“...And everyone who has left houses, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for My name’s sake will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life...” (Matthew 19 :29)
And stories about the good doctor Fyodor Petrovich Gaaz are still told in hospitals and prisons in Moscow, but few people know the actual details of his life. There was no “alien” pain or “bad” people in her. He did not have his own family, because he believed that there was not enough time for the outcasts: convicts, the poor, the sick. He was a Catholic, but the strict St. Filaret (Drozdov) gave his blessing to serve a prayer service for his health. He lived his life according to the word of Christ, giving everything he had to people.
Fatherland and homeland
In the 19th century, the surroundings of the Kursk station were a remote and dangerous place. You shouldn't come here alone at night. But the doctor was in a hurry to answer the call and decided to go directly - through Malyi Kazenny. What was supposed to happen happened: robbers attacked him in an alley and ordered him to take off his old fur coat. The doctor began to tighten it and said: “Dear ones, you just bring me to the point where I’m sick, otherwise I’ll get cold now. The month is February. If you want, then come to me at the Police Hospital, ask Haaz, they will give you a fur coat.” They heard: “Father, we didn’t recognize you in the dark! Sorry!" The robbers threw themselves on their knees in front of the doctor, then not only brought him to the patient so that someone else would not rob him, but also escorted him back. After this incident, the attackers vowed never to extort money again. One of them later became a stoker at the Haas hospital (aka Police Hospital), and the other two became orderlies.
Most Muscovites recognized the famous doctor from afar. In winter - by his fur coat. At other times of the year - by a lanky, stooped figure. Legends about Haase circulated during his lifetime, but the actual events of his biography began to be recorded only after the doctor’s death - according to eyewitnesses.
Haas's grandfather was a doctor, doctor of medicine in Cologne. My father settled in the small town of Münstereifel: he opened a pharmacy and got married. In total, the family had two daughters and five sons - including Friedrich Joseph, the middle one. He was born on August 24, 1780. At the age of 15, he graduated from a Catholic school and entered the Faculty of Philosophy and Mathematics at the Jena Institute, where he became the best student of the course. Then he received his medical education at the University of Vienna - the oldest in German-speaking countries. Haaz chose ophthalmology as his profession.
From the age of 19, Haaz had a medical practice in Vienna and enjoyed success as a wonderful specialist. In particular, he cured the eyes of Prince Repnin, the Russian envoy to the Viennese court. He invited the young doctor to Russia and advised him to settle in Moscow for his career. Haaz accepted the invitation, but was able to come only a year after Repnin’s death.
Arriving in 1802, the German doctor immediately received an extensive private practice, which brought in huge income. Soon he purchased and luxuriously furnished his own house in the center of Moscow. He bought an estate in the Moscow region and started a cloth factory there.
In addition to private practice, Haaz was engaged in treating the poor - in the Preobrazhenskaya, Pavlovskaya and Staroekaterininskaya hospitals. At Pavlovskaya he also distinguished himself as a therapist. For this, the German doctor, at the insistence of Empress Maria Feodorovna, was awarded the Order of St. Vladimir, and in 1806 he was appointed chief physician.
In 1809–1810, Haaz made two trips to the North Caucasus, where he traveled around and described springs unknown at that time in Mineralnye Vody, Kislovodsk, Pyatigorsk, Zheleznovodsk (now Essentuki). Having studied the healing properties of water, Haaz described them in a book, thereby drawing the government’s attention to Caucasian mineral waters. After Haaz, from the 20s to the 50s of the 19th century, the creation of resorts in the Caucasian springs began. Source No. 23 in Essentuki is still called Gaazovsky.
In 1812, Haass’s father and mother fell ill, he left his post as chief physician at the Pavlovsk hospital and went to Germany. But then the war with Napoleon began in Russia, and Fyodor Petrovich became a military doctor. He helped the wounded near Smolensk, on the Borodino field, in burned-out Moscow. As part of the Russian army (as a regimental doctor) he reached Paris. In 1814, after the end of the war, he came to his hometown of Münstereifel to visit his dying father. His mother and brothers begged Haas to stay in Germany, but the doctor replied that he had merged his soul with the Russian people, understood and loved them. After the death of his father, Friedrich Joseph Haas left his first homeland forever and never again traveled outside the Russian Empire.
When Haaz returned to Moscow, it was discovered that he had mastered the Russian language perfectly. Before the campaign, he could only speak German and Latin. Usually in the hospitals where he consulted, there was a translator nearby. Over time, Haaz mastered the Russian language so much that he himself corrected Russian officials. By the end of his life, he spoke Russian better than his native German.
Cats on Pharmacy Staff
Upon his return, Haaz served as chief physician of the Pavlovsk Hospital for another ten years. In 1825, the ruler of Moscow, Dmitry Golitsyn, declared that Fyodor Petrovich had proven himself well and it would be good to make him the chief physician of the capital.
The main pharmaceutical and medical department was located in the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Pokrovka (demolished during Soviet times). For a year, Haaz sat here as a leader. During this time, all hospital facilities were cleaned. We repaired pharmaceutical warehouses suffering from infestations of mice and rats. We adopted cats that were included in the staff of a pharmaceutical and medical office. Fyodor Gaaz did many of the reconstructions at his own expense.
He had a lot of envious people: before, medicines could be stolen and blamed on mice, but suddenly everything was streamlined with German pedantry. Denunciations began: they say that the chief doctor was wasting government money. Haaz could not stand it and resigned from this position, deciding that he would bring more benefit by working as a simple doctor. Many of the legal battles he was involved in during this time lasted another 10–12 years. He won all these cases.
Walking on a rod
By the end of the 20s, everyone in Moscow had become accustomed to the figure of Haas. He was visible from afar. For his time, he was a tall man - more than 185 centimeters. Due to the fact that the interlocutors were usually shorter, the doctor was accustomed to stooping. He wore, in the fashion of his youth, white jabots and cuffs, a black tailcoat with the Order of St. Vladimir, black velvet trousers, white silk stockings and black worn-out shoes with steel buckles. He combed his hair smoothly back. When he went bald, he started putting on a red wig, then he thought he looked funny and started cutting his hair short. In cold weather, he dressed in an old wolf fur coat. In this gray-white coat with pieces of fur falling out, he was recognized from afar. And many immediately ran to him to ask for help.
