37
. While formally part of the Russian Federation, the North Caucasus was geographically, economically, and ethnically (due to a significant Ukrainian population) tied to Ukraine.
38
. Davies and Wheatcroft,
The Years of Hunger,
pp. 448–449, 470.
39
. Cited in Iu. Murin, comp.,
Pisatel’ i vozhd’. Perepiska M. A. Sholokhova s I. V. Stalinym. 1931–1950 gody
(Moscow, 1997), p. 68.
Mikhail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov (1905–1984) has been called a classic writer of Soviet literature and enjoyed Stalin’s particular patronage. Despite his success, Sholokhov continued to live in his native village in the Don region of Russia, a location that exposed him to the realities of collectivization and the Terror. On several occasions Sholokhov appealed directly to Stalin for help.
40
. R. W. Davies et al., eds.,
The Stalin-Kaganovich Correspondence, 1931–1936
(New Haven, 2003), pp. 179–181.
41
. Hiroaki Kuromiya,
Stalin: Profiles in Power
(New York, 2005), pp. 111–112. Historians continue to argue about the anti-Ukrainian nature of the famine and whether it represents a case of genocide. See, for example, Andrea Graziosi,
Stalinism, Collectivization and the Great Famine
(Cambridge, MA, 2009).
42
. Stalin,
Works,
vol. 13, pp. 253–254.
43
. Stalin was referring to a law enacted 7 August 1932 that provided for draconian penalties, including execution, for stealing kolkhoz property.
44
. RGASPI, f. 558, op. 11, d. 799, ll. 24–25, 30–31. A transcript of these discussions was first published in 1951: I. V. Stalin,
Sochineniia,
vol. 13 (Moscow, 1951), pp. 260–273. The published version of the text was redacted and the discussion of the state of the countryside cited here was cut.
45
. Danilov et al.,
Tragediia sovetskoi derevni,
vol. 3, pp. 527–528, 661–665.
46
. Cited in Murin,
Pisatel’ i vozhd’,
pp. 28–58.
47
. Ibid., pp. 68, 145–147.
48
. Within the party, many people knew of Trotsky’s speeches. They were even quoted at the January 1933 Central Committee plenum, albeit labeled as “slanderous” (RGASPI, f. 17, op. 2, d. 514. vyp. 1, l. 55).
49
. Khlevniuk,
History of the Gulag,
pp. 56, 57–58, 68.
50
. RGASPI, f. 558, op. 11, d. 779, l. 47.
51
. RGASPI, f. 17, op. 162, d. 15, ll. 154–155; G. M. Adibekov et al., eds.,
Politbiuro TsK RKP(b)-VKP(b) i Evropa. Resheniia ‘osoboi papki’
(Moscow, 2001), pp. 305–306.
52
. Stalin,
Sochineniia,
vol. 13, p. 252.
53
. Davies, Harrison, and Wheatcroft,
The Economic Transformation of the Soviet Union,
p. 127.
54
. RGASPI., f. 17, op. 2, d. 530. ll. 78–98.
55
. Khlevniuk.
History of the Gulag,
p. 63.
56
. Peter H. Solomon, Jr.,
Soviet Criminal Justice under Stalin
(New York, 1996), pp. 153–195.
57
. APRF, f. 3, op. 58, d. 71, ll. 11–31.
58
. RGASPI, f. 17, op. 162, d. 16, ll. 88–89. Subsequently, Aleksei Seliavkin fared relatively well. He survived the repression of 1937–1938 and fought in World War II, earning the rank of colonel. He even managed to publish his memoirs in the early 1980s (A. I. Seliavkin,
V trekh voinakh na bronevikakh i tankakh
[Kharkov, 1981]), a testament to the position of respect he held in Soviet society.
59
. Khlevniuk,
History of the Gulag,
pp. 121–123.
60
. RGASPI, f. 17, op. 162, d. 17, l. 31; V. N. Khaustov et al., comps.,
Lubianka. Stalin i VChK-GPU-OGPU-NKVD. Ianvar’ 1922–dekabr’ 1936
(Moscow, 2003), p. 566; V. N. Khaustov and L. Samuel’son,
Stalin, NKVD i repressii. 1936–1938
(Moscow, 2009), p. 70.
