Nikolai Yezhov Russian: Никола́й Ива́нович Ежо́в
Yezhov along Moscow-Volga channel Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ...
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 - Saint Petersburg, Russia
Died	February 4, 1940 - Moscow, USSR
Political party	Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Spouse	Antonia Titova (1919-1930), Yevgenia Feigenberg (1930-1938)
Children	(to Yevgenia) Natasha Yezhova

Full version of above photo. Yezhov is clearly visible to Stalin's left. The photo was later altered by censors. In the later version below, Yezhov's presence is undetectable.

Nikolai Ivanovich Yezhov (Russian: Николай́ Ива́нович 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. His reign is sometimes known as the "Yezhovschina" (or "Yezhovshchina", Russian: Ежо́вщина, the "Yezhov era"). The NKVD (Narodny Komissariat Vnutrennikh Del  ) (Russian: , ) or Peoples Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the leading secret police organization of the Soviet Union that was responsible for political repressions during Stalinism. ... 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Year 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Genrikh Yagoda Genrikh Grigorevich Yagoda (Russian: ; born Yenokh (Enoch) Gershonovich Ieguda (Russian: )[1]; 1891 – March 15, 1938) was the head of the NKVD, the Soviet secret police, from 1934 to 1936. ... Lavrenty Beria Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria (Georgian: ლავრენტი ბერია, Lavrenti Pavles dze Beria; Russian: Лаврентий Павлович Берия; 29 March 1899–23 December 1953) was a Soviet politician and chief of the Soviet security and police apparatus. ... is the 121st day of the year (122nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1895 (MDCCCXCV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Russia. ... Saint Petersburg (Russian: Санкт-Петербу́рг, English transliteration: Sankt-Peterburg), colloquially known as Питер (transliterated Piter), formerly known as Leningrad (Ленингра́д, 1924–1991) and... is the 35th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Soviet_Union. ... For other uses, see Moscow (disambiguation). ... The Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Russian: Коммунисти́ческая Па́ртия Сове́тского Сою́за, transliterated Kommunisticheskaya Partiya Sovetskogo Soyuza, acronym: КПСС (KPSS)) was the ruling political party in the Soviet Union. ... Image File history File links The_Commissar_Vanishes_1. ... Image File history File links The_Commissar_Vanishes_2. ... is the 121st day of the year (122nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1895 (MDCCCXCV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... is the 35th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The NKVD (Narodny Komissariat Vnutrennikh Del  ) (Russian: , ) or Peoples Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the leading secret police organization of the Soviet Union that was responsible for political repressions during Stalinism. ... List of Soviet secret police agencies, the Soviet secret police agencies and their different names are as follows chronologically. ... The Great Purge (Russian: , transliterated Bolshaya chistka) refers collectively to several related campaigns of political repression and persecution in the Soviet Union orchestrated by Joseph Stalin during the 1930s, which removed all of his remaining opposition from power. ...

Biography

Yezhov was born in Saint Petersburg. 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. During the Russian Civil War 1919–1921 he fought in the Red Army. 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. 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. Saint Petersburg (Russian: Санкт-Петербу́рг, English transliteration: Sankt-Peterburg), colloquially known as Питер (transliterated Piter), formerly known as Leningrad (Ленингра́д, 1924–1991) and... Year 1909 (MCMIX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Year 1915 (MCMXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday[1] of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... 1917 (MCMXVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar (see: 1917 Julian calendar). ... Bolshevik Party Meeting. ... is the 125th day of the year (126th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1917 (MCMXVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar (see: 1917 Julian calendar). ... Coat of arms of Vitebsk. ... For other uses, see October Revolution (disambiguation). ... Combatants Local Soviet powers led by Russian SFSR and Red Army Far Eastern Republic Chinese Volunteers White Movement Allied Intervention: Japan Czechoslovakia Greece  United States  Canada Serbia Romania  Turkey UK  France Foreign volunteers: Polish Italian Local nationalist movements, national states, and decentralist movements  German Empire  Mongolia Warlords Commanders Vladimir Lenin... For other organizations known as the Red Army, see Red Army (disambiguation). ... Year 1922 (MCMXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Russian: Коммунисти́ческая Па́ртия Сове́тского Сою́за, transliterated Kommunisticheskaya Partiya Sovetskogo Soyuza, acronym: КПСС (KPSS)) was the ruling political party in the Soviet Union. ... Year 1927 (MCMXXVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1929 (MCMXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1930 (MCMXXX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display 1930 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with: :Sovnarkom. ... Year 1934 (MCMXXXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display full 1934 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1935 (MCMXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar). ...

