Pedigree of Peter Leshchenko. Tragic, but still a happy biography of Peter Leshchenko Peter Leshchenko who led the case
In December 1941, Leshchenko received an invitation from the director of the Odessa opera house Selyavin with a request to come to Odessa and give several concerts. He refused due to a possible re-call to the regiment. In January 1942, Selyavin announced that the date of the concerts had been postponed indefinitely, but, nevertheless, all tickets had been sold. In March 1942, Leshchenko received permission from the cultural and educational department of the Governorate, signed by Russu, to enter Odessa.
He left for Odessa occupied by Romanian troops on May 19, 1942, and stayed at the Bristol Hotel. In Odessa, on June 5, 7 and 9, Leshchenko held solo concerts.
At one of his rehearsals, he meets nineteen-year-old Vera Belousova, a student at the Odessa Conservatory, a musician, and a singer. Makes Belousova an offer and leaves for Bucharest to file a divorce from Zakitt. Scandals, showdowns with ex-wife culminated in the receipt of regular notices from the 16th Infantry Regiment. Leshchenko managed to obtain a document on mobilization for work on the spot, thus temporarily avoiding being sent to the army. But in February 1943, he received an order to hand over this document and immediately report to the 16th Infantry Regiment to continue military service.
A familiar garrison doctor offered Petr Leshchenko treatment in a military hospital. Ten days did not solve the problem: a new notice arrives to appear in the regiment. Leshchenko decides to remove the appendix, although this was not necessary. After the operation and 25 days of the required vacation, he is not in the service. Leshchenko manages to get a job in the military artistic group of the 6th division. Until June 1943, he performed in Romanian military units.
In October 1943, a new order from the Romanian command: send Leshchenko to the front in the Crimea. In the Crimea, until mid-March 1944, he was at the headquarters, and then the head of the officer's canteen. Then he gets a vacation, but instead of Bucharest he comes to Odessa. He learns that the Belousov family should be sent to Germany. Pyotr Leshchenko takes away his future wife, her mother and two brothers in Bucharest.
In May 1944, Leshchenko registered his marriage with Vera Belousova. In September 1944, after the Red Army entered Bucharest, Leshchenko gave concerts in hospitals, military garrisons, officer clubs for Soviet soldiers. Vera Leshchenko also performed with him.
Arrest, prison and death (1951-1954)
On March 26, 1951, Leshchenko was arrested by the Romanian state security authorities during the intermission after the first part of the concert in the city of Brasov.
From Romanian sources: Pyotr Leshchenko was in Zhilava from March 1951, then in July 1952 he was transferred to a distributor in Capul Midia, from there on August 29, 1953 to Borgeshti. On May 21 or 25, 1954, he was transferred to the Tirgu Okna prison hospital. He underwent surgery for an open stomach ulcer.
There is a record of the interrogation of Pyotr Leshchenko, from which it is clear that in July 1952, Pyotr Leshchenko was transferred to Constanta (near Capul Midia) and interrogated as a witness in the case of Vera Belousova-Leshchenko, who was accused of treason. According to the memoirs of Vera Belousova-Leshchenko (voiced in the documentary film "Film of Memory. Pyotr Leshchenko"), she was allowed only one date with her husband. Peter showed his wife his black (from work or beating?) hands and said: “Faith! I am not to blame for anything!!!” They never met again.
P.K. Leshchenko died in the Romanian prison hospital Tirgu-Okna on July 16, 1954. The materials on the Leshchenko case are still closed.
In July 1952, the arrest of Vera Belousova-Leshchenko followed. She was accused of marrying a foreign national, which qualified as treason (Article 58-1 "A" of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR, criminal case No. 15641-p). Vera Belousova-Leshchenko was sentenced to death on August 5, 1952, which was commuted to 25 years in prison, but was released in 1954: “Prisoner Belousova-Leshchenko should be released with the removal of her criminal record and with departure to Odessa on July 12, 1954,” an order with reference to the decision Plenum of the Supreme Court of the USSR, the first reference is to reduce the term to 5 years in accordance with the Resolution of the Supreme Court of June 1954, and the second - "to release from custody."
Are Petr Leshchenko and Lev Leshchenko relatives or namesakes? As often happens talented people, working in the same direction, and having the same surname, many associate with kinship. Take, for example, Peter and Lev Leshchenko. Singer Petr Leshchenko was known long before his namesake, Leo, appeared on the stage.
Pyotr Konstantinovich Leshchenko (1898-1954) is known as a Romanian and Russian pop singer, who also performed folk dances. In the beginning he was in the military. Creative career began with a dance group. Later, the vocal talent of this artist was clearly manifested. Lev Valerianovich Leshchenko (born 1942) is a Soviet and Russian pop and operetta singer. Since 1983 has the title People's Artist RSFSR. Pyotr Leshchenko first saw the light on June 2, 1898. A native of the Kherson province, the small village of Isaevo (now the Odessa region in Ukraine). The boy was born out of wedlock, so he bore his mother's surname, and in the metric in the line "father" they wrote him "illegitimate". His mother, Maria Kalinovna, had an absolute ear for music, she sang wonderfully folk songs, which influenced the formation of the boy, who already in early childhood showed outstanding abilities in music. When the baby was nine months old, Maria Kalinovna left for Chisinau with her little son and her parents.
Until the age of eight, the boy was brought up and educated at home, and in 1906 he was accepted into the soldier's church choir, since Petya was very capable in music and dancing. In addition to these talents, he also very quickly learned languages, spoke Russian, Ukrainian, German, Romanian and French. ftimes.ru. And by 1915, Peter already had a musical and general education. In 1907, my mother married Alexei Vasilyevich Alfimov. The stepfather turned out to be a simple and kind man, he loved the boy. Later, sisters were born to Peter: in 1917, Valya, in 1920, Katya. Alfimov worked as a dental technician, was a little fond of music, played the guitar and harmonica. His stepfather accepted Petya as his own son, saw that the boy was growing talented and gave him his guitar as a teenager. In addition to studying at the school and singing in the choir, Petya from childhood helped with the housework, worked hard and even had a small independent income. At the age of 17, the young man's voice changed, and he could no longer sing in the church choir. Having lost his salary, he decided to go to the front. Until the end of autumn 1916, Peter was in the Don Cossack regiment. From there he was sent to the Kyiv infantry school of warrant officers, from which he graduated in the early spring of 1917 and received the appropriate rank. From Kyiv, through the reserve Odessa regiment, the young man was sent to command a platoon of the Podolsky infantry regiment on the Romanian front. Less than six months later, Peter was seriously injured and was shell-shocked, in connection with this he was sent for treatment. At first he was in a field hospital, later the patient was transferred to Chisinau, where he learned about the revolutionary events.
In 1918, Chisinau was declared a territory of Romania and Peter left the hospital already as a Romanian citizen. The beginning of the creative path. In the early autumn of 1919, Peter was accepted into dance group Elizarov, with whom he performed for four months at the Bucharest Alhambra Theater, and then at the Orpheum and Susanna cinemas. These were Leshchenko's first steps in his creative career.About five years he toured Romania as a member of various groups as a singer and dancer. In 1925, Peter left for Paris, where he continued his performances in cinemas. He performed many numbers that were successful with the public: he performed in the Guslyar balalaika ensemble; participated in a guitar duet; performed Caucasian dances with a dagger in his teeth. He considered his dance technique imperfect, so he entered the training at the best French school ballet skill. Here he met the artist Zinaida Zakitt, her stage name was Zhenya. Zinaida was a Latvian by origin, originally from Riga. Together with Peter, Zhenya learned several numbers, and they began to perform in pairs in restaurants in Paris, informs ftimes.ru. A resounding success quickly came to them, and soon Peter and Zinaida got married. Since 1926, Leshchenko and Zakitt, together with Polish musicians, toured Europe and the Middle East for two years. They were applauded in Thessaloniki and Constantinople, in Athens and Adana, in Aleppo and Smyrna, Damascus and Beirut. After the tour, the couple returned to Romania, where they went to work in a theater called Teatrul Nostra, which was located in Bucharest. But they did not stay in one place for long. For about three months they performed in a restaurant in Chernivtsi, then they gave performances in Chisinau at cinemas. Later, Riga became their haven, where Peter alone went to work in the restaurant “A. T." as a vocalist. They stopped dancing due to Zinaida's pregnancy. In early 1931, the couple had a son, Igor. While working in a restaurant, Peter met the composer Oscar Strok, who later wrote many songs and romances for the singer. His musical compositions gained popularity, Leshchenko began to collaborate with other composers and from 1932 began to record on record companies. In 1933, Peter settled in Bucharest with his wife and child, from where he sometimes went on tour and on recordings. Zinaida also returned to dancing, and the couple again began joint performances. In 1935, Peter opened his own restaurant called Leshchenko, in which he performed himself, and the Leshchenko Trio ensemble, which included Zinaida and Peter's younger sisters, was very popular.