61
. A major part in promoting such accounts was played by the works of Roy Medvedev. See, for example, Roy Medvedev,
Let History Judge: The Origin and Consequences of Stalinism
(New York, 1972).
62
. For more details, see Oleg V. Khlevniuk,
Master of the House: Stalin and His Inner Circle
(New Haven and London, 2008), pp. 108–116.
63
. An examination of the most important evidence is offered in Matthew E. Lenoe,
The Kirov Murder and Soviet History
(New Haven and London, 2010). My discussion of this event relies heavily on this highly professional and detailed study and on A. Kirilina,
Neizvestnyi Kirov
(St. Petersburg and Moscow, 2001).
64
. One of the most recent publications on this subject is based on documents from the archives of the RF Federal Protection Service, the agency responsible for protecting senior officials. See S. Deviatov et al., “Gibel’ Kirova. Fakty i versii,”
Rodina,
no. 3 (2005): 64.
65
. Cited in F. Chuev,
Sto sorok besed s Molotovym
(Moscow, 1991), p. 310.
66
. Cited in
Voprosy istorii,
no. 2 (1995): 16–17.
Nikolai Ivanovich Yezhov (1895–1940) played a central role in carrying out Stalin’s plans for the mass purges and repression in 1935–1938. Yezhov initially oversaw this campaign in his capacity as the Central Committee secretary charged with monitoring the NKVD. In late 1936 he was placed directly in charge of the organization. Under Stalin’s guidance, Yezhov conducted the large-scale repressive operations of 1937–1938 that constituted the core of the Great Terror. After carrying out the duties that had been placed on his shoulders, Yezhov was arrested and shot.
Aleksandr Vasilyevich Kosarev (1903–1939) was head of the Komsomol, the Soviet youth organization. He was arrested in 1938 and shot in 1939.
67
. A. N. Artizov et al., comps.,
Reabilitatsiia: Kak eto bylo,
vol. 2 (Moscow, 2003), pp. 546, 548–549, and vol. 3 (Moscow, 2004), pp. 491–492.
68
. Nikolaev’s relatives also met tragic fates. Almost all of them—his mother, two sisters, his younger sister’s husband, his brother’s wife, and, in addition to Milda Draule herself, her sister, her sister’s husband, and even Nikolaev’s neighbor—were shot or perished in prison (Kirilina,
Neizvestnyi Kirov,
p. 367).
69
. Genrikh Grigoryevich Yagoda (1891–1938) served as deputy chairman of the OGPU beginning in 1923 and as people’s commissar for internal affairs (NKVD chief) from 1934 to 1936. He was arrested in 1937 and shot in 1938.
70
. Artizov et al.,
Reabilitatsiia,
vol. 3, pp. 466–467. Nikolaev officially registered his revolver in 1924 and 1930.
71
. Ibid., pp. 490, 499.
72
. Ibid., p. 493.
73
. Kirilina,
Neizvestnyi Kirov,
pp. 344–347; Artizov et al.,
Reabilitatsiia,
vol. 3, pp. 494–498.
74
. Cited in Iu. G. Murin, comp.,
Iosif Stalin v ob"iatiiakh sem’i. Iz lichnogo arkhiva
(Moscow, 1993), p. 168.
75
. RGASPI, f. 17, op. 163, d. 1052, l. 152.
76
. Ibid., ll. 152, 153. For the complete text of Stalin’s memorandum, see ibid., f. 71, op. 10, d. 130, ll. 13–15.
77
. Cited in
Pravda,
2 December 1935.
78
. From the diary of Maria Svanidze; cited in Murin,
Iosif Stalin v ob"iatiiakh sem’i,
pp. 173–175.
79
. Speech at the March 1937 Central Committee plenum; cited in
Voprosy istorii,
no. 3 (1995): 14.
80
. D. A. Volkogonov,
Triumf i tragediia,
vol. 2, pt. 2 (Moscow, 1989), p. 249.
81
.
Izvestiia TsK KPSS,
no. 7 (1989): 86–93.
82
. Avel Safronovich Yenukidze (1877–1937) was a long-standing member of the Bolshevik party who became friends with Stalin when they were both working in the revolutionary underground in Transcaucasia. After the revolution Yenukidze held a senior post in the Soviet parliament. Among his duties was accommodating the material needs of the top Soviet leadership. In that post he developed a reputation as someone who enjoyed a lavish lifestyle, and it probably contributed to his fall from favor. In 1935 he was removed from his senior post based on fabricated charges and in 1937 he was shot.
