Vereshchagin's prototype (White sun of the desert) turned out to be cooler than the movie hero

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

The grandson of Mikhail Pospelov, Evgeny Popov, talks about his famous grandfather.

The grandfather tried hard and broke the power measuring system, then he took the winnings and led the whole crowd to drink

The monument to customs officer Pavel Vereshchagin, the legendary hero of the film "White Sun of the Desert", stands at the headquarters of the Federal Customs Service in the capital's Fili, at the airport - near the building of the Domodedovo customs, near the building of the Kurgan, Lugansk, Amvrosievskaya customs …

A customs boat named after Pavel Vereshchagin is in service in the Far East. The colorful movie hero, who was superbly played by Pavel Luspekaev, became a symbol of honor and incorruptibility, and his phrase “I don’t take a bribe, I am offended for the state” - winged.

Grandfather had a checker over his bed with signs of the six imperial prizes

The film "White Sun of the Desert" has a difficult fate. Initially, Andrei Mikhalkov-Konchalovsky and Friedrich Gorenstein took on the script. But soon the director abandoned the idea, starting to shoot "The Noble Nest" based on Turgenev.

Screenwriters Valentin Yezhov and Rustam Ibragimbekov continued to work on the script for the national western. In the course of his work, Valentin Yezhov met with veterans - heroes of the Civil War. Many of their stories formed the basis of the script.

In particular, one of the cavalry brigade commanders who fought against the Basmachs in Turkmenistan told the screenwriter about the harem thrown by the bandit in the sands. Instead of pursuing the leader of the gang, he had to escort the "young ladies" to the nearest village. Yezhov also heard a story about the legendary head of the former tsarist customs.

But the role of the customs officer Pavel Vereshchagin was episodic for the scriptwriters. It was supplemented and developed by the director Vladimir Motyl, who undertook to shoot the picture.

“Go ashore. You will find a white house - the former royal customs. Find out who is there now, "says Sukhov in the film to the Red Army soldier Petrukha

The mighty and thorough customs officer Vereshchagin, ready to fight for the cause, which he considered right, became a favorite of the public.

Mikhail Pospelov was just as sedate and colorful, knowing the value of life and death. He was expelled from the real school "for freethinking". But he managed to enter the Tiflis military school, where he was a constant champion in wrestling and power sports. After graduation, he was appointed treasurer of the military garrison in Orel. But in a quiet, dusty job, he quickly got bored and three years later achieved a transfer to the 30th Trans-Caspian Border Guard Brigade, which guarded the border with Persia with a length of 1,743 miles.

In 1913, Mikhail Dmitrievich Pospelov, with the rank of staff captain, became the head of the Hermab border detachment. Pospelov arrived in the sands of Central Asia with his family - his wife and two daughters, Lena and Vera.

- His wife, my grandmother, Sofya Grigorievna, was the daughter of Major General of the General Staff of Russia Pokrovsky, very stately and slender, - says Evgeny Popov. - She perfectly kept in the saddle and knew how to shoot from all types of weapons.

Turkmen nomads saw how near the post of Germab, under the leadership of a blond blue-eyed giant, there were exercises in drill riding and vaulting. The soldiers learned to wield the blade, chopping the vine at full gallop.

- The grandfather himself had an excellent command of these frontier sciences. On the scabbard of his checkers were the signs of the six imperial prizes for excellent shooting and military awards, says Yevgeny Popov. - This saber he carefully kept until old age. She, like the most expensive relic, hung over his bed.

Pospelov with his wife Sofya Grigorievna, daughter of Major General of the General Staff of Russia Pokrovsky.

Pospelov often visited the adobe huts-barracks, where his subordinate soldiers and non-commissioned officers lived. The sergeant in charge of the detachment's economic affairs, when the chief appeared, pulled his head into his shoulders. Pospelov's fists were the size of a jar. He carefully watched that the sergeant-master provided the soldiers with good-quality provisions and the horses with fodder.