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. 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'. Nikolai Bukharin Nikolai Ivanovich Bukharin (Russian: ), (October 9 [O.S. September 27] 1888 â€“ March 15, 1938) was a Bolshevik revolutionary and intellectual, and later a Soviet politician. ...

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^[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. 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". 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. Josef Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili (Georgian: , Ioseb Besarionis Dze Jughashvili; Russian: , Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili) (December 18 [O.S. December 6] 1878[1] – March 5, 1953), better known by his adopted name, Joseph Stalin (alternatively transliterated Josef Stalin), was General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Unions Central Committee from... The NKVD (Narodny Komissariat Vnutrennikh Del  ) (Russian: , ) or Peoples Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the leading secret police organization of the Soviet Union that was responsible for political repressions during Stalinism. ... The Central Committee, abbreviated in Russian as ЦК, Tseka, was the highest body of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). ... is the 269th day of the year (270th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Genrikh Yagoda Genrikh Grigorevich Yagoda (Russian: ; born Yenokh (Enoch) Gershonovich Ieguda (Russian: )[1]; 1891 – March 15, 1938) was the head of the NKVD, the Soviet secret police, from 1934 to 1936. ... Wrecking, or vreditelstvo (вредительство), was a crime specified in the criminal code of the Soviet Union in the Stalin era. ... For other uses, see GRU (disambiguation). ...

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. 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. "Learn the Stalin way to work", he said, "from Comrade Yezhov, just as he learned and will continue to learn from Comrade Stalin himself". 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. Anastas Hovhannesi Mikoyan (Armenian Ô±Õ¶Õ¡Õ½Õ¿Õ¡Õ½ Õ€Õ¸Õ¾Õ°Õ¡Õ¶Õ¶Õ¥Õ½Õ« Õ„Õ«Õ¯Õ¸ÕµÕ¡Õ¶; (November 25, 1895 [O.S. November 13] - October 21, 1978) was an Armenian Old Bolshevik and Soviet statesman during the Stalin and Khrushchev years. ...

Although 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. On August 22, 1938, Lavrenty Beria became the deputy and partner to Yezhov and took over the governance of the Commissariat. 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. April 8 is the 98th day of the year (99th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 234th day of the year (235th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Lavrenty Beria Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria (Georgian: ლავრენტი ბერია; Russian: Лаврентий Павлович Берия; (29 March 1899 – 23 December 1953), was a Soviet politician and chief of the Soviet security and police apparatus. ... For other uses, see Molotov (disambiguation). ... is the 315th day of the year (316th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 329th day of the year (330th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 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. On April 10, 1939 he was arrested. On February 3, 1940 the Soviet judge Ulrikh tried him in Beria's office. 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^[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.^[4] is the 62nd day of the year (63rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 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, Tseka, was the highest body of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). ... is the 100th day of the year (101st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 34th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Vasili Vasilievich Ulrikh (July 13, 1889 – May 7, 1951) was the presiding judge at all the major show trials of the Great Purges in the Soviet Union, as well as many lesser trials, including a large number of secret trials that lasted only fifteen minutes or less. ... is the 35th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

References

• Nicolaevsky, Boris (1965). POWER AND THE SOVIET ELITE The Letter of an Old Bolshevik and Other Essays. Praeger. ISBN B000V5QAXU. 
• Roi Aleksandrovich Medvedev (Author), Harold Shukman (Author) (August 7, 1985). 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). Stalin's Loyal Executioner: People's Commissar Nikolai Ezhov, 1895-1940 TLE. Hoover Institution Press. ISBN 0817929029. 

Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 286th day of the year (287th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 286th day of the year (287th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Cover of an English edition of the Karl Marx: Man and Fighter Boris Ivanovich Nicolaevsky (Russian: Борис Иванович Николаевский) (October 20, 1887 N.S. in Belebey – February 21, 1966 in New York) was a revolutionary Russian Marxist activist and historian. ... Roi Medvedev, (b. ... Nikita Vasilyevich Petrov (Russian: ) is a Russian historian. ...

External links