Nick Cherniavsky Memoir - University of Illinois Springfield

Nick Qlemiavsky 94
episodes and instances and incidents of this nature. There is a rather
sizeable amxxnt of literature on the kidnapping and disappearance of tm
Russian generals in France; General Kutepoff and General Wangel in Paris
because of this underground type of political activities on both sides.
bhite Russian groups had been involved in underctwer activities in Russia
on a rather limited scale and quite unsuccessfully. But for a number of
years follming 1921 and through the 1920s and 19308 the Red Russian
govemrmt reciprocated by infiltrating the Wte Russian organizatims
with its own agents and in m y cases, =re very successful. This happened
in fiance and as I have mentioned, definitely in &ha.
Q: How did this fact affect yow life? kre you conscious of it, =re
you careful of your fxiendshtps?
A: You mean following the revelations of this nature? Yes.
Q: Yau =re not aware of it up until this tine?
A: k11, most certainly I was -re of the events aich took place in
France. For instance, the kidnapping of General Kutepoff was front page
new in the media for many, manymths. %re ws a trial by the F'rench
govemt . Again the second in c d , General Scobeleff was involved.
He disappeared the same time and all the circumstantial but nevertheless
very strong evidence pointed out: his involvement in it as a secret agent
of Red Russian gwe-t. So things of this nature -re quite obviously
present. The revelation abuut the similar activity of the number tw man
in Timtsin of this Russian cdttee ms a shock to me at the time; the
fact that I hew his son extremely -11. It's impossible not to know a
person after you've spent almost a full year with him. J4e ms a very
likeable person, he was also one of the tm Tartar cadets as I mtioned
and very, very friendly and very sociable person. He was one of those
youngsters than I personally was friendly with and it ms pretty hard to
accept in the beginning that his father actually was an undercover agent
and an extrely success£ul one.
Q: Wen ere these undercover agents sent out from Russia? Did they cclme
out about the same tirtle yaur father or did they cam out later?
A: I d d say that this actually ms done in both mys. Also I think it
wdd be erroneous to assure that undercover agents are born, that a
person is an undercwer agent per se fran the very beginning. Solae are
being brought in by various mans. Some perhaps c a on ~ their om because
they can see certain Wits to themselves or because they-mll, that
d d be a -fit too but try other thought was-that they feel that they
could settle certain debts with people that thy disliked or hated by
spying on thern or by inforuring on them. So it's really hard to say exactly
hat this wrked out.
To give another ~ l for instance: e during the tine when w ere in
Shaqhai and my dad w.s wrking in the kter krks Company there was a
young fellow hre-I mld say in his mid-twmties-vho obviously was too
to have cark fram Russia as a gem-up. He either born in
kt was braught to aina as a kid or, I really don ' t know his
background at all or possibly he ws born in China or in Japan by parents
FJho =re stationed there in varh Russian Zxlsinesses prior to Russian
imigration .
Nick Cherniavsky Memoir, vol. 2 - Archives/Special Collections - Norris L Brookens Library - University of Illinois at Springfield - UIS