Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky ( pl, Feliks Dzierżyński ; russian: Фе́ликс Эдму́ндович Дзержи́нский; – 20 July 1926), nicknamed "Iron Felix", was a
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...
revolutionary and official, born into
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles
Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...
nobility. From 1917 until his death in 1926, Dzerzhinsky led the first two Soviet
state-security organizations, the
Cheka
The All-Russian Extraordinary Commission ( rus, Всероссийская чрезвычайная комиссия, r=Vserossiyskaya chrezvychaynaya komissiya, p=fsʲɪrɐˈsʲijskəjə tɕrʲɪzvɨˈtɕæjnəjə kɐˈmʲisʲɪjə), abbreviated ...
and the
OGPU, establishing a
secret police
Secret police (or political police) are intelligence, security or police agencies that engage in covert operations against a government's political, religious, or social opponents and dissidents. Secret police organizations are characteristic of ...
for the
post-revolutionary Soviet regime
The political system of the Soviet Union took place in a federal single-party soviet socialist republic framework which was characterized by the superior role of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), the only party permitted by the Co ...
. He was one of the architects of the
Red Terror
The Red Terror (russian: Красный террор, krasnyj terror) in Soviet Russia was a campaign of political repression and executions carried out by the Bolsheviks, chiefly through the Cheka, the Bolshevik secret police. It started in lat ...
and
decossackization.
Early life
![POL COA Samson](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/POL_COA_Samson.svg)
Felix Dzerzhinsky was born on 11 September 1877 to ethnically
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles
Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...
parents of noble descent, at the Dzerzhinovo family estate, about from the small town of
Ivyanets
Ivyanets ( be, Iвяне́ц, ; russian: Ивенец; pl, Iwieniec), also known as Ivianec, is a town in the Valozhyn District of Minsk Region, Belarus. It is located west of Minsk, and has a population of 4,206 (2017).
Ivyanets is best known ...
in the
Minsk Governorate
The Minsk Governorate (russian: Минская губерния, Belarusian: ) or Government of Minsk was a governorate ('' guberniya'') of the Russian Empire. The seat was in Minsk. It was created in 1793 from the land acquired in the partitio ...
of the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
(now
Belarus
Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...
). In the Russian Empire, his family was of a type known as "
column-listed nobility" (russian: столбовое дворянство, stolbovoe dvorianstvo),
[Igor Kuznetsov. ]
The Chekist No.1. The life of terror parent (Чекист № 1. Житие отца террора)
'. BelGazeta. 21 July 2020 whose nobility was formally acknowledged, but so old that they did not enjoy the privileges of the new nobility. His sister Wanda died at the age of 12, when she was accidentally shot with a hunting rifle on the family estate by one of her brothers. At the time of the incident, there were conflicting claims as to whether Felix or his brother Stanisław was responsible for the accident.
His father, Edmund-Rufin Dzierżyński graduated from the
Saint Petersburg Imperial University
Saint Petersburg Imperial University (russian: Санкт-Петербургский Императорский университет) was a Russian higher education institution based in Saint Petersburg, one of the twelve Imperial universities ...
in 1863 and moved to
Vilnius
Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...
, where he worked as a home teacher for a professor of Saint Petersburg University named Januszewski and eventually married Januszewski's daughter Helena Ignatievna, who also was of Polish origin. In 1868, after a short period in
Kherson
Kherson (, ) is a port city of Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers appr ...
gymnasium, he worked as a
gymnasium teacher of physics and mathematics at the gymnasiums of
Taganrog
Taganrog ( rus, Таганрог, p=təɡɐnˈrok) is a port city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, on the north shore of the Taganrog Bay in the Sea of Azov, several kilometers west of the mouth of the Don River. Population:
History of Taganrog
Th ...
in the
Don Host Province
The Province (Oblast) of the Don Cossack Host (, ''Oblast’ Voyska Donskogo'') of Imperial Russia was the official name of the territory of Don Cossacks, coinciding approximately with the present-day Rostov Oblast of Russia. Its site of adm ...
,
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
, particularly the
Chekhov Gymnasium
The Chekhov Gymnasium in Taganrog on Ulitsa Oktyabrskaya 9 (formerly Gymnasicheskaya Street) is the oldest gymnasium in the South of Russia. Playwright and short-story writer Anton Chekhov spent 11 years in the school, which was later named af ...
.
In 1875, Edmund Dzierżyński retired due to health conditions and moved with his family to his estate near
Ivyanets
Ivyanets ( be, Iвяне́ц, ; russian: Ивенец; pl, Iwieniec), also known as Ivianec, is a town in the Valozhyn District of Minsk Region, Belarus. It is located west of Minsk, and has a population of 4,206 (2017).
Ivyanets is best known ...
and
Rakaŭ, Russian Empire. In 1882, Felix's father died from
tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...
.
As a youngster Dzerzhinsky became a polyglot, speaking:
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles
Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...
