Sonya Zolotaya Ruchka - biography, facts from life, photos, reference information. Sonka the Goldhand. Interesting facts from life and a short biography of the famous thief Wolf Bromberg

20.09.1902

Sonka the Goldhand
Bluestein Sofia Ivanovna

Legendary Outlaw

Sophia Bluestein was born on April 2, 1846 in the Powazki district of Warsaw, Poland. The girl's father was a small merchant who traded in smuggling and buying stolen goods. Childhood was spent among merchants who bought stolen goods: traders, usurers and smugglers. From the very childhood, Sonya turned out to be "smart on hand", was distinguished by brilliant acting skills and had a rich imagination, which she used exclusively for her own benefit.

The woman played brilliant combinations, deftly took money away and at the same time managed not to leave any evidence behind. Any man could envy her intelligence and fortitude, and, besides, she was a subtle psychologist, knew how to win over any person. It is interesting to communicate with her, she knew five languages, she was persistent and convincing in her judgments and had a huge talent. The brave, proud, independent adventurer Sonya was not afraid to rush into the most risky scams, since she had a sharp mind, and calculated the development of the situation several moves ahead.

Sophia Bluestein did not receive an education, but a life full of adventures and dangers turned her into one of the most educated women of her era. The aristocrats of Russia and European countries took her for a secular lady. For this reason, she traveled around Europe without much difficulty and presented herself as a baroness, a countess, or a viscountess.

Zolotaya Ruchka was mainly engaged in theft in hotels, jewelry stores, traded on trains, traveling around Russia and Europe. Smartly dressed, with someone else's passport, she appeared in the best hotels in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Odessa, Warsaw, carefully studied the layout of rooms, entrances, exits, corridors. Sonya invented a method of hotel theft called "guten morgen": she put felt shoes on her shoes and, silently moving along the corridors, entered someone else's room early in the morning. Under a strong predawn sleep, the owner quietly "cleaned out" his cash. If the owner unexpectedly woke up, an elegant lady in expensive jewelry, not noticing the "stranger", began to undress, as if mistaking the number for hers. It all ended with skillfully played out embarrassment.

In 1864, when Sheindle-Sure Solomoniak was eighteen years old, she married the grocery merchant Rosenband. The act of her marriage has been preserved in Warsaw. A year and a half later, the young woman ran away from her husband with her daughter and five hundred rubles.

From 1868 to 1874, Sophia married several more times. One of her husbands was the famous card sharper and wagon thief Michel Bluestein, whose last name he will bear until the end of his days. In the criminal field, she announced herself early enough. Known petty thefts when she was thirteen years old.

In November 1885, the Golden Pen was arrested and convicted of several thefts of jewelry for a large amount. It was guarded by the most trained overseers. The Bluestein case caused a great stir in Russia. The hall where the court session was held could not accommodate everyone. They sentenced Sonya to hard labor and sent to Sakhalin. On the day the steamer departed, there were a lot of people on the embankment of the Quarantine pier. Odessa came to say goodbye to Sonya Golden Hand.

On Sakhalin, Sonya's criminal talent did not allow her to live without "business". The woman rallied around her notorious thugs and began to plan criminal operations against wealthy settlers. Escapes in May 1891. This escape has become legendary in its own way. The loss of the Golden Handle was noticed immediately. Two detachments of soldiers threw in pursuit. One detachment drove the fugitive through the forest, the other was waiting for her at the edge of the forest. The chase lasted several days. A figure in a soldier's dress ran out of the forest to the edge of the forest. Exhausted by the expectation, the detachment commander ordered Pli. A volley of thirty rifles rang out. The shooting was carried out to kill. But the figure fell to the ground a moment before the shots were fired. Thirty bullets whizzed overhead. It was Sonya Zolotaya Ruchka disguised as a soldier.

In June of the same year, for a second escape, Sonya Zolotaya Ruchka was punished with fifteen lashes and imprisoned in solitary confinement for four years. All these years she worked hard from morning until late at night. The perpetrator was the first woman to be held in handcuffs. Then she was again transferred to a free settlement due to illness.

In the future, Sonya began to be listed as the keeper of leavened bread. She brewed excellent kvass, built a merry-go-round, recruited an orchestra of four people among the settlers, found a magician among the vagabonds, staged performances, dances, festivities, copying Odessa cafes in everything. She unofficially traded in vodka, bought and resold stolen goods, organized a gambling house. Police officials complained that they searched her house three times a week, day and night, but how and where she managed to store vodka, no one knew. They even checked the floor and walls: to no avail.

There are many legends about the last days of the Golden Hand on Sakhalin. But many historians agree that the already sick Sonya decided on a new escape in 1902. It turned out to be a gesture of despair, the last push for freedom. The woman walked only about two miles until her strength left her and she fell unconscious. She was found by the escorts during a round. A few days later, on September 20, 1902, without regaining consciousness, Sonya the Golden Pen died in the prison infirmary from a cold. She was buried in the local cemetery.

According to another legend, the last years of her life, the Golden Hand lived with her daughters in Moscow. Although they were in every possible way ashamed of the scandalous popularity of their mother. Old age and health, undermined by hard labor, did not allow him to actively engage in the old thief's profession. Died Sonya Zolotaya Pen in old age. She was buried in Moscow at the first site of the Vagankovskoye cemetery. After her death, the legend says, a monument was ordered from Milanese architects with money from Odessa and London swindlers and delivered to Russia.

Sonka the Goldhand, she is Rubinstein, she is Shkolnik, she is Brenner, she is Bluestein, nee Sheindlya-Sura Solomoniak.

Sofia Ivanovna Bluestein was born in 1846 in the small town of Powazki, Warsaw district. Sheindley's childhood was spent among merchants who bought stolen goods - traders, usurers and smugglers.

As they say, she did not shine with beauty, but she had that inner charm that simply cannot be resisted. Here is how she was described in the police orientation: "Height 1 m 53 cm, pockmarked face, moderate nose with wide nostrils, wart on the right cheek, brunette, curly hair on the forehead, mobile eyes, impudent and talkative." But, apparently, the ability to use make-up, wigs made the external shortcomings of the swindler invisible.

This woman played brilliant combinations, deftly took money away and at the same time managed not to leave any evidence behind. Any man could envy her intelligence and fortitude, and, besides, she was a subtle psychologist, knew how to win over any person. It was interesting to communicate with her, Sonya knew five languages, was persistent and convincing in her judgments. And she possessed the main thing that made her stand out from the crowd of ordinary scammers - she had a huge talent. Fortunately, or unfortunately, this talent was channeled into crime. The brave, proud, independent adventurer Sonya was not afraid to rush into the most risky scams, because possessed a sharp mind, and calculated the development of the situation several moves ahead. Sophia Bluestein did not receive an education, but a life full of adventures and dangers turned this person into one of the most educated women of her era. The aristocrats of Russia and European countries took her for a secular lady. For this reason, she easily traveled around Europe and presented herself as a baroness, then a countess, then a viscountess ... No one doubted her belonging to the aristocracy.

Zolotaya Ruchka was mainly engaged in theft in hotels, jewelry stores, traded on trains, traveling around Russia and Europe. Smartly dressed, with someone else's passport, she appeared in the best hotels in Moscow, Petersburg, Odessa, Warsaw, carefully studying the layout of rooms, entrances, exits, corridors. Sonya invented a method of hotel theft called "guten morgen". She put felt shoes on her shoes and, moving silently along the corridors, early in the morning entered someone else's room. Under a strong predawn sleep, the owner quietly "cleaned" his cash. If the owner woke up unexpectedly, an elegant lady in expensive jewelry, as if not noticing the "stranger", began to undress, as if mistaking the number for her ... It all ended with skillfully played out embarrassment and mutual bowing.