The border post, at the suggestion of Pospelov, turned into an oasis. Walnuts, apple trees, pears, cherries, dried apricots, cherry plums were planted near the barracks. Stone dams were made along the river bed, in which the border guards began to breed carp.

Once the commander of the border detachment bought suckling pigs from Molokans in the neighboring village of Kurkulab with his own money. And at the post they began to breed pigs. Later, they managed to recapture the stolen herd of cows from the Basmachi. All the livestock were handed over to the slaughterhouse on receipt, and one cow suddenly began to calve. They had to leave her. This is how a cow with offspring appeared on the farm of the Hermab border detachment.

“- Stop! Hands up! Whose house have you climbed into? Answer me! - asks Vereshchagin in the film from Petrukha

I do not know

Haven't you heard about Vereshchagin? Lived. There was a time, in these parts, every dog knew me. He held it like that! And now they have forgotten …"

The Russo-Persian border was considered hectic. Semi-savage bandit gangs, not fearing resistance, raided Turkmen settlements on Russian soil. Burning houses of nomads, they drove cattle over the cordon, took young women and girls for sale in their harems.

And more and more often, border guards headed by their red-haired commander Pospelov stood on the way of the bands of Basmachi who were preparing the next raid. Smugglers also constantly suffered losses because of the "red shaitan". It was in vain that caravans with expensive manufactures, silk, antiques, spices, skins, weapons, medicines and drugs tried to observe the necessary measures of conspiracy. Mikhail Dmitrievich had an extensive agent network. He maintained constant contact with local residents not only in Russia, but also in neighboring territories.

Pospelov knew the area perfectly. Having studied the psychology of the actions of the Yomuds and Kurds, he accurately determined their return route. On the way of the bandits' retreat, the border guards seemed to grow out of the ground …

It was ordered to smash the enemy within seven miles from the border. But the border guards often, in pursuit of the gangs, found themselves outside this zone. Moreover, the commander of the border detachment believed that it was useful for the soldiers to know what and where is on the adjacent side.

The rumor about the dexterous and merciless head of the Hermab frontier detachment, Captain Mikhail Pospelov, went not only in the district, but also beyond the cordon.

- Preparing for the next raid, the leaders of the Kurdish tribes tried to avoid the routes passing through the security zone of the Hermab border detachment. And when they prayed, they appealed to Allah to punish the “shaitan-boyar Pospel, the red devil,” who became the culprit in the death of many kurbashi,”says Evgeny Popov.

I knocked out an unprecedented weapon for myself - a bomb launcher

“Didn't you take a lot of goods? And that's all, go, no duty, "- says Vereshchagin in the film to Abdullah, nodding at the loaded launch

- On the maritime border, the border guard was obliged to inspect all ships and fishing boats: both landing on the shore and leaving at sea. And to detain them in case of smuggling, - says Evgeny Popov. - Also, border guards guarded ships and goods that they transported, which were thrown by the storm on the aground or ashore.

On Easter, the border guards received bonuses. The Easter fund was formed by deducting 50% of the smuggled goods sold, detained by border guards.

- The grandfather traditionally bought the best handmade Turkmen or Persian carpet with the monetary rewards received for the arrest of the smuggling.

“Yes, his grenades are of the wrong system,” says the White Guard Semyon, thrown out of the window by Vereshchagin

Soon, revolutionary events swept over Turkmenistan as well. Taking advantage of the chaos, the Basmachi began to attack more and more often the border Russian and Turkmen villages from behind the cordon.

“Then my grandfather went to Ashgabat and, as they say, knocked out a bomb-launcher, unprecedented for border guards at that time, from the military authorities,” says Yevgeny Popov. - It was a prototype of a mortar, a spherical bomb released from it flew 200-300 meters. It was difficult to get one bomb launcher, there were none at all in the neighboring border detachments. And my grandfather brought as many as two. He had the gift of persuasion. It was difficult to refuse him.

