Lavrentiy Beria: Stalin’s Architect of Terror 

@chanctonbury63 sorry typo nazi.

@chanctonbury63 Извините, товарищ

@chanctonbury63 Google translate shift. I was bored watching the United saints game.

@chanctonbury63 manchester United v Southampton game. You may call it soccer. Just finished. Edit--saints is Southampton nick name in my land. Which isn't Russia. You should be able to guess by now.

@chanctonbury63 why would you even think I was a Russian bot. My post was hardly pro, or anti Russian. Just a joke on the behalf of Stalin. Wouldn't that be a crime of some type? If I was Russian.

J Mace Kaiserreich

Thatd make me sad :(

Ofcourse you can. Just think it in ur mind

Imagination! 😃

Exactly 🤷👌

a cowardly worm to the last

Damn commies

Dean Cutler - well....so did Yagoda and Yezhov....

@Brocialist Party of America Sorry Bro, you described childs play over your brocialist screwing billions of people during 2nd half of the 20th century. And I know that from my own experience, not just theoretic saloon socialist perspective.

Hopefully he was terrified and died painfully.

Ikr

Great movie

But...but...it was supposed to be a communal system! HAHAHAHAHAHA Communism is the biggest farce in human history.

I learned about him in a video about if operation long jump succeeded

Movie is hilarious and simultaneously brutal.

Thanks, fam.

Fuckit, I'm THAT GUY, but unlike I'm mistaken Morris M seems to deserve the credit, as author of the episode. Not trying to deflate what you pointed out, which I liked. Just pushing a spotlight on the other guy.

I like that, "sentient suppository."

I legit laughed out loud at the "sentient suppository" line, OMG 😂

Beautiful beautiful words

Daniel The reason is because Marxism was shown clearly for the ugly thing bared.

Leninism. Marxism is a totally different thing. Marxism-Leninism (Bolshevik ideology and the ideology of most of the Eastern Bloc and their satellite states) is really just Leninism. The actions and revolutions of a more pure Marxist strain tended towards mass movements, unions, minimized violence, democracy and a distinct libertarian tendency where Leninism and it's vanguard party theory can only result in bloodshed and power struggles. Most Marxists (especially during Stalinist Russia and many still today) readily denounce the USSR and their tactics (see Luxemburg) and do not seek anything resembling totalitarian dictatorships and police states. I'm not a Marxist myself, but I think it's important not to conflate the two very different thoughts as they are most definitely not the same. Marx and Marxism became more of a trope and a popular idea that was played to by an opportunist Lenin and the Bolsheviks under him, similar to the Nazi's use of leftist symbols, slogans, rhetoric due to their popular support in Germany at the time while both wings of the party were explicitly anti Marxist, anti socialist/communist and especially anti Bolshevik. This all fits into the context of the Russian revolution which was very much guided by popular support of Libertarian Socialist ideals before the counter revolution of the Bolsheviks as they systematically crushed opposition and solidified their grip on power. Too much nuance for the unthinking people of the world, but we don't have many great long term examples of Marxism in action on a long-term scale and anyone saying otherwise doesn't understand Marxism or Leninism well at all. Because Leninism is what we've seen crush much of the world under it's extremely flawed ideology, not Marxism. And Leninism's rise was the greatest blow to Socialism the world has ever seen and it's fall in most if the world Socialism's biggest win so far. Nuances matter ✌

What are the main mistakes of Lenin? In what way does Leninism contradict Marxism?

Indeed, Leninism is at its worst by far where it conforms to Marxism, as Lenin discovered to the detriment of Russia after the Revolution. He was forced to reverse most of the Marxist measures after they led to a broken economy and the death of millions. The NEP was a little known part of Soviet history, and short-lived, because after it came Stalin. Indeed, Lenin might be an interesting subject for this channel, as he's a lot more complex and tragic than the run-of-the-mill Soviet leader.

Most leftists say that the Soviet regime wasn't real Communism, but it WAS true Communism. Karl Marx explicitly said in the Communist Manifesto among other works that Communism involves a totalitarian stage, Marx called it " Dictatorship of The Prolitariat ". Plus, the implementation of Communism requires totalitarianism because most people don't give up their possessions, labor, etc willingly, not without being compensated in some way, Thus the confiscation and other things inheirant to Communism can really only happen on a national level at the barrels of state guns. Moreover, totalitarianism is needed to sustain Communism.

