Izrail Leplevsky Explained

Izrail Leplevsky
Birth Place:Brest-Litovsk, Grodno Governorate, Russian Empire
Death Place:Moscow, Soviet Union
Death Cause:Execution
Party:Russian Communist Party (1917–1938)
Signature:Леплевський Ізраїль Мойсейович автограф 1937.png
Office:People's Commissar of Internal Affairs of the Ukrainian SSR
Office1:People's Commissar of International Affairs of the Byelorussian SSR
Termstart:14 June 1937
Termend:25 January 1938
Termstart1:10 December 1934
Termend1:28 November 1936
Predecessor:Vsevolod Balitsky
Successor:Alexander Uspensky
Successor1:Georgy Molchanov
Predecessor1:Leonid Zakovsky

Izrail Moiseyevich Leplevsky (Russian: Израиль Моисеевич Леплевский; 1894 – July 28, 1938) was a Soviet security officer. He was part of the Intelligence Service and Secret police apparatus in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, then People's Commissar of Internal Affairs of the Ukrainian SSR from June 14, 1937 to January 25, 1938. His brother Gregory Leplevsky also worked in senior positions in the Soviet Union, including as Prosecutor of the USSR.[1]

Early years

Born into a Jewish family in Brest-Litovsk, Grodno Governorate, Leplevsky received a home education and worked afterwards in a hat shop, and in a pharmacy warehouse. In 1914 he was enrolled as a conscript in the Russian army and served on the Turkish front from October 1914 till June 1917.

Political career

In March 1917, Leplevsky became active in the Bolshevik party in Tbilisi. From June 1917 he was a member of the military organization of the RSDLP (Bolshevik) in Yekaterinoslav. Afterwards, he made a career in the Soviet secret service, the GPU, in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, culminating in his appointment as People's Commissar of Internal Affairs of the Ukrainian SSR from June 14, 1937 to January 25, 1938. During this period he was in charge of mass repressions in Ukraine. In particular, he was the major instigator of Vesna Case, a massive former officers and generals of the Russian Imperial Army during 1930-1931.[2]

He was arrested on April 26, 1938, and on 28 July he was shot according to a sentence passed by the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR.[3]

References

  1. Web site: Leplevski, Israel Moiseevich. Biography (Russian). 2020-12-22. www.hrono.ru.
  2. АЛЕКСАНДР ЗДАНОВИЧ, ЧЕКИСТ ИЗ ОБЩЕПИТА, Независимое военное обозрение
  3. Web site: Leplevsky Israel Moiseevich // Who led the NKVD: 1934-1941. Reference book / N. V. Petrov, K. V. Skorkin; edited by N. G. Okhotin and A. B. Roginsky. - Electronic version of the publication. - M., 1999.