Malenkov's repentance. What Georgy Malenkov did for the Soviet people Work in the political department

Georgy Malenkov - Soviet statesman, one of Stalin's close associates. He was called "the direct heir to the leader", however, after the death of Stalin, he did not head the government, and a few years later he completely fell into disgrace.

early years

Georgy Maximilianovich Malenkov was born in 1902. His father was a small employee on the railroad. Georgy Maximilianovich Malenkov had a rather interesting origin. He was Russian by nationality, but his paternal ancestors had once arrived in Russia from Macedonia. The mother of the hero of today's story (nee Shemyakina) came from the middle class.

In 1919, Georgy Malenkov graduated from the classical gymnasium. Although there is no exact data regarding the early period in the biography of this historical figure. Boris Bazhanov, who served as Stalin's personal secretary from 1923 to 1927, claimed that Malenkov did not even have a secondary education. The son of Georgy Maksimilianovich assured that his father successfully graduated from the gymnasium, then the Moscow Higher Technical School, and after that he was invited to graduate school, but refused, preferring party activities. The second point of view is more plausible. After all, Stalin valued Malenkov primarily for his deep knowledge of energy.

Work in the political department

In 1919, the hero of today's article joined the Red Army. What position did he hold? In his autobiography, Georgy Malenkov wrote that he worked as a political instructor. According to modern historians, he held the position of an ordinary clerk. Georgy Malenkov never led fighters on the attack. Moreover, he was a bad shooter and even worse on horseback. His element was office work. Thus, the revolutionary activity of Georgy Maksimilianovich Malenkov in the heroic years of the Civil War was reduced to writing and rewriting various papers.

Marriage

During his studies, Georgy Malenkov met his future wife. Valeria Golubtsova in the twenties held an insignificant position in the Central Committee of the RCP. The marriage had a beneficial effect on the career of Georgy Malenkov. Golubtsova entered the graduate school of MPEI in 1936. Subsequently, she took the post of rector of the Moscow Power Engineering Institute.

Career

At the time during which the first years of Malenkov's political activity fell, Trotsky enjoyed great popularity among young people. First of all, an opposition platform was formed in the party cells of the universities. When it collapsed, Georgy Malenkov showed activity, which played a significant role in his future career. He became one of the members of the student integrity committee. And soon he took the post of secretary of the party organization of the Moscow Higher Technical School. In this post, he gained the first experience in the fight against the so-called enemies of the people.

The diligence and activity of Georgy Malenkov did not go unnoticed. On the advice of his wife, in 1925 he went to serve in the Organizing Bureau of the Central Committee of the RCP. And two years later he took the post of technical secretary of the Politburo. According to historians, then already Georgy Malenkov was a typical apparatchik. He quickly turned into an unscrupulous official, ready to do anything for a career. With enviable readiness, he followed the instructions of the leadership and, above all, of course, the Secretary General. And like every classical official, Malenkov did not have his own opinion. And if it sometimes arose, he did not express it.

Fight against dissent

In the early thirties, Georgy Malenkov strengthened his reputation as a statesman, faithful to the ideas of communism. This was expressed in a zealous struggle with dissidents. In 1930, Kaganovich was elected "leader" of the Moscow Bolsheviks. And he, in turn, instructed Malenkov to head the organizational department of the MC of the CPSU. In this position, the hero of our story achieved high results in the fight against the "enemies of the people." First of all, he conducted a major verification of the Moscow Party organization for the presence of oppositionists. He revealed many of them, which earned the trust of not only his protege Kaganovich, but also Stalin himself.

The leader, meanwhile, was preparing the apparatus for tougher purges. Therefore, he needed new personnel. When the question arose of who to appoint as head of the Central Committee's leading party bodies, Stalin remembered Malenkov. In his new post, Georgy Maximilianovich did not perform independent actions, fulfilling the will of the Secretary General in everything. This not only had a positive effect on his further career growth, but, of course, saved his life.

