Background
Felix Dzerzhinsky was born on September 11, 1877, at the Dzerzhinovo family estate, Ivyanets, in the Minsk Region, a part of the Russian Empire (today Belarus).
(Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky (1877 1926) was a Communi...)
Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky (1877 1926) was a Communist revolutionary, famous as the first director of the Bolshevik secret police, the Cheka, known later by many names during the history of the Soviet Union. The agency became notorious for torture and mass summary executions, performed especially during the Red Terror and the Russian Civil War.
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Felix Dzerzhinsky was born on September 11, 1877, at the Dzerzhinovo family estate, Ivyanets, in the Minsk Region, a part of the Russian Empire (today Belarus).
He attended the Wilno gymnasium from 1887 to 1895. School documents show that Dzerzhinsky attended his first year in school twice, while his eighth year he was not able to finish.
While attending the gimnasium, he became involved in antigovernment politics, and on completion of his secondary education he embarked upon a career as a revolutionary political leader. Between 1897 and 1917 he was arrested and imprisoned or exiled five times. Although most of his actual political work was in Poland, he became more deeply involved with the Russian Social Democratic party than with the Social Democratic party of Poland and Lithuania; he was ultimately identified with the Leninist (Bolshevik) faction of the Russian revolutionary movement.
It was only after the Bolshevik seizure of power in 1917 that Dzerzhinsky's talents began to be fully exploited. In December 1917 he accepted appointment as chairman of the All Russian Extraordinary Commission, subsequently known by its Russian initials, Cheka. This organization was responsible for enforcing obedience to party and state decisions during the early days of the Revolution. The Cheka is generally regarded as the principal instrument of "Red terror" during the course of the civil war.
Although his opinions on policy frequently varied from those of Lenin, Dzerzhinsky's obedience to established policy seems to have been complete, and he held a large number and range of offices during the unsettled postrevolutionary days. In the summer of 1920 he was appointed head of the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD); the following spring he became commissar of the Peoples' Commissariat of Ways and Communications; and in February 1924 he was named president of the Supreme Council of National Economy (Vesenkha).
Throughout this period Dzerzhinsky supported the stated policy of the party with increasing vigor, while rejecting all alternative views. In particular he stood on the side of centralization as the Central Control Commission, originally founded to ensure that the center reflected the wishes of the party rank and file, became an agency for placing supporters of Stalin's policies in positions of power.
After the death of Lenin in 1924, the struggle for power between Stalin and his opponents sharpened, and Dzerzhinsky increasingly played the role of an apologist of both party unity and Stalin. During a particularly acute Central Committee confrontation in 1926 Dzerzhinsky, vigorously defending Stalin, suffered a fatal heart attack on July 20, 1926.
The politician, Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky was the organizer and first administrator of the Soviet internal security apparatus, and participated in the Polish and Russian revolutionary movements.
Felix Dzerzhinsky was awarded the Order of the Red Banner (Soviet Union), and was an Honorary State Security Officer.
(Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky (1877 1926) was a Communi...)
From 1895 to 1896, Felix Dzerzhinsky belonged to the Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland. From 1896 to 1900, he was a member of the Social Democratic Party of Lithuania. In 1900, he became a member of the Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania. From 1917, he was a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
Quotations: "We stand for organized terror - this should be frankly admitted. Terror is an absolute necessity during times of revolution. Our aim is to fight against the enemies of the Soviet Government and of the new order of life. We judge quickly. In most cases only a day passes between the apprehension of the criminal and his sentence. When confronted with evidence criminals in almost every case confess; and what argument can have greater weight than a criminal's own confession?"
As a youngster Dzerzhinsky became fluent in four languages: Polish, Russian, Yiddish and Latin.
In Kraków, on November 10, 1910, Felix Dzerzhinsky married Sofia Sigizmundovna Muszkat. On June 23, 1911, she gave birth to their first son and only child Yan in Pawiak prison.
Edmund Rufin Dzierżyński was a pedagogue and court counsellor.
Sofia Sigizmundovna Dzerzhinskaya (Muszkat) was a leading Polish Social Democrat and later Communist politician.
Director of the OGPU, Director of the GPU, Director of the Cheka, People's Commissariat of VSNKh
