Nikolai Yezhov

Nikolai Yezhov
Born	1 May 1895 St. Petersburg, Russian Empire
Died	4 February 1940 Moscow, RSFSR, Soviet Union
Cause of death	Execution
Nationality	Russian

Nikolai Ivanovich Yezhov (1 May 1895 – 4 February 1940) was a Soviet statesman who served as the People's Commissar for Internal Affairs from 1936 to 1938. He was responsible for most of the Great Purge, also known as the Yezhovshchina, in which tens if not hundreds of thousands of Soviet citizens (many of whom were innocent) were arrested, often on false or trumped-up charges, and killed. Yezhov was part of a conspiracy much larger than himself tasked with overthrowing the Soviet government, and the mass killings that he presided over were carried out in an attempt to cover his tracks and create discontent among the Soviet populace. Yezhov fell victim to his own purge in 1938 and was executed in 1940.

Political career

Great Purge

Yezhov signed Stalin and Molotov's execution orders of 75,950 known criminals in July 1937. Stalin began to oppose Yezhov's excesses as early as October 1937 and openly criticized him in January 1938. Beria believed Yezhov was a Nazi agent, and the Sovnarkom and Central Committee ordered him to stop executions and mass arrests on 11 November 1938.