Nikolai Yezhov

Nikolai Yezhov was a Soviet politician who served as the head of the NKVD, the USSR's secret police, during the late 1930s. He played a key role in the Great Purge, a period of intense political repression, imprisonments, and executions under Joseph Stalin. Yezhov oversaw widespread paranoia and violence as he targeted perceived enemies of the state. In 1938, Stalin dismissed and eventually executed Yezhov, marking a shift in the purges. His leadership exemplifies the brutal methods used in Stalin’s regime to consolidate power and eliminate opposition.