Timeline of The Great Purge - 1938

1938

January 7

Instruction of the NKVD for censorship of letters from military personnel talking about the repressions.

January 9

Letter of the NKVD for stepping up mass repressions in transport industry.

January 11, 14, 18, 20

Plenum of the Central Committee "Об ошибках парторганизаций при исключении коммунистов из партии" (On errors of party organizations in excluding Communists from the Party). The keynote speaker was Georgy Malenkov). The Plenum discussed Pavel Postyshev's closing down of 30 Raion Party Committees in Kuybyshev Oblast as "headed by the Enemies of the people". On January 9, the Politburo decided that Postyshev's decision was "politically harmful" and "provocative". The Plenum confirmed the Politburo decision and urged a stop to the "harmful practice of mass exclusions from the Party". Postyshev was excluded from the list of candidates to the Politburo, and soon arrested and executed (on 26 February 1939).

January 15

The NKVD forbade any shortening of prison sentences.

January 18

NKVD order for "complete liquidation of the eser underground." In one week 12,000 people were arrested under this order.

January 19

NKVD instruction for repressing Iranians in Azerbaijan.

January 21

The Department of State Security of the NKVD (GUGB) was forbidden to inform relatives of the whereabouts of their inmates, and ordered ban to letters, food parcels, and meetings of inmates.

January 24–25

Yezhov and Frinovsky organized large meetings of the regional NKVD chiefs, reviewing results of the repressive operations of 1937.

January 29

The Iranian operation was extended over the whole territory of the USSR. 13,297 people were arrested; among them 2,046 were executed

January 31

The Politburo decided to extend the Kulak Operation and Ethnic Operation (additionally including Bulgarians and ethnic Macedonians).

January 31

The Politburo decided to step up measures against defectors to the USSR: those who had criminal intent should be executed by sentence of the Military Tribunal; all others should be imprisoned for ten years.

February 14

Letter of the NKVD for stepping up the work against mensheviks and anarchists.

February 16

Resolution of the NKVD for a mass operation against Afghans. 1,557 people were arrested among them 366 were executed.

March 2–13

Show trial of Anti-Soviet Right-Trotskyist Block. Among those sentenced to death were Alexey Rykov, Bukharin, Nikolai Krestinsky, Christian Rakovsky, and Yagoda.

April 8

NKVD chief Yezhov became also Narkom of Water transport.

May 21

NKVD order On Police troikas (Militsejskaya troika), the extrajudicial body with the power to exile or to sentence for up to five years in the labor camps. Police troikas were to process the socially harmful and socially dangerous population (violater of the Passport rules, the unemployed, petty criminals without proven guilt, etc.) More than 400,000 people were sentenced by Police troikas in 1937-1938.

June 10

The Politburo cancels repression against Chinese.

June 13

The NKVD Chief of the Far East, Genrikh Lyushkov, defected to Japan. The defection triggered a new round of repression in the Far East.

June 28

NKVD resolution for the arrest of the Tolmachev-Belarusian Opposition in the Red Army.

July 6–12

NKVD resolutions for stepping up repression in the Far East. Frinovsky was sent to the Far East with the power to sentence people by the album process (the same power as the Special Commission had).

July 21

NKVD resolution for streamlining the investigations in political cases.

August 22

Lavrentiy Beria became Yeshov's first deputy, replacing Frinovsky. (Frinovsky became the chief of the Soviet Navy.)

August 27

NKVD resolution that divorces are to be granted by unilateral

request of one spouse when the other spouses is under arrest, without participation of the arrested spouse.

September 15

Politburo resolution on judging the remaining cases on people arrested for ethnic qualities by the "Local Special Troikas".

September 17

NKVD Order 00606 On creation of Local Special Troikas. The "Local Special Troikas" became the primary method for deciding on arrested parties, instead of the "album processes".

September 29

NKVD resolution on Strengthening the regime in the labor camps (trudposelki).

October 8

The Politburo decided to create a "Commission on the project for the new processes for arrests, procurator control, and investigation". The Commission was formed by Yezhov, Beria, and Vyshinsky, and was seen as a sign of future easing of repression.

November 14

Resolution of the Central Committee for "Purging the NKVD of the enemies infiltrated there".

November 17

Joint resolution of the Politburo and Sovnarkom On the new processes for arrests, procurator control, and investigation (Постановление СНК СССР и ЦК ВКП(б) «Об арестах, прокурорском надзоре и ведении следствия) stopped the activities of all extrajudicial organs, and forbade mass repressions without courts and proper investigations. The practice of consultations with the party committees and interested government departments prior to arrests is restored.

November 25

Beria became the chief of the NKVD.

November 26

All operative orders and resolutions for mass repressions were cancelled. The cases of all those arrested were sent to the courts and the "special committee", and the Socialist Rule of Law was declared to be restored (возвращение к нормам социалистической законности).

December 22

Resolution of the NKVD invalidating all sentences issued by the extrajudicial organs that were not declared to the arrested party before November 17.