- According to Soviet archives, during 1937 and 1938, the Soviet secret police detained 1,548,366 persons, of whom 681,692 were shot – an average of 1,000 executions a day.
- Fueled by paranoia, Stalin killed anyone who he considered a threat or disloyal, including almost every living Old Bolshevik leader except himself.
- Stalin’s son Yakov was captured in 1941 by the Germans during the invasion of USSR, who offered to exchange Yakov for Friedrich Paulus. Stalin turned the offer down, saying, “I will not trade a Marshal for a Lieutenant (his own son).”
The Great Purge or the Great Terror was a politically motivated campaign in the Soviet Union from 1936 to 1938. Estimated 1 million people were executed. The secret police, under the reign of Joseph Stalin’s paranoia, killed more than 1,000 people per day – usually with a shot to the back of the head. Others were sent to die in concentration camps to starve and work.
Stalin wanted to eliminate potential recruits for fabricated mythical “fifth column of wreckers, terrorists and spies." All intelligent, rebellious, strong and independent men were replaced with fanatical followers, truly loyal to him.
The photos below are just a few innocent victims of Stalin's regime, photographed in their last weeks or days. May they rest in peace.
Semyon Nikolayevich Krechkov
| Name: | Semyon Nikolayevich Krechkov |
| Nationality: | Russian |
| Born: | 1876 in Ponizove village |
| Education: | Secondary education |
| Party: | No affiliation |
| Job: | Orthodox priest in Bykovo village church, Moscow Oblast |
| Arrested: | November 1, 1937 |
| Sentence: | Sentenced to death on November 15, 1937. Executed on November 25, 1937. Rehabilitated in 1989. |
Many of the victims sentences include word rehabilitated – equivalent of posthumously cleared of your crimes by the government. Meaning innocent people were executed for fabricated crimes.
By doing so, it should bring closure to their close ones. I’m sure that’s a big relief.
Marfa Ilichna Ryazantseva
| Name: | Marfa Ilichna Ryazantseva |
| Nationality: | Russian |
| Born: | born 1866 in Makhachkala, Tverskaya Oblast |
| Education: | Uneducated |
| Party: | No affiliation |
| Job: | Retired |
| Arrested: | Arrested on August 27, 1937 |
| Sentence: | Sentenced to death on October 8, 1937. Executed on October 11, 1937. ERehabilitated in 1989. |
Death is the solution to all problems. No man – no problem.
– Joseph Stalin
Nikolai Vasiliyevich Abramov
| Name: | Nikolai Vasiliyevich Abramov |
| Nationality: | Russian |
| Born: | 1890 in Lukerino village, Moscow Oblast |
| Education: | Primary education |
| Party: | No affiliation |
| Job: | Collective farm foreman |
| Arrested: | October 5, 1937 |
| Sentence: | Sentenced to death on October 17, 1937. Executed on October 21, 1937. |
I trust no one, not even myself.
– Joseph Stalin
Aleksandra Ivanovna Chubar
| Name: | Aleksandra Ivanovna Chubar |
| Nationality: | Ukraine |
| Born: | 1903 in Artemivsk, Donetsk Oblast; Armenian |
| Education: | Higher education |
| Party: | No affiliation |
| Job: | Consultant in the People’s Commissariat of Light Industry |
| Arrested: | Arrested on July 4, 1938 |
| Sentence: | Sentenced to death and executed on August 28, 1938. |
The death of one man is a tragedy. The death of millions is a statistic.
– Joseph Stalin
Gavrill Sergeyevich Bogdanov
| Name: | Gavrill Sergeyevich Bogdanov |
| Nationality: | Russian |
| Born: | 1888 in Aminevo village, Moscow Oblast |
| Education: | Primary education |
| Party: | No affiliation |
| Job: | Laborer |
| Arrested: | August 8, 1937 |
| Sentence: | Sentenced to death on August 19, 1937. Executed on August 20, 1937. Rehabilitated in 1989. |
Joseph Stalin was born as Josef Vissarionovich Djugashvili. He changed his name in his 30’s to Stalin, meaning “Man of Steel.”
Boris Nikolayevich Rozenfeld
| Name: | Boris Nikolayevich Rozenfeld |
| Nationality: | Russian Jew |
| Born: | 1908 in St. Petersburg |
| Education: | Higher education |
| Party: | No affiliation |
| Job: | Engineer of the Mosenergo company |
| Arrested: | January 31, 1935 |
| Sentence: | Prisoner of Byelomoro-Baltisky complex of camps in Karelia. Transported from the camp to Moscow on April 12, 1937. Sentenced to death and executed on July 13, 1937. Rehabilitated in 1990. |
Stalin was only 5'4 tall.
Vasily Semyonovich Kurenkov
| Name: | Vasily Semyonovich Kurenkov |
| Nationality: | Russian |
| Born: | 1886 in Faleleyevo village, Western Oblast |
| Education: | Primary education |
| Party: | No affiliation |
| Job: | Farm worker |
| Arrested: | August 10, 1937 |
| Sentence: | Sentenced to death on August 19, 1937. Executed on August 21, 1937. Rehabilitated in 1989. |
In total, Stalin was directly responsible for the death of at least 20 million people.
Aleksei Zheltikov
| Name: | Aleksei Zheltikov |
| Nationality: | - |
| Born: | 1890 |
| Education: | - |
| Party: | - |
| Job: | Locksmith at the Moscow Metro workshops |
| Arrested: | - |
| Sentence: | Shot on November 1, 1937. |
The Russian city of Volgograd was named Stalingrad after Joseph Stalin himself, to recognize the city’s and Stalin’s role in its defense against the Anti-Communist forces between 1918 and 1920.
