Men such as Merkulov believe that they cannot be hurt.

 Men such as Merkulov believe that they cannot be hurt. The truth is that the system hurts everybody. It simply waits for the right moment.. Vsevolod Merkulov sends a note to Moscow like it is routine. His unit just grabbed 1923 Poles. Officers, police, landowners. Eastern Poland was barely swallowed and already people were being erased.

Merkulov was not merely signing documents. He fought his way through the NKVD by committing the violence himself. Deputy People's Commissar. Head of the NKGB. Stalin's faithful hammer. Katyn? He was involved, assisting in determining who lived and who would disappear into a hole. He beat up Soviet generals as well, pounding them until bones cracked and eyes exploded. Rubber truncheons, electric cable, whatever would shatter a body.

He was once told by Stalin to tend to a Marshal's wife. She never came back.

For years he thought the game would never end. After 1953, however. Stalin died. All of that changed. On the 23rd of December, Merkulov was shot in a firing squad along with Beria. This time the order was given for him.

Men such as Merkulov believe that they cannot be hurt. The truth is that the system hurts everybody. It simply waits for the right moment.


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