Aleksandr Ivanovich Uspensky (russian: Александр Иванович Успенский; 1902 – January 28, 1940) was a senior officer of the

Cheka The All-Russian Extraordinary Commission ( rus, Всероссийская чрезвычайная комиссия, r=Vserossiyskaya chrezvychaynaya komissiya, p=fsʲɪrɐˈsʲijskəjə tɕrʲɪzvɨˈtɕæjnəjə kɐˈmʲisʲɪjə), abbreviated ...

, the GPU and the

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (russian: Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних дел, Naródnyy komissariát vnútrennikh del, ), abbreviated NKVD ( ), was the interior ministry of the Soviet Union. ...

. Uspensky was both a perpetrator and a victim of the

Great Purge The Great Purge or the Great Terror (russian: Большой террор), also known as the Year of '37 (russian: 37-й год, translit=Tridtsat sedmoi god, label=none) and the Yezhovshchina ('period of Nikolay Yezhov, Yezhov'), was General ...

Biography

Uspensky was born on February 14 or February 28, 1902, in a family of forestry officials and made his career during the

Russian Civil War , date = October Revolution, 7 November 1917 – Yakut revolt, 16 June 1923{{Efn, The main phase ended on 25 October 1922. Revolt against the Bolsheviks continued Basmachi movement, in Central Asia and Tungus Republic, the Far East th ...

. In August 1920, he joined the

and in September the same year, he also became a member of the Russian Communist Party (b). Later he rose to be deputy head of security in the Kremlin. In February 1936, he was appointed deputy head of the West Siberian

. In February 1937, he was appointed head of the NKVD in

Orenburg Orenburg (russian: Оренбу́рг, ), formerly known as Chkalov (1938–1957), is the administrative center of Orenburg Oblast, Russia. It lies on the Ural River, southeast of Moscow. Orenburg is also very close to the Kazakhstan-Russia bor ...

. In this role, he impressed the head of the NKVD, Nikolay Yezhov with his zeal, by having 40,000 supposed 'enemies of the people' arrested. On Yezhov's instructions, all the prisoners over 70 were shot. Summoned to Moscow for a conference of regional NKVD heads, Uspensky was told by Yezhov on January 25, 1938, that he was being posted to

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

(Kiev) as head of the

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

NKVD. In February 1938, Yezhov visited Kyiv to give Uspensky a new target to arrest 30,000 people, in addition of the thousands who had already been arrested in Ukraine. During the visit, Yezhov and Uspensky got roaring drunk together. During this time, Uspensky actually led the arrests of about 36,000 people. In June 1938, he declared that "I consider myself a pupil of Nikolai Ivanovich Yezhov", and paid tribute to

Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and chairman of the country's Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev s ...

, then First Secretary of the Ukraine communist party, saying that "only after the faithful Stalinist Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev arrived in Ukraine did the smashing of the enemies of the people begin in earnest."

Flight and arrest

In November 1938, Khrushchev received a call from Stalin telling him that Uspensky was being recalled to Moscow, where he would be arrested. Soon afterwards, there came another phone call, from Yezhov's newly appointed deputy,

Lavrentiy Beria Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria (; rus, Лавре́нтий Па́влович Бе́рия, Lavréntiy Pávlovich Bériya, p=ˈbʲerʲiə; ka, ლავრენტი ბერია, tr, ; – 23 December 1953) was a Georgian Bolshevik ...

, to say that Uspensky had disappeared. After faking his suicide, Uspensky went into hiding on 14 November - possibly having been warned by Yezhov of his impending arrest - and took refuge in the

Ural Mountains The Ural Mountains ( ; rus, Ура́льские го́ры, r=Uralskiye gory, p=ʊˈralʲskʲɪjə ˈɡorɨ; ba, Урал тауҙары) or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through western ...

. He was tracked down and arrested on April 15, 1939. On April 29, ten NKVD officers received awards for their part in capturing Uspensky. On January 27, 1940, he was sentenced to death and executed the next day. Unlike many other senior officials and officers, Uspensky was not subsequently rehabilitated.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Uspensky, Alexander 1902 births 1940 deaths Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Commissars 3rd Class of State Security Great Purge perpetrators People who faked their own death First convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic 20th-century Ukrainian politicians Soviet interior ministers of Ukraine NKVD officers