Joseph Stalin was the most controversial and cruel figure in the history of our country. His methods amazed and forced the people to live in fear and complete obedience. Any actions were carried out with caution, and in each apartment a suitcase was always prepared in case of arrest.
The Leningrad case is the name of the general form for a whole list of court cases that were conducted in the postwar years, namely from 1949 to 1952. These court cases were directed against the leaders of the Leningrad Party organization. Everything was done in order to weaken the role of this organization in the USSR, since at that time a cult of personality of Stalin was established in the Soviet Union . The Leningrad affair accused several representatives of the Leningrad Party of treason. Who got into this business? Thanks to denunciations, the veracity of which has not yet been established, almost all the leaders nominated by the Leningrad party for the leadership service in Moscow after the Second World War were involved in the process.
Despite the name of the case, arrests were carried out throughout the country, including Moscow, Simferopol, Novgorod, Pskov and Tallinn.
The following persons were involved in the first process:
- A.A. Kuznetsov - this person held the position of 1st Secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks.
- P.S. Popkov - 1st Secretary in the Leningrad City / Regional Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks.
- THEM. Turko is a representative of a non-Leningrad party, the first secretary in the Yaroslavl regional committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks.
- M.I. Rodionov is the chairman of the Council of Ministers in the RSFSR.
- ON THE. Ascension, who was chairman of the USSR State Planning Commission and others.
What was the occasion? The Leningrad affair (important events of the process will be briefly described) is a list of incriminating evidence on government officials of the Leningrad Party. By the beginning of 1949, all documents had already been collected, and the All-Russian Wholesale Fair (January 10-20, 1949) held in Leningrad laid the foundation for the process. In addition to the charges of treason, the statesmen were accused of rigging the election of the new leadership held in December of the previous year. After the fair, G. Malenkov filed charges against the figures listed above that this event was held without the knowledge of bodies such as the Central Committee of the Party and the government.
However, the documents confirmed a completely different: the Council of Ministers allowed the Fair by its resolution of November 11 of the previous year.
In February 1949, Malenkov leaves for Leningrad. The Leningrad affair comes to the peak of its activity and cruelty. Having held meetings of the bureau of the city committee and the regional committee, Malenkov presented a decree there on which state officials were accused of anti-Party activities and removed from their posts. Everyone was arrested. For a whole year, those arrested were subjected to severe torture and interrogation. Then N. Voznesensky, Y. Kapustin, P. Popkov, P. Lazutin, A Kuznetsov, M. Rodionov were shot.
The Leningrad affair, the affair of doctors following the first, clearly reflect Stalin's inconsistent policy, which did everything to ensure that his power was untouchable. His anxiety, constant suspicion led to mass repressions, most of which are unjustified. The Leningrad case was reviewed in 1954, and those involved in the process were rehabilitated.