Abdurakhman Avtorkhanov, a Soviet historian and public figure, once called Stalin and Malenkov the creators of the CPSU. In this case, the first - a designer, the second - an architect. Avtorkhanov, according to later researchers, overestimated the role of Georgy Malenkov. Although it is impossible to deny the influence of this politician on the daily leadership of the party, and therefore the entire state.

In the early thirties, Malenkov became close to Yezhov. Under his leadership, he conducted another check of the communists, which became a kind of rehearsal for the "great terror". In 1937, most of the leaders of the Soviet apparatus were arrested. Georgy Malenkov took a very active part in the fight against the "enemies of the people." He often attended the interrogations of the arrested. Yes, and in the quiet of his office, he also led the repressions well. Yezhov wanted to appoint him to the post of his deputy, but Stalin did not allow it: it was difficult to replace such a personnel specialist in the Central Committee.

Only at the end of the thirties did Malenkov begin to emerge from secret offices into the open political arena. He has been a member of the Supreme Soviet since 1938. The range of issues that Georgy Malenkov solved gradually expanded. So, at the All-Union Conference, he made a report on the tasks of transport and industry. At this time, he managed to take a strong position in Stalin's entourage. Moreover, in this environment, if you do not take into account the opinion of Boris Bazhanov, he was the only person with a higher education. In addition, he had an amazing memory and a huge capacity for work.

War years

During the Second World War, Georgy Malenkov often went to the front. In 1941 - to Leningrad and the Moscow region. In August 1942, Malenkov left for Stalingrad. During this period, he controlled the aviation industry and was responsible for the production of combat aircraft. And in the fall of 1944, Malenkov plunged into the solution of the "Jewish question". He devoted more than one report to the Kremlin to this topic. In the last years of the war, Malenkov was most concerned about the issue of limiting positions for representatives of Jewish nationality.

Malenkov first held the post of secretary of the Central Committee for seven years. In 1946, he was suspended for errors that were discovered in the production of aircraft. Stalin sent the former secretary to Central Asia for two months. It was a very lenient punishment; after the exile, Malenkov did not lose the trust of the leader. In 1948, he again took up the post of secretary of the Central Committee.

Leningrad case

Stalin personally entrusted Malenkov with identifying the members of the anti-party group. The same tried with might and main to justify the trust of the leader. Malenkov accused the leadership of the Leningrad Regional Committee of undermining the foundations of the Soviet state. He led the investigation in the "Leningrad case", according to an old habit, he was present at interrogations.

In January 1949, the All-Russian Wholesale Fair was held. Through the efforts of Malenkov, its leader, A. Kuznetsov, was accused of data manipulation. There was no crime, as it turned out later. But it was no longer possible to establish the course of events exactly, because Malenkov destroyed almost everything that was relevant in the Leningrad case.

At the head of the state

There are many white spots in the biography of Georgy Malenkov. Why was this politician, having worked in the state apparatus for many years, unable to stay afloat? In 1953, he actually led the country and became the first to criticize Stalin's personality cult. However, in 1957 Malenkov was removed from the Central Committee and appointed director of the thermal power plant in Ekibastuz. Four years later, he was completely expelled from the party. According to one version, the "comrades" did not forgive Malenkov for his desire to resolve important issues without their knowledge, the independence that he showed in the first years after Stalin's death.

Led the country from March 5, 1953 to February 8, 1955 Positions held: Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR
Malenkov Georgy Maksimilianovich (12/26/1901, Orenburg - 1/14/1988, Moscow), party and statesman, lieutenant general (1943), Hero of Socialist Labor (Sept. 1943). Employee's son. He studied at the Moscow State Technical University named after N.E. Bauman (did not graduate).

In 1919 he joined the Red Army as a political officer of a squadron, regiment, brigade, and political directorate of the Eastern and Turkestan fronts. In Apr. 1920 joined the RCP (b). In 1921 he entered the Moscow Higher Technical School, in 1923–24 he was a member of the commission for testing Trotskyist students. In early 1925 he left his studies and was appointed technical secretary of the Orgburo of the Central Committee, from 1927 technical secretary of the Politburo of the Central Committee.

