Impact of Soviet artillery on snowy plain as seen by a German soldier.

Impact

May look a bit like your kindly old History teacher, but this is Lavrentiy Beria, Stalin's fellow Georgian, long-time security chief, and mastermind of more assasinations, massacres, denunciations, purges, show-trials and general purpose political murders than most people have had hot dinners.  Beria attained high political office in the Soviet system, but was eventually eliminated in a palace coup orchestrated by the then "coming leader" of the Soviet Union, the former Commissar at Stalingrad, Nikita Khrushchev, in 1953.  There is some irony in the fact that his execution followed his staged arrest by Zhukov (whom he had at one point attempted to eliminate), and his trial by a tribunal chaired by Ivan Konev (whom he had also attempted to eliminate).  Hard to imagine anybody who lived, so to speak, by the sword (not to mention thumbscrews etc.) dying by the sword.

By the way - in case the "basement" reference is less than transparent - the story is that Zhukov was once pressed by a comrade to challenge Stalin on a some matter during the war.  Zhukov, who was something of an expert on "Stalin management", knew that the particular challenge would be going too far.  His reply was along the lines, "Do you want me to end up with Beria in his basement ?".  It does not take much imagination to know what he meant.  Best regards, JR.

Proprietor of a Famous Basement ...

T-34 stuck in snow and abandoned. From a private album.