With the victory of the Soviet regime in Turkmenistan, the soldiers-border guards, yearning for the land, leaving their rifles, went home. Having changed the oath, almost all the officers of the 30th Trans-Caspian Brigade of the Border Guard fled. The barracks were empty. Captain Mikhail Pospelov remained true to his duty.

The German border guard detachment and its commander - Mikhail Dmitrievich Pospelov (center).

“I visited customs, there were smugglers. Now there is no customs - there are no smugglers. In general, I have peace with Abdullah. I don't care what is white, what is red, what Abdullah, what you are,”Vereshchagin says to Sukhov

Mikhail Pospelov was called to their service by the Social Revolutionaries when the provisional Transcaspian government was formed. In response, he poured curses on them for having invited the British occupation troops to Ashgabat. He refused to flee to Persia, as well as to go to the service of General Dutov. In the end, considering Pospelov an eccentric, they gave up on him.

- The grandfather repeated more than once to his wife, daughters and former colleagues: “I am a border guard. It's my job to guard the border. And I won't go anywhere from here,”says Evgeny Popov.

“Black Abdullah has completely gone berserk! He does not spare either his own or others,”the red commander Rakhimov says to Sukhov in the film

Meanwhile, the border remained open. Border guards stopped patrolling border trails and passes. The gangs of the kurbashi did not fail to take advantage of this.

In case of a raid by the Basmachi, Pospelov turned his house into a real fortress.

- Grandfather strengthened the shutters and doors, distributed weapons and ammunition to the rooms, put a bomb launcher at the door. I put anti-grenade nets on the windows, - says Evgeny Pospelov. - Once again I checked how my grandmother, Sofya Grigorievna, shoots from a rifle, revolver and machine gun, and also throws grenades.

"Petruha! - Vereshchagin turns to the Red Army man

I don't p-drink …

Right! I, too, will finish it now and give it up … Drink!"

During the period when Pospelov was left without personnel, there was no longer any customs or state, civil war was raging all around, he began to increasingly resort to moonshine. It was a shame for the state! Only a pot-bellied decanter with pervach, which was in the sideboard, could reconcile him with reality.

But the active nature of Mikhail Pospelov took up. Unable to see any longer how the Basmachis were rampaging, he decided to restore the border guards from local volunteer Turkmen. And soon, on the parade ground of the Hermab detachment, horsemen from nearby auls and villages were already learning to wield weapons. Pospelov was assisted by several sergeants who remained in the border detachment.

“Again you put this caviar for me! I can't, damn it, eat it every day. If only I could get some bread …”- says Vereshchagin to his wife Nastasya

“In fact, it was tight with bread during the civil war,” says Evgeny Popov. “The new frontier guards had to be fed, and the stocks of stored provisions were quickly running out. When the sergeant reported that there was only three days of bread left, the grandfather took off all nine of his carpets made by Teke and Persian craftswomen from the walls, packed them in chuvali and went with his armed detachment to the Persian trade center, located fifty miles from the Russian border. There he traded carpets for wheat. A camel caravan delivered sacks of a ton of wheat to Germab. Until the new harvest, the grandfather fed 50 Turkmen soldiers at his own expense.

By February 1920, the Trans-Caspian counter-revolution had been defeated. The Red Army detachment, which set out from Ashgabat in the direction of Hermab, was met by the head of the border detachment Pospelov with a bell ringing, as on Easter. The barracks shone with cleanliness, oiled weapons stood in the pyramids, and a camp kitchen with borscht was smoking on the parade ground.

Pospelov had an acceptance sheet prepared, which listed all the property of the detachment, up to the last horseshoe. But there was no need to hand it over to someone else. Mikhail Dmitrievich became the head of the already Soviet border detachment.

The old wolf of the desert

“Now, Fyodor Ivanovich, let's just come closer,” Vereshchagin says to Sukhov, having dealt with the smugglers. He shouts to him furiously:

Vereshchagin! Get off the launch! Don't start the car! Explode! Stop!"

In the film, the head of the former tsarist customs office, Pavel Artemyevich Vereshchagin, is killed.

