Before his death, Stalin “forgave” Zhukov and brought him back
to Moscow. In July 1953, Zhukov helped Nikita Khrushchevcarry
out a coup that removed Lavrenty Beriafrom the leadership. In
1957, Zhukov—now Minister of Defense—helped Khrushchev to
survive a putsch by reactionaries in the leadership. Nevertheless, sev-
eral months later Khrushchev removed Zhukov from his post and
sent him into retirement.
Zhukov spent his last years writing his memoirs, which were heav-
ily censored. Until his death, his apartment was bugged and he was
kept under strict surveillance by the KGB—testimony to his popu-
larity with the Russia people. See also ANTIPARTY GROUP;
PUTSCH; SEROV, IVAN.ZHURAVLEV, MIKHAIL IVANOVICH (1911–1976).After a career
in the Red Army and the Komsomol, Zhuravlev was transferred lat-
erally to a senior post in the NKVDfollowing the Yezhovshchina.
Zhuravlev had a seemingly unspectacular career in Lavrenty Beria’s
service as a manager of major forced labor camp institutions, includ-
ing those responsible for work on the Soviet nuclear weapons pro-
gram, for which Zhuravlev played a crucial role. He was one of a
handful of NKVD officers directly involved in the program. Zhu-
ravlev was promoted to lieutenant general in 1945 and for several
years was in charge of the economic directorate of the MGBand the
MVD. In 1956 he left the security service to work in the Ministry of
Medium Machine Building, which was responsible for building and
testing nuclear weapons.ZHURAVLEV, VIKTOR IVANOVICH (1902–1946). During the
Yezhovshchina, Zhuravlev rose quickly to be head of provincial
branches of the NKVDin major cities. Watching the rolling purge
of the NKVD leadership, Zhuravlev wrote directly to Joseph Stalin
warning of a conspiracy within the security service. Stalin rewarded
Zhuravlev, making him NKVD chief for Moscow in December
1938, and selecting him to serve on the Communist PartyCentral
Committee (CPCC). Zhuravlev’s fall was less spectacular than that
of those he denounced. He was fired as Moscow’s security chief
and relieved of his CPCC post in 1939, then assigned to command
a forced labor camp. He spent the war in Siberia and was not pro-302 •ZHURAVLEV, MIKHAIL IVANOVICH (1911–1976)06-313 P-Z.qxd 7/27/06 7:57 AM Page 302