Long before the events described, at the end of the 18th century, when Catherine II ruled in Russia, the famous philanthropist and prison specialist John Howard visited Russia. He explored prisons in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kyiv and, in particular, Kherson. In one of the Kherson prisons he contracted cholera and died. Based on Howard's comments, recommendations were drawn up for the Secretary of the Interior. These notes have been studied for more than 20 years. Both Catherine II and Paul I passed away. Emperor Alexander Pavlovich ascended the throne. He ordered that these comments be taken into account quickly. The Minister of Public Education and Spiritual Affairs, Chief Prosecutor Alexander Golitsyn established the All-Russian Prison Guardianship, which ensured that the prison followed the law, but did not torture prisoners and thereby provided the opportunity for moral correction. In Moscow, Saint Philaret (Drozdov) helped the society with his authority, and the heart, the engine of the Moscow branch was Doctor Fyodor Haaz.
There were five prisons in the capital. The prisoners were hardly fed, since very little money was allocated. There were cases (though not in Moscow) when a person in solitary confinement died of hunger. So they wrote down: “Ivan Smirnov is swollen from hunger.” It was completely casual. Men and women sat in the same cell. Most prisons have not been repaired for 40–50 years. The prisoners were not allowed to go to the bathhouse; their clothes were infested with lice and fleas. There were such horrors that I don’t even want to talk about.
The secretary of the prison committee, Fyodor Gaaz, reported to the governor and the Moscow Metropolitan about all the outrages. And he led the efforts to eliminate such atrocities.
In the 20s of the 19th century, in order to reduce the number of guards, prisoners' hand and leg shackles began to be chained to a long rod. Hard labor lasted from three to six years (these years were not included in the term of imprisonment). We walked from 15 to 25 kilometers a day. The rod itself was heavy. And 20–40 people were also “strung” on him - of different heights, ages, seriously ill, without a leg or arm. Soldiers held the rod on both sides. Imagine how a man about one meter tall felt if the soldiers were about one meter eighty. In addition, the shackles clanged disgustingly, it quickly began to irritate, and they walked almost the whole day - with 10-minute breaks every three hours.
Haaz begged the prison committee and the Minister of the Interior to make a chain instead of a rod, which would allow prisoners to move more freely. In Moscow and the Moscow province the rod was abolished. Five or six people of a certain build were chained together to make it easier for them to walk together. Moreover, only repeat offenders and those who have committed serious crimes. All the others, at the insistence of Dr. Haas, were released from the chain...
Light shackles
Prisoners from 23 provinces of Central Russia passed through the Vorobyovskaya transit station. Haaz met and listened to everyone, and wrote down complaints. I talked about the needs of each specific prisoner with Fr. Filaret. Helped prisoners write and forward letters to relatives. He found out whether the family had enough money and, if possible, sent assistance - for which he maintained a whole staff of trusted couriers.
If a prisoner was sick and other prisoners began to shun him, then Haaz would definitely approach such a person, shake his hand, hug him, to show others that his disease could not be transmitted through contact.
Before Haaz, all prisoners were shackled - he forbade this. He insisted that some prisoners - sick, women - be sent along the stage on carts.
They continued to complain about him. One day a complaint came that Haaz would not allow one of the twin sisters to be sent to hard labor. One of them was in the hospital, the other was healthy, and officials wanted to send her on a stage. Haass insisted that the sisters not be separated, but left in the prison hospital. He said that God gave them one strength for two.
Haaz introduced special shackles. They were called “Gaazovskys”. Before him, the shackles were very heavy: hand shackles weighed about 16 kilograms, leg shackles - about six. They often wore their wrists and ankles down to the bone, suffered severe frostbite in the winter, and developed rheumatism in the summer. The Minister of the Interior claimed that the metal heats up and the shackles keep the prisoners warm. Haaz suggested that the minister wear the shackles himself and see how they warmed up. He demanded that the shackles be completely abolished, but the authorities did not allow this to be done. And the doctor began experimenting. I wore the shackles myself for a month until I selected the size of the shackles so that they were not very heavy and not very light. The inside of the shackles was lined with leather to prevent frostbite and abrasion of the hands and feet. These shackles were approved, and they began to be used everywhere in Russia.
In addition, Fyodor Gaaz came up with the idea that it was necessary to make a common chain on the belt and fasten both hand and leg shackles to it - and not as before, when separate chains went from hand and leg shackles to a rod. Imagine, you had to walk twenty-five kilometers...
Until the end of the 19th century, to prevent prisoners from escaping, part of their head, right or left, was shaved. When the hair grew back on one half, the other was shaved. In Siberia, during the cold season, a shaved head was very cold. The doctor insisted that people's heads should not be shaved from October onwards.
Haaz entered the cell of even the most dangerous criminals, talked, asked about life. He proved to everyone that although it is possible to hide a crime before the police, you cannot hide before God. These admonitions, not edifying, but friendly, had a huge impact on the prisoners. After imprisonment, many gave up robberies and murders forever.
Along with the stage
Haaz woke up around six in the morning and drank an infusion of currant leaves. He prayed - he had the Catholic Church of Peter and Paul in his house. At half past six in the morning the reception of the suffering began. Usually it lasted until 8–9 a.m. (sometimes until 2 p.m.). Then Haaz went to the transit prison on Vorobyovy Gory, at 12 o’clock he had lunch - porridge, oatmeal or buckwheat - and went to Butyrka. After that, he toured his hospitals. In the evening, he again visited the Church of Peter and Paul, had dinner - again with buckwheat porridge or oatmeal with water without salt and sugar - and returned to the hospital. The reception sometimes lasted until 11 pm. By one o'clock in the morning Haaz fell asleep. And so on day after day.
It’s amazing how Haaz managed to do everything everywhere. He rode in an old cab. Initially, he had a foursome with a carriage, but over time he sold it - along with the house, art gallery, cloth factory and country estate - in order to distribute the money to prisoners and the poor. In his old age, to ride around the city, Haaz bought horses intended for slaughter at the horse market.
Fyodor Haaz also devoted a lot of effort to the Moscow Prison Castle, now Butyrka Prison. This prison appeared in the 70s of the 18th century and was quite dirty, poorly built, and had no sewage system. There was a temple inside, but it was very cramped. Haaz and Saint Philaret ensured that the temple was expanded. Cells were specially built around, and prisoners who could not fit inside could watch the service. Siberian poplars were planted in the courtyards of the prison to purify the air, and drainage was installed around it and pavements were built. Haaz organized workshops for prisoners: tailoring, shoemaking, carpentry, bookbinding. (The carpentry workshop is still in operation; they make the cheapest stools in our time.)
