Fact-checked by Grok 2 weeks ago

Roman Rudenko

Roman Andreevich Rudenko (30 July 1907 – 23 January 1981) was a Soviet jurist and statesman of Ukrainian origin who served as Prosecutor General of the USSR from 1953 to 1981, holding the position longer than any other individual, and as the chief prosecutor for the Soviet Union at the Nuremberg Trials of 1945–1946.^[1]^[2]^[3] Born into a peasant family in Nosivka near Kiev, he joined the Communist Party in 1926, pursued legal studies, and advanced through prosecutorial roles in the Donbass region before becoming Procurator of the Ukrainian SSR in 1944.^[2]^[4] At Nuremberg, Rudenko presented the Soviet case against Nazi leaders, including accusations related to atrocities on the Eastern Front, though some claims, such as responsibility for the Katyn massacre, were later disproven as Soviet fabrications.^[3]^[5] Following Joseph Stalin's death, Rudenko participated as prosecutor in the 1953 trial of Lavrentiy Beria, Stalin's secret police chief, which resulted in Beria's execution, marking a shift in Soviet power dynamics.^[6] As Prosecutor General under multiple leaders from Nikita Khrushchev to Leonid Brezhnev, he oversaw the enforcement of Soviet criminal law, including measures against political dissidents, while also contributing to post-Stalin rehabilitations of purge victims.^[2]^[7] Awarded Hero of Socialist Labor, Rudenko exemplified the alignment of Soviet jurisprudence with regime priorities, prioritizing state security over independent judicial processes.^[8]

Early Life and Education

Birth and Family Background

Roman Andreyevich Rudenko was born on July 30, 1907 (Old Style: July 17), in the village of Nosovka (now Nosivka), Nizhyn uezd, Chernigov Governorate, Russian Empire—territory that became part of the Ukrainian SSR and is now in Chernihiv Oblast, Ukraine.^[9]^[10] He was born into a large, impoverished peasant family of ethnic Ukrainian Cossack descent.^[10]^[9] His father, Andrey Grigoryevich Rudenko, worked as a Cossack in the rural community, supporting a household with multiple children—accounts describe up to ten siblings alongside Rudenko himself, reflecting the economic hardships typical of pre-revolutionary Ukrainian villages.^[11] No reliable details exist on his mother's identity or occupation, though family circumstances emphasized self-reliance and limited formal education in early childhood.^[10]

Initial Career and Communist Party Involvement

Roman Rudenko, born into a peasant family in the Ukrainian village of Nosovka in 1907, joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) in 1926 at the age of 19, coinciding with the onset of Stalin's collectivization drive.^[9]^[2] His entry into the party aligned with the Bolshevik emphasis on ideological loyalty among youth from rural backgrounds, positioning him for roles within the state's administrative and legal structures.^[9] Following initial education in Ukraine, Rudenko pursued legal training in Moscow, graduating from Moscow Law School before advancing through specialized courses in Soviet jurisprudence.^[9] By the late 1920s, shortly after joining the CPSU, he entered prosecutorial work, beginning a career in the state's legal apparatus that was inherently intertwined with party oversight and directives.^[9] During the 1930s, Rudenko's initial professional roles focused on procuratorial duties in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, where CPSU membership ensured alignment with central policies on law enforcement and political control.^[12] This period marked his foundational involvement in the Soviet prosecutorial system, emphasizing the suppression of perceived counter-revolutionary elements amid Stalinist purges, though specific early cases remain sparsely documented in available records.^[12] His party affiliation provided the necessary vetting for such positions, reflecting the CPSU's monopoly on key state functions.^[9]

