Admiral Lev Mikhailovich Galler

Admiral Lev Mikhailovich Haller did not come to Kazan of his own free will. He stayed here forever. On one of the prominent places of the Arsky cemetery in Kazan there is a tombstone with the inscription “Admiral Haller Lev Mikhailovich”. Few people know what kind of person he is. Even fewer people have heard that this tomb is symbolic. Where the Admiral is actually buried is not known. But he died in Kazan, in a psychiatric hospital. A naval officer, a favorite of the fleet, a Soviet admiral, a participant in the First World War, the Great Patriotic War, the merits of Lev Mikhailovich Haller were marked by three orders of Lenin, four orders of the Red Banner, two orders of Ushakov of the 1st degree, the Order of the Red Star and many medals. It is impossible to say how many people Haller and Kuznetsov saved by their decisions at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. The fleet withstood a surprise attack in June 1941 and lost no ships. During the war, Lev Mikhailovich supervised the creation of new types of naval military equipment, the introduction of technical innovations, including mine clearance methods. After the victory, independent generals, admirals and marshals were not needed by Stalin. The 65-year-old admiral was arrested in early 1948. Given that technical contacts with allies during the war went through him, he was made the main defendant. He sat in a common cell with criminals. The incident deeply shocked the old sailor, a man of honor. He did not understand the people who testified against him. Soon began tuberculosis, and then could not withstand the psyche. He died on July 12, 1950. The diagnosis was simple and terrible: “the cause of death is open-form pulmonary tuberculosis, bilateral exudative pleurisy, deep organic dementia on the basis of vascular brain damage.” Lev Mikhailovich Haller did not wait for freedom. Eternal memory.

Excursion "Surprise me, Kazan!"