But he knew how to make others, and women caused touching feeling. She fell into a nervous condition and was hospitalized in the sanatorium. Was this an omen? From 1915 until 1917, Yezhov served in the Imperial Russian Army. [20] Yezhov had told his wife, Yevgenia, on September 18 that he wanted a divorce, and she had begun writing increasingly despairing letters to Stalin, none of which were answered. By 1939 Stalin had to put his focus on the Second World War which meant that he had to end the purge . Yezhovs NKVD thoroughly embodied this randomness. He was head of the NKVD from 1936 to 1938, during the most active period of the Great Purge. Pauker fell to his knees and, hugging the feet of his executioners, wailed: Please For Gods sake, comrade Call Iosif Vissarionovich [Stalin]! A roar of laughter exploded in the room like a shell. First the NKVD was purged; his predecessor Genrikh Yagoda was liquidated, together with a large number of his subordinates. Yezhov also assisted Stalin in stoking fears about the impending conflict with the Fascist and Capitalist powers, shifting the blame for the various failures of the Soviet economic and political system onto internal enemies. Geoffrey Hosking. T, Mikhail Suslov was a member of the Politburo from 1955 to 1982 and headed the agitation and propaganda department of the Central Committee from 1947, Wladislaw Gomulka [7], Yezhov married Marxist Antonia Titova in 1919, but he later divorced her and married Yevgenia Feigenburg (Khayutina-Yezhova). Throughout this chaos, the peak of his career, Yezhov and his family lived extravagantly. Nikita Petrov & Mark Yansen. We are talking about my old Vice of sodomy a recognition of Nikolai Yezhov made in-camera special prison of the NKVD. Part 1: Stalin's Favourite, Resistance to the Soviet Regime in Estonia 1940-1991, Chains of Freedom: the Legacy of the Baltic Way in Hong Kong, The Estonian Institute of Historical Memory. A couple of years after, he changed his profession to become a factory worker. After his fall, for many years Yezhov was completely ignored. "[10] Yagoda became a target because he had been suspected of killing innocents and protecting anti-soviet conspirators by the NKVD. As if symbolically consummating his takeover of the NKVD (his secret sect, as he now called it), Yezhov took possession of the bullets that killed Zinoviev and Kamenev, and his family moved into Yagodas apartments. He was of those about whom they say meter with a cap: the growth, he was a meter 51 centimeters. In this position Yezhov organized the Great Terror. Simon Sebag Montefiore. Refer to each styles convention regarding the best way to format page numbers and retrieval dates. [16], Contrary to Stalin's expectations, the vast number of party officials and military officers lost during Yezhov's purges had been only partially made good by replacement with trusted Stalinist functionaries, and he eventually recognized that the disruption was severely affecting the country's ability to coordinate industrial production and defend its borders from the growing threat of Nazi Germany. New York: Random House, 1953. Where to Find Top-Rated Lawyers for Motor Vehicle Injuries: Accessing Experienced 6 Mistakes to Avoid When Applying for a Student Visa, Top Causes of Wrongful Death Claims: Understanding the Risks. Stalin ensured Yezhovs dedication was rewarded with various retreats and vacations when his health demanded it. That the order practically endorsed arbitrary arrests and murders based on personal rivalries, jealousy, or even simply bad luck, did not matter. Dukelskii. Yezhov was instrumental in Stalins consolidation of power, effectively enabling his rise as the unchallenged dictator of the Soviet Union. Nikolai Ivanovich Yezhov (Russian: , IPA: [nkaj vanvt (j)of]; 1 May 1895 - 4 February 1940) was a Soviet secret police official under Joseph Stalin who was head of the NKVD from 1936 to 1938, during the height of the Great Purge. Opportunities That Await You After Getting an Advanced Degree, Embrace the Essence of Neelam Stone with Exquisite Jewelry. Nikolai Yezhov Biography - NKVD director under Joseph Stalin Around this time, he met Lazar Kaganovich, a prominent Soviet politician who was later to become Yezhovs ticket into Stalins inner circle. With the death of the second wife of Ezhov went Hawking. Stalin did the same with scores of party officials who had been photographed next to him . ." By saddling him with the extra job, Stalin killed two birds with one stone: Yezhov could correct the water transportation situation with tough Chekist methods, and his transfer to the terra incognita of economic tasks would leave him less time for the NKVD and weaken his position there, thus creating the possibility that in due course he could be removed from the leadership of the punitive apparatus and replaced by fresh people. The idea was to gain total control of the NKVD and ensure sensitive assignments were carried out with utter efficiency and loyalty. This time Pauker added a religious overtone, at the peak of the scene throwing his arms to the ceiling and, in reference to Zinovievs Jewish heritage, yelled: Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One! Stalin, exhausted, could