Stanislav Redens

Stanislav Redens
Станислав Реденс
Redens in 1931
People's Commissar of the Internal Affairsof theKazakh SSR
In office 21 November 1938 – 20 January 1938
Preceded by	Lev Zalin
Succeeded by	Semyon Burdakov
Chairman of theOGPUunder Council of People's Commissars of theUkrainian SSR
In office 25 July 1931 – 20 February 1933
Preceded by	Vsevolod Balitsky
Succeeded by	Vsevolod Balitsky
Chairman of theGPUunder the Council of People's Commissars of theByelorussian SSR
In office 1 May 1931 – 1 June 1931
Preceded by	Grigory Rappaport
Succeeded by	German Matson
Personal details
Born	(1892-06-12)12 June 1892 Tykocin,Łomża Governorate,Russian Empire
Died	12 February 1940(1940-02-12)(aged 47) Moscow,Russian SFSR,Soviet Union
Nationality	Soviet
Political party	RSDLP(Bolsheviks) (1914–1918) Russian Communist Party(1918–1937)
Spouse	Anna Alliluyeva
Military service
Allegiance	Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
Battles/wars	First World War Russian Civil War
Awards	Honorary Officer of State Security

Stanislav Frantsevich Redens(Russian:Станисла́в Фра́нцевич Ре́денс,Polish:Stanisław Redens;17 May 1892 – 21 January 1940) was aSovietNKVDofficial, one of those responsible for conducting mass repressions underJoseph Stalin.Redens was himself executed in 1940, after being arrested at the end of theGreat Purgein 1938.

Early life

Born to aPolishworker's family inTykocinin theŁomża Governorateof theRussian Empire,Redens received a limited education and began working in metallurgy in 1907. ABolsheviksince 1914, he was briefly mobilized into the army duringWorld War Ibut was soon demobilized and returned to political activity in time for the 1917Russian Revolution.

Career

Redens began to work for the newly establishedChekain 1918, amid theRussian Civil War.He was energetically involved indekulakizationinUkraine,serving as the head of theOdessaCheka. Redens held important positions in theCrimeanGPUin 1922–1923.

Stanislav Redens in 1934. From left to right:Agranov,Yagoda,unknown, and Redens.

Though made a chief of theTranscaucasianGPU in 1928, Redens was gradually sidelined by his own deputyLavrenty Beria.In 1931, he was appointed the OGPU head in theByelorussian SSRand then in theUkrainian SSR.During his tenure in Ukraine, Redens gained fame for crackdown on farmers, which contributed to theHolodomor,the starvation of millions of Ukrainians as part of a larger famine across the Soviet Union. In January 1933, he was recalled to Moscow and placed in charge of theNKVDunits in theMoscow Oblastwhere Redens spearheaded purges followingSergey Kirovassassination in 1934.

Redens was elected to theSupreme Soviet of the Soviet Unionin 1937 and appointed asPeople's Commissarfor Internal Affairs of theKazakh Soviet Socialist Republicin 1938. He was arrested on charges of being a member of “Polish subversive-spying group” in November 1938 and shot in January 1940. He wasrehabilitatedunderNikita Khrushchevin 1961.

Personal life

Redens was married to Anna Sergeyevna Alliluyeva (1896–1964), sister of Stalin's second wifeNadezhda Alliluyeva,also anOld Bolshevikand former Cheka officer who spent 6 years in prison under Stalin. Their son, Vladimir Alliluyev (Redens) (born 1935), published, in 1995, his memoirs "Chronicle of a Family" which advocated Russia's return toStalinismand was condemned by Stalin's daughterSvetlana Alliluyeva.