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Stalin and the Kirov Murder
On December 1, 1934, a lone gunman shot and killed Sergei Kirov, Secretary of the Central and Leningrad Party Organization, member of the Moscow Politburo, and heir apparent to Joseph Stalin. This assassination was arguably one of the most significant crimes of the century. Not only did it
seal the fates of thousands--and, indirectly, millions--of people spuriously connected to the killer, but it eliminated the second most powerful man in Russian politics, giving Stalin free rein to dominate Soviet policy.
Stalin and the Kirov Murder , written by the much acclaimed author of Harvest of Sorrow , is the first book-length examination of the case. Robert Conquest chronicles this story of political misfeasance and cover-up on the eve of what may be the first disclosure by the U.S.S.R. of the actual
facts of the case. Though an interrogation was conducted in 1934, and over the next few years a purge charged thousands with complicity in the case, a number of unusual circumstances leading up to the murder were never properly explained. Why, for instance, was the assassin, who had twice been
arrested in possession of a weapon, allowed unguarded in the building where the Leningrad government officials had their offices? As Roy Medvedev, a Leninist dissident, later explained, "The investigation was carried out in complete violation of the law, of common sense, of the desire to find and
punish the real culprits."
A later investigation, conducted under Khrushchev, produced 200 volumes of documents but was never made public. Now, 54 years after the crime was committed, glasnost has prompted a new examination of this singular crime--one that will perhaps reveal the truth about the case for the first time.
Based on all the available evidence, including official documents as well as the reports of numerous Russian defectors, Conquest has written a fascinating, at times chilling account of the murder and its aftermath. He concretely establishes what has long been rumored--that Stalin not only
sanctioned Kirov's assassination, but used it as a justification for the terror that culminated in 1937 and '38.
seal the fates of thousands--and, indirectly, millions--of people spuriously connected to the killer, but it eliminated the second most powerful man in Russian politics, giving Stalin free rein to dominate Soviet policy.
Stalin and the Kirov Murder , written by the much acclaimed author of Harvest of Sorrow , is the first book-length examination of the case. Robert Conquest chronicles this story of political misfeasance and cover-up on the eve of what may be the first disclosure by the U.S.S.R. of the actual
facts of the case. Though an interrogation was conducted in 1934, and over the next few years a purge charged thousands with complicity in the case, a number of unusual circumstances leading up to the murder were never properly explained. Why, for instance, was the assassin, who had twice been
arrested in possession of a weapon, allowed unguarded in the building where the Leningrad government officials had their offices? As Roy Medvedev, a Leninist dissident, later explained, "The investigation was carried out in complete violation of the law, of common sense, of the desire to find and
punish the real culprits."
A later investigation, conducted under Khrushchev, produced 200 volumes of documents but was never made public. Now, 54 years after the crime was committed, glasnost has prompted a new examination of this singular crime--one that will perhaps reveal the truth about the case for the first time.
Based on all the available evidence, including official documents as well as the reports of numerous Russian defectors, Conquest has written a fascinating, at times chilling account of the murder and its aftermath. He concretely establishes what has long been rumored--that Stalin not only
sanctioned Kirov's assassination, but used it as a justification for the terror that culminated in 1937 and '38.
164 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1988
4 people are currently reading
198 people want to read
About the author
Robert Conquest
132 books157 followersGeorge Robert Ackworth Conquest was a British historian who became a well known writer and researcher on the Soviet Union with the publication, in 1968, of his account of Stalin's purges of the 1930s, The Great Terror.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
December 17, 2015
An excellent review of the Kirov murder, sanctioned by Stalin and lead directly to the Great Terror that followed. Conquest has written the definitive book on the Great Terror and this book is no different. He demonstrated that the Kirov murder and later show trials were the product of torture, blackmail, and falsified evidence by Stalin and his cronies. If you haven't read ALL of Conquests' work, what are you waiting for?
March 3, 2024
Hakkinda oldurulmeseydi tarih farkli akabilirdi yorumlari yapilan bir sahsiyet, Kirov.
Olumu ayni zamanda bir teror mekanizmasinin ortaya cikmasini tetikliyor.
Her devrim once kendi evlatlarini yer. Bu tarihten bildigimiz bir konsept fakat bu kitapta kendi evlatlarini topluca, kitleler halinde yiyen acimasiz bir mekanizmayi goruyoruz.
Olumu ayni zamanda bir teror mekanizmasinin ortaya cikmasini tetikliyor.
Her devrim once kendi evlatlarini yer. Bu tarihten bildigimiz bir konsept fakat bu kitapta kendi evlatlarini topluca, kitleler halinde yiyen acimasiz bir mekanizmayi goruyoruz.
October 14, 2022
„Jeśli sprawa Kirowa jest w Związku Sowieckim kluczem dla lat trzydziestych, jest zarazem kluczem do lat osiemdziesiątych. Dopiero kiedy ostatecznie w Moskwie przedstawi się prawdę bez ogródek, można będzie mówić o prawdziwym przezwyciężeniu stalinizmu.”
May 21, 2016
A fantastic factual account of the attempted assassination by motorcade, plotting and eventual murder of Stalin's proposed successor, Sergei Kirov. Multiple accounts from eyewitness. Partial descriptions and motivations of the perpetrators. Repression of Ukrainian intelligentsia, subsequent arrests and executions of white guards. Trial of zinoviev and kamanev. Zinovievite conspirators. Treatment of medved, conditions of labor camps, solovki, leftorvo, medvezhaya gora and kolyma from years 33-35', 35-37', 37- liberation. Role of Chudov and Kodatsky, eventual replacement and zhdanovs personal denunciation of the two. Major trials: anti-Soviet Trotskyite center, Bukharin and rykov rightists, arrest of yagoda. Leningrad participation in Nikolayev aspirations & subsequent plot to murder Kirov, those who knew of the Kirov plot: yagoda, Yezhov, poskrebyshev, arganov, Stalin and in Leningrad Zaporozhets and underlings Bal'tsevich, Kotomin, Gubin etc.
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August 16, 2015About the author http://www.economist.com/news/europe/...
Bonus limerick, quoted in the article:
There was a great Marxist called Lenin
Who did two or three million men in.
That’s a lot to have done in,
But where he did one in
That grand Marxist Stalin did ten in.
Bonus limerick, quoted in the article:
There was a great Marxist called Lenin
Who did two or three million men in.
That’s a lot to have done in,
But where he did one in
That grand Marxist Stalin did ten in.
May 9, 2018
Astonishingly balanced and exhaustive (as of 1989) account of a key episode in Russian history. Scary, psycho and reminiscent of the tenure process at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.
September 22, 2022
Spoiler alert, but Conquest (biased as he may be) is pretty convincing that Stalin was responsible.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews