Matvei Berman

Matvei Berman Davydovich (Russian Матвей Давыдович Берман; born April 10, 1889 in Andiranowka, Ujesd Chita, † March 7, 1939 at Kommunarka, Moscow Oblast ) was a Soviet intelligence agent and head of the Soviet prison camp system gulag of 1932 until 1937.

Life

Berman was the son of a Jewish merchant who owned a brickyard. He joined the Russian army and was admitted to the military school Irkutsk. After he was discharged as an ensign of the 25th Reserve Infantry Regiment of the Army.

In August 1937, however, Berman's decline began in the period of the so-called Great Terror. On August 17, 1937, he lost his high-level positions and was People's Commissar for Post and Telecommunications (short Narkompotschtel, Russian Наркомпочтель ). After Yezhov's dismissal in early December 1938, the terror of the NKVD was directed against his former henchmen, including Berman belonged. On December 23, 1938, he was expelled at the instigation of Georgi Malenkov from the CPSU and arrested a day later. He was found guilty by the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR, to have a "right Trotskyist terrorist and sabotage organization" led and then shot at Kommunarka on 7 March 1939.

On October 17, 1957 Berman was rehabilitated legal.

Historical Significance

Besides Genrich Yagoda and Naftali Frenkel Berman was one of the people who were in the USSR significantly behind the construction of the prison camp system Gulag. Thus Berman is responsible for the suffering and death of countless political prisoners in the USSR during the 1930s. An outstanding example of his " activities " were the construction work on the White Sea - Baltic Sea Canal from 1931 to 1933 together with Jagoda designed Berman 1933 also an extensive deportation campaign against " socially harmful and outclassed elements ." - So the language of the Soviet authorities. This result was the tragedy of Nasino.