Once Emperor Nicholas I visited the Butyrka prison. They whispered to him that some prisoners were faking it, and Haaz was covering for them. Nikolai began to reprimand the doctor, who fell to his knees. The Emperor says: “Okay, Fyodor Petrovich, I forgive you.” And he replies: “I’m not asking for myself, but for the prisoners. Look, they're too old to serve their sentences. Let them go free." The emperor was so moved that he granted amnesty to five.
Near Butyrka, Gaaz organized a shelter for children whose parents were in a prison castle. In the old days, the family was often forced to follow their convicted father into exile. To alleviate the plight of relatives left without a breadwinner, Haaz established, firstly, a house of cheap apartments for the wives of prisoners, and secondly, a school for the children of exiled parents.
The prisoners' stages required special care. Haaz entered into an agreement with two Moscow entrepreneurs - the Old Believer timber merchant Rakhmanov and the bakers Filippov. Those being transported were led from the Vorobyovsky transit prison through the entire city for about three hours. So that they could rest before leaving Moscow, at Rakhmanov’s expense, a small half-stage was set up in the area of what is now Ilyich Square - a fenced-off courtyard where prisoners could sit down and say goodbye to their relatives. There, compassionate Muscovites provided those being transported with food and money. The Filippovs supplied all the prisoners with hearty rolls: they were specially baked on straw, on well-sifted dough, they did not go stale and were very helpful on the road.
Haaz sometimes accompanied prisoners even after leaving Moscow. While talking, I walked with them along the Vladimirsky tract (now Entuziastov Highway). According to the doctor's requirements, the road was leveled and special canopies were installed along the sides so that in case of rain the prisoners could take shelter. Many remember that even in winter one could see a man, already elderly, in an old wolf fur coat, who saw off the prisoners, reaching with them what is now Balashikha.
Fyodor Petrovich helped the prisoners and make inquiries regarding the investigation. For this purpose he introduced a special institute of “inquirers”. He tried to free the innocently convicted; at his request, this was done by qualified lawyers. But most of the work was done by Haaz himself.
One official recalls how a man in a lionfish suit came to him and asked him to make inquiries about a prisoner. Having examined the documents, the official said that what was missing was an extract from the police station on the other side of the city. A citizen in a lionfish went across Moscow to get the necessary document. He returned back completely wet, because on the way he got caught in a downpour. When he submitted the document, the official asked who he was and heard the name of the famous doctor. This amazed him so much that the official talked about this incident all his life, and after Haaz’s death he himself joined the prison committee and did everything to help the prisoners. Fyodor Gaaz was over 60 years old at that moment.
Police hospital
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Bust of Fyodor Gaaz |
On Sparrow Hills, Haaz set up a prison hospital with 120 beds. He introduced nurses in the men's departments, which had not happened before. He made sure to visit all the patients himself.
Over time, he moved here completely and became the chief physician. Here Haaz had two tiny rooms. They were modestly furnished: a table (it has been preserved), an old iron bed, a Crucifix on the wall, a copy of Raphael's Madonna. There was a small collection of boxes and old telescopes. Haaz loved to watch the stars at night: this is how he rested.
Saint Philaret (Drozdov), Metropolitan of Moscow, helped Haaz in many matters. For example, “inquiries” who traveled to 23 provinces on prisoners’ affairs could, with the blessing of St. Philaret to stay in monasteries. He interceded for Haaz before the emperor and redressed many complaints against the doctor. St. Filaret was vice-president of the Moscow branch of the prison committee. One day during a meeting, Haaz began to prove once again that some repeat offenders are not at all as guilty as the court exposes them to be. The saint said: “Why are you all defending repeat offenders; they don’t go to prison without guilt.” Haass replied: “What about Christ? You have forgotten about Christ!” Everyone was taken aback. St. Filaret stood up and said: “Fyodor Petrovich, at that moment it was not I who forgot Christ, but it was Christ who left me.” After that, until the end of days between St. Filaret and Dr. Haaz established a strong friendship.
Fyodor Gaaz loved to visit Orthodox churches. On the day of Orthodox Easter, he made sure to christen himself with everyone, toured the prisons under his jurisdiction, gave Easter eggs, and treated him to Easter cakes and Easter cakes.
Fyodor Gaaz spent the last two years of his life mainly in the Police Hospital, receiving patients. Saint Philaret often visited him and brought him blessed prosphora. When Haaz was dying, many people asked the chief priest of the Police Hospital, Priest Alexei Orlov, to serve a prayer service for Haaz’s recovery. Fr. Alexei turned to St. Filaret with a question: is it possible to serve an Orthodox prayer service for a person who professes the Catholic faith? The saint replied: “God blessed us to pray for all the living.” A prayer service was served, and Haaz felt very well for some time. In the two weeks that the Lord gave him, he toured all the institutions that were created during his life in Moscow.
Haass died on August 14, 1854. More than 20 thousand people out of 170 thousand living in Moscow at that time came to his funeral at the German Cemetery. A modest stone and a cross were placed on the doctor’s grave. Over time, former prisoners entwined the fence of the grave with “Haazov” shackles.
(Haas) - physician-philanthropist; born on August 24, 1780 into a German family in Münstereifel, near Cologne.
His grandfather was a doctor of medicine, his father was a pharmacist.
Despite the large family (it consisted of five brothers and three sisters) and limited funds, all brothers received an excellent education.
Initially, G. studied at a local Catholic church school, then took courses in philosophy and mathematics at the University of Jena and, finally, completed a course in medical sciences in Vienna, where he also specially studied eye diseases under the guidance of the then famous ophthalmologist Adam Schmidt.
G. was once invited to the sick prince. Repnin, who lived temporarily in Vienna; the treatment was very successful, and the grateful patient persuaded the young and talented doctor to go with him to Russia.
Since 1802, G. settled in Moscow; at first completely unfamiliar with the Russian language, he quickly got used to the new place and, due to his thorough knowledge in the field of medicine, acquired extensive practice.
He was often invited to consultations; the doors of Moscow hospitals and charitable institutions were open to him.
Reviewing these institutions, G. found many patients suffering from the eyes and, always responsive to the grief and suffering of his neighbor, with the permission of the Moscow governor Lansky, energetically took up their treatment free of charge.
Rumors about the activities of the young skilled doctor reached St. Petersburg; On June 4, 1807, the office of the Moscow Pavlovsk Hospital received an order stating that Empress Maria Feodorovna found G. “worthy to be appointed chief doctor at the Pavlovsk Hospital over the medical unit.” But having taken up the responsible and troublesome position of chief physician of the hospital, G. did not stop caring for his free patients and always found time to visit them. For his activities, he was nominated by Lansky to the Order of St. Vladimir 4th degree; G. valued this insignia very much and invariably wore it until his death on his worn, but always neat tailcoat. In 1809 and 1810 G. made two trips to the Caucasus to get acquainted with the local mineral springs.
