Throughout history, people have sought to make money by any means necessary. The merchants of our beloved city were no exception. However, in addition to hardworking, honest people toiling from dawn to dusk, there were also those in Kharkiv who engaged in activities that were not entirely legal or above board. Today, we’ll be talking about one such entrepreneur.
This story began on May 10, 1914. At that time, in the haberdashery shop of merchant Ilya Nikanorov-Moiseev, located near the Kharkiv Bridge, officers from the detective division discovered an entire stockpile. No, not drugs, weapons, or alcohol, but… pornography intended for sale. So what did the valiant detectives find? Here is the inventory:
— 247 pornographic postcards;
— 1 deck of pornographic playing cards;
— 3 albums containing pornographic drawings;
— 7 pornographic brochures titled “Mani’s Stories,” two copies of each: “In a Widow’s Situation” and “A Diocesan Woman on the Road.”
This “literature” was printed at an unknown location.
During questioning, Moiseev, a former peasant from the Kozlovsky District of the Tambov Governorate, stated, in particular, that he sold pornographic pamphlets exclusively to government officials at a price of 1 ruble and 15 kopecks per copy.
And the pornography was allegedly purchased from a Warsaw Jew named Sgut, who brought it to Kharkiv and sold it there. The Kharkiv authorities were not particularly interested in the officials who were buying the postcards and pamphlets. However, in a ruling dated May 14 by Kharkiv Vice-Governor Pavel Nikolaevich Masalsky-Koshuro, who reviewed the case, we can read the following:
…Taking into account the particular harm caused to the local population, and especially to young people, by the distribution of such literature—which appears to have been fabricated by Jews in Warsaw and published with the obvious aim of corrupting Russia’s younger generation—it was resolved: pursuant to paragraph 3 of Article 16 of the Regulations on Enhanced Security, to close the haberdashery shop owned by the aforementioned peasant Moiseev…
A decision was also made to conduct a thorough inspection of all stores in Kharkiv that sell printed materials and postcards in order to detect pornography and determine its source.
On May 15, a request was sent from Kharkiv to the Warsaw Chief of Police asking for assistance in identifying a certain Sgut. The request was thoughtfully accompanied by several samples of pornographic literature seized from Moiseev (presumably to aid in identification).
The reply received from Warsaw on May 23 stated that no person with the last name Sgut was listed in the residential registry. Therefore, the Kharkiv law enforcement agencies were advised to interview Kharkiv merchants to determine exactly from whom in Warsaw they had received pornographic publications and to establish where exactly this citizen resided in our city.
Searches of bookstores also turned up nothing. And that’s hardly surprising—after all, they took place 12 days later. However, the chief of the Kharkiv Criminal Investigation Department had to present at least some kind of result to the vice governor! And so, in a report dated May 23, he states that during a search on May 19 at the residence of Isaac Fedorovich Daine, a law student at the Kharkiv Imperial University residing at 1 Sumska Street, the following items were discovered:
— 403 postcards;
— 15 books (in Russian) and 7 books (in German).
All of them contained pornographic material. Furthermore, the law student attempted to sell some of the confiscated material at a St. Petersburg hotel in the presence of two detectives from the criminal investigation department. The report concluded with the following words: “I hereby submit the search and interrogation report along with the 22 books; the postcards have been left at the Criminal Investigation Department pending further instructions.”
Moiseev was questioned again on May 26. The Kharkiv merchant stated that he had last seen Sguta in our city about eight months ago. Sguta had been staying at the Continental Hotel.
However, Moiseev assured the police that when one of the Warsaw “voyagers” arrived in Kharkiv shortly, he would definitely find out the address of the main dealer from them. Moreover, Sgut himself (according to the detainee) was supposed to arrive in Kharkiv soon, and when he did, Moiseyev would certainly inform the police. Of particular interest is also a petition submitted to the governor of Kharkiv on June 10 by the hapless porn dealer.
Right at the outset, Moiseev states that everything found in his possession on May 10 was not intended for sale, but “for his own use.” And since his shop was shut down, he has lost the trust of the travelers coming to Kharkiv, which is precisely why he cannot get Sgut’s address from them. Well, then come the quite standard lamentations about how, while the shop is closed, Moiseev faces complete ruin, along with pleas “not to leave the children without a crust of bread.” Those interested in the full text can read it for themselves below.
However, the requests had no effect. Then the head of the detective division himself stepped in on the merchant’s behalf! In his petition to the governor of Kharkiv on June 26, he pointed out that, due to the closure of his shop, Moiseev had indeed been left without any means of support, yet he sincerely intended to cooperate fully with the investigation. He also noted that the postcards and literature seized from the student Dainé had been found solely thanks to information provided by Moiseev.
As a result, on July 4, the governor of Kharkiv revoked the order to close Moiseev’s shop. Sgut, the traveler from Warsaw, was never found in Kharkiv. And anyway, everyone had other things on their minds. After all, the war began in August 1914…
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