Since 1930 L.M. Kaganovich took him to him and appointed head. propaganda and mass department of the Moscow Committee of the CPSU (b). He led the purge of the opposition in the Moscow party organization. In 1934-39 head. department of leading party bodies of the Central Committee of the CPSU (b). In 1936 he carried out a massive campaign to check party documents. In 1937–58 he was a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, in Jan. 1938 - Oct. 1946 Member of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet. Since 1939, a member of the Central Committee of the CPSU (b). From 22.3.1939 beginning. Personnel Administration and Secretary of the Central Committee, from March 1939 to October. 1952 member of the Organizing Bureau of the Central Committee.

During the Great Patriotic War, he was a member of the State Defense Committee (June 1941 - Sept. 1945). 21/2/1941 Malenkov became a candidate member of the Politburo of the Central Committee. He often traveled to those sectors of the front where a critical situation was created. But his main task was to equip the Red Army with aircraft. In 1943–45 before. Committee under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR for the restoration of the economy in the liberated areas. On May 15, 1944, at the same time, deputy. prev. SNK USSR.

In the fall of 1944, at a meeting in the Kremlin where the "Jewish problem" was discussed, he advocated "increasing vigilance," after which the appointment of Jews to high positions became very difficult. On March 18, 1946, he was a member of the Politburo (since 1952 - the Presidium) of the Central Committee. During the new purge of party and military personnel undertaken by Stalin after the war, Malenkov was removed from his post on March 19, 1946. prev. Council of People's Commissars, and on May 6, 1946, was removed from the posts of secretary and chief personnel officer for the fact that "as the chief of the aviation industry and for the acceptance of aircraft over the Air Force, he is morally responsible for the outrages that have been revealed in the work of departments (the production and acceptance of low-quality aircraft), which he, knowing about these outrages, did not signal them to the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks", and was transferred to the post of chairman. Committee on Special Equipment under the Council of Ministers of the USSR. However, Malenkov did not lose Stalin's confidence. In addition, L.P. Beria launched an active struggle on the return of Malenkov, and on 1/7/1946 he again became secretary of the Central Committee, on 2/8/1946 he regained the post of deputy. prev. Council of Ministers. In fact, he was the second person in the party, because, on the instructions of Stalin, he was responsible for the work of party organizations, which transferred millions of party functionaries to his submission. In 1948, after the death of A.A. Zhdanov, the leadership of the entire "ideological policy" of the Central Committee also passed to Malenkov. At the same time, Malenkov was entrusted with the supervision of agriculture.

Already since 1942, Malenkov was considered the second person in the party and the most likely heir to Stalin, and at the 19th Party Congress (1952), it was the leader who entrusted him to make a report. A. Avtorkhanov in the book "Technology of power" wrote: "The current CPSU is the brainchild of two people: Stalin and Malenkov. If Stalin is the chief designer, then Malenkov is its talented architect." After the congress, at the suggestion of Stalin, a "leading five" was created as part of the Presidium, which included Malenkov.

After Stalin's death on March 5, 1953, Malenkov headed the government of the USSR in the post of chairman of the Council of Ministers, which Stalin had previously held. True, on March 14 he was forced to resign from the post of secretary of the Central Committee. In September 1953, Khrushchev handed over control of the party apparatus. He supported the rest in the fight against Beria, and then did not prevent the start of the process of de-Stalinization of society. But he could not keep the growth of Khrushchev's influence, he was forced to write a letter admitting his mistakes and responsibility for the state of agriculture, on February 9, 1955 he lost his post before. Council of Ministers and was demoted to deputy. At the same time, he was appointed to the post of Minister of Power Plants of the USSR. Khrushchev's policy, which provoked criticism, prompted Malenkov, teaming up with L.M. Kaganovich and V.M. Molotov to start a campaign against Khrushchev. At a meeting of the Presidium of the Central Committee, they opposed Khrushchev and received the support of the majority of members of the highest party body. They were joined by K.E. Voroshilov, N.A. Bulganin, M.G. Pervukhin, M.Z. Saburov, D.T. Shepilov. However, Khrushchev's supporters managed to quickly convene the Plenum of the Central Committee, at which the "anti-party group" was defeated.