,
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
,
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
and
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
. He attended the
Vilnius Gymnasium
Vilnius Boys' Gymnasiums () were two secondary education institutions that existed in Vilnius while it was part of the Russian Empire. The 1st Gymnasium was opened in 1803 and closed in 1918. The 1st and 2nd gymnasiums were located in the premises ...
from 1887 to 1895. One of the older students at this gymnasium was his future arch-enemy,
Józef Piłsudski
Józef Klemens Piłsudski (; 5 December 1867 – 12 May 1935) was a Polish statesman who served as the Naczelnik państwa, Chief of State (1918–1922) and Marshal of Poland, First Marshal of Second Polish Republic, Poland (from 1920). He was ...
. Years later, as Marshal of Poland, Piłsudski recalled that Dzerzhinsky "distinguished himself as a student with delicacy and modesty. He was rather tall, thin and demure, making the impression of an ascetic with the face of an icon... Tormented or not, this is an issue history will clarify; in any case this person did not know how to lie." School documents show that Dzerzhinsky attended his first year in school twice, while his eighth year he was not able to finish. Dzerzhinsky received a school diploma which stated: "Dzerzhinsky Feliks, who is 18 years of age, of
Catholic faith
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
, along with a satisfactory attention and satisfactory diligence showed the following successes in sciences, namely: Divine law—"good"; Logic, Latin, Algebra, Geometry, Mathematical geography, Physics, History (of Russia), French—"satisfactory"; Russian and Greek—"unsatisfactory".
Political affiliations and arrests
Two months before he expected to graduate, the gymnasium expelled Dzerzhinsky for "revolutionary activity" and for posting signs with communist slogans at the school. He had joined a
Marxist
Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...
group, the
Union of Workers (Socjaldemokracja Królestwa Polskiego "SDKP"), in 1895. In late April 1896 he was one of 15 delegates at the first congress of the
Lithuanian Social Democratic Party
The Social Democratic Party of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos socialdemokratų partija, LSDP) is a centre-left and social democratic political party in Lithuania. Founded as an underground Marxist organization in 1896, it is the oldest extant part ...
(LSDP). In 1897 he attended the second congress of the LSDP, where it rejected independence in favor of national autonomy. On 18 March 1897 he was sent to
Kaunas
Kaunas (; ; also see other names) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the largest city and the centre of a county in the Duchy of Trakai ...
to take advantage of the arrest of the Polish Socialist Party (PPS) branch. He worked in a book-binding factory and set up an illegal press. As an organizer of a shoemakers' strike, Dzerzhinsky was arrested for "criminal agitation among the Kaunas workers"; the police files from this time state: "Felix Dzerzhinsky, considering his views, convictions and personal character, will be very dangerous in the future, capable of any crime." Dzerzhinsky envisioned merging the LSDP with the
Russian Social Democratic Labour Party
The Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP; in , ''Rossiyskaya sotsial-demokraticheskaya rabochaya partiya (RSDRP)''), also known as the Russian Social Democratic Workers' Party or the Russian Social Democratic Party, was a socialist pol ...
(RSDLP) and was a follower of
Rosa Luxemburg on a national issue.
He was arrested on a denunciation for his revolutionary activities for the first time in 1897, after which he served almost a year in the Kaunas prison. In 1898 Dzerzhinsky was exiled for three years to the
Vyatka Governorate
Vyatka Governorate (russian: Вятская губерния, udm, Ватка губерний, mhr, Виче губерний, tt-Cyrl, Вәтке губернасы) was a governorate of the Russian Empire and Russian SFSR, with its capital ...
(city of
Nolinsk
Nolinsk (russian: Ноли́нск) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town and the administrative center of Nolinsky District in Kirov Oblast, Russia, located on the right bank of the Voya River (Vyatka River, Vyatka's tributary), sout ...
) where he worked at a local tobacco factory. There Dzerzhinsky was arrested for agitating for revolutionary activities and was sent north to the village of . In August 1899 he returned to Vilnius. Dzerzhinsky subsequently became one of the founders of
Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania
The Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania ( pl, Socjaldemokracja Królestwa Polskiego i Litwy, SDKPiL), , LKLSD), originally the Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland (SDKP), was a Marxist political party founded in 1893 and ...
( pl , Socjaldemokracja Królestwa Polskiego i Litwy, SDKPiL) in 1899. In February 1900 he was arrested again and served his time at first in the
Alexander Citadel in Warsaw and later at the
Siedlce
Siedlce [] ( yi, שעדליץ ) is a city in eastern Poland with 77,354 inhabitants (). Situated in the Masovian Voivodeship (since 1999), previously the city was the capital of a separate Siedlce Voivodeship (1975–1998). The city is situated b ...
prison. In 1902 Dzerzhinsky was sent deep into Siberia for the next five years to the remote town of
Vilyuysk
Vilyuysk ( rus, Вилюйск, p=vʲɪˈlʲʉjsk; sah, Бүлүү, ''Bülüü'') is a town and the administrative center of Vilyuysky District in the Sakha Republic, Russia, located on the Vilyuy River (left tributary of the Lena), about fro ...
