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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lavrentiy_Beria#Sexual_predator https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lavrentiy_Beria#Sexual_predato...

mc32 7y ago
I only knew he wasn’t a good guy (was it possible in Stalin’s circle?), but this guy was just evil: >”Evidence suggests that not only did Beria abduct and rape women, but that some were also murdered. His villa in Moscow is now the Tunisian Embassy (at 55°45′34″N 37°35′10″E). In the mid 1990s, routine work in the grounds turned up the skeletal remains of several young women buried in the gardens.” I think I’d want to choose a different property to use as for the embassy...
- paganel 7y ago
  > but this guy was just evil: Yeah, in my opinion Beria was even more evil than Stalin, only that his "personal failures" kept him out of holding the "first spot" in the Soviet State: you have to be efficient with your time like Stalin was if you want to be a ruthless dictator, if you're wasting your time raping innocent women you're not at all on the right track of being in a position to kill millions of people further down the road. That's why Khrushchev's counter-coup just a few months after Stalin's death caught Beria by surprise, something like this would have never happened to a guy like Stalin, who was first and foremost interested in killing (or rather, in having them killed) his enemies and especially his political friends, no need to "waste" time in killing or raping innocent women who had nothing to do with politics. The only other Soviet official who was close to Beria in evilness was Nikolai Yezhov [2], who of course that Stalin had killed once he had done his dirty business for him. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lavrentiy_Beria#Arrest,_trial_and_execution https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lavrentiy_Beria#Arrest,_trial_... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolai_Yezhov https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolai_Yezhov
  - arethuza 7y ago
    In terms of hands on evil in the Soviet regime I think I'd nominate Vasily Blokhin as one of the worst - during the Katyn massacre he personally executed 7,000 over 28 nights, one after the other: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasily_Blokhin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasily_Blokhin
    - mc32 7y ago
      That harks to the three kingdoms period where captured armies and populations were slain on the spot day and night day after day. It’s reflected in their census figures: 56MM before the conflict period, 16MM after the conflict.
      - wutbrodo 7y ago
        This is an often-popularized figure that the evidence doesn't really support (as much as I enjoyed Pinker's Better Angels, it bears a lot of the blame here). The "after" number is net of the loss of territory representing a quarter of the empire's territory, coincident with the breakdown of the census system, and post-removal of certain classes of people from being counted in the census. It's not a good proxy for lives lost during the course of the Rebellion. On top of that, the armies involved added up to a million people total, a tiny fraction of China's total population. As is almost always the case with large wars historically, the majority of deaths came from famine and disease caused by upheaval.
        mc32 7y ago
        Surely the numbers are off but I think they are indicative and point to the utter ruthless methodical approach to decimation. One scene from a Chinese movie is etched into my mind. One of the executioners complains he can’t kill anymore because his blade had become too dull.
Razengan 7y ago
Wow. Under "Arrest, trial and execution": He was found guilty of treason, terrorism and "counter-revolutionary activity" but not for his numerous other depraved crimes against individuals? How many other monsters get away with evil that we wouldn't even know about to condemn 50-100 years later? The recent case of Jeffrey Epstein comes to mind, and whoever his "clients" were that still walk free.
- pcwalton 7y ago
  > He was found guilty of treason, terrorism and "counter-revolutionary activity" but not for his numerous other depraved crimes against individuals? The point of the trial wasn't to deliver justice but to eliminate Beria. Khrushchev had to consolidate power first.
  - ptaipale 7y ago
    The hypocrisy was obvious at that time, and Khrushchev had to redirect the country to keep it together. Apocryphal anecdote: Following Stalin's death, Nikita Khrushchev gave a speech to the Politburo denouncing Stalin's policies. A few minutes into Khrushchev's diatribe, somebody shouted out, "Why didn't you challenge him then, the way you are now?" The room fell silent, as Khrushchev angrily swept the audience with his glare. "Who said that?" he asked in a reasoned voice. Silence. "Who said that?" Khrushchev demanded, leaning forward. Silence. Pounding his fist on the podium to accent each word, he screamed, "Who - said - that?" Still no answer. Finally, after a long and strained silence, the elected politicians in the room fearful to even cough, a corner of Khrushchev's mouth lifted into a smile. "Now you know," he said with a chuckle, "why I did not speak up against Stalin when I sat where you now sit." [I can't find the link to this just now, due to company's whitelist approach to deciding which web sites are safe]
    - arethuza 7y ago
      My 'favourite' Khrushchev story was he apparently got drunk with the British ambassador and the latter gamely try to argue down the number of H-bombs it would take to destroy the UK whereas Khrushchev was arguing the number up. In case anyone is interested - the actual number the UK government estimated it would take was 3, the Soviets targetted many hundreds of them.

