NKVD executioners: How was the fate of people on whose conscience tens of thousands of ruined lives

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

In the 1930s, the state punitive system badly needed people who were ready for anything in the full sense of the word. By order to carry out mass executions, to knock out the necessary testimony - not every person is capable of this. And therefore the executioners of the NKVD were highly valued, lived in special conditions, their position was considered even honorable. On the conscience of such executors are tens of thousands of those killed, often sentenced to death on trumped-up charges.

Death machine

The NKVD acted according to a well-established scheme. On the basis of the information reported to the investigators, a case was opened, which in the overwhelming majority of cases became the basis for the death penalty. The worst thing is that the relatives were not informed about the executions - they were informed that their relative had been sentenced to 10 years in prison without the right to correspond and transmit. This was the order, and since 1945 they began to report that the prisoner died a natural death in places of imprisonment.

They were deprived of their lives by the executioners, those who directly enforced the orders of the higher authorities. Most of the executions took place in Moscow, immediately after interrogation or shortly after serving a sentence. Therefore, most of the Stalinist executioners lived in the capital. It is interesting that there were not so many of them - about two dozen. And all because not everyone could withstand such work, the executioners had to have a stable psyche, excellent professional skills, be able to maintain strict secrecy and be devoted to their work and leadership.

As creepy as it sounds, many of them even enjoyed the process. Someone strove for quantitative records, considering each new victim a separate professional achievement, someone came up with sophisticated methods to stand out from their colleagues, and someone carefully prepared for each murder, creating special rituals, special clothing or choosing a specific type of weapon.

Vasily Blokhin - a general who personally shot about 20 thousand people

This person became the absolute record holder in terms of quantity. He was the permanent commander of the executions, having received this position at the beginning of his career and only stepped down on retirement. Vasily Mikhailovich became a rare exception among the executioners - he was able to live to old age with a relatively good state of health. He always approached work responsibly - he observed safety precautions, did not drink alcohol. I always wore a special uniform so that blood did not get on open areas of the body.

He tuned in to the execution and emotionally - each time calmly drinking a cup of strong tea and leafing through books about horses. It was Blokhin who was the leader of the mass execution of Poles in Katyn. There, the executioner personally killed more than 700 people. He also shot his former colleagues arrested in connection with the execution of the Solovetsky stage.

During his lifetime, he received many awards for his selfless work, had honor and respect among colleagues, and received a special pension of 3150 rubles, when the average salary was 700 rubles. After the arrest of Beria, the major general was deprived of his rank, orders and that very pension. There is a version that it was after these shocks that Blokhin had a heart attack. He died in 1955 and is buried in the Donskoy cemetery, not far from the mass grave of his victims.

Sardion Nadaraya - "the universal soldier"

On his account there are about 10 thousand killed. As a compatriot of Beria, the Georgian Nadaraya quickly built his career. After 11 years of service, he was already the head of the internal prison of the NKVD of the Georgian SSR. Sardion Nikolaevich personally supervised the interrogations using brutal methods. He personally beat, tortured and shot prisoners. Nadaraya became famous for his ability to knock out the testimony necessary for the NKVD from prisoners - self-incrimination and fictitious accusations, slander against those who were in the development of the security forces.

The highest point of career growth was the appointment of Sardion Nikolaevich, the chiefs of the personal security of Lavrenty Beria. In this position, he carried out all the orders of the chief. One of his tasks was the search and delivery of women for comfort, and Beria's choice was unpredictable - he could point to a lady on the street, the wives of high-ranking military men, actresses and singers, or choose someone from those who wrote him written appeals on work issues … Nadaraya and his colleagues tracked them, went to addresses, caught on the street and brought them to their leader.

After the arrest of Beria, Nadaraya was taken into development by the special services. He was accused of pandering, and they recalled all his actions as head of the Georgian NKVD. In 1955 he received 10 years of imprisonment with confiscation, served the entire term and lived out his old age in Georgia.

Peter Maggo - the executioner, who considered the execution of art

Latvian Maggo is also on the list of record holders - he took the lives of more than 10 thousand prisoners. One of the most effective executioners of the NKVD carried out executions all the years of his service. Having successfully worked in the punitive squad, Maggo became the head of the inner prison. As a leader, Pyotr Ivanovich had the right not to take personal part in the executions, but he did it because he liked the process. Killing people, he often entered courage and fell into a half-oblivion. There is a known case when, having shot the convicts, Maggo began to force his colleague Popov to undress and stand up against the wall, because he could not recognize him, being in a very agitated state.

He considered execution to be a special art, he loved to teach novice executioners, telling them how to correctly bring prisoners to the place of execution and what actions to take during execution, so as not to be splattered with blood. At the same time, he always improved his work if he received comments from his superiors. For example, he carried out educational work with prisoners so that they would never say the name of the leader before they died.

Maggo's awards include the "Honorary Chekist" badge, two Orders of the Red Banner and the Order of Lenin. In 1940 he was dismissed from the NKVD. The love for strong alcohol, which appeared over the years of work, brought him to cirrhosis of the liver, from which Maggo eventually died in 1941.

Vasily and Ivan Shigalevs - family dedication to a common cause

The Shigalevs are very famous personalities, this was the only case when relatives were so-called employees for special assignments. Vasily was an ideal performer who was appreciated by his superiors - he performed tasks of any complexity without fail. His personality is also notable for the fact that he is the only one who was reported by his colleagues. In the denunciation, Shigalev was accused of being connected with an enemy of the people. Such a report at that time was enough for the execution, but the authorities left it without consequences, because they did not want to lose such a valuable employee. After that, Vasily began to carry out his work of executioner even more zealously, was awarded the title of an honorary security officer and the Order of the Badge of Honor, and became a knight of several military orders. The executioner was so careful that his signature was not found in any of the documents in the archives.

Ivan was less cunning, nevertheless, he went up the career ladder just as quickly, and received even more awards for his service. The lieutenant colonel had the Order of Lenin and even a medal "For the Defense of Moscow", although he did not kill a single German. But the executed compatriots on his account are hundreds, if not thousands. The brothers confidently walked over the corpses, striving for new titles and awards. Both died at a fairly young age - in 1942 Vasily died, in 1945 (according to some sources in 1946) - Ivan.

Alexander Emelyanov - dismissed due to illness associated exclusively with long-term work in the authorities

This is the wording that appears in the order for the dismissal of Lieutenant Colonel Yemelyanov. Performing his job well, Alexander Emelyanovich eventually became a schizophrenic. He spoke more than once about the complexity of his work, because of which they "drank until they lost consciousness," because otherwise it was impossible not to go crazy. According to him, the executioners "washed themselves with cologne to the waist." Because this was the only way to get rid of the persistent smell of blood. Even the dogs did not bark at Emelyanov and his colleagues, they shied away and avoided them.

Ernest Mach - suffered from neuropsychiatric illness

Latvian shepherd, who later became a prison warden, and then employees of the NKVD to carry out special instructions. Mach was an exemplary executioner - a minimum of emotions, a maximum of accuracy and well-oiled actions. Major 26 years faithfully served his beloved work. Having moved away from the work of an executioner, he was happy to train young NKVD officers - he passed on his rich experience.

Execution of death sentences was not in vain - at the end of his career, Ernest Ansovich was dismissed from service due to a developing mental illness.

Miraculously, two talented screenwriters - "camp idiots" who wrote the script for "Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson" and other cult Soviet films, also managed to survive in the repressions.