She loved to visit the famous Nizhny Novgorod fair, but often traveled to Europe, Paris, Nice, preferred German-speaking countries: Germany, Austria-Hungary, rented luxury apartments in Vienna, Budapest, Leipzig, Berlin. She lived on a grand scale. Her favorite places of rest were Crimea, Pyatigorsk and the foreign resort of Marienbad, where she posed as a titled person, since she had a set of different business cards. She did not count money, did not save for a rainy day. So, having arrived in Vienna in the summer of 1872, she pawned some of the things she had stolen in a pawnshop and, having received 15 thousand rubles on bail, spent it in an instant.

In 1864, when Sheindle-Sure Solomoniak was eighteen years old, she married the grocer I. Rosenband. In Warsaw, the act of her marriage has been preserved to this day. A year and a half later, the young woman ran away from her husband with her daughter and five hundred rubles.

From 1868 to 1874, Sophia married several more times. One of her husbands was the famous card sharper and car thief Michel Bluestein, whose surname she will bear for the rest of her days. In the criminal field, Sophia announced herself early enough. Petty thefts are known when she was 13 - 14 years old.

It is known about cases where Sonya showed nobility in relation to poor people who suffered from her deeds. One day she learned from the newspapers that one of the women she had robbed was the poor widow of an ordinary employee. After the death of her husband, the widow received a lump sum of five thousand rubles. Golden Pen, as soon as she recognized her "client" in a newspaper article, immediately hurried to the post office. Sonya sent the poor widow an amount exceeding the amount of stolen money, and accompanied the money transfer with a letter: "Merciful Empress! I read in the newspaper about the misfortune that befell you. I am sorry that my passion for money caused the misfortune. I return your money and advise you to go deeper. hide them. Once again I ask you for forgiveness. I send my regards to your poor babies. "

"Working" in the hotel, Sonya looked after one of the rooms. Opening the door, she entered a room dimly lit by a candle on the table. Sonya looked around. On the bed, she saw a young man sleeping in clothes over the covers. The Golden Pen went to the table where wallets, watches and other pleasant accessories of hotel customers are usually kept. But on the table, next to the candle, there were only some papers and a revolver. Sonya took the letters in her hands. They were addressed to the chief of police, the city attorney, the innkeeper and the mother. From the letters she learned that the young man had decided to commit suicide. It turned out that this young man spent 300 rubles from the state on the treatment of his seriously ill sister. He asked to calmly accept the news of his suicide as the only remedy for dishonor. Sonya put 500 rubles in one bill next to the letters and quietly left.

In November 1885, the Golden Pen was nevertheless convicted of several thefts of jewelry for a large amount. It was guarded by the most trained overseers. The Bluestein case caused a great stir in Russia. The hall where the court session was held could not accommodate everyone. The verdict was strict - hard labor. Sending to Sakhalin.

On the day the steamer departed, the entire embankment of the Quarantine pier was strewn with people. Odessa came to say goodbye to Sonya Golden Hand. On the deck of the steamer departing for Sakhalin, among the officials of the administration was the Odessa mayor P. Zelenaya. The high authorities wanted to take a closer look at the famous thief. After a short conversation, the mayor of Zelena wished Sonya a successful path and took pity on the Sakhalin authorities. Moved by such attention, Sonya decided to make a farewell gift to the governor. She held out her hand to the governor with a gold watch with an overlaid coat of arms eagle on the lid.
- Thank you, - the governor sluggishly thanked Sonya, looking at the dangling empty chain on his jacket, and immediately, under the cheerful laughter of the sailors, hastened to go ashore.

On Sakhalin, Sonya's criminal talent did not allow her to live without "business." She rallied around her notorious thugs and began to plan criminal operations against wealthy settlers. In May 1891, Sonya the Golden Hand escapes. This escape became legendary in its own way. The loss of the Golden Handle was noticed immediately. Two detachments of soldiers threw in pursuit. One detachment drove the fugitive through the forest, the other was waiting for her at the edge of the forest. The chase lasted several days. A figure in a soldier's dress ran out of the forest to the edge of the forest. Exhausted by the expectation, the detachment commander ordered PLI. A volley of thirty rifles rang out. The shooting was carried out to kill. But the figure fell to the ground a moment before the shots were fired. Thirty bullets whizzed overhead.
- Do not shoot! I give up, - came a desperate female voice.
It was Sonya Zolotaya Ruchka disguised as a soldier.
In June of the same year, Sonya Zolotaya Ruchka was punished with 15 lashes for a second escape (from an official document).

Officially, she began to be listed as the keeper of the leaven. She brewed excellent kvass, built a merry-go-round, recruited an orchestra of four people among the settlers, found a magician among the vagabonds, staged performances, dances, festivities, copying Odessa cafes in everything. She unofficially traded in vodka, bought and resold stolen goods, organized a gambling house. The police officers complained that they searched her house three times a week - day and night, but how and where she managed to store the vodka, no one knew. They even checked the floor and walls - to no avail.

There were a lot of legends about her on Sakhalin. For a long time, the opinion was held that this was not Sonya at all, that this was a "change-over", a figurehead who was serving a sentence while the real Golden Hand continued its elusive activity in rich Europe. It is a well-known fact that even the high Sakhalin authorities could not fully believe that Sofia Bluestein was serving a sentence in hard labor.

There are many legends about the last days of the Golden Hand on Sakhalin. But many historians agree that already sick Sonya decided on a new escape. They say that it was a gesture of despair, the last push for freedom. Sonya walked only about two miles. Her strength left her and she fell unconscious. She was found by the escorts during a round. A few days later, without regaining consciousness, she died in the prison infirmary.

True, in the mid-nine hundredths, a number of mysterious robberies swept across Europe. And the main suspect was a woman. The handwriting and description of the criminal resembled our heroine. The perpetrator was not caught. Again, everything pointed to the handwriting of the Golden Pen. But she was in hard labor.

The last years of her life, as the legend says, the Golden Hand lived with her daughters in Moscow. Although they were in every possible way ashamed of the scandalous popularity of their mother. Old age and health, undermined by hard labor, did not allow him to actively engage in the old thief's profession. But the Moscow police faced strange and mysterious robberies. A small monkey appeared in the city, which in jewelry stores jumped on a visitor who was picking up a ring or a diamond, swallowed a valuable item and ran away. Sonya brought this monkey from Odessa.

Legend has it that Sonya Zolotaya Handle died at an advanced age. She was buried in Moscow at the Vagankovskoye cemetery, plot number 1. After her death, the legend claims, a monument was ordered from the Milanese architects with the money of Odessa, Neapolitan and London swindlers and delivered to Russia.

The famous adventurer and thief Sonya Zolotaya Ruchka, the real name of Sheindlya-Sura Leibova Solomoniak-Bluestein, the daughter of a small usurer from the Warsaw district, was born in 1846 and lived in the wild for a little over 40 years (the date of her death is unknown). But during this time, thanks to her resourcefulness and ingenuity, she managed to become a living legend.

Possessing incredible imagination, she so mastered the skill of reincarnation that transforming from a nun into a secular lady (from a woman to a man, from a maid to a mistress) was a piece of cake for her. And if you add to this the extraordinary attractiveness (she was not particularly beautiful, but had the correct facial features, a good figure and sexually hypnotic eyes) and the ability to darken the eyes of any mortal, then it becomes clear how this woman managed to turn the most incredible shenanigans.

