Joseph Stalin's purges and massacres between 1936 and the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany (Great Purge) had about one million victims. This list includes some of the most prominent victims along with the date of their deaths. Except where otherwise stated, the date is that on which the individual was executed by shooting.
1936
editJuly
9 Aghasi Khanjian (murdered by Lavrentiy Beria or suicide)
August
22 Mikhail Tomsky (suicide)
25 Grigori Zinoviev,[1] Lev Kamenev, Grigori Yevdokimov, Ivan Bakayev, Sergei Mrachkovsky, Ivan Smirnov, Vagarshak Ter-Vaganyan.
September
25 (Genrikh Yagoda dismissed from his post as head of the NKVD, and replaced by Nikolai Yezhov)
October
3 Platon Volkov[2]
November
23 Boris Pinson
December
28 Nestor Lakoba (suspected poisoning)
1937
editJanuary
10 Martemyan Ryutin, Ivar Smilga, Pyotr Zalutsky.
February
1 Georgy Pyatakov,[3] Mikhail Boguslavsky, Yakov Drobnis, Nikolai Muralov, Leonid Serebryakov.
18 Sergo Ordzhonikidze (possibly suicide)
March
May
26 Vladimir Nevsky, Alexander Slepkov, Vladimir Smirnov
31 Yan Gamarnik (suicide), Nikolai Uglanov
June
12 Mikhail Tukhachevsky,[4] Roberts Eidemanis, Boris Feldman, August Kork, Vitaly Primakov, Vitovt Putna, Ieronim Uborevich, Iona Yakir.
17 Max Levien
19 Yakov Doletsky (suicide), Dmitry Shmidt[5]
20 Mark Gai,[6] Andreu Nin (murdered in Barcelona), Jan Sten
July
1 Anatoliy Gekker, Matvei Vasilenko
2 Yevgeni Preobrazhensky, Lev Sosnovsky
16 Vladimir Kirillov, Pavel Vasiliev
19 Budu Mdivani
22 Paolo Iashvili (suicide)
August
7 Oscar Ryvkin, Nikolai Sollogub
13 Aleksandr Voronsky, Boris Didkovsky
14 Leopold Averbakh,[7] Karl Pauker, Ivan Zaporozhets Leonty Ugryumov
19 Ivan Kataev
21 Artur Artuzov, Adolf Warski, Leon Gaikis
25 Johannes Raudmets, Boris Steigerru
27 Igor Akulov
30 Panas Lyubchenko (suicide)
September
2 Grigol Lordkipanidze (died while under interrogation), Alexander Shliapnikov
4 Ignace Reiss (murdered in Switzerland), Evgeny Pashukanis
10 Sergei Medvedev, Hayk Ovsepyan, David Petrovsky, Sergei Syrtsov, Sergei Tretyakov
20 Lev Karakhan,[8] Marcian Germanovich, Nikolai Kashirin, Ivan Smolin, Ivan Teodorovich, Henryk Walecki
21 Seit Devdariani, Julian Lenski
28 Sergei Mezheninov, Timofei Sapronov
October
3 Alexander Chayanov, Hans Kippenberger, Willy Leow
13 Bekir Çoban-zade, Ahmad Javad
14 Karl Bauman
15 Dmitry Fesenko, Evgen Gvaladze, Pamphylia Tanailidi
29 Yakau Branshteyn, Anani Dziakaŭ, Platon Halavach, Valery Marakou, Anatol Volny[9] Vladimir Milyutin, Sergei Sedov
30 Ivan Akulov, Mikhail Chudov, Mendel Khatayevich, Aleksei Kiselyov, Alexander Krinitsky, Vladimir Polonsky, Mikhail Razumov, Alexander Shotman, Avel Yenukidze,[8] Ivan Zhukov
November
1 Kuzebay Gerd, Milan Gorkic, Gustaw Henrykowski
11 Sergei Chavain, Olyk Ipai, Shabdar Osyp
15 Gleb Bokii
20 Metropolitan Joseph (Petrovykh)
21 Fyodor Golovin, Adrian Piotrovsky,
26 Yakov Hanecki, Heinz Neumann, Alexander Krasnoshchyokov, Leonid Kurchevsky, Emanuel Kviring
27 Yeghishe Charents, Aino Forsten, Eero Haapalainen, Ruben Rubenov, Daniil Sulimov
28 Rose Cohen
December
3 Shalva Eliava, Boris Skibine
10 Rashid Khan Kaplanov, Vladimir Lyubimov, Movses Silikyan
11 Jaan Anvelt (died from torture under interrogation), Hayk Bzhishkyan, Seraphim Chichagov, Mamia Orakhelashvili[8]
16 Giorgi Mazniashvili, Titsian Tabidze
31 James Lewin
1938
editJanuary
8 Jūlijs Daniševskis, Mikhail Plisetski
11 Erwin Bauer, Arvid Kubbel, Georgy Langemak
15 Anna Tieke
20 Juho Perala, Nikolai Zhilyayev
February
8 Tikhon Khvesin, Nikolai Kuzmin, John Pepper
9 Vaino Kallio, Romuald Muklevich, Gazanfar Musabekov
10 Vladimir Antonov-Ovseenko, Christophor Araratov, Alexander Beloborodov, Maksim Haretski, Grigory Kaminsky, Joseph Meerzon, Alexander Serebrovsky, Aleksandr Smirnov
11 Asser Salo
17 Abram Slutsky (poisoned)
18 Georgii Frederiks, Dmitry Mushketov, Julian Shchutsky,
26 Jukka Ahti, Abram Markson, Tyyne Salomaa
March
15 Nikolai Bukharin, Alexei Rykov, Genrikh Yagoda, Pavel Bulanov, Mikhail Chernov, Hryhoriy Hrynko, Akmal Ikramov, Vladimir Ivanov, Nikolai Krestinsky, Pyotr Kryuchkov, Arkady Rosengolts, Vasily Sharangovich, Isaac Zelensky, Prokopy Zubarev,[10] Valentin Trifonov.