06/29/1957 Malenkov was dismissed from work, removed from the Presidium of the Central Committee and from the Central Committee of the CPSU for belonging to the "anti-party group". Since 1957 director of a hydroelectric power station in Ust-Kamenogorsk (Kazakhstan), then a thermal power plant in Ekibastuz (Kazakhstan). In 1961 he retired, and in the same year the bureau of the Ekibastuz city committee of the CPSU expelled him from the party. From May 1920 he was married to Valentina Alekseevna Golubtsova (engineer, worked for a short time in the organizational department of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, then, until 1957, rector of MPEI).

Used materials from the book: Zalessky K.A. Empire of Stalin. Biographical encyclopedic dictionary. Moscow, Veche, 2000 FROM THE BIOGRAPHICAL CHRONICLE OF G.M. MALENKOV
1902, January 8. Born in Orenburg in the family of an employee.

1919–1920 Political worker of a squadron, regiment, brigade, political department on the Eastern and Turkestan fronts.

1921–1925 Studying at the Moscow Higher Technical School.

1925–1930 Works in the apparatus of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, including the technical secretary of the Politburo.

1930. Approved as head of the mass propaganda department of the Moscow Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks.

1934. Heads the department of governing bodies of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks.

1939 March Elected at the XVIII Party Congress to the Central Committee, and at the Plenum of the Central Committee - Secretary, member of the Organizing Bureau of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, appointed head of the Personnel Department of the Central Committee of the Party.

1941, February. He speaks at the XVIII All-Union Party Conference with a report on the tasks of Party organizations in the field of industry and transport. At the Plenum of the Central Committee of the Party, he is elected as a candidate member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks. 30 June. Member of the State Defense Committee.

1943, 30 September. For special merits in the field of aircraft construction, the title of Hero of Socialist Labor is awarded.

1946. Appointed Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR. March. At the plenum of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, he was elected a member of the Politburo.

1946. Removed from the Secretariat of the Central Committee, appointed to party work in Tashkent.

1948. Returns to Moscow, again becomes a member of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks.

1949, February 22. Speaks at the joint plenum of the Leningrad Regional Committee and the City Party Committee with a report on the anti-party activities of A.A. Kuznetsov, a member of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, a candidate member of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, PS Popkov. and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR Rodionov M.I.

1952, October. He delivers a report to the 19th Party Congress. At the Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU, he is elected a member of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the CPSU.

1953, March 5 At a joint meeting of the Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet and the Council of Ministers of the USSR, he is appointed chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR. 9th of March. Delivers a speech at a mourning meeting in Moscow during the funeral of I.V. Stalin. June 26th. He chairs the meeting of the Presidium of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, at which Beria was arrested. August. Acts as chairman of the Council of Ministers at a session of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR with a keynote speech.

1955, February 8. At a session of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, he is relieved of his duties as Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR. He holds the post of Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers, Minister of Power Plants of the USSR.

1957, June 18 Votes at a meeting of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the CPSU for the resignation of NS Khrushchev. June 22-29. Confrontation at the Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU with N. Khrushchev. The plenum adopts a resolution "On the anti-party group of Malenkov G.M., Kaganovich L.M., Molotov V.M." Malenkov resigns from leadership positions.

1957–1961 At business work. Director of the Ust-Kamenogorsk HPP, then director of the Ekibastuz State District Power Plant.

1968. Permitted to return to Moscow.

Source of information: A.A. Dantsev. Rulers of Russia: XX century. Rostov-on-Don, publishing house "Phoenix", 2000.