Sophia began to steal when she was still a girl. At first it was a petty theft, then she retrained and began to gamble, eventually becoming one of the most ingenious swindlers. The main places of her crafts were hotels, jewelry stores, entrances ... Moreover, she "worked" not only in Russia, but also in some European capitals.

Who could have suspected an attractive, dressed “to smithereens” woman, living on someone else's passport in the most respectable hotels in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Odessa, Warsaw, etc.?

Sonya even developed a special method of hotel theft, which she called "guten morgen".

Its essence consisted in the fact that early in the morning she entered the rooms, having previously put on felt shoes on her shoes, and while the unsuspecting owners slept in the sleep of the righteous, “raked out” all the cash and other valuables. If it happened that the owner of the room suddenly woke up, then she, without hesitating for a minute and without even looking in his direction, began to undress, allegedly making the wrong number. (Of course, few people would think to suspect a smartly dressed lady, hung with jewels from head to toe, of stealing.) Then, acting out extreme embarrassment and offering a bunch of apologies, she disappeared through the door.

Once, following the developed method, Sonya found herself in a young man's room in one of the provincial hotels. Looking around, she saw a young man sleeping on the bed. His pale and haggard face so struck her by the resemblance to Wolf (her lover, whose sharp face was never prone to moral suffering) that she decided to figure out what, in fact, was the matter. On the table lay a revolver and a small pile of letters, among them the thief found a letter to his mother. Sonya read it and found out that the young man had committed theft of state money, he was exposed, and now, in order to avoid shame, he is forced to shoot himself. Taking pity on the "craft comrade", she put 500 rubles on the table and quietly left.

This and some other actions of Sonya testify that kindness and compassion were not alien to her. Once, having committed a theft, and then reading in the newspaper that this time her victim was the widow of a petty culprit and the mother of two daughters (Sonya stole 5 thousand rubles from her - all that remained after her husband's death), the Golden Hand, which herself had two daughters , was imbued with remorse and sent the money stolen from her to the poor woman, providing her with an accompanying note: “Gracious lady! I read in the newspapers about the grief that befell you, which I was the reason for my unbridled passion for money, I send you your 5 thousand rubles and I advise you to hide the money deeper from now on. Once again I ask your forgiveness, I send my regards to your poor orphans. "

As for the theft, Sonya had practically no equal in this occupation. So, once the police managed to reveal one of the thief's hideouts - her apartment in Odessa. In it was found Sonya's dress, specially adapted for shoplifting. In fact, it was not even a dress, but only its semblance - a rather spacious bag, in the bins of which a small roll of expensive fabric could freely fit.

The thief acted with special skill in jewelry stores: in full view of everyone, with the help of special agents acting as a red rag, she skillfully hid precious stones under long nails or imperceptibly replaced real jewelry with fake ones, putting the first in flower pots. The next day, she calmly retrieved them from the hiding place.

Train passengers often became victims of Sonya. As a rule, she “worked” in first-class carriages, where one could meet bankers, landowners, wealthy foreigners and even generals (for example, the case of General Frolov is known, from whom Sonya stole no less than 213 thousand rubles).

Thefts in the compartment were carried out as follows: under the guise of some kind of marquise, countess (rich heiress), Sonya attracted fellow travelers, pretending that they made a strong impression on her (fortunately, the thief was better than any countess in appearance), and then after waiting for the victim to fall asleep in the sleep of the righteous, the imaginary aristocrat calmly did her dirty work. However, companions often did not fall asleep for a long time, overexcited from the coquetry of a frivolous "aristocrat", and then all the hypnotics available at that time were used: from intoxicating spirits, opium in wine or tobacco to chloroform.

As mentioned above, the adventurer perfectly mastered the skill of reincarnation: she skillfully used makeup, false eyebrows, wigs, wore expensive French hats and original fur capes, loved jewelry (she had a special weakness for them).

Sonya got used to living on a grand scale, and therefore did not skimp not only on expensive outfits, but also on vacation (especially since all the funds came to her quite easily). Posing as a noble person, Sonya preferred to rest in the Crimea, Pyatigorsk or abroad - in Marienbad. She always had a few business cards and romantic stories in store for this occasion.

For a long time, the Golden Hand worked alone, but over time she got tired of it and she organized her own gang, which included her ex-husbands (the first husband was the merchant Rosenbad, from whom the thief had a daughter), relatives, thief in law Berezin and Martin Yakobson ( Swedish-Norwegian citizen). It is interesting that all members of this small criminal organization obeyed their leader unconditionally, trusting her experience and skill.

It should be noted that such cooperation turned out to be beneficial for everyone: it was easier for Sonya to work, and her “colleagues” received good money for their help (after fleeing from her first husband with 500 rubles, the thief subsequently gave him tips many times, and as a result he received much more than she stole from him - so both were not at a loss). As mentioned above, the backbone of the gang consisted of the former lawful husbands of the Golden Hand. But there was one among them - Wolf Bromberg (nicknamed Vladimir Kochubchik), a twenty-year-old sharpshooter and raider who had inexplicable power over her, and therefore could manipulate her. Sonya not only succumbed to his persuasion and parted with large sums of money, but also took an unjustified risk. But it became more and more difficult for her to dissolve in the crowd, since the famous thief was searched for by the police in many cities of Western Europe and Russia.

In addition, Sonya's character deteriorated greatly, she became greedy and nervous. It was even rumored that the Golden Pen stopped neglecting pickpocketing.

It is not clear what Sonya found in Wolfe: he was not handsome, although he could well be classified as handsome. In addition, he was the only one who dared to set her up, and in the most shameless way. On Sonya's name day (September 30), Wolf adorned her neck with a velvet cloth with a blue diamond, which was taken on bail from a jeweler (as collateral, the fraudster provided a fake mortgage on a part of a non-existent house; the difference of four thousand rubles was paid by the jeweler in cash). The next day, he returned the diamond, citing the fact that the jewelry did not like his chosen one, and after half an hour the jeweler discovered a fake.

Later it became known that there was no trace of the house that acted as collateral. When the deceived jeweler broke into Wolf's house, he blamed everything on Sonya, accusing her of both forging a mortgage and supplying him with a fake. For this, Sonya was brought to trial, which took place from 10 to 19 December 1880.

During the trial, the Golden Hand behaved as if it was not about her at all, but about a completely different person, and she, an honest woman living at the expense of her husband and acquaintances of her admirers, was accused of what she had not really done. However, the people who testified not to Sonya's benefit were enough to deprive her of her property and send her to the remote regions of Siberia - to the remote village of Luzhki, Irkutsk province, from where the thief and the swindler managed to escape in 1885. But, apparently, happiness turned away from her; five months later she was caught again and sentenced to 40 lashes and three years of hard labor.

But even then Sonya did not lose her composure, but using her charm, she fell in love with the prison guard. Succumbing to Sonya's charms, he released her free. A new arrest took place four months later. This time, the Golden Hand had to wind up the term on Sakhalin.

Since the swindler could not remain without a man for a long time, at the stage she got along with the hardened criminal Blokha, and upon arrival at the place she often saw him, paying the warden for each meeting. Despite the short duration of secret meetings, Sonya and Blokh managed to develop an escape plan. And, although the plan proposed by Blokha was much easier and safer, Sonya insisted on her own, more risky: she always had a special passion for theatrical actions.

