Leon Trotsky's bodyguard Anton Blisnyak: the fate of the "red terminator"

History knows many brave people who, without hesitation, exposed themselves to mortal dangers and emerged victorious from any alteration. One of them is Anton Blisnyak, who worked as a bodyguard for the revolutionary and party leader Leon Trotsky. This man had many wounds, but he always survived and was eager to fight again.

The exact date and place of birth of Anton Blisnyak is unknown. He was born at the end of the 19th century, either in the Grodno province, or in the Kuban. Who were Anton's parents and how his childhood passed - also remains a mystery. Blisnyak's biography begins in 1914, when the guy volunteered to go to war.

Anton Blisnyak learns about the revolution of 1917 in Persia. The man immediately becomes a supporter of the Bolsheviks and enrolls in the Red Army. As a simple fighter, he fights as part of the First Cavalry Regiment, participates in a campaign against Yekaterinodar. In battles with the White Guards, Blisnyak showed amazing courage, which quickly made him a legendary person.

An excellent example of the feat of a fighter can be considered the battle near Rostov, which took place on July 1, 1918. On this day, the Red Army retreated, and Blisnyak remained in position to cover the retreat. He, alone with a machine gun, fought for five hours against superior enemy forces. When the cartridges for the machine gun ran out, the fighter continued to shoot at the enemy from the Mauser.

Despite the courage and skill of the warrior, his position was nevertheless captured. Blisnyak was cut down with swords on the spot, inflicting several blows, each of which was fatal in itself. But Anthony survived. He lay, pretending to be dead, until his fellow soldiers recaptured the trench. They could not believe their eyes when they saw the wounded machine gunner alive. After treatment in the hospital, Blisnyak returned to duty again.

In the winter of the same 1918, Blisnyak was captured by the "whites". They subjected the Red Army soldier to torture and wanted to shoot him, but the wounded Anton threw himself into the river and fled. A few days later he, as if nothing had happened, participated in the attack. There were many such cases in Blisniak's life. It is known that during the Civil War he received 26 wounds.

The imagination of those who have heard a lot about the exploits of Blisnyak, draws a broad-shouldered dashing grunt with a Budyonnovsky mustache. But a couple of surviving photographs of the hero destroy this stereotypical image. From the pictures taken in 1919 in the hospital, a tall, thin young man of 20-22 years old with one eye is looking at us.

In one photograph, Blisniak is holding a cigar in his hand. This is very unusual, but has an explanation. Cigars encouraged the most courageous fighters Leon Trotsky. The “demon of the revolution” took several boxes of these tobacco products from one of the captured warehouses. He carried them with him in an armored train and used them instead of orders and medals.

It is hard to believe that this guy, almost a child, was the bodyguard of Leon Trotsky, one of the first persons in Soviet Russia. But this fact is confirmed by documents and numerous witnesses. Some historians argue that the functions of Anton Blisnyak under Lev Davidovich were more extensive, and he also acted as an orderly.

True, this is unlikely, since the position of an orderly involves the delivery of dispatches to different units. It is impossible to combine the protection of an important person with the functions of a messenger. But one way or another, Trotsky completely trusted this young man.

After the end of the Civil War, traces of Anton Blisnyak are lost. The archives contain information about Anton Bliznyuk, an employee of the internal organs, who was repressed in 1936. It is quite possible that this is the same "red terminator", since in his youth he was often recorded as Bliznyuk.

Documents say that Bliznyuk received three years in the camps and was released in 1939. Unfortunately, at this point the thread breaks and the further fate of the heroic warrior is unknown. It is quite possible that information about him will someday be found in archival folders, which are still labeled "Secret".