, while ''en route'' being temporarily held at the Alexandrovsk Transitional Prison near
Irkutsk
Irkutsk ( ; rus, Иркутск, p=ɪrˈkutsk; Buryat language, Buryat and mn, Эрхүү, ''Erhüü'', ) is the largest city and administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia. With a population of 617,473 as of the 2010 Census, Irkutsk is ...
. While in exile he escaped on a boat and later emigrated from the country. He traveled to
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
, where at the SDKPiL conference Dzerzhinsky was elected a secretary of its party committee abroad ( pl , Komitet Zagraniczny, KZ) and met with several prominent leaders of the Polish Social Democratic movement, including
Rosa Luxemburg and
Leo Jogiches
Leon "Leo" Jogiches (Russian: Лев "Лео" Йогихес; 17 July 1867 – 10 March 1919), also commonly known by the party name Jan Tyszka, was a Polish Marxist revolutionary and politician, active in Poland, Lithuania, and Germany.
Jogiche ...
. They gained control of the party organization through the creation of a committee called the ''Komitet Zagraniczny'' (KZ), which dealt with the party's foreign relations. As secretary of the KZ, Dzerzhinsky was able to dominate the SDKPiL. In Berlin, he organized publication of the newspaper ''Czerwony Sztandar'' ("Red Banner"), and transportation of illegal literature from
Kraków
Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...
into
Congress Poland
Congress Poland, Congress Kingdom of Poland, or Russian Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It w ...
. Being a delegate to the IV Congress of SDKPiL in 1903 Dzerzhinsky was elected as a member of its General Board.
Dzerzhinsky visited
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
, where his fiancée Julia Goldman, the sister of
Boris Gorev
Boris Isaakovich Gorev (4 December 1874, Vilno – 27 December 1937) was a revolutionary and writer who was active in both he Bolshevik and Menshevik wings of the Russian Social Democratic and Labour Party.
He was the son of Isaak Meerovich Go ...
, was undergoing treatment for
tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...
. She died in his arms on 4 June 1904. Her illness and death depressed him - in letters to his sister, Dzerzhinsky explained that he no longer saw any meaning for his life. That changed with the
Russian Revolution of 1905
The Russian Revolution of 1905,. also known as the First Russian Revolution,. occurred on 22 January 1905, and was a wave of mass political and social unrest that spread through vast areas of the Russian Empire. The mass unrest was directed again ...
, as Dzerzhinsky became involved with work again. After the revolution failed he was again jailed in July 1905, this time by the
Okhrana. In October he was released on amnesty. As a delegate to the
4th Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party in Stockholm, Dzerzhinsky entered the central body of the party. From July through September 1906, he lived in
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
and then returned to Warsaw, where he was arrested again in December of the same year. In June 1907 Dzerzhinsky was released on bail. At the
5th Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, in London in May–June 1907, he was elected ''in absentia'' as a member of the
Central Committee of the Russian Social-Democratic Labor Party. In April 1908 Dzerzhinsky was arrested once again in
Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
and again exiled to Siberia (
Yeniseysk Governorate
Yeniseysk Governorate (russian: Енисе́йская губе́рния) was a governorate ('' guberniya'') of the Russian Empire and later of the Russian Republic, Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic in 1822-1925.
General info ...
) in 1909. As before, Dzerzhinsky managed to escape (by November 1909). In 1910 he reached Italy, where he met
Maxim Gorky
Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (russian: link=no, Алексе́й Макси́мович Пешко́в; – 18 June 1936), popularly known as Maxim Gorky (russian: Макси́м Го́рький, link=no), was a Russian writer and social ...
on
Capri; he then returned to Poland.
Back in
Kraków
Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...
in 1910, Dzerzhinsky married RSDLP party member
Zofia Muszkat, who was already pregnant. A month later she was arrested; she gave birth to their son Janek in
Pawiak
Pawiak () was a prison built in 1835 in Warsaw, Congress Poland.
During the January 1863 Uprising, it served as a transfer camp for Poles sentenced by Imperial Russia to deportation to Siberia.
During the World War II German occupation ...
prison. In 1911 Zofia was sentenced to permanent Siberian exile, and she left the child with her father. Dzerzhinsky saw his son for the first time in March 1912 in Warsaw. In attending the welfare of his child, Dzerzhinsky repeatedly exposed himself to the danger of arrest. On one occasion, Dzerzhinsky narrowly escaped an ambush that the police had prepared at the apartment of his father-in-law.
Dzerzhinsky continued to direct the Social Democratic Party (SDKPiL), while considering his continued freedom "only a game of the Okhrana". The Okhrana, however, was not playing a game; Dzerzhinsky simply was a master of conspiratorial techniques and was therefore extremely difficult to find. A police file from this time says: "Dzerzhinsky continued to lead the Social Democratic party and at the same time he directed party work in Warsaw, led strikes, published appeals to workers, and traveled on party matters to
Łódź
Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of canti ...
and Kraków." The police were unable to arrest Dzerzhinsky until the end of 1912, when they found the apartment where he lived in the name of Władysław Ptasiński.
Revolution
Dzerzhinsky spent the next four-and-a-half years in tsarist prisons, first at the notorious
Tenth Pavilion
Warsaw Citadel (Polish: Cytadela Warszawska) is a 19th-century fortress in Warsaw, Poland. It was built by order of Tsar Nicholas I after the suppression of the 1830 November Uprising in order to bolster imperial Russian control of the city. ...
of the Warsaw Citadel. When
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
began in 1914, all political prisoners were relocated from Warsaw into Russia itself. Dzerzhinsky was taken to
Oryol Prison
The Oryol Prison has been a prison in Oryol since the 19th century. It was a notable place of incarceration for political prisoners and war prisoners of the Second World War.
The building of prison, built in 1840, is one of the oldest buildings ...
. He was very concerned about the fate of his wife and son, with whom he did not have any communication. Moreover, Dzerzhinsky was beaten frequently by the Russian prison guards, which caused permanent disfigurement of his jaw and mouth. In 1916, Dzerzhinsky was moved to the
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
Butyrka prison
Butyrskaya prison ( rus, Бутырская тюрьма, r= Butýrskaya tyurmá), usually known simply as Butyrka ( rus, Бутырка, p=bʊˈtɨrkə), is a prison in the Tverskoy District of central Moscow, Russia. In Imperial Russia it ...
, where he was soon hospitalized because the chains that he was forced to wear had caused severe cramps in his legs. Despite the prospects of amputation, Dzerzhinsky recovered and was put to labor sewing military uniforms.
Dzerzhinsky was freed from Butyrka after the
February Revolution of 1917
The February Revolution ( rus, Февра́льская револю́ция, r=Fevral'skaya revolyutsiya, p=fʲɪvˈralʲskəjə rʲɪvɐˈlʲutsɨjə), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and somet ...
. Soon after his release, Dzerzhinsky's goal was to organize Polish refugees in Russia and then go back to Poland and fight for the revolution there, writing to his wife that "together with these masses we will return to Poland after the war and become one whole with the SDKPiL." He remained in Moscow where he joined the
Bolshevik party
" Hymn of the Bolshevik Party"
, headquarters = 4 Staraya Square, Moscow
, general_secretary = Vladimir Lenin (first)Mikhail Gorbachev (last)
, founded =
, banned =
, founder = Vladimir Lenin
, newspaper ...
, writing to his comrades that "the Bolshevik party organization is the only Social Democratic organization of the proletariat, and if we were to stay outside of it, then we would find ourselves outside of the proletarian revolutionary struggle." Already in April, he entered the Moscow Committee of the Bolsheviks and soon thereafter was elected to the Executive Committee of the Moscow Soviet. Dzerzhinsky endorsed
Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...
's "
April Theses
The April Theses (russian: апрельские тезисы, transliteration: ') were a series of ten directives issued by the Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin upon his April 1917 return to Petrograd from his exile in Switzerland via Germany ...
", demanding uncompromising opposition to the
Russian Provisional Government
The Russian Provisional Government ( rus, Временное правительство России, Vremennoye pravitel'stvo Rossii) was a provisional government of the Russian Republic, announced two days before and established immediately ...
, the transfer of all political authority to the
Soviets
Soviet people ( rus, сове́тский наро́д, r=sovyétsky naród), or citizens of the USSR ( rus, гра́ждане СССР, grázhdanye SSSR), was an umbrella demonym for the population of the Soviet Union.
Nationality policy in ...
, and the immediate withdrawal of Russia from the war. Dzerzhinsky's brother Stanisław was murdered on the Dzerzhinsky estate by deserting Russian soldiers that same year.
[
Dzerzhinsky was elected subsequently to the Bolshevik Central Committee at the Sixth Party Congress in late July. He then moved from Moscow to ]Petrograd
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
to begin his new responsibilities. In Petrograd, Dzerzhinsky participated in the crucial session of the Central Committee in October and he strongly endorsed Lenin's demands for the immediate preparation of a rebellion, after which Felix Dzerzhinsky had an active role with the Military Revolutionary Committee
The Military Revolutionary Committee (russian: Военно-революционный комитет, ) was the name for military organs created by the Bolsheviks under the soviets in preparation for the October Revolution (October 1917 – Marc ...
during the October Revolution
The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key moment ...
. With the acquisition of power by the Bolsheviks, Dzerzhinsky eagerly assumed responsibility for making security arrangements at the Smolny Institute
The Smolny Institute (russian: Смольный институт, ''Smol'niy institut'') is a Palladian edifice in Saint Petersburg that has played a major part in the history of Russia.
History
The building was commissioned from Giacomo Qua ...
where the Bolsheviks had their headquarters.
Director of Cheka
Lenin regarded Felix Dzerzhinsky as a revolutionary hero and appointed him to organize a force to combat internal threats. On 20 December 1917, the Council of People's Commissars
The Councils of People's Commissars (SNK; russian: Совет народных комиссаров (СНК), ''Sovet narodnykh kommissarov''), commonly known as the ''Sovnarkom'' (Совнарком), were the highest executive authorities of ...
officially established the All-Russia Extraordinary Commission to Combat Counter-revolution and Sabotage—usually known as the Cheka
The All-Russian Extraordinary Commission ( rus, Всероссийская чрезвычайная комиссия, r=Vserossiyskaya chrezvychaynaya komissiya, p=fsʲɪrɐˈsʲijskəjə tɕrʲɪzvɨˈtɕæjnəjə kɐˈmʲisʲɪjə), abbreviated ...