April
21 Sultan Majid Afandiyev, Oskari Ikonen, Boris Pilnyak, Huseyn Rahmanov, Kustaa Rovio, Suren Shadunts
23 Kasyan Chaykovsky (died under interrogation)
25 Jekabs Peterss, Ivan Mezhlauk
May
29 Hans Hellmann, Solomon Levit
June
20 Vladimir Gorev, Nikolai Janson
21 Nikolai Goloded (suicide during an interrogation)
July
28 Yakov Davydov, Terenty Deribas, Vladimir Kirshon, Yakov Alksnis, Izrail Leplevsky, Maksim Ammosov, Vladimir Orlov, Mikhail Sangursky, Alexander Svechin, Ioakhim Vatsetis
29[11] Janis Rudzutaks, Nikolai Antipov, Moisei Frumkinru, Vilhelm Knorin, Nikolai Krylenko, Valery Mezhlauk, Vasily Schmidt, Boris Shumyatsky, Matvey Skobelev, Jozef Unszlicht, Amatuni Vartapetyan, Yakov Yakovlev, Volodymyr Zatonsky
Ivan Belov, Yan Berzin, Anton Bulin, Ivan Dubovoy, Pavel Dybenko, Sergei Gribov, Ivan Gryaznov, Innokenty Khalepsky, Vasiliy Khripin, Grigory Kireyev, Yepifan Kovtyukh, Mikhail Levandovsky, Alexander Sedyakin, Ivan Tkachev
August
1 Yakov Agranov, Alexander Bekzadyan, Eduard Berzin, Andrei Bubnov, Aleksei Stetsky, Semyon Uritsky, Yan Gaylit, Ivan Kosogov, Nikolay Kuibyshev, Mikhail Viktorov, Konstantin Yurenev
19 Nikolai Krivoruchko, Vasiliy Mantsev, Nikolay Pakhomov
22 Pyotr Feldman, Vladimir Gittis, Vilhelm Garf, Lavrenti Kartvelashvili, Pavel Sytin
26 Andrei Sazontov, Sofia Sokolovskaya, Mikhail Svechnikov
29 Jan Antonovich Berzin,[12] Pyotr Bryanskikh, Boris Kamkov,[12] Béla Kun,[12] Jamshid Nakhchivanski, Lev Mironovru, Leonid Zakovsky[13]
September
1 Nikolai Bryukhanov,[12] Mieczysław Broński,[12] Valerian Osinsky[12]
7 Nikolai Gorbunov,[12] Karim Mammadbeyov, Nikolai Zimin
8 Mikhail Amelin, Ivan Nikulin
17 Bruno Jasienski, Nikolai Kondratiev
20 Boris Kornilov, Theodore Maly
October
4 Nikolai Vladimirovich Nekrasov
12 Matti Airola (died in prison), Maximilian Kravkov
27 Khadija Gayibova, Artemic Khalatov
November
9 Vasily Blyukher (beaten to death by the NKVD interrogator, Lev Shvartzman)
22 (Nikolai Yezhov dismissed as head of the NKVD, and replaced by Lavrentiy Beria)
December
27 Osip Mandelstam (died in a labour camp), Boris Gorev
30 Georgy Lomov
1939
editJanuary
15 Kullervo Manner (died in a labour camp)
February
10 Bela Szekely
22 Boris Berman, Grigory Khakhanyan
23 Alexander Kosarev, Alexander Yegorov
25 Boris Pozern, Pyotr Smorodin
26 Vlas Chubar, Stanislaw Kosior, Levon Mirzoyan, Pavel Postyshev
March
7 Alexey Bakulin, Matvei Berman, Volf Bronner, Hermann Remmele
10 Georgy Bondar, Ehsanollah Khan Dustdar
15 Leo Flieg
April
6 Nikolai Bekryashev (died in a labour camp)
15 Aleksei Gastev, Dmitry Shakhovskoy
16 Efrem Eshba
May
19 Karl Radek (murdered in a labour camp)
21 Grigori Sokolnikov (murdered in a labour camp)
June
6 Prince Dmitri.Mirsky (died in a labour camp)
July
9 Maria Koszutska (died in prison)
August
16 Martha Ruben-Wolf (suicide)
October
31 Platon Oyunsky (died in prison)
1940
editJanuary
27 Isaac Babel
28 Mirsaid Sultan-Galiev, Aleksandr Uspensky
February
2 Robert Eikhe, Mikhail Koltsov, Vsevolod Meyerhold, Mikhail Trilisser, Yefim Yevdokimov
3 Mikhail Frinovsky, Nikolai Yezhov[14]
May
7 Nikolai Vissarionovich Nekrasov
June
23 Toivo Alavirta (died in a labour camp)
August
20 Leon Trotsky (assassinated in Mexico)
October 16 Boris Stomonyakov
See also
editNotes
edit- ^ Zinoviev headed a list of 16 accused sentenced to death on 23 August 1936 at the end of the first of the Moscow Show Trials (1936). Report of Court Proceedings, The Case of the Trotskyite-Zinovievite Terrorist Centra. Moscow: People's Commissariat of Justice of the USSR.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Volkov was married to Trotsky's daughter, Zinaida. "Волков Платон Иванович ::: Мартиролог: Жертвы политических репрессий, расстрелянные и захороненные в Москве и Московской области в период с 1918 по 1953 год". Sakharov Centre. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
