Yakov Agranov
Encyclopedia
Yakov Saulovich Agranov (born Yankel Samuilovich Sorenson, Янкель Самуилович Соренсон; 1893 – 1938) was a prominent member of the Cheka, the forerunner of the Soviet KGB
.
He was born in a Jewish shopkeeper's family in Checherskaya, a village in the Gomel province
of the Russian Empire
.
In 1912 he joined the Socialist-Revolutionary Party
while working as a clerk and in 1915 joined the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party
. He was arrested by the tsarist police in 1915 and exiled to Yenesei province.
In 1918 Agranov became secretary of Sovnarkom.
At this time he was taking orders directly from Vladimir Lenin
and Felix Dzerzhinsky
.
During this period Agranov was in charge of the forced emigration of leading figures of Russian science and culture as potentially anti-Soviet elements. Among those expelled were Nikolai Berdyaev
and Nikolai Lossky
.
From 1919 until his death he was a prominent member of the Cheka (later the OGPU and then NKVD) (KGB
). Agranov was Genrikh Yagoda
's deputy during Stalin's Great Purge
.
In 1921 Agranov was the chief investigator regarding the “Petrograd militant organization”, headed by Professor Tagantsev
. The investigation ended with more than 85 persons being sentenced to death, including the poet Nikolay Gumilyov
. All concerned were promptly executed.
According to Rayfield's book 'Stalin and his Hangmen', the murder of Gumilev and other Petrograd intellectuals was a response to the Kronstadt Rebellion
. The Cheka, he claims, felt that the intellectuals of the city were to blame for the rebellion. Professor Tagantsev was then tricked into performing dissident acts, arrested, and forced to name 300 'conspirators', whom he was told would not be killed. After appeals from Gorky
and others, Lenin agreed to pardon a small number of the condemned, but the Cheka officer in charge carried out the execution order so quickly that the pardon came too late.
Agranov also investigated the Kronstadt rebellion
and the peasant uprising in the Tambov
region. At the end of his career he was fabricating cases for the Trial of the Twenty One
, against the Trotskyist Anti-Soviet Military Organization and the “Promparty” and “Working Peasant Party ” cases, later shown to be mythical.
Agranov is also implicated in the suspicious “suicide” of the poet Vladimir Mayakovsky
in 1930.
Immediately after the assassination of Sergey Kirov
in Leningrad in 1934, Agranov was entrusted with the organization of mass reprisals in the city. The interrogation sessions of Lev Kamenev
, Grigory Zinoviev
, Nikolai Bukharin
, Alexei Rykov
and Mikhail Tukhachevsky
were conducted under his supervision.
The cynical motto “If there is no enemy, he should be created, denounced and punished” was attributed to Yakov Agranov.
His career and life come to an end when in 1938 he himself was accused of being a Trotskyite sympathizer and executed by firing squad as an “enemy of the people
”.
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
.
He was born in a Jewish shopkeeper's family in Checherskaya, a village in the Gomel province
Homiel Voblast
Homiel Voblast or Gomel Oblast is a province of Belarus with its administrative center being Homyel.Important cities within the voblasts include: Gomel, Mazyr, Zhlobin, Svetlahorsk, Rechytsia, Kalinkavichy, Rahachow, Dobrush...
of the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
.
In 1912 he joined the Socialist-Revolutionary Party
Socialist-Revolutionary Party
thumb|right|200px|Socialist-Revolutionary election poster, 1917. The caption in red reads "партия соц-рев" , short for Party of the Socialist Revolutionaries...
while working as a clerk and in 1915 joined the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party
Russian Social Democratic Labour Party
The Russian Social Democratic Labour Party , also known as Russian Social Democratic Workers' Party or Russian Social Democratic Party, was a revolutionary socialist Russian political party formed in 1898 in Minsk to unite the various revolutionary organizations into one party...
. He was arrested by the tsarist police in 1915 and exiled to Yenesei province.
In 1918 Agranov became secretary of Sovnarkom.
At this time he was taking orders directly from Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and communist politician who led the October Revolution of 1917. As leader of the Bolsheviks, he headed the Soviet state during its initial years , as it fought to establish control of Russia in the Russian Civil War and worked to create a...
and Felix Dzerzhinsky
Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky
Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky was a Communist revolutionary, famous as the first director of the Bolshevik secret police, the Cheka, known later by many names during the history of the Soviet Union...
.
During this period Agranov was in charge of the forced emigration of leading figures of Russian science and culture as potentially anti-Soviet elements. Among those expelled were Nikolai Berdyaev
Nikolai Berdyaev
Nikolai Alexandrovich Berdyaev was a Russian religious and political philosopher.-Early life and education:Berdyaev was born in Kiev into an aristocratic military family. He spent a solitary childhood at home, where his father's library allowed him to read widely...
and Nikolai Lossky
Nikolai Lossky
Nikolay Onufriyevich Lossky was a Russian philosopher, representative of Russian idealism, intuitionism, personalism, libertarianism, ethics, Axiology , and his philosophy he called intuitive-personalism. Born in Latvia, he spent his working life in St. Petersburg, New York and Paris...
.
From 1919 until his death he was a prominent member of the Cheka (later the OGPU and then NKVD) (KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
). Agranov was Genrikh Yagoda
Genrikh Yagoda
Genrikh Grigoryevich Yagoda , born Enokh Gershevich Ieguda , was a Soviet state security official who served as director of the NKVD, the Soviet Union's Stalin-era security and intelligence agency, from 1934 to 1936...