not laugh anymore, and waved his hand for Pauker to stop. [6] Physically, Yezhov was short, standing five feet (151cm), and that, combined with his perceived sadistic personality, led to his nickname "The Poison Dwarf" or "The Bloody Dwarf". https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/nikolai-yezhov-10607.php. For roughly two years, Nikolai Ivanovich Yezhov was the second most powerful man in the Soviet Union. [31] Yezhov, like his predecessor Yagoda, maintained to the end his love for Stalin. But Eugene talked the husband, and he, despite all the betrayal, he loved his wife and couldnt do the will of the leader. There, in the Studio, in full accordance with the traditions of the fashion world and glamor capital it seduced more experienced peers.One of his lovers Yezhov met then in the tsarist army in 1916, and they eagerly resumed their relationship. Finally, after sharp criticism of the NKVDs methods by Stalin, Yezhov resigned. One after the other, the people around him were arrested. When you chop wood, chips fly. On top of this, he had a troubling sense of humour. Basingstoke, U.K., 1995. Yezhov organized mass arrests, torture and executions during the Great Purge, but he . He frequently supervised and participated in interrogations and executions himself. Beria had managed to survive the Great Purge and the "Yezhovshchina" during the years 19361938, even though he had almost become one of its victims. An even greater number of civilians faced similar fate on charges of wrecking or disloyalty based on non-existent and flimsy evidence. Nikolai Yezhov was the head of the NKVD, the Soviet Union's secret police force, from 1936 to 1938. He asked for clemency. As he faced the firing squad, Yakovlev addressed Yezhov: Nikolai Ivanovich! By Masha Gessen July 15, 2018 A portrait of Djakhan Abidova, a woman in the Communist Party of Uzbekistan, deliberately damaged as part of an effort to erase her in the nineteen-thirties.. New York: Vintage, 2007. Part 2: Terror and Downfall, Resistance to the Soviet Regime in Estonia 1940-1991, Chains of Freedom: the Legacy of the Baltic Way in Hong Kong, The Estonian Institute of Historical Memory. How did nikolai yezhov die? - Dixiesewing Author Nadezhda Mandelstam, whose husband Osip died in the gulag, met Yezhov once and was surprised to find him "a modest and rather agreeable person". 5075% of the members of the Supreme Soviet and officers of the Soviet military were stripped of their positions and imprisoned, exiled to the Gulag's camps in Siberia or executed. He turned 26 years old. File:Nikolai Yezhov conferring with Stalin.jpg, File:Voroshilov, Molotov, Stalin, with Nikolai Yezhov.jpg, https://books.google.ca/books?id=OjCF88H-yS4C&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q=Bloody%20Dwarf&f=false, https://books.google.am/books?id=7gAfAAAAMAAJ&source=gbs_book_other_versions, "Stalinism, Bolsheviks, and the Revolution's Fatal Statistics", http://www.haciendapublishing.com/articles/stalin-communists-and-fatal-statistics, "Book Review of Beria Stalin's First Lieutenant by Amy Knight. 3. He could be both callous and, at times, more or less fair. Yezhov, Nikolai (1895-1940) | Encyclopedia.com Encyclopedia.com gives you the ability to cite reference entries and articles according to common styles from the Modern Language Association (MLA), The Chicago Manual of Style, and the American Psychological Association (APA). Yezhov was born either in Saint Petersburg, according to his official Soviet biography, or in Suwaki Governorate of the Congress Poland. Mass repression, hundreds of thousands were executed on his orders, people could not help but affect the psyche of a peoples Commissar alcoholic booze, cocaine and drunk orgies become permanent. And the people repeat, gathering around: In October 1937, Yezhov formally became a candidate member of the Politburo. New York: Vintage, 2007. Dressed in a cheap wrinkled suit, he spoke little, ate little, and listened attentively. Stalin's Loyal Executioner: People's Commissar Nikolai Ezhov, 1895-1940 by Marc Jansen and Nikita Petrov is a great addition to the story of Soviet communism, a story that is still unfolding, but has not completely been told. The later version (bottom) was altered by censors, removing all trace of his presence. Often, he personally knew his victims, who included his godfather and his godfathers wife, and one of his lovers, the wife of the Ambassador to Poland who had refused his offer to move to Moscow with him. After the divorce, Antonina Alekseevna has continued to live and work. Thieves. However, after Yezhovs death, Natalia was sent back to an orphanage and her surname was changed to Khyutina to bury any association with her foster father. [9], He became People's Commissar for Internal Affairs (head of the NKVD) and a member of the Central Committee on September 26, 1936, following the dismissal of Genrikh Yagoda. Stalin, as he often did with his favourites, gave Yezhov a nickname: yezhevichka, or my little blackberry. In one instance, Stalin, on a list of suspects accused of anti-Soviet activity, wrote to Yezhov simply: Shoot all 138 of them.