4 ms·

While it might be true I think it's worth pointing out that Khrushchev and Beria were in rivalry for power. And I would be surprised if in his memoirs he would

While it might be true I think it's worth pointing out that Khrushchev and Beria were in rivalry for power. And I would be surprised if in his memoirs he wouldn't have painted Beria as the bad guy. So I think we should take all those memories with a grain of salt at best and understand that all those stories might be twisted or even completely false.

mc32 3y ago
It's pretty clear that despite the color or bias, Beria was unequivocally a bad person. Bad in all ways.
wkat4242 3y ago
It does have a big QAnon "baby-eating" feel about it yes. Especially considering that even Soviet state leaders lived in pretty small houses by Western standards, it's pretty unlikely that they had the space to bury hundreds of corpses. The Soviets were really big on rewriting history and they spent a lot of time editing photos of stalin with people that later fell out of grace. But I'm sure he was a bad person indeed. I don't think you could rise to such a position without being one until the lighter age appeared that led to Gorbachev.
- BurningFrog 3y ago
  I think it's uncontroversial that Beria's day job was overseeing the murder of millions of citizens. And that getting your coworkers killed was a standard part of office politics in that job.
  - Phiwise_ 3y ago
    Indeed. It's always frustrating to encounter these "Well if your arguments are right then how come they sound false to me?" discussion of Soviet history, even on what are supposed to be more measured and thoughtful platforms like HN. Doubly so when the argument is just that the Stalin-era secret police committed an atrocity.
  - wkat4242 3y ago
    Yes but I'm talking more about the creepiness of the stalking of women, mass rape, personally torturing and killing for pleasure etc. It sounds a bit far-fetched. It may well be true but there was just so much history rewriting going on. I know all the soviet leaders of that era were mass murderers but usually by delegation only. Edit: I read up on it and it does indeed seem true. Wow..
    - lazide 3y ago
      Some people correct the opposite direction from ‘the office’ (say, spending time in nature after working at a computer all day). Some go whole hog - spending all their extra time working on hobby projects, for instance. I guess the same thing applies if your job is being a manipulator, murderer, and genocidal maniac?
    - exceptione 3y ago
      Props for reading up on it and coming back!
- tivert 3y ago
  > It does have a big QAnon "baby-eating" feel about it yes. Especially considering that even Soviet state leaders lived in pretty small houses by Western standards, it's pretty unlikely that they had the space to bury hundreds of corpses. Didn't they all have second homes aka dachas (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dacha https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dacha)? It looks like they have pretty big yards, at least in this random Wikipedia picture: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:E7159-Kstovo-industrial-right.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:E7159-Kstovo-industrial-r....
- carlosjobim 3y ago
  You don't know what you're talking about, is probably the nicest thing I can say about your comment. Khrushchev memoirs were not official Soviet history, they were recorded by him after he had fallen from grace and was living in house arrest as a retiree, later smuggled out to the West by his friends. You can read them and judge for yourself how candid they are. Of course he might paint himself in a more favourable light than somebody else would, that's expected. But your comment comes off as both rude and ignorant – unless I'm mistaken and you are of such a superior intellect that you can pass quick judgement on any historical happening without having to bother yourself with the sources.
  - wkat4242 3y ago
    I was just saying how it came across to me. It really sounds like something made-up in the times for political gain like the secret baby-eating clubs of Qanon :) But I do see some corpses have actually been found and it was corroborated by multiple sources. I wouldn't consider Kruchchev a reliable source either though for the reasons mentioned. But some other one syes. Like I said it was just my personal feelings on the subject and this is not an encyclopedia but a discussion forum. We don't always have the ability to do a full study on each subject. And I never said I was an authority on it.
    - lazide 3y ago
      The reason baby-eating qanon cultist type BS works is because sometimes there is actually someone eating babies out there. The difference between cultist and reality, is if the finger is being pointed in the right direction and to the right degree.
      - h_lecter 3y ago
        Nah I don't think anyone really eats babies. Never heard of it. The texture doesn't have enough bite to it and the flavour is really bland.
        lazide 3y ago
Duwensatzaj 3y ago
Please do some research first next time. From the Beria wikipedia article: In 1993, construction workers installing streetlights unearthed human bones near Beria's Moscow villa (now the Tunisian embassy). Skulls, pelvises and leg bones were found.[90] In 1998, the skeletal remains of five young women were discovered during work carried out on the water pipes in the garden of the same villa.[91] In 2011, building workers digging a ditch in Moscow city centre unearthed a common grave near the same residence containing a pile of human bones, including two children's skulls covered with lime or chlorine. The lack of articles of clothing and the condition of the remains indicate that these bodies were buried naked.

