Nikolai Yezhov Russian: Николай Иванович Ежов
Yezhov along Moscow-Volga channel
People's Commissar for Internal Affairs (NKVD)
In office September 1936 – November 1938
Preceded by	Genrikh Yagoda
Succeeded by	Lavrentiy Beria
Born	May 1, 1895(1895-05-01) Saint Petersburg, Russia
Died	February 4, 1940 (aged 44) Moscow, USSR (executed)
Political party	Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Spouse	Antonia Titova (1919-1930), Yevgenia Feigenberg (1930-1938)
Children	(to Yevgenia) Natasha Yezhova
Nickname(s)	Russian: Ежевика (Blackberry)[1]

Full version of above photo. Russian ( transliteration:,) is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages The NKVD ( НКВД, ru Народный Комиссариат Внутренних Дел ''Narodnyy Komissariat Vnutrennikh Del'') or People's Commissariat Year 1936 ( MCMXXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1938 ( MCMXXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Genrikh Grigor'evich Yagoda (Генрих Григорьевич Ягода born Yenokh (Enoch Gershonovich Ieguda ( Енох Гершонович Иегуда 1891 Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria (ლავრენტი პავლეს ძე ბერია Lavrenti Pavles dze Beria; Russian: Лаврентий Павлович Events 305 - Diocletian and Maximian retire from the office of Roman Emperor. Year 1895 ( MDCCCXCV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year Saint Petersburg ( tr: Sankt-Peterburg,) is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending Events 211 - Roman Emperor Septimius Severus dies leaving the Roman Empire in the hands of his two quarrelsome sons Year 1940 ( MCMXL) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Moscow (Москва́ romanised: Moskvá, IPA: see also other names) is the Capital and the largest city of The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 Capital punishment, the death penalty or execution, is the Killing of a person by judicial process as Punishment. Russian ( transliteration:,) is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages Yezhov is clearly visible to the left of Stalin. The photo was later altered by censors. In the later version below, Yezhov's presence is undetectable.

Nikolai Ivanovich Yezhov (Russian: Николай́ Иванович Ежов́; May 1, 1895 – February 4, 1940) was a senior figure in the NKVD (the Soviet secret police) during the period of the Great Purge. Russian ( transliteration:,) is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages Events 305 - Diocletian and Maximian retire from the office of Roman Emperor. Year 1895 ( MDCCCXCV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year Events 211 - Roman Emperor Septimius Severus dies leaving the Roman Empire in the hands of his two quarrelsome sons Year 1940 ( MCMXL) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The NKVD ( НКВД, ru Народный Комиссариат Внутренних Дел ''Narodnyy Komissariat Vnutrennikh Del'') or People's Commissariat The Soviet Union had a succession of Secret police agencies over the course of its existence Great Purge (Большая чистка transliterated Bolshaya chistka) was a series of campaigns of Political repression and Persecution His reign is sometimes known as the "Yezhovschina" (or "Yezhovshchina", Russian: Ежовщина, the "Yezhov era"). Russian ( transliteration:,) is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages

Biography

Yezhov was born in Saint Petersburg according to his official Soviet biography, though he stated he was born in Mariiampole, Lithuania. Saint Petersburg ( tr: Sankt-Peterburg,) is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River He completed only elementary education. From 1909 to 1915, he worked as a tailor's assistant and factory worker. From 1915 to 1917, Yezhov served in the Tsarist Russian army. He joined the Bolsheviks on May 5, 1917 in Vitebsk, a few months before the October Revolution. The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists ( Большевик Большевист (singular, derived from bolshe, "more" were a faction Events 553 - The Second Council of Constantinople begins 1215 - Rebel Barons renounce their allegiance to King John Year 1917 ( MCMXVII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year Vitebsk, also known as Vitsyebsk ( Belarusian: Ві́цебск 'vʲitsʲepsk Russian: Ви́тебск Vitebsk The October Revolution (Октябрьская революция Oktyabrskaya revolyutsiya) also known as the Soviet Revolution During the Russian Civil War 1919–1921 he fought in the Red Army. The Russian Civil War (1917–1923 was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed The Red Army ( Russian: Рабоче-Крестьянская Красная Армия R aboche- K rest'yanskaya K rasnaya A rmiya After February 1922, he worked in the political system, mostly as a secretary of various regional committees of the Communist Party. In 1927, he was transferred to the Accounting and Distribution Department of the Communist Party where he worked as an instructor and acting head of the department. From 1929 to 1930, he was the Deputy of the People's Commissar for Agriculture. Council of Ministers of the USSR (Совет Министров СССР tr In November 1930 he was appointed to the Head of several departments of the Communist Party: department of special affairs, department of personnel and department of industry. In 1934, he was elected to the Central Committee of the Communist Party; in the next year he became a secretary of the Central Committee. From February 1935 to March 1939, he was also the Chairman of the Central Commission for Party Control.

