Execution of Genrikh Yagoda - Sadistic head of Soviet Secret Police & mass murderer

Video Description

Genrikh Yagoda rose from a poor Jewish family in the Russian Empire to become one of the most powerful and feared men in the Soviet Union—a founder of the Gulag system, a master of political repression, and ultimately a victim of the very terror he helped build. Born in 1891 in Rybinsk, Yagoda grew up in a household shaped by underground revolutionary activity: his father, a jeweler, forged passports for anti-Tsarist activists. Drawn into radical politics at a young age, Yagoda joined anarcho-communist circles before being arrested for carrying a forged passport and exiled, an early encounter with the brutality of Tsarist law. After serving as a corporal in World War I, he returned to Petrograd and joined the Cheka, the first Soviet secret police organization. From there, Yagoda climbed rapidly. By 1927 he was effectively running the OGPU, suppressing opposition to Stalin and helping crush demonstrations led by Trotsky, Zinoviev, and Kamenev. Under his leadership the Gulag expanded dramatically, with hundreds of thousands forced into brutal labor camps. Yagoda oversaw the construction of the White Sea–Baltic Canal and the Moscow–Volga Canal—projects built at staggering human cost. Tens of thousands of prisoners died of starvation, exhaustion, and disease, their lives spent on engineering works that Stalin hailed as triumphs of socialism. Yagoda also played a central role in mass deportations and the disastrous plan that led to the Nazino tragedy, where thousands perished on a remote Siberian island—some turning to cannibalism to survive. Yet despite his loyalty, Stalin increasingly distrusted him. In 1936 Yagoda was removed as head of the NKVD and replaced by Nikolai Yezhov. Months later he was arrested, accused of treason, corruption, poisoning Maxim Gorky, and participation in a vast anti-Soviet conspiracy. During the 1938 Trial of the Twenty-One, Yagoda pleaded hopelessly for mercy—reminding Stalin that he had “built two great canals.” His appeals went unanswered. On 15 March 1938 he was executed, forced to witness the death of other prisoners before facing his own. His family was destroyed, his name never rehabilitated, his legacy forever tied to the terror he helped create. Join World History channel and get access to benefits: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKKy_pNKZBX4KcCct8505HA/join Disclaimer: All opinions and comments below are from members of the public and do not reflect the views of World 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. World History has right to review the comments and delete them if they are deemed inappropriate. ► CLICK the SUBSCRIBE button for more interesting clips: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKKy_pNKZBX4KcCct8505HA/?sub_confirmation=1 #GenrikhYagoda #sovietunion #russia #moscow #nkvd #kgb #greatpurge #communism #communistparty #russia #criminals #concentrationcamps #checa #historydocumentary #crimes #gulag #russiancivilwar #bolshevik #Petrograd Genrikh Yagoda biography, Yezhov, Stalin and Yagoda, Tsarist Russia, Putilov factory, White Sea-Baltic Canal, Baltic sea canal, Baltic canal, Stalin canal, Moscow–Volga Canal, Moscow Canal, Volga Canal, Yagoda and Matvei Berman, Nazino tragedy, Cannibalism, Yagoda and Lev Kamenev, Yagoda and Grigory Zinoviev, Yagoda and Mikhail Tukhachevsky, Henry Yagoda, NKVD officer, NKVD meaning, Soviet NKVD, NKVD commissar, USSR secret police, NKVD Russia, What was the NKVD, What is the NKVD, NKVD USSR, Russian secret police, secret police in Russia, Soviet Police, What was Cheka, secret police Soviet Union, Head of NKVD, Communist Party, Gulag, Stalins gulags, Russian gulags, Soviet gulags, Gulags meaning, Russian Jews,