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'''Andrei Yakovlevich Sverdlov''' (Russian: Андрей Яковлевич Свердлов; 17 April 1911 – 15 November 1969) was a soviet police officer, notorious for his treatment of political prisoners, who was a victim of the anti-semitic purge during the last years of [[Joseph Stalin]].
'''Andrei Yakovlevich Sverdlov''' ({{Langx|ru|Андрей Яковлевич Свердлов}}; 17 April 1911 – 15 November 1969) was a Soviet police officer, notorious for his treatment of political prisoners, who was a victim of the [[Purges of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|purge]] during the last years of [[Joseph Stalin]].


== Career ==
== Career ==
Andrei Sverdlov's father, [[Yakov Sverdlov]] was one of principle organisers of the [[October Revolution]], and one of the most powerful politicians in Russia until his early death. He was in prison when Andrei was born.<ref name="Slezkine">{{cite book |last1=Slezkine |first1=Yuri |title=The House of Government, a Saga of the Russian Revolution |date=2017 |publisher=Princeton U.P. |location=Princeton, N.J. |isbn=978-0-691-192727 |page=46}}</ref> His mother, Klaudia, was also a high ranking official, working in education, and an Old Bolshevik. From the age of four, Andrei lived with his parents in exile in Siberia. As a seven year old, he lived in the [[Kremlin]]. During the power struggle that followed the death of the Soviet leader, [[Vladimir Lenin]], Andrei Sverdlov backed [[Leon Trotsky]] against Stalin and as a 16 year old, in 1927, and made speeches in school supporting the [[Left Opposition]]. By 1929, he had abandoned the opposition, and joined [[Komsomol]], the communist youth league. But in 1930, he made what he later described as "a vile statement about Comrade Stalin."<ref name="pis'mo">{{cite web |last1=Sverdlov |first1=Andrei |title=Письмо А.Я.Свердлова Г.М.Маленкову. 25 августа 1953 г. (Letter from A.Ya.Sverdlov to G.M.Malenkov, 25 August 1953) |url=https://istmat.org/node/57788 |website=Реабилитация: как ето было. документы президиума ЦК КПСС и други материалы март 1953-феврал 1956 |publisher=Международный фонд "демократияя" (Moscow) |access-date=16 January 2023}}</ref>
Andrei Sverdlov's father, [[Yakov Sverdlov]] was one of the main organizers of the [[October Revolution]], and one of the most powerful politicians in Russia until his early death. He was in prison when Andrei was born.<ref name="Slezkine">{{cite book |last1=Slezkine |first1=Yuri |title=The House of Government, a Saga of the Russian Revolution |date=2017 |publisher=Princeton U.P. |location=Princeton, N.J. |isbn=978-0-691-192727 |page=46}}</ref> His mother, Klavdia, was also a high-ranking official, working in education, and an Old Bolshevik. From the age of four, Andrei lived with his parents in exile in Siberia. As a seven year old, he lived in the [[Kremlin]]. During the power struggle that followed the death of the Soviet leader, [[Vladimir Lenin]], Andrei Sverdlov backed [[Leon Trotsky]] against Stalin and as a 16 year old, in 1927, and made speeches in school supporting the [[Left Opposition]]. By 1929, he had abandoned the opposition, and joined the [[Komsomol]], the communist youth league. But in 1930, he made what he later described as "a vile statement about Comrade Stalin."<ref name="pis'mo">{{cite web |last1=Sverdlov |first1=Andrei |title=Письмо А.Я.Свердлова Г.М.Маленкову. 25 августа 1953 г. (Letter from A.Ya.Sverdlov to G.M.Malenkov, 25 August 1953) |url=https://istmat.org/node/57788 |website=Реабилитация: как ето было. документы президиума ЦК КПСС и други материалы март 1953-феврал 1956 |publisher=Международный фонд "демократияя" (Moscow) |access-date=16 January 2023}}</ref>