Eichmann’s type of evil is the most insidious-banal indifference. I’m glad he swung from a rope, even if it was 17 years late

Biased, why wouldn't he call beria as "that" then

@@rogerthat3157 it would have become tedious to do through an entire video. But, as a quick jab at someone, it works well.

@@rogerthat3157 Not biased.

ერთადერთი ადეკვატური კომენტარი

I'm not sure itbcould have been too different. Maybe the Soviets would have collapsed later, maybe in the mid-2000s, or even the 2010s, but it would have collapsed and there would have been a cold war between the two nuclear powers.

would have been like china today

So true!!! These details should be spoken out too. Otherwise, it's half truth

@@dasdoohjhgf3975 Lmao, gotta love how Georgian nationalists idolise criminals like Beria due to the latter being Georgians. Did you miss the part where he was raping women and little girls? Does that sound worthy of admiration to you?

Same here

Info about history is good regardless if it's a doc or comedy. It can inspire you to learn more then you knew before you watched it.

Jason Isaacs as Marshall Zhukov stole the show.

Stalin said the same thing to the Germans when the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was signed.

Alec Avdakov That was rather a neat put down. Stalin could do subtle sarcasm when he wanted (even though he hadn't been to college)

He had 50,000 books in his library, most of which were filled with notes written by him in the margins.

@@petebondurant58 He was quite the literature buff. Probably why he had so many writers killed. It was an extreme form of literary criticism.

And the SOB even looks like Himmler

that is indeed a valuable example. I knew about Yezhov being erased from the picture of the canal, but I'd never heard of Beria's encyclopedia article being erased that way. I'm not surprised. Live by the summary execution, die by the summary execution.

@@jasoncarswell7458 Very interesting photos of Yezhov (and not-Yezhov). I didn't realise he was Beira's boss.

@@capcompass9298 NKVD Chairmen tended to train their deputies in the art of murder, torture and false accusations... and then have them practiced on them. Happened to Yagoda at Yezhov's hands, then Yezhov at Beria's hands, and finally Beria at Ivan Serov's hands.

@@jasoncarswell7458 it's like sith lords and their apprentices xD

Sounds like a villain from Mortal Kombat.

I have, according to Jung Chang this Chinese version of Beria always caried a puppy with him wherever he went!

Any recommendations for books on him?

Pretty sure he knows

if you're any good at being the secret police, no one should know your name!

This might be the most underated comment I've ever read 😂

Stalin was funny? 😂😂

@@Kruppt808 he had some...interesting quotes.

Good one...

@Frederick Röders Except that in capitalism people work for food while in communism the people leading the country are the only people with food.

😲 😏

"Oh dear. Look at the time."

😂😂

Beria is better than an alcoholic Poroshenko)

I fervently hope that the Ukrainian people have a happier future ahead of them- in the past century they have certainly been through hell.

I know that life was cheap back then but anyone who knows anything about Stalins regime knows what a disgusting turd Beria was. Wonderful presentation Simon. You’re fantastic.

Yes, the murdery psychos are always backed by a team of murdery psychos, aren't they? Birds of a feather, I guess, sadly for the rest of the world.

Read Anne Applebaum's 'Red Famine'...

toastedaudiolab Wonderful imagery.

In my opinion, this was a move by Berria to survive in the absence of Stalin. Berria had to distance himself from Stalin's policies to cover his own crimes as a reformer. I think his plan was to lay all of it at Stalin's feet.

You wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Beria then😂

@@user-bp1nc4ug4j If it weren’t for Beria his grandad would have never gone to prison in all likelihood

I guess even a monster like Beria can still do a good deed if he gets something out of it. It's always fascinating to me when history's great villains do in fact have something positive to their name

The only really sad thing is that because of Beria and how grotesque he was, I don't want to watch that movie with him in it again.

