Historical Dictionary of Russian and Soviet Intelligence

In the 1930s Yezhov served in Joseph Stalin’s political secretariat,

supervising the security police for Stalin. In September 1936, at

Stalin’s behest, Yezhov took over the NKVDand directed a massive

purge of the Communist Partyand Soviet society that took his

name: the Yezhovshchina—the time of Yezhov. The Kremlin’s

archives show that during the 15 months of the Yezhovshchina, he

met with Stalin 278 times in the Kremlin, spending more than 800

hours in personal conferences with him. Yezhov saw to it that Stalin’s

plan for a purge of Soviet society was overfulfilled, taking part per-

sonally in interrogations and executions. According to many sources,

Yezhov was a sadist who gloried in the suffering of former friends

and strangers alike. He was promoted to membership in the party

Politburo and for a short period became the hero of the Stalinist me-

dia. The Russian root of Yezhov’s name is “hedgehog,” and the me-

dia referred to Yezhov as Stalin’s hedgehog.

Stalin decided to replace Yezhov with Lavrenty Beria, who was

brought to Moscow from Georgia in the summer of 1938 to serve as

Yezhov’s chief deputy. In August, Yezhov left the NKVD to assume

the post of people’s commissar of water transport. At the March 1939

Central Committee plenum, Yezhov was personally attacked by

Stalin for not arresting the right enemies of the people. He was ar-

rested a month later. After almost a year in prison, he was tried on

2 February 1940 and shot two days later as a Polish, German, and

British spy, as well as a traitor who had planned the overthrow of the

Soviet government. While Yezhov apparently admitted these crimes

under threat of torture, he later denied his guilt at the trial. He was

dragged kicking and screaming to his execution.

Described by one of his subordinates as a “bloody dwarf,” Yezhov

stood only five feet tall. He is a mystery to his biographers and to his-

torians. While he was remembered as a quiet and unremarkable bu-

reaucrat before rising to take charge of the great purge, he became ad-

dicted to vodka and drugs during his last years. He was also bisexual

with a thirst for sexual conquests no less than for vodka.

Yezhov’s last letter to Stalin reveals a man confused about the

nasty trick history and fate played on him. To the end, he never real-

ized that he was Stalin’s tool. In his last words on the purge, he noted:

“my great guilt lies in that I purged so few of them.” The statement

ends: “Tell Stalin I shall die with his name on my lips.” Following the

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