Georgy Maksimilianovich Malenkov - Soviet statesman and party leader, Stalin's ally, member of the Central Committee of the CPSU (1939-1957), candidate member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU (1941-1946), member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU (1946-1957), member of the Organizing Bureau of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks ) (1939-1952), secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU (1939-1946, 1948-1953), deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of 1-4 convocations. He oversaw a number of important branches of the defense industry, including the creation of a hydrogen bomb and the first nuclear power plant in the world. Actual leader of the Soviet state in 1953-1955.

G.M. Malenkov was born on January 8, 1902 (December 26, 1901 according to the old style) in Orenburg, in the family of a nobleman, a descendant of immigrants from Macedonia, Maximilian Malenkov, and a petty bourgeois woman, the daughter of a blacksmith. In 1919 he graduated from the classical gymnasium and was drafted into the Red Army. He joined the RCP(b) in 1920, after which he was a political worker of a squadron, regiment, brigade, Eastern and Turkestan fronts.

After the end of the Civil War, Georgy Malenkov came to Moscow and in 1921 entered the Higher Technical School. But he left his studies just before graduating in 1925 due to an invitation to work for the vacant position of the technical secretary of the Organizational Bureau of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, where he soon showed himself to be an excellent worker. In 1930, L.M. was nominated. Kaganovich as head of the organizational department of the Moscow Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks.

In 1939 Malenkov G.M. elected a member of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, a member of the Organizing Bureau of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, continuing to head the Personnel Department of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks. In 1941, he became a candidate member of the Politburo, entering the inner circle of I.V. Stalin.

With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, G.M. Malenkov from June 30, 1941 - in the first composition of the State Defense Committee (GKO) of the USSR, chaired by I.V. Stalin. As a member of the GKO, Malenkov traveled at the head of special commissions to the decisive sectors of the Soviet-German front - Volkhov, Stalingrad, Central and others. So, in August 1941 he was in Leningrad, in the autumn of 1941 - near Moscow, in August 1942 - in Stalingrad.

In 1943, by a decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, Malenkov G.M. awarded the military rank of lieutenant general.

The main task of GKO Malenkov G.M. It was the equipment of the Red Army with aircraft, and he successfully coped with this important government task, playing an important role in establishing the production of combat aircraft.

By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of September 30, 1943, for special services to the Soviet state in the field of aircraft construction during the Great Patriotic War, Georgy Maksimilianovich Malenkov was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor with the Order of Lenin and the Hammer and Sickle gold medal.

In 1943-45 G.M. Malenkov is the chairman of the Committee under the Council of People's Commissars (SNK) of the USSR for the restoration of the national economy in areas liberated from fascist occupation, and since May 15, 1944, he has simultaneously held the post of deputy chairman of the SNK of the USSR.

After the war G.M. Malenkov chairs the Committee for the Dismantling of German Industry. As a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and Secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, he dealt with issues of industry and agriculture, as well as issues of ideological work.

In 1946, Malenkov was removed from the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and assigned to party work in the Uzbek SSR (Tashkent city). In 1948 he returned to Moscow and again became a member of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks.

February 22, 1949 G.M. Malenkov speaks at the joint plenum of the Leningrad regional committee and the city committee of the CPSU (b) with a report on the anti-party activities of the member of the Central Committee of the CPSU (b) Kuznetsov A.A., candidate member of the Central Committee of the CPSU (b) Popkov P.S. and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR Rodionov M.I.

In October 1952, at the XIX Congress of the CPSU, on behalf of I.V. Stalin Malenkov G.M. delivered a Report to the 19th Party Congress, in which new ideas on domestic political and international problems developed in the work of I.V. Stalin, Economic Problems of Socialism in the USSR. At the Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU, Malenkov was elected a member of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the CPSU.

After the death of March 5, 1953, I.V. Stalin, March 6, 1953 G.M. Malenkov was elected chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR and secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU, that is, the head of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, on March 15, 1953, at a session of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, his election to this highest state post was approved.

Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR G.M. Malenkov refused to support L.P. Beria, after which the latter was arrested and subsequently shot. At the Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU held on July 2-7, 1953, where the question “On the criminal, anti-party and anti-state actions of Beria” was considered, Malenkov was a speaker. After that, a ditty spread among the people:

He also spoke out against the so-called "policy of Stalin's personality cult." In the summer of 1953, Malenkov proposed to significantly reduce taxes on peasants and cancel all past collective farm debts, increase the production of consumer goods by reducing the production of means of production, which ensured his popularity among the population.

But the strengthening of the role of the party apparatus, the weakening of the influence of the Ministry of Internal Affairs-MGB of the USSR, the support of members of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU brought to the fore N.S. Khrushchev, and on February 8, 1955, at a session of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, Malenkov was relieved of his duties as Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR and took the post of Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers, Minister of Power Plants of the USSR. The rehabilitation of the repressed in the mid-1950s, the desire of Khrushchev, one of the active organizers of mass political repressions in Ukraine in the 1930s, to raise questions of the crimes of the so-called “Stalin personality cult period” led to the fact that G.M. Malenkov on June 18, 1957, at a meeting of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the CPSU, votes for the resignation of N.S. Khrushchev.

But the supporters of the latter managed to quickly convene the Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU (June 22-29, 1957), at which a resolution “On the anti-party group of Malenkov G.M., Kaganovich L.M., Molotov V.M.” was adopted. And, in the end, G.M. Malenkov is deprived of leading state and party posts, with the wording "for factional activity incompatible with the Leninist principles of the party."

From 1957 to 1961 G.M. Malenkov at economic work in the Kazakh SSR: director of the Ust-Kamenogorsk hydroelectric power station, then - director of the Ekibastuz state district power station.

After the end of the work of the XXII Congress of the CPSU, in November 1961, the bureau of the Ekibastuz City Committee of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan excluded G.M. Malenkov from the ranks of the CPSU.

In 1968, after his retirement, G.M. Malenkov is allowed to return to Moscow. His repeated petitions for reinstatement in the CPSU were not granted.

Georgy Maksimilianovich Malenkov died on January 14, 1988. He was buried in Moscow at the Kuntsevo cemetery.

Georgy Malenkov was the second person in the state, carried out "purges" and was engaged in energy, and after Stalin's death he even ruled the country. He spent the last 20 years of his life in obscurity.

wife's husband

Malenkov began his career thanks to his wife. During the Civil War, he was engaged in political work, his future wife was a librarian in the propaganda train. Valeria Golubtsova was from a "deserved family." The older sisters of Golubtsova's mother (Olga) were the famous "Nevzorov sisters" (Zinaida, Sofya and Augustina) - Lenin's comrades-in-arms in Marxist circles back in the 1890s. Malenkov married exceptionally successfully: after moving to Moscow, his wife received an appointment to the Central Committee and an apartment on Tverskaya. Thanks to his smart, resourceful, enterprising wife, Malenkov's party career was given a "low start".

Hand over a comrade

Georgy Malenkov was not an independent politician. For growth, he needed a strong, active, strong-willed person next to him. This role in different years of Malenkov's life and career was performed by Joseph Stalin, Nikolai Yezhov, Lavrenty Beria. Georgy Malenkov made considerable efforts to "surrender" Yezhov (he was even arrested in Malenkov's office), a day after Stalin's death, he spoke about the leader's mistakes, and then participated in the elimination of Beria. It is amazing how, with such a “track record of betrayals,” Malenkov saved his life and lived to be 86 years old.

Repression

Georgy Malenkov took an active part in the repressions of the 1930s, and was also one of the main initiators of the high-profile "Leningrad case" and the defeat of the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee. Georgy Malenkov, an office worker who liked to resolve all issues by telephone (“telephone operator”), during the purges of the party in the “Leningrad case”, personally staged a pogrom in the Museum of the History of the Siege of Leningrad. Those convicted in this case were shot, for which the moratorium on the death penalty was even lifted.

Malenkovsky glass

One of the cult objects of Soviet life, a faceted glass, was popularly nicknamed "Malenkovsky". The reason for this lies on the surface: the mass production of faceted glasses was launched in March - September 1953. "Granchik" flooded numerous catering points: school, student, factory and other canteens. Later, it became an indispensable attribute of city vending machines and rail travel.