@@Lowlandlord I'd tell you to not worry since it's lighthearted in a twisted sort of way but beria is like the nail of realism that reminds you the events in the films were completely true, they don't show away from how fucked up of a monster he was, the comedy aspect even fades away from the last minutes or the film too + he's actually shown being a fucking worm with a little girl, so yeah

CHI LONG QUA the “Stalinist Baroque” style of brutalist Soviet architecture is definitely a terror. One need only look at Pragues skyline. The beautiful“Vienna of the North” marred by hideous communist era high rises.

Pretty Lame!

Albert Speer, Beria is not

​@@Mister_KourkoutasThose buildings are not Stalin's Baroque, but usually constructed much later... to see that, look upon the architecture of such towns as have been built as palaces to house the NKVD/OGPU Overlords of the Gulag; the down towns of cities like Magadan, Norilsk, Vorkuta... there architecture feels almost spookily Draculean, yet, classically Romanesque. angular ensembles, with lines clearly showing the influence of totalitarian, even Nazi forms, the pale, intricately carved colonnaded square buildings of pale panted panes, rimmed by mounts and cornices of bare white cement, look almost beautiful, if the viewer ignores their multilayered, deep, Luciferical touch. the high rises, were the fruits of a time when the evils of a bloodthirsty maniacs rule were watered down to a mediocre stench of the Grimpen quagmire of a fallen civilization

Dan McLeod John Issacs made me laugh my ass off in that movie

Pretty good movie, idk why but it seems like he knew what was coming but still he played his part trying to change it but he failed horribly.

Steve Buscemi considered playing Khrushchev the role of a lifetime.

MVP- Jason Isaacs as brogue Yorkshireman Zhukov

Essential reading if you enjoy this era. Court of the Red Tsar by Simon Sebag Montefiorri . Great book 👍

Simon Russell Beale did a great job with the character.

Loved it too.

Reminds me of the old saying,a sexually transmitted, terminal condition, life.

Amazing how in modern times we see the same exact thing going on. Certain people that are politically damaging keep coming up dead. Now the total is past 100. Its almost as if the same EXACT play book is being used. Latest examples: Christopher Sign and Jeffrey Epstein.

The poor but audible s alliteration added to his voice and accent really make a big difference but yes, I will definitely use that insult on colleagues starting tomorrow

AsapNicky Bars or he just has his settings private. You must be one of those communist enthusiasts, quite sure that if YOU were the dictator, things would be better. Funny how they never are lol.

AsapNicky Bars is English not your first language?, this video is very anti-communist. The OP was also just remarking about the "sentient suppository " quip, which happens to be a very funny bit of writing (if you understand English). And you seem to be anti-Semitic, so we're done here.

Lost it at that one.

Ruth Beaty Yes. Up your's Stalin!

All of them. Welcome Boris!

@@stephenreeds3672 why do you keep saying welcome Boris

@@flamixflame2685 Don't know about keep on saying? "Only once. Like Beria, Boris seems only interested in power. And look what he's doing with it.

@@stephenreeds3672 lmao lunatic, comparing Boris to beria is shamefully disingenuous

We like Ike

@@Kruppt808 everybody likes ike

funny because he usually burned the corpses of innocent Abkhazians instead of burying them.

Khrushchev: I will bury you in history.

Thank you :). One of my favourite things about biographies!

Simon almost looks just like Beria in facial appearance

They become mass murderers

Actually thats not always the sole reason Stalin for an example was abused by his father and once Stalin threw a knife at his father to stop him from abusing his mother and his mother was devult and very strict wich is why Joseph hated her and even called her "an old whole" in front of others or his colleagues

It was a stupid comment from our host to say that no one heard of Beria. From NZ, never studied history but of course know who Beria was.

A certain amount of preaching to the choir, yes. I think perhaps that was a little bit of word of mouth advertising on his part. Those who know might comment to those who don't, who might find themselves interested in finding out, despite themselves. A gain for all, in the end.

@Tropic Lightning And that's the absolute truth. Perhaps the biggest chunk of it we're going to find.

@@MrWhodatsay It was rumoured he had halitosis, his breath was rancid ☠️

Well conditions of Stalin's death is wery suspitious it's posible that he was poisoned. He lied half dead on the flor in the pool of his own urine for 3 days...

