The Deriugina School , also known as the Deriugins' School is a rhythmic gymnastics club in Kyiv , Ukraine . It was run for many years by the mother and daughter team of Albina Deriugina , who was the head coach for many years and died in 2023 at the age of 91, and Irina Deriugina , who acted as the assistant coach and later became the head coach. Irina's daughter, Iryna Blokhina , works in the school as a senior choreographer .
77-691: Every year since 1992 the club plays host to the biggest rhythmic gymnastics competition in Ukraine, The Deriugina Cup (Кубок Дерюгіної). The main training centre of the club is the October Palace in Kyiv. In the 1970s Deriugina gymnasts comprised the majority of the Soviet team with the Deriugina gymnasts becoming Soviet, European and World champions. During this era the most notable individual gymnast was, Irina Deriugina —
154-648: A Revolutionary : Since the first massacres of Red prisoners by the Whites, the murders of Volodarsky and Uritsky and the attempt against Lenin (in the summer of 1918), the custom of arresting and, often, executing hostages had become generalized and legal. Already the Cheka, which made mass arrests of suspects, was tending to settle their fate independently, under formal control of the Party, but in reality without anybody's knowledge. The Party endeavoured to head it with incorruptible men like
231-461: A TV set and a kettle, balls and clubs" had disappeared; "it was a strange kind of robbery. We don’t know who did it.” In the early 2020s, former gymnasts Natalia Godunko and Valeriya Yuzvyak alleged that the Deriuginas were psychologically and physically abusive. Godunko alleged that she had undergone mental abuse and witnessed physical abuse against other gymnasts, that extreme weight control caused
308-644: A gangster-like slang for the verb to kill in an attempt to distance themselves from the killings, such as 'shooting partridges', or 'sealing' a victim, or giving him a natsokal (onomatopoeia of the trigger action). On November 30, 1992, by the initiative of the President of the Russian Federation the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation recognized the Red Terror as unlawful, which in turn led to
385-449: A gymnast to be hospitalized, and that the coaches did not believe gymnasts when they were in pain or injured. Yuzvyak said that gymnasts were often subject to obscenities and physical violence during training. October Palace 50°27′0″N 30°31′41″E / 50.45000°N 30.52806°E / 50.45000; 30.52806 The October Palace ( Ukrainian : Жовтневий палац , romanized : Zhovtnevyi palats )
462-791: A military section, headed by M. S. Kedrov , to combat counterrevolution in the Army. In early 1919, the military control and the military section of VCheKa were merged into one body, the Special Section of the Republic , with Kedrov as head. On January 1, he issued an order to establish the Special Section. The order instructed agencies everywhere to unite the Military control and the military sections of Chekas and to form special sections of frontlines, armies, military districts, and guberniyas . In November 1920
539-512: A motion "broadening the rights of the [Cheka] in relation to the use of the [death penalty]." There is no consensus among the Western historians on the number of deaths from the Red Terror . One source gives estimates of 28,000 executions per year from December 1917 to February 1922. Estimates for the number of people shot during the initial period of the Red Terror are at least 10,000. Estimates for
616-503: A radio telegram to all Soviets with a petition to immediately organize emergency commissions to combat counter-revolution, sabotage and speculation, if such commissions had not been yet organized. February 1918 saw the creation of local Extraordinary Commissions. One of the first founded was the Moscow Cheka. Sections and commissariats to combat counterrevolution were established in other cities. The Extraordinary Commissions arose, usually in
693-629: A systematic work of organs of VCheKa in RKKA refers to July 1918, the period of extreme tension of the civil war and class struggle in the country. On July 16, 1918, the Council of People's Commissars formed the Extraordinary Commission for combating counterrevolution at the Czechoslovak (Eastern) Front, led by M. I. Latsis . In the fall of 1918, Extraordinary Commissions to combat counterrevolution on
