Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria Georgian: ლავრენტი ბერია, Lavrenti Pavles dze Beria Russian: Лаврентий Павлович Берия
Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD)
In office November 1938 – June 26, 1953
Preceded by	Nikolai Yezhov
Succeeded by	Ivan Serov
Secretary of the Communist party in Georgia
In office 1931 – August, 1938
Preceded by	Samson Mamulia
Succeeded by	Kandid Charkviani
Born	March 29, 1899(1899-03-29) Merkheuli, Sukhum district, Russian Empire
Died	December 23, 1953 (aged 54) Moscow, Soviet Union
Nationality	Georgian / Soviet

Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria (Georgian: ლავრენტი ბერია, Lavrenti Pavles dze Beria; Russian: Лаврентий Павлович Берия; 29 March 1899 – 23 December 1953) was a Soviet politician and chief of the Soviet security and secret police apparatus. Georgian (ka ქართული ენა kartuli ena) is the Official language of Georgia, a country in the Caucasus. Russian ( transliteration:,) is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages The NKVD ( НКВД, ru Народный Комиссариат Внутренних Дел ''Narodnyy Komissariat Vnutrennikh Del'') or People's Commissariat Biography His character Yezhov was born in Saint Petersburg according to his official Soviet biography though he stated he was born in Mariiampole Lithuania General Ivan Aleksandrovich Serov (Иван Александрович Серов August 13, 1905 – July 1, 1990) was the Events 1461 - Wars of the Roses: Battle of Towton - Edward of York defeats Queen Margaret to become King Year 1899 ( MDCCCXCIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Abkhazia (Аҧсны Apsny აფხაზეთი Apkhazeti or Abkhazeti Абха́зия Abhazia) is a De facto The Russian Empire ( Pre-reform Russian: Pоссійская Имперія Modern Russian: Российская Империя translit: Rossiyskaya Events 962 - Byzantine-Arab Wars: Under the future Emperor Nicephorus Phocas, Byzantine troops stormed the city Year 1953 ( MCMLIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Moscow (Москва́ romanised: Moskvá, IPA: see also other names) is the Capital and the largest city of The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 The Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic (საქართველოს საბჭოთასოციალისტური რესპუბლიკა The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 Georgian (ka ქართული ენა kartuli ena) is the Official language of Georgia, a country in the Caucasus. Russian ( transliteration:,) is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages Events 1461 - Wars of the Roses: Battle of Towton - Edward of York defeats Queen Margaret to become King Year 1899 ( MDCCCXCIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Events 962 - Byzantine-Arab Wars: Under the future Emperor Nicephorus Phocas, Byzantine troops stormed the city Year 1953 ( MCMLIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991

Beria was most influential during and after World War II and immediately after Stalin's death, when he carried out a brief campaign of liberalization as First Deputy Prime Minister. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including Joseph Stalin ( ნამდვილი გვარი ჯუღაშვილი|Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili; March 5 1953 was General Secretary of the Communist Party However, in June 1953 he was arrested and then charged with various crimes. He is widely suspected to be responsible for the death of Stalin: the political memoirs of Vyacheslav Molotov, published in 1993, claimed that Beria had boasted to Molotov that he poisoned Stalin: "I took him out. Molotov redirects here For other uses see Molotov (disambiguation. " In December 1953, he was tried, sentenced to death and executed by firing squad.

Contents 1 Rise to power 2 Beria at the NKVD 3 Postwar politics 4 After Stalin 5 Beria's fall 6 Sexual sadism 7 See also 8 Further reading 9 References 10 External links

Rise to power

Beria was born the son of Pavel Khulaevich Beria, in Merkheuli, near Sokhumi, in the Sukhum district of Kutais governorate, which was then part of Imperial Russia. Sukhumi, also spelled as Sukhum ( Abkhaz: Аҟəа Aqwa; სოხუმი Sokhumi, Сухуми/Сухум is the capital Abkhazia (Аҧсны Apsny აფხაზეთი Apkhazeti or Abkhazeti Абха́зия Abhazia) is a De facto The Russian Empire ( Pre-reform Russian: Pоссійская Имперія Modern Russian: Российская Империя translit: Rossiyskaya Originally he was Mingrelian. The Mingrelians ( Mingrelian: მარგალი margali; მეგრელები megrelebi) are a subethnic group of Georgians that ^[1] He was educated at a technical school in Sukhumi and joined the bolsheviks in March 1917 while an engineering student in Baku. The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists ( Большевик Большевист (singular, derived from bolshe, "more" were a faction Baku (Bakı sometimes known as Baqy, Baky, Baki or Bakü, is the capital the largest city and the largest port of Azerbaijan

In 1919 Beria worked in the security service of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic. The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic ( ADR; Azərbaycan Xalq Cümhuriyyəti was the first Democratic and Secular Republic in the Muslim world

In 1920 or 1921 (accounts vary) Beria joined the Cheka - the original secret police force of the Bolsheviks. The Cheka ( ЧК - чрезвычайная комиссия Chrezvychaynaya Komissiya,) was the first of a succession of Soviet State security Secret police (sometimes political police) are a Police agency which operates in Secrecy to maintain National security against internal The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists ( Большевик Большевист (singular, derived from bolshe, "more" were a faction At that time, a Bolshevik revolt took place in the Menshevik-controlled Democratic Republic of Georgia and the Red Army subsequently invaded. The Mensheviks (Minority (Меньшевик) were a faction of the Russian Revolutionary movement that emerged in 1903 after a dispute between Vladimir The Democratic Republic of Georgia ( DRG; Georgian: საქართველოს დემოკრატიული რესპუბლიკა Sakartvelos The Red Army ( Russian: Рабоче-Крестьянская Красная Армия R aboche- K rest'yanskaya K rasnaya A rmiya The Red Army invasion of Georgia also known as the Soviet-Georgian War ( February 15 – March 17 1921) was a military campaign by the Soviet The Cheka was heavily involved in the conflict, which resulted in the defeat of the Mensheviks and the formation of the Georgian SSR. The Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic (საქართველოს საბჭოთასოციალისტური რესპუბლიკა By 1922, Beria was deputy head of the Georgian branch of Cheka's successor, the OGPU. The State Political Directorate was the Secret police of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic ( RSFSR) and the Soviet Union from 1922 until

