Even among his colleagues - atamans of the Civil War period, he was known as a Nazi and an executioner. A former officer, for the sake of wealth and power, he rejected human laws and military regulations.
The image of this cruel man was lost behind Soviet caricatures of him. During the Civil War, the monster was ridiculed to instill courage in the fighters, in subsequent years, artists in their work tried to avoid frightening scenes and characters. The truth about him is much worse than any fiction.
Childhood
In ancient times, a Bulgarian family with the beautiful surname Angel arrived in the Chernigov province. They were economic people, so the landowners willingly hired them. Peter Angel acted as a housekeeper and gamekeeper in the estate of Vasily Tarnovsky Kachanovka. In 1896 he became the father of a boy, whom he gave the name Eugene.
Little Zhenya was attracted by the master's chambers. The luxurious palace attracted with luxury and a collection of wonders, which were collected by the owner. The aristocrat was fond of the history of the Middle Ages and especially the Cossacks. The kid listened with interest about what bloody events are associated with each artifact. Later, he often recalled these stories of adults, when he reasoned that blind hatred opens the way to power, the dark people love militant dictators, and the easiest way to take possession of material goods is by robbery.
Service
The happy childhood came to an end in 1901. The boy was sent to his aunt in the Caucasus. The reasons for this were economic. Tarnovsky sold the estate for debts, and the new owners did not need the old servants. A relative of Evgenia did not want her personal life to be replenished with someone else's child, so she sent the guest to study at the Vladikavkaz Cadet Corps. This was not the worst option - the teenager received an excellent education and in the future could later claim high ranks in the army.
Relatives paid for the boy's education. When Zhenya's parent ran out of money, the guy had to leave this educational institution. He returned to his native land, where he entered the Higher Ministerial School in the city of Ichnya. In 1912 Eugene Angel graduated from it. He managed to learn foreign languages and could find a well-paid job, but he was in no hurry with it. Relatives tried to speed up the process by finding a wife Elizabeth for the heir, but the young man was waiting for his finest hour. His dreams of a military career never left him. As soon as the First World War began, the young man graduated from the school of warrant officers and went to the front.
Bandit
Evgeny Angel did not succeed in becoming a general. The rank of a junior officer did not suit him. The February revolution with the creation of soldiers' committees also did not satisfy the ambitions of the warriors - his colleagues did not trust him, therefore they did not nominate him for any positions. At the end of 1917, he deserted to seek his fortune outside the regular troops.
The huntsman's son appeared in his native Chernigov province and gathered a gang. Childhood memories prompted him to dress up in a red caftan similar to those worn by the Cossacks. The ataman's outfit was archaic and ridiculous, and soon he changed this dress to the Circassian one. By the summer of 1918, robber bands began to unite to fight the hetman Pavel Skoropadsky. This protégé of the Germans promised them freedom, but preferred to please the Western masters. Evgeny Angel called his unit “Kuren of Death named after. koshevoy Ivan Sirk”and found allies in the person of the Directory.
Bloody path
The ataman entered the battles with the German troops as a regular soldier. This did not prevent him from observing either the rules or the charter. He attacked units of the Germans after the armistice in order to repulse their weapons. It immediately went into action - the Cossacks began to plunder the people. They were especially ferocious towards the Jews. The angel instilled Nazi views among his subordinates, for which even his colleagues did not like him. Those who tried to take power away from him were mercilessly destroyed by the ataman.
After pogroms and mass executions of innocent people, the criminal went to his wife. Lisa could not but know what her husband was doing, but he gave her expensive things, and their house was always under the protection of his thugs. She bore him a son, who was named Anatoly. Later, the biography of his parents will play a fatal role in his fate.
In a trap
Father Angel's gang made a contribution to the victory of the Bolsheviks. In 1919 the people, exhausted by the raiders, were waiting for the advancing Red Army as a liberator. The executioner in Circassian coat tried to conclude an alliance with Simon Petliura, but the two villains could not find a common language. Eugene was an adventurer, so he decided on an unusual maneuver. He suggested that the Bolsheviks act together against the Denikinites. Now the chieftain called himself an anarchist obsessed with hatred of foreigners. He was answered with an invitation to the dock, and then to the gallows.
The only one who was ready to coordinate with the Angel was the famous ataman Zeleny, a former convict and warrant officer Daniel Terpilo. In the summer of 1919, a plan for an offensive against Kiev, in which the troops of Anton Denikin stood, matured in their mad minds. They were going to recapture the city from the whites, but did not calculate their strength. The detachments, which retained the remnants of discipline, skillfully repelled the attacks of the robbers, Zeleny died in battle. The angel began to take out his anger for failure on the Reds. Until the end of 1919, his gang rampaged near Chernigov, and having lost its leader, it disappeared. Nothing is known about the circumstances and place of death of Evgeny Angel.