770-471: A team of sailors, and a strike team. Through the winter of 1917–1918, all activities of VCheKa were centralized mainly in the city of Petrograd. It was one of several other commissions in the country which fought against counterrevolution, speculation, banditry, and other activities perceived as crimes. Other organizations included: the Bureau of Military Commissars, and an Army-Navy investigatory commission to attack
847-613: Is a performing arts center in Kyiv , Ukraine . It is officially known as the International Center of Culture and Arts ( Ukrainian : Міжнародний центр культури і мистецтв , romanized : Mizhnarodnyi tsentr kultury i mystetstv ) of the Trade Union Federation of Ukraine , while October Palace is used for its brevity. The building was constructed between 1838 and 1842 upon the design of architect Vikentiy Beretti as
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#1732858230671924-520: Is also the main training centre for prominent rhythmic gymnastics training center, the Deriugins School . During the 2013-2014 Euromaidan protest in Kyiv the October Palace became occupied by protesters. According to Deriugins School pupil Ganna Rizatdinova , after Euromaidan her school discovered that some of their equipment "like a TV set and a kettle, balls and clubs" had disappeared; "it
1001-532: Is confused by the fact that the Soviet Bolshevik government used the term 'bandit' to cover ordinary criminals as well as armed and unarmed political opponents, such as the anarchists. Estimates on Cheka executions vary widely. The lowest figures ( disputed below ) are provided by Dzerzhinsky's lieutenant Martyn Latsis , limited to RSFSR over the period 1918–1920: Experts generally agree these semi-official figures are vastly understated. Pioneering historian of
1078-757: Is still found in use in Russia today (for example, President Vladimir Putin has been referred to in the Russian media as a chekist due to his career in the KGB and as head of the KGB's successor, FSB ). The Chekists commonly dressed in black leather, including long flowing coats, reportedly after being issued such distinctive coats early in their existence. Western communists adopted this clothing fashion. The Chekists also often carried with them Greek-style worry beads made of amber, which had become "fashionable among high officials during
1155-467: The 1977 and 1979 World champion. The school was very strong in the groups discipline during this period with European and World titles for the group, consisting of Viktoria Serykh, Olga Plokhova, Ludmila Yevtushenko, Olga Shchegoleva, Zhanna Vasyura and Irina Deriugina. Ten years after the school's initial success, it had a few more champions to give. Aleksandra Timoshenko become the Bronze medal winner at
1232-574: The 1988 Olympics and the Champion at 1992 Olympics . She became the role model for the über-waif rhythmic gymnast look. Along with Timoshenko, the school produced Oksana Skaldina who went on to claim the bronze medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics , with Timoshenko taking the gold. Throughout the 1990s the Deriugina School produced numerous champions and gymnasts of interest. Gymnasts such as Ekaterina Serebrianskaya and Elena Vitrichenko dominated
1309-624: The Cheka (Russian: ЧК , IPA: [tɕɪˈka] ), was the first Soviet secret police organization. It was established on 20 December [ O.S. 7 December] 1917 by the Council of People's Commissars of the Russian SFSR , and was led by Felix Dzerzhinsky . By the end of the Russian Civil War in 1921, the Cheka had at least 200,000 personnel. Ostensibly created to protect
1386-589: The October Revolution from "class enemies" such as the bourgeoisie and members of the clergy , the Cheka soon became a tool of repression wielded against all political opponents of the Bolshevik regime. The organization had responsibility for counterintelligence , oversight of the loyalty of the Red Army , and protection of the country's borders, as well as the collection of human and technical intelligence . At
1463-531: The Red Terror Sergei Melgunov claims that this was done deliberately in an attempt to demonstrate the government's humanity. For example, he refutes the claim made by Latsis that only 22 executions were carried out in the first six months of the Cheka's existence by providing evidence that the true number was 884 executions. W. H. Chamberlin claims, "It is simply impossible to believe that the Cheka only put to death 12,733 people in all of Russia up to
