Publishing House
Clandestine Bolshevik1905-1906
This is one of the most unusual museums of Moscow. During the First Russian revolution they produced illegal handouts and a social-democratic newspaper.
The museum opened in 1924 and was created by people who used to work there. The museum is a unique monument of political Russian history; telling us about the illegal underground activity of the Bolshevik party.
Their cover at the time was as a shop selling fruit from the Caucus.
The printing area itself is in a hidden cave dug out of the ground. It still has an authentic typing machine. The entrance looks like a warehouse filled with boxes of fruit. The propaganda and paperwork was hidden in the bottom of the fruit boxes.
The museum shows the living quarters of Russian revolutionaries, it explains their psychology and motivations. One can also learn about Tsar’s secret police and how they fought the revolution. The illegal printing works were never discovered by Tsar’s secret agents due to strict secrecy amongst the conspirators and the local underground workers’ professionalism and commitment to the Revolution.