As you might expect, the escape was unsuccessful. Bloha was the first to be caught, and then Sonya. Fortunately for her, she turned out to be pregnant, and the doctors decided not to take any additional punishment against her. As for her accomplice, he was "awarded" 40 blows with whips and shackles (foot and hand).

The child from Flea was never born. Apparently, the difficult conditions of detention affected, but Sonya did not calm down and continued her machinations. As a result, she was repeatedly accused of fraud and even brought in as the leader in the murder of a settler shopkeeper. When, in 1891, she tried to make a second escape, she was handed over to the cruel executioner Komlev for reprisal, who struck the naked prisoner 15 lashes with lashes under the approval of the other criminals present.

However, no matter how painful it was, Sonya did not utter a sound. Silently, she crawled to the cell and fell onto the bunk. After that, she wore shackles for two years and eight months and was kept separately from everyone, in a tiny solitary cell with a tiny barred window. At that time, a lot of people came to admire the famous criminal, among whom were famous writers, journalists, foreigners. But since the "local landmark" did not like to talk about herself (and if she did, she was confused in information or lied), the visitors tried to at least take a picture with her.

At the end of her term, Sonya was to remain on Sakhalin as a free settlement. At one time she even ran a shantan cafe, where she traded alcoholic beverages from under the counter and arranged dances. At that time, her roommate was the cruel recidivist Nikolai Bogdanov, life with whom seemed to her much worse than hard labor. When Sonya no longer had the strength to endure his atrocities, she (being sick and exhausted) made another, last, attempt to escape.

The Golden Hand could not go far, and the escorts soon found it. A few days later, one of the most famous swindlers and thieves died.

Sonya was undoubtedly a gifted person, having not received an education, she spoke five languages. Traveling around Europe, she introduced herself as a countess, then as a baroness, and no one had a shadow of doubt.

The whole life of this amazing woman was surrounded by secrets and riddles, to the emergence of which she herself was largely involved.

According to one version, Sonya was born in 1859 into a large family of a poor Jewish barber Stendel in Berdichev. After the death of her mother, and later her father, four-year-old Sonya was taken to Odessa, where she was raised by her unloved stepmother.

Having escaped from her stepmother at the age of twelve, the smart and pretty Sonya fell into the service of the famous artist Julia Pastrana. The splendor and luxury surrounding Julia gave rise to envy and a thirst for enrichment in the soul of the future swindler, which served as the impetus for the beginning of a dizzying career as a thief ...

However, the version compiled by various historians based on metrics, criminal case materials and eyewitness memories is considered the closest to reality. So…

Sofia Ivanovna Bluestein, nee Sheindlya Sura Leibovna Solomoniak, was born in 1846 in the family of a small merchant in the town of Powonzki, Warsaw Uyezd. The family was not distinguished by decency - they traded in stolen goods, were engaged in smuggling. Well, how, tell me, from little Sheindley (the girl invented the name "Sophia" for herself) could a virtuous, God-fearing bourgeois woman grow? And Sonya honed her skills, revolving among the best local thieves.

However, she did not wear these marriage shackles for long. The husband, who regularly found either the military or the aristocrats on the marriage bed, could not stand it and filed for divorce.

For the first time Sonya was arrested on April 14, 1866 in a hotel in the city of Klin. She was accused of stealing a suitcase from the cadet Gorozhansky, whom she met on the train. But Sonya was not convicted, since from the courtroom she was bailed to a certain Lipson, the owner of the hotel, whom she managed to charm during her short stay in Klin. After this incident, Sonya became careful ...

After the Klin failure, Sonya moved to St. Petersburg, where, together with Michel Brener, she carried out a series of thefts. In the same place, in St. Petersburg, together with the famous thief Levit Sandanovich, she tried to create her own criminal group.

Obviously, it was during this period that a new method of hotel theft "Guten Morgen" was invented. The method was as simple as it was ingenious: an elegantly dressed, impeccable Sonya entered the victim's room and began looking for money and jewelry. If she was caught "hot" she was embarrassed, apologized, pretended to be wrong with the number. Sonya never left the room without prey, if necessary, she could even sleep with the victim and did not see anything shameful in this. This method was worked out by her to the smallest detail, and she practically did not know any failures.

In the seventies, Sonya, realizing that she had become somewhat familiar in St. Petersburg (and the scale is not the same!), She, along with several accomplices, went to Europe. Warsaw, Vienna, Paris, Leipzig - the geography of Sonya's crimes knew no boundaries. The swindler could easily pose as a Russian aristocrat traveling abroad. The doors to the best houses of the upper world were open before her ...

The wave of crimes that swept across Europe made the whole world talk about Sonya. "The Golden Pen" (such a nickname was given to Sonya in thieves' circles) was distinguished by special scrupulousness. She carefully prepared for each crime. Her team consisted of the best European thieves, in her arsenal there were many devices necessary for work: false nails, where the fraudster hid small jewelry stones, shoes with special heels, to which jewelry adhered "in time", a dress-bag, where Sonya hid loot ... But the main thing in her arsenal of all kinds of tricks was undoubtedly her acting talent, which helped her get out of any situations.

Sonya's reputation in the underworld grew every day. In 1872, Sophia Blueshtein received an offer to join the largest club of Russian swindlers "The Jack of Chervonny", and a few years later she headed it. The activities of the club extended over the entire territory of Russia.

In 1885, luck changed Sonya again, this time completely. After robbing several large jewelry stores, she was captured and, after a long trial, sentenced to hard labor. On the day the convicts sailed on the embankment of the Quarantine pier, the apple had nowhere to fall. It was Odessa who came out to say goodbye to Sonya - the Golden Hand. She tried three times to escape from hard labor - three times unsuccessfully. After the third attempt, Sonya died ...

In the materials of the investigation of 1872 (according to the verdict of the court, Sonya was then deprived of all civil rights) it is mentioned that she is a "Warsaw bourgeois", "nee Solomoniak", "26 years old." From which it is easy to conclude that the genuine Golden Handle was born in 1846. And, therefore, at the turn of the 1960s-1970s, she would have been the most honored repatriate, which, perhaps, would have ended up in the Guinness Book of Records.

It is known about the three daughters of Sophia Bluestein:
Sura-Rivka Isaakovna (nee Rosenbad) (born 1865) - abandoned by her mother, remained in the care of her father, Isaac Rosenbad, in the town of Powonzki, Warsaw province, fate is unknown.
Tabba Mikhailovna (née Bluestein) (born 1875) is an operetta actress in Moscow.
Mikhelina Mikhailovna (née Bluestein) (born 1879) is an operetta actress in Moscow.

In Moscow, at the Vagankovskoye cemetery, there is an amazing monument brought from Italy - a female figure made of gorgeous white marble under huge black palm trees. On the grave there are always fresh flowers and placers of coins, and the pedestal of the monument is covered with inscriptions like: "Sonya, teach me how to live", "Solntsevo lads will not forget you" or "Mother, give happiness to Zhigan". Lies under the tombstone (ordered with money from Odessa, Neapolitan, London, St. Petersburg and other swindlers) unforgettable to this day Sonya Zolotaya Ruchka. Or does not lie ...

Sonya-Golden Pen (Sheindlya-Sura Leibova Solomoniak, as well as Sofya Ivanovna Bluestein) is a legend. She was loved, she was worshiped, she was fawned upon. They wrote books about her, made films. The most brilliant houses of Europe opened their doors to her ... So who is she, Sofia Ivanovna Bluestein, Sonya - the Golden Hand, the legendary queen of the thieves' world?

