dubious people closer to him. Among such persons, in particular, was the deputy chief of the border troops of the Transcaucasian district, Shirokov, whom he took with him on business trips so that Shirokov would entertain him with jokes and tricks. In his relations with Soviet and party workers, Beria was impudent. At meetings and deliberations, he could be called a fool, stupid, etc. In everyday life during this period, Beria was also dissolute and had numerous intimate relationships with women. In particular, he maintained an intimate relationship with his personal secretary Var before Maksimelashvili...
Beria's low moral level was evidenced by his numerous relationships with women (Maximelashvili, Toidze, Belabeletskaya and others). Beria's non-Soviet attitude towards people was expressed in the fact that he shamelessly scolded those around him, mocked employees, and was wasteful of public funds...
All these facts inspired me with personal antipathy towards Beria...”

Does Goglidze characterize you correctly?

ANSWER: He is very biased in his characterization.

QUESTION: Do you admit that all the facts stated above characterize you as morally corrupt, anti-Soviet not only in your political convictions, but also in your entire moral character as a person?

ANSWER: My most serious crime is relationships with women, but I declare that I have not been to any companies, orgies, or other houses. And he had no criminal connections with them.

QUESTION: Do you admit that all this was valuable to foreign intelligence services who showed interest in you?

ANSWER: Of course, foreign intelligence services pay attention to this side.

I read the protocol, everything written down from my words is correct. Beria
The interrogation ended on July 15, 1953 at 1:50 am.
Interrogated by: Prosecutor General of the USSR R. Rudenko
He was present during the interrogation and kept a record of the protocol:
Investigator for the most important cases of the USSR Prosecutor's Office Tsaregradsky
Correct: [p.p.] Major of the administrative] service of Yuryev

Each city is gradually overgrown with legends. Every ancient street, every house keeps its secret, some are lost, some, on the contrary, become loud legends. Like, for example, the history of this Moscow mansion.

As Anton Antonov-Ovseenko narrates in his book about L. Beria, a stone crusher was found in the basement of the mansion, with the help of which, apparently, the remains of murdered women were crushed before they were lowered into the sewer.
According to other sources, a small crematorium was equipped in the courtyard of the estate, in which the bodies of victims of the sexist executioner were burned. In any case, the arrest report of L. Beria contains an inventory of women's blouses, stockings, slips, tights, scarves, and scarves seized during a search in his mansion. The “Collector,” apparently, did not deny himself the pleasure of leaving something as a souvenir of his charming captives.
The children's sizes of some items confirm rumors that teenage girls were often the prey of the voluptuous marshal. Colonel Rafael Sarkisov supplied sex slaves to his boss. He usually went to negotiate with a lady Lavrenty Pavlovich liked, politely but persistently asked for a phone number and delivered the guest to the mansion at night.
Beria brutally raped some, treated others and entertained them with conversation - it all depended on the mood and the time available. It did not bother him if the woman was married, because he knew that there was no knight in the country who would dare to defend the honor of his wife if such a gentleman liked her.

As Colonel Sarkisov, the head of the security of the chief of the NKVD of the USSR, later showed during interrogation at the Prosecutor General’s Office, Sofia Shchirova was on the list of women brought to the mansion under number 117 (in total, the hunter’s “trophies” were numbered at more than 200, according to other sources - 760, however, Beria’s wife Nina Teymurazovna assured that all these women were intelligence officers - agents and informants).
In 1953, immediately after Stalin's death, Shchirov was released. Fearfully looking around, the hunched, toothless 37-year-old man found his beloved - Sofia, who had already married someone else, disgustedly slammed the door in front of her ex-husband. The ace pilot drank himself to death within three years.

There were legends about the love affairs of Lavrentiy Beria, although for more than 30 years his only wife remained Nino Gegechkori, a woman who had to endure many trials. Until her last days, she refused to believe the terrifying facts that were told about her husband. How much of this is part of the legend, and what really happened in their family?

Nino Gegechkori, Beria's wife

Nino Gegechkori met her future husband when she was only 16 years old and he was 22. Then he proposed to her. Later there were rumors that the girl was married off without her consent, but Nino herself said: “Without saying a word to anyone, I married Lavrenty. And immediately after that, rumors spread throughout the city that Lavrenty had kidnapped me. No, there was nothing like that. I married him at will" Beria himself at that time was interested in getting married, since he had to go to Belgium to study issues of oil refining, and to travel abroad it was necessary to become a married man.

Nino Beria until her last days tried to debunk the myth about her husband

While Beria was in power, Nino managed to avoid the fate of other wives of party leaders - she was not repressed, like the wives of Kalinin, Poskrebyshev and Molotov. However, after Beria’s arrest, she and their son Sergo spent more than a year in solitary confinement. During daily interrogations, she was forced to testify against her husband. But she either really did not know about his crimes, or pretended that she did not know - however, she refused to testify against her husband.

Lavrenty Beria and his wife Nino Gegechkori

The accusations brought against her sounded absurd. “They accused me absolutely seriously of bringing one bucket of red soil from the Non-Black Earth Zone of Russia. The fact is that I worked at the Agricultural Academy and was engaged in soil research. Indeed, once, at my request, they brought a bucket of red soil by plane. But since the plane was state-owned, it turned out that I used state transport for personal purposes,” said Nino.

Beria and Stalin

After 16 months of imprisonment, Beria’s wife was deported to Sverdlovsk, and after the expiration of the exile, she received permission to live in any city except Moscow. Nino and Sergo settled in Kyiv. Those who knew her personally said that she was a very kind and intelligent woman, in addition, she was called one of the most beautiful Kremlin wives. In 1990, Nino gave an interview in which she stated: “I have never interfered in my husband’s official affairs. The leaders of that time did not let their wives know about their affairs, so I can’t say anything about it. The fact that he was accused of treason is, of course, demagoguery - he had to be accused of something. In '53 there was a coup. They were afraid that after Stalin's death Beria might take his place. I knew my husband: he was a man of practical intelligence and understood that after Stalin’s death it was impossible for a Georgian to become head of state. Therefore, he probably went to meet the person he needed, such as Malenkov.”

Beria with his wife, son Sergo and daughter-in-law Marfa

Until her death in 1991, Nino denied her husband’s guilt – both with regard to his political activities and his love affairs. In one of her last interviews, she characterized Beria as a quiet and calm person, a wonderful family man, a loving husband and father. Nino was sure that he was killed without trial on trumped-up charges. She refused to believe stories about thousands of women raped and tortured by her husband, calling them counterintelligence tales. Allegedly, Khrushchev actually simply benefited from denigrating his most dangerous competitor.

Lavrenty Beria and his wife Nino Gegechkori

In response to the evidence presented, Nino said: “One day the warden told me that 760 women admitted that they were Beria’s mistresses. An amazing thing: Lavrenty was busy day and night with work, when he had to make love with a legion of these women?! In fact, everything was different. During the war and later, he headed intelligence and counterintelligence. These women were his employees, informants, and only had direct contact with him. And then, when they were asked about their relationship with the boss, naturally, everyone said that they were his mistresses! What were they supposed to do? Admit the charge of undercover and subversive work?!”

Malenkov and Beria

It is difficult to say whether the “legion” was an exaggeration, but many knew that Beria had a second unofficial wife. There is conflicting evidence about their relationship. It is known that at the time they met, Valentina Drozdova (or Lyalya, as he called her) was a schoolgirl, and that for a long time he actually lived with two families. After Beria's arrest, Valentina claimed that he forced her to cohabitate against her will. He himself gave different testimony: “I had the best relationship with Drozdova.”

Lavrenty Beria