Sverdlov joined the Communist Party in 1932, and married Nina Podvoiskaya, the 16 year old daughter of the Old Bolshevik, [[Nikolai Podvoisky]].<ref name="Slezkine" /> In 1935, he was arrested, along with his closest friend, Vadim Obolonsky, son of the eminent Bolshevik, [[Valerian Osinsky]]. When [[Nikolai Bukharin]] contacted Stalin to ask why they had been arrested, Stalin replied that they were 'freethinkers'.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Larina |first1=Anna (Nikolai Bukharin's wife) |title=This I Cannot Forget |date=1993 |publisher=Pandora |location=London |isbn=0 04 440887 0 |page=95}}</ref>, but he ordered Sverdlov's release, and instructed him to join the [[NKVD]]. He was arrested again in January 1938. Allegedly, this was a ruse: he remained on the NKVD payroll, and was acting as an informant, taking advantage of the trust other prisoners put in him because of who his father was.<ref>{{cite journal [[Chronicle of Current Events|A Chronicle of Current Events]]|title=A short biography of Andrei Sverdlov |journal= |date=April 1969 |issue=7 |url=https://chronicle-of-current-events.com/2013/10/04/7-9-a-short-biography-of-andrei-sverdlov |access-date=16 January 2023}}</ref> He was released in December, after [[Lavrentiy Beria]] had taken control of the NKVD.<ref name="pis'mo" />
Sverdlov joined the Communist Party in 1932, and married Nina Podvoiskaya, the 16-year-old daughter of the Old Bolshevik, [[Nikolai Podvoisky]].<ref name="Slezkine" />
In 1935, he was arrested, along with his closest friend, Vadim Obolensky, son of the eminent Bolshevik, [[Valerian Obolensky]]. When [[Nikolai Bukharin]] contacted Stalin to ask why they had been arrested, Stalin replied that they were 'freethinkers'.,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Larina |first1=Anna (Nikolai Bukharin's wife) |title=This I Cannot Forget |date=1993 |publisher=Pandora |location=London |isbn=0 04 440887 0 |page=95}}</ref> but he ordered Sverdlov's release, and instructed him to join the [[NKVD]]. He was arrested again in January 1938. Allegedly, this was a ruse: he remained on the NKVD payroll, and was acting as an informant, taking advantage of the trust other prisoners put in him because of who his father was.<ref><nowiki>{{cite journal </nowiki>[[Chronicle of Current Events|A Chronicle of Current Events]]|title=A short biography of Andrei Sverdlov |journal= |date=April 1969 |issue=7 |url=https://chronicle-of-current-events.com/2013/10/04/7-9-a-short-biography-of-andrei-sverdlov<nowiki> |access-date=16 January 2023}}</nowiki></ref> He was released in December, after [[Lavrentiy Beria]] had taken control of the NKVD.<ref name="pis'mo" />


One of the prisoners he was assigned to interrogate was a childhood acquaintance, [[Anna Larina]], widow of Nikolai Bukharin. When she first saw him in [[Lubyanka Building|Lubyanka prison]], she thought at first that he was a fellow prisoner, until she noticed his smart appearance and "self-satisfied face". She wrote later:
One of the prisoners he was assigned to interrogate was a childhood acquaintance, [[Anna Larina]], widow of Nikolai Bukharin. When she first saw him in [[Lubyanka Building|Lubyanka prison]], she thought at first that he was a fellow prisoner, until she noticed his smart appearance and "self-satisfied face". She wrote later:


{{quote|It was painful to see him in this role because most of his famous father's comrades-in-arms had fallen victims to the [[Great Purge|terror]] by this time ... Andrei Sverdlov's new occupation could not be regarded as anything but betrayal. The eyes of Cain were looking at me.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Larina |title=This I Cannot Forget |pages=241-42}}</ref>|}}
{{blockquote|It was painful to see him in this role because most of his famous father's comrades-in-arms had fallen victims to the [[Great Purge|terror]] by this time ... Andrei Sverdlov's new occupation could not be regarded as anything but betrayal. The eyes of Cain were looking at me.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Larina |title=This I Cannot Forget |pages=241–42}}</ref>|}}