In 1924, he led the repression of a Georgian nationalist uprising, after which up to 10,000 people were executed. The August Uprising (აგვისტოს აჯანყება agvistos adjank’eba) was an unsuccessful Insurrection against the Soviet rule For this display of "Bolshevik ruthlessness" Beria was appointed head of the "secret-political division" of the Transcaucasian OGPU and was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. The South Caucasus is a mountainous geopolitical area of south-central Eurasia, also referred to as Transcaucasia, or The Transcaucasus. Recipients The order was awarded to individuals as well as whole formations who then

In 1926, Beria became head of the Georgian OGPU and was introduced to fellow Georgian Joseph Stalin, becoming an ally in Stalin's rise to power within the Communist party and the Soviet regime. Joseph Stalin ( ნამდვილი გვარი ჯუღაშვილი|Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili; March 5 1953 was General Secretary of the Communist Party Some historians, however, claim that he was more henchman than ally, working to further his own cause by wooing Stalin in order to gain access to the inner circles of the Soviet regime.

Beria was appointed secretary of the Communist party in Georgia in 1931, and for the whole Transcaucasian region in 1932. He became a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party in 1934. Central Committee most commonly refers to the central executive unit of a Leninist (commonly also Trotskyist) or Communist party, whether ruling or During this time he began to attack fellow members of the Georgian Communist party, particularly Gaioz Devdariani, who was the Minister of Education of the Georgian SSR; Beria ordered the killing of both of Devdariani's brothers - George and Shalva - who held important positions in the Cheka and the Communist party respectively. Gaioz Devdariani (გაიოზ დევდარიანი ( October 2, 1901 –1938 was a Georgian revolutionary, intellectual Eventually, Gaioz Devdariani was charged with violating Article 58 for alleged counter-revolutionary activities and was executed in 1938 by the orders of the NKVD troika. Article 58 of the Russian SFSR Penal Code was put in force on February 25, 1927 to arrest those suspected of counter-revolutionary activities NKVD troika or Troika, in Soviet Union history were commissions of three people employed as an additional instrument of Extrajudicial punishment (внесудебная Even after moving on from Georgia, Beria continued to effectively control the republic's Communist party until it was purged in July, 1953.

By 1935, Beria was one of Stalin's most trusted subordinates. He cemented his place in Stalin's entourage with a lengthy oration titled, "On the History of the Bolshevik Organisations in Transcaucasia" (later published as a book), which rewrote the history of Transcaucasian Bolshevism, emphasizing Stalin's role in it. When Stalin's purge of the Communist party and government began in 1934, after the assassination of Sergey Kirov, Beria ran the purges in Transcaucasia, using the opportunity to settle many old scores in the politically turbulent Transcaucasian republics. Sergei Mironovich Kirov (Серге́й Миро́нович Ки́ров ( &ndash December 1, 1934) was a prominent early Bolshevik leader whose assassination In June, 1937, he said in a speech, "Let our enemies know that anyone who attempts to raise a hand against the will of our people, against the will of the party of Lenin and Stalin, will be mercilessly crushed and destroyed". He is also credited with the slogan, "When you stop murdering people by the millions, they start to get notions. "

Beria at the NKVD

In August, 1938, Stalin brought Beria to Moscow as deputy head of the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD), the ministry which oversaw the state security and police forces. Joseph Stalin ( ნამდვილი გვარი ჯუღაშვილი|Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili; March 5 1953 was General Secretary of the Communist Party Moscow (Москва́ romanised: Moskvá, IPA: see also other names) is the Capital and the largest city of The NKVD ( НКВД, ru Народный Комиссариат Внутренних Дел ''Narodnyy Komissariat Vnutrennikh Del'') or People's Commissariat National security is the entire scope of measures undertaken by the Governments of Nation-states in providing assurance of national Sovereignty Under Nikolai Yezhov, the NKVD embarked on the Great Purge - the large scale oppression and persecution of millions of people throughout the Soviet Union who were perceived to be "enemies of the people". Biography His character Yezhov was born in Saint Petersburg according to his official Soviet biography though he stated he was born in Mariiampole Lithuania Great Purge (Большая чистка transliterated Bolshaya chistka) was a series of campaigns of Political repression and Persecution The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 The term enemy of the people is a fluid designation of political or class opponents of the group using the term By 1938, however, the oppression had become so extensive that it was damaging the infrastructure, economy and even the armed forces of the Soviet state, prompting Stalin to wind the purge down. In September, Beria was appointed head of the Main Administration of State Security (GUGB) of the NKVD, and in November he succeeded Yezhov as NKVD head (Yezhov himself was executed in 1940). The NKVD itself was then purged, with half its personnel replaced by Beria loyalists, many of them from the Caucasus. The Caucasus ( also referred to as North Caucasus) is a geopolitical region located between Europe Asia & Middle East

Although Beria's name is closely identified with the Great Purge due to his activities while deputy head of the NKVD, his leadership of the organisation marked an easing of the repression. Over 100,000 people were released from the labour camps and it was officially admitted that there had been some injustice and "excesses" during the purges, which were blamed on Yezhov. Nevertheless this liberalisation was only relative: arrests and executions continued and in 1940, as war approached, the pace of the purges again accelerated. During this period Beria supervised the deportations of people from Poland and the Baltic states following the occupation of those regions by Soviet forces. Poland (Polska officially the Republic of Poland The Baltic states (Balti riigid Baltijas valstis Baltijos valstybės or Baltic countries are three countries in Northern Europe, all members of the

In March 1939, Beria became a candidate member of the Communist party's Politburo. Politburo, short for Political Bureau, Russian Politicheskoye Buro, is the executive organization for a number of Political parties, most notably Although he did not become a full member until 1946, he was already one of the senior leaders of the Soviet state. In 1941 Beria was made a Commissar General of State Security, the highest quasi-military rank within the Soviet police system of that time.