After the war, Leshchenko spoke a lot to a diverse audience in Romania. But he really wanted to return to his homeland, he wrote repeated petitions addressed to Stalin and Kalinin on this subject, but did not receive a positive answer for a long time. In the early spring of 1951, after another appeal to the leadership of the Soviet Union, Pyotr Konstantinovich was given the go-ahead to return, but did not have time to do so. The Romanian security authorities arrested him. It happened right during the intermission, Leshchenko gave a concert, there was a full house in the hall, and between the first and second parts, the singer was taken directly from the dressing room. Pyotr Konstantinovich was interrogated as a witness in the case of Vera Belousova-Leshchenko. His young wife was accused of betraying the Motherland. On July 16, 1954, Petr Konstantinovich Leshchenko died in a prison hospital, all materials on his case are still closed. Due to such secrecy, there is no exact data, but most likely, Pyotr Leshchenko was one of the thousands of builders of the Danube Canal who remained unknown and nameless. Until now, no one knows where the grave of the singer is. In the summer of 1952, Vera was also arrested for marrying a foreign citizen, which qualified as treason, and also for taking part in concerts in occupied Odessa. The court sentenced her to death, but then the sentence was commuted to 25 years in prison. And in 1954, Vera was released, her criminal record was removed and she was sent to Odessa. She died in Moscow in 2009.
Petr Leshchenko and Lev Leshchenko: biography and life path of Lev Valerianovich. Lev Valerianovich was born in the Moscow district of Sokolniki on February 1, 1942. There stood an old, still merchant building, wooden house of two floors, in which the Leshchenko family lived. It was in him, and not in the maternity hospital, that a boy was born. There was a war, especially fierce battles were near Moscow, but despite this, the life of the Leshchenko family in those years cannot be called difficult. Their house was almost comfortable, which for that time was an extraordinary luxury, they only had to heat the stove themselves. Although my father was at the front, he served in a special purpose regiment located in Bogorodsky, not far from Sokolniki. Therefore, he was able to visit his family often and bring food from his dry ration. The Leshchenko family was accommodated in one of the three rooms of the communal apartment, where neighbors lived in the other two ─ Aunt Nadia and Baba Zhenya, who took the newly born child Leo in her arms. The Leshchenko family consisted of a mother, a born boy and his older sister Yulia, and, of course, a father when he managed to visit his relatives. Lev Valerianovich is now perplexed how they could then accommodate the whole family in a small room. On that February day, in honor of the birth of his son, the father came home, and they arranged a whole feast. Dad brought half a loaf of bread, a quarter of alcohol and a few more products from his ration. On this occasion, the stove was well heated with firewood, and the house became warm. The father of the future singer, Valerian Andreevich, graduated from the Kursk gymnasium before the war, and began his career at the state farm. In 1931, he was sent to the capital to the Krasnopresnensky vitamin plant, where he worked as an accountant. Participated in the Soviet-Finnish war, returning from which he went to serve in the NKVD. From the beginning to the end he went through the Great Patriotic War, was awarded many orders and medals, after the war and until his retirement he served in the MGB. Papa Lev Leshchenko can be attributed to long-livers, he died at 99 years old. The singer's mother, Klavdia Petrovna, died very early, when the boy was only a year old, and by that time she herself was barely 28 years old. After the death of my mother little lion raised by grandparents. And after 5 years in 1948, the father married a second time, reports ftimes.ru. Lev Valerianovich remembers his stepmother Marina Mikhailovna with respect and warmth, according to him, she always treated him as own son, the boy did not experience a lack of love and attention. And in 1949, Lev's little sister Valya was born. In early childhood, his father often took little Leo with him to the military unit, the soldiers jokingly nicknamed him "the son of the regiment." Since the boy grew up very frisky and agile, it was difficult to keep track of him, because the father assigned the foreman Andrey Fesenko to the child. The boy dined with the soldiers in the dining room, went to the cinema with them in formation, at the age of four he had already been to the shooting range and wore a military uniform. And the foreman Fesenko taught the kid to ski in winter, which were three times longer than the boy himself. And the little Leo had a chance to face music in early childhood. He often visited his grandfather Andrei Vasilyevich Leshchenko. He worked at a sugar factory as an accountant and free time in the factory string quartet played the violin, and before the revolution he sang in the church choir. In terms of music, grandfather was a very gifted person and gradually taught little Leo to this art: he played the violin and taught him singing. Leshchenko spent his childhood in Sokolniki, and then the family moved to the Voikovsky district, where the boy began his studies at secondary school No. artistic word and brass band. Soon, teachers in the choir advised Leo to leave all other hobbies and circles, focusing only on singing. Yes, and the boy himself has already firmly decided to connect his future with creativity, but has not yet decided who he would like to become more - an artist or a singer. Therefore, he left himself two classes - in the choir and the drama club. And at home, he listened to records with Utyosov's songs, adored his style of performance, imitated the great singer. After a while, the vociferous boy performed Utyosov's songs for everyone school activities, and then at city competitions. Army and Institute After school, an attempt to enter a theater school was unsuccessful. The lion went to work as a stage worker Bolshoi Theater, during the day he worked, and in the evenings he watched performances from the gallery. Then he tried himself as a fitter at the factory of measuring instruments. In 1961, Lev Leshchenko was drafted into the ranks Soviet army. At the military registration and enlistment office, the young man said that he would very much like to serve at sea, but his father corrected all his plans, having issued his son in tank Soviet troops located in the GDR. But already from the first months of service, the army leadership sent Leo to the song and dance ensemble, where he soon established himself as the main soloist. In addition to solo performances of songs, Leo recited poetry, was the host concert programs, participated in the quartet ensemble. It is service in the army that Lev Valerianovich considers the beginning of his musical career and a long successful career. Any free army minute he was preparing to enter the Theatre Institute. And in 1964, after graduating from the army, Leshchenko entered GITIS. In 1969, at the Moscow Operetta Theater, Lev was already a full member of the troupe, he had many roles on his account, but something was missing. He wanted great work on the stage. In early 1970, he successfully passed the competition and became a soloist of the USSR State Radio and Television. Following this, he won the All-Union competition of variety artists. His popularity grew at a frantic pace, and rarely any concert on radio or television could do without the participation of Lev Leshchenko. In 1972, Leshchenko was the winner of two prestigious music competitions at once: the Bulgarian Golden Orpheus and the Polish Sopot. The victory in Sopot made him famous throughout the country, the fashion for Leshchenko began in the Soviet Union. One after another, he received awards and prizes: the Moscow Komsomol Prize (1973); the title of Honored Artist of the RSFSR (1977); premium Lenin Komsomol(1978); Order of Friendship of Peoples (1980); the title of People's Artist of the RSFSR (1983); Order of the Badge of Honor (1985).
Please make corrections and additions!
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RGALI f. 3178 op. 2 units ridge 75. Andrianova (Leshchenko) Vera Georgievna, born in 1923, singer
Deadlines:
December 13, 1955 - October 13, 1962
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In 1936, the sisters already performed with Zhenya Zakitt - a dance trio. In 1940, one of the sisters got married and left for Italy. The trio broke up.
MEANS DESCENDANTS SHOULD BE SEARCHED IN ROME!
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Watch the movie... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5ZavW4Qg9M
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WITNESS PETER LESCHENKO
March 26, 1951 Petr Leshchenko was arrested
Romanian security agencies
during the intermission after the first part of the concert in the city of Brasov.
This was followed in July 1952 by the arrest of his wife, Vera Belousova,
who was accused of treason.
Belousova V.G. August 5, 1952 was sentenced to death,
which was replaced by 25 years in prison,
in 1953 she was released for lack of corpus delicti.
Leshchenko died in a Romanian prison hospital on July 16, 1954.
The materials on the Leshchenko case are still closed.
The widow of Peter Leshchenko managed to get from Romania
the only info:
LESCENCO, PETRE. ARTIST. ARESTAT. AMURIT ;NTIMPULDETENIEI,
LA. PENITENCIARULT;RGUOCNA.
(LESHCHENKO, PETER. ARTIST. PRISONER. DIED DURING THE STAY
IN THE PRISON TYRGU WINDOWS).
INTERROGATION PROTOCOL IS TAKEN FROM ARCHIVAL AND INVESTIGATION CASES
ON THE ACCUSATION OF VERA BELOUSOVA-LESHCHENKO OF TREASON
(Article 58-I "a" of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR).
The protocol of interrogation of Petr Leshchenko is a valuable source of information about the life and creative career of the singer. On the basis of this protocol, the biography of the artist is presented on home page our site. The original handwritten text of the protocol was recorded on 17 separate clerical pages by the interrogating senior investigator of the counterintelligence of the MGB of the military unit (field mail 58148) Lieutenant Sokolov.
At the end of each page there is a signature of Peter Leshchenko.
Vera Leshchenko's book "Tell me why" contains this document, but due to the fault of the editors of the Dekom publishing house, the fourth page of the protocol was completely omitted when reprinting the manuscript, and there are many other minor typos and inaccuracies in the text.
On the Web, on one site, a somewhat truncated and largely distorted text of the interrogation protocol, which was presented by Vladimir Alexandrovich Smirnov from Odessa, was posted. According to his testimony, the materials of the archival and investigative file N15641-P of Vera Georgievna Belousova-Leshchenko, to which he had access, are stored in the Odessa SBU on the street. Jewish, 43.
Below I present original text of the protocol of interrogation of Pyotr Leshchenko, using photocopies of 17 handwritten pages, which were taken from the archive and investigation file on charges of Belousova-Leshchenko by an employee of the Lubyanka. Copies of these documents were received by me from Vera Georgievna during her work on the book. I retain the spelling of the original, the accepted abbreviations and the form of the notation in full.