Pre-War Prosecution Career

Work in Ukrainian SSR

In October 1937, Roman Rudenko was appointed prosecutor of Donetsk Oblast in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, a key industrial region encompassing the Donbas coal-mining area.^[10] ^[13] This appointment occurred amid the Great Purge, Stalin's campaign of mass repression targeting perceived enemies within the Communist Party, intelligentsia, and broader population, which intensified in Ukraine during 1937–1938 with widespread arrests, executions, and deportations.^[14] As prosecutor, Rudenko oversaw numerous investigations and prosecutions aligned with NKVD directives, contributing to the suppression of alleged counter-revolutionary activities in the oblast's factories, mines, and party apparatus.^[15] He authorized the execution of thousands—reports indicate up to 9,000 death sentences signed by him during his tenure there—often based on fabricated confessions extracted under torture, reflecting the extrajudicial nature of the purges where formal trials were frequently bypassed.^[14] Rudenko's role exemplified the procurator's office's subordination to political imperatives, prioritizing quota-driven eliminations over legal due process.^[15] In June 1938, Donetsk Oblast was divided into Stalino Oblast (later Donetsk) and Voroshilovgrad Oblast (later Luhansk), prompting Rudenko's reassignment as prosecutor of the newly formed Stalino Oblast on June 3.^[10] ^[13] He joined the local troika—a three-person extrajudicial body comprising prosecutorial, security, and party representatives empowered to issue rapid death or labor camp sentences without appeal—further facilitating accelerated repressions in the region until January 1940.^[15] Under his oversight, purges targeted Ukrainian nationalists, former kulaks, and industrial managers suspected of sabotage, amid quotas demanding thousands of executions to consolidate Stalinist control over Ukraine's economy and politics.^[14] Rudenko's survival and advancement through this era, despite the purge's toll on many officials, underscored his alignment with central directives from Moscow.^[15]

Participation in Stalinist Show Trials

Roman Rudenko played a significant role in the Stalinist repressions during the Great Terror of 1937–1938, particularly in the Ukrainian SSR, where he served as a prosecutor overseeing show trials against alleged enemies of the state, including Communist Party officials, intellectuals, and suspected nationalists. These proceedings, orchestrated by the NKVD and aligned with directives from Moscow, featured coerced confessions and predetermined outcomes, resulting in thousands of convictions and executions in Ukraine alone as part of the broader purge that claimed an estimated 681,692 lives across the USSR through judicial and extrajudicial means.^[16]^[17] In addition to formal show trials, Rudenko participated in extrajudicial troikas—three-member panels empowered to issue summary death sentences without trial or appeal—which accelerated the terror by bypassing even the facade of judicial process. Operating under quotas set by Stalin and NKVD chief Nikolai Yezhov, these troikas in Ukraine contributed to mass liquidations targeting "counter-revolutionary" elements, with Rudenko's involvement reflecting the procuracy's integration into the repressive apparatus. Historical accounts note his survival through multiple waves of purges, which eliminated many contemporaries, positioning him for later advancement.^[17]^[9] Rudenko's actions during this period exemplified the Soviet legal system's subordination to political terror, where prosecutors like him enforced fabricated charges of Trotskyism, sabotage, and espionage to consolidate Stalin's power. While primary archival details on his specific cases remain limited due to Soviet secrecy, declassified materials and post-Soviet analyses confirm his prosecutorial roles in Ukraine's purges, contrasting with his later international portrayal at Nuremberg.^[16]

World War II and Nuremberg Trials

Wartime Role

In 1944, amid the Red Army's liberation of Ukrainian territories from Nazi occupation, Rudenko was appointed Procurator-General of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, a position he held until 1953.^[18] ^[19] This wartime assignment positioned him at the forefront of Soviet efforts to reestablish control through legal mechanisms in a region marked by widespread collaboration, partisan activity, and destruction from three years of German rule. As head of the procuracy, Rudenko directed investigations and trials targeting individuals accused of aiding the occupiers, including local police auxiliaries, administrators, and those suspected of treason, aligning with Stalin's directive to swiftly eliminate perceived internal threats during the ongoing conflict.^[8] These proceedings, conducted under military tribunals and extraordinary measures, emphasized rapid retribution over procedural safeguards, resulting in thousands of convictions and executions by war's end in May 1945. Rudenko's experience in these cases, building on his pre-war show trial expertise, honed his prosecutorial approach amid the chaos of reconquest, where Soviet authorities documented atrocities for future international accountability while prioritizing domestic pacification. His office's work contributed to the suppression of Ukrainian nationalist elements, such as remnants of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, framed as collaborators despite their anti-Soviet resistance against both Nazis and Bolsheviks. This dual focus on punitive justice and evidence-gathering foreshadowed Rudenko's subsequent role in international war crimes adjudication.

