Ivan Akulov
Ivan Akulov | |
---|---|
Иван Акулов | |
Procurator General of the Soviet Union | |
In office 20 June 1933 – 3 March 1935 | |
Premier | Vyacheslav Molotov |
Preceded by | Pyotr Krasikov |
Succeeded by | Andrey Vyshinsky |
Personal details | |
Born | (1918–1937) | 24 April 1888
Ivan Alekseyevich Akulov (
Career
Akulov was born in St Petersburg, son a small trader.
In July 1931, Akulov was suddenly transferred to Moscow, as first deputy chairman of the OGPU. The OGPU was nominally headed by the terminally ill Vyacheslav Menzhinsky. Its effective head was Genrikh Yagoda, who was relegated to the post of second deputy chairman. This appears to have been a first attempt by Joseph Stalin to wrest control of the police from Yagoda, whom he did not trust. The attempt did not work: as one senior officer said after Yagoda had been ousted, five years later, "the entire party organisation in the OGPU was devoted to sabotaging Akulov."[4] In October 1932, Akulov returned to Ukraine, as First Secretary of the Donets party committee.
In 1933, Akulov was recalled to Moscow, as USSR Prosecutor General, with
In 1937, after Akulov had a fall while skating, and suffered a near fatal concussion, Stalin ordered that surgeons be brought from abroad to save his life.[7] Two of his former deputies, Vyshinsky and Grigori Roginsky, sent messages wishing him a speedy recover. He returned to work, only to be arrested on 23 July 1937. On hearing about his arrest, one of his colleagues Valentin Trifonov, protested to the chairman of the Central Executive Committee, Mikhail Kalinin who took up the case with Stalin, and was bluntly told: "You always were a liberal."[1] Akulov confessed under torture to having been a Trotskyite. After he was sentenced to death, he told Roginsky "You know I'm not guilty." Roginsky replied with a stream of abuse.[8]
Akulov was accused of having been a Trotskyist since 1927, and of being involved in a 'fascist military conspiracy' with the Red Army commander Iona Yakir. He admitted the charges while interrogation, probably under torture, but denied them during his trial on 29 October 1937.[9] He was shot on 30 October 1937.[10]
Akulov was 'rehabilitated' in December 1954.[9]
References
- ^ a b "Акулов Иван Алексеевич (1888–1938 гг.)". История Оренбужья. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
- ^ Medvedev 1976, p. 217.
- ^ Zalessky, K.A. "Акулов Иван Алексеевич, Биографический указатель". Chronos. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
- ISBN 978-1-62097-079-9.
- ISBN 978-0-300-10407-3.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - ISBN 0-375-50632-2.
- ^ Medvedev 1976, p. 291.
- ^ Rayfield. Stalin and His Hangmen. p. 483.
- ^ a b Rudenko, R.A. "Записка Р.А. Руденко в ЦК КПСС о реабилитации И.А. Акулова. 1 декабря 1954 г." Реабилитация: как ето было. документы президиума ЦК КПСС и други материалы март 1953 – февраль 1956. Международный фонд "демократия". Retrieved 21 January 2023.
- ^ "Акулов Иван Алексеевич (1888)". Открытый список (Open List). Retrieved 28 March 2022.
Bibliography
- Medvedev, Roy (1976). Let History Judge, The Origins and Consequences of Stalinism. Nottingham: Spokesman.