The result of these trips was a very valuable work published by G. in 1811: “Ma visite aux eaux d” “Alexandre en 1809-1810” (M., 1811, 4°), where he gave a scientific and systematic description of already known and again the sources he discovered (sulfur-alkaline in Essentuki), recorded many chemical, topographical and meteorological observations he made, vividly depicted the nature and life of the Caucasus; in the author's frequent digressions and arguments one can hear deep respect for science and indignation at its unworthy and selfish servants. On June 1, 1812, G. left public service, but already in 1814 he entered the active army, worked actively in the war and reached Paris with our troops.
At the end of the campaigns, he retired and went to his native Münstereifel, where he found the whole family gathered at the bedside of his dying father. However, G. did not stay in his homeland for long; After the death of his father, he was irresistibly drawn to Russia, with which he had already become accustomed.
At first, after returning to Moscow, G. was engaged in private practice and soon became a famous doctor, who was invited everywhere and to whom patients often came from the most remote areas, so that, despite his selflessness, he became the owner of a large fortune: he had a cloth factory, an estate , house in Moscow, traveled, according to the custom of that time, in a carriage drawn by a train of four white horses.
But he did not forget the poor people and devoted a lot of time to seeing free patients, whom he helped not only with advice, but often with money.
In 1825, Moscow Governor-General Prince. Golitsyn turned to G. with a proposal to take the position of Moscow Stadt Physicist; after much hesitation, he accepted this position on August 14, 1825 and, with his characteristic energy, began to actively carry out various reforms in the medical part of the city and at the same time ardently fight the apathy and indifference with which his colleagues in the medical office treated their work .
G. had to endure many difficult moments and sorrows during his short tenure as a staff physicist; his ardent, lively activity constantly collided with cold clerical inertia.
Both his superiors and his colleagues were dissatisfied with G.’s “restless activity”: complaints and denunciations were sent against him; everything, from his foreign origin to the fact that he gave his salary as a stadt physicist to his displaced predecessor, was blamed on him, and a year later (July 27, 1826) he was forced to leave his position and again took up private practice. On January 24, 1828, it was allowed to establish a provincial prison committee in Moscow, “at the suggestion and insistence” of Prince. D. V. Golitsyna.
The prince carefully selected the personnel of the committee, several times changed the list of persons who seemed worthy to him to serve the great and difficult task of transforming prisons, but in all his lists the name of G. invariably appeared. In 1830, G. was appointed a member of the committee and the chief physician of Moscow prisons ( in 1830-1835 he also combined the position of secretary of the committee).
From that time on, for almost 25 years, he devoted all his strength, his entire life and all his material resources to this new activity, which completely captured him. He brought into it a sincere love for people, an unshakable faith in truth and a deep conviction that crime, misfortune and illness are so closely related to each other that it is sometimes completely impossible to distinguish between them;
G. set himself the goal of “fair, without vain cruelty, treatment of the guilty, active compassion for the unfortunate and charity of the sick”; nothing could stop him in his unwavering pursuit of this goal: neither clerical quibbles, nor sidelong glances and ironic attitudes from his superiors and colleagues, nor clashes with the powers that be, nor even bitter disappointments.
He was always true to his motto, expressed in his book "Appel aux femmes": "hurry to do good." Once or twice a week, large consignments of prisoners were sent from the Moscow transit prison on Vorobyovy Gory to Siberia; G. was always present during these dispatches for many years; here he first became personally acquainted with the situation of the prisoners and their life and ardently took up the task of possibly alleviating their difficult situation.
First of all, he was struck by the torturousness and injustice of the method of transporting exiles on the rod: while the convicts walked alone, shackled with leg shackles, less important criminals were transported on the rod and endured severe torment, so that as a favor they asked the commanders to be treated as with convicts.
G. energetically began to work for the abolition of the rod, but, despite the sympathy and support of the prince. Golitsyn, these efforts remained fruitless for a long time;
G., meanwhile, was experimenting with replacing the rod with shackles, but lighter ones than those that had existed until then. Finally, he managed to make shackles with a chain, a yard long and weighing three pounds, which were strong enough, but at the same time not so tiring for the person chained on the campaign; G. made an ardent petition to the committee for permission to put in these shackles all the prisoners passing through Moscow on the rod; At the same time, he also presented funds for procuring the first batch of such shackles, promised to continue to provide funds for them from “virtuous people” and asked permission to adapt the forge that already existed on Vorobyovy Gory for the production of lightweight shackles. While there was a long office correspondence on this issue, Prince. Golitsyn decided to introduce new shackles in Moscow for the prisoners, who greeted this reform with delight and gratitude and called the new shackles “Haazovsky.” The heads of the local transport teams looked with displeasure at the innovation, which caused a lot of trouble, but G. himself vigilantly and tirelessly followed the work of reforging the prisoners and throughout his entire subsequent life, with the exception of his last days, he was invariably present at the Sparrow Hills when each batch of prisoners was sent .
When later the book. Golitsyn often had to go abroad due to illness, and G. was thus deprived of his support; the bosses began to sharply refuse requests to reforge the prisoners.
But the “exaggerated philanthropist,” as the commander of the internal guard Kaptsevich called G., continued to “pursue his line” and even achieved the release of all decrepit and crippled prisoners from chains.
Seeing how prisoners came to Moscow with frostbitten hands in those places on which the iron rings of handcuffs were put on, G. began to energetically work on sheathing handcuffs with leather, which he achieved in 1836, when a decree was issued “on the universal sheathing of nuts in Russia” the chains have skin." No less persistently did F.P. petition for the abolition of shaving half the head for those who were not deprived of all rights.
And these efforts were crowned with complete success: on March 11, 1846, the State Council abolished universal head shaving and reserved it only for exiled convicts.
The food issue also attracted G.'s attention, and when in 1847 and 1848. a temporary order followed to reduce the prisoners' allowance by one-fifth; he contributed 11,000 rubles “from an unknown charitable person.” to a committee to improve the food of those kept in the transit castle. Back on April 2, 1829, G. strenuously petitioned the prince. Golitsyn that the latter authorize him to testify to the state of health of all prisoners in Moscow and subordinate to him in this regard the police doctors who were negligent in this matter; his request was respected.
