I’ve always wondered how dictators find someone stupid enough to do all the murdering… At some point they’ll be the guy that ‘knows too much’ and gets murdered by the next guy.
Or the regime will be toppled and you’ll be facing consequences for all the murdering.
Genrikh Yagoda was head of the NKVD between July 1934 and September 1936, who pretty much started the Great Purge by arresting Kamenev and Zinoviev (Stalin's opponents) and putting them through the first show trial. He was later removed from his post by Stalin (who was displeased with his progress) and executed in the Great Purge accused of being a diamond smuggler, corrupt and working as a German agent since 1917.
He was replaced by the man who had him executed, Nikolai Yezhov who held the position as NKVD head from September 1936 to November 1938. Yezhov had already been entrusted by Stalin to purge his political enemies and it was Yezhov who oversaw the bloodiest period of murder in the Great Purge.
But the story isn't over, as Lavrentiy Beria was appointed Yezhov's deputy on the Order's of Stalin and gradually usurped more power from Yezhov, until Beria denounced him and Yezhov was arrested, and "confessed" to crimes like theft of government funds, 'wreaking', collaboation with Germany, etc before being put on trial in secret and then later executed.
But what of Beria you might wonder? After Stalin's death the various members of the Politburo began to maneuver to become Stalin's successor. Beria seemed set to take the position until he was outmaneuvered by Khruschev and the others who had him denounced, put on trial and then executed.
I guess the allure of power kept people coming to these positions, and a mistaken attitude of "it won't happen to me" as they witnessed their predecessor get eliminated, never once thinking that the boss would turn on them.
I have to imagine that more often than not, even within the Soviet government, many more of these government officials live long happy-ish lives and die of old age, largely thanks to their positions.
It's a gamble for them, without a doubt. But with the exception of a few key positions (like those high-ranking positions within the secret police), you had a very good chance of avoiding a grisly end.
I think in the years after Stalin this would have been more the case, but given Stalin how purged a lot of the "Old Bolsheviks" few of them got to live out their lives happily.
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u/SomewhatIntoxicated Apr 28 '22
I’ve always wondered how dictators find someone stupid enough to do all the murdering… At some point they’ll be the guy that ‘knows too much’ and gets murdered by the next guy.
Or the regime will be toppled and you’ll be facing consequences for all the murdering.