On March 5, 1940 Beria sent the note (no. Events 363 - Roman Emperor Julian moves from Antioch with an army of 90000 to attack the Sassanid Empire, in a Year 1940 ( MCMXL) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. 794/B) to Joseph Stalin which stated that Polish prisoners of war (mostly military officers) kept at camps and prisons in western Belarus and Ukraine are declared enemies of Soviet Union and advised members of Soviet Politburo to execute them (see Katyn massacre). Joseph Stalin ( ნამდვილი გვარი ჯუღაშვილი|Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili; March 5 1953 was General Secretary of the Communist Party Politburo, short for Political Bureau, Russian Politicheskoye Buro, is the executive organization for a number of Political parties, most notably

In February, 1941, he became Deputy Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars, and in June, following Nazi Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union, he became a member of the State Defence Committee (GKO). Council of Ministers of the USSR (Совет Министров СССР tr Operation Barbarossa ( Unternehmen Barbarossa) was the Codename for Nazi Germany 's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II During World War II he took on major domestic responsibilities, using the millions of people imprisoned in NKVD labour camps for wartime production. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including He took control of production of armaments and (with Georgy Malenkov) aircraft and aircraft engines. Georgy Maximilianovich Malenkov (Гео́ргий Максимилиа́нович Маленко́в Georgij Maksimilianovič Malenkov; January 8, This was the beginning of Beria's alliance with Malenkov, which later became of central importance.

In 1944, as the Germans were driven from Soviet soil, Beria was in charge of dealing with the various ethnic minorities accused of collaboration with the invaders, including the Chechens, the Ingush, the Crimean Tatars and the Volga Germans. Chechens ( Chechen: Hохчи / Noxçi) constitute the largest native Ethnic group originating in the North Caucasus region The Ingush ( Ingush: Галгай "Ghalghay" are an Ethnic group of the North Caucasus, mostly inhabiting the Russian Crimean Tatars (sg Qırımtatar, pl Qırımtatarlar) or Crimeans (sg The Volga Germans (Wolgadeutsche or Russlanddeutsche) were Ethnic Germans living along the Volga River in the region of southern European Russia All these were deported to Soviet Central Asia. Soviet Central Asia refers to the section of Central Asia formerly controlled by the Soviet Union, as well as the time period of Soviet control (1918-1991 (See "Population transfer in the Soviet Union". Population transfer in the Soviet Union may be classified into the following broad categories deportations of " Anti-Soviet " categories of population often classified )

In December, 1944, Beria's NKVD was assigned to supervise the Soviet atomic bomb project. The Soviet project to develop an atomic bomb began during World War II in the Soviet Union. In this capacity he ran the successful Soviet espionage campaign against the atomic weapons programme of the United States, which enabled the Soviet Union to obtain the technology required to build and test a bomb in 1949. The World War II Manhattan Project developed the first Nuclear weapon (atomic bomb The United States of America —commonly referred to as the However his most important contribution was to provide the necessary workforce for this project, which was extremely labour-intensive. The Gulag system provided tens of thousands of people for work in uranium mines and the construction and operation of uranium processing plants, as well as the construction of test facilities such as those at Semipalatinsk and on the Novaya Zemlya archipelago. The Gulag was the government agency that administered the penal labor camps of the Soviet Union. Uranium (jʊˈreɪniəm is a silvery-gray Metallic Chemical element in the The Semipalatinsk Test Site (STS was the primary testing venue for the Soviet Union 's Nuclear weapons. Novaya Zemlya (Но́вая Земля́ also spelled Novaja Zemlja, lit The NKVD also ensured the necessary security and secrecy of the project.

In July, 1945, as Soviet police ranks were converted to a military uniform system, Beria's rank was converted to that of Marshal of the Soviet Union. Marshal of the Soviet Union ( Marshal Sovietskovo Soyuza Советского Союза'' was the de facto highest military rank of the Soviet Union. Although he had never held a military command, Beria, through his organisation of wartime production, made a significant contribution to the Soviet Union's victory in World War II.

Postwar politics

With Stalin nearing 70, the postwar years were dominated by a concealed struggle for the succession among his lieutenants. Svetlana Iosifovna Alliluyeva (sometimes Stalina, later Lana Peters) (born 28 February 1926 Moscow, Soviet Union) (Светлана Иосифовна At the end of the war the most likely successor seemed to be Andrei Zhdanov, party leader in Leningrad during the war, then in charge of all cultural matters in 1946. Andrei Aleksandrovich Zhdanov (Андре́й Алекса́ндрович Жда́нов ( Mariupol', &ndash August 31, 1948 Saint Petersburg ( tr: Sankt-Peterburg,) is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River Even during the war Beria and Zhdanov had been rivals, but after 1946 Beria formed an alliance with Malenkov to block Zhdanov's rise.

In January 1946 Beria left the post of the head of the NKVD, while retaining general control over national security matters from his post of Deputy Prime Minister, under Stalin. The NKVD ( НКВД, ru Народный Комиссариат Внутренних Дел ''Narodnyy Komissariat Vnutrennikh Del'') or People's Commissariat The new head, Sergei Kruglov, was not Beria's protégé. Sergei Nikiforovich Kruglov ( Russian: Сергей Никифорович Круглов ( October 2, 1907 - June 6, 1977) was the In addition, by the Summer of 1946, Beria's loyalist Vsevolod Merkulov was replaced by Viktor Abakumov as head of the MGB. Vsevolod Nikolayevich Merkulov ( Всеволод Николаевич Меркулов in Russian) ( Zagatala, present-day Viktor Semyonovich Abakumov (Виктор Семёнович Абакýмов ( (1894 - 1954 ( Colonel General) was a high level Kruglov and Abakumov then moved expeditiously to replace the security apparatus leadership with new people outside of Beria's inner circle, such that very soon Deputy Minister of MVD Stepan Mamulov represented the only remnant of it outside foreign intelligence, on which Beria kept a grip. In the following months, Abakumov started carrying out important operations without consulting Beria, often working in tandem with Zhdanov, and sometimes on Stalin's direct orders. Some observers argue that these operations were aimed---initially tangentially, but with time more directly---at Beria.