When Hanna Hanecka, 20 year old daughter of Lenin's old comrade, [[Yakov Ganetsky|Yakov Hanecki]] saw Sverdlov in prison, she rushed to hug with delight and relief, thinking that their old friendship meant that he would establish her innocence, but he shoved her away and swore at her called her a "bitch." He also took part in repeatedly torturing Pyotr Petrovsky, son of the Old Bolshevik [[Grigory Petrovsky]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Slezkine |title=The House of Government |page=886}}</ref>
When Hanna Hanecka, 20-year-old daughter of Lenin's old comrade [[Yakov Ganetsky|Yakov Hanecki]], saw Sverdlov in prison, she rushed to hug with delight and relief, thinking that their old friendship meant that he would establish her innocence, but he shoved her away and swore at her by calling her a "bitch".{{Citation needed|date=August 2024}}


He also took part in repeatedly torturing Pyotr Petrovsky, son of the Old Bolshevik [[Grigory Petrovsky]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Slezkine |title=The House of Government |page=886}}</ref>
⚫
By October 1951, Sverdlov had reached the rank of Colonel of the [[Ministry of State Security (Soviet Union)|MGB]] (successor to the NKVD). In that month Stalin ordered the arrests of every Jewish officer in the NKVD at the rank of Colonel or above.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sudoplatov |first1=Pavel |title=Special Tasks, The Memoirs of an Unwanted Witness, a Soviet Spymaster |date=1995 |publisher=Warner Books |location=London |isbn=0 7515 1240 0 |page=301}}</ref> Sverdlov was arrested, expelled from the party, and interrogated, but never charged, and was released on 18 May 1953, and had his party membership restored in December.<nowiki></nowiki>{{Citation needed|date=January 2023}}


⚫
By October 1951, Sverdlov had reached the rank of Colonel of the [[Ministry of State Security (Soviet Union)|MGB]] (successor to the NKVD). In that month Stalin ordered the arrests of every Jewish officer in the NKVD at the rank of Colonel or above.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sudoplatov |first1=Pavel |title=Special Tasks, The Memoirs of an Unwanted Witness, a Soviet Spymaster |date=1995 |publisher=Warner Books |location=London |isbn=0 7515 1240 0 |page=301}}</ref> Sverdlov was arrested, expelled from the party, and interrogated, but never charged, and was released on 18 May 1953, and had his party membership restored in December 1953.
⚫
He was later appointed a research fellow at the [[Marx-Engels-Lenin Institute|Institute of Marxism-Leninism]], and wrote crime novels.

⚫
He was later appointed a research fellow at the [[Marx–Engels–Lenin Institute|Institute of Marxism–Leninism]], and wrote crime novels.


== References ==
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
{{Reflist}}


{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sverdlov, Andrei}}
[[Category:1911 births]]
[[Category:1911 births]]
[[Category:1969 deaths]]
[[Category:1969 deaths]]
[[Category:Jewish Soviet politicians]]
[[Category:20th-century pseudonymous writers]]
[[Category:20th-century Russian male writers]]
[[Category:People from Tomsk Governorate]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of the Badge of Honour]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of the Red Star]]
[[Category:NKVD officers]]
[[Category:NKVD officers]]
[[Category:Pseudonymous writers]]
[[Category:Jewish Soviet politicians]]
[[Category:Russian crime fiction writers]]
[[Category:Russian male writers]]
[[Category:Soviet colonels]]
[[Category:Soviet male writers]]
[[Category:Burials at Novodevichy Cemetery]]

Latest revision as of 18:57, 9 November 2024

Andrei Yakovlevich Sverdlov (Russian: Андрей Яковлевич Свердлов; 17 April 1911 – 15 November 1969) was a Soviet police officer, notorious for his treatment of political prisoners, who was a victim of the purge during the last years of Joseph Stalin.

