The Painful execution of Lavrentiy Beria *Warning HARD TO STOMACH.

The Painful execution of Lavrentiy Beria *Warning HARD TO STOMACH. Execution of Lavrentiy Beria – Stalin’s Secret Police Chief & the Most Feared Man in the Soviet Union Lavrentiy Beria was born on March 29, 1899, in the Georgian village of Merkheuli, then part of the Russian Empire, to devout Orthodox parents. Gifted in mathematics and science, he studied at a technical school before enrolling at the Baku Polytechnic Institute in Azerbaijan. In March 1917, while still a student, Beria joined the Bolsheviks. The collapse of the Russian Empire later that year sparked upheaval across its former territories. Azerbaijan briefly became an independent republic in 1918, and during this turbulent period Beria began his work in state security, joining the security service of the new republic. By 1920–1921, he had entered the Cheka, the first Soviet secret police force. As revolution spread, the Soviet Red Army moved against newly independent Georgia. In the aftermath, Beria played a key role in crushing resistance, leading the brutal suppression of a 1924 Georgian nationalist uprising that resulted in roughly 10,000 executions. His loyalty and ruthlessness drew the attention of fellow Georgian Joseph Stalin. Beria’s rise was swift. In 1931 he became First Secretary of the Communist Party of Georgia, the highest political post in the republic, and by 1934 he was seated on the Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party. By 1935 he had earned Stalin’s full trust. In 1938, at the height of the Great Purge led by NKVD chief Nikolai Yezhov—a campaign marked by mass arrests, torture, and the execution or imprisonment of more than a million Soviet citizens—Stalin brought Beria to Moscow as Yezhov’s deputy. As the purge strained the Soviet state, Stalin replaced Yezhov with Beria in November 1938. Beria announced a partial easing of repression and more than 100,000 prisoners were released. However, this shift was relative; arrests, torture, and executions continued under his command. Many of the security officers elevated by Beria were notoriously cruel. Victims like theatre director Vsevolod Meyerhold and former party leader Robert Eikhe later described agonizing torture at the hands of Beria’s interrogators. Beria’s name became synonymous with the machinery of fear that defined Stalin’s rule. For years he served as the regime’s most feared enforcer—until the day came when he would face the same fate he inflicted on so many others. Disclaimer: All opinions and comments below are from members of the public and do not reflect the views of Army History channel. We do not accept promoting violence or hatred against individuals or groups based on attributes such as: race, nationality, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation. Army History has right to review the comments and delete them if they are deemed inappropriate. #ww2 #worldwar2videos #worldhistory #beria #russia #stalin #worldwar2videos #documentary #europe #warcriminals #warcrime #collaborators #sovietunion #nkvd #checa #greatpurge #katynmassacre #yalta #khrushchev