One of the first such moves was the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee affair that commenced in October of 1946 and eventually led to the murder of Solomon Mikhoels and the arrest of many other members. The Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee ( JAC, Russian language: Еврейский антифашистский комитет, ЕАК) was formed Solomon (Shloyme Mikhoels שלמה מיכאָעלס Соломон Михайлович Михоэлс (Вовси ( - January 12/13 1948 was a Soviet Jewish actor The reason this campaign had negatively reflected on Beria was that not only did he champion creation of the committee in 1942, but his own entourage included a substantial number of Jews.

Zhdanov died suddenly in August 1948, and Beria and Malenkov then moved to consolidate their power with a purge of Zhdanov's associates known as the "Leningrad Affair". The Leningrad Affair, or Leningrad case ( "Ленинградское дело" in Russian, or Leningradskoye delo was a series of "criminal" Among the more than 2,000 people executed were Zhdanov's deputy Aleksei Kuznetsov, the economic chief Nikolai Voznesensky, the Leningrad Party head Pyotr Popkov and the Prime Minister of the Russian Republic, Mikhail Rodionov. Aleksei Aleksandrovich Kuznetsov (1905&mdash1950 (Алексей Александрович Кузнецов was a Soviet statesman CPSU (since 1925 functionary Nikolai Alekseevich Voznesensky (Никола́й Алексе́евич Вознесе́нский 1903 &ndash 1950 was the Soviet economic planner who oversaw It was only after Zhdanov's death that Nikita Khrushchev began to be considered as a possible alternative to the Beria-Malenkov axis. Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (April 17 1894 – September 11 1971 served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 following

Zhdanov's death did not, however, stop the anti-Semitic campaign. During the postwar years Beria supervised the establishment of Soviet-style systems of secret police, and hand-picked the leaders, in the countries of the Eastern Europe. Eastern Europe is a general term that refers to the Geopolitical region encompassing the easternmost part of the European continent. A substantial number of these leaders were Jews. Starting in 1948, Abakumov initiated several investigations against these leaders, which culminated with the arrest in November of 1951 of Rudolf Slánský, Bedřich Geminder, and others in Prague, who were generally accused of Zionism and cosmopolitanism, but, more specifically, of using Czechoslovakia to funnel weapons to Israel. Rudolf Slánský ( July 31 1901, Nezvěstice near Blovice &ndash December 3 1952, Prague) was a Czech Prague (ˈprɑːg Praha (ˈpraɦa see also other names) is the Capital and Largest city of the Czech Republic. History of Zionism|Timeline of Zionism|World Zionist Organization|Zionist political violence Zionism is an international political movement that originally supported the Rootless cosmopolitan ( Russian language: безродный космополит, "bezrodniy kosmopolit" was a Soviet Euphemism introduced Czechoslovakia may also refer to what is now the Czech Republic and Slovakia. From Beria's standpoint, this charge was extremely explosive, because massive help to Israel was provided on his direct orders. Altogether, 14 leaders of Czechoslovakia, 11 of them Jewish, were tried, convicted, and executed in Prague (see Prague Trials). The Slánský trial (officially Proces s protistátním spikleneckým centrem Rudolfa Slánského meaning "Trial of anti-state conspiracy centered around Rudolf Slánský" (Similar investigations have concurrently proceeded in Poland and other Soviet satellite countries. )

Around that time, Abakumov was replaced by Semyon Ignatyev, who further intensified the anti-Semitic campaign. Semyon Denisovich Ignatiev, also spelled Ignatyev ( Russian: Семён Денисович Игнатьев born 14 September[[ 904]] in Karlivka On January 13, 1953, the widest anti-semitic affair in the Soviet Union—that later came to be known as Doctors' plot—was initiated with an article in Pravda. Events 532 - Nika riots in Constantinople. 888 - Odo Count of Paris becomes King of the Franks Year 1953 ( MCMLIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Doctors' plot ( Russian language: дело врачей (doctors' affair врачи-вредители (doctors-saboteurs or врачи-убийцы Pravda (Правда "The Truth" was a leading Newspaper of the Soviet Union and an official organ of the Central Committee of the A number of the country's prominent Jewish doctors were accused of poisoning top Soviet leaders and arrested. Concurrently, an hysterical anti-Semitic propaganda campaign sprang in the mass-media. Altogether, 37 doctors (17 of them were Jewish) were arrested, and MGB, on Stalin's orders, started to prepare for the deportation, or worse, of the entire Jewish population to Russia's far east.

Days after Stalin's death, Beria freed all the arrested doctors, announced that the entire matter was fabricated, and indeed arrested the MGB functionaries directly involved. The anticipated deportation of Jews never took place.

Early in the 1950s, Stalin's growing mistrust of Beria echoed in the Mingrelian Affair in which many of Beria's protégés were purged in the Georgian SSR, resulting in the decline of Beria's power in his native republic. The Mingrelian Affair, or Mingrelian Case (Мингрельское дело mingrel’skoe delo; მეგრელთა საქმე megrelt’a sak’me The Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic (საქართველოს საბჭოთასოციალისტური რესპუბლიკა

After Stalin

Stalin died on March 5, 1953, four days after collapsing during the night following a dinner with Beria and other Soviet leaders. Events 363 - Roman Emperor Julian moves from Antioch with an army of 90000 to attack the Sassanid Empire, in a Year 1953 ( MCMLIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The political memoirs of Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov, published in 1993, claim that Beria boasted to Molotov that he had poisoned Stalin. Molotov redirects here For other uses see Molotov (disambiguation. The story about the murder of Stalin by Beria associates was elaborated by Russian writer Edvard Radzinsky in his book Stalin: The First In-Depth Biography Based on Explosive New Documents From Russia's Secret Archives, based on interviews of a former Stalin's body guard, published memories, and other data. Edvard Radzinsky (Эдвард Станиславович Радзинский (b There is also evidence that for many hours after Stalin was found unconscious, he was denied medical help.