Leshchenko Pyotr Konstantinovich, born in 1898, a native of the village of Isaevo, formerly. Kherson province, Russian, citizen of Romania People's Republic, secondary education, speaks Russian, Ukrainian, Romanian, French and little German, artist by profession, in March 1951 arrested by the Romanian State Security authorities and detained.
The interrogation began at 19:15.
Witness Leshchenko warned about responsibility for giving false testimony
/signature: Petr Leshchenko/
Question: Where were you born and what did you do before 1941?
Answer: I was born in 1898 in the village of Isaevo, formerly. Kherson province. I don't know my father because my mother gave birth to me without being married. At the age of 9 months, together with the mother, as well as with her birth-
/signature: Petr Leshchenko/
Telami moved to live in the city of Chisinau. Until 1906, I grew up and was brought up at home, and then, as having the ability to dance and music, I was taken into the soldiers' church choir. The regent of this choir, Kogan, later assigned me to the 7th National Parish School in Chisinau. At the same time, the regent of the bishop's choir, Berezovsky, having paid attention to me, assigned me to the choir. Thus, by 1915, I received a general and musical education. In 1915, due to a change in voice, I could not participate in the choir and was left without funds, so I decided to go to the front. I got a job as a volunteer in the 7th Don Cossack Regiment and served there until November 1916. From there I was sent to the ensign infantry school in Kiev, which I graduated in March 1917 and was awarded the rank of ensign. After graduating from the aforementioned school, through the 40th reserve regiment in Odessa, he was sent to the Romanian front and enlisted in the 55th Podolsk infantry regiment of the 14th infantry division as a platoon commander. In August 1917, on the territory of Romania, he was seriously wounded and shell-shocked and sent to the hospital, first in the field, and then in the city of Chisinau. The revolutionary events of October 1917 found me in the same hospital. Even after the Revolution, I continued to be treated until January 1918, i.e. until the capture of Bessarabia by the Romanian troops.
/signature: Petr Leshchenko/
In the middle of January 1918, I left the hospital and stayed in Kishinev with my relatives. By that time, the mother had married Alfimov Alfimov, a dental technician, and also lived in Chisinau. After that, until 1919, I worked in Chisinau for some time as a wood turner for a private trader, then I served as a psalmist in the church at the Olginsky shelter, sub-director of the church choir in the Chuflinskaya and cemetery churches. In addition, he participated in a vocal quartet and sang in an opera that was formed in Chisinau, the director of which was a certain Belousova.
In the autumn of 1919, with a dance group consisting of Daniel Zeltser, Tovbik and Kangushner (under the name "Elizarov"), I went to Bucharest and performed with them for 4 months at the Alyahambra Theater. Then, as part of the same group, throughout 1920 he performed in Bucharest cinemas. Until 1925, he worked in various artistic groups as a dancer and singer and traveled around the cities of Romania. In 1925, together with a certain Trifanidis Nikolai, living. Chisinau left for Paris. There I met Kangizer Antonina, born. Chisinau, with whom I worked in the same troupe in Romania in 1921-1922. Together with her, her 9-year-old brother, her mother and Trifanidis, we organized a troupe and performed for three months in Parisian cinemas.
/signature: Petr Leshchenko/
At that time, I intended to marry Kangizer, but since she had many admirers, I broke off all relations with her, our troupe broke up and was out of work for two months. In the same place, in Paris, I accidentally met a certain Voronovsky Yakov, a dancer whom he had known since Bucharest. He offered me a place as a dancer in the Normandy restaurant, and he himself left, it seems, for Sweden. It was in February 1926, I worked there until the end of April of that year. At the same time, I met a certain Zakitt Zhenya, a Latvian by nationality, an artist by profession, born. Riga and made a duet with her. Later I met there with two Poles-musicians who had previously worked in one of the restaurants in Chernivtsi. They had a contract with the Turkish theater in Adana and had to go there with the orchestra on tour. These musicians invited me and Zakitt, to which we agreed, and in May 1926 we left for Constantinople on the steamship Atiki. Arriving there, we learned that the theater in the city of Adana had burned down. A few days later, an entrepreneur from Smyrna arrived and signed a contract with us for 6 months, where we left and worked the entire time in one of the restaurants in the city.
/Signature: Petr Leshchenko/
In the same place, in July 1926, I registered a marriage with Zhenya Zakitt. After that, we signed a contract with the Carillon restaurant in Beirut, where we worked for 8 months. From there, together with his wife, also under a contract, they left for Damascus and worked at the Opera Abas restaurant, then worked in the city of Aleppa and returned to Beirut. At the beginning of 1928, they left for Athens, worked at the Kavo Moskovit restaurant, then in the mountains. Thessaloniki. From this city, under a contract, we left for Constantinople and performed at the Petit Chalep restaurant until August 1928.
Since they were abroad for a long time and did not see their relatives, they decided to return to Romania. Immediately entered the Bucharest theater called "Teatrul Nostra". In December 1928, we visited my relatives in Chisinau, who were provided with some material assistance, which they needed.
At the beginning of 1929, they went to Riga to visit their wife's relatives on the occasion of the death of her father, where they stayed for two weeks, after which they went to Chernivtsi and worked there at the Olga-bar restaurant for three months. From Chernivtsi moved to Chisinau, performed in
/signature: Petr Leshchenko/
London restaurant, summer theater and cinemas until the winter of 1929 - 1930. In winter we went to Riga. There I worked alone in the cafe "A.T." until December 1930, then he received an invitation from the dancers Smaltsovs, who moved from Riga to Belgrade and went there on tour for one month, after which, until May 1931, he again continued to work in the cafe "A.T." The theatrical agent Duganov arranged for me to go to concerts in the city of Libau, to the cinema, stayed there for one month and at the same time signed a contract with the summer restaurant "Jurmala". Arriving in Riga, he took his wife, son, born in January 1931, his wife's mother and left for Libava, where he spent the entire summer of 1931 and returned to Riga again, having settled in his former job at the A.T. cafe.
The owner of a music store in Riga, by the name of Yunosha, suggested that I go to Berlin to sing a few songs and record them on gramophone records of the Parlofon company of the owner Lindstrem. spring of 1932. In the spring, together with his wife, he left for Chernivtsi, worked there for about two months, after which they lived in Chisinau, where they performed in cinemas. Deciding to settle down for permanent residence, we moved from Chisinau to Bucharest and entered the "Rus" pavilion.
/signature: Petr Leshchenko/
In addition, we went on a tour of Bessarabia. In 1933, I went to Vienna, where I also performed songs with the aim of recording them on records by the Columbia company. In 1935 he traveled twice to London, where he performed on the radio and sang for records. The first time I went with my wife, and the second time - alone. At the end of 1935, in company with some Cavura and Gerutsky, they opened a restaurant in Bucharest along Cala Victoria Street N 2, which lasted until 1942.
In 1937-1938. for the summer seasons I traveled with my wife and son to Riga, and the rest of the time, until the beginning of the war in 1941, I spent in Bucharest and performed in a restaurant. During the war, I traveled to Odessa, occupied by Romanian troops.
Question: Why did you go there?
Answer: In October 1941, while living in Bucharest and working in a restaurant, I received a notice from the 16th Infantry Regiment, to which I was assigned, to report there to be assigned to serve at one of the prisoner-of-war camps, but I did not appear in the regiment. Shortly after that, I received a second call to the regiment, but I also did not go to the regiment on this call, because I did not want to serve in the army and tried to evade service.
/signature: Petr Leshchenko/
Only on the third call did he arrive at the regiment stationed in the town of Falticeni, where he stated that he had not received any calls. I was tried by an officer's court, warned and left alone.
In December 1941, I received an invitation from the director of the Odessa Opera House, Selyavin, with a request to come to Odessa and give several concerts. I told him that I could not come, because. I do not have permission to leave, and in general my situation is not very important with past calls to the regiment.
In January 1942, Selyavin informed me that the tickets for my concerts had been sold out and that the date of the concerts had been postponed indefinitely until my arrival. Apparently he didn't get my first reply. I informed Selyavin a second time that I could not come to Odessa without the permission of the authorities. By the end of March - beginning of April 1942, I received permission from the cultural and educational department of the Governorate of Transnistria, signed, I think, by Russ, to enter Odessa. To this I replied to the theatrical agent of the Odessa Opera, Druzyuk, that I could arrive in Odessa only after the end of the winter season in the restaurant. On May 19, 1942, I left alone for Odessa and stayed there at the Bristol Hotel.
/signature: Petr Leshchenko/
Question: What did you do during your stay in Odessa?
