Historical Figure
Lavrentiy Beria
d. 1953
Soviet secret police chief (1899–1953)
Talk to Lavrentiy Beria
Have a conversation with this historical figure through AI
Biography
Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria was a Soviet politician and one of the longest-serving and most influential of Joseph Stalin's secret police chiefs, serving as head of the NKVD from 1938 to 1945, during the country's involvement in the Second World War. Beria was also a prolific sexual predator who serially raped scores of girls and young women, and murdered some of his victims.
Timeline
The story of Lavrentiy Beria, told in moments.
Appointed head of the NKVD, the Soviet secret police. Oversaw the final phase of Stalin's Great Purge. Managed the Gulag system. Personally signed thousands of execution orders.
Directed the Soviet atomic bomb project. Used intelligence from spies inside the Manhattan Project and forced labor from imprisoned German scientists and Gulag prisoners. The bomb was tested in 1949.
Arrested by Khrushchev and other Politburo members at a meeting. Soldiers burst in. Beria reportedly begged on his knees. He'd been maneuvering for power after Stalin's death three months earlier.
Executed by firing squad in Moscow after a secret trial. Convicted of treason, terrorism, and multiple sexual crimes. He was 54.
In Their Own Words (6)
Do you know that there’s hardly anyone left of last year’s Caucasian governments? I’ve tried to stop it, but in vain. Yet they can’t all be Trotskyites and traitors.
Quoted in "The Kremlin and the People" by Walter Duranty (2007), p. 126, 2007
The enemies of the Soviet state calculate that the heavy loss we have borne will lead to disorder and confusion in our ranks. But their expectations are in vain: bitter disillusionment awaits them. He who is not blind sees that our party, during its difficult days, is closing its ranks still more closely, that it is united and unshakable.
Quoted in "The Current Digest of the Soviet Press" Joint Committee (1953), p. 9, 1953
To produce a maximum of chaos in the culture of the enemy is our first most important step. Our fruits are grown in chaos, distrust, economic depression and scientific turmoil. At least a weary populace can seek peace only in our offered Communist State, at last only Communism can resolve the problems of the masses.
If we can effectively kill the national pride and patriotism of just one generation, we will have won that country. Therefore we must continue propaganda abroad to undermine the loyalty of citizens in general and of teen-agers in particular.
By psychopolitics create chaos. Leave a nation leaderless. Kill our enemies. And bring to Earth, through Communism, the greatest peace Man has ever known.
Artifacts (1)
Related Historical Figures
Explore what happened on the days that shaped Lavrentiy Beria's life. Today In History connects historical figures with the events, births, and deaths that defined their era. Browse all historical figures or explore today's events.