(based on the Russian acronym ВЧК). Dzerzhinsky became its director. The Cheka received extensive resources, and became known for ruthlessly pursuing any perceived counterrevolutionary elements. As the Russian Civil War
, date = October Revolution, 7 November 1917 – Yakut revolt, 16 June 1923{{Efn, The main phase ended on 25 October 1922. Revolt against the Bolsheviks continued Basmachi movement, in Central Asia and Tungus Republic, the Far East th ...
expanded, Dzerzhinsky also began organizing internal security troops to enforce the Cheka's authority.
The Cheka
The All-Russian Extraordinary Commission ( rus, Всероссийская чрезвычайная комиссия, r=Vserossiyskaya chrezvychaynaya komissiya, p=fsʲɪrɐˈsʲijskəjə tɕrʲɪzvɨˈtɕæjnəjə kɐˈmʲisʲɪjə), abbreviated ...
became notorious for mass summary executions
may refer to:
* Abstract (summary), shortening a passage or a write-up without changing its meaning but by using different words and sentences
* Epitome, a summary or miniature form
* Abridgement, the act of reducing a written work into a sho ...
, performed especially during the Red Terror
The Red Terror (russian: Красный террор, krasnyj terror) in Soviet Russia was a campaign of political repression and executions carried out by the Bolsheviks, chiefly through the Cheka, the Bolshevik secret police. It started in lat ...
and the Russian Civil War
, date = October Revolution, 7 November 1917 – Yakut revolt, 16 June 1923{{Efn, The main phase ended on 25 October 1922. Revolt against the Bolsheviks continued Basmachi movement, in Central Asia and Tungus Republic, the Far East th ...
. The Cheka undertook drastic measures as thousands of political opponents and saboteurs were shot without trial in the basements of prisons and in public places. Dzerzhinsky said: "We represent in ourselves organized terror—this must be said very clearly," and "[The Red Terror
The Red Terror (russian: Красный террор, krasnyj terror) in Soviet Russia was a campaign of political repression and executions carried out by the Bolsheviks, chiefly through the Cheka, the Bolshevik secret police. It started in lat ...
involves] the terrorization, arrests and extermination of enemies of the revolution on the basis of their class affiliation or of their pre-revolutionary roles."
In 1922, at the end of the Civil War, the Cheka was dissolved and reorganized as the State Political Directorate
The State Political Directorate (also translated as the State Political Administration) (GPU) was the intelligence service and secret police of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR) from February 6, 1922, to December 29, 1922, ...
(Gosudarstvennoe Politicheskoe Upravlenie, or GPU), a section of the NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (russian: Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних дел, Naródnyy komissariát vnútrennikh del, ), abbreviated NKVD ( ), was the interior ministry of the Soviet Union.
...
. With the formation of the Soviet Union later that year, the GPU was again reorganized as the Joint State Political Directorate
The Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU; russian: Объединённое государственное политическое управление) was the Intelligence agency, intelligence and state security service and secret police ...
(Obyedinyonnoye gosudarstvennoye politicheskoye upravleniye, or OGPU), directly under the Council of People's Commissars. These changes did not diminish Dzerzhinsky's power; he was Minister of the Interior, director of the Cheka/GPU/OGPU, Minister for Communications, and director of the Vesenkha
Supreme Board of the National Economy, Superior Board of the People's Economy, (Высший совет народного хозяйства, ВСНХ, ''Vysshiy sovet narodnogo khozyaystva'', VSNKh) was the superior state institution for managem ...
(Supreme Council of National Economy) 1921–24. Indeed, while the (O)GPU was theoretically supposed to act with more restraint than the Cheka, in time its ''de facto'' powers grew even greater than those of the Cheka.
At his office in Lubyanka, Dzerzhinsky kept a portrait of fellow Polish revolutionary Rosa Luxemburg on the wall.
Besides his leadership of the secret police, Dzerzhinsky also took on a number of other roles; he led the fight against typhus in 1918, was chair of the Commissariat for Internal Affairs from 1919 to 1923, initiated a vast orphanage construction program, chaired the Transport Commissariat, organised the embalming of Lenin's body in 1924 and chaired the Society of Friends of Soviet Cinema.[''A Dictionary of 20th Century Communism''. Edited by Silvio Pons and Robert Service. Princeton University Press. 2010.]