Like any legend, it is overgrown with speculation, exaggeration, just lies. But nevertheless, you start to admire her against your will, although you realize that the image of "Sonya - the golden hand" was largely created by word of mouth.

The whole life of this woman was surrounded by secrets and riddles, to the emergence of which she herself was largely involved. Sonya lived by deception, therefore, after more than 100 years, we know almost nothing about her for certain. What was not said about her! And she allegedly lived in a Turkish harem, and opened a school of robbers in London, and had an uncountable number of lovers. And in the thieves' business, she simply had no equal. Somehow she managed to commit crimes in all parts of the world at the same time. And the victims swore that it was she, the impudent, beautiful, magnificent Sonya.

According to one version, Sonya was born in 1859 into a large family of a poor Jewish barber Stendel in Berdichev. After the death of her mother, and later her father, four-year-old Sonya was taken to Odessa, where she was raised by her unloved stepmother. Having escaped from her stepmother at the age of twelve, the smart and pretty Sonya fell into the service of the famous artist Julia Pastrana.

The splendor and luxury surrounding Julia gave rise to envy and a thirst for enrichment in the soul of the future swindler, which served as the impetus for the beginning of a dizzying career as a thief ... At the age of 17, Sonya fled with a young Greek, the son of a shopkeeper known in Odessa, taking a Greek dad from one of the shops a decent amount of money. However, the money did not last long, and along with the money, love disappeared. The unsuccessful lover returned to the family hearth, but Sonya ... Sonya was left alone, then she married the Odessa sharper Bluestein, and when he was in prison, she herself took up the "family business" in order to feed the children. And she ended up in prison also because of a man - she took the blame of a young lover on herself. (Whether it's true or not, Odessa has always been a city of luck and love for Sonya ...)

In general, not life, but a burning melodrama. The thieves' world loves romantic stories, but if the documents are to be believed, it was not like that.

Another version, compiled by various historians according to the surviving metrics, materials of criminal cases and eyewitness memories, is considered the closest to reality.

In the documents of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Sofya Ivanovna (!) Bluestein, nee Sheindlya-Sura Leibova Solomoniak, was referred to as a "Warsaw bourgeois woman". She was born in 1846 in the family of a small merchant in the town of Powонzki, Warsaw district. The family was the same - they bought stolen goods, were engaged in smuggling. The elder sister Feiga was also a talented thief, but Sheindlya (the girl invented the name "Sophia" for herself) outdid everyone. And Sonya honed her skills, revolving among the best local thieves.

Her "way up" was lined with cheated men. The first victim can be considered the venerable grocer Isaac Rosenbad, whom eighteen-year-old Sheindlya successfully married in 1864. At first, she diligently tried to play the role of a good wife and even gave birth to Rosenbad's daughter Suru-Rivka, but she didn't have enough patience: after a year and a half of family life, Sofya Rosenbad, taking 500 rubles from her husband's grocery store, disappeared in an unknown direction.

Sonya the Golden Handle is back Larisa REZNIKOVA. Moskovsky Komsomolets from 20.04.2007 Viktor Merezhko made a film about the legendary swindler The screenwriter and director Viktor Merezhko, who went down in the history of cinema with his scripts about the heroes of our time ("Flights in Dreams and in Reality", "Sorry"), turned to history. On Monday, at 21.15, a new large-scale series “Sonya the Golden Hand” will start on the channel “Russia”, in which Merezhko acted as a screenwriter, director and even played one of the roles. He invited stars to master the subtleties of the underworld - Dmitry Nagiyev, Bogdan Stupka, Irina Alferova, Oleg Basilashvili. Sonya the Golden Hand was played by debutante Anastasia Mikulchina. There are still many legends about the queen of the underworld, the brilliant 19th century swindler Sonya the Golden Hand. Sonya never stooped to banal cleaning of pockets. Freeing their "clients" from money and jewelry turned into a performance with many ingenious tricks and tricks. And Sonya herself, despite the fact that she was born in a poor family, was very educated: she knew six foreign languages, played the piano brilliantly. And the Golden Hand received her famous nickname for her musical talent, and much earlier than she ascended the criminal Olympus. Merezhko entrusted the main role to Anastasia Mikulchina, a recent graduate of the St. Petersburg Theater Academy. The director was looking for Sonya for a long time. After all, this role requires a young beautiful actress who can play a heroine from 16 to 40 years old. I didn't have to talk to the director for a long time. I was quickly approved for the main role, - Nastya told MK. - It turned out that Merezhko had seen 70 applicants before me ... At first, of course, I was glad that I would play Sonya. But as the shooting approached, I was very worried, suddenly I could not cope, the role was too multifaceted. It was also frightening that very little is known about Sonya, mainly legends and rumors appear. According to Mikulchina, there will be no real thieves' tricks in the series, it is too difficult to photograph them. For the picture, special cinematic tricks were invented. Anastasia even invented one of them herself. In the scene of the ball in Odessa, the actress decided to joke and pulled a pin from the tie of one of the actors. Merezhko saw and asked to repeat it on camera. The series turned out to be large-scale and difficult to stage. For Sonya alone, 50 dresses were sewn. As Mikulchina said, she felt most comfortable in the heroine's children's dresses. Since they are very simple, without crinolines and corsets. The young actress did not immediately get used to the latter. The shooting took place in the homeland of the heroine, in Odessa and in Karelia. Most of the time fell on St. Petersburg, where Sonya lived the longest. It's funny that Merezhko also filmed many of the Moscow scenes in the Northern capital. And old Moscow, in my opinion, can only be found in St. Petersburg! The hardest part turned out to be in Karelia, where we filmed scenes of hard labor, - Viktor Merezhko shared with MK. - We found an old, abandoned village, blown by all the winds, rebuilt it into barracks for prisoners and settled in them 50 people from the crowd ... For me, the final scenes turned out to be the most difficult, - Mikulchina continued the conversation. - When Sonya decided to return to her daughters, they abandoned her. I have no children of my own, and I only know firsthand what the betrayal of loved ones is. One of the roles - the head of the criminal society “The Jack of Hearts” - was played by Viktor Merezhko himself. Thanks not only to this role, but also to the work on the series in general, I have changed a lot. Now it's hard to fool me. Moreover, I consulted with several crime consultants. They even promised me the best bunk in a real prison - in case I get there! - Victor Ivanovich laughs. By the way, both Mikulchina and Merezhko at one time became victims of swindlers. But if the actress's mobile phone was simply stolen in a bowling club, then the director was seriously injured. For the sake of the man whom he considered his friend, he took a large loan from the bank. And the one with the money disappeared ...

The second time, in 1868, Sheindlya married an old rich Jew Shelom Shkolnik (whom she also left without money), and the third time - to the railway thief Michel Bluestein, under his name she appears in all court cases. The marriage gave her a daughter, Tabba, but quickly fell apart, because the husband was furious when Sonya decided her affairs with the help of sexual charms.

She got married several times, having visited Sophia Rubinstein, and Sophia Shkolnik, and Sophia Brener, and Sophia Bluestein ... At the same time, she managed to maintain not only good relations with her ex-husbands, but also to subordinate them to herself. In several cases, developed by Sonya, two or three of her ex-husbands were involved. So, in the Dinkevich case, whom Sonya "shod" for 127 thousand rubles, Itska Rosenbad played the role of a notary, Michel Bluestein - a butler, Hunya Goldstein - a coachman ... Well, just an amazing woman!

Sonya generally enjoyed incredible success with men, although, according to eyewitnesses, she was not a beauty. "Height 153 cm, pockmarked face, nose with wide nostrils, thin lips, wart on the right cheek" - this is how Sofya Bluestein is described in the surviving police descriptions-orientations.

