How the janitors of the Russian Empire lived and worked

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Actually, the first communal services that monitored the cleanliness of city streets appeared in St. Petersburg at the beginning of the century before last - according to the tsarist decree, non-commissioned officers of the city guard had to monitor the cleaning of the “retreats” (latrines) and timely “remove manure from those who ran horses”.

He also had to appoint special workers who would sweep the streets in front of houses, and in winter, clean the pavement of snow and sprinkle the streets with sand. Later, the duties of the janitors were made to monitor the fire safety of street houses.

The simple life of St. Petersburg janitors ended in 1866, when, after the assassination of D. V. Karakozov on Alexander II, all house janitors turned into auxiliary police officers who watched the residents around the clock, were on duty at night and participated in power operations.

The Rules on reporting to the police about those arriving at the houses of the St. Petersburg capital and leaving them were approved, and the janitors were obliged to keep records of arriving and leaving citizens. In addition, it was ordered "strictest, so that the verification of these books and reports on the observed infidelities in them, as well as on the number of people arriving at and leaving the houses, should be done without fail and at the right time."

The arrival had to be reported within 24 hours. And in case of violation - for "open unregistered" the home owner or manager was threatened with a huge fine - five rubles for each person per day.

To register visitors, an address expedition was established, and everyone who was in the capital had to “register” there: the janitor received his passport or other document from a Russian or foreigner who arrived at the house, showed it in the quarter and took it to the expedition, where he exchanged it for an address ticket residence permit. The passport remained on the expedition. In this case, it was necessary to pay a special address fee - from 1 to 25 rubles per year. All citizens were divided into five categories. Housekeepers, for example, belonged to the first category and paid 25 rubles a year, and janitors - to the fourth category, and the address fee for them was five rubles. For a neat and quick exchange of a passport for a ticket, the janitor received a tip from the newly minted Petersburgers.

A little later, the janitors were ordered to immediately notify the police not only about all emergencies, but also about “suspicious gatherings in houses”.

The new instruction stated: “Special care of the owners of real estate (or responsible managers) is entrusted with proper supervision so that intruders cannot start secret printing houses in houses and other premises, keep explosives, weapons and warehouses of anti-government publications, as well as arrange devices for the commission of crimes with a political purpose”.

Wipers got a uniform

After another attempt on the king's life on April 2, 1879, martial law was introduced in St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kharkov, Kiev and other provinces. And the Moscow Governor-General Prince VA Dolgorukov on April 5, 1879 ordered: “There should be a janitor in every house in Moscow … The janitors on duty and night watchmen are obliged… to observe that there are no adhered ads, posters, etc., without presentation of the proper permission for that; observe that no notices, posters or anonymous letters, and objects that could cause harm were scattered on the pavements, boulevards and sidewalks."

The instructions, approved by the Moscow governor-general for janitors and watchmen, said: “The house janitor and night watchman, according to the queue that has reached him, is obliged to go on street watch at the hour and place appointed for him by the police, without waiting for a reminder; on duty, be sober and in good order and under no pretext do not leave duty until the shift arrives."

Janitor's Chest Badge

But at the same time, the janitors became more and more auxiliary police. In the same year, they were given metal badges and ordered not to allow chimney sweeps, floor polishers and plumbers without badges into the house, to detain them and bring them to the police.

The janitors were given “whistles on a cord” and taught a professional whistle: in order to call for help, one had to blow two short whistles; when it is necessary to report the fleeing person - to blow a continuous long whistle.

Strict requirements for clothing were put forward: “Duty janitors in winter must be dressed in a dress (sheepskin coat or sheepskin coat), which, while protecting them from the cold, at the same time would not impede movement; The collars of winter clothes should be raised by the wipers so that it does not prevent them from having vigilant supervision over everything that happens around them.” Gone are the famous huge - from the top to the ground - janitorial sheepskin coats.

Janitors of the capital of the Russian Empire

But, having acquired badges, whistles, feeling their need for the police, many janitors “deteriorated” - they lost piety and reverence for the townspeople.

In 1901, the St. Petersburg mayor was forced to issue an order:

“The janitors, who are essentially the duties entrusted to them as the closest guardians of the peace of the inhabitants in their homes, are themselves often violators of public peace and order both in houses and outside the houses. The complaints that come to me about the rough treatment and arbitrariness of the janitors prove that the instructions I have repeatedly given about the need for educational influence on the janitors by the local officials of the capital's police are not carried out by the latter with sufficient constancy and perseverance.

V. G. Perov "Janitor giving an apartment to a lady"

The St. Petersburg mayor wrote: “Reminding that the special conditions of service of the janitors in the capital require them to have impeccable morality and the ability to calmly, restrained and courteously behave in relations with the townspeople … bailiffs: 1) strictly monitor the behavior of the janitors, at every opportunity, instilling in them the rules of a calm and precautionary attitude towards the inhabitants, all without distinction, 2) enter into intercourse with homeowners about the removal from service of those janitors who do not understand the essence of the servants assigned to them and guard duties and do not meet the requirements imposed on them to protect the peace of the townsfolk and the integrity of their property”.

After the revolution, practically nothing has changed in the work of janitors. The instructions published in 1922 to the Moscow janitors said:

“Immediately report all violations to the police, providing the latter with possible assistance in supervising public order, and if it is necessary to send someone to the police station, personally deliver them to their destination; carry night shifts and know phone numbers. fireman units and departments of militia. When entering on duty, the janitor is supplied with a whistle, a sign with the inscription "janitor" and for winter time - a sheepskin coat”.

Even after the beginning of the Khrushchev thaw, the position of the janitors did not change. In 1957, when the trade union of workers in the communal services advocated the prohibition of night shifts of janitors, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of the USSR S. A. Pervukhin the question of releasing some categories of Moscow city janitors from night duty, the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs reports that it is deprived of the opportunity to satisfy the request, since the attraction of janitors to night duty is provided for by the Regulations on janitors approved by Resolution of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR of April 17, 1943 N 410.

The only concession to the Ministry of Internal Affairs was that the janitors were relieved of their duty at the end of their duty to personally report this to the police station. Also, the police lost the right to demand the obligatory participation of janitors in the detention of criminals and other activities, and permission for their assistance had to be requested from the housing and communal services. Soon, the law enforcement service of the janitors ended, which lasted for almost a century.