Evil reputations

Alan Murdie’s suggestion [ FT379:20] – that the tendency to create an elaborate folklore of ghosts and anomalous activity around places associated with criminals and evil tyrants may be a sort of coping strategy for

communities still ‘haunted’ by the memory of their crimes – has some merit. I have no doubt also that many paranormal enthusiasts are only too eager to fuel these legends in a way that is insensitive to the locals who still live with the consequences.

However, I recall reading about the experiences of the Tunisian ambassador’s family at the former home of Soviet secret police chief Lavrentiy Beria in

Moscow. The wife of the ambassador supposedly witnessed the ghostly figure of a terrified naked teenage girl running along a corridor; and the Embassy staff were all in fear of the nightly cries and shrieks from the basement. The activity apparently began as workmen were excavating the grounds as part of repair-works and culminated with the recovery of several female skeletons that bore evidence of execution, leading credence to tales of Beria’s personal depravity.

If this is indeed a true account, then maybe there is more to this than just legend and folklore. As the late Stephen Jay Gould used to say about controversies in science: if in doubt, it never hurts to refer back to the original document or report. This is especially true in the murky world of paranormal investigations. Michael Sherlock

Corbally, Limerick

Alan Murdie mentions the Beria house in Moscow, and the fact that a child fell from a sixth storey window [ FT379:20]. I wonder if this is an urban legend, as from pictures I have been able to find the house only appears to have three storeys, if you count the “semi-basement” indicated by the lowest row of windows. There is the two-storey section illustrated in FT, and – not visible in the picture – a three-storey section behind this.

Dave Miles

By email