But seductive women do not need flashy beauty, they have their own magic, their own techniques. Here, not only artistry and the gift of reincarnation, they feel in their gut how to make any person obedient. Sophia Bluestein possessed this natural gift beyond all measure, and in the game she reached perfection. And talent, cunning and absolute immorality made this young provincial a genius of a scam, a legendary adventurer, queen of the underworld. Vlas Doroshevich, a popular journalist at the end of the 19th century, who spoke with an adventurer on Sakhalin, noticed that her eyes were "wonderful, infinitely cute, soft, velvet ... and spoke in such a way that they could even lie perfectly."

For the first time Sonya was arrested on April 14, 1866 in a hotel in the city of Klin - then she was a modest thief "on trust" on the railway. She was accused of stealing a suitcase from the cadet Gorozhansky, whom she met on the train. This was the first and last time Sonya was caught red-handed. But Sonya was not convicted, since everyone, including Misha Gorozhansky, believed that the girl took her fellow traveler's suitcase by mistake, confusing it with hers. Moreover, the statement of "Sima Rubinstein" about the loss of three hundred rubles from her was left in the protocol. After this incident, Sonya became careful ...

After the Klin failure, Sonya moved to St. Petersburg, where, together with Michel Brener, she carried out a series of thefts. She did not like small things and impromptu. I prepared carefully, tried to predict the accident. She was mainly engaged in theft in hotels, jewelry stores, traded on trains, traveling around Russia and Europe. She spoke five languages, perfectly mastered secular manners and at the same time Sonya remained the "aristocrat" of the criminal world. She was proud of her nickname as a court title; the most famous Petersburg swindlers were her lovers.

Preferring to act alone, in the same place, in St. Petersburg, she created her own gang, inviting the famous thief Levit Sandanovich. Later, the thief in law Berezin and the Swedish-Norwegian citizen Martin Yakobson entered her group.

Sonya was an extremely resourceful criminal. She had her own "crown" tricks: under specially grown long nails, she hid precious stones, shoes with special heels, to which jewelry adhered "in time", for theft in stores she had a dress-bag in which a whole roll of fabric could hide. She went out to business with a monkey - while the hostess was bargaining, the animal swallowed stones, and at home it was freed from them with an enema. She constantly used makeup, false eyebrows, wigs, wore expensive Parisian hats, original fur capes, mantilla, adorned herself with jewelry for which she had a weakness. But the main thing in her arsenal of all kinds of tricks was undoubtedly her acting talent, which helped her extricate herself from any situation.

Obviously, it was during this period that she invented a new method of hotel theft, called "Guten Morgen". The method was as simple as it was ingenious: an elegantly dressed, impeccable Sonya entered the victim's room and began looking for money and jewelry. If she was caught "hot" she was embarrassed, apologized, pretended to be wrong with the number. Sonya never left the room without prey, if necessary, she could even sleep with the victim and did not see anything shameful in this. This method was worked out by her to the smallest detail, and she practically did not know any failures.

A special page in her life is occupied by thefts on trains - separate compartments of the first class. Exquisitely dressed, Sonya sat in a compartment, playing the role of a marquise, countess or a rich widow. Having arranged her fellow travelers and pretending to give in to their courtship, the impostor marquis talked a lot, laughed and flirted, waiting for the victim to start to fall asleep. However, carried away by the appearance and sexual appeals of a frivolous aristocrat, the rich gentlemen did not fall asleep for a long time. And then Sonya used sleeping pills - intoxicating spirits with a special substance, opium in wine or tobacco, bottles of chloroform, etc. railway - 213,000 rubles.

Good deeds were not alien to Sonya's wide nature.

One morning Sonya was on her business in a provincial hotel room, where she saw a young man sleeping, with a pale and exhausted face. On the table lay a revolver and letters. Sonya read one thing - to her mother. The son wrote about the theft of state money: the loss was discovered, and suicide is the only way to avoid dishonor. Sonya put five hundred rubles on top of the envelopes, pressed them with a revolver and left the room just as quietly.

Once, from the newspapers, Sonya learned that she outright robbed the unfortunate widow, the mother of two girls, from whom she had stolen 5,000 rubles on the train. This money was a one-time payment for the death of her husband, a minor official. Sonya sent the widow five thousand and a small letter by mail. "Dear Empress! I read in the newspapers about the grief that befell you, which I was the reason for my unbridled passion for money, I send you your 5,000 rubles and advise you to hide your money from now on. Once again I ask you for forgiveness, I send a bow to your poor orphans."

And Sonya did not forget about her daughters, who were brought up in strangers, regularly sending money.

Sonya's reputation in the underworld grew every day. In 1872, Sophia Blueshtein received an offer to join the largest club of Russian swindlers, the Jacks of Hearts, and a few years later she headed it. The activities of the club extended over the entire territory of Russia.

Realizing that in St. Petersburg she became somewhat familiar (and the scope is not the same!), Sonya, along with accomplices went to Europe. Warsaw, Vienna, Paris, Leipzig - the geography of Sonya's crimes knew no boundaries. Despite her lack of education, she possessed a sharp mind and strong intuition. In addition, over the years of her stormy activity, Sophia Bluestein has perfectly mastered the languages ​​- German, French, Polish. The swindler could easily pose as a Russian aristocrat traveling abroad. The doors to the best houses of high society were open before her ...

The wave of crimes that swept across Europe made the whole world talk about Sonya.

Sonya lived on a grand scale. Her favorite places of rest were Crimea, Pyatigorsk and the foreign resort of Marienbad, where she posed as a titled person, since she had a set of different business cards. She did not count money, did not save for a rainy day. So, having arrived in Vienna in the summer of 1872, she pawned some of the things she had stolen in a pawnshop and, having received 15 thousand rubles on bail, spent it in an instant.

She came across more than once. Sonya was tried in Warsaw, Petersburg, Kiev, Kharkov, but she always managed to either deftly escape from the police unit, or to get an acquittal. However, the police were also hunting her in many cities of Western Europe. For example, in Budapest, by order of the Royal Court of Justice, all her belongings were arrested; In 1871, the Leipzig police handed Sonya over to the supervision of the Russian embassy. She slipped away this time too.

In 1876, she was detained by the Viennese police, who confiscated a chest with stolen things from her, but she manages to escape from custody with the help of a warden in love with her ... Falling into the hands of the Krakow police, Sonya manages to steal from her (!) Lawyer, who, despite this, he did not refuse to defend her, and Sonya got off with just a two-week sentence ...

The audience was delighted with Sonya's tricks. We have so much fun watching others being cheated until we are the victims.

But soon her luck turned away. A streak of failures began - her name was often featured in the press, her photographs were posted in police stations. The popularity of the Golden Pen among the people was so great that in the era of the absence of television news, it was recognized on the street. It became more and more difficult for Sonya to dissolve in the crowd, she became too famous, and this, given her "profession", is simply harmful.

When Sonya Zolotaya Ruchka first appeared in the dock, all Russian newspapers reported about it.

Set up her new lover, Wolf Bromberg, a twenty-year-old Odessa sharpshooter and raider, nicknamed Vladimir Kochubchik. Probably Sonya really loved Kochubchik, who extorted from her and lost large sums of money, and Sonya more often than before, took unjustified risks, became greedy, irritable, even went down to pickpocketing.

