which he needed, and they yielded only after intervention of the 
representatives of the foreign powers and under pressure of Gen- 
eral Syrovoy. At that time the line was blocked to such an extent 
that it could be used for only two trains daily. Four of Admiral 
Kolchak’s trains could not, therefore, advance beyond Krasnoyarsk 
and two only, that on which the Admiral was traveling and the one 
carrying the gold, could reach Nijneudinsk. At the latter station 
the events took place which are generally known. Admiral Kol- 
chak left his train and the gold train, relying upon General Janin’s 
promise, which was conveyed to him through the Czechs, to the 
effect that he would be assured unhindered passage to Vladivostok 
with the Czech detachment. Admiral Kolchak, accompanied by 
28 persons of his retinue and by the officers of his guard, boarded 
a car, which was then attached to the train of the 6th Czech 
Regiment. That train, flying the flags of the Allies, went from 
Nijneudinsk to Irkutsk. There the Czech guard was recalled, and 
the Admiral was handed over to the Socialists. In spite of all 
exhortations of his ministers, the Admiral had previously refused 
to part from the gold train and to ship the gold to Irkutsk. He 
had thus delayed his own departure to the East. Had it not been 
for this circumstance, he certainly would have reached Irkutsk 
before the Socialist coup of December 4, and his ultimate fate 
would probably have been different. However, it would not be 
fair to blame the Admiral for having been so anxious to keep the 
gold under his own control. Since the fall of Omsk his authority 
had been constantly threatened by uprisings in various cities. Ship- 
ping the gold to Irkutsk, which was regarded as the main center 
of the Socialists-Revolutionists, would have meant creating parti- 
cularly favorable conditions for the revolutionary movement and 
for the constitution of a new government, with that gold as the 
mainstay of its authority. 
From the time that the gold train was left at Nijneudinsk, it 
is impossible to ascertain its fate with the same exactitude. All 
responsibility for its protection was borne by the Czecho-Slovaks. 
Under the terms of the armistice concluded between the Bolsheviki 
and the Czechs at the end of January, 1920, the gold was turned 
over to the representatives of the Bolsheviki. That had been made 
an absolute condition of allowing the Czech troops unhindered pas- 
sage eastward. 
RUMANIAN GoLD 
In December 1916, when the Rumanian capital was menaced 
by the German advance, the Rumanian Government entered into an 
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