In 1832, through his efforts and with the funds he collected, a hospital with 120 beds was built for prisoners on Vorobyovy Gory, which came under his direct supervision.
Here he could leave the unfortunate people in Moscow for some time “due to illness”, he could remove the shackles from them and give them the opportunity to gather their moral and physical strength in front of the “Vladimir woman”, warm up mentally and find consolation and support.
But not only for the sick and weak, but for all transit migrants in general, he obtained permission to stay in Moscow for a week, so that he could really get acquainted with their needs and help them. During this week G. visited the party at least four times. He also obtained permission to organize a half-stage at the other end of Moscow, namely behind the Rogozhskaya outpost, since the first transition from Moscow to Bogorodsk was very long, and the fulfillment of various formalities delayed the performance of the parties until 2-3 o’clock in the afternoon. It was to this Rogozhsky half-stage that F.P. drove up every Monday, early in the morning, in his old-fashioned cab, well-known throughout Moscow, loaded to the brim with supplies for the transit workers.
G. walked around the prisoners, distributed supplies to them, encouraged them, gave them farewells and said goodbye to them, often even kissing those in whom he managed to notice “a living soul.” And often one could see how he - in a tailcoat, with the Vladimir Cross in his buttonhole, in old shoes with buckles and high stockings, and if it happened in winter, then in tan high boots and an old wolf fur coat - walked several miles with the party, continuing his conversation with the exiles.
This attitude towards the prisoners aroused a lot of displeasure against G., and their consequence was that in 1839 he was completely removed from witnessing the transferees.
This order deeply offended him, but nothing could break his energy and force him to retreat from a cause that he considered right.
Relying on his title and right as director of the prison committee, G. just as carefully continued to visit the transit prison and just as ardently stood up for “his” prisoners.
His tenacity and perseverance finally tired of his opponents: they gave up on the “exaggerated philanthropist” and began to turn a blind eye to his activities.
It is clear with what love and deep respect the prisoners looked at “their holy doctor,” and during his entire “service” in prison, not a single rude word touched his ears, even in the cells of the most hardened criminals, to whom he entered calmly and always alone. With the hope of consolation and possible relief from their plight, the migrants went to Moscow and left it for distant Siberia, carrying in their hearts the memory of the pure image of a man who laid down his life to serve his unfortunate and destitute brother. When the sad news of the death of their intercessor subsequently reached these people, they used their pennies to build an icon of St. Theodora Tiron with an unquenchable lamp in front of her.
No less fruitful was G.’s work in transforming the Moscow provincial prison castle, which was in the most terrible condition.
According to the repeated representations of G. book. Golitsyn, through the prison committee, allowed him, as an experiment, to rebuild one of the corridors of the castle in an economic way, and he set to work, sparing no expense to speed it up. In the middle of 1833, part of the prison castle took on an exemplary appearance for that time: clean cells, painted with oil paint, were illuminated by wide windows and were equipped with bunks that rose during the day; washbasins and retreats were installed, expelling the foul-smelling “bowl” from the cells; a well was dug in the yard, and the yard was lined with Siberian poplars.
G. set up workshops in prison: bookbinding, carpentry, shoemaking, tailoring and even weaving bast shoes.
In 1836, through his labors and with donations collected by him, due to lack of space in the provincial castle, a school for arrested children was established at the transit prison;
G. loved children very much, often visited this school, caressed the children and followed their progress.
He also cared about the spiritual education of the prisoners and constantly worked with the committee to distribute the Gospel and books of spiritual and moral content to them.
G., at his own expense, published a book entitled: “A.B.V. of Christian Good Morality” and distributed it to all exiles passing through Moscow.
In this book, which began with texts from the Gospel and the Epistles of the Apostles, the author convinces the reader not to laugh at the misfortune of another, not to be angry, not to slander, and most importantly, not to lie. Thanks to G.’s selfless efforts, a “police hospital for the homeless” (now the Alexander Hospital) arose, which the people called Gaazovskaya.
In 1844, 150 sick prisoners were temporarily transferred to the house of the Orthopedic Institute in Malo-Kazenny Lane on Pokrovka.
This house was repaired and adapted for a hospital using G.’s personal funds and donations collected by him. Here he brought in his carriage those sick people whom he sometimes happened to pick up on the street during his constant travels around the city. When the prisoners were subsequently transferred to the prison infirmary, G. tried with all his might to preserve this hospital for homeless patients and ensured that it was recognized as a permanent institution.
In “his” hospital, G. established “his own” rules.
Gentle, delicate, courteous, treating his work with sincere love, he demanded the same from his subordinates; but above all this, he demanded the truth from them and could not stand lies. In his activities, G. found support in the governor-general, Prince. D. V. Golitsyn and Prince. A. G. Shcherbatov; but since 1848, when gr. Zakrevsky, all requests and petitions of G. began to be recognized as not worthy of attention.
At the beginning of August 1853, G. fell ill (he developed a huge carbuncle) and it immediately became clear that there was no hope of recovery.
He suffered greatly, but not a single complaint, not a single groan escaped his lips, and on August 16 he died as calmly and quietly as he bore his difficult life. A crowd of twenty thousand accompanied his coffin to his final resting place in the cemetery on the Vvedensky Hills. After his death, poor furniture, worn clothes, several rubles of money, books and astronomical instruments were found in a modest apartment; the latter were the only weakness of the deceased, and he bought them, denying himself everything: after a hard day of work, he rested, looking through a telescope at the stars.
The manuscript that remained after him, “Appel aux femmes,” in which G., in the form of an appeal to Russian women, sets out the moral and religious principles that permeated his life, was published by his executor, Dr. A. I. Paul. G. did not leave behind any fortune.
But the moral legacy that he left to people was great. If during his lifetime G.’s moral influence on Muscovites was strong, so that his mere appearance in front of a worried crowd during the cholera of 1848 and a few words were enough to calm this crowd and force it to disperse, then after death the bright image of this man can serve a shining example to the whole world of how the ideal of Christian love for people can be realized on earth under the most difficult living conditions.
And despite this, G.’s name was forgotten for a long time, and only in 1890 A.F. Koni, in his report read at the St. Petersburg Law Society, reminded Russian society of one of its remarkable figures. On October 1, 1909, a monument to F. P. Haaz was unveiled in the courtyard of the Alexander Hospital in Moscow, and by the same time the “Olginsky Charitable Society in Memory of Dr. F. P. Gaaz” was established with a fund of 20,000 rubles.
