Statesman
Beria was the chief of NKVD and a powerful statesman during the final 15 years of Stalin. He attempted to seize power after Stalin, but was outmaneuvered and killed by orders of Nikita Khrushchev.
Background
Lived: 1899-1953.
Lavrenty Pavlovich Beria was born in Georgia to a family of humble origins. He graduated a technical school in Baku and became a member of Cheka in 1921. As an efficient official, he rose to be the head of the Georgian NKVD in 1926.
Head of the NKVD (1938-45)
In 1938, Beria was brought to Moscow by Stalin. He was appointed Deputy Head of the NKVD, under Nikolai Yezhov. When Stalin decided to destroy Yezhov, Beria was given free hands to purge the NKVD of Yezhov’s supporters. According to some rumours Beria personally strangled Yezhov.
Political career
When Hitler attacked Russia in 22 June 1941, Beria became a Deputy Prime Minister in Internal Affairs. He was responsible for all security, production of goods and evacuation of industries. In 1940, he ordered 22,000 Polish officers be shot in the Katyn Woods.
Beria earned a reputation of a man who gets things done, whatever the cost. In 1944, Stalin entrusted the nuclear project to him. Beria intensified an international espionage program and the nuclear bomb was completed by 1949. Stalin promoted him to Field Marshal and a full member of the Politburo in 1946.
After Stalin
After Stalin’s death, an immense power struggle took place. As one of the four deputy prime ministers, he managed to outbid his rivals by a very liberal program. That “New Course” was about reunification of Germany, liberalizing collective farms and giving more freedom to the Soviet republics.
Beria’s political rivals feared, he was planning to seize power. In December 1953, Malenkov, Molotov and Khrushchev had him arrested in a Politburo meeting and accused him of treason. Beria was quickly tried and shot.
Personal
Beria was noteworthy for his sadism and cruelty. His limousine was seen in the evenings on the streets of Moscow that picked up girls and took them to his residence. Beria raped and beat them repeatedly in a sound-proof room. Some of the girls remained missing forever.
Lavrenty Beria
Statesman
Beria was the chief of NKVD and a powerful statesman during the final 15 years of Stalin. He attempted to seize power after Stalin, but was outmaneuvered and killed by orders of Nikita Khrushchev.
Background
Lived: 1899-1953.
Lavrenty Pavlovich Beria was born in Georgia to a family of humble origins. He graduated a technical school in Baku and became a member of Cheka in 1921. As an efficient official, he rose to be the head of the Georgian NKVD in 1926.
Head of the NKVD (1938-45)
In 1938, Beria was brought to Moscow by Stalin. He was appointed Deputy Head of the NKVD, under Nikolai Yezhov. When Stalin decided to destroy Yezhov, Beria was given free hands to purge the NKVD of Yezhov’s supporters. According to some rumours Beria personally strangled Yezhov.
Political career
When Hitler attacked Russia in 22 June 1941, Beria became a Deputy Prime Minister in Internal Affairs. He was responsible for all security, production of goods and evacuation of industries. In 1940, he ordered 22,000 Polish officers be shot in the Katyn Woods.
Beria earned a reputation of a man who gets things done, whatever the cost. In 1944, Stalin entrusted the nuclear project to him. Beria intensified an international espionage program and the nuclear bomb was completed by 1949. Stalin promoted him to Field Marshal and a full member of the Politburo in 1946.
After Stalin
After Stalin’s death, an immense power struggle took place. As one of the four deputy prime ministers, he managed to outbid his rivals by a very liberal program. That “New Course” was about reunification of Germany, liberalizing collective farms and giving more freedom to the Soviet republics.
Beria’s political rivals feared, he was planning to seize power. In December 1953, Malenkov, Molotov and Khrushchev had him arrested in a Politburo meeting and accused him of treason. Beria was quickly tried and shot.
Personal
Beria was noteworthy for his sadism and cruelty. His limousine was seen in the evenings on the streets of Moscow that picked up girls and took them to his residence. Beria raped and beat them repeatedly in a sound-proof room. Some of the girls remained missing forever.
Andrey Vyshinsky