Chief Prosecutor at Nuremberg

Roman Andreyevich Rudenko served as the Chief Prosecutor for the Soviet Union at the International Military Tribunal (IMT) in Nuremberg, which opened on November 20, 1945, to try 24 major Nazi war criminals.^[20] Appointed by Joseph Stalin, Rudenko led a team of Soviet prosecutors in presenting evidence on crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, with a particular emphasis on atrocities committed on the Eastern Front against Soviet civilians and prisoners of war.^[21] His role included preparing cases against high-profile defendants such as Hermann Göring, Rudolf Hess, and Albert Speer, involving interrogations and the submission of documentary evidence from Soviet investigations.^[2] On February 8, 1946, Rudenko delivered the opening statement for the Soviet prosecution, detailing the Nazi invasion of the USSR on June 22, 1941, and subsequent mass executions, deportations, and scorched-earth policies that resulted in millions of Soviet deaths.^[22] ^[23] He highlighted specific crimes, including the execution of over 11,000 civilians in Lvov and the destruction of 1,710 cities and towns, supported by affidavits and forensic reports from Soviet commissions.^[22] The Soviet case featured eyewitness testimonies, such as that of poet Avraham Sutzkever on the Vilna ghetto, contributing to the tribunal's recognition of systematic extermination policies.^[21] Rudenko's cross-examinations, particularly of Göring, were marked by aggressive rhetoric but faced challenges due to limited access to full evidence and strict instructions from Moscow to advance Soviet narratives, including attributing the 1940 Katyn massacre of over 22,000 Polish officers to German forces despite emerging counter-evidence from defendants.^[24] ^[25] ^[26] The tribunal ultimately declined to assign responsibility for Katyn in the final judgment, avoiding direct confrontation with Soviet claims, though Rudenko's approach reflected the politicized nature of Soviet participation, prioritizing ideological goals over unvarnished factual presentation.^[24] ^[25] This effort aligned with Stalin's directives to portray the USSR as a primary victim while concealing its own pre-war aggressions, such as the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact's secret protocols.^[24]

Tenure as Prosecutor General of the USSR

Appointment and Early Years (1953–1964)

Roman Rudenko was appointed Prosecutor General of the USSR on 1 July 1953, succeeding Grigoriy Safonov, in one of Nikita Khrushchev's initial personnel decisions following Joseph Stalin's death on 5 March 1953.^[9]^[8] This elevation from his prior role as Procurator-General of the Ukrainian SSR positioned him to oversee the Soviet legal system's transition amid political upheaval, including the arrest and trial of Lavrentiy Beria, head of the NKVD security apparatus. Rudenko led the prosecution in Beria's closed trial from 18 to 23 December 1953 before the Special Judicial Session of the USSR Supreme Court, where Beria was convicted of treason, terrorism, and anti-Soviet activities, resulting in his execution on 23 December.^[8] In the ensuing years, Rudenko's office played a central role in Khrushchev's de-Stalinization efforts, particularly through mass rehabilitations of victims from the 1930s purges and Gulag incarcerations. Following the 27 March 1953 amnesty decree, which released over 1 million prisoners, Rudenko supervised reviews of thousands of cases, approving posthumous and living rehabilitations that exposed fabricated charges under Stalin; archival records indicate his procuracy rarely rejected submitted rehabilitation petitions during this phase.^[27] He contributed to Supreme Soviet deliberations on death row commutations and pardons between 1953 and 1964, often advocating sentence reductions for individuals reframed as redeemable rather than irredeemable threats, aligning with the era's shift toward leniency in non-political offenses.^[28] These actions facilitated the release of approximately 1.5 million Gulag inmates by 1956, though selective enforcement preserved prosecutions for economic sabotage and corruption amid Khrushchev's agricultural and industrial campaigns. Rudenko also handled high-profile international cases, such as the 1960 trial of U.S. U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers, shot down over Soviet territory on 1 May 1960. As chief prosecutor, he demanded a 15-year sentence for espionage, securing a 10-year term that was later exchanged in a 1962 spy swap.^[29] Throughout the period, his tenure emphasized consolidating procuratorial oversight of investigations, curbing arbitrary arrests by security organs, and adapting Soviet criminal justice to post-Stalin norms, including reduced reliance on confessions extracted under duress, while maintaining strict enforcement against perceived ideological deviations.^[30]

