 |
Teodor NetteDiplomatic courier of the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs of the USSR
Date of Birth: 15.08.1896
Country:  Germany |
Content:
Biography of Theodore Ivanovich Nette
Theodore Ivanovich Nette (1895 or 1896 – February 5, 1926, Latvia) was a diplomatic courier of the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs of the USSR. He heroically died in 1926 in Latvia while defending diplomatic mail.
Attack on the Diplomatic Couriers
On February 5, 1926, unknown individuals armed with revolvers attacked the diplomatic couriers Nette and Mahmastal on the Moscow-Riga train between the stations of Ikskül (Ikshkile) and Kurtenhof (Salaspils). They demanded the conductor show them the compartment of the couriers and attacked the Soviet trade representative Pechersky. Nette and Johann Mahmastal (1891-1942), the couriers, heard the noise, prepared their weapons, but did not manage to close the compartment door. The attackers found them and opened fire. Nette was shot in the head and died on the spot, while Mahmastal was wounded in the abdomen and hand. Two of the attackers were wounded and retreated (they were later found dead), while at least one fled. Wounded Mahmastal remained in the compartment and guarded the diplomatic mail until employees of the Soviet mission in Riga arrived. The killed bandits were identified as Lithuanian citizens, the Gavrilovich brothers. The investigation conducted by the Latvian authorities did not yield any other results.
Commemoration of Nette
The attack on the Soviet diplomatic couriers caused a significant public resonance in the USSR. Vladimir Mayakovsky, who personally knew Nette, dedicated a poem titled "To Comrade Nette - a ship and a man" to this event. A year after the tragic events, a film by film director Alexander Dovzhenko called "The Diplomatic Courier's Bag" (1927) was released.
Nette (posthumously) and Mahmastal were awarded the Order of the Red Banner. In honor of Theodore Nette, the steamship "Tver" was renamed. Subsequently, two more vessels of the Northern Shipping Company were named after him, a gas turbine ship built in 1963 and a timber carrier built in 1990 of the "Pavel Vinogradov" type (similar to the timber carrier "Johann Mahmastal"). Currently, there is no ship with such a name in the fleet lists of the shipping company.
The state took Nette's daughter, who was about a year old at the time of her father's death, under its care. February 5 is commemorated as the Day of Remembrance for Diplomatic Couriers who died in the line of duty.
The fact of the attack on Theodore Nette and Johann Mahmastal served as the basis for the plot of the feature film "Red Diplomatic Couriers" (Odessa Film Studio, 1977).