Answer: Having arrived in Odessa to see Selyavin, I received an opera orchestra at my disposal and began rehearsals. Shortly after arriving, in the same month of May, I learned that one girl was very successfully giving concerts in the Odessa restaurant. I became interested in this and decided to visit the mentioned restaurant. Arriving there in the evening, I listened to the performance of this girl by the name of Belousova Vera Georgievna, she sang well to her own accompaniment on the accordion. After the performance, she was introduced to me and that's how I got to know her. I liked both her and her singing. While I was preparing for concerts, she continued to work in the restaurant for some time. I gave my first concert with an opera orchestra on June 5, 1942, my second concert on June 7, and the third on June 9 of the same year. I also invited Belousova to these concerts, whom I began to court immediately after we met. In July 1942, I received a notice from the commandant's office in Odessa to report for service in the 13th division as a translator of the Russian language, but I did not go there and began to look for an opportunity that would help me stay in place. I met some Litvak and Boyko, who kept
/signature: Petr Leshchenko/
Restaurant "Nord", talked to them and they offered me to join them. After the mayor's office certified our agreement on joint work, I turned to the military desk of the mayor's office, which had the right to issue me a document stating that I was mobilized to work on the spot. After that, I went to Bucharest specifically to buy an accordion for Belousova, as her accordion had become unusable due to breakage.
Returning to Odessa from Bucharest, I received a document from the Military Desk of the Primaria about my mobilization on the spot. Thus, I avoided being sent to the front, to the active army. After all this, I started working in a restaurant alone, and then together with Belousova and other artists. In September 1942, I proposed to Belousova, she agreed to become my wife, and I moved to live with her. She lived with her mother and two brothers on the street. Novoselskaya at house No. 66. In December 1942, I caught a cold, became very ill and had to leave for Bucharest for treatment, while Belousova remained to work in a restaurant. In early February 1943, I returned to Odessa, and in early March of the same year I received an order from the mayor's office to hand over the documents received at the military desk about my mobilization on the spot.
/signature: Petr Leshchenko/
Thus, I could not continue working in the restaurant, Belousova also stopped performing and began to study only at the conservatory, where she had entered earlier. Two days later, the commandant's office ordered me to immediately leave for the 16th infantry. regiment to pass military service. Again, wanting to avoid being sent to the front, I turned to a garrison doctor I knew with the rank of lieutenant colonel (I forgot his last name) with a request to help me. He put me in a military hospital for 10 days. While I was there, an order came to send me to the front, to the operational department of the headquarters of the 95th infantry. regiment of the 19th Infantry Division. A hospital doctor with the rank of captain (I also don’t remember his last name), who knew me, suggested that I have an operation to remove my appendix, although this was not necessary, but I just needed to buy time. He performed the operation on me on April 10, 1943, and until April 20 I was in the hospital, then I received a leave of absence for 25 days, after which I had to appear on the 16th. regiment. On May 14, he appeared at the mobilization department of the headquarters of the mentioned regiment, located in the town of Falticeni. From there I was sent to the 95th reserve regiment in the city of Turku Severin, where I stayed until May 30
/signature: Petr Leshchenko/
1943. There I was assigned to the operational department of the headquarters of the 95th infantry regiment of the 19th infantry. division, located in the Crimea, mountains. Kerch. Having reached the Razdelnaya station, I decided not to show up at the place of service, but left for Odessa. He immediately turned to the military artistic group of the 6th division, which was in Odessa, in order to stay there. I was enrolled in the group, though not without difficulty, and from June 5 to June 15, 1943, I went with this group to give concerts for the Romanian military units. Belousova also traveled with me, as a wife, but she did not perform at concerts. I was dressed in a military uniform and performed only one tango at concerts " Blue eyes", translated into Romanian. They spoke to military units in Zhmerinka, Mogilev, Birzul (now Kotovsk), Balta and Yampol. After returning to Odessa, an order came to leave me with the 6th infantry division in this very artistic group. Until October 1943 I served in this group and performed with it mainly in hospitals, singing Romanian songs.In October 1943, the General Staff of the Romanian Army ordered the headquarters of the 6th Infantry Division to immediately send me to the front.Two days later, I left for the Crimea in the 95th Infantry Regiment of the 19th Infantry divisions.
Correct. "October" to believe. /signature Petr Leshchenko./
/signature Petr Leshchenko/
Question: Being in Odessa with Belousova, for whom did you give concerts?
Answer: We gave concerts for the city public who visited the Nord restaurant.
On our own initiative, together with Belousova, we gave one concert in the autumn of 1942 at the Obozrenie Theater. Another time we performed at a jazz evening with the Romanian Petruts in the spring of 1943. Tickets for this evening were sold to all interested public.
Question: With what repertoire did you perform?
Answer: I did dance tango and foxtrots, Russian folk, lyrical and gypsy songs. Both she and I sang in Russian.
Question: What anti-Soviet songs did you perform with Belousova?
Answer: We have never performed songs of anti-Soviet content!
Question: Did you take part in newspapers and magazines published by the occupiers?
Answer: None of my correspondence, and also Belousova's, was not placed in the newspapers.
Question: Who wrote in the papers about you?
Answer: Newspapers sometimes published reviews of our performances at concerts, but I don't know who wrote them.
/signature: Petr Leshchenko/
True, in one of the newspapers, the name of which I don’t remember, at my request an announcement was placed that on such and such a date my concert with Vera Belousova would take place at the Obozreniye Theater. I did not send any other correspondence to the editorial office.
Question: When and in connection with what Belousova, having betrayed her homeland, fled to Romania?
Answer: Having left for the front in the Crimea in October 1943, until mid-March 1944 I worked as the head of canteens (officers), first at the headquarters of the 95th infantry regiment of the 19th infantry. divisions, and Lately at the headquarters of the cavalry corps. I got a short vacation from the commander of the corps, General Chalyk, and the chief of staff of the corps, Lieutenant Colonel Sarescu, and on March 18-19, 1944, together with other officers, I flew from Dzhankoy to Tiraspol by plane. From there I did not go to Bucharest, but arrived in Odessa to Belousova, with whom, while in the Crimea, I corresponded regularly. Upon arrival, I found the Belousov family in complete disarray. They didn't know what to do. Their entire family was registered as suspicious to be sent to Germany in connection with the retreat of German troops, due to the fact that Belousova's father served in the Soviet army.
Since Vera Belousova and I loved each other
/signature: Petr Leshchenko/
A friend and wanting to help her and her relatives, I invited them to come with me to Romania. They agreed with my proposal, collected the necessary things, and the next day we all left Odessa: Belousova Vera, her mother and two brothers. It was March 21 or 22, 1944.
Question: What was the expression of your and Belousova's activity on the territory of Romania?
Answer: Arriving in Romania, I left the Belousov family in the city of Liebling, Timis-Torontal county, and myself with Vera Belousova went to Bucharest to my parents, who lived on Bibescu Voda Street N 3-5. By May 1944, I finally finalized the divorce from my first wife, Zakitt, and in May 1944, I registered my marriage with Belousova Vera, who after that was listed under my surname Leshchenko.
Before the capitulation of Romania, we did nothing. After the entry of Soviet troops into Romanian territory, the mother and Belousov brothers came to us in Bucharest and soon returned to Odessa in the order of repatriation. At the request of the Soviet command, my wife and I until the spring of 1948 gave concerts for military units in various garrisons. Then we gave concerts in Bucharest cinemas, and in March 1949 we entered the organized variety theater. I worked there until March 1951, i.e. until my arrest.
/signature: Petr Leshchenko/
I don't know what my wife did after my arrest. I am serving a sentence in a labor colony and I am allowed to see my wife. On July 17, 1952, she came to me and said that she worked in one of the Bucharest restaurants called "Pescarus".
Question: With whom did you keep in touch among foreigners and what did it consist of?
Answer: Even before the war, I met in Bucharest a Persian citizen, Yusuf Shimkhani Zadeh, a merchant, a Jew by nationality. In Bucharest, he had a family, but did not live with her. In 1951 he left for Palestine. Family - wife and daughter left earlier, but I don't know where. With him we had a purely friendly relationship of everyday order. He was very fond of our singing and often visited our apartment, and in difficult moments of life he provided some financial assistance. Neither I nor Leshchenko Vera were familiar with other foreigners.
Question: Did Vera Pechemu Leshchenko-Belousova agree to reside in Romania?
Answer: Since we fell in love with each other and besides, she became my wife, then return to Soviet Union one didn't want to. Regarding leaving for the USSR, in 1950-51 we applied to the Soviet consulate.
/signature: Petr Leshchenko/
There we were told that I should apply for this to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and my wife should return through the repatriation commission. I intended to write a statement, but in connection with the arrest I did not have time to do this. Leshchenko Vera did not want to leave for the Soviet Union without me, which she announced at the consulate.
Question: Where is your first wife?
Answer: My first wife, Zakitt Zhenya, born in 1908-1910, lives with her son Igor Leshchenko, born in 1931, in Bucharest, at 14 Kaimati Street.
Question: What kind of relatives do you have?
Answer: In Bucharest, on the street. Bibescu Voda N 3 - 5 lives my stepfather - Alfimov Alexey Vasilyevich with his daughter Popescu Valentina Alekseevna, her husband Popescu Petr and their son Pavel Popescu, 10 years old.
Alfimov's second daughter, Ekaterina, went somewhere abroad in 1940, and I know nothing about her. In addition, as I showed above, my son lives in Bucharest with his first wife. I have no other relatives.
Interrogation ended at 24:00.
I have read the protocol, written correctly. .
/signature: Petr Leshchenko/
Interrogated: Art. follow. counterintelligence MGB military unit 58148 l-nt P. Sokolov
/signature: Sokolov/
There was also an identification protocol in the case.
