List of repressed in 1937. Famous victims of the Great Terror

The darkest period of political repression in the USSR is in 1937-1938. In history, it was called the Great Terror. His victims were people of the most diverse social strata of society. In addition to the remnants of the pre-revolutionary intelligentsia, party workers, servicemen and clergy were subjected to repression. But basically the list of repressed in 1937 was made up of representatives of the working class and the peasantry, most of whom until the last moment were unable to understand the essence of the charges against them.

Terror, unprecedented in its scope

Despite the fact that all decisions to conduct bloody actions were based on the decisions of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the CPSU (B.), It was proved that in reality these orders were given personally by Stalin. In its scope, the terror of those years has no equal in the whole history of the state. The list of repressed in 1937 is striking in its scale. When in the period of the Khrushchev thaw there were partially published data on the victims of that period, it turned out that only in the fifty-eighth - political article 681 692 people were sentenced to death.

If we add to them those who died in places of detention from disease, hunger and overwork, this number will increase to one million. According to the data available to Academician A.D. Sakharov, for 1937-1938, About 1,200,000 party workers were arrested. If we consider that only 50,000 of them survived until their release, it becomes clear what a terrible blow the party suffered from its own leader.

Plenum, which became the beginning of terror

By the way, the term "Great Terror" itself came to us from Great Britain. This is how he titled his book about the events of 1937-1938. English historian R. Conquest. We used to have a different name - "Yezhovshchina", which occurred on behalf of the chief executioner of that bloody era, the head of the NKVD NI Yezhov, who later became a victim of the inhuman regime created with his participation.

As the researchers of the events of those years rightly point out, the beginning of the Great Terror should be considered the plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU (B) held in early 1937. He spoke Stalin's speech, in which he called for an intensification of the struggle against the enemies of the people, which, according to his doctrine, activated their subversive activities as society progressed in building socialism.

At the same plenum, accusations were brought against the so-called right-left opposition - a political association that included both Trotskyites - K. Radek, G. L. Pyatakov and L. B. Kamenev, and right deviators - A. I. Rykov and NA Uglanov. The leader of this anti-Soviet group was named NI Bukharin. Among other things, Bukharin and Rykov were accused of preparing an attempt on Stalin.

All participants in this group were sentenced to capital punishment. An interesting detail - all 72 speakers who spoke at the plenary session were soon accused of subversive activities and shot. This was the beginning of unprecedented in the history of rampant lawlessness in the country. It is characteristic that the first victims of it were those who, sitting in the courtroom, voted for him.

Repression against the peasants

In the months following the plenum, the installation given by Stalin received its realization. Already in June, the government made a decision about the widespread application of capital punishment to persons formerly in peasant rebel groups, the "green movement".

In addition, the list of repressed in 1937 was replenished with so-called kulaks, that is, peasants who did not want to join collective farms and were gaining wealth with personal labor. Thus, this decision inflicted a blow on those former rebels who, after serving time, tried to return to normal life, and by the most hard-working part of the peasantry.

Destruction of the command staff of the army

It is known that since the Civil War Stalin was very hostile to the military. In many respects the reason for this lies in the fact that at the head of the army was his irreconcilable enemy - Trotsky. In the years of the Great Terror, this attitude towards the military has reached its extreme. Perhaps he feared a coup in the future, organized by the most influential commanders, capable of leading the soldiers' masses.

And although by 1937 Trotsky was no longer in the country, Stalin perceived the representatives of the high command as potential adversaries. This resulted in mass terror against the commanding staff of the Red Army. Suffice it to recall the tragic fate of one of the most talented commanders - Marshal Tukhachevsky. As a result of these repressions, the defense capability of the country was significantly reduced, which was clearly visible in the first years of the war.

Terror among NKVD officers

The bloody wave of terror and the bodies of the NKVD themselves did not pass. Many of his employees, who had been following Stalin's orders with all zeal the previous day, turned out to be among those convicted and supplemented with their names the list of those who were repressed in 1937. During these years many prominent leaders of the NKVD were shot. Among them - the People's Commissar Yezhov himself and his predecessor Yagoda, as well as a number of prominent workers of this People's Commissariat.

Archived data made public

With the onset of perestroika, a significant part of the archives of the NKVD was declassified, and this made it possible to establish the true number of repressed in 1937. According to the updated data, it amounted to about one and a half million people. The huge work was done by the staff of the archive and their volunteers. In addition to the publication of general statistical data, the names of those who were repressed in 1937, as well as throughout the period of political repression, were published.

Thanks to this, many of the victims of Stalin's lawlessness were able to learn about the fate of their loved ones. As a rule, everyone who wants to recreate the history of those years and who applied to the Soviet authorities with the question of where to find the repressed lists in 1937, who tried to obtain any documentary information about the events of that time, was categorically refused. Only thanks to democratic changes in the society, this information became public.