83
. Khaustov et al.,
Lubianka. Stalin i VChK-GPU-OGPU-NKVD,
pp. 599, 601–612, 618–619, 626–637, 638–650, 663–669.
84
. An account of the relationship between these two men is offered in Oleg V. Khlevniuk,
In Stalin’s Shadow: The Career of “Sergo” Ordzhonikidze
(New York, 1995).
85
. Mikhail Nikolaevich Tukhachevsky (1893–1937) was a Bolshevik hero of the Civil War who had held senior posts in the Red Army before being appointed deputy to the people’s commissar for defense, Kliment Voroshilov, with whom he had numerous run-ins. Stalin and many other Soviet military leaders were suspicious of Tukhachevsky as a potential conspirator because of his long years serving under Trotsky. Tukhachevsky and many of his fellow military leaders were shot based on fabricated political charges.
86
. Khaustov and Samuel’son,
Stalin, NKVD i represii,
pp. 106–121.
Trepidation in the Inner Circle
1
. On this point the bodyguards’ accounts are fully consistent with Khrushchev’s. See Sergei Khrushchev, ed.,
Memoirs of Nikita Khrushchev,
vol. 2:
Reformer
(University Park, PA, 2006), p. 147; Edvard Radzinsky,
Stalin: The First In-Depth Biography Based on Explosive New Documents from Russia’s Secret Archives
(New York, 1997), p. 573.
2
. Khrushchev,
Memoirs of Nikita Khrushchev,
vol. 2, p. 147.
3
. Radzinsky,
Stalin,
p. 573.
4
. A. L. Miasnikov,
Ia lechil Stalina
(Moscow, 2011), pp. 302, 304–305.
5
. Lazar Moiseevich Kaganovich (1893–1991) was one of Stalin’s closest associates in the 1930s. Beginning in 1931 he essentially acted as Stalin’s deputy in party matters. Before the war his political influence was somewhat diminished, and he was sent to work in economic posts, but because of his boundless devotion to Stalin, he continued to be a part of the inner circle. In 1957 he opposed Khrushchev’s ascent and was forced into retirement. He lived to be almost one hundred and remained a confirmed Stalinist until his death. See E. A. Rees,
Iron Lazar: A Political Biography of Lazar Kaganovich
(London and New York, 2012).
6
. Nikolai Alekseevich Voznesensky (1903–1950) was a member of the post-revolutionary generation of Stalinist functionaries. He joined the party after the Civil War, studied at Moscow’s Institute of the Red Professoriat, and went on to hold several government posts. Voznesensky’s career benefited from his time working directly under Andrei Zhdanov in Leningrad. When Zhdanov was promoted to the top leadership, he took his clients with him. Voznesensky also benefited from all the job openings created by mass repression. In 1938 he was appointed to head the State Planning Commission, and in 1941 he became Stalin’s first deputy chairman at the Council of People’s Commissars. After the war he became a member of the country’s top leadership, but after Zhdanov’s death in 1948 he, along with Zhdanov’s other protégés, began to lose influence. In 1949 Stalin arranged the series of fabricated cases that constituted the Leningrad Affair. Voznesensky was arrested and shot.
Aleksei Aleksandrovich Kuznetsov (1905–1950) also rose to prominence under Zhdanov’s patronage. He held many party posts in Leningrad and was transferred to Moscow after the war. There he became a Central Committee secretary and was placed in charge of CC personnel matters. He was arrested and shot in association with the Leningrad Affair.
7
. M. A. Men’shikov,
S vintovkoi i vo frake
(Moscow, 1996), p. 138.
8
. Note from Ignatiev to Beria dated 27 March 1953; cited in N. V. Petrov,
Palachi
(Moscow, 2011), p. 299.
9
. K. M. Simonov,
Glazami cheloveka moego pokoleniia
(Moscow, 1989), pp. 341–343.
10
. Pavel Sudoplatov claims that in 1950 Stalin ordered that listening devices be installed to spy on Molotov and Mikoyan (Pavel Sudoplatov et al.,
Special Tasks: The Memoirs of an Unwanted Witness—A Soviet Spymaster