Mikhail Pospelov had a happier fate. He was appointed head of the 1st district of the 35th frontier brigade of the Cheka, he had the 213rd frontier battalion under his supervision and the entire Soviet-Persian border under his supervision. Pospelov took part in the defeat of the Basmach bands, in particular the main forces of Enver Pasha and Ibrahim Bek's gang. In 1923 he became the head of the border training school in Ashgabat. Having received a promotion, he moved with his family to Tashkent.

"A good wife, a good home - what else does a person need to meet old age ?!" - says Abdulla Vereshchagin

These words can be attributed to the border guard Pospelov. Until the end of his days, his wife Sofia Grigorievna was with Mikhail Dmitrievich. They lived in the old part of Tashkent, in a solid three-storey house number 29 on Uritskogo Street.

Screenwriters Valentin Ershov, Rustam Ibragimbekov and director Vladimir Motyl could well have made a sequel to the film "White Sun of the Desert", referring to the further biography of Mikhail Pospelov.

Academicians Alexander Fersman and Dmitry Shcherbakov turned to the experienced border guard, who knew the local customs and customs well, and was well versed in the endless sands. Sulfur was needed to revive industry, agriculture and the country's defense. Sulfur monopolists - Sicilian industrialists - inflated prices exorbitantly. The USSR Academy of Sciences organized an expedition to the Karakum Desert to search for sulfur for its industrial development.

With daughter Lena.

During the pursuit of the Basmachs, Pospelov more than once came across lakes with hot hydrogen sulfide healing water. The scholars asked him to become the head of the caravan.

Mikhail Dmitrievich took part in two expeditions: in 1925 and 1926. He always wore a Turkmen hat. Scientists called him "the old wolf of the desert."

The adventures of the caravan before they found sulfur in the desert is a real thriller. In Black Sands, as the locals called the Karakum, at that time the Basmachi were still in charge. Scientists had a chance to collide with the gangs of Durda-Murda and Ahmed-bek. By secret paths they left the predatory tribes. They looked for fords and horse crossings across the Atrek, Sumbar and Murgab rivers. They fell into sandstorms, tornadoes overtook them in the desert … And often only Pospelov's great authority among the Turkmens helped the expedition avoid losses.

On a personal initiative, the border guard compiled accurate topographic maps of the Karakum desert, plotting caravan routes and camel trails on them, noting auls, wells and the quality of water in them.

- Mom told me that my grandfather often said: "The worse the better!" It was generally interesting for him to live, - says Evgeny Popov. - He was unmeasurable in strength. Unbending a horseshoe, tying a crowbar around his neck - it was just one thing for him to spit.

On holidays, he liked to come from his remote settlement to Chardzhou or Ashgabat. There, in the parks, during folk festivals, there were always attractions, including power meters. Grandfather, knowing how strong he was, loved to act out the whole show. I walked around the power meter until its owner said: "Well, servant, let me show you how strong you are." Grandfather honestly warned: "I will break your attraction!" This caused a backlash, the owner turned on: “Come on, try to break it. It will work out - I will give one hundred rubles."

A crowd gathered around them, onlookers placed bets. Grandfather tried hard and, of course, broke the power-measuring system. Then he took the winnings and led the whole crowd to drink in the nearest tavern.

Mom often recalled how on Easter, "taking it on his chest", grandfather went out into the street and shouted "Christ is risen!" kissed all the girls he met. Managing to mark the most beautiful and ruddy ones out of the corner of my eye.

Became a personal pensioner of the Uzbek SSR

During the war, when men of military age were taken to the front, Colonel of the Border Troops Mikhail Pospelov worked in the fire department of the Uzbek SSR, was awarded the medal "For Valiant Labor in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945".

Until his death, Mikhail Pospelov did not part with a military uniform and a border cap.