A.F. Koni, "Fedor Petrovich Gaaz". - S.V. Puchkov, “On the characteristics of Dr. F.P. Haas.” - Professor I.T. Tarasov, “Friend of Unfortunate Humanity.” - Klavdiya Lukashevich, “Friend of the unfortunate, Doctor Haass.” - G. S. Petrov, “Friend of the disadvantaged, F. P. Haaz.” - E. N. Krasnogorskaya, “Friend of the Unfortunate F. P. Haaz.” - "Moskovskie Vedomosti", 1853 (obituary). - Lebedev's essay in the "Russian Bulletin" for 1858 - Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron, vol. XIV (Art. A.F. Koni). - The spiritual testament of F. P. Haaz was published in the Collection of P. I. Shchukin (vol. X) and reprinted in the “Russian Archive” (1912, No. 6). O. I. Davydova. (Polovtsov)
G. studied at a Catholic church school, then studied mathematics and philosophy at the University of Jena, and then completed a course in medical sciences at the University of Vienna, specializing in eye diseases. Having successfully cured a Russian who was in Vienna. nobleman Repnin, G., at the invitation of a grateful patient, went with him to Russia and from 1802 settled in Moscow, quickly gaining fame and practice. Appointed in 1807 as the chief physician of the Pavlovsk hospital, G. in his free time treated patients in almshouses and shelters, for which he was awarded the Vladimir Cross of the 4th degree, of which Crimea was very proud. In 1809 - 1810, G. made two trips to the Caucasus, compiling a description of mineral waters ("My visit to the Alexander Waters." M., 1811, in French), recognized as "the first and best of its kind." In 1814, G. was enrolled in the current Russian Federation. army, was near Paris, and after the end of the foreign “campaign of the Russian troops” he retired. G. came to his homeland, having had time to say goodbye to his dying father, but he was irresistibly drawn to Russia, which he called “my second fatherland.” . returned to Moscow, mastered the Russian language well and, engaged in private practice, became one of the most famous doctors. In 1825, the governor general appointed G. as head of a medical office that supplied hospitals and clinics with medicines, but all attempts to improve the work of this institution were met to bureaucratic slingshots and G. was forced to leave the service. Much later he wrote: “It is extremely insulting to see how much effort is made to adhere to the letter of the law when they want to deny justice! " Renewed private practice allowed G. to purchase a house in Moscow and estate near Moscow with a cloth factory set up there.G. led the quiet life of a wealthy man: he had excellent travel, read a lot, corresponded with the philosopher Schelling. His life changed dramatically in 1827, when he became one of the members of the newly established “prison committee” and at the same time was appointed chief physician of the car washes. prisons Seeing the dire situation of the prisoners, G. found the meaning of life in helping the disadvantaged, making his motto the words: “Hurry to do good!” G. was convinced that there is a close connection between crime, misfortune and illness, and therefore unnecessary cruelty should not be applied to the guilty, compassion should be shown to the unfortunate, and charity should be shown to the sick. G. managed to alleviate the suffering of people in prisons and at the stage, for which he received the nickname “holy doctor.” In 1848, when cholera was raging in Moscow. G., making a hospital round, in front of everyone, kissed the first cholera patient who appeared on the lips to prove the impossibility of contracting this disease in this way. Until the end of his life, G. proved by personal example that with love and compassion it is possible to resurrect the goodness that has been preserved in embittered people. Neither clerical callousness, nor the ironic attitude of the powers that be, nor bitter disappointments stopped this noble and honest man. All his property went to charity, and when it was necessary to bury him, it had to be done at the expense of the police. Up to 20 thousand Muscovites of all classes and conditions saw off G. on his last journey.
Fedor Petrovich Gaaz
Fyodor Petrovich Gaaz, a Russian doctor of German origin, dedicated his life to easing the plight of prisoners and exiles.
When he was buried, more than 20 thousand people came to see the doctor off on his last journey. And on the gravestone were carved the words: “Hurry to do good,” which he always followed and which can be considered his testament to all of us.
Reading about such amazing people, you always involuntarily ask the question: what prompts prosperous, well-to-do people (Dr. Haass was just such a person) to turn to the destinies of the most disadvantaged and despised people by society? What is the source of their mercy and selfless service to those from whom they could receive neither glory nor reward? “An eccentric,” some said about him. “A fanatic,” others said. “Saint,” said others.
Maybe his biography can explain something?
From the biography of Dr. Haas (1780-1853)
Dr. F.P. Gaaz
Gaaz(Friedrich-Joseph Haas, Fedor Petrovich), senior doctor at Moscow prison hospitals, was born on August 24, 1780 in Münstereifel, near Cologne (Prussia) into a Catholic family. He studied at the Universities of Jena and Göttingen, and began his medical practice in Vienna.
He first came to Russia in 1803, and in 1806 he began working as the chief physician of the Pavlovsk Hospital in Moscow.
In 1809-1810 traveled to the Caucasus twice, where he studied and explored mineral springs - currently Caucasian Mineral Waters: Kislovodsk, Zheleznovodsk, Essentuki. He described his journey and discoveries in the book “Ma visite aux eaux d’Alexandre en 1809 et 1810.”
During the Patriotic War of 1812 he worked as a surgeon in the Russian army.
After this, for some time F.P. Haaz stayed in his homeland, Germany, and in 1813 he decided to finally settle in Russia. In Moscow, he had a large medical practice, enjoyed the respect and love of the city residents, and was a quite wealthy man.
This, perhaps, is where the first part of his successful, in some sense even standard, biography ends.
Fracture
In 1829, the Committee for the Guardianship of Prison Society was opened in Moscow. Moscow Governor General Prince D.V. Golitsyn called on Dr. Haas to join the Committee. From that moment on, the doctor’s life and work changed decisively: he accepted someone else’s misfortune with all his soul, the fate of the prisoners began to worry him so much that he gradually stopped his medical practice, gave away his funds and, completely forgetting himself, devoted all his time and all his strength to serving the “unfortunate”, and his views on the prisoners were similar to the views of ordinary Russian people, who always pitied the disadvantaged, the poor, and the sick.
Prison cases in Russia at that time
They were a sad sight.
The prisoners were kept in dim, damp, cold and dirty prison premises, which were always overcrowded. Neither age nor the type of crime were taken into account, so those who were, for example, imprisoned for debt, and those who committed serious crimes and also led an antisocial lifestyle were kept together.
The food in the prisons was poor, and there was almost no medical care. People were kept in conditions of cruel treatment: they were chained to heavy chairs, placed in stocks, collars with knitting needles were put on them, which deprived people of the opportunity to lie down... Despair and embitterment reigned among the prisoners.
