Early life
Nikulin was born and raised inJoining the Bolsheviks
In January 1915 he was drafted into the Imperial army, but due to congenital diseases was only fit for wartime militia units and not for regular service. Early in 1916 Grigory moved to Tavatui near Yekaterinburg and started working at the construction site of the dynamite plant (Таватуйский динамитный завод). Very soon after moving he was drawn to local Bolsheviks and met Mikhail Kabanov who helped him become a devoted follower ofYekaterinburg Cheka
Having begun work in the Cheka, Grigory was assigned some serious cases. One of the first was discrete surveillance of Alexander Ivanovich Andogsky, the head of the Military Academy of Workers' and Peasants' Red Army. Nikulin was introduced as a domestic worker to Andogsky after the Academy was evacuated from Petrograd to Yekaterinburg in March 1918. Later the same year Andogsky joined the White forces, was dismissed from the Military Academy and eventually was appointed as General in Kolchak's Army. Nikulin was also in charge of soldier selection for train convoy L-42, on 30 April 1918 where Tsar Nicholas II and part of his family were moved from Tyumen to Yekaterinburg.Killing of Prince Dolgorukov
Prince Vasily Alexandrovich Dolgorukov was a close friend of Nicholas II as well as his adviser, Marshal of the Imperial Court (1914–1917) and Commander of the Imperial Guard cavalry regiment. Deeply devoted to the Tsar he voluntarily accompanied the Imperial family to imprisonment in Tobolsk. After arriving in Yekaterinburg at the end of May he was separated from the family and arrested. Dolgorukov was executed 10 July 1918 in cold blood by Nikulin, a week before the killing of Tsar Nicholas II and his family. Dolgorukov was taken to a field beyond the city's Ivanovskoe Cemetery with Count Tatishchev and the two were shot in the head and thrown into a pit. Nikulin recalled the incident in his radio interview 1964: "Я вывез его в поле и проклял всё пока тащил чемоданы назад" (I took him out to the field and cursed everything while I was dragging his suitcases back). Dolgorukov was canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church in 1981. Nikulin was also involved in death of Hermogenes, Bishop of Tobolsk and Siberia, who was drowned in the Tura River by the Bolsheviks.Killing of Nicholas II and family
Grigory Nikulin is known for his participating in the killing of Tsar Nicholas II and his family. Nikulin was living in the House of Special PurposeAfter Yekaterinburg
After completing the assignment in Yekaterinburg, Nikulin joined the Red Army. He had several duties at 3rd Army of the Eastern front. He even took part in battles. Early 1919 he started working for political department of the division (politotdel) but contracted typhus and was taken to Moscow. There he met again Yurovsky, who worked for Moscow City Council at the time and offered him a job as head of the Moscow apartment houses. They continued their warm friendship meeting each other on and off duty. Nikulin stayed in Moscow and worked in different jobs. First for City Council (MosSoviet). Later he was allocated to the position of Moscow prisons head. Four months after that the head of inspectorate department of Moscow police. He then worked as the head of Moscow Criminal Investigation Department from March 1920 to 1922. In 1922 he was awarded with theLater life
Between 1923 and 1938 Nikulin held several noteworthy positions. From 1923 to 1924 he was Vice-head of the Moscow Criminal Investigation Department. In 1925 he was a member of MosGorIspolCom (Moscow Executive Committee). From 1925 to 1930 he was the head of MosGubStrakh (Moscow Insurance State Company). From 1930 to 1931 he was the head of MosGas (Moscow Gas trest). From 1933 to 1935 he worked at MosSovet on a problem concerning building materials manufacturing, and from 1935 to 1938 he was the head of MosZhilOtdel (Moscow Housing Department). He was often visited by comrades such as Rodzinsky and Medvedev. In 1927 Nikulin and Yurovsky made an application to the USSR Revolution Museum and handed them two revolvers which were used in the killing of Imperial Family. Yurovsky died in 1938. Before dying he wrote a warm farewell letter to his dear friend Nikulin leaving him a list of documents to be delivered to the Revolution Museum. From 1938 to his retirement in 1960 Nikulin worked for Department of Water and Sewerage. He was awarded with four state orders, one of which was Order of the Patriotic War 1st class (1947). During his whole life Nikulin insisted on keeping low profile concerning the killing of imperial family. He even asked Medvedev not to mention his role in the execution. One year before his death he was asked by a high party official to give an interview on radio. It resulted in a 3 hour recording in which he talks about everything. "All was done consciously, without doubts. I did understand all responsibility. I welcomed the decision of Ural Regional Soviet.. And even more, if it is allowed to say, I considered it as an honor." Grigory Nikulin died on 22 September 1965. He was buried on the site of the "Old Bolsheviks" at Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow. Across from Nikulin's grave is the grave ofReferences
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