In the "Letter of an Old Bolshevik" (1936), which is purported to be the musings of Nikolai Bukharin, there is this contemporary description of Yezhov: "In the whole of my long life, I have never met a more repellent personality than Yezhov's. Nikolai Ivanovich Bukharin (Никола́й Ива́нович Буха́рин ( &ndash March 15, 1938) was a Bolshevik When I look at him I am reminded irresistibly of the wicked urchins of the courts in Rasterayeva Street, whose favorite occupation was to tie a piece of paper dipped in paraffin to a cat's tail, set fire to it, and then watch with delight how the terrified animal would tear down the street, trying desperately but in vain to escape the approaching flames. I do not doubt that in his childhood Yezhov amused himself in just such a manner and that he is now continuing to do so in different forms. " Physically, Yezhov was very short in stature - and that, combined with his sadistic personality led to his nickname 'The Poisoned Dwarf' or 'The Bloody Dwarf'.

He was known as a determined loyalist of Joseph Stalin, and in 1935 he wrote a paper in which he argued that political opposition must eventually lead to violence and terrorism; this became in part the ideological basis of the Purges. Joseph Stalin ( ნამდვილი გვარი ჯუღაშვილი|Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili; March 5 1953 was General Secretary of the Communist Party ^[2] He became People's Commissar for Internal Affairs (head of the NKVD) and a member of the Presidium Central Executive Committee on September 26, 1936, following the dismissal of Genrikh Yagoda. The NKVD ( НКВД, ru Народный Комиссариат Внутренних Дел ''Narodnyy Komissariat Vnutrennikh Del'') or People's Commissariat The Central Committee, abbreviated in Russian as ЦК, "Tse-ka" was the highest body of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU Events 46 BC - Julius Caesar dedicates a Year 1936 ( MCMXXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Genrikh Grigor'evich Yagoda (Генрих Григорьевич Ягода born Yenokh (Enoch Gershonovich Ieguda ( Енох Гершонович Иегуда 1891 Under Yezhov, the purges reached their height, with roughly half of the Soviet political and military establishment being imprisoned or shot, along with hundreds of thousands of others, suspected of disloyalty or "wrecking". Wrecking (вредительство or vreditel'stvo, lit "inflicting damage" was a crime specified in the criminal code of the Soviet Union in the Yezhov also conducted a thorough purge of the security organs, both NKVD and GRU, removing and shooting many officials who had been appointed by his predecessors Yagoda and Menzhinsky, but even his own appointees as well. GRU is the English transliteration of the Russian Acronym ГРУ, which stands for "Гла́вное Разве́дывательное He maintained that it was worth having ten innocent people suffer rather than letting one spy get away.

The apex of Yezhov's ascendancy was reached on 20 December 1937, when the party hosted a giant gala to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the NKVD at the Bolshoi Theater. Events 69 - Vespasian, formerly a general under Nero, enters Rome to claim the title of Emperor. Year 1937 ( MCMXXXVII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Bolshoi Theatre (Большой театр Bol'shoy Teatr Great Theatre) is a historic theatre in Moscow, Russia, designed by famed architect Enormous banners with portraits of Stalin hung side-by-side with those of Yezhov. On a stage crowded with flowers, Anastas Mikoyan, dressed in a dark caucasian tunic and belt, praised Yezhov for his tireless work. Anastas Hovhannesi Mikoyan ( Armenian: Անաստաս Հովհաննէսի Միկոյան ( - October 21 1978 was an Armenian Old Bolshevik and "Learn the Stalin way to work", he said, "from Comrade Yezhov, just as he learned and will continue to learn from Comrade Stalin himself". The crux of this line was every soviet citizen should be an NKVD agent. When presented, Yezhov received an "uproarious greeting". He stood, one observer wrote, "eyes cast down and a sheepish grin on his face, as if he wasn't sure he deserved such a rapturous reception". Stalin himself observed the scene from his private box.