After Stalin's death Beria was appointed First Deputy Prime Minister and reappointed head of the MVD, which he merged with the MGB. His close ally Malenkov was the new Prime Minister and initially the most powerful man in the post-Stalin leadership. Georgy Maximilianovich Malenkov (Гео́ргий Максимилиа́нович Маленко́в Georgij Maksimilianovič Malenkov; January 8, Premier of the Soviet Union is the commonly used English term for the offices of Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR (Председатель Beria was the second most powerful leader and, given Malenkov's lack of real leadership qualities, was in a position to become the power behind the throne and ultimately leader himself. Khrushchev became Party Secretary, which was seen as a less important post than the Prime Ministership.

Beria was at the forefront of liberalization after Stalin's death. Beria publicly denounced the Doctors' plot as a "fraud," investigated and solved the murder of Solomon Mikhoels, and effectuated an amnesty that freed over a million non-political prisoners from forced labour camps. The Doctors' plot ( Russian language: дело врачей (doctors' affair врачи-вредители (doctors-saboteurs or врачи-убийцы Solomon (Shloyme Mikhoels שלמה מיכאָעלס Соломон Михайлович Михоэлс (Вовси ( - January 12/13 1948 was a Soviet Jewish actor Amnesty (from the Greek amnestia, oblivion is a legislative or executive act by which a state restores those who may have been guilty of an offense against it to In April he signed a decree banning the use of torture in Soviet prisons.

He also signalled a more liberal policy towards the non-Russian nationalities in the Soviet Union. He persuaded the Presidium (as the Politburo had been renamed) and the Council of Ministers to urge the Communist regime in East Germany to allow liberal economic and political reforms. The Politburo ( in Russian: Политбюро, full Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, abbreviated The German Democratic Republic ( GDR; Deutsche Demokratische Republik DDR; commonly known in English as East Germany) was a Socialist state Beria maneuvered to marginalize the role of the party apparatus in the decision-making process in policy and economic matters.

Some writers have held that Beria's liberal policies after Stalin's death were a tactic to maneuver himself into power. Even if he was sincere, they argue, Beria's past made it impossible for him to lead a liberalizing regime in the Soviet Union, a role which later fell to Khrushchev. The essential task of Soviet reformers was to bring the secret police under party control, and Beria could not do this since the police were the basis of his own power.

Others have argued that he had represented a truly reformist agenda, and that his eventual removal from power delayed a radical political and economic reform in the Soviet Union by almost forty years.

Given his record, it is not surprising that the other party leaders were suspicious of Beria's motives in all this. Time (trademarked in capitals as TIME) is a weekly American Newsmagazine, similar to Newsweek and Events 1304 - Wars of Scottish Independence: Fall of Stirling Castle - King Edward I of England takes the last rebel stronghold Year 1953 ( MCMLIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Khrushchev opposed the alliance between Beria and Malenkov, but he was initially unable to challenge the Beria-Malenkov axis. Khrushchev's opportunity came in June 1953 when demonstrations against the East German Communist regime broke out in East Berlin (see Workers Uprising of 1953 in East Germany). East Berlin was the name given to the eastern part of Berlin between 1949 and 1990 The Uprising of 1953 in East Germany took place in June 1953 A strike by Berlin construction workers on June 16 There was a suspicion that the practical Beria was willing to trade the reunification of Germany and the end of the cold war for massive aid from the United States such as had been received in World War II. The East German demonstrations convinced Molotov, Malenkov and Nikolai Bulganin that Beria's policies were dangerous and destabilising to Soviet power. Nikolai Alexandrovich Bulganin (Никола́й Алекса́ндрович Булга́нин Nikolaj Aleksandrovič Bulganin; – February 24 1975 Within days of the events in Germany, Khrushchev persuaded the other leaders to support a party coup against Beria; even Beria's principal ally Malenkov abandoned him.

Beria's fall

Accounts of Beria's fall vary considerably. According to the most recent accounts Khrushchev convened a meeting of the Presidium on June 26, where he launched an attack on Beria, accusing him of being in the pay of British intelligence. Events 363 - Roman Emperor Julian is killed during the retreat from the Sassanid Empire. Beria was taken completely by surprise. He asked, "What's going on, Nikita Sergeyevich? Why are you picking fleas in my trousers?" Molotov and others then also spoke against Beria, and Khrushchev put a motion for his instant dismissal. Malenkov then pressed a button on his desk as the pre-arranged signal to Marshal Georgy Zhukov and a group of armed officers in a nearby room. They immediately burst in and arrested Beria. ^[2]

Beria was taken first to the Moscow guardhouse ("gauptvakhta") and then to the bunker of the headquarters of Moscow Military District. A military prison is a Prison operated by the Military. Military prisons are used variously to house Prisoners of war, Enemy combatants, those A military bunker is a hardened shelter often buried partly or fully underground designed to protect the inhabitants from falling bombs or other attacks The Moscow Military District is a Military district of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.