mc32 3y ago

It's pretty clear that despite the color or bias, Beria was unequivocally a bad person. Bad in all ways.

wkat4242 3y ago

It does have a big QAnon "baby-eating" feel about it yes. Especially considering that even Soviet state leaders lived in pretty small houses by Western standards, it's pretty unlikely that they had the space to bury hundreds of corpses. The Soviets were really big on rewriting history and they spent a lot of time editing photos of stalin with people that later fell out of grace. But I'm sure he was a bad person indeed. I don't think you could rise to such a position without being one until the lighter age appeared that led to Gorbachev.

BurningFrog 3y ago
I think it's uncontroversial that Beria's day job was overseeing the murder of millions of citizens. And that getting your coworkers killed was a standard part of office politics in that job.
- Phiwise_ 3y ago
  Indeed. It's always frustrating to encounter these "Well if your arguments are right then how come they sound false to me?" discussion of Soviet history, even on what are supposed to be more measured and thoughtful platforms like HN. Doubly so when the argument is just that the Stalin-era secret police committed an atrocity.
- wkat4242 3y ago
  Yes but I'm talking more about the creepiness of the stalking of women, mass rape, personally torturing and killing for pleasure etc. It sounds a bit far-fetched. It may well be true but there was just so much history rewriting going on. I know all the soviet leaders of that era were mass murderers but usually by delegation only. Edit: I read up on it and it does indeed seem true. Wow..
  - lazide 3y ago
    Some people correct the opposite direction from ‘the office’ (say, spending time in nature after working at a computer all day). Some go whole hog - spending all their extra time working on hobby projects, for instance. I guess the same thing applies if your job is being a manipulator, murderer, and genocidal maniac?
  - exceptione 3y ago
    Props for reading up on it and coming back!
tivert 3y ago
> It does have a big QAnon "baby-eating" feel about it yes. Especially considering that even Soviet state leaders lived in pretty small houses by Western standards, it's pretty unlikely that they had the space to bury hundreds of corpses. Didn't they all have second homes aka dachas (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dacha https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dacha)? It looks like they have pretty big yards, at least in this random Wikipedia picture: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:E7159-Kstovo-industrial-right.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:E7159-Kstovo-industrial-r....
carlosjobim 3y ago
You don't know what you're talking about, is probably the nicest thing I can say about your comment. Khrushchev memoirs were not official Soviet history, they were recorded by him after he had fallen from grace and was living in house arrest as a retiree, later smuggled out to the West by his friends. You can read them and judge for yourself how candid they are. Of course he might paint himself in a more favourable light than somebody else would, that's expected. But your comment comes off as both rude and ignorant – unless I'm mistaken and you are of such a superior intellect that you can pass quick judgement on any historical happening without having to bother yourself with the sources.
- wkat4242 3y ago
  I was just saying how it came across to me. It really sounds like something made-up in the times for political gain like the secret baby-eating clubs of Qanon :) But I do see some corpses have actually been found and it was corroborated by multiple sources. I wouldn't consider Kruchchev a reliable source either though for the reasons mentioned. But some other one syes. Like I said it was just my personal feelings on the subject and this is not an encyclopedia but a discussion forum. We don't always have the ability to do a full study on each subject. And I never said I was an authority on it.
  - lazide 3y ago
    The reason baby-eating qanon cultist type BS works is because sometimes there is actually someone eating babies out there. The difference between cultist and reality, is if the finger is being pointed in the right direction and to the right degree.
    - h_lecter 3y ago
      Nah I don't think anyone really eats babies. Never heard of it. The texture doesn't have enough bite to it and the flavour is really bland.
      - lazide 3y ago

Duwensatzaj 3y ago

Please do some research first next time. From the Beria wikipedia article: In 1993, construction workers installing streetlights unearthed human bones near Beria's Moscow villa (now the Tunisian embassy). Skulls, pelvises and leg bones were found.[90] In 1998, the skeletal remains of five young women were discovered during work carried out on the water pipes in the garden of the same villa.[91] In 2011, building workers digging a ditch in Moscow city centre unearthed a common grave near the same residence containing a pile of human bones, including two children's skulls covered with lime or chlorine. The lack of articles of clothing and the condition of the remains indicate that these bodies were buried naked.