AND HIS NAME WAS JOEY STEEL
you just reminded me of the 1907 Tiflis Bank robbery. Around 20 Bolsheviks planned to steal a bunch of money being transported by wagon, Stalin was among them. Also there was that guy Kamo, one of Stalin’s friends, whose other pseudonym was hilariously “The Caucasian Robin Hood.” So everyone disguised themselves as peasants, with hidden guns and grenades, except Kamo. He dressed up like an imperial cavalry officer and was driving a fancy stagecoach. The disguise actually worked. After the robbers set off bombs and started shooting at cops/guards, several of them loaded up some money on the stagecoach for Kamo to make the getaway. He was stopped by an actual cavalry officer, but he then said something like “Don’t worry, the money’s safe with me. Get to the square!” Then he took the money to the hideout.
None of them got caught.
That’s some fantastic camouflage on Kamo’s part!
The name “Kamo” originated from Ter-Petrosian’s lack of fluency in the Russian language. One of Stalin’s acolytes, Vardoyan, was teaching Kamo Russian grammar, Kamo kept saying kamo instead of komu [to whom]. Stalin lost his temper, jumped off but then laughed: “komu not kamo! Try to remember it bicho [boy]!”