Cult of personality and liberalism

It was Georgy Malenkov who first spoke about Stalin's personality cult. It happened on March 10, 1953, that is, the day after the leader's funeral. Malenkov also spoke about the personal responsibility of the "father of peoples" for all "excesses". The party remained intact. Later, Nikita Khrushchev spoke with the same theses.

At the direction of Malenkov, Tvardovsky was again appointed editor of Novy Mir, and the Impressionist paintings, which had been languishing in storerooms for many years, were exhibited at the Museum of Fine Arts.

During his short reign, Malenkov took a course towards liberalization: he came up with a proposal to halve the agricultural tax, write off the arrears of previous years. These initiatives were assessed as populism, but were greeted with gratitude by the people. A saying appeared: "Comrade Malenkov gave us both bread and pancakes." At one time, Malenkov was popular even abroad: he appeared on the cover of Time three times.

The history of the Soviet Union is interesting and multifaceted. To this day, scientists are struggling with the biographies of famous Soviet figures, trying to find the hidden moments that excite the minds of the current generation. Many are sure that the successor was, who took the post of leader of the Soviet state on September 7, 1953.

But few people know that in fact, after the death of the leader of the people, his colleague Georgy Maximilianovich Malenkov was at the helm, but his tenure in this post did not last long. There are still speculations and rumors about Malenkov, it is difficult for scientists to guess what motives the chairman of the Council of Ministers was guided by, whether he acted according to his own convictions or unquestioningly obeyed the instructions of Joseph Vissarionovich.

For example, there is an opinion that Georgy Maksimilianovich, hiding behind the mask of friendship with Stalin, wanted to overthrow the generalissimo, at least to him, and not to Nikita Sergeevich, some attribute an attempt to expose the cult of personality.

Childhood and youth

The true date of birth of Georgy Malenkov is unknown. According to scientists, the future politician was born on December 26, 1901 (January 8, 1902 according to the Gregorian calendar), at least that's what official encyclopedias say. But it is worth noting that, according to the TASS news agency, in 2016, employees of the state archive of the Orenburg region found out that the documents contain a different date of birth for Malenkov - November 23, 1901.

Georgy Maksimilianovich was born in the city of Orenburg, brought up in an average family. His father Maximilian Malenkov worked as a collegiate registrar, he was from a family of Macedonian nobles who once moved to Russia. George's paternal grandfather served as a colonel, and his brother received the rank of rear admiral.

The mother of a political figure, Anastasia Shemyakina, was a bourgeois and did not have noble blood, her father, a Kazakh by nationality, worked as a blacksmith. The keeper of the hearth was engaged in raising her son and ran the household. The Malenkov family lost the main breadwinner in the house early: in 1907, George's father died, so the boy was brought up by his mother.

It is noteworthy that Anastasia Georgievna Shemyakina was remembered by the citizens of the Soviet Union as a human rights activist. The woman until the end of her days helped the disadvantaged and saved people from the exclusion zone - prisons. The mother of the politician had few worries of her own, according to the recollections of her grandson Andrei, grandmother Nastya, who lives in Moscow, picked up homeless women on the street, took them to her apartment, fed them and brought them into a human form.

George studied well at the gymnasium, and he was given any subjects, be it mathematics or literature. A sharp mind and perseverance helped the young man to graduate from an educational institution with a gold medal in 1919, after which he joined the Red Army on conscription and participated in the civil war. But, according to rumors, the young man did not know how to shoot and did not ride a horse well, but he was a diligent person who did good office work.

Therefore, during the clash between the White and Red armies, the future deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR copied papers and kept documentation. In 1920, Georgy Maximilianovich received a party card of the RCP (b), and in 1921 he entered the Moscow Technical University (MVTU), where he led the "purges" of student adherents of ideas.

Grigory Maximilianovich was remembered by his contemporaries as a fat man, but in his youth he was an athletically built young man who easily pulled himself up on the horizontal bars and twisted the "sun" on the crossbar.