1540-768: The Soviet of Labor and Defense created a Special Section of VCheKa for the security of the state border. On February 6, 1922, after the Ninth All-Russian Soviet Congress, the Cheka was dissolved by VTsIK, "with expressions of gratitude for heroic work." It was replaced by the State Political Administration or GPU, a section of the NKVD of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR). Dzerzhinsky remained as chief of
1617-460: The Stavropol Cheka (hot basement, cold basement, skull measuring, etc.). The Chekists were also supplemented by the militarized Units of Special Purpose (the Party's Spetsnaz or ЧОН ). Cheka was actively and openly utilizing kidnapping methods. With kidnapping methods, Cheka was able to extinguish numerous cases of discontent especially among the rural population. Among the notorious ones
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#17328582306711694-481: The Cheka than died in battle. Historian James Ryan gives a modest estimate of 28,000 executions per year from December 1917 to February 1922. Lenin himself seemed unfazed by the killings. On 12 January 1920, while addressing trade union leaders, he said: "We did not hesitate to shoot thousands of people, and we shall not hesitate, and we shall save the country." On 14 May 1921, the Politburo , chaired by Lenin, passed
1771-411: The Cheka, created to punish desertions. These troops were used to forcibly repatriate deserters, taking and shooting hostages to force compliance or to set an example. In September 1918, according to The Black Book of Communism , in only twelve provinces of Russia, 48,735 deserters and 7,325 "bandits" were arrested, 1,826 were killed and 2,230 were executed. The exact identity of these individuals
1848-516: The Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR (Russian: Всероссийская чрезвычайная комиссия по борьбе с контрреволюцией и саботажем при Совете народных комиссаров РСФСР , Vserossiyskaya chrezvychaynaya komissiya po borbe s kontrrevolyutsiyey i sabotazhem pri Sovete narodnykh komisarov RSFSR ). In 1918 its name was changed, becoming All-Russian Extraordinary Commission for Combating Counter-Revolution, Profiteering and Corruption . A member of Cheka
1925-462: The Russian " Kyiv Institute for Noble Maidens " ( Russian : Институт благородных девиц , romanized : Institut Blagorodnykh Devits ), hence the street where it was located was called Instytutska Street . After the revolution, the building was used by the government, including housing for Kyiv's Cheka (later known as the KGB ). Almost completely destroyed in the Second World War ,
2002-596: The Southern (Ukraine) Front were formed. In late November, the Second All-Russian Conference of the Extraordinary Commissions accepted a decision after a report from I. N. Polukarov to establish at all frontlines, and army sections of the Cheka and granted them the right to appoint their commissioners in military units. On December 9, 1918, the collegiate (or presidium) of VCheKa had decided to form
2079-623: The Soviet Republic had accounted for some 75 Uyezd-level Extraordinary Commissions. By the end of the year, 365 Uyezd-level Chekas were established. In 1918, the All-Russia Extraordinary Commission and the Soviets managed to establish a local Cheka apparatus. It included Oblast, Guberniya, Raion , Uyezd , and Volost Chekas, with Raion and Volost Extraordinary Commissioners. In addition, border security Chekas were included in
2156-707: The Special Investigation Commission to investigate the atrocities of the Bolsheviks estimated the number of deaths at 1,766,188 people in 1918–1919 only. The Cheka engaged in the widespread practice of torture . Depending on Cheka committees in various cities, the methods included: being skinned alive, scalped, "crowned" with barbed wire, impaled, crucified, hanged, stoned to death, tied to planks and pushed slowly into furnaces or tanks of boiling water, or rolled around naked in internally nail-studded barrels. Chekists reportedly poured water on naked prisoners in
2233-559: The VCheKa was officially an independent organization from the NKVD , its chief members such as Dzerzhinsky, Latsis , Unszlicht , and Uritsky (all main chekists), since November 1917 composed the collegiate of NKVD headed by Petrovsky. In November 1918, Petrovsky was appointed as head of the All-Ukrainian Central Military Revolutionary Committee during VCheKa's expansion to provinces and front-lines. At