Defence minister Nikolai Bulganin ordered Kantemirovskaya Tank Division and Tamanskaya Motor Rifle Division to move into Moscow in order to prevent any possible attempts of Internal Troops loyal to Beria to rescue him. The 4th Guards "Kantemirovskaya" Tank Division ( Cyrillic: гвардейская танковая Кантемировская дивизия Guards The 2nd Guards 'Tamanskaya' Motor Rifle Division, also known as the Tamanskaya Division, Taman Division and Taman Guards ( Cyrillic Internal Troops, full name Internal Troops of the Ministry for Internal Affairs (MVD ( Russian: Внутренние войска Министерства

Beria's henchmen such as Vsevolod Merkulov, Bogdan Kobulov, Sergey Golgidze, Vladimir Dekanozov, Pavel Meshik, Lev Vlodzimirskiy were also arrested. Vsevolod Nikolayevich Merkulov ( Всеволод Николаевич Меркулов in Russian) ( Zagatala, present-day Bogdan Kobulov ( 1 March, 1904 – 23 December, 1953) was a Soviet politician and member of the Soviet security and police apparatus Vladimir Georgievich Dekanozov (Dekanozishvili (Владимир Георгиевич Деканозов (Деканозишвили June 1898 Baku - 23 December 1953 was

Pravda announced Beria's arrest only on July 10, crediting it to Malenkov and referring to Beria's "criminal activities against the Party and the State. Pravda (Правда "The Truth" was a leading Newspaper of the Soviet Union and an official organ of the Central Committee of the Events 48 BC - Battle of Dyrrhachium, Julius Caesar barely avoids a catastrophic defeat to Pompey in Macedonia. " In December it was announced that Beria and six accomplices, "in the pay of foreign intelligence agencies," had been "conspiring for many years to seize power in the Soviet Union and restore capitalism. "

Beria and his henchmen were tried by a special session ("Spetsialnoye Sudebnoye Prisutstvie") of the Supreme Court of the USSR with no defense counsel and no right of appeal. Marshal Ivan Konev was the chairman of the court. Ivan Stepanovich Konev ( Ива́н Степа́нович Ко́нев ( &ndash May 21, 1973) was a Soviet military commander who led Red

Beria was found guilty of:

1) treason; It was alleged, without any proof, that "up to the moment of his arrest Beria maintained and developed his secret connections with foreign intelligence services". In Law, treason is the Crime that covers some of the more serious acts of disloyalty to one's sovereign or Nation. In particular, attempts to initiate peace talks with Hitler in 1941 through the ambassador of Bulgaria were classified as treason; it was not mentioned that Beria was fulfilling the orders of Stalin and Molotov in this respect. Hi and welcome to Wikipedia! Please understand that this article is frequently vandalized and vandalism is reverted immediately The state of Bulgaria (България transliterated bg-Latn ''Balgaria'' The country preserves the traditions (in ethnic name language and alphabet of the First Bulgarian Joseph Stalin ( ნამდვილი გვარი ჯუღაშვილი|Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili; March 5 1953 was General Secretary of the Communist Party Molotov redirects here For other uses see Molotov (disambiguation. It was also alleged that Beria, who in 1942 was involved in the organisation of the defence of the North Caucasus, tried to let the Germans occupy the Caucasus. The Battle of Caucasus is a name given to a series of German and Soviet operations in the Caucasus area during the Soviet-German War. The Caucasus ( also referred to as North Caucasus) is a geopolitical region located between Europe Asia & Middle East There were also allegations that "planning to seize power, Beria tried to obtain the support of imperialist states at the price of violation of territorial integrity of the Soviet Union and transfer of parts of USSR's territory to capitalist states". These allegations were due to Beria's suggestion to his assistants that in order to improve foreign relations it was reasonable to transfer Kaliningrad Oblast to Germany, part of Karelia to Finland and Kuril Islands to Japan. Kaliningrad Oblast (Калинингра́дская о́бласть Kaliningradskaya oblast; informally called Yantarny kray (ru Янта́рный край meaning Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. The Karelian question or Karelian issue (Karjala-kysymys is a dispute on the Fringes of Finnish politics over whether or not to try to regain Finland, officially the Republic of Finland ( is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. The Kuril Islands (ˈkʊrɪl or /ˈkjuˈriˈl/ Кури́льские острова́ əstrʌˈva ru-Latn ''Kuril'skie ostrova'' or Kurile Islands in Russia For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics.

2) terrorism; Beria's order to execute 25 political prisoners in October 1941 without trial was classified as an act of terrorism. Terrorism is the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion

3) counterrevolutionary activity during Russian Civil War; In 1919 Beria worked in the security service of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, he maintained that Hummet party which subsequently merged with the Adalat Party, the Ahrar Party and Baku Bolsheviks to establish the Azerbaijan Communist Party gave him such an assignment. The Russian Civil War (1917–1923 was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic ( ADR; Azərbaycan Xalq Cümhuriyyəti was the first Democratic and Secular Republic in the Muslim world The Muslim Social Democratic Party, usually referred to as Hummet, was a Political party in Transcaucasus. The Ahrar (Liberal Party (Əhrar firqəsi was a small political party in Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (1918-1920, representing mainly the Sunni peasantry of The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists ( Большевик Большевист (singular, derived from bolshe, "more" were a faction The Azerbaijan Communist Party ( Azərbaycan Kommunist Partiyası) was the ruling Political party in the Azerbaijan SSR, making it effectively a branch of

Beria and all the other defendants were sentenced to death. When the death sentence was passed, according to Moskalenko's later account, Beria begged on his knees for mercy, but he and his subordinates were immediately executed on 23 December 1953. Events 962 - Byzantine-Arab Wars: Under the future Emperor Nicephorus Phocas, Byzantine troops stormed the city Year 1953 ( MCMLIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. (See Citizen Kurchatov documentary for more details on his death^[3]). Igor Vasilyevich Kurchatov (И́горь Васи́льевич Курча́тов January 12, 1903 – February 7, 1960) was a Soviet Apparently his body was cremated.