Policy

It is difficult to say what made the young man join the ranks of the Bolsheviks. Perhaps Malenkov chose this path on his own or was guided by intuition. Initially, Malenkov was a political worker of the squadron, regiment and brigade. Georgy Maksimilianovich walked up the career ladder rapidly. Already from 1920 to 1930, he was an employee of the organizational department of the Central Committee, and in 1927 Malenkov received the rank of technical secretary of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee.

Before the start of the war, Georgy Maksimilianovich led the secret apparatus of the Comintern, and after it began, Malenkov was a member of the State Defense Committee, participated in the operation to defeat the Germans near Moscow. It is also known that Georgy Maksimilianovich, on the personal instructions of Stalin, played a leading role in the "Leningrad case" (late 40s - early 50s), which was a series of trials against party leaders. A total of 214 people were convicted, some of them were rehabilitated in 1954.

Malenkov threatened the regional committee secretaries to admit that there was an anti-government group in Leningrad. Such statesmen as Alexei Kuznetsov, Pyotr Popkov, Nikolai Voznesensky, Mikhail Rodionov and other "enemies of the people" fell under disgrace.

It is noteworthy that after the death of Stalin, no one had any doubts that Malenkov would take the post of head of the Soviet Union, and the leaders of the party and the citizens of the USSR saw Georgy Maximilianovich as a new leader of the people. Already in March 1953, Malenkov became chairman of the Council of Ministers and delivered a report exposing the cult of personality, however, the audience did not care about Malenkov's recitations, and judging by the transcript, only Khrushchev supported him.

Georgy Maximilianovich remained in the leading position until February 8, 1955, and was removed from his post thanks to his liberal ideas and the desire to cut the incomes of the top. This allowed Nikita Sergeevich to carry out a coup d'état. Malenkov was remembered by the inhabitants of the country as the man who lifted the ban on foreign press, as well as customs transportation. But during the reign of Georgy Maximilianovich, the people did not pay due attention to the ongoing changes.

Personal life

The personal life of Georgy Maximilianovich is not full of events. It is known that the politician had one wife - Valeria Alekseevna Golubtsova, with whom he legalized relations in 1920. Golubtsova served as the rector of MPEI, and in the post-war years she was almost the most influential woman in the Soviet Union.

Valeria Alekseevna achieved anything, for example, at the direction of Georgy Maximilianovich's wife, tram lines were drawn to the educational building itself. Three children were born in the family of Georgy Maksimilianovich and Golubtsova: sons Andrey and Georgy and daughter Volya Malenkova.

Death

Since 1973, the ex-Chairman of the Council of Ministers lived with his family in Moscow, in an ordinary two-room apartment on Second Sinichkina Street, later moved to Frunzenskaya.

It is known that in the last years of his life, Georgy Maximilianovich did not seek the favor of the authorities, accepted the Orthodox faith and repented. When Molotov and Kaganovich's pensions were raised, Malenkov did not ask for such a service, moreover, he did not even attach himself to the Kremlin canteen.

“Malenkov was either afraid to remind the new leadership of the country of his existence, or did not want to remind himself of what he had and lost,” recalled Central Committee member Mikhail Sergeyevich Smirtyukov.

On January 14, 1988, the third leader of the Land of Soviets died at the age of 86. The true cause of death of Georgy Maximilianovich is not known for certain.

Malenkov is buried at the Kuntsevo cemetery. In memory of Georgy Maximilianovich, more than one documentary and feature film has been shot. It is known that Viktor Khokhryakov, Yuri Rudchenko, Valery Magdyash, Jeffrey Tambor and other movie actors played Stalin's ally.

Memory

• 1996 - "Children of the Revolution"
• 2003 - “Special folder. Grigory Malenkov"
• 2005 - “The Failed Leader. Georgy Malenkov»
• 2007 - Malenkov. The Third Leader of the Land of Soviets"
• 2017 - "Death of Stalin"