Exiles on the rod
When exiles were sent to Siberia, the prisoners, handcuffed in pairs, were secured to an iron rod: an iron rod was threaded through the handcuffs. At the same time, differences in height, strength, health, and type of guilt were not taken into account.
There were from 8 to 12 people on each rod; they moved between the stage points, dragging behind them those weakened on the road, the sick and even the dead.
In the transit prisons there was even greater hopelessness.
Dr. Haas's Guardianship of Prisons
Dr. Haaz accepted the suffering of the unfortunate prisoners with all his soul. It would seem, why did a successful doctor need to take so close to his heart the problems of people who were far from his own moral principles? Why was there any need to feel sorry for them - after all, they were criminals? The fact is that he saw a person in any person, even in an outcast. For 23 years, day after day, he fought against state cruelty, which turned the punishment of people into torment.
First of all, he began to fight against these rods on which the unfortunate prisoners were “strung.” Prince Golitsyn supported him in this, and the exiles were allowed to move only in shackles, without a rod.
But no funds were allocated for shackles, and Dr. Haase constantly allocated his own funds for lighter shackles.
Allocated funds for lighter shackles
Then he achieved the abolition of shaving half of women's heads.
Then he ensured that the Rogozh half-stage was built with basic hygiene requirements for the exiles, covering the hand and foot hoops from the exiles’ chains with leather, cloth or linen.
He was present at the departure of each batch of prisoners from Moscow and became acquainted with their needs, monitored their health and, if necessary, left them for treatment in Moscow. Of course, the authorities protested against this. But Haaz tried not to pay attention to them and always consoled those who were sick, weak or in need of spiritual consolation and encouragement. He brought them supplies for the journey, blessed them and kissed them, and sometimes walked with a party of prisoners for several miles.
He corresponded with the prisoners, fulfilled their requests from afar, and sent them money and books. The exiles nicknamed him “the holy doctor.”
He examined each prisoner before being sent to the prison
This extraordinary man accomplished many glorious, but secret to others, deeds. At various times he collected large sums to supply shirts for the prisoners being sent, and sheepskin coats for minors; donated to buy bandages for prisoners suffering from hernia. And how passionately he interceded for those who, in his opinion, were convicted innocently or deserved special mercy! In such cases, he stopped at nothing: he argued with Metropolitan Philaret, wrote letters to Emperor Nicholas and the Prussian king, the brother of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, and once, when the sovereign visited a prison castle, begging for the forgiveness of a 70-year-old man destined for exile to Siberia and detained by him due to illness and decrepitude in Moscow, did not want to get up from his knees until the touched Emperor pardoned him.
Dr. Haaz believed that many of the criminals became such as a result of their lack of religious and moral self-awareness, so he supplied the prisoners with spiritual literature and the Holy Scriptures, purchasing large quantities of such books for sending to Siberia. On his initiative, a prison hospital and a school for the children of prisoners were opened.
Dr. F.P. Gaaz
Dr. Haass fought for the abolition of the right of landowners to exile serfs.
He even ransomed some prisoners (74 people) and petitioned for the release of children (more than 200 cases). As a prison doctor, Dr. Haaz was extremely attentive to his charges: he visited them several times a day, talked with them about their affairs and family. When the prisoners were temporarily moved to a state-owned house near Pokrovka, he immediately began to accept homeless people there who had fallen ill on the streets. And he himself lived in a small apartment at the hospital, in the most sparse surroundings, among books and instruments. Here he consulted patients who came to him in the morning, supplied them with free medicines, and shared with them his last meager means. His popularity among the population of Moscow was enormous. He lived in complete solitude, completely devoted to the cause of charity, not retreating either from work, or from ridicule and humiliation, or from the coldness of those around him and the clerical quibbles of his colleagues. His motto “hurry to do good” supported him and filled his entire life with its content. There was no “foreign” pain or “bad” people in his life. He also did not have his own family, since he believed that there was not enough time for the outcasts: convicts, the poor, the sick. He was a Catholic, but the strict zealot of Orthodoxy, Saint Philaret (Drozdov), blessed to serve a prayer service for his health.
Tall, with kind and thoughtful blue eyes, in a shabby dress and mended stockings, he was always on the move and was never sick, until the first and last illness broke him. On August 16, 1853, he died, saying a touching goodbye to everyone who walked through the open doors of his apartment.
Dr. Haaz was buried in the Catholic cemetery on the Vvedensky Hills in Moscow.
The grave of Fyodor Petrovich Gaaz at Vvedensky Cemetery (Moscow)
The Federal State Treatment and Prevention Institution “Regional Hospital named after Dr. F. P. Gaaz” was named in honor of the doctor.
On January 9, 2016, a mass was celebrated in the main Catholic Cathedral of Moscow to mark the successful completion of the first stage of the procedure for canonizing Dr. Haas. Why in Moscow and why in the Catholic Cathedral? This is an extraordinary story that we began to tell in the previous issue.
Continuation. Starts at No. 3 (177)
During his lifetime, the German doctor Fyodor Petrovich Haass (Friedrich Joseph Haass, 1780-1853), who worked in Moscow, was called the “holy doctor.” He is still known by this name. When I came to the Vvedenskoye, usually called “German”, cemetery in Moscow to visit the graves of my relatives, I asked the flower girl in the stall at the gate if she had heard of the “holy doctor,” she answered: “About Doctor Haase? Certainly". She told me how to find his grave and added: “There are always a lot of flowers there.”
Indeed, it was not difficult to find the grave - it is in the very center of the cemetery on the central alley. Above the austere gray granite block is a dark cross. There is a portrait of the doctor with his famous saying “Hurry to do good” and a biographical information. There are chains on the fence, in memory of the shackles created by Haaz. Many colors.
We ended the previous article with the appointment of Dr. Haase as the chief prison doctor. The sight of the prisoners and the inhuman conditions of their detention were such a shock to him that from now on he devoted all his spiritual and physical strength, all his enormous fortune to the cause of alleviating the lot of the “unfortunates,” as he called the prisoners.