's deputy during Stalin's Great Purge
Great Purge
The Great Purge was a series of campaigns of political repression and persecution in the Soviet Union orchestrated by Joseph Stalin from 1936 to 1938...
.
In 1921 Agranov was the chief investigator regarding the “Petrograd militant organization”, headed by Professor Tagantsev
Nikolai Tagantsev
Nikolai Tagantsev — was a Russian lawyer, legal scholar, and criminologist.Senator . He was one of the authors of the Russian penal code of 1903. Member of the State Council ....
. The investigation ended with more than 85 persons being sentenced to death, including the poet Nikolay Gumilyov
Nikolay Gumilyov
Nikolay Stepanovich Gumilev was an influential Russian poet who founded the acmeism movement.-Early life and poems:Nikolai was born in the town of Kronstadt on Kotlin Island, into the family of Stepan Yakovlevich Gumilev , a naval physician, and Anna Ivanovna L'vova . His childhood nickname was...
. All concerned were promptly executed.
According to Rayfield's book 'Stalin and his Hangmen', the murder of Gumilev and other Petrograd intellectuals was a response to the Kronstadt Rebellion
Kronstadt rebellion
The Kronstadt rebellion was one of many major unsuccessful left-wing uprisings against the Bolsheviks in the aftermath of the Russian Civil War...
. The Cheka, he claims, felt that the intellectuals of the city were to blame for the rebellion. Professor Tagantsev was then tricked into performing dissident acts, arrested, and forced to name 300 'conspirators', whom he was told would not be killed. After appeals from Gorky
Gorky
Gorky may refer to:People:*Maxim Gorky , Russian author and political activist, founder of socialist realism*Arshile Gorky , Armenian/American abstract expressionist painterInhabited localities:...
and others, Lenin agreed to pardon a small number of the condemned, but the Cheka officer in charge carried out the execution order so quickly that the pardon came too late.
Agranov also investigated the Kronstadt rebellion
Kronstadt rebellion
The Kronstadt rebellion was one of many major unsuccessful left-wing uprisings against the Bolsheviks in the aftermath of the Russian Civil War...
and the peasant uprising in the Tambov
Tambov
Tambov is a city and the administrative center of Tambov Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Tsna and Studenets Rivers southeast of Moscow...
region. At the end of his career he was fabricating cases for the Trial of the Twenty One
Trial of the Twenty One
The Trial of the Twenty-One was the last of the Moscow Trials, show trials of prominent Bolsheviks, including the Old Bolsheviks. The Trial of the Twenty-One took place in Moscow in March 1938, towards the end of Stalin's Great Purge.-The Trial:...
, against the Trotskyist Anti-Soviet Military Organization and the “Promparty” and “Working Peasant Party ” cases, later shown to be mythical.
Agranov is also implicated in the suspicious “suicide” of the poet Vladimir Mayakovsky
Vladimir Mayakovsky
Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky was a Russian and Soviet poet and playwright, among the foremost representatives of early-20th century Russian Futurism.- Early life :...
in 1930.
Immediately after the assassination of Sergey Kirov
Sergey Kirov
Sergei Mironovich Kirov , born Sergei Mironovich Kostrikov, was a prominent early Bolshevik leader in the Soviet Union. Kirov rose through the Communist Party ranks to become head of the Party organization in Leningrad...
in Leningrad in 1934, Agranov was entrusted with the organization of mass reprisals in the city. The interrogation sessions of Lev Kamenev
Lev Kamenev
Lev Borisovich Kamenev , born Rozenfeld , was a Bolshevik revolutionary and a prominent Soviet politician. He was briefly head of state of the new republic in 1917, and from 1923-24 the acting Premier in the last year of Lenin's life....
, Grigory Zinoviev
Grigory Zinoviev
Grigory Yevseevich Zinoviev , born Ovsei-Gershon Aronovich Radomyslsky Apfelbaum , was a Bolshevik revolutionary and a Soviet Communist politician...
, Nikolai Bukharin
Nikolai Bukharin
Nikolai Ivanovich Bukharin , was a Russian Marxist, Bolshevik revolutionary, and Soviet politician. He was a member of the Politburo and Central Committee , chairman of the Communist International , and the editor in chief of Pravda , the journal Bolshevik , Izvestia , and the Great Soviet...
, Alexei Rykov
Alexei Rykov
Aleksei Ivanovich Rykov was a Russian Bolshevik revolutionary and a Soviet politician most prominent as Premier of Russia and the Soviet Union from 1924–29 and 1924–30 respectively....
and Mikhail Tukhachevsky
Mikhail Tukhachevsky
Mikhail Nikolayevich Tukhachevsky was a Marshal of the Soviet Union, commander in chief of the Red Army , and one of the most prominent victims of Joseph Stalin's Great Purge.-Early life:...
were conducted under his supervision.
The cynical motto “If there is no enemy, he should be created, denounced and punished” was attributed to Yakov Agranov.
His career and life come to an end when in 1938 he himself was accused of being a Trotskyite sympathizer and executed by firing squad as an “enemy of the people
Enemy of the people
The term enemy of the people is a fluid designation of political or class opponents of the group using the term. The term implies that the "enemies" in question are acting against society as a whole. It is similar to the notion of "enemy of the state". The term originated in Roman times as ,...
”.