The Velizh Affair by Eugene M. Avrutin
Author:Eugene M. Avrutin [Avrutin, Eugene M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-08-21T14:59:12+00:00
6
The Inv•
estigation Widens
in the summer Of 1827, the investigation took on a bureaucratic life of
its own. The work was long and exhausting. Most days started promptly
at seven o’clock in the morning and continued until nine o’clock in the
evening, with a three- hour break in the afternoon.1 Shortly after the
inquisitorial commission was given approval to forge ahead, Strakhov
ordered a new round of arrests and pleaded for additional reinforce-
ments. On July 6, 1827, three high- ranking military officers, eleven non-
commissioned officers, three musicians, and seventy- five soldiers arrived
to help.2 By the fall of 1827, Strakhov sealed shut five synagogues, and
ordered a mass of privates and noncommissioned officers to guard the
perimeter of the only synagogue that remained open.3
Strakhov and his team of inquisitors worked diligently to come up
with a complete list of names involved in the murder case. Time and
time again they brought Jews for confrontations with their accusers,
rendering pain at will and exploiting the psychological weaknesses of the
prisoners as they saw fit. But the longer the investigation dragged on, the harder it was to establish a seamless narrative of what really happened. As with mass witch- hunts, there were always pieces of the story left unfinished, contradictions and unanswered questions in the testimonies, and
the specter of additional details or names of accomplices.4 At some point
in the summer of 1827, Strakhov became increasingly convinced that
117
18
118
the Velizh affair
Fedor’s murder was part of a wider conspiracy not yet uncovered. The
operation of secret, mysterious, and unseen powers has played a fun-
damental role in ordering human experience. Conspiratorial ideas— on
the articulation of political power, the spread of contagion, and the
control of the world’s money supply and banking— have had broad
appeal all around the world. With great interest and apprehension,
authorities in different times and places consumed reports of new
threats lurking in the social fabric. For the judicial powers at hand, the
evil intrigues operate on a grand scale, even though the fantasies reveal
themselves in particular sites, such as, in our case, the sleepy border
town of Velizh, where a Jewish cabal threatened to condemn the entire
Jewish nation.5
On September 9, 1827, Governor- General Nikolai Nikolaevich
Khovanskii departed to St. Petersburg to appear before a committee of
senators. Although appointed by the emperor, the governor- general was
a delegate of the central government, required by law to be in constant
contact with the imperial capital.6 As any highly ambitious official who
wanted nothing more than to climb the administrative ladder, Strakhov
was well aware of the governor- general’s responsibilities. If the Senate
were to fine or castigate Khovanskii for a dereliction of duty, Strakhov’s
own future would surely be on the line. Given these high stakes, the
inspector- councilor spent several long nights preparing an exhaustive
report, explaining in minute detail what the commission had accom-
plished and listing the complex reasons why it required more time to
complete the investigation.
To limit corruption, the Russian law code outlined the rules of the
inquisitorial process: how exactly the interrogation process was required
to proceed and how officials were expected to write, sign, assemble, and
store legal records. To ensure that administrative procedures were fol-
lowed correctly, the commission needed to inform the governor- general
of its progress.
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