When he was also appointed to the post of People's Commissar for Water Transport on April 8, 1938, maintaining his other posts, his role was gradually diminishing. Events 217 - Roman Emperor Caracalla is Assassinated (and succeeded by his Praetorian Year 1938 ( MCMXXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. On August 22, 1938, Lavrenty Beria became the deputy and partner to Yezhov and took over the governance of the Commissariat. Events 392 - Arbogast has Eugenius elected Western Roman Emperor. Year 1938 ( MCMXXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria (ლავრენტი პავლეს ძე ბერია Lavrenti Pavles dze Beria; Russian: Лаврентий Павлович When Stalin and Vyacheslav Molotov criticized heavily the work and methods of the NKVD in their writing of November 11, 1938, he was relieved of his post as the People's Commissar for Internal Affairs at his own request on November 25, 1938, and Beria succeeded him. Molotov redirects here For other uses see Molotov (disambiguation. Events 308 - The Congress of Carnuntum: Attempting to keep peace within the Roman Empire, the leaders of the Tetrarchy declare Year 1938 ( MCMXXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1034 - Máel Coluim mac Cináeda, King of Scots dies Donnchad, the Year 1938 ( MCMXXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.

On March 3, 1939 Yezhov was relieved of all his posts in the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Events 1284 - Statute of Rhuddlan incorporated the Principality of Wales into England 1575 - Indian Year 1939 ( MCMXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Central Committee, abbreviated in Russian as ЦК, "Tse-ka" was the highest body of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU On April 10, 1939 he was arrested and imprisoned at the Sukhanovka prison. Events 879 - Louis III becomes King of the Western Franks. 1407 - the lama Year 1939 ( MCMXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Sukhanovka is a prison established by the NKVD in 1938 for "particularly dangerous enemies of the people" on the grounds of the old Ekaterinskaia Pustyn' Monastery On February 3, 1940 the Soviet judge Vasili Ulrikh tried him in Beria's office. Events 1112 - Ramon Berenguer III of Barcelona and Douce I of Provence marry uniting the fortunes of those two states Year 1940 ( MCMXL) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Vasiliy Vasilievich Ulrikh ( July 13, 1889 &ndash May 7, 1951) was a senior judge of the Soviet Union during most of the regime of Yezhov refused Beria's suggestion that he confess to a plot to kill Stalin saying "it is better to leave this earth as an honorable man". Yezhov was sentenced to death and immediately after trial, on February 4, 1940 he was shot. Events 211 - Roman Emperor Septimius Severus dies leaving the Roman Empire in the hands of his two quarrelsome sons Year 1940 ( MCMXL) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. ^[3] According to a witness, just before the execution Yezhov was ordered to undress himself and then was beaten by guards. His ashes were dumped in a common grave at Donskoi Cemetery. Mass graves in the Soviet Union Soviet repression and terror The government ^[4]

References

• Boris I. Nicolaevsky (1975). Boris Ivanovich Nicolaevsky (Борис Иванович Николаевский ( October 20, 1887 N Power and the Soviet elite: "The letter of an old Bolshevik," and other essays. Ann Arbor, Mich: University of Michigan Press. The University of Michigan Press is a University press that is part of the University of Michigan. ISBN 0-472-09196-4.  
• Roi Aleksandrovich Medvedev (Author), Harold Shukman (Author) (August 7, 1985). For the current Russian President, see Dmitry Medvedev. Roy Aleksandrovich Medvedev (Рой Александрович All Stalin's Men. Blackwell Publishers. ISBN 0631141871.  
• Simon Sebag Montefiore (September 13, 2005). Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar. Vintage. ISBN 1400076781.  
• Nikita Petrov, Marc Jansen (April 5, 2002). Nikita Vasilyevich Petrov (Никита Петров is a Russian Historian. Stalin's Loyal Executioner: People's Commissar Nikolai Ezhov, 1895-1940 TLE. Hoover Institution Press. ISBN 0817929029.  

External links

• Nikita Petrov, Marc Jansen: Stalin's Loyal Executioner: People's Commissar Nikolai Ezhov, 1895-1940 (full text in PDF)