Under Khrushchev and Brezhnev (1964–1981)

Rudenko retained his position as Prosecutor General following the removal of Nikita Khrushchev on October 14, 1964, and served continuously through Leonid Brezhnev's tenure until his death. His office enforced Soviet criminal laws against perceived threats to the state, including through politically oriented prosecutions that intensified after the mid-1960s.^[2] In December 1965, Rudenko collaborated with KGB Chairman Vladimir Semichastny to propose and execute the conviction of writers Andrei Sinyavsky and Yuli Daniel, charged under Article 70 of the RSFSR Criminal Code for producing and disseminating anti-Soviet literature; their February 1966 trial, overseen by procurators under Rudenko's authority, resulted in sentences of seven and five years' imprisonment, respectively, signaling the regime's shift toward reimposing controls on intellectual expression.^[31] During the Brezhnev era, Rudenko's procuracy supervised a series of trials targeting dissidents accused of anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda, often under Articles 70 and 190-1, which criminalized public criticism of the regime or distribution of unauthorized materials; these proceedings, numbering in the dozens annually by the 1970s, involved figures such as human rights advocates and resulted in lengthy prison terms or exile, with the procurator's office providing legal justification for KGB-initiated arrests. In April 1975, Rudenko co-signed a report with KGB Chairman Yuri Andropov to the Communist Party Central Committee recommending enhanced measures against dissident activities, anticipating international scrutiny from the forthcoming Helsinki Accords.^[32] Rudenko maintained oversight of these mechanisms without significant procedural reforms, prioritizing state security over independent judicial review, until his death from a heart attack on January 23, 1981, at age 73, after 27 years and seven months in the post.^[2]

Legacy and Assessments

Official Soviet Recognition

Rudenko received the Soviet Union's highest civilian honor, Hero of Socialist Labor, on May 25, 1972, conferred by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet for his contributions to the development of Soviet procuracy organs and strengthening of socialist legality.^[12] This award included the sixth Order of Lenin and the gold Hammer and Sickle Medal No. something, though the serial number is not specified in available records. Throughout his career, Rudenko was decorated with six Orders of Lenin, the Order of the October Revolution, the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, and numerous medals, including those for long service and participation in key state trials.^[12] He was elected as a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee in 1961, signifying official endorsement at the highest party levels.^[12] These recognitions underscored the Soviet leadership's valuation of his loyalty and role in maintaining state control through legal mechanisms from the Stalin era through Brezhnev's tenure.

Criticisms and Historical Reappraisals

Rudenko's tenure as Prosecutor General of the USSR from 1953 to 1981 drew criticism for prioritizing political loyalty over independent judicial oversight, enabling the regime's suppression of dissent through selective prosecutions and extralegal measures. Under his leadership, the procuracy facilitated the conviction of political opponents, including the misuse of psychiatric institutions to diagnose and confine dissidents with fabricated mental illnesses, as protested in the 1970 Letter of the Ninety-Nine addressed to Rudenko and other officials. In a 1975 memorandum co-authored with KGB chairman Yuri Andropov, Rudenko recommended intensified measures against human rights activists, framing their activities as criminal threats to state security and justifying preemptive repression.^[33] These actions exemplified the procuracy's role as an extension of party control, where legal proceedings served ideological ends rather than evidentiary standards. His participation in pre-Nuremberg Stalinist trials, including prosecutions of Ukrainian nationalists and intellectuals on charges of collaboration or "bourgeois nationalism" during the 1940s, has been faulted for relying on coerced confessions and fabricated evidence to eliminate perceived threats to Soviet authority. At the International Military Tribunal in 1946, Rudenko's advocacy faced rebuke for advancing Moscow's politicized narrative, such as attributing the 1940 Katyn massacre—perpetrated by Soviet forces—to Nazi perpetrators, despite internal awareness of the cover-up's fragility.^[26] Soviet instructions framed the proceedings as a "grand political spectacle" akin to the 1930s Moscow Trials, clashing with Anglo-American emphasis on procedural fairness and leading to tactical failures, like unsuccessful efforts to implicate mid-level Nazis in aggression without substantiation.^[21] Post-Soviet reappraisals, informed by declassified archives, recast Rudenko as emblematic of the USSR's instrumentalization of law, where prosecutorial power reinforced one-party rule across leaders from Stalin to Brezhnev. Historians note his 28-year incumbency entrenched a system resistant to reform, perpetuating violations of due process in political cases even after Khrushchev's 1956 denunciation of Stalinist excesses.^[34] While Soviet-era honors portrayed him as a defender of socialist legality, contemporary assessments, drawing on dissident testimonies and Western analyses, highlight his complicity in systemic abuses, underscoring the procuracy's causal role in sustaining authoritarian stability through fear and conformity rather than justice.^[24]

