The Radziwiłł Mausoleum
in Nesvizh.
Research

In 1953, another Commission referred to as the “Commission from Leningrad” opened the door to the crypt in the Corpus Christi Church¹Prepared on the basis of [Первая комиссия]: [the manuscript; preserved at the National Historical and Cultural Museum-Reserve Niasviezh]. Also see Сергей Чистяков, “Крипта князей Радзивиллов в Несвижском фарном костёле: история, проблематика датировки и идентификации захоронений, использования объекта, в сфере туризма и охраны памятника”, Acta Anniversaria: зборнік навуковых прац Нацыянальнага гісторыка-культурнага музея-запаведніка “Нясвіж”, 2015, vol. 1, p. 91; Глеб Лабаденка, “Усыпальница Радзивиллов (1616)”, Приход «Божьего Тела» в г. Несвиже, [accessed 10.09.2018], [electronic], available at: http://niasvizh-kasciol.by/ru/istoriya.. It was headed by the forensic expert, Professor at Moscow Medical Institute Vasiliy Chervakov (Василий Федорович Черваков, 1894-1976). The Commission was interested in the embalmment of the remains. This is assumed to have been related to the death of the leader of the Soviet Union Joseph Stalin (5 March 1953): most likely the intent was to reveal the secrets of embalming the Radziwiłłs and to use them to “immortalise” Stalin’s body. Unfortunately, little is known about the work of this Commission in Nesvizh.

In 1953, about 80 per cent of the sarcophagi in the crypt were opened. Samples of hair, skin and clothing were taken from the mummies for laboratory tests. A temporary laboratory was set up in the crypt near the Altar of the Immaculate Conception³The testimony of Georgy Kolosovsky, then priest of Nesvizh church.. The Commission worked brutally. There were some special hermetically sealed sarcophagi in the crypt, with hermetic sealing used as a method to protect the remains of the dead from decomposing. After the commission had opened such sarcophagi and oxygen had got into them, the remains fell into decay shortly after. The sarcophagi that were in the way were shifted and even placed on top of each other, and as a result the unique sarcophagi and their decoration items became deformed. The Commission went away leaving the sarcophagi open and without returning them to their initial places; the authentic structure of the crypt was irreversibly destroyed. A part of wooden epitaphial plates bearing the names of the buried people also disappeared. The church officials put the crypt in order by themselves; however, they were unable to return the sarcophagi to their original places in the crypt. The investigations are thought to have been carried out in haste and with maximum security ensured: the security guards consisting of the employees of the Ministry of the Interior were posted all around the church²Ibid..

Thus far no information has been found about the investigations carried out by the Commission. Unfortunately, only the irreparable damage inflicted by it has remained. After the Commission had finished its work there, the crypt remained closed for a long time. The crypt became accessible to the public only after of a museum-reserve had been founded in Nesvizh.

Audronė Vyšniauskienė