On 22 December 1849 8 A.M. he was pretended to be led out, with twenty other people, for execution by firing squad in the Semenovsky Square in St Petersburg. The first group was actually and tied up, while the second group watched. This terrible mock execution made one of the prisoners go insane. But then the order was suddenly changed, and he was given "katorga" (labor in Siberia) for four years. This had a great influence on his life. After that, he was to serve the military in Siberian .