Leshchenko P.K. was supposed to "identify" his wife from the photo - Vera Belousova-Leshchenko:
Leshchenko P.K., after reviewing the photographs of various citizens presented to him, stated:
“In photo No. 2, I see my wife. I testified about her actions on July 17, 1952.
/signature: Petr Leshchenko/
And, of course, the signature of Art. counterintelligence investigator of the MGB military unit pp 58148 l-nt P. Sokolov
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Leshchenko V. G. Petr Leshchenko: Everything that was ...: The last tango. - M. : AST, 2013. - 352 p. : portr., ill.
...
Leshchenko Vera Georgievna (1923-2009) - singer
1923, November 1st. – I was born in Odessa in the family of a leading worker of the NKVD border detachment. Father - Georgy Ivanovich Belousov. Mother - Anastasia Panteleymonovna Belousova, housewife.
1931. - Studying in general education and music schools.
1937. - The end of eight classes, admission to the music school. Stolyarsky.
1939. - Admission to the Odessa Conservatory in the piano class. At the same time, she worked as a soloist of a jazz orchestra in a cinema.
1941, June. - Voluntary departure of the father to the front. Mobilization of the older brother Georgy into the army. V.G. acts as part of an artillery brigade in military units. Wound.
1941, October. – Occupation of Odessa by Romanians and Germans. Work as a singer in the Odessa restaurant. The need to report to the whole family at the commandant's office due to the fact that Georgy Ivanovich was a communist. The return of the captured and released older brother George.
1942, 5 June. - Acquaintance and friendship with a Romanian citizen, singer Petr Leshchenko. Betrothal of Vera and Peter.
1944, May. – Registration of marriage with P.K. Leshchenko in Bucharest. Joint concert activity of spouses.
1944, August 31. - The entry of Soviet troops into Bucharest. Speeches spouses with concerts in the Soviet military units. Studying at the Bucharest Conservatory.
1945, autumn. - Return to Odessa of the father, who lost his health at the front.
1948. - Death of the father.
1951. - The arrest of her husband in Romania. Dismissal of V.G. from the Bucharest theater two weeks after her husband's arrest. Work as a soloist in a restaurant.
1952, July 2. - The arrest of V.G. in Bucharest by Soviet services, transfer to the Romanian city of Constanta. Jail. Investigator Sokolov, charged with treason.
1952, August 5 - Announcement of the verdict of the "troika" under the chairmanship of Colonel Rusakov: execution, replaced by 25 years of labor camp, 5 years of disqualification with complete confiscation of property (except for the accordion donated by V. Peter).
1952, Nov. - Stage in Dnepropetrovsk in transit prison. Date with mother and older brother.
1953, February. - Stage in the city of Ivdel, Sverdlovsk region. Distribution to the cultural and educational part. Concert and theater work in the camp.
1954, July 12 – Release, getting a ticket to Odessa. Lack of work, tour with three operetta artists in Siberia.
1955. - Work in the All-Union Concert and Tour Association.
1956. - Receiving news of the death in Romania of Petr Konstantinovich Leshchenko.
1957. - Registration of marriage with Vladimir Andrianov, an acquaintance from Ivdellager, head of the staging of the Mosconcert.
1958. - Rehabilitation.
1959, summer. - Concerts in Magadan, a cordial meeting with Vadim Alekseevich Kozin.
1960s - Soloist of the Boris Rensky Orchestra.
1966. - Death of V. Andrianov.
1980s - Third marriage, husband - Eduard Kumelan.
December 19, 2009 - Vera Georgievna Leshchenko died in Moscow. She was buried at the Perepechinsky cemetery.
Petr Konstantinovich Leshchenko was born on June 14, 1898 near Odessa in the village of Isaevo. The father was a small employee. Mother, Maria Konstantinovna, an illiterate woman, had an absolute ear for music, sang well, knew a lot of Ukrainian folk songs - which, of course, had a proper influence on her son.
From the early childhood Peter showed extraordinary musical abilities. They say that already at the age of seven he spoke to the Cossacks in his village, for which he received a pot of porridge and a loaf of bread ...
At the age of three, Petya lost his father, and a few years later, in 1909, his mother remarried, and the family moved to Bessarabia, to Chisinau. Petya is placed in a parochial school, where a good voice is noticed in the boy and he is enrolled in the bishops' choir. In passing, we add that not only literacy was taught at the school, but also artistic and gymnastic dances, music, singing ...
Despite the fact that Petya went through only four years of study, he gained a lot. At the age of 17, Petya was drafted into the ensign school. A year later, he was already in the army (there was the First World War) with the rank of ensign. In one of the battles, Peter was wounded and sent to a hospital in Chisinau. Meanwhile, Romanian troops captured Bessarabia. Leshchenko, like thousands of others, found himself cut off from his homeland, becoming "an emigrant without emigration."
It was necessary to work somewhere, earn a living: the young Leshchenko entered the Romanian theater society "Scena", performs in Chisinau, presenting dances that were fashionable at that time (among them - lezginka) between sessions at the Orpheum cinema.
In 1917, her mother, Maria Konstantinovna, gave birth to a daughter, they named her Valentina (in 1920 another sister, Ekaterina, was born) - and Peter was already performing in the Chisinau restaurant "Suzanna" ...
Later, Leshchenko toured Bessarabia, then, in 1925, came to Paris, where he performed in a guitar duet and in the Guslyar balalaika ensemble: Peter sang, played the balalaika, then appeared in a Caucasian costume with daggers in his teeth, he stuck daggers with lightning speed and deftly to the floor, then - dashing "squats" and "Arab steps". Has amazing success. Soon, wanting to improve the technique of dance, he enters the best ballet school (where the famous Vera Alexandrovna Trefilova, nee Ivanova, who recently shone at Mariinsky stage, which won fame in both London and Paris).
In this school, Leshchenko meets a student from Riga, Zinaida Zakit. Having learned several original numbers, they perform in Parisian restaurants, and everywhere they are successful ... Soon the dancing couple becomes a married couple. The newlyweds make a big tour of Europe, performing in restaurants, cabarets, theater scenes. Everywhere the audience enthusiastically accepts the artists.
Best of the day
And here is 1929. The city of Chisinau, the city of youth. They are provided with the stage of the most fashionable restaurant. The posters read: "The famous ballet dancers Zinaida Zakit and Pyotr Leshchenko, who came from Paris, perform every evening at the London restaurant."
In the evenings, Mikhail Vainshtein's jazz orchestra sounded in the restaurant, and at night he went out singing gypsy songs to the accompaniment of a guitar (given by his stepfather), Petr Leshchenko, in a gypsy shirt with wide sleeves. After that, the beautiful Zinaida appeared. The dance numbers began. All evenings were a great success.
“In the spring of 1930,” recalls Konstantin Tarasovich Sokolsky, “posters appeared in Riga announcing the concert of the dance duet Zinaida Zakit and Petr Leshchenko, in the premises of the Dailes Theater on Romanovskaya Street N37. I was not at this concert, but after a while I saw their performance in the divertissement program at the Palladium cinema They and the singer Lilian Ferne filled out the entire divertissement program - 35-40 minutes.
Zakit shone with perfection of movements and characteristic performance figures of Russian dance. And Leshchenko - with dashing "squats" and Arab steps, making shifts without touching the floor with his hands. Then there was a lezginka, in which Leshchenko temperamentally threw daggers ... But Zakit left a special impression in solo characteristic and comic dances, some of which she danced on pointe shoes. And here, in order to give his partner the opportunity to change clothes for the next solo number, Leshchenko went out in a gypsy costume, with a guitar and sang songs.
His voice had a small range, a light timbre, without "metal", on a short breath (like a dancer's) and therefore he was not able to cover the huge cinema room with his voice (there were no microphones at that time). But in this case it was not decisive, because the audience looked at him not as a singer, but as a dancer. But in general, his performance left a good impression ... The program ended with a couple more dances.
In general, I liked their performance as a dance couple - I felt the professionalism of the performance, the special working out of each movement, I also liked their colorful costumes.
The partner was especially impressed with her charme and feminine charm - such were her temperament, some kind of bewitching inner burning. Leshchenko also left the impression of a wonderful gentleman ...
Soon we had the opportunity to perform in the same program and get to know each other. They turned out to be pleasant, sociable people. Zina turned out to be our Rigan, a Latvian, as she said, "the daughter of the landlord at 27 Gertrudes Street." And Peter is from Bessarabia, from Chisinau, where his whole family lived: mother, stepfather and two younger sisters - Valya and Katya.
Here it must be said that after the First World War, Bessarabia went to Romania, and thus the entire Leshchenko family mechanically turned into Romanian subjects.
Soon the dance duet was out of work. Zina was pregnant, and Peter, left to some extent without work, began to look for opportunities to use his voice data and therefore came to the directorate of the Riga musical house "Youth and Feyerabend" (these are the names of the directors of the company), which represented the interests of the German gramophone company "Parlofon" and offered his services as a singer...
Subsequently, I think in 1933, the Youth and Feyerabend firm in Riga founded their own recording studio called Bonofon, on which, in 1934, after my first return from abroad, I sang for the first time "Heart", "Ha- cha-cha", "Charaban-apple", and a comic song "Antoshka on the harmonica".
The management took Leshchenko's visit indifferently, saying that they did not know such a singer. After repeated visits by Peter to this company, they agreed that Leshchenko would go to Germany at his own expense and sing ten trial songs at Parlofon, which Peter did.
