It happened on September 1908, 26 on the Bezdonyi railway at the station. The fighting group of the Polish Socialist Party, led by Juzef Pilsudski, robbed a train carrying money intended for the construction of the Vilnius tram line. By the way, they went to the Polish underground. Perhaps, if it were not for this event, the city would now have a tram, and the candidates for Vilnius mayor would not be discussing the need for it in Vilnius.
A little background: during the Russo-Japanese War, the Polish Socialist Party was financed by the Japanese General Staff for spying on the Pilsudski. The peace that prevailed in 1905 cut off funding from Japan, so Pilsudski had to look for a new source of income. Pilsudski's espionage proposal was rejected by the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the planned robbery of the State Bank in Kiev was abandoned as too risky.
Then other steps had to be taken and it was decided to rob a mail wagon. Thus, Pilsudski and the revolutionaries began to prepare for the robbery of the Warsaw-Petersburg train in Bezdon.
The fateful September 26 came. 17 people participated in the campaign. The attackers threw bombs into the train, occupied the station, cut off telephone and telegraph communications. Then 5 Russian soldiers were wounded, one was shot. When the security stopped resisting, the attackers blew up the safes and stole money - more than 200 thousand. rubles. The money was intended for the construction of the Vilnius tram line, and went to the Polish underground.
Later, five pilsudskians were arrested, three were sentenced to death. After the cassation, it was changed to penal servitude, which lasted until 1917. The 3 attackers later became prime ministers of Poland.
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It is not known whether the robbery of Bezdonii prevented the Vilnius tram. Perhaps, if there was no robbery, tram lines would have been built in Vilnius and today the city would have convenient public transport.