However, according to other accounts including his son's, Beria's house was assaulted on 26 June 1953, by military units and Beria himself was killed on the spot. Events 363 - Roman Emperor Julian is killed during the retreat from the Sassanid Empire. Year 1953 ( MCMLIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. A member of the court which tried Beria, Nikolay Shvernik, subsequently allegedly told Beria's son that he had never seen Beria alive. Nikolay Mikhailovich Shvernik (Никола́й Миха́йлович Шве́рник (1888 – 1970 was the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR (or

Beria's wife, Nina Gegechkori (niece of the Old Bolshevik Sasha Gegechkori) and son were sent to exile to Sverdlovsk. Old Bolshevik (ста́рый большеви́к is an unofficial designation for a member of the Bolshevik party before the Russian Revolution of 1917, most of Aleksi "Sasha" Gegechkori (ალექსი "საშა" გეგეჭკორი Алексей Александрович "Саша" Гегечкори Yekaterinburg (Екатеринбу́рг also romanized Ekaterinburg, formerly Sverdlovsk) is a major city in the central part of Russia They were released in 1964; his wife Nina died in 1991 in exile in Ukraine, his son Sergo died in October 2000 still defending his father's reputation. After Beria's death, the MGB was separated from the MVD and reduced from the status of a Ministry to a Committee (known as the KGB), and no Soviet police chief ever again held the kind of power Beria had wielded. KGB ( Transliteration of "КГБ" is the Russian abbreviation of Committee for State Security ( Komityet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosty

In May 2000 the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation refused an application by members of Beria's family to overturn his 1953 conviction. The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation ( Russian: ru Верховный Суд Российской Федерации is the final instance in Administrative law The application was based on a Russian law that provided for rehabilitation of victims of false political accusations. The court ruled, however, that "Beria was the organizer of repression against his own people, and therefore could not be considered a victim". However, the Supreme Court found Vladimir Dekanozov, Pavel Meshik and Lev Vlodzimirskiy guilty of abuse of authority, instead of crimes against the state, and the sentence for them was posthumously changed from death to 25 year imprisonment.

Sexual sadism

Charges of sexual assault and sexual sadism against Beria were first made in the speech by a Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, Nikolay Shatalin, at the Plenary Meeting of the committee on July 10, 1953, two weeks after Beria's arrest. Events 48 BC - Battle of Dyrrhachium, Julius Caesar barely avoids a catastrophic defeat to Pompey in Macedonia. Year 1953 ( MCMLIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Shatalin said that Beria had had sexual relations with numerous women and that he had contracted syphilis as a result of his sex with prostitutes. Syphilis is a Sexually transmitted disease caused by the spirochetal Bacterium Treponema pallidum pallidum. Shatalin referred to a list (supposedly kept by Beria's bodyguard) of over 25 women with whom Beria had sex. Over time, however, the charges became more dramatic. Khrushchev in his posthumously published memoirs wrote: "We were given a list of more than 100 names of women. They were dragged to Beria by his people. And he had the same trick for them all: all who got to his house for the first time, Beria would invite for a dinner and would propose to drink for the health of Stalin. And in wine, he would mix in some sleeping pills. . . " Afterwards he would drop off his charge and the chauffeur would give them a bouquet of flowers. One pregnant victim, having refused his advances, was accidentally given the flowers. Upon noticing, Beria shouted, "It's not a bouquet, it's a wreath. May they rot on your grave. " She was later arrested.

By the 1980s, the sexual assault stories about Beria included the rape of teenage girls. The author Anton Antonov-Ovseenko, who wrote a biography of Beria, mentions in an interview a specific sexual game Beria is said to have forced upon young girls before picking one of them to be raped. Anton Vladimirovich Antonov-Ovseenko (Антон Владимирович Антонов-Овсеенко (born 1920 is Russian historian and writer This alleged practice got the name "Beria's Flower Game". ^[4]

Numerous stories have circulated over the years involving Beria personally beating, torturing and killing his victims. Since the 1970s, Muscovites have been retelling stories of bones found in the back yard, cellars, or hidden inside the walls of Beria's former residence, currently the Tunisian Embassy. Such stories continue to re-appear in the news media. The London Daily Telegraph reported in December 2003: "The latest grisly find—a large thigh bone and some smaller leg bones—was only two years ago when a kitchen was re-tiled. For "The Daily Telegraph" in Australia see The Daily Telegraph (Australia. In the basement, Anil, an Indian who has worked at the embassy for 17 years, showed a plastic bag of human bones he had found in the cellars. "^[4] According to historian Simon Sebag Montefiore, Beria personally tortured Nestor Lakoba's family, driving his widow mad by placing a snake in her cell and beating his teenage children to death. Nestor Apollonovich Lakoba (Нестор Аполлонович Лакоба ( 1 May 1893 &ndash 28 December 1936) was an Abkhaz ^[5]

Such reports are dismissed by the people close to Beria, such as his son Sergo Beria and former Soviet foreign intelligence chief Pavel Sudoplatov, as politically motivated smears. Pavel Sudoplatov (Пáвел Aнатóльевич Cудоплáтов ( July 7, 1907 – September 26, 1996) was a member of the Intelligence

See also

• History of the Soviet Union
• List of Georgians

Preceded by Samson Mamulia

First Secretary of the Georgian Communist Party 1931–1938

Succeeded by Kandid Charkviani

Leaders of Georgia since 1918

Democratic Republic of Georgia (1918–1921): Noe Ramishvili | Noe Zhordania

Soviet era: Chairmen of the Revolutionary Committee (1921–1922): Filipp Makharadze | Polikarp Mdivani