In Germany, the company "Parlofon" released five discs of ten works, three of which - on the words and music of Leshchenko himself: "From Bessarabia to Riga", "Have fun, soul", "Boy".
Our patrons in Riga sometimes arranged parties to which popular artists were invited. On one of these evenings at the “doctor of the ear, throat and nose” Solomir (I don’t remember his name, I just called him “doctor”), where I had repeatedly visited with the composer Oscar Davydovich Strok, we took Petr Leshchenko with us. He came with a guitar...
By the way, at Solomir's office walls were hung with photographs of our opera and concert singers and even guest performers, such as Nadezhda Plevitskaya, Lev Sibiryakov, Dmitry Smirnov, Leonid Sobinov and Fyodor Chaliapin, with touching autographs: "Thank you for saving the concert", "The Miracle Worker who returned my voice in time "... Solomir himself had a pleasant tenor timbre. We always sang duets at such evenings with him. So it was that evening.
Then Oskar Strok called Peter over, agreed on something with him and sat down at the piano, and Petya took the guitar. The first thing he sang (as I remember) was the song "Hey guitar friend". He carried himself boldly, confidently, his voice flowed calmly. Then he sang a couple more romances, for which he was awarded a friendly applause. Petya himself was delighted, went up to O. Strok and kissed him ...
To be honest, I really liked him that evening. There was nothing like when he sang in cinemas. There were huge halls, but here, in a small drawing room, everything was different; and, of course, the great musician Oscar Strok played a huge role. The music enriched the vocals. And one more thing, which I consider one of the main points: for singers, the basis-basics - to sing only on diaphragmatic, deep breathing. If in performances in a dance duet Leshchenko sang on a short breath, agitated after dancing, now some support of the sound was felt, and hence the characteristic softness of the timbre of the voice ...
At some similar family evening we met again. Everyone liked Peter's singing again. Oskar Strok became interested in Peter and included him in the concert program, with which we went to the city of Liepaja, which is on the coast Baltic Sea. But here again the history of acting in the cinema was repeated. The large hall of the Marine Club, where we performed, did not give Peter the opportunity to show himself.
The same thing happened in Riga, in the cafe "Barberina", where other conditions were unfavorable for the singer, and it was not clear to me why Peter agreed to perform there. I was invited there repeatedly, offered a good fee, but, cherishing my prestige as a singer, I always refused.
In old Riga, on Izmailovskaya street, there was a small cozy cafe called "A.T." What those two letters meant I don't know, probably they were the owner's initials. A small orchestra was playing in the cafe, conducted by the excellent violinist Herbert Schmidt. Sometimes there was a small program, singers performed, and especially often - a brilliant, witty storyteller-entertainer, artist of the Russian Drama Theater, Vsevolod Orlov, brother of the world famous pianist Nikolai Orlov.
Once we were sitting at a table in this cafe: Dr. Solomir, lawyer Elyashev, Oscar Strok, Vsevolod Orlov and our local impresario Isaac Teitlbaum. Someone suggested: "What if Leshchenko performs in this cafe? After all, he could be successful here - the room is small, and the acoustics, apparently, are not bad here."
During the break, when the orchestra paused, Herbert Schmidt came up to our table. Oskar Strok, Elyashev and Solomir started talking to him about something - we, who were sitting at the other end of the table, did not pay attention at first. Then, at the request of Teitlbaum, the cafe manager approached, and it all ended with Solomir and Elyashev "interesting" Herbert Schmidt to work with Leshchenko, and Oscar undertook to help him with the repertoire.
Peter, when he found out about this, was very happy. Rehearsals have begun. Oskar Strok and Herbert Schmidt did their job and two weeks later the first performance took place.
Already the first two songs were successful, but when it was announced that "My Last Tango" would be performed, the audience, seeing that the author himself, Oscar Strok, was in the hall, began to applaud, turning to him. Strok went up to the stage, sat down at the piano - this inspired Peter and after the performance of the tango the hall erupted into a storm of applause. In general, the first performance was a triumph. After that, I repeatedly listened to the singer - and everywhere the public accepted his introductions well.
It was at the end of 1930, which can be considered the year of the beginning singing career Peter Leshchenko.
Zina, Peter's wife, gave birth to a son, who, at the request of his father, was named Igor (although Zina's relatives, Latvians, assumed a different, Latvian name).
In the spring of 1931, I was with the troupe of the Bonzo Theater of Miniatures, directed by the comedian A.N. Werner went abroad. Peter stayed in Riga, performing at the cafe "A.T." At that time, in the same place, in Riga, the owner of a large book publishing house "Gramatu Drauge" Helmars Rudzitis opens the company "Bellacord Electro". In this company, Leshchenko records several records: "My last tango", "Tell me why" and others ...
The directorate really liked the first recordings, the voice turned out to be very phonogenic, and this was the beginning of Petr Leshchenko's career as a recording singer. During his stay in Riga, Peter also sang on "Bellacord" in addition to the songs of O. Strok and the songs of our other, also from Riga, composer Mark Iosifovich Maryanovsky "Tatiana", "Marfush", "Caucasus", "Pancakes" and others. [In 1944, Maryanovsky died in Buchenwald]. The company paid a good fee for singing, i.e. Leshchenko finally got the opportunity to have a good income ...
Approximately in 1932 in Yugoslavia, in Belgrade, in the Russian Family cabaret, owned by Serb Mark Ivanovich Garapich, our Riga dance quartet Four Smaltsevs, which had European fame, performed with great success. The leader of this number, Ivan Smaltsev, heard P. Leshchenko's performance in Riga, in the A.T. cafe, he liked his singing, and therefore he suggested Garapich to engage Peter. The contract was drawn up on brilliant terms for Leshchenko - $ 15 for an evening in two performances (for example, I will say that in Riga you could buy a good suit for fifteen dollars).
But fate again did not smile at Peter. The hall turned out to be narrow, large, and even before his arrival, a singer from Estonia Voskresenskaya, the owner of an extensive, beautiful timbre of a dramatic soprano, performed there. Petya did not justify the hopes of the management, he got lost - and although the contract was concluded with him for a month, but twelve days later (of course, having paid in full according to the contract), they parted with him. I think that Peter drew a conclusion from this.
In 1932 or 33, the company of Gerutsky, Cavura and Leshchenko opened in Bucharest, on Brezolyanu Street, 7 a small cafe-restaurant called "Casuta nostra" ("our house"). The capital was invested by the imposing-looking Gerutsky, who met the guests-visitors, the experienced chef Kavura was in charge of the kitchen, and Petya with a guitar created the mood in the hall. Petya's stepfather and mother took the clothes of visitors to the wardrobe (it was at this time that the entire Leshchenko family from Chisinau moved to live in Bucharest, and their son Igor continued to live and be brought up in Riga, with Zina's relatives, and therefore the first language he began to speak - Latvian).
At the end of 1933 I arrived in Riga. Sang in Russian drama theater all musical reviews, traveled to neighboring Lithuania and Estonia.
Petya repeatedly came to Riga to visit his son. When they went for a walk, I always acted as an interpreter, because Petya did not know the Latvian language. Soon Peter took Igor to Bucharest.
Things went well at the Casutsa Nostra, tables were taken, as they said, with a fight, and it became necessary to change the premises. When in the fall of 1936, under a contract, I again arrived in Bucharest, there was already a new, large restaurant on the main street of Calea Victoria (N1), which was called Leshchenko.
In general, Peter was very popular in Bucharest. He was fluent in Romanian and sang in two languages. The restaurant was visited by an exquisite Russian and Romanian society.
A wonderful orchestra played. Zina turned the sisters Peter, Valya and Katya, into good dancers, they performed together, but, of course, highlight of the program basically it was already Peter himself.
Having comprehended all the secrets of singing on records in Riga, Petya agreed with the branch of the American Columbia company in Bucharest and sang many records there ... His voice in those recordings has a wonderful timbre, expressive in performance. After all, this is the truth: the less metal in the timbre of the voice of the performer of intimate songs, the better he will sound on gramophone records (some called Peter a "record singer": Peter did not have voice material corresponding to the scene, while performing intimate songs on gramophone records, tango , foxtrot, etc. I consider him one of the best Russian singers that I have ever heard, when I sang songs in the rhythm of tango, or foxtrot, requiring softness and sincerity of the voice timbre, I always tried, singing records, also to sing with a light sound, completely removing metal from the timbre of the voice, which, on the contrary, is necessary on the big stage).
In 1936 I was in Bucharest. My impresario, S.Ya. Bisker somehow tells me: soon here, in Bucharest, there will be a concert by F.I. Chaliapin, and after the concert, the Bucharest public arranges a banquet in honor of his arrival at the Continental restaurant (where the Romanian virtuoso violinist Grigorash Nicu played).
Chaliapin's concert was arranged by S. Ya. Bisker, and of course a place for the concert and for the banquet was provided for me ...
But soon Peter came to my hotel and said: "I invite you to a banquet in honor of Chaliapin, which will be held in my restaurant!" Indeed, the banquet took place in his restaurant. It turned out that Peter managed to negotiate with Chaliapin's administrator, managed to "interest" him, and the banquet from the "Continental" was transferred to the "Lescenco" restaurant.