References

[1]
Roman Andreevich Rudenko - Encyclopedia - The Free Dictionary
Born July 17 (30), 1907, in the village of Nosovka, in what is now Chernigov Oblast. Soviet jurist. Procurator-general of the USSR; state councillor of ...<|separator|>
[2]
Roman A. Rudenko, 73; Soviet Chief Prosecutor
Jan 26, 1981 · He was born in a village near Kiev into a peasant family and joined the Communist Party in 1926, at the age of 19. In 1953 he became the ...Missing: biography | Show results with:biography
[3]
Roman A. Rudenko - Nuremberg Trials Project
Soviet lawyer (1907-1981) · Born: 1907-08-07 1907-07-30 (Nosivka) (reason for deprecated rank: item/value with less precision and/or accuracy; reason for ...Missing: prosecutor biography
[4]
Roman Rudenko - Timenote
He was the prosecutor of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic from 1944-1953 and Chief prosecutor of the entire Soviet Union from 1953.Missing: USSR | Show results with:USSR
[5]
Katyn: the long cover-up | The New Criterion
The Soviet chief prosecutor in the trials, Roman Rudenko, included the Katyn massacre among the Soviet accusations against the Nazi leadership. If there ...
[6]
Lavrenti Beria Executed - History Today
Dec 12, 2003 · The Central Committee spent five days convincing itself of Beria's guilt and R.A. Rudenko, an experienced prosecutor well known to Khrushchev, ...
[7]
The export of terror—on the impact of the Stalinist culture of terror on ...
As general prosecutor of the Soviet Union, a function he held until his death in 1981, Roman Rudenko was also involved after Stalin's death in rehabilitating ...
[8]
Over to You, Comrade Rudenko | History - Nuremberg. Casus pacis
The USSR's most famous and honoured prosecutor, who filled that important role from the time of Stalin to almost the end of the Brezhnev era.
[9]
Roman A. Rudenko Dies, Top Soviet Legal Officer
Jan 25, 1981 · Roman Andreye vich Rudenko, 73, the Soviet Union's chief legal officer who served as that country's chief prosecutor at the Nuremberg war ...Missing: biography | Show results with:biography
[10]
https://warheroes.ru/hero/hero.asp?Hero_id=9987
[11]
Роман Руденко — биография, личная жизнь, фото ... - 24СМИ
Роман Андреевич появился на свет 7 августа 1907 года в селе Носовке. Он вырос в бедной семье с десятью братьями и сестрами. Руденко обожал читать и слыл ...
[12]
http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Roman+A.+Rudenko
[13]
Роман Андреевич Руденко - Консалтинговая компания SV ...
С октября 1937 года до июня 1938 года Роман Руденко – прокурор Донецкой области Украинской ССР, а с 3 июня 1938 года до января 1940 года – прокурор Сталинской ( ...<|separator|>
[14]
Прокурору Руденко, осудившему на смерть тысячи советских ...
Jan 21, 2022 · Роман Руденко не терялся - за год работы он поставил подпись под девятью тысячами протоколов о смертной казни. Его подпись стоит под приказом ...
[15]
Тройка в биографии - Коммерсант
Feb 1, 2020 · Затем Донецкая область была разделена на Сталинскую и Ворошиловградскую области, после чего Роман Руденко стал сталинским прокурором и вошел в ...
[16]
6 - The Soviet Union, the Nuremberg Trials, and the Politics of the ...
Feb 25, 2017 · Indeed, well before Moscow's chosen diplomatic worker arrived in Berlin, Rudenko had begun to execute his orders to initiate discussions with ...<|separator|>
[17]
[PDF] Russia: Crimes Against History - FIDH
Jun 1, 2021 · ... Roman. Rudenko, the chief prosecutor for the USSR at Nuremberg, and member of various extrajudicial. “troikas” during the Great Terror of the ...
[18]
Roman A. Rudenko - Encyclopedia
Born July 17 (30), 1907, in the village of Nosovka, in what is now Chernigov Oblast. Soviet jurist. Procurator-general of the USSR; state councillor of ...Missing: family background
[19]
Roman Rudenko Biography - Pantheon World