On the day of her angel, September 30, 1880, Wolf decorated the neck of his mistress with a velvet cloth with a blue diamond, which was taken on bail from an Odessa jeweler. The pledge was a mortgage on a part of the house on Lanzheron. The cost of the house was four thousand higher than the cost of the stone - and the jeweler paid the difference in cash. A day later, Wolf unexpectedly returned the diamond, announcing that his lady did not like the gift. Half an hour later, the jeweler discovered a fake, and after another hour he established that there was no house on Langeron either. When he broke into Bromberg's rooms on Moldavanka, Wolf admitted that Sonya had given him a copy of the stone and she had also concocted a false mortgage. The jeweler did not go to Sonya alone, but with the police officer.

The trial over her was from 10 to 19 December 1880 in the Moscow District Court. Playing a noble indignation, Sonya fought desperately, not admitting either the charges or the evidence presented. Despite the fact that the witnesses identified her from the photograph, Sonya stated that the Golden Hand is a completely different woman, and she lived on the funds of her husband, familiar admirers. Sonya was especially outraged by the revolutionary proclamations thrown into her apartment by the police. In a word, she behaved in such a way that later the attorney at law A. Shmakov, recalling this process, called her a woman capable of “plugging a hundred men in the belt,” and also noted that “Sophia Bluestein is an outstanding example of what can put on the criminal scene of Jewry ". The verdict read: "Warsaw petty bourgeois Sheindlu-Sur Leibova Rosenbad, she Rubinstein, she Shkolnik, Brenner and Bluestein, nee Solomoniak, depriving all the rights of her fortune, exile to settle in the remotest places of Siberia."

And her young lover, having escaped with 6 months of the "working house", became a wealthy landowner in the south of Russia.

In May 1883, a charming client appeared in the shop of the jeweler Karl von Mehl. A young lady, socialite and wealthy, sweetly grazing, introduced herself as the wife of the famous psychiatrist L., chose products by French masters for thirty thousand rubles, wrote out an invoice and made an appointment at her home. At the appointed hour, a jeweler with a collection of diamonds entered the doctor's waiting room. The hospitable hostess met him, took the box to try on the treasures for an evening dress, and invited him to her husband's study. When the jeweler insistently demanded that the psychiatrist pay bills or return the diamonds, he was tied up by orderlies and taken to a hospital. As it turned out in the evening, the beauty introduced herself to the doctor as the wife of von Mel, said that her husband had gone crazy on "stones", and paid for his treatment in advance. Of course, the swindlers are gone ...

In October 1884, in the Odessa cafe Fanconi, the banker Dogmarov met Madame Sophia San Donato. During conversations, she asked to change her rent in a thousand rubles. It soon became clear that the lovely lady was leaving for Moscow by the evening train, the same as Mr. Dogmarov. The banker offered himself to be a travel companion. In the compartment they chatted graciously and ate chocolates. In the morning, the well-slept businessman did not find any money or securities in the amount of 43 thousand rubles.

In August 1885, the manager of Khlebnikov's jewelry store on Petrovka recommended a collection of jewelry worth 22,300 rubles to the Courland baroness Sophia Buxgewden. When the jewelry was packed, the venerable lady remembered that she had forgotten the money at home. She, along with the diamonds, hastily left for cash, leaving as collateral the accompanying relatives - a father, whitewashed with gray hair, and a female baby along with a bonna. When two hours later they told the police station, it turned out that these "relatives" had been hired at Khitrovka by an advertisement in the newspaper.

But in the same year, 1885, luck changed Sonya again, this time completely. After robbing several major jewelry stores, she was captured and sentenced to three years of hard labor and 40 lashes. However, in prison, Sonya did not waste time - she fell in love with the prison warden, non-commissioned officer Mikhailov. He gave his passion a civilian dress and on the night of June 30, 1886 brought her free. But Sonya enjoyed her freedom for only four months. After a new arrest, she ended up in the Nizhny Novgorod prison castle. Now she had to serve a hard-labor term on Sakhalin.

At least three times Sonya tried to flee from Sakhalin, where at first, like all women, she lived as a free resident.

Even at the stage, she got along with a comrade in hard labor, a brave, hardened elderly thief and murderer Blokha. Sonya shoved a pretty penny to the guard soldier to let her into the dark barrack hallway, where she met Blokha. During these brief meetings, Sonya and her seasoned roommate developed an escape plan.

Fleeing from Sakhalin was not such a difficult task - Blokha was no longer the first to run and knew that from the taiga, where three dozen people work under the supervision of one soldier, to make his way among the hills to the north, to the narrowest point of the Tatar Strait between the Pogobi and Lazarev capes - worthless. And there - desertedness, you can put together a raft and move to the mainland. But Sonya, who even here did not get rid of her passion for theatrical adventures, and, moreover, was afraid of many days of hunger, came up with her own version - they would not hide, but would play a hard labor assignment: Sonya in a soldier's dress would "escort" Bloch.

Bloch was caught first. Sonya, who continued on her way alone, got lost and went out to the cordon. But this time she was lucky. The doctors of the Alexandrovsky infirmary insisted on removing corporal punishment from the Golden Pen: she turned out to be pregnant. Flea received forty lashes and was chained in hand and foot shackles. When he was flogged, he shouted: "For my cause, your honor, for the cause! Serves me right!"

Sonya Zolotoy Ruchka's pregnancy ended in miscarriage. Her further Sakhalin confinement resembled a delirious dream. Sonya was accused of fraud and the kidnapping of 56,000 rubles from the Jewish settler Yurkovskiy, she was involved in the murder of the settler-shopkeeper Nikitin.

In 1891, for a second escape, she was handed over to the terrible Sakhalin executioner Komlev. Stripped naked, surrounded by hundreds of prisoners, under their encouraging hooting, the executioner inflicted fifteen lashes on her, after which Sonya was shackled in hand shackles and placed in solitary confinement, where she spent almost three years. There was a rumor that it was no longer Sonya, but a "changer", a figurehead.

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, having seen a famous adventurer during a trip to Sakhalin, described her in the book Sakhalin, “a small, thin, already graying woman with a rumpled old woman’s face ... She walks around her cell from corner to corner, and it seems that she always sniffs the air, like a mouse in a mousetrap, and her expression is like a mouse ... "By the time of the events described by Chekhov, that is, in 1891, Sofya Bluestein was only forty-five years old ... By the way, Sakhalin photographer Innokenty Ignatievich Pavlovsky sent Chekhov a photograph "Putting the famous Sonya the Golden Hand in hand shackles", which is now kept in the State Literary Museum.

Vlas Mikhailovich Doroshevich, a talented reporter of his time, who met her during his trip to Sakhalin in 1905, when Sofya Ivanovna was already living in a settlement with her exiled cohabitant Bogdanov, wrote in more detail about "Sonya - the Golden Hand". According to the camp terminology, she was considered a "peasant woman from the exiles," but the all-Russian, almost European celebrity Sonya was in the center of attention even on Sakhalin. Sofia's roommate - Bogdanov - said to Doroshevich about her: "Tepericha Sofya Ivanovna are sick and are not engaged in any business."

Doroshevich was impatiently awaiting a meeting with "Mephistopheles", "Rokambol in a skirt", with a mighty criminal nature, which was not broken not by penal servitude, nor solitary confinement, nor heavy hand shackles.

And finally, the long-awaited meeting took place. Before the eyes of the famous journalist and reporter stood a small, fragile old woman with traces of departed youth, with a rouged face, wrinkled like a baked apple, in an old hood. "Is it really, - thought Doroshevich, - it was She?" In her manner of speaking, she was a simple Odessa bourgeois woman, a shopkeeper who knew Yiddish and German. An excellent connoisseur of human characters, Doroshevich could not understand how her victims could have mistaken the Golden Handle for a famous artist or an aristocratic widow?