Dzerzhinsky and Lenin
Dzerzhinsky became a Bolshevik as late as 1917. Therefore, it was wrong to assert (as official Soviet historians did subsequently) that Dzerzhinsky had been one of Lenin's oldest and most reliable comrades, or that Lenin had exercised some sort of spellbinding influence on Dzerzhinsky and the SDKPiL. Lenin and Dzerzhinsky frequently had opposing opinions about many important ideological and political issues of the pre-revolutionary period, and also after the October Revolution. After 1917, Dzerzhinsky would oppose Lenin on such crucial issues as the Brest-Litovsk peace, the trade unions, and Soviet nationality policy. During the April 1917 Party Conference when Lenin accused Dzerzhinsky of Great-Russian chauvinism he replied: "I can reproach him (Lenin) with standing at the point of view of the Polish, Ukrainian and other chauvinists."
From 1917 to his death in 1926, Dzerzhinsky was first and foremost a Russian Communist, and Dzerzhinsky's involvement in the affairs of the Polish Communist Party (which was founded in 1918) was minimal. The energy and dedication that had previously been responsible for the building of the SDKPiL would henceforth be devoted to the priorities of the struggle for Bolshevik power in Russia, to the defense of the revolution during the civil war, and eventually, to the tasks of socialist construction.
Death and legacy
Dzerzhinsky died of a heart attack
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...
on 20 July 1926 in Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
, immediately after a two-hour speech to the Bolshevik Central Committee during which, visibly quite ill, he violently denounced the United Opposition directed by Leon Trotsky
Lev Davidovich Bronstein. ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky; uk, link= no, Лев Давидович Троцький; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trotskij'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky''. (), was a Russian ...
, Grigory Zinoviev and Lev Kamenev. Upon hearing of his death, Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...
eulogized Dzerzhinsky as "a devout knight of the proletariat". Dzerzhinsky was buried in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis
The Kremlin Wall Necropolis was the national cemetery for the Soviet Union. Burials in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis in Moscow began in November 1917, when 240 pro-Bolshevik individuals who died during the Moscow Bolshevik Uprising were buried in m ...
. Today his grave is one of the twelve individual tombs located between the Lenin Mausoleum
Lenin's Mausoleum (from 1953 to 1961 Lenin's & Stalin's Mausoleum) ( rus, links=no, Мавзолей Ленина, r=Mavzoley Lenina, p=məvzɐˈlʲej ˈlʲenʲɪnə), also known as Lenin's Tomb, situated on Red Square in the centre of Moscow, i ...
and the Kremlin wall
The Moscow Kremlin Wall is a defensive wall that surrounds the Moscow Kremlin, recognisable by the characteristic notches and its Kremlin towers. The original walls were likely a simple wooden fence with guard towers built in 1156.
The Kremlin w ...
.
Dzerzhinsky was succeeded as chairman of the OGPU by Vyacheslav Menzhinsky
Vyacheslav Rudolfovich Menzhinsky (russian: Вячесла́в Рудо́льфович Менжи́нский, pl, Wiesław Mężyński; 19 August 1874 – 10 May 1934) was a Polish-Russian Bolshevik revolutionary, Soviet statesman and Communis ...
.
Dzierżyńszczyzna
Polish National Districts (called in Russian "полрайоны", ''polrajony'', an abbreviation for "польские национальные районы", "Polish national raions") were in the interbellum period possessing some form of a na ...
, one of the two Polish Autonomous District
Polish National Districts (called in Russian "полрайоны", ''polrajony'', an abbreviation for "польские национальные районы", "Polish national raions") were in the interbellum period possessing some form of a na ...
s in the Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
, was named to commemorate Dzerzhinsky. Located in Belarus
Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...
, near Minsk
Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...
and close to the Soviet-Polish border of the time, it was created on 15 March 1932, with the capital at Dzyarzhynsk
Dzyarzhynsk or Dzerzhinsk, formerly Koidanova or Koydanava ( be, Дзяржы́нск, Dziaržynsk, formerly , ; russian: Дзержи́нск, Dzerzhinsk, formerly , ; pl, Kojdanów; yi, קוידאַנאָוו, Koydanov; lt, Kaidanava), in t ...
(In Russian Dzerzhynsk, formerly known as Kojdanów), not far from the family estate. (The Dzerzhinsky estate itself remained inside Poland from 1921 to 1939.) The district was disbanded in 1935 at the onset of the Great Purge
The Great Purge or the Great Terror (russian: Большой террор), also known as the Year of '37 (russian: 37-й год, translit=Tridtsat sedmoi god, label=none) and the Yezhovshchina ('period of Nikolay Yezhov, Yezhov'), was General ...
, and most of its administration was executed.
Dzyarzhynskaya Hara
Dzyarzhynskaya Hara ( Belarusian: Дзяржынская гара - ''Dziaržynskaja hara'' ) is the highest point in Belarus. The hill is 345 meters (1,130 ft) above sea level and is located west of Minsk, near Dzyarzhynsk, in the village ...
(the highest point in Belarus), located near Dzyarzhynsk was named after Dzerzhinsky in 1958.