mc32 7y ago

I only knew he wasn’t a good guy (was it possible in Stalin’s circle?), but this guy was just evil: >”Evidence suggests that not only did Beria abduct and rape women, but that some were also murdered. His villa in Moscow is now the Tunisian Embassy (at 55°45′34″N 37°35′10″E). In the mid 1990s, routine work in the grounds turned up the skeletal remains of several young women buried in the gardens.” I think I’d want to choose a different property to use as for the embassy...

paganel 7y ago
> but this guy was just evil: Yeah, in my opinion Beria was even more evil than Stalin, only that his "personal failures" kept him out of holding the "first spot" in the Soviet State: you have to be efficient with your time like Stalin was if you want to be a ruthless dictator, if you're wasting your time raping innocent women you're not at all on the right track of being in a position to kill millions of people further down the road. That's why Khrushchev's counter-coup just a few months after Stalin's death caught Beria by surprise, something like this would have never happened to a guy like Stalin, who was first and foremost interested in killing (or rather, in having them killed) his enemies and especially his political friends, no need to "waste" time in killing or raping innocent women who had nothing to do with politics. The only other Soviet official who was close to Beria in evilness was Nikolai Yezhov [2], who of course that Stalin had killed once he had done his dirty business for him. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lavrentiy_Beria#Arrest,_trial_and_execution https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lavrentiy_Beria#Arrest,_trial_... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolai_Yezhov https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolai_Yezhov
- arethuza 7y ago
  In terms of hands on evil in the Soviet regime I think I'd nominate Vasily Blokhin as one of the worst - during the Katyn massacre he personally executed 7,000 over 28 nights, one after the other: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasily_Blokhin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasily_Blokhin
  - mc32 7y ago
    That harks to the three kingdoms period where captured armies and populations were slain on the spot day and night day after day. It’s reflected in their census figures: 56MM before the conflict period, 16MM after the conflict.
    - wutbrodo 7y ago
      This is an often-popularized figure that the evidence doesn't really support (as much as I enjoyed Pinker's Better Angels, it bears a lot of the blame here). The "after" number is net of the loss of territory representing a quarter of the empire's territory, coincident with the breakdown of the census system, and post-removal of certain classes of people from being counted in the census. It's not a good proxy for lives lost during the course of the Rebellion. On top of that, the armies involved added up to a million people total, a tiny fraction of China's total population. As is almost always the case with large wars historically, the majority of deaths came from famine and disease caused by upheaval.
      - mc32 7y ago
        Surely the numbers are off but I think they are indicative and point to the utter ruthless methodical approach to decimation. One scene from a Chinese movie is etched into my mind. One of the executioners complains he can’t kill anymore because his blade had become too dull.

Razengan 7y ago

Wow. Under "Arrest, trial and execution": He was found guilty of treason, terrorism and "counter-revolutionary activity" but not for his numerous other depraved crimes against individuals? How many other monsters get away with evil that we wouldn't even know about to condemn 50-100 years later? The recent case of Jeffrey Epstein comes to mind, and whoever his "clients" were that still walk free.

pcwalton 7y ago
> He was found guilty of treason, terrorism and "counter-revolutionary activity" but not for his numerous other depraved crimes against individuals? The point of the trial wasn't to deliver justice but to eliminate Beria. Khrushchev had to consolidate power first.
- ptaipale 7y ago
  The hypocrisy was obvious at that time, and Khrushchev had to redirect the country to keep it together. Apocryphal anecdote: Following Stalin's death, Nikita Khrushchev gave a speech to the Politburo denouncing Stalin's policies. A few minutes into Khrushchev's diatribe, somebody shouted out, "Why didn't you challenge him then, the way you are now?" The room fell silent, as Khrushchev angrily swept the audience with his glare. "Who said that?" he asked in a reasoned voice. Silence. "Who said that?" Khrushchev demanded, leaning forward. Silence. Pounding his fist on the podium to accent each word, he screamed, "Who - said - that?" Still no answer. Finally, after a long and strained silence, the elected politicians in the room fearful to even cough, a corner of Khrushchev's mouth lifted into a smile. "Now you know," he said with a chuckle, "why I did not speak up against Stalin when I sat where you now sit." [I can't find the link to this just now, due to company's whitelist approach to deciding which web sites are safe]
  - arethuza 7y ago
    My 'favourite' Khrushchev story was he apparently got drunk with the British ambassador and the latter gamely try to argue down the number of H-bombs it would take to destroy the UK whereas Khrushchev was arguing the number up. In case anyone is interested - the actual number the UK government estimated it would take was 3, the Soviets targetted many hundreds of them.