Konrad and Alexandra (PDF) - Rolf Gross

Jordania to distance himself from Lenin’s Bolsheviks was their local leader, the ruthless, criminal, co-Mingrelian Soso"Stalin" Djugashvili.Stalin had, a year earlier, masterminded a gangster-style bank robbery in Tiflis to support his subversive operations inGeorgia. He was Lenin’s Georgian henchman. This association and the robbery cost the Bolsheviks whatever appealthey had among the small Georgia peasants who filled the ranks of the Georgian Socialist Party.The time was ripe to clean out the Georgian Bolsheviks. After Stolypin’s accession in St. Petersburg Vorontsev beganwith Jordania’s active help a sweeping roundup of Stalin’s followers in Georgia. Stalin and his close guard wentunderground in the British-owned oil-fields of Baku.The traditional political influence of the Georgian landowners was waning. The laws of 1848 that had abolished serfdomin Russia and redistributed the possessions of the lower Russian nobility had so far not been enforced in Georgia. Timewas running out fast.Ilia Chavchavadze had stood for a seat in the new Duma. In his campaign he fought tooth and nail against both Jordaniaand Vorontsev. As a result, the viceroy simply ordered him to the Crimea until after the elections.Deda entreated Alexandra to come to Tiflis: foolish Uncle Ilia was in real danger. This time he found himself threatenedfrom two sides. The Okhrana had been bad enough, but the Socialists, who were inimical to the landowners and tired ofIlia’s old-fashioned paternalistic nationalism, were dangerous criminals.Her letter ended with the ominous exclamation. "Can you imagine? Ilia is swearing to secretly slip back into the countryduring the elections. We are all very worried about him."Alexandra, as much as she wanted to see her family again and sympathized with Ilia’s problems, was against a visit toGeorgia. She argued that once she had opened a medical practice she would be needed in St. Petersburg for at least ayear. Behind this argument hid the fact—a surprise for Konrad—that Alexandra had adopted St. Petersburg. She lovedthe excitement of the life in the cosmopolitan city. To her Tiflis now appeared a dead, provincial backwater. She feared toonce again lose her hard-earned personal freedom.She would not readily admit that, but Konrad sensed it. For him Georgia had lost none of its exotic appeal, andprofessionally Tiflis promised a comfortable, unpressured life. He very much wanted to visit Georgia and renew hisconnections with the people who worked for a Georgian University. But above all else, he dreamt of an expedition toSvaneti.The tug of war between them went back and forth for a while. Konrad reminded Alexandra that Uncle Mouravi and herfather were getting old. God only knew how long they would live.A telegram from Aunt Sophia drove home Konrad’s point: Uncle Mouravi had suddenly died of a stroke. He left hisembattled estate to his oldest son—and his vintage Benz to Alexandra.Alexandra mourned the beloved, overbearing old gentleman. She would no longer be able to surprise him by appearingat the wheel of a car at his house. To bequeath her the old Benz! What a charming compliment to his niece.Alexandra agreed to spend the summer of 1907 in Tbilisi and to go to Svaneti in September, unless she found a partnerfor her cooperative practice before that time.These still vague plans were eventually firmed up by Niko. Niko wrote that he had finally gotten the courage to askClaudia to marry him, and she had agreed. He had finished his doctorate and they were planning to come to Tiflis inAugust to celebrate the Georgian half of their wedding, which would not be as big as Alexandra’s. Would they both cometo Tiflis for the occasion? He had little hope of luring them to their civil ceremony in Munich in June. Claudia’s parentswould come to Tiflis too.They would, of course, be there. Konrad smiled. "Now that Niko is coming to Tiflis, I am sure that no partner for yourmedical practice will materialize.""Oh," wrote Niko as a p.s., "I almost forgot—greetings from Katharina! They had a boy whom they named Ingo. Sheasked me to tell you that he has dark hair and brown eyes, and everyone was blissfully happy."Alexandra looked at Konrad. "Do you realize that had he been blond I would have considered you to be his father?"Konrad frowned. "You mean that Katharina could have conceived this child during that one night? I did not sleep with heragain after that, as you know."She smiled at him and told him of Katharina’s desperate appeal for her advice in the beer garden after their nighttogether. Konrad was taken aback, this possibility had not occurred to him."Why did you not tell me?"She quietly took him into her arms.Alexandra wrote Niko of their coming. It would be the first family reunion since her wedding, and would he inviteVladimir? Since their return to St. Petersburg Vladimir had become a close and dear friend.During a Christmas party at the German embassy, to which Herr von der Schulenburg had invited them, Alexandra mether future medical partner. Helene von Üxküll was a tall, gaunt, quiet, no-nonsense woman, the daughter of a Balticnobleman with an estate just east of the German border. They had liked each other at first sight. Yelena, as she wascalled in Russian, was specializing in internal medicine, a perfect match. A year younger than Alexandra, she had onemore year of clinical work to do, which suited Alexandra perfectly.134