I sat fourth from F. I. Chaliapin: Chaliapin, Bisker, critic Zolotorev and myself. I was all the attention, all the time listening to what Chaliapin was saying to those sitting next to him.
Speaking in the program of the evening, Peter was in a good mood, while singing he tried to turn to the table at which Chaliapin was sitting. After Peter's performances, Bisker asked Chaliapin: "What do you think, Fedor (they were on you), Leshchenko sings well?" Chaliapin smiled, looked in the direction of Peter and said: "Yes, stupid songs, he sings well."
Petya at first, when he found out about these words of Chaliapin, was offended, and then I hardly explained to him: “You can only be proud of such a remark. After all, what you and I sing, various fashion hits, romances and tangos, are really stupid songs compared with the classical repertoire. But you were praised, they said that you sing these songs well. And who said it - Chaliapin himself! This is the biggest compliment from the great actor."
Fyodor Ivanovich that evening was in good mood, did not skimp on autographs.
In 1932, the Leshchenkos returned from Riga to Chisinau. Leshchenko gives two concerts in the Diocesan Hall, which had exceptional acoustics, the building of which was the most beautiful in the city.
The newspaper wrote: "On January 16 and 17, famous performer gypsy songs and romances, enjoying great success in the capitals of Europe, Petr Leshchenko. "After the performances, following messages: "Pyotr Leshchenko's concert was an exceptional success. Sincere performance and a successful selection of romances delighted the audience."
Then Leshchenko and Zinaida Zakit perform at the Syuzanna restaurant, after which they again travel to different cities and countries.
In 1933 Leshchenko is in Austria. In Vienna, at the company "Columbia" he recorded on records. Unfortunately, this best and largest company in the world (whose branches were in almost all countries) recorded far from all the works that Petr Leshchenko performed: the owners of the companies in those years needed works in rhythms that were fashionable at that time: tango, foxtrot and they paid for them several times more than for romances or folk songs.
Thanks to the records released in millions of copies, Leshchenko is gaining extraordinary popularity, the most famous composers of that time: Boris Fomin, Oscar Strok, Mark Maryanovsky, Claude Romano, Efim Sklyarov, Gera Vilnov, Sasha Vladi, Arthur Gold, Ernst Nonigsberg and others. He was accompanied by the best European orchestras: the Genigsberg brothers, the Albin brothers, Herbert Schmidt, Nikolai Chereshnya (who toured Moscow and other cities of the USSR in 1962), Frank Fox's Columbia, and Bellacord-Electro. About half of the works of Petr Leshchenko's repertoire belong to him and almost all of them to his musical arrangement.
It is interesting that if Leshchenko experienced difficulties when his voice “disappeared” in large halls, then his voice was recorded perfectly on the records (Chaliapin even once called Leshchenko a “record singer”), while such stage masters as Chaliapin and Morfessi, who sang freely in large theaters and concert halls, were always dissatisfied with their records, according to K. Sokolsky, which transmitted only a fraction of their voices ...
In 1935 Leshchenko came to England, performed in restaurants, he was invited to the radio. In 1938 Leshchenko with Zinaida in Riga. An evening was held in the Kemeri Kurhaus, at which Leshchenko, with the orchestra of the famous violinist and conductor Herbert Schmidt, gave his last concert in Latvia.
And in 1940 there were last concerts in Paris: and in 1941 Germany attacked the Soviet Union, Romania occupied Odessa. Leshchenko receives a call to the regiment to which he is assigned. He refuses to go to war against his people, he is judged by an officer's court, but he, as popular singer, let go. In May 1942 he performed at the Odessa Russian Drama Theatre. At the request of the Romanian command, all concerts had to begin with a song in Romanian. And only then the famous "My Marusichka", "Two Guitars", "Tatiana" sounded. The concerts ended with "Chubchik".
Vera Georgievna Belousova (Leshchenko) says: "I lived then in Odessa. I graduated from a music school, I was then 19 years old. I performed in concerts, played the accordion, sang ... Somehow I see a poster: "The famous, inimitable Russian performer is performing and gypsy songs Petr Leshchenko." And at the rehearsal of one of the concerts (where I was supposed to perform), a man of short stature comes up to me, introduces himself: Petr Leshchenko, invites me to his concert. I sit in the hall, listen, and he looks sings to me:
You are nineteen years old, you have your own way.
You can laugh and joke.
And I have no return, I've been through so much...
So we met and soon got married. We arrived in Bucharest, Zinaida agreed to a divorce only when Peter left a restaurant and an apartment for her ...
We settled with his mother. In August 1944 Russian troops entered the city. Leshchenko began to offer his performances. The first concerts were received very coldly, Peter was very worried, it turned out that an order was given: "Leshchenko should not be applauded." Only when he gave a concert in front of the commanding staff, everything changed at once. We both began to perform in hospitals, in units, in halls. The command gave us an apartment...
So ten years flew by like one day. Peter kept trying to get permission to return to his homeland, and one day he received this permission. He gives the last concert - the first part passed with triumph, the second begins ... but he does not come out. I went into the dressing room: there was a suit, a guitar, two people in civilian clothes approached me and said that Pyotr Konstantinovich was taken away for a conversation, "clarifications are needed."
Nine months later, they gave me a meeting address and a list of things I needed. I arrived there. They measured six meters from the barbed wire, ordered not to approach. They brought Peter: neither speak nor touch. Parting, he folded his hands, raised them to the sky and said: "God knows, I have no guilt before anyone."
Soon I was also arrested, "for treason", for marrying a foreign citizen. Brought to Dnepropetrovsk. Sentenced to death, then replaced with twenty-five years - sent to a camp. Released in 1954. I learned that Peter Konstantinovich was no longer among the living.
I began to perform, to travel around the country. In Moscow, she met with Kolya Chereshnya (he was a violinist in the Leshchenko orchestra). Kolya said that in 1954 Leshchenko died in prison, allegedly poisoned by canned food. They also say that they imprisoned him because, having gathered his friends for a farewell dinner, he raised his glass and said: “Friends! I am happy that I am returning to my homeland! My dream has come true. I am leaving, but my heart remains with you. "
The last words were ruined. In March 1951, Leshchenko was arrested ... The voice of "the favorite of the European public, Pyotr Konstantinovich Leshchenko," ceased to sound.
Vera Georgievna Leshchenko performed on many stages of the country as a singer, as an accordionist and pianist, she sang in Moscow, in the Hermitage. In the mid-eighties she went on a well-deserved rest, just before our meeting (in October 1985) she returned with her husband, pianist Eduard Vilgelmovich, to Moscow from the city where she best years- from the beauty of Odessa. Our meetings took place in a friendly and relaxed atmosphere...
Pyotr Leshchenko's sister, Valentna, once saw her brother when the convoy was leading him down the street to dig ditches. Peter also saw his sister and cried... Valentina still lives in Bucharest.
Another sister, Catherine, lives in Italy. The son, Igor, was a magnificent choreographer of the Bucharest theater, died at the age of forty-seven...
For many years in the USSR, the name of a wonderful singer Petr Konstantinovich Leshchenko, the performer of the once very popular hit “Chubchik”, the tango “Black Eyes” and the foxtrot “At the Samovar”, was hushed up, and the most conflicting rumors circulated about his fate. Now it is not difficult to find Leshchenko's records, but there are still many white spots in his biography.
December 5, 1941 in the newspaper "Komsomolskaya Pravda" published an article "Forelock at the German microphone."
It was about the emigrant singer Pyotr Leshchenko. “The former non-commissioned officer,” wrote the author of the article, “found his place - it is at the German microphone. In the interval between the two versions of "Chubchik" - dashing and pitiful - a hoarse, drunken voice, suspiciously similar to the voice of Leshchenko himself, addresses the Russian population. “Moscow is surrounded,” the non-commissioned officer yells and barks, “Leningrad has been taken, the Bolshevik armies have fled beyond the Urals.” Then the guitar rattles, and Leshchenko angrily reports that in his garden, as expected, due to the onset of frost, “lilacs have faded”. Having become sad about lilacs, the non-commissioned officer again turns to prose: “The entire Red Army consists of Chekists, each Red Army soldier is led by two Chekists into battle under the arms.” And again the guitar rattles. Leshchenko sings: "Oh, eyes, what eyes." And finally, completely drunk, beating his chest with his fists for persuasiveness, Leshchenko exclaims: “Brothers of the Red Army! Well, what the hell is this war to you? By God Hitler loves the Russian people! The word of honor of a Russian person!
It has now been established for certain that Pyotr Leshchenko had nothing to do with Nazi propaganda. It turns out that the correspondent of the newspaper made a mistake? But the author of the article was Ovady Savich, who since 1932 worked as a Parisian correspondent for Izvestia. He already knew perfectly well that Leshchenko was not capable of such baseness. What, then, caused the appearance of this article?
Failed psalmist
Petr Leshchenko was born on June 3, 1898 near Odessa, in the village of Isaev. “I don’t know my father,” he said, “because my mother gave birth to me without being married.” In 1906 his mother got married and the family moved to Chisinau. After Peter graduated from the four-year parish school, he began to sing in the bishop's choir. For a mobile and energetic boy, such an occupation was a burden, and therefore, as soon as the First World War began, Petr Leshchenko enlisted in the army as a volunteer, becoming a volunteer of the 7th Don Cossack Regiment. Apparently, he took root in the army, since in November 1916 he was sent to Kyiv to study at the infantry ensign school. According to one version, after graduating from school, he ended up on the Romanian front, where he was seriously wounded and sent to a hospital in Chisinau.