His name and image were used widely throughout the KGB and the Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
and other socialist countries; there were several places named after him. In Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
, there is the city of Dzerzhinsk, a village of Dzerzhinsk, and three other cities called Dzerzhinskiy; in other former Soviet republics, there was a city named for him in Armenia
Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...
and the aforementioned Dzyarzhynsk in Belarus. To comply with decommunization laws the Ukrainian cities Dzerzhynsk and Dniprodzerzhynsk were renamed Toretsk
Toretsk ( uk, Торе́цьк, Toretsk, ; russian: Торецк, Toretsk), formerly Dzerzhynsk ( uk, link=no, Дзержинськ, Dzerzhynsk; russian: link=no, Дзержинск, Dzerzhinsk), is a city of oblast significance in Donetsk Oblast ...
and Kamianske
Kamianske ( uk, Кам'янське, ), formerly Dniprodzerzhynsk, is an industrial city in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast of Ukraine and a port on the Dnieper. Administratively, it serves as the administrative center of Kamianske Raion. Kamianske hosts ...
in February and May 2016. A Ukrainian village in the Zhytomyr Oblast
Zhytomyr Oblast ( uk, Жито́мирська о́бласть, translit=Zhytomyrska oblast), also referred to as Zhytomyrshchyna ( uk, Жито́мирщина}) is an oblast (province) of northern Ukraine. The administrative center of the obla ...
was also named Dzerzhinsk until 2005, when it was renamed to Romaniv. The Dzerzhinskiy Tractor Works in Stalingrad were named in his honor and became a scene of bitter fighting during the Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. The FED camera, produced from 1934 to around 1996, is named for him, as was the FD class steam locomotive.
Iron Felix
A 15-ton iron monument of Dzerzhinsky, which once dominated the Lubyanka Square
Lubyanskaya Square (, Lubyanskaya ploshchad'), or simply Lubyanka in Moscow lies about north-east of Red Square. History first records its name in 1480, when Grand Prince Ivan III of Moscow, who had conquered Novgorod in 1471, settled many Novg ...
in Moscow, near the KGB
The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...
headquarters, also became known as "Iron Felix" ( ru , Железный Феликс - ''Zheleznyj Feliks''). Sculpted in 1958 by Yevgeny Vuchetich
Yevgeny Viktorovich Vuchetich (–12 April 1974) (russian: Евгений Викторович Вучетич; uk, Євген Вікторович Вучетич, ''Evhen Viktorovych Vuchetych'') was a prominent Soviet sculptor and artist. He is ...
, it served as a Moscow landmark during late Soviet times. Symbolically, the Memorial society erected the Solovetsky Stone
The Solovetsky Stone (russian: Солове́цкий ка́мень) is a monument on Lubyanka Square in Moscow to the victims of political repression. It is in close proximity to the Lubyanka Building, headquarters since 1918 of Soviet security ...
, a memorial to the victims of the Gulag (using a simple stone from Solovki in the White Sea
The White Sea (russian: Белое море, ''Béloye móre''; Karelian and fi, Vienanmeri, lit. Dvina Sea; yrk, Сэрако ямʼ, ''Serako yam'') is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located on the northwest coast of Russia. It is s ...
) beside the Iron Felix statue on 30 October 1990. The Moscow Soviet (Mossovet
The Mossoviet (Russian: Моссовет), an abbreviation of Moscow Soviet, (Московский Совет) was established following the February Revolution . Initially it was a parallel, shadow city administration of Moscow, Russia run by lef ...
) had the Dzerzhinsky statue removed to the Fallen Monument Park and laid on its side in August 1991, after the failed coup d'état attempt by hard-line Communist members of the government. A mock-up of the removal of Dzerzhinsky's statue can be found in the entrance hall of the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
The figure of Dzerzhinsky remains controversial in Russian society. Between 1999 and 2013, six proposals called for the return of the statue to its plinth. The Monument Art Commission of the Moscow City Duma
The Moscow City Duma (russian: Московская городская дума, Moskovskaya gorodskaya duma) is the regional parliament ( city duma) of Moscow, a federal subject and the capital city of Russia. As Moscow is one of three fede ...
rejected the proposals due to concerns that the proposed return would cause "unnecessary tension" in society. According to a December 2013 VTsIOM
Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM or VCIOM) ( rus, Всероссийский центр изучения общественного мнения – ВЦИОМ, Vserossiysky tsentr izucheniya obshchestvennogo mneniya) is a state-ow ...
poll, 46% of Russians favor the restoration of the statue to the Lubyanka Square, with 17% opposing it. The statue remained in a yard for old Soviet memorials at the Central House of Artists.
In April 2012, the Moscow authorities stated that they would renovate the "Iron Felix" monument in full and put the statue on a list of monuments to be renovated, as well as officially designating it an object of cultural heritage.
On April 26, 2021, it was announced by the prosecutor office of Moscow that the removal of the statue had no legal basis and was therefore illegal.
Other statues
A smaller bust of Dzerzhinsky in the courtyard of the Moscow police headquarters at Petrovka 38 was restored in November 2005 (police officers had removed this bust on 22 August 1991).