“Later I was asked more than once:“How did Mikhail Dmitrievich manage to avoid repressions? Still, a former white officer …”And my grandfather was engaged in professional activities all his life, guarding the border. He did not strive for power, did not participate in any conspiracies or political games, says Yevgeny Popov. - When I was visiting them, I remembered how my grandfather was cleaning silver. They did not live well with their grandmother. Gas masks were under his bed. He was quietly selling all this stuff, buying himself vodka.

The last time I saw my grandfather was in July 1962. I then studied at the Suvorov School, my mother took me out of the camps, and we went to Tashkent to visit my grandfather and grandmother. Grandfather did not get up then, he had a sarcoma of the leg. The malignant tumor made itself felt.

He lay there, no longer wanted to talk to anyone. When I approached him, he showed me three fingers. It was a traditional three-ruble gesture. That is how much a bottle of vodka cost in the store. Thus, my grandfather asked me to run for the "forty-degree". Grandmother, seeing this, made a fig out of grandfather's fingers.

What was the fate of his daughters, Elena and Vera?

- Aunt Vera has lived all her life next to her grandparents in Tashkent. She was a master of sports in bullet shooting. She kept a TOZ-8 rifle in her closet, from which one could periodically shoot from a window into the air. She was an architect by profession.

Mom recalled how, during the Tashkent earthquake in 1937, she left her 4-year-old son Edik and rushed headlong to the factory chimney, which had just finished being erected according to her project. Aunt Vera stood under this trumpet and prayed that she would not fall. And if she fell, she would crush her …

My mother, Elena Mikhailovna, worked in the NKVD, in the 4th department of the border troops in Tashkent as a senior stenographer. There I met my father, Leonid Konstantinovich Popov, who was the head of the operational department. Before the war, they had my older brother Valery. My father went to the front, took part in the battles near Moscow and in the Caucasus. Miraculously survived. In 1943, he took over the border guard detachment in the Far East, where my brother Oleg and I were born.

There, my mother organized a movement. The women of the border detachment began to sew mittens for the front soldiers. My father went to Chita, got out eight sewing machines. In several shifts, around the clock, replacing each other, they scribbled on typewriters. After the war, during the period of mass demobilization, at the age of 40, my mother mastered the profession of a driver, got a license. I managed to get a driver's course registered with the border detachment. And in two years she taught all the soldiers to drive.

Mikhail Pospelov never wanted to leave Central Asia for Russia?

- Almost his entire life has passed in Central Asia. He knew both Turkmen and Uzbek languages well. I talked a lot with local residents. He was a respected person. In the 50s, he was awarded the status of a personal pensioner of the Uzbek SSR.

When I walked through the streets of Tashkent in an old border cap, everyone who met him greeted him with respect. Until the last years of his life, he retained a military bearing. My grandfather died on August 10, 1962, when he was 78 years old. The painting "White Sun of the Desert", which has become a cult, was released 8 years later.

In Vereshchagin's film, there are photographs on the walls in the house where Pavel Artemyevich is captured in the uniform of an officer of pre-revolutionary times. In the pictures, he is surprisingly similar to the gallant border guard Mikhail Pospelov.

- There is no documentary evidence that the grandfather became the prototype of Vereshchagin. But my mother said that a group of filmmakers came to see Aunt Vera in Tashkent. She showed them documents and photographs. She kept a tin box of pre-revolutionary oriental sweets, which was filled to the brim with documents and photographs.

Now no one knows where the grave of the eminent border guard Mikhail Dmitrievich Pospelov is.

“It is only known that he was buried in the old Tashkent Christian cemetery on Botkin Street,” says Yevgeny Popov. - I managed to get in touch with a local resident Lilya. She lives in the same house where her grandfather and grandmother had an apartment. She wrote that she remembers them well.

Enthusiasts living in Tashkent are now trying to find the grave of Mikhail Pospelov. Customs officer Pavel Vereshchagin from "White Sun of the Desert", whose image is largely copied from the legendary border guard, has become a real folk hero. There should be an opportunity to bow to Mikhail Dmitrievich Pospelov himself.