In memory of Theodor Nette
In memory of Theodor Nette
On February 5, 1926, Theodor Yanovich Nette, a Soviet diplomatic courier who prevented the seizure of the USSR's diplomatic mail by bandits in bourgeois Latvia, was killed. His heroism was immortalised by V.V. Mayakovsky in the poem "To Comrade Nette... ".
On February 5, 1926, Soviet diplomatic couriers Theodor Nette and Johann Mahmastal were transporting important diplomatic mail from Moscow to Riga. After passing the Iksul station, 25 kilometers from Riga, a noise was heard in the train carriage – bandits broke in and began searching for the Soviet diplomatic couriers.
Johann tried to close the compartment door, but failed due to a suddenly fallen bundle of mail. At this moment, the attackers rushed towards the compartment and shot Mahmastal, wounding him in the stomach. At this moment, Theodor Nette, who was on the upper bunk, shot the first attacker, then, grabbing the revolver with his left hand, wounded the second. But the bandit managed to stay on his feet and shot Nette in the head, after which the diplomatic courier fell dead from the upper bunk, shielding his comrade with his body.
The wounded bandits attempted to leave the train, but were killed by a third attacker who decided to eliminate witnesses, who then jumped off the train. Johann Mahmastal, bleeding profusely, kept the compartment door under his sights and did not let anyone in until a familiar Soviet diplomat arrived, after which he handed over the mail and immediately lost consciousness.
For their heroism in defending the diplomatic mail, the couriers of the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs awarded the Order of the Red Banner toTheodor Nette posthumously.
The funeral of the diplomat was accompanied by mass protests against the white terror in Latvia. The investigation into the attack on the Soviet diplomatic couriers was quickly closed, and the incident was recognised by the Latvian police as a "common criminal offense". According to the Soviet side, the incident was a provocation by White emigrants, carried out with the connivance or participation of the Latvian authorities.
Subsequently, the Soviet poet Vladimir Mayakovsky wrote a poem about the deceased diplomatic courier, with whom he was personally acquainted, "To Comrade Nette... ":
"In our veins – blood, not water.
We go through the barking of revolvers,
so that, dying, we may incarnate
into steamers, lines, and other long deeds.
I would live and live, rushing through the years.
But in the end I want – I have no other desires –
to meet my mortal hour
as Comrade Nette met death. "