As it symbolised the Soviet Union and the Soviet influence over Poland, Dzerzhinsky's monument in Dzerzhinsky Square ( pl , Plac Dzierżyńskiego) in the center of Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
was toppled in 1989 as the Polish United Workers' Party
The Polish United Workers' Party ( pl, Polska Zjednoczona Partia Robotnicza; ), commonly abbreviated to PZPR, was the communist party which ruled the Polish People's Republic as a one-party state from 1948 to 1989. The PZPR had led two other lega ...
lost power in the course of the revolutions of 1989
The Revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, was a revolutionary wave that resulted in the end of most communist states in the world. Sometimes this revolutionary wave is also called the Fall of Nations or the Autumn of Natio ...
. The name of the square soon changed to its pre–Second World War name " Bank Square" ( pl , Plac Bankowy).
A 10-foot bronze replica of the original Iron Felix statue was placed on the grounds of the military academy in Minsk
Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...
, Belarus, in May 2006.
In 2017 on the 140th anniversary of Dzerzhinsky's birth, a monument to Dzerzhinsky was erected in the city of Ryazan
Ryazan ( rus, Рязань, p=rʲɪˈzanʲ, a=ru-Ryazan.ogg) is the largest city and administrative center of Ryazan Oblast, Russia. The city is located on the banks of the Oka River in Central Russia, southeast of Moscow. As of the 2010 Census ...
, Russia.
On January 20, 2017, the People's Public Security Academy in Hanoi, Vietnam inaugurated a Dzerzhinsky statue.
Dzerzhinovo
In 1943, the manor house of Dzerzhinovo, where Dzerzhinsky was born, was destroyed and family members (including Dzerzhinsky's brother Kazimierz) were killed by the Germans, because of their support for the Polish Home Army
The Home Army ( pl, Armia Krajowa, abbreviated AK; ) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) est ...
. In 2005, the Government of Belarus
The Government of the Republic of Belarus ( be, Урад Рэспублікі Беларусь), which consists of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus (), is the executive branch of state power in Belarus, and is appointed by the ...
rebuilt the house and established a museum. The graduating class of the KGB
The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...
academy holds its annual swearing-in at the manor.
See also
* Chronology of Soviet secret police agencies
Chronology (from Latin ''chronologia'', from Ancient Greek , ''chrónos'', "time"; and , ''-logia'') is the science of arranging events in their order of occurrence in time. Consider, for example, the use of a timeline or sequence of events. I ...
* " Dzerzhinsky Division" of the Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...
Internal Troops
The Internal Troops, full name Internal Troops of the Ministry for Internal Affairs (MVD) (russian: Внутренние войска Министерства внутренних дел, Vnutrenniye Voiska Ministerstva Vnutrennikh Del; abbreviat ...
* Felix Dzerzhinsky Guards Regiment
The Felix Dzerzhinsky Guards Regiment (German: ''Wachregiment "Feliks E. Dzierzynski"'') was the paramilitary wing of the Ministry for State Security (''Stasi''), the security service of the German Democratic Republic (GDR).
The Felix Dzerzhin ...
now defunct military unit of the East German
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
Ministry for State Security (commonly known as the Stasi)
* Monument to F. E. Dzerzhinsky
The Monument to F. E. Dzerzhinsky (russian: Памятник Ф. Э. Дзержинскому) is a monument to Felix Dzerzhinsky established in Taganrog in 1987 at the end of Dzerzhinsky Street at departure on Privokzalnaya Square.
History
Th ...
in Taganrog
* Provisional Polish Revolutionary Committee
Provisional Polish Revolutionary Committee ( pl, Tymczasowy Komitet Rewolucyjny Polski, Polrewkom; russian: Польревком) (July–August 1920) was a revolutionary committee created under the patronage of Soviet Russia with the goal to e ...
* Polish Autonomous District
Polish National Districts (called in Russian "полрайоны", ''polrajony'', an abbreviation for "польские национальные районы", "Polish national raions") were in the interbellum period possessing some form of a na ...
* Kang Sheng
Kang Sheng (; 4 November 1898 – 16 December 1975) was a Chinese Communist politician best known for having overseen the CCP's internal security and intelligence apparatus during the early 1940s and again at the height of the Cultural Revolu ...
Notes
References
Further reading
* Blobaum, Robert. ''Felix Dzerzhinsky and the SDKPiL: A study of the origins of Polish Communism.'' 1984. .
* Debo, Richard K. "Lockhart Plot or Dzerhinskii Plot?." ''Journal of Modern History'' 43.3 (1971): 413–439.
External links
*
Picture of the Felix calculator
FED history
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dzerzhinsky, Felix
1877 births
1926 deaths
People from Valozhyn District
People from Minsky Uyezd
Belarusian people of Polish descent
People from the Russian Empire of Polish descent
Soviet people of Polish descent
20th-century Polish nobility
Polish atheists
Former Roman Catholics
Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania politicians
Russian Social Democratic Labour Party members
Old Bolsheviks
Cheka officers
Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union candidate members
People's commissars and ministers of the Soviet Union
Cheka chairmen
Russian Constituent Assembly members
People of the Russian Revolution
People of the Russian Civil War
Regicides of Nicholas II
Politicide perpetrators
Burials at the Kremlin Wall Necropolis