The Velizh Affair by Eugene M. Avrutin

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

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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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