+Tamo Lamo - Well at least we can be comforted that Stalin got to feel a sense of helplessness near the end, albeit very briefly. Too bad it didn't go on for longer considering the horrors he visited upon millions. But rarely do dictators get what they truly deserve.

@Irina He was a horrible person but actually quite "liberal" on policy issues.

Well as the joke in the movie went, "Nobody" wanted to run the risk of disturbing 'Uncle Joe' while he was 'resting'--other wise you might end up getting 'liquidated/disappeared'

He did Beria killed him with digoxin triggering a massive stroke that although it didn't kill him outright it made sure the bastard laid there and suffered for three days before he died! The greatest irony was that Beria killed Stalin to save himself from the executioners block ,yet those others like him from Stalin's circle Who no doubt would have been purged /executed if Stalin's purge Had happened didn't trust him either, he killed the monster he served and ironically still ended up with a shot to the back of the head after shitting himself and begging for his life!

They were a lot more fun in the 1940s.

Lol

I still don't understand how more people don't talk about Katyń massacre. It's insane how much respect the soviet monsters get just for fighting fascists and everything they do bad is ignored.

@Leonardo's Truth why would a just god torture his own creation?

I doubt that Pope Francis said that.

Probably because said creation did a bad thing and is being punished? “Just” doesn’t only mean “altruistic”

You speak as if you're not human yourself

Not all humans are bad. ALao many humans overthrew dictator

Stalin actually did think of Beria as his 'Himmler'

@@kllk12ful > Stalin actually did think of Beria as his 'Himmler' Wow, you can actually read thought over distance and time! @kcsledge95 > Making the case for Beria being a suck-up to Stalin immediately made immediately me think of him as Stalin's Himmler. LOVE being vindicated! It makes me think that a story is a lie )))

Glad you’re enjoying them :)

Zhukov was a beast of a commander

@@mojotheaverage and an extreme war criminal

Rokossovskiy, Konev, Chuikov, Timoshenko, and quite a few others would disagree.

don't forget about the dwarf Yezhov

@@satrio303 who is this "Yezhov" person? He didn't exist, according to my 1940 edition of the Soviet encyclopedia.

Can you elaborate a bit more on that please. Hosking playing Beria? I was not aware of that. He passed away a few years ago i believe . Bob Hoskins played Nikita Krushev in Enemy at the Gates who was very convincing as was Richard Harris as the German Major Konig to get the soviet sniper played by Jude Law. Sadly the film was let down a bit by Rachel Weisz who was meant to be the romance that blossomed between her and Law. Stalingrad had no place for romance ! The film was very well done BUT that was the one factor that let the film down. War movies are never an easy genre . It starts with the equipment and authentic uniforms and some attention to historic details . Get that wrong and you already make yourself a laughing stock, not that the wider masses and herds of sheep would register little and finer details, BUT to throw a tear jerking romance into a Stalingrad scenario , with a happy ending of bliss and reunion in a field hospital where the lovers meet again, was crinch making . Rather un British and the film was British made but clearly the happy ending was made for the American audience who like a bit of apple pie, even in Stalingrad! It got mixed revues when it came out in 2001 but i liked it in most parts , great on the BIG screen , except for that truly silly Rachel Weisz romantic part between her and Law. Prost und Nastrovie NOT !

Untrue, I have extensive historical knowledge and never heard of him until the movie Death of Stalin on Netflix, which led me here

@@intercommerce First heard of him on a blooper record of a western. In mid sixties. There's a lot of shooting,then a voice breaks in announcing Lavrenti Beria has just been shot. Back to the western, well that ought to hold him. Right after all the shots.

@@intercommerce By definition then you did not have 'extensive historical knowledge'.

untrue. I have 2 or 3 degrees in modern history and had never heard of him until i read simon seabag montifioris book on Stalin

Untrue. I have extensive knowledge on the galactic civil war, human covenant war, and emu war is extensive, and I’ve got 5-6 degrees in historical related things, and I’ve never heard of this guy.

and Jason Alexander

I don't see it

Stalin once said to Truman "This is our Himmler."