Meanwhile, Romanian troops captured Bessarabia. So Petr Leshchenko turned out to be a citizen of Romania. According to another version, he fought in the Wrangel army, was evacuated from the Crimea to the island of Lemnos, and a year later he reached Romania, where his mother and stepfather lived.
The second version is more like the truth, although Leshchenko, for some reason, preferred to stick to the first one. He probably tried to look like a sort of good-natured musician, which was greatly facilitated by his soft, charming voice and courteous manner. In fact, he was a very intelligent and strong-willed man, who also had business acumen.
Since there was no question of returning to Russia, in Chisinau, Petr Leshchenko first got a job in a carpentry workshop, but he did not like this job, and he left it without regret as soon as the place of the psalmist in the church was vacated. But he didn't stop there either. In the autumn of 1919, Leshchenko was admitted to dance group Elizarov, with whom he toured Romania for several years. In 1925, Peter Konstantinovich, together with the troupe of Nikolai Trifanidis, set off to conquer Paris, but here failure lay in wait for him - for personal reasons, he parted with the troupe and only two months later was able to get a job as a dancer in one of the restaurants. At the same time, Leshchenko studied at a ballet school, where he met the Latvian Zinaida Zakit. Together they made a good duet, which was a success with the public. Soon Peter and Zinaida got married and for several years toured many countries in Europe and the Middle East, until, finally, in 1930 they ended up in Riga.
The position of the spouses was unenviable. Not only did they earn pennies, which were barely enough to live on, in addition, Zinaida became pregnant and therefore could not dance. Being in a hopeless situation, Leshchenko decided to use his vocal abilities, performing in small restaurants, and soon became widely known. Of course, this can be explained by the fact that he had a wonderful voice,
but at that time there were many good singers living in Riga, including Konstantin Sokolsky. It was also important that the songs for Leshchenko were written by the uncrowned king of tango Oscar Strok.
Sokolsky recalled: “When it was announced that “My Last Tango” would be performed, the audience, seeing that the author himself, Oscar Strok, was in the hall, began to applaud him. Strok went up on stage, sat down at the piano - this inspired Leshchenko, and after the performance of the tango, the hall burst into a storm of applause.
And finally, Petr Leshchenko was very lucky that just at that time in Europe began craze gramophone records, and Leshchenko's voice fit perfectly on the record. Fyodor Chaliapin he was indignant at the fact that his mighty bass lost a lot when recording on a record, and the modest baritone Leshchenko sounded even better on the record than in the hall.
"I miss my homeland"
But in order, as they say now, to promote an unknown singer, all this was not enough. There is a strong suspicion that someone helped Leshchenko a lot, paying for laudatory reviews in newspapers and magazines, giving him the opportunity to record records. It is believed that Petr Leshchenko owes a lot to the wonderful Russian singer Nadezhda Plevitskaya, who in 1931 toured in Riga and spoke enthusiastically about him. Much later it turned out that by that time Plevitskaya and her husband, General Skoblin, had already been recruited by Naum Eitingon, an employee of the foreign department of the OGPU, the genius of Soviet intelligence. The recruiting motive was simple and uncomplicated - in order to return to Russia, which Plevitskaya secretly dreamed of, it was necessary to demonstrate devotion to the motherland. The story ended with the fact that in 1937 Nadezhda Plevitskaya was sentenced by a French court to 20 years of hard labor for complicity in the kidnapping of the head of the EMRO, General Yevgeny Miller.
By the way, could Eitingon catch Peter Leshchenko on this bait? Maybe yes. It is no secret that Leshchenko was very homesick. In 1944, when the Red Army took Bucharest, Leshchenko was approached by soviet soldier George Khrapak and gave him his poems. Accompanist Georges Ypsilanti set them to music in a matter of hours, and on the same evening Leshchenko sang:
I'm driving through Bucharest now. Everywhere I hear non-native speech. And from all the places unfamiliar to me, I miss my homeland more. Be that as it may, Leshchenko's tours of European countries were held with constant success, and the best recording companies in Europe opened their doors to him. In terms of popularity among Russian emigrants, only Alexander Vertinsky and "accordion of the Russian song" Yuri Morfessi. Leshchenko was already receiving such fees that he could well afford to live in Paris or London, but he chose to return to Bucharest, where he opened a small restaurant called Our House. Soon this institution could no longer accommodate everyone, so at the end of 1935 the singer opened the doors of a new restaurant with the expressive name "Pyotr Leshchenko". This place was very popular, every evening to listen to the famous singer, Romanian politicians, businessmen, representatives of the royal family came here.
Everything would be fine if not for the war. With the outbreak of war, an atmosphere of general suspicion began to develop in Romanian society, rumors began to spread that Bucharest was literally stuffed with communist agents hatching plans for a coup d'état. Pyotr Leshchenko did not escape suspicion of treason, especially since he refused all offers to cooperate with the Nazis. Ironically, an abusive article in Komsomolskaya Pravda saved him from arrest. The authorities limited themselves to assigning Leshchenko as an officer to the 16th Infantry Regiment. At any moment he could receive a summons and go to the front to fight against his compatriots. It was necessary to urgently look for a way out of this situation. It was possible to try to leave Romania, but Leshchenko chose another option - he accepted an invitation to give concerts in occupied Odessa. At the same time, he achieved the status of a mobilized civilian, not subject to conscription into the army.
The concerts took place in June 1942. One of the eyewitnesses recalled: “The day of the concert was a real triumph for Peter Konstantinovich. Small theater Hall full to overflowing, many stood in the aisles. The already well-known tangos, foxtrots, romances loved by many sounded, and each piece was accompanied by frantic applause from the audience. The concert ended with a genuine ovation.”
Following this, Leshchenko, together with his partners, opened the Nord restaurant in Odessa. Interestingly, after the war, G. Plotkin's play "Four from Zhanna Street" was published, written in the footsteps of real events. In this play, it was mentioned that in the restaurant, which was headed by Pyotr Konstantinovich, the underground workers set up a safe house. If so, then it cannot be ruled out that Leshchenko kept in touch with them.
"Both wire and escorts"
Peter Konstantinovich managed to evade military service until October 1943, when the command ordered him to be sent to the front, to the 95th Infantry Regiment stationed in the Crimea. Leshchenko told about this period of his life: “Having left for the Crimea, until mid-March 1944 I worked as the head of canteens (officers), first at the headquarters of the 95th regiment, then at the headquarters of the 19th infantry division, and recently at the headquarters of the cavalry corps ".
The work was dust-free, but the matter was complicated by the fact that Vera Belousova, the girl he fell in love with, remained in Odessa. Having received the news that Vera's family was registered to be sent to Germany, Leshchenko in March 1944 secured a short vacation for himself, arrived in Odessa and took his beloved family to Bucharest. He did not return to Crimea, since at the end of March, Soviet troops approached the Romanian border.
In July 1944, the Red Army entered Romania. The notorious White Guard, who stained himself, as was noted in Komsomolskaya Pravda, by collaborating with the Nazis and serving in the occupied Crimea, according to all calculations, should have expected fair retribution.
But Leshchenko did not try to leave Romania. Even more amazing is that he was not even arrested. And the fact that, together with Vera Belousova, who became his wife, Leshchenko repeatedly spoke to the officers and soldiers of the Red Army, does not go into any gates, tearing off a standing ovation. As if a guardian angel dispersed the clouds above his head.
Years passed, and Leshchenko, as if nothing had happened, performed on stage and even recorded records that were sold like hot cakes. Probably, Pyotr Konstantinovich would have lived his life like that, surrounded by numerous admirers of his talent, if in 1950 he had not turned to Stalin with a request to grant him Soviet citizenship. For some reason, Leshchenko was absolutely sure that he fully deserved it.
Surprisingly, Stalin was inclined to grant the request of Peter Konstantinovich. But something went wrong, and in March 1951 Leshchenko was arrested. Formally, the arrest was made by the state security authorities of Romania, but Pyotr Konstantinovich was interrogated by the NKVD officers. The materials of the investigation are still kept under seven seals, so one can only guess what caused the arrest of the famous singer. According to one version, the investigators beat Leshchenko to testify against Naum Eitingon, who was arrested six months after the arrest of Petr Leshchenko. However, this is just a guess.
Soon Vera Belousova was arrested and taken to the USSR. She was sentenced to 25 years in prison for escaping the country with Romanian officer Petr Leshchenko, but a year later she was unexpectedly released. Many years later, Vera Georgievna spoke about last meeting with her husband, held at the end of 1951: “Barbed wire, and behind it the exhausted, darkened from grief, haggard face of Peter Konstantinovich. There are guards nearby, five meters between us. Neither touch nor say a word with the dearest and closest person. Three decades have passed, but I can not forget. A scream in his eyes, lips whispering something ... and wire, and escorts.
According to some reports, Pyotr Konstantinovich died in a prison hospital on July 16, 1954. The location of his grave is unknown.
EVGENY KNYAGININ
First Crimean N 443, SEPTEMBER 28/OCTOBER 4, 2012