In fact, even the administration of the penal servitude was not sure that it was Sophia Bluestein who was serving time. Especially after a series of crimes similar in handwriting to Sonkin swept across Europe in the late nineties.

Sakhalin officials, who learned that Doroshevich had seen and remembered photographs of the Golden Hand, taken even before the trial, asked him: "Well, is she the same?" To which a journalist with an excellent professional memory replied: "Yes, but only the remains of that Sonya."

Allegedly, after serving a sentence in solitary confinement and being transferred to a settlement, she became a keeper of leavened bread at the Alexander post. She organized an orchestra of four settlers, built a merry-go-round, found a wandering magician, staged performances, dances, with all her might copying Odessa cafes dear to her heart. She sold vodka from under the counter, which was strictly prohibited on Sakhalin, and opened a gambling house. And although this was widely known, no searches have identified the manufacturer of the "green serpent". Only empty kvass bottles were found by the guards. According to rumors, Sonya sold and bought stolen things, but the police could not detect the stolen goods.

Thus, she "fought for life", dreaming of returning to Russia again. She showered the capital's reporter with questions about the city of her childhood - Odessa. During one of the meetings, Sonya told Doroshevich that she had two daughters in Odessa who performed as pages in the operetta. She begged to inform her of their fate, since she had not received any news from them for a long time. As Doroshevich wrote about this story, "Rockambol was no longer in a skirt." An old woman, the mother of her children, about whose fate she had not known anything for a long time, sobbed in front of the capital's reporter.

It is not known for certain about the last days of the life of the famous Sonya-Golden Hand. Allegedly, she, sick and embittered, decided on a new escape and left Aleksandrovsk. She walked about two miles and, losing strength, fell. The escorts found her, and a few days later the Golden Handle died.

Nevertheless, popular rumor claimed that Sonya did not die in Sakhalin penal servitude.

Odessans claimed that Sonya lived incognito on Prokhorovskaya Street. And in 1921, when the Cheka shot her last lover, she drove in a car along Deribasovskaya street and scattered money "for her husband's funeral." They also said that the last days of the Golden Hand lived in Moscow with daughters who hid their unlucky mother from people, therefore, here, on Vagankovsky, she was buried ...

They say a lot, but only no one knows how it really was.

By the way, in Odessa, the ghost of Sonya is allegedly still walking in Shevchenko Park: residents of nearby houses often notice a sullen woman dressed in outfits of the 19th century, with her head down, she walks along the alley towards the port. It was along this route, a little less than a century ago, that Sophia Bluestein was led through the park to the harbor, from where she was sent to be executed in Sakhalin.

The ghost of Sonya is playing pranks in other places of Odessa-mother.

There is a legend among taxi drivers that once a mysterious woman dressed in the old fashion got into a taxi-car. “The stranger gave the address, and when the car drove up and it was time to pay, she took out a small jewel from under her nail, gave it to the driver, got out and hurried away. Later it turned out that the habit of hiding jewelry under the nails was Sonya Golden Hand. Seeing the portrait of the legendary criminal, the taxi driver could not come to his senses for a long time, the similarity was obvious.

When, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a wave of crimes swept across Europe, surprisingly resembling the famous swindler in handwriting, they were attributed to Sonya-Zolotoy Pen. Imagine the surprise of the Russian police when a sensational announcement appeared in all the newspapers of the world that the famous Sonya - the Golden Pen - was seized by the police of one of the countries. She introduced herself as the wife of the Archduke, and in the police she called herself Sophia Beck. But they failed to find out anything - the fraudster escaped from under the convoy, charming one of the guards ...

However, these crimes were allegedly committed by another adventurer - Olga von Stein. In the late XIX - early XX century "Sonya - the Golden Pen" became a symbol of the superstar of the criminal world. At the time when the real Sophia was serving her exile in Sakhalin, her name soared through the cities and villages of Russia. It is quite natural that Olga von Stein, who copied Sonya's handwriting and "worked" until 1912, "inherited" the famous thief's nickname.

Only Vagankovsky is so crowded. Of course, many come to this cemetery not to their relatives, but rather on an excursion, to the graves of famous actors, athletes, and politicians. The cemetery is divided into small sectors, to which the alleys lead. If you follow the Shchurovskaya trail, it will lead you to a white-stone marble monument depicting a woman standing under three palm trees.

Beck of the Golden Pen

Over time, the statue lost its arms and head, and only one of the three palm trees remained. According to one of the legends, it was installed by order of the Petersburg and Odessa thieves, since it was here that Sonya Zolotaya Ruchka was reburied. They say that the sculpture was commissioned from a Milanese master, alas, the author's name remained unknown. Time has not spared either the statue of a young slender girl or the wrought-iron fence, which is destroyed by seasonal rainfall and lack of proper care. The worship of the monument began in the 90s of the XX century. The entire sculpture, almost to the toes, is covered with various inscriptions of the following content: "Sonya, dear, help me get rich!", "Give me health, happiness, love" or "Help to become good thieves. The gang from St. Petersburg "," Sonechka, rest in peace to you! From the Belarusian lads. " Flowers lie near a marble slab, which goes deep into the ground; at the foot of the statue, someone left an inverted faceted glass, a lot of sweets and other food. Apparently, people often visit this grave, where, according to thieves, sniffer and tweezers, Sonya was once buried.

Cemetery employee Denis Asanov explains the statue's lack of a head and limbs by the fact that they were sawed off and stolen by ordinary thieves as talismans for good luck. According to Denis Borisovich, the information that Sonya the Golden Hand was allegedly reburied on Vagankovsky is just a myth.

Was there Sonya?

There is another legend in the administration of the cemetery, says Denis, which was told to them by a woman who had visited this grave for many years. According to the organizer of the ritual, this statue was installed at the burial site of a young girl, and not the famous adventurer and swindler Sonya. This girl belonged to a very rich and noble family, her father was a merchant and philanthropist. The girl's life could have turned out in a completely different way, but it turned out that she fell in love with a tenor who had arrived from Italy and became pregnant. The girl's father was against her marriage to a man who had neither stake nor yard. In response to the father's decision, the daughter decides to commit suicide. In those days, it was forbidden to bury suicides on the territory of the cemetery, and it is simply incredible that the girl's father was able to obtain permission to bury his daughter in accordance with all the canons. If you carefully examine the ornament at the foot of the statue, you can see intricate crosses on the marble slab on which the statue was installed. Denis Asanov reads that these drawings have nothing to do with the culture of our country, here the technique and tradition of European masters is captured. Once there was also a small sculpture of a stork near the monument of a young girl, but it has long been destroyed, the palm trees that are installed behind the statue were also brought from abroad. No matter how the staff tried to explain to the visitors of the cemetery that in fact Sonya was not buried on Vagankovsky, everything was unsuccessful, every day many people come to bow and ask for help from the Golden Hand. All of them sincerely believe in the legend that it is the famous swindler who is buried under a marble slab, says Denis Borisovich. There are many myths about Sonya's life and death, but if we imagine that she did die on Sakhalin in the prison infirmary, it’s hard to believe that her body was reburied in Moscow. However, the legend must remain a legend. It is almost impossible to find out exactly who is buried at site # 1. The myths about Sonya the Golden Hand and the legends about the merchant's daughter who died because of unhappy love have their own right to exist. That's why they are myths.