2310-541: The VCheKa. Originally, members of the Cheka were exclusively Bolshevik ; however, in January 1918, Left SRs also joined the organization. The Left SRs were expelled or arrested later in 1918, following the attempted assassination of Lenin by an SR, Fanni Kaplan . By the end of January 1918, the Investigatory Commission of Petrograd Soviet (probably same as of Revtribunal) petitioned Sovnarkom to delineate
2387-430: The address of VCheka's first headquarters as "Petrograd, Gorokhovaya 2, 4th floor". On December 11, Fomin was ordered to organize a section to suppress "speculation." And in the same day, VCheKa offered Shchukin to conduct arrests of counterfeiters. In January 1918, a subsection of the anti-counterrevolutionary effort was created to police bank officials. The structure of VCheKa was changing repeatedly. By March 1918, when
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2464-558: The ages of 8 and 13 were imprisoned and occasionally executed. All of these atrocities were published on numerous occasions in Pravda and Izvestiya : January 26, 1919 Izvestiya #18 article Is it really a medieval imprisonment? («Неужели средневековый застенок?»); February 22, 1919 Pravda #12 publishes details of the Vladimir Cheka's tortures, September 21, 1922 Socialist Herald publishes details of series of tortures conducted by
2541-431: The anarchist forces. In May 1919, two Cheka agents sent to assassinate Makhno were caught and executed. Many victims of Cheka repression were "bourgeois hostages" rounded up and held in readiness for summary execution in reprisal for any alleged counter-revolutionary act. Wholesale, indiscriminate arrests became an integral part of the system. The Cheka used trucks disguised as delivery trucks, called "Black Marias", for
2618-543: The areas during the moments of the greatest aggravation of political situation. On February 25, 1918, as the counterrevolutionary organization Union of Front-liners was making advances, the executive committee of the Saratov Soviet formed a counter-revolutionary section. On March 7, 1918, because of the move from Petrograd to Moscow, the Petrograd Cheka was created. On March 9, a section for combating counterrevolution
2695-737: The building was renovated between 1952 and 1959, and named the October Palace of Culture , used primarily as a concert stage. The street was also renamed October Revolution Street . After the fall of the Soviet Union , it was renamed to its present-day name. Today, it continues to be used as a concert hall. A movie theater wing was recently added. Even now, the Centre remains a real centre of Ukraine's spiritual capital. The library's unique holding amounting to more than 70,000 items. Various events featuring famous writers, composers, diplomats, politicians, members of parliament and other public figures contribute to
2772-419: The commission were: "to liquidate to the root all of the counterrevolutionary and sabotage activities and all attempts to them in all of Russia, to hand over counter-revolutionaries and saboteurs to the revolutionary tribunals , develop measures to combat them and relentlessly apply them in real-world applications. The commission should only conduct a preliminary investigation". The commission should also observe
2849-511: The counterrevolutionary element in the Red Army , plus the Central Requisite and Unloading Commission to fight speculation. The investigation of counterrevolutionary or major criminal offenses was conducted by the Investigatory Commission of Revtribunal. The functions of VCheKa were closely intertwined with the Commission of V. D. Bonch-Bruyevich , which beside the fight against wine pogroms
2926-466: The department of TsIK for the fight against "counterrevolutionaries". On December 6, the Council of People's Commissars (Sovnarkom) strategized how to persuade government workers to strike across Russia. They decided that a special commission was needed to implement the "most energetically revolutionary" measures. Felix Dzerzhinsky (the Iron Felix) was appointed as Director and invited the participation of
3003-425: The desertion-plagued Red Army . After 1922 Cheka groups underwent the first of a series of reorganizations ; however the theme of a government dominated by "the organs" persisted indefinitely afterward, and Soviet citizens continued to refer to members of the various organs as Chekists . In the first month and half after the October Revolution (1917), the duty of "extinguishing the resistance of exploiters"
