Nikolai Yezhov 1895 – 1940

Biography

Nikolai Yezhov was born on May 1, 1895, in Kaunas, Lithuania, during a period of significant political change in Eastern Europe. His life would come to intersect with some of the most consequential events of the twentieth century, shaping his role in the institutions of power during a turbulent era in Soviet history.

Yezhov served as a director of the NKVD, the Soviet secret police apparatus, under the leadership of Joseph Stalin. His tenure during this period placed him within the highest circles of Soviet security and state administration, responsibilities that carried immense weight during one of history’s most challenging and complex times.

On February 4, 1940, Yezhov died in Moscow by gunshot wound. He was laid to rest at Donskoe cemetery in Moscow, Russia, where he remains. His life and death reflect the profound uncertainties and dangers that characterized the Soviet Union during the Stalin era, a period whose historical significance continues to be studied and remembered.