Nikolai Yezhov: Soviet Secret Police Chief Behind Stalin’s Great Purge Executed in 1940

Nikolai Yezhov was the Soviet secret police chief who oversaw Stalin’s Great Purge before becoming a victim of the same terror system he helped create. Nikolai Ivanovich Yezhov was the small, soft-spoken man who became the face of the Soviet Union’s greatest nightmare—the Great Purge. Born in 1895 in St. Petersburg to a poor family, he grew up with little education, drifting through factory jobs before joining the Bolsheviks in 1917. He fought in the Russian Civil War and later rose through the Communist Party bureaucracy, earning a reputation for relentless discipline. Barely 151 centimeters tall, Yezhov spoke quietly and dressed modestly, but behind the timid appearance was a man capable of staggering cruelty. As one contemporary said, he resembled “a boy who enjoys setting cats on fire.” By the early 1930s, Yezhov had earned Stalin’s trust. The dictator called him “my little blackberry,” showering him with vacations, protection, and positions of power. In 1936, after the assassination of Sergei Kirov, Stalin unleashed a new wave of repression—and Yezhov became the instrument of terror. Installed as head of the NKVD, he orchestrated the Moscow Show Trials, fabricating conspiracies and extracting confessions through torture. Under his command, the NKVD executed hundreds of thousands. He personally directed the destruction of the Soviet High Command, including the interrogation and execution of Marshal Mikhail Tukhachevsky. His orders—such as NKVD Order 00447—condemned entire ethnic groups, especially Poles, to arrest or execution. Yezhov’s sadism was legendary. He supervised beatings and interrogations that left prisoners blind, crippled, or dead. His custom-built execution chamber, with sloped floors and blood-soaked walls, earned him the nickname “The Bloody Dwarf.” Yet even as millions suffered, Yezhov lived in luxury with his wife Yevgenia and their adopted daughter, entertaining lovers and drowning himself in alcohol. By 1938, Stalin no longer needed him. Yezhov was replaced by Lavrentiy Beria, isolated, and finally arrested. After months of torture, he broke down completely—crying, begging, and denying the charges he once used against others. On 4 February 1940, at age 44, he was executed and secretly buried in a mass grave.This episode is part of the series The Fate of the Top Soviet Officials.Watch the full documentary and explore hundreds of historical films at:WorldHistory.tv