3080-476: The direction of Vladimir Lenin , the Cheka performed mass arrests, imprisonments, torture, and executions without trial in what came to be known as the " Red Terror ". It policed the Gulag system of labor camps , conducted requisitions of food , and put down rebellions by workers and peasants. The Cheka was responsible for executing at least 50,000 to as many as 200,000 people, though estimates vary widely. The Cheka,
3157-421: The end of the civil war." Donald Rayfield concurs, noting that, "Plausible evidence reveals that the actual numbers … vastly exceeded the official figures." Chamberlin provides the "reasonable and probably moderate" estimate of 50,000, while others provide estimates ranging up to 500,000. Several scholars put the number of executions at about 250,000. Some believe it is possible more people were murdered by
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3234-474: The executioner fired slightly downward at point-blank range. This had become the standard method used later by the NKVD to liquidate Joseph Stalin 's purge victims and others. It is believed that there were more than three million deserters from the Red Army in 1919 and 1920 . Approximately 500,000 deserters were arrested in 1919 and close to 800,000 in 1920, by troops of the 'Special Punitive Department' of
3311-580: The first in a long succession of Soviet secret police agencies , established the security service as a major player in Soviet politics. It was dissolved in February 1922, and succeeded by the State Political Directorate (GPU). Throughout the Soviet era, members of the secret police were referred to as " Chekists ". The official designation was All-Russian Extraordinary (or Emergency ) Commission for Combating Counter-Revolution and Sabotage under
3388-529: The first months of its existence, VCheKa consisted of only 40 officials. It commanded a team of soldiers, the Sveaborgesky regiment, as well as a group of Red Guardsmen. On January 14, 1918, Sovnarkom ordered Dzerzhinsky to organize teams of "energetic and ideological" sailors to combat speculation. By the spring of 1918, the commission had several teams: in addition to the Sveaborge team, it had an intelligence team,
3465-469: The following individuals: V. K. Averin , V.V Yakovlev , D. G. Yevseyev , N. A. Zhydelev , I. K. Ksenofontov , G. K. Ordjonikidze , Ya. Kh. Peters , K. A. Peterson , V. A. Trifonov . On December 7, 1917, all invited except Zhydelev and Vasilevsky gathered in the Smolny Institute to discuss the competence and structure of the commission to combat counterrevolution and sabotage. The obligations of
3542-648: The former convict Dzerzhinsky, a sincere idealist, ruthless but chivalrous, with the emaciated profile of an Inquisitor : tall forehead, bony nose, untidy goatee, and an expression of weariness and austerity. But the Party had few men of this stamp and many Chekas. I believe that the formation of the Chekas was one of the gravest and most impermissible errors that the Bolshevik leaders committed in 1918 when plots, blockades, and interventions made them lose their heads. All evidence indicates that revolutionary tribunals , functioning in
3619-476: The functions of detection, suppression, and prevention of anti revolutionary crimes. At the meeting of the Council of People's Commissars on January 31, 1918, a merger of VCheKa and the Commission of Bonch-Bruyevich was proposed. The existence of both commissions, VCheKa of Sovnarkom and the Commission of Bonch-Bruyevich of VTsIK, with almost the same functions and equal rights, became impractical. A decision followed two weeks later. On February 23, 1918, VCheKa sent
3696-583: The left. On April 11/12, 1918, some 26 anarchist political centres in Moscow were attacked. Forty anarchists were killed by Cheka forces, and about 500 were arrested and jailed after a pitched battle took place between the two groups. In response to the anarchists' resistance, the Cheka orchestrated a massive retaliatory campaign of repression, executions, and arrests against all opponents of the Bolshevik government, in what came to be known as " Red Terror ". The Red Terror , implemented by Dzerzhinsky on September 5, 1918,
