Alexander Tsapko

Alexander Tsapko
Александр Трофимович Цапко
Tsapko c. 1916
Born
Alexander Trofimovich Tsapko

14 March [O.S. 2 March] 1884
Odesa, Russian Empire
Died20 May 1920(1920-05-20) (aged 36)
Alexandrovsky, Japanese-occupied north Sakhalin
Children1
Military career
Allegiance Russia
(1906–1917)
 Russian SFSR
(1917–1920)
Zemstvo of Maritime Territory
(1920)
Service years
1906-1920
Conflicts
AwardsOrder of St. Stanislaus

Alexander Trofimovich Tsapko (Russian: Александр Трофимович Цапко, 14 March [O.S. 2 March] 1884 – 20 May 1920) was a radio operator and Bolshevik revolutionary who represented northern Sakhalin during the Russian Civil War before his execution by Japanese forces in 1920.

Early life and career

Alexander Tsapko's home in Alexandrovsk-Sakhalinsky

Alexander Tsapko was born in Odesa to a Russian peasant family in 1884. His father's death shortly after his birth resulted in him being raised by his single mother. In May 1906, he completed training for Russia's postal and telegraph service. Tsapko would be sent to Khabarovsk as a junior telegraph mechanic, where he constructed radio stations in the Russian Far East.

In 1912, Tsapko was promoted to provincial secretary. On January 5, 1916, he was sent to Sakhalin for the construction of a radio station in Alexandrovsky (today Alexandrovsk-Sakhalinsky). Upon the station's completion, he was placed in charge of it.

Revolutionary activities

During his student years, Tsapko participated in revolutionary demonstrations. Following the February Revolution, he became chairman of Sakhalin's Public Safety Committee [ru]. On May 17, 1917, he was sent to Petrograd as a delegate to the First All-Russian Congress of Postal and Telegraph Employees. While there, Tsapko was elected to the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. He stayed in the city for the remainder of 1917, and was present during the October Revolution. Tsapko departed from Petrograd in May 1918.

Upon his return to Sakhalin on August 1, 1918, Tsapko resumed operating Alexandrovsky's radio station. While back on the island, he claimed to not side with any party "on principle." But when 18 Bolshevik prisoners were relocated to Sakhalin in the latter half of 1919, he led an underground group which established contacts with them. On January 14, 1920, a revolt against the White government in the Russian Far East created the Zemstvo of Maritime Territory. Two weeks later, a provisional executive committee on Sakhalin followed with Tsapko as chairman and Grigori Voitinsky acting as his deputy.

As chairman, Tsapko ordered the restoration of the eight-hour workday, the arrests of White government representatives, and the creation of a volunteer militia unit to replace northern Sakhalin's police force.

In March 1920, Yakov Tryapitsyn's capture of Nikolayevsk-on-Amur and the ensuing Nikolayevsk incident allowed his forces to exercise authority over northern Sakhalin. The creation of a Soviet resulted in the sidelining of the provisional executive committee, and by extension Tsapko, from any further decision-making.

Under Japanese occupation

In reaction to the Nikolayevsk incident, Japanese forces prepared to occupy northern Sakhalin. While Tryapitsyn's allies fled the island, Alexander Tsapko remained. This decision was motivated by the trust and popularity he held with the local population, and the presence of his wife and daughter on the island.

When the IJN cruiser Mishima arrived in the port of Alexandrovsky, Tsapko arrived at the ship to lodge a protest.The Japanese military began its occupation of northern Sakhalin on April 21, 1920.

Despite the occupation and Tsapko being placed under surveillance, the provisional executive committee continued operating. This modus vivendi lasted until three days prior to the election of Alexandrovsk's city duma. On May 17, 1920, Tsapko was arrested alongside the committee's members, former Red militiamen, and Soviet sympathizers. All of these detainees would be taken aboard the Mishima.

Death

Accounts vary as to the circumstances of Tsapko's fate. With some claiming he was shot or tortured by the Japanese. Another states he was thrown overboard the Mishima and drowned. What is known is that of the prisoners released from Japanese custody several months after their arrest in May 1920, Alexander Tsapko was not among them.

Memorials

References

  1. 1 2 Stephan, John J. (1971). Sakhalin: a history. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 978-0-19-821550-9. OCLC 201823.
  2. 1 2 3 "Александр Трофимович Цапко - 135-летию со дня рождения посвящается" [Alexander Trofimovich Tsapko—Dedicated to the 135th Anniversary of His Birth]. sakhalin-museums.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 2026-08-29.
  3. ↑ ukazan, Ne (2008-03-15). Revolyutsiya i Grazhdanskaya voina v Rossii: 1917-1923 gg. V 4 t. [Great Encyclopedia: Revolution and Civil War in Russia, 1917-1923: encyclopedia in four volumes] (in Russian). Terra. ISBN 978-5-273-00560-0. OCLC 265717509.
  4. ↑ Kuzin, Anatoly Timofeyevich (2017). Северный Сахалин в контексте общероссийских революционных событий 1917 г [Northern Sakhalin in the Context of the All-Russian Revolutionary Events of 1917]. Россия и АТР (in Russian). 3 (97).
  5. 1 2 ukazan 2008, p. 353.
  6. ↑ Vysokov, М. S.; Vasilevsky, А. А.; Kostanov, А. I.; Ishchenko, М. I. (2008). История Сахалина и Курильских островов с древнейших времен до начала XXI столетия [The History of Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands from Ancient Times to the Beginning of the 21st Century] (in Russian). Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk: Сахалинское книжное издательство. pp. 382–406.
  7. ↑ Kuzin 2017, p. 66.
  8. 1 2 Vysokov et al. 2008, p. 389.
  9. ↑ Vysokov et al. 2008, p. 392.
  10. ↑ Vysokov et al. 2008, p. 396.
  11. ↑ Vysokov et al. 2008, p. 397.
  12. ↑ Takeno, Manabu. "保障占領下北樺太における日本人の活動 (1920-1925)" [The Japanese Economic Activities in North Sakhalin under Protective Occupation, 1920-1925] (in Japanese). 北海道大学学術成果コレクション. Retrieved 2026-07-05.
  13. ↑ Vysokov et al. 2008, p. 398.
  14. 1 2 Vysokov et al. 2008, p. 399.
  15. ↑ Kuzin 2017, p. 67.
  16. ↑ "Бюст-памятник А.Т.Цапко". Archived from the original on 2019-09-17. Retrieved 2012-12-01.