Prisons
On the Vorobyovy Gory, where the building of Moscow University now stands, during the time of Haas there was a transit prison. Prisoners from 24 Russian provinces arrived here and, after a short stop to fill out documents, continued on foot to Siberia. The number of exiles ranged from 6,000 to 18,000 per year. Having become the chief prison doctor, Haaz received this prison under his jurisdiction. Several times a week he visited it, talked with the convicts, listened, and tried to alleviate their mental and physical suffering. The prisoners responded to him with gratitude. Lady Bloomfield, the wife of the British Ambassador, who visited the transit prison in 1847, writes: “This wonderful man (Haas) has devoted himself to them (the prisoners) for eighteen years and has acquired great influence and authority among them. He talked to them, consoled them, exhorted them, listened to their complaints and instilled in them hope in the mercy of God, distributed books to many...” She further describes the procedure for sending prisoners to the stage: “Before the departure of the party there was a roll call. The prisoners began to line up, cross themselves into the church, ... then they began to approach Haaz, blessing him, kissing his hands and thanking him for all the good he had done. He said goodbye to everyone, kissing some, giving everyone advice and saying encouraging words... A difficult but indelible impression!”
Since the first crossing along the Vladimir highway was long and difficult, according to the idea and insistence of Haaz, a half-stage was arranged at the Rogozhskaya outpost. Haaz came here too, again said goodbye to the exiles, presenting them with food and books of the Holy Scriptures and “spiritual and moral content” for the journey, which, he believed, would help the suffering to find, as far as possible, peace of mind.
At the request of Fyodor Petrovich, a church was built at the prison on Vorobyovy Gory and a hospital with 120 beds was created. Here the doctor could leave prisoners “due to illness”, giving them the opportunity to gain strength before a difficult journey. Instead of the allotted week, he sometimes delayed them for two or three, or even longer. This caused discontent among the authorities and led to a long and difficult struggle, slander and criticism of the doctor. “What is the harm of my actions? - Haaz defended himself. – Is it that the health (of the prisoners) is preserved? That the mental illnesses of some are, if possible, corrected? ...Maternal care for them can warm their frozen heart and arouse warm gratitude in them!” This was his firm conviction, which guided his actions in the performance of “his favorite pastime - caring for the sick and prisoners.”
This concern took a variety of forms. Thus, in the journals of the Moscow prison committee, from 1829 to 1853, 142 petitions from Haas for reconsideration of cases and for pardon were recorded. Not only did the “holy doctor” address the committee; he fought everywhere to alleviate the fate of the convicted. They say that when Emperor Nicholas I visited a Moscow prison, Haaz knelt down in front of him, asking to release a sick old man from exile, and did not rise until the sovereign pardoned the “unfortunate.” He helped many financially from personal funds and collected from benefactors. He contributed to the creation of a shelter for those leaving prisons, a school for the children of prisoners, and arranged for the children of deceased prisoners to be raised.
Fyodor Petrovich, who was appointed chief physician of the Catherine Hospital in 1840, carried out its repairs, including at his own expense. He also made great changes to the structure of the “Moscow provincial castle” (now Butyrka prison). On his instructions, window openings were enlarged, toilets and washbasins were installed, bunks were installed in cells painted with light oil paint (before that they slept side by side on the floor), workshops were opened, a well was dug in the courtyard, which provided the prison’s own water supply, and trees were planted in the courtyard.
Shackles
When Dr. Haas began working on the prison committee, he was deeply shocked by the then existing practice of sending prisoners “on a rod”: about ten people were handcuffed in pairs to one metal stick (rod). So they were forced to move together, dragging the weak, the dying, and sometimes the dead. They were constantly in this bond both on the road, and on vacation, and when performing natural needs. Now it’s hard to imagine such horror!
Haaz, with his characteristic ardor, set about transforming this system. He developed new lightweight shackles weighing just over a kilogram and three-quarters of a meter long. I tried them on myself, walking in them around the room for a distance equal to one step. In such shackles it was possible to move much easier and not be connected to others by one “harness”. They were popularly called “Gaazovskie”. The introduction of the invention required considerable effort and many years of struggle from the enthusiast. With the support of the Moscow Governor-General, he finally organized the reforging of the prisoners into new-style shackles in the transit prison on Vorobyovy Gory. He donated his own money for the production of new shackles and personally supervised the reforging as each batch of exiles was dispatched. But before the prisoners arrived in Moscow, the rod was still used. Iron handcuffs rubbed wounds and caused frostbite in winter. For these unfortunate people, Haaz achieved the implementation of covering handcuffs with leather throughout Russia.
Police hospital for homeless people
This was the name of the hospital created by the tireless efforts of Dr. Haaz, which was popularly called “Haazovskaya”. Poor people picked from the street were placed here. The hospital building was renovated using the doctor’s personal funds and donors he found. The hospital was designed for 150 beds, but there were more and more people in need, sometimes their number was almost twice as large as originally envisaged.
Dr. Haaz, who settled in a small two-room apartment at the hospital, took patients in with him when there was a lack of space. The Moscow Governor-General, having learned about these violations, called the doctor and strictly ordered to reduce the number of patients to the norm. Instead of answering, Haaz knelt down and sobbed bitterly. The governor retreated, and no one raised the issue of “violations” anymore. During Dr. Haas's work at the hospital - from 1844 to 1853 - about 30,000 people passed through it. Those discharged were assigned to almshouses or to work, while those from other cities were provided with money for the journey home.
Demise
Fyodor Petrovich, despite great physical and moral stress, was tireless all his life and was in excellent health. But in the 73rd year an unexpected fatal illness struck. “He developed a huge carbuncle,” writes A.F. Horses,” and soon the hope of a cure was lost.” Nevertheless, “despite his illness,” recalls a contemporary, “his handsome old face expressed, as usual, kindness and friendliness, he not only did not complain about suffering, but did not say a word at all about himself or his illness, and he was constantly concerned with his poor, sick, prisoners... only once did he say to his friend Doctor Paul: “I didn’t think that a person could endure so much suffering.”
When Haaz felt the end approaching, he ordered the doors of his apartment to be opened so that everyone could freely come and say goodbye to him. The workers of the transit prison asked their priest to serve a prayer service for the health of the sick doctor. But is it possible to pray for a Catholic in the Orthodox Church? Father Orlov turned to Metropolitan Philaret for advice and received the answer: “God blessed us to pray for all the living, and I bless you!” Filaret himself came to the dying man to say goodbye. Fyodor Petrovich died on August 16, 1853. Up to 20 thousand people gathered for the funeral; the coffin was carried in their arms across all of Moscow - from an apartment on Pokrovka to the German cemetery in Lefortovo. Haaz was buried at public expense - he spent all his fortune on helping the poor.
The memory of the “holy doctor” has been alive for a century and a half. For a long time, the shackles and police hospital he created were popularly called “Gaazov’s.” In 1909, a monument was erected in the courtyard of this hospital. There is an inscription on it - the motto of the “holy doctor”: “Hurry to do good.”