3773-610: The light of day and admitting the right of defense, would have attained the same efficiency with far less abuse and depravity. Was it necessary to revert to the procedures of the Inquisition?" The Cheka was also used against Nestor Makhno 's Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine . After the Insurgent Army had served its purpose in aiding the Red Army to stop the Whites under Denikin , the Soviet communist government decided to eliminate
3850-441: The meeting of December 8, the presidium of VChK was elected of five members, and chaired by Dzerzhinsky. The issues of " speculation " or profiteering, such as by black market grain sellers and " corruption " was raised at the same meeting, which was assigned to Peters to address and report with results to one of the next meetings of the commission. A circular, published on December 28 [ O.S. December 15] 1917, gave
3927-478: The mid-1990s. The school had a big emergence of talent in the late 1990s and early 2000s led by Tamara Yerofeeva and the daughter of Viktoria Serykh, Anna Bessonova . During the late 2013/early 2014 Euromaidan -protest in Kyiv, the school changed training halls several times and their main training centre October Palace became occupied by protesters. According to Deriugins School pupil Ganna Rizatdinova after Euromaidan they discovered that school equipment "like
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#17328582306714004-467: The new organization. As its name implied, the Extraordinary Commission had virtually unlimited powers and could interpret them in any way it wished. No standard procedures were ever set up, except that the commission was supposed to send the arrested to the Military-Revolutionary tribunals if outside of a war zone. This left an opportunity for a wide range of interpretations, as the whole country
4081-401: The number of people shot by the Cheka in 1918–1922 is about 37,300 people, shot in 1918–1921 by the verdicts of the tribunals – 14,200, i.e. about 50,000–55,000 people in total, although executions and atrocities were not limited to the Cheka, having been organized by the Red Army as well. According to anti-Bolshevik Socialist Revolutionary Sergei Melgunov (1879–1956), at the end of 1919,
4158-484: The organization came to Moscow, it contained the following sections: against counterrevolution, speculation, non-residents, and information gathering. By the end of 1918–1919, some new units were created: secretly operative, investigatory, of transportation, military (special), operative, and instructional. By 1921, it changed once again, forming the following sections: directory of affairs, administrative-organizational, secretly operative, economical, and foreign affairs. In
4235-553: The people etc.'". That day, Sovnarkom officially confirmed the creation of VCheKa. The commission was created not under the VTsIK as was previously anticipated, but rather under the Council of the People's Commissars. On December 8, 1917, some of the original members of the VCheka were replaced. Averin, Ordzhonikidze, and Trifonov were replaced by V. V. Fomin, S. E. Shchukin, Ilyin, and Chernov. On
4312-672: The presidium of VCheKa approved the draft on the establishment of the Politburo at Uyezd militsiya . This decision was approved by the Conference of the Extraordinary Commission IV, held in early February 1920. On August 3, a VCheKa section for combating counterrevolution, speculation and sabotage on railways was created. On August 7, 1918, Sovnarkom adopted a decree on the organization of the railway section at VCheKa. Combating counterrevolution, speculation, and crimes on railroads
4389-499: The press and counterrevolutionary parties, sabotaging officials and other criminals. Three sections were created: informational, organizational, and a unit to combat counter-revolution and sabotage. Upon the end of the meeting, Dzerzhinsky reported to the Sovnarkom with the requested information. The commission was allowed to apply such measures of repression as 'confiscation, deprivation of ration cards, publication of lists of enemies of
4466-484: The right to directly enter their representatives into the VCheKa. Sovnarkom recognized the desirability of including five representatives of the Left Socialist-Revolutionary faction of VTsIK. Left SRs were granted the post of a companion (deputy) chairman of VCheKa. However, Sovnarkom, in which the majority belonged to the representatives of RSDLP(b) retained the right to approve members of the collegium of