Soviet era, c'td. History of Soviet Russia and the Soviet Union is covered in the following series of articles The following is a partial list of prominent people from the Republic of Georgia, arranged chronologically within categories Samson Mamulia (1???-1937 was the First Secretary of the Georgian Communist Party. The First Secretary of the Georgian Communist Party was the leading position in the Georgian Communist party during the Soviet era Candide Charkviani (1906-1994 was Georgian party and government official first secretary of the Communist Party (CP of Georgia from 1938-1952 The President of Georgia (საქართველოს პრეზიდენტი is the Commander-in-chief of Georgia. The Democratic Republic of Georgia ( DRG; Georgian: საქართველოს დემოკრატიული რესპუბლიკა Sakartvelos Noe Ramishvili (ნოე რამიშვილი his name is also transliterated as Noah or Noi) ( 1881 - December 7, 1930) was Noe Zhordania (ნოე ჟორდანია also transliterated as Jordania) ( January 2, 1868 – January 11, 1953) was a Filipp Makaradze ( Georgian: ფილიპე მახარაძე Russian: Филипп Махарадзе (1868–1941 was President of the Georgian Polikarp "Budu" Mdivani (პოლიკარპე მდივანი Поликарп Гургенович Мдивани Polikarp Gurgenovich Mdivani) (1877 : as part of  Transcaucasian SFSR (1922–1936),  Georgian SSR (1936–1991), First Secretaries: Vissarion Lominadze | Lavrenty Kartvelishvili | Levan Gogoberidze | Samson Mamulia | Lavrentiy Beria | Kandid Charkviani | Akaki Mgeladze | Aleksandr Mirtskhulava | Vasil Mzhavanadze | Eduard Shevardnadze | Jumber Patiashvili | Givi Gumbaridze | Avtandil Margiani | Jimi Mikeladze

Georgia since 1991, Presidents: Zviad Gamsakhurdia | Eduard Shevardnadze | Nino Burjanadze (acting) | Mikheil Saakashvili | Nino Burjanadze (acting) | Mikheil Saakashvili

Further reading

• Antonov-Ovseenko, Anton, Beria, Moscow, 1999 (in Russian)
• Avtorkhanov, Abdurahman, The Mystery of Stalin's Death, Novyi Mir, #5, 1991, pp. The Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic (Հայաստանի Խորհրդային Սոցիալիստական Հանրապետություն Azerbaijani: The Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic (საქართველოს საბჭოთასოციალისტური რესპუბლიკა Samson Mamulia (1???-1937 was the First Secretary of the Georgian Communist Party. Candide Charkviani (1906-1994 was Georgian party and government official first secretary of the Communist Party (CP of Georgia from 1938-1952 Vasil Mzhavanadze (also Vasily; ვასილი მჟავანაძე Василий Павлович Мжаванадзе Kutaisi, - 5 September Eduard Amvrosiyevich Shevardnadze (ედუარდ შევარდნაძე ɛduɑrd ʃɛvɑrdnɑdzɛ (born 25 January 1928 in Mamati, Lanchkhuti Jumber Patiashvili (ჯუმბერ პატიაშვილი (born January 5, 1940) is a Georgian politician Georgia ( საქართველო, Sakartvelo) is a Transcontinental country in the Caucasus region situated at the dividing line between Zviad Gamsakhurdia ( Georgian: ზვიად გამსახურდია, ( March 31, 1939 — December 31, 1993 Eduard Amvrosiyevich Shevardnadze (ედუარდ შევარდნაძე ɛduɑrd ʃɛvɑrdnɑdzɛ (born 25 January 1928 in Mamati, Lanchkhuti Nino Burjanadze (nɪnɔ bʊrdʒanadzɛ Georgian: ნინო ბურჯანაძე (surname sometimes transliterated in English as Burdzhanadze Mikheil Saakashvili (მიხეილ ნიკოლოზის ძე სააკაშვილი (born 21 December 1967, a Georgian Politician, the Nino Burjanadze (nɪnɔ bʊrdʒanadzɛ Georgian: ნინო ბურჯანაძე (surname sometimes transliterated in English as Burdzhanadze Mikheil Saakashvili (მიხეილ ნიკოლოზის ძე სააკაშვილი (born 21 December 1967, a Georgian Politician, the 194-233 (in Russian)
• Beria, Sergo, Beria: My Father, London, 2001
• Knight, Amy, Beria: Stalin's First Lieutenant, Princeton University Press, 1993. ISBN 0-691-03257-2
• Khruschev, Nikita, Khruschev Remembers: Last Testament, Random House, 1977, ISBN 0-517-17547-9
• Rhodes, Richard, Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb, Simon and Schuster, 1996 ISBN 0-684-82414-0
• Stove, R. J. , The Unsleeping Eye: Secret Police and Their Victims, Encounter Books, San Francisco, 2003). ISBN 1-893554-66-X
• Sudoplatov, Pavel, Special Tasks: The Memoirs of an Unwanted Witness - A Soviet Spymaster, Little Brown & Co, 1994, ISBN 0-316-77352-2
• Sukhomlinov, Andrei, "Kto Vy, Lavrentiy Beria?", Moscow, 2003 (in Russian), ISBN 5-89935-060-1
• Wittlin, Thaddeus. Special Tasks The Memoirs of an Unwanted Witness—A Soviet Spymaster is the Autobiography of Pavel Sudoplatov, who was a member of the Intelligence Commissar: The Life and Death of Lavrenty Pavlovich Beria, The Macmillan Co. , New York, 1972.
• Yakovlev, A. N. , Naumov, V. , and Sigachev, Y. (eds), Lavrenty Beria, 1953. Stenographic Report of July's Plenary Meeting of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and Other Documents, International Democracy Foundation, Moscow, 1999 (in Russian). ISBN 5-89511-006-1

References

External links

• Benjamin B. Fischer, "The Katyn Controversy - Stalin's Killing Field"
• Photocopy of Beria's letter to Stalin to execute Katyn officers prisoners
• Official site of the Memorial to Katyn
• Interview with Sergo Beria
• An outline of the Russian Supreme Court decision of 29 May 2000
• Annotated bibliography for Lavrenty Beria from the Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues
• Central Intelligence Agency, Office of Current Intelligence. Benjamin B Fischer has worked for the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA for nearly 30 years Events 363 - Roman Emperor Julian defeats the Sassanid army in the Battle of Ctesiphon, under the walls of the 2000 ( MM) was a Leap year that started on Saturday of the Common Era, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. The Reversal of the Doctors' Plot and Its Immediate Aftermath, 17 July 1953.
• Central Intelligence Agency, Office of Current Intelligence. Purge of L.P. Beria, 17 April 1954.
• Central Intelligence Agency, Office of Current Intelligence. Summarization of Reports Preceding Beria Purge, 17 August 1954.

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