Leonid Vasilyevich Nikolayev

Leonid Wassiljewitsch Nikolajew ( Russian Леонид Васильевич Николаев , * 1904 in Saint Petersburg , † December 29, 1934 in Leningrad ) was the murderer of the Soviet politician Sergei Kirov .

Life

Leonid Nikolajew was born in Saint Petersburg. After his father's death in 1907, he grew up with his mother, who worked as a cleaning lady in a tram depot. He first attended a city school and later a Communist Party college. Nikolayev was released from military service in the army for health reasons (he suffered from rickets as a child and was therefore only 1.50 meters tall).

In the 1920s Nikolayev took various jobs. He worked as a locksmith's assistant, as an employee of the Communist Youth Association Komsomol and finally as a trainer in the Party History Institute of the Leningrad Regional Committee of the Communist Party . Since 1924 he was a party member. At the beginning of the 1930s he was expelled from the party due to frequent conflicts with his superiors, but was reinstated in 1934.

Nikolajew had been married to Milda Petrovna Draule since 1925 and had two children with her.

The murder of Kirov

On October 15, 1934, Nikolayev was arrested near the house of high-ranking party official Sergei Kirov. A weapon was found during his search, but the NKVD investigators released him.

On December 1, 1934, Nikolayev checked Kirov in front of his office in Smolny and shot him several times with a revolver, the first shot in Kirov's neck being fatal. Nikolayev then tried to kill himself with a shot in the head, but the shot failed because a craftsman who happened to be at the scene threw a screwdriver at Nikolayev and hit him in the face. Nikolayev was immediately arrested by the guards. In the course of the investigation he was interrogated personally by Stalin, among others . The Soviet leadership interpreted the murder of Kirov at the behest of Stalin as a political murder and viewed Nikolayev as a member of a conspiracy group. In contrast, Nikolayev claimed to have committed the murder solely out of jealousy : According to some eyewitness reports, Kirov is said to have had a love affair with Nikolayev's wife Milda Draule, and between the shooting at Kirov and his attempted suicide, Nikolayev is said to have exclaimed "I took revenge!"

By compiling partly forged evidence, Nikolayev was brought to trial for involvement in a terrorist organization called the Leningrad Center . Within a month he was sentenced to death and, along with 12 other key suspects, as well as 103 other people who were staying illegally in the Soviet Union shot . This was followed by further arrests of old cadres who were accused of counterrevolutionary aspirations.

Nikolayev's wife Milda Draule was initially excluded from the party and also shot in March 1935. A total of 117 family members and acquaintances of Nikolayev were arrested and killed after his act, including his mother and siblings. Nikolayev's son Marx Leonidowitsch Draule was placed in a children's home. Nikolayev's wife was posthumously rehabilitated in 1991; his son Marx was only recognized as a victim of political persecution in 2005 upon application.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Archived copy ( memento of the original from January 13, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
2. ↑ Russia: Man of the Year, 1939 , TIME Magazine , January 1, 1940
3. ↑ Marx sa otza ne otwetschik: syna “ubijzy Kirowa” prisnali shertwoi repressii ( Memento of the original from January 13, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ; Article in Novye Izvestia, August 18, 2005 

Web links

• Entry about Nikolayev on peoples.ru (Russian)
• Short biography on terroristica.info (Russian)
• Short biography of Leonid Nikolayev (Russian)