4543-399: The role of detection and judicial-investigatory organs. It offered to leave, for the VCheKa and the Commission of Bonch-Bruyevich, only the functions of detection and suppression, while investigative functions entirely transferred to it. The Investigatory Commission prevailed. On January 31, 1918, Sovnarkom ordered to relieve VCheKa of the investigative functions, leaving for the commission only
4620-467: The secret arrest and transport of prisoners. It was during the Red Terror that the Cheka, hoping to avoid the bloody aftermath of having half-dead victims writhing on the floor, developed a technique for execution known later by the German words " Nackenschuss " or " Genickschuss " , a shot to the nape of the neck, which caused minimal blood loss and instant death. The victim's head was bent forward, and
4697-542: The spiritual renaissance of Ukraine, inspire people and endow them with ardent creativity. The well-lit and spacious rooms of the Centre's foyer are always capable of hosting exhibitions spectacularly, emphasising their strong points; the Centre hosts various exhibitions: those of painting, photography, consumer goods, technology and so on. The Centre's capabilities range from intimate family celebrations or somewhat larger anniversary celebrations to large international conferences, symposiums, seminars and congresses. The building
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#17328582306714774-408: The system of local Cheka bodies. In the autumn of 1918, as consolidation of the political situation of the republic continued, a move toward elimination of Uyezd-, Raion-, and Volost-level Chekas, as well as the institution of Extraordinary Commissions was considered. On January 20, 1919, VTsIK adopted a resolution prepared by VCheKa, On the abolition of Uyezd Extraordinary Commissions . On January 16
4851-414: The time of political competition between Bolsheviks and SRs (January 1918), Left SRs attempted to curb the rights of VCheKa and establish through the Narkomiust their control over its work. Having failed in attempts to subordinate the VCheKa to Narkomiust, the Left SRs tried to gain control of the Extraordinary Commission in a different way: they requested that the Central Committee of the party be granted
4928-420: The time of the 'cleansing'". In 1921, the Troops for the Internal Defense of the Republic (a branch of the Cheka) numbered at least 200,000. These troops policed labor camps , ran the Gulag system, conducted requisitions of food , and subjected political opponents to secret arrest, detention, torture and summary execution . They also put down rebellions and riots by workers or peasants, and mutinies in
5005-435: The whole period go for a low of 50,000 to highs of 140,000 and 200,000 executed. Most estimations for the number of executions in total put the number at about 100,000. According to Vadim Erlikhman's investigation, the number of the Red Terror's victims is at least 1,200,000 people. According to Robert Conquest , a total of 140,000 people were shot in 1917–1922. Candidate of Historical Sciences Nikolay Zayats states that
5082-568: The winter-bound streets until they became living ice statues. Others beheaded their victims by twisting their necks until their heads could be torn off. The Cheka detachments stationed in Kiev would attach an iron tube to the torso of a bound victim and insert a rat in the tube closed off with wire netting, while the tube was held over a flame until the rat began gnawing through the victim's guts in an effort to escape. Women and children were also victims of Cheka terror. Women would sometimes be tortured and raped before being shot. Children between
5159-760: Was a strange kind of robbery. We don't know who did it." In 2018 the British rock band Bring Me the Horizon shoot their music video for the song " Mantra " here. During the years 1920-30 in the building about 120,000 people were killed (shot down or by other means). Among them - famous Soviet Ukrainian artists, painters, writers, politicians, professors, teachers, scientists, priests and so on. Cheka The All-Russian Extraordinary Commission ( Russian : Всероссийская чрезвычайная комиссия , romanized : Vserossiyskaya chrezvychaynaya komissiya , IPA: [fsʲɪrɐˈsʲijskəjə tɕrʲɪzvɨˈtɕæjnəjə kɐˈmʲisʲɪjə] ), abbreviated as VChK (Russian: ВЧК , IPA: [vɛ tɕe ˈka] ), and commonly known as