- ^ Pyatakov headed the list of 13 accused sentenced to death on 30 January 1937 at the second show trial. (1937). Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet Trotskyite Centre. Moscow: People's Commissariat of Justice of the USSR.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ The execution of Marshal Tukhachevsky and seven others was the start of a purge o0f the Red Army that claimed "at least" 20,000 victims Conquest, Robert (1971). The Great Terror. Harmondsworth: Penguin. p. 313.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Shmidt was the principal source of the evidence against Marshal Tukhachevsky and the other executed commanders. Conquest. The Great Terror. p. 287.
- ^ Mark Gai was one of the first former NKVD officers executed for suspected loyalty to his dismissed chief, Yagoda. Jansen, Marc and Petrov, Nikolai (2002). Stalin's Loyal Executioner: People's Commissar Nikolai Ezhov, 1895-1940. Stanford CA: Hoover Institution Press. p. 64. ISBN 978-0-8179-2902-2.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Averbakh, brother-in-law of Genrikh Yagoda, headed a death list of 25 former NKVD officers and family members signed by Stalin and Molotov.
{{cite book}}: Missing or empty|title=(help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ a b c On 20 December 1937, Pravda reported that Yenukidze, Karakhan, Orakhelashvili and four others had been tried and sentenced to death the previous day, Conquest. The Great Terror. p. 371, although when the archives opened it became clear that all three were already dead by that date.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Branstejn was one of more than 100 literary figures from Belarus (then known as the Byelorussian SSR) executed in October 1937. Other executed Belarusians. 1937 mass execution of Belarusians.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Bukharin headed a list of 18 accused sentenced to death on 13 March 1938 at the third Moscow show trial (1938). Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet 'Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites'. Moscow: People's Commissariat of Justice of the USSR.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ The historian Robert Conquest first noted in Encounter magazine in November 1968 the coincidence of the death dates of a long list of former communist party officials and army officers shot on three separate days. The political figures are here listed first. The Red Army commanders and commissars follow in alphabetical order, starting with Alksnis, Belov, and Gaylit. That Stalin signed off a list of 139 names in a single day, July 26, suggests that he was becoming impatient with Yezhov. Conquest, Robert (1985). Inside Stalin's Secret Police, NKVD Politics 1936-39. Houndsmill: Macmillan. p. 72-73. ISBN 0-333-39260-4.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ a b c d e f g h i On 30 August 1938, Stalin and Molotov signed a list submitted by Yezhov of 362 people marked for execution. "Записка Ежова с приложением списка лиц: Москва-центр N 1 // от 20 августа 1938 года". Retrieved 3 February 2022.
{{cite web}}:|first1=has generic name (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Zakovsky and Mironov were among several former NKVD officers executed on Yezhov's orders to silence them, after the announcement on 22 August that Beria was to take over as deputy head of the NKVD. Jansen, and Petrov. Stalin's Loyal Executioner. p. 151.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Yezhov headed a list of 346 men and women, including at least 60 former NKVD officers, and the writers Babel and Koltsov that Beria submitted to Stalin on 19 January 1940, proposing that they should all be shot. All of these executions were kept secret until after 1990. Jansen, and Petrov. Stalin's Loyal Executioner. p. 186.
{{cite book}}:|last1=has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)