biography
pronunciation:
[yezhof]
| sex:
| male
|
| lived:
| (1895–?1939)
|
| biography:
| Soviet secret police chief, born in St Petersburg, NW Russia. A provincial party official, he was appointed by Stalin as head of the NKVD (1936), led the purge of army officers, and staged the show-trials (1937–8) that removed many of Stalin's potential rivals. He was replaced by Beria in December 1938, disappeared two months later, and is presumed to have suffered the same fate as his victims. |
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