5236-449: Was assigned to the Petrograd Military Revolutionary Committee (or PVRK). It represented a temporary body working under directives of the Council of People's Commissars (Sovnarkom) and Central Committee of RDSRP ( b ). The VRK created new bodies of government, organized food delivery to cities and the Army, requisitioned products from bourgeoisie , and sent its emissaries and agitators into provinces. One of its most important functions
5313-466: Was called a chekist (Russian: чеки́ст , romanized : chekíst , IPA: [t͡ɕɪˈkʲist] ). Also, the term chekist often referred to Soviet secret police throughout the Soviet period, despite official name changes over time. In The Gulag Archipelago , Alexander Solzhenitsyn recalls that zeks in the labor camps used old chekist as a mark of special esteem for particularly experienced camp administrators. The term
5390-514: Was created under the Omsk Soviet. Extraordinary commissions were also created in Penza , Perm , Novgorod , Cherepovets , Rostov , Taganrog . On March 18, VCheKa adopted a resolution, The Work of VCheKa on the All-Russian Scale , foreseeing the formation everywhere of Extraordinary Commissions after the same model, and sent a letter that called for the widespread establishment of the Cheka in combating counterrevolution, speculation, and sabotage. Establishment of provincial Extraordinary Commissions
5467-462: Was engaged in the investigation of most major political offenses (see: Bonch-Bruyevich Commission ). All results of its activities, VCheKa had either to transfer to the Investigatory Commission of Revtribunal, or to dismiss. The control of the commission's activity was provided by the People's Commissariat for Justice (Narkomjust, at that time headed by Isaac Steinberg ) and Internal Affairs (NKVD, at that time headed by Grigory Petrovsky ). Although
5544-404: Was in total chaos. At the direction of Lenin, the Cheka performed mass arrests, imprisonments, and executions of " enemies of the people ". In this, the Cheka said that they targeted "class enemies" such as the bourgeoisie , and members of the clergy . Within a month, the Cheka had extended its repression to all political opponents of the communist government, including anarchists and others on
5621-588: Was largely completed by August 1918. In the Soviet Republic, there were 38 gubernatorial Chekas (Gubcheks) by this time. On June 12, 1918, the All-Russian Conference of Cheka adopted the Basic Provisions on the Organization of Extraordinary Commissions . They set out to form Extraordinary Commissions not only at Oblast and Guberniya levels, but also at the large Uyezd Soviets. In August 1918, in
5698-493: Was passed under the jurisdiction of the railway section of VCheKa and local Cheka. In August 1918, railway sections were formed under the Gubcheks. Formally, they were part of the non-resident sections, but in fact constituted a separate division, largely autonomous in their activities. The gubernatorial and oblast-type Chekas retained in relation to the transportation sections only control and investigative functions. The beginning of
5775-534: Was the Tambov rebellion . Villages were bombarded to complete annihilation, as in the case of Tretyaki, Novokhopersk uyezd, Voronezh Governorate . As a result of this relentless violence, more than a few Chekists ended up with psychopathic disorders, which Nikolai Bukharin said were "an occupational hazard of the Chekist profession." Many hardened themselves to the executions by heavy drinking and drug use. Some developed
5852-584: Was the security of revolutionary order, and the fight against counterrevolutionary activity (see: Anti-Soviet agitation ). On December 1, 1917, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (VTsIK or TsIK) reviewed a proposed reorganization of the VRK, and possible replacement of it. On December 5, the Petrograd VRK published an announcement of dissolution and transferred its functions to
5929-415: Was vividly described by the Red Army journal Krasnaya Gazeta : Without mercy, without sparing, we will kill our enemies in scores of hundreds. Let them be thousands, let them drown themselves in their own blood. For the blood of Lenin and Uritsky … let there be floods of blood of the bourgeoisie – more blood, as much as possible..." An early Bolshevik, Victor Serge described in his book Memoirs of
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