Career

[edit]

Andrei Sverdlov's father, Yakov Sverdlov was one of the main organizers of the October Revolution, and one of the most powerful politicians in Russia until his early death. He was in prison when Andrei was born.[1] His mother, Klavdia, was also a high-ranking official, working in education, and an Old Bolshevik. From the age of four, Andrei lived with his parents in exile in Siberia. As a seven year old, he lived in the Kremlin. During the power struggle that followed the death of the Soviet leader, Vladimir Lenin, Andrei Sverdlov backed Leon Trotsky against Stalin and as a 16 year old, in 1927, and made speeches in school supporting the Left Opposition. By 1929, he had abandoned the opposition, and joined the Komsomol, the communist youth league. But in 1930, he made what he later described as "a vile statement about Comrade Stalin."[2]

Sverdlov joined the Communist Party in 1932, and married Nina Podvoiskaya, the 16-year-old daughter of the Old Bolshevik, Nikolai Podvoisky.[1]

In 1935, he was arrested, along with his closest friend, Vadim Obolensky, son of the eminent Bolshevik, Valerian Obolensky. When Nikolai Bukharin contacted Stalin to ask why they had been arrested, Stalin replied that they were 'freethinkers'.,[3] but he ordered Sverdlov's release, and instructed him to join the NKVD. He was arrested again in January 1938. Allegedly, this was a ruse: he remained on the NKVD payroll, and was acting as an informant, taking advantage of the trust other prisoners put in him because of who his father was.[4] He was released in December, after Lavrentiy Beria had taken control of the NKVD.[2]

One of the prisoners he was assigned to interrogate was a childhood acquaintance, Anna Larina, widow of Nikolai Bukharin. When she first saw him in Lubyanka prison, she thought at first that he was a fellow prisoner, until she noticed his smart appearance and "self-satisfied face". She wrote later:

It was painful to see him in this role because most of his famous father's comrades-in-arms had fallen victims to the terror by this time ... Andrei Sverdlov's new occupation could not be regarded as anything but betrayal. The eyes of Cain were looking at me.[5]

When Hanna Hanecka, 20-year-old daughter of Lenin's old comrade Yakov Hanecki, saw Sverdlov in prison, she rushed to hug with delight and relief, thinking that their old friendship meant that he would establish her innocence, but he shoved her away and swore at her by calling her a "bitch".[citation needed]

He also took part in repeatedly torturing Pyotr Petrovsky, son of the Old Bolshevik Grigory Petrovsky.[6]

By October 1951, Sverdlov had reached the rank of Colonel of the MGB (successor to the NKVD). In that month Stalin ordered the arrests of every Jewish officer in the NKVD at the rank of Colonel or above.[7] Sverdlov was arrested, expelled from the party, and interrogated, but never charged, and was released on 18 May 1953, and had his party membership restored in December 1953.

He was later appointed a research fellow at the Institute of Marxism–Leninism, and wrote crime novels.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Slezkine, Yuri (2017). The House of Government, a Saga of the Russian Revolution. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton U.P. p. 46. ISBN 978-0-691-192727.
  2. ^ a b Sverdlov, Andrei. "Письмо А.Я.Свердлова Г.М.Маленкову. 25 августа 1953 г. (Letter from A.Ya.Sverdlov to G.M.Malenkov, 25 August 1953)". Реабилитация: как ето было. документы президиума ЦК КПСС и други материалы март 1953-феврал 1956. Международный фонд "демократияя" (Moscow). Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  3. ^ Larina, Anna (Nikolai Bukharin's wife) (1993). This I Cannot Forget. London: Pandora. p. 95. ISBN 0 04 440887 0.
  4. ^ {{cite journal A Chronicle of Current Events|title=A short biography of Andrei Sverdlov |journal= |date=April 1969 |issue=7 |url=https://chronicle-of-current-events.com/2013/10/04/7-9-a-short-biography-of-andrei-sverdlov |access-date=16 January 2023}}
  5. ^ Larina. This I Cannot Forget. pp. 241–42.
  6. ^ Slezkine. The House of Government. p. 886.
  7. ^ Sudoplatov, Pavel (1995). Special Tasks, The Memoirs of an Unwanted Witness, a Soviet Spymaster. London: Warner Books. p. 301. ISBN 0 7515 1240 0.
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