lectivization: the destruction of the kulaksand the total subjugation
of the countryside. OGPU chief Vyacheslav Menzhinskyand his
principal subordinates supported an end to the NEP for political and
operational reasons. They warned the leadership of the threat of an
independent producing class, and they saw a need to restore control
of the population.NICHOLSON, HAROLD JAMES (1950– ). Nicholson, a career Cen-
tral Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer volunteered to the KGBin
1994 while he was completing a foreign tour of duty with the Direc-
torate of Operations. Nicholson, who was divorced with three chil-
dren, hacked into the CIA’s computer system to gather any informa-
tion he could on CIA operations, including biographic information on
every CIA officer he trained between 1994 and 1996. For this impor-
tant operational information, he was paid approximately $120,000
between 1994 and 1996. Nicholson was tracked and caught in 1996.
After failing his polygraph examination, an internal CIA audit of his
finances showed that Nicholson was spending money erratically. A
joint FBI-CIA task force was able to establish Nicholson’s pattern of
operations. He was arrested in 1996 at Dulles Airport near Washing-
ton. He was sentenced to 27 years imprisonment.NIKISHOV, IVAN FEDOROVICH (1894–1958).After service in the
Border Guardsand internal troops of the NKVD, Nikishov became
chief of the gulagarchipelago’s largest and most infamous island—
the KolymaRiver network of labor camps. From 1943 through 1948,
he managed the huge slave labor complex, which was the major
source of the USSR’s gold. In 1943 he convinced the visiting U.S.
vice president, Henry Wallace, of the generosity of the Soviet penal
system and the humanity of its managers. Wallace’s visit to Kolyma
was a centerpiece of Soviet propaganda in the United States during
the war. Nikishov retired in 1948 after being promoted to lieutenant
general. He was awarded the Order of Lenin and the Order of the Red
Banner multiple times for his management of the Kolyma region. See
also DALSTROI.NIKOLAEV, LEONID (1904–1934).The most infamous assassin in
Russian history, Leonid Nikolaev killed Leningrad party boss SergeiNIKOLAEV, LEONID (1904–1934) • 17306-313 G-P.qxd 7/27/06 7:56 AM Page 173