... Rudenko became Procurator-General of the entire Soviet Union after 1953. He is well known internationally for acting as chief prosecutor for the USSR at the ...
[20]
The Nuremberg Trials | The National WWII Museum | New Orleans
... Roman A Rudenko of the Soviet Union. The jurisdiction of the Tribunal included crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.
[21]
Setting the Record Straight on the Soviets at Nuremberg
Jun 17, 2020 · Other Soviet figures included the Soviet chief prosecutor Roman Rudenko and the aforementioned Nikitchenko, who was originally pegged to ...
[22]
General Rudenko: 'Morals of Cannibals, Greed of Burglars'
Feb 8, 2021 · On 8 February, Courtroom 600 heard the opening speech of General Roman Rudenko, head of the Soviet prosecution team. Journalists and spectators ...Missing: professional | Show results with:professional
[23]
Nuremberg Trial Proceedings Vol. 7 - The Avalon Project
GENERAL R. A. RUDENKO (Chief Prosecutor for the U.S.SR.): May it please Your Honors, on delivering my opening statement, the last to be made at this Trial by ...Missing: biography | Show results with:biography
[24]
There Was No Justice At Nuremberg - Kyle Orton | Substack
Apr 11, 2023 · The International Military Tribunal Served a Purpose, But It Was Not Justice.
[25]
Soviet Judgment at Nuremberg
May 31, 2024 · ... chief prosecutor at the IMT, Iona Nikitchenko and Roman Rudenko, respectively, would not be able to prevent the German defendants from ...
[26]
Stalin's Lawyers at Nuremberg | Benjamin Nathans
Sep 23, 2021 · ... show trials, however, Vyshinsky sought to professionalize Stalin's judiciary. ... Soviet chief prosecutor Roman Rudenko struggled with cross ...
[27]
[PDF] posthumous rehabilitation in the post-stalin soviet union, 1953-1970
Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), had aired his regime's dirty laundry, and ... Roman Rudenko. Moskva: OLMA-PRESS, 2001.
[28]
Supreme Soviet Discussions of Death Row Pardons, 1953–1964
and depraved recidivist as the prosecutor had, but of a troubled young woman in need of saving. “[Prosecutor General Rudenko] recommends that we change her.
[29]
[PDF] VESA "INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS Aug. 19. 1960 - CIA
19. The procurator general of the SR, Roman Rudenko, spoke for the prosecution. At the end of his speech he demanded a 15-year jail tera Powers. for. After a ...Missing: 1950s | Show results with:1950s
[30]
[PDF] Khrushchev Era Politics and the Investigation of the Kirov Murder ...
oirs, Khrushchev claims that he protected Rudenko against accusations made against him during the Great Terror, and implies that Rudenko was in debt to him ...
[31]
The Many Lives of the Soviet Dissident Movement on JSTOR
In late December, Vladimir Semichastnyi and procurator-general Roman Rudenko informed the Central Committee of their plan to “convict the criminals”—they ...<|control11|><|separator|>
[32]
Charter 77 - the Inspiration for the Baltic Charter
The April 12, 1975, report by USSR KGB chairman Yuri Andropov and USSR prosecutor Roman Rudenko to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet ...
[33]
Letter of the Ninety-Nine - Wikipedia
The letter was sent to the Soviet Minister of Health Boris Petrovsky and the Soviet Prosecutor General, Roman Rudenko, with a copy to the Chief Psychiatrist of ...
[34]
Soviet human rights activists to Amnesty International - Geschichte ...
Sep 15, 1973 · In an April 1975 memorandum to the Central Committee of the Communist Party, KGB chairman Yuri Andropov and Soviet procurator Roman Rudenko ...
[35]
Turning back the tide: the clampdown on dissent (Chapter 4)
The number of expulsions from the Communist Party also rose again for the first time in many years. ... role of card-carrying communists. Party and ...