The execution of 13 Soviet Jews in 1952 marked a peak of Stalinist antisemitic repression targeting Jewish cultural and intellectual figures.
Key Facts
- Executions carried out
- 13 Soviet Jews executed
- Location of execution
- Lubyanka Prison, Moscow
- Date of execution
- 12 August 1952
- Initial arrests
- September 1948 and June 1949
- Yiddish writers among defendants
- 5
- Years held before formal charges
- Approximately 3 years
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Soviet authorities targeted members of the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee during a broader Stalinist campaign against Jewish cultural institutions. Defendants were arrested in September 1948 and June 1949 and accused of espionage and treason. During their years of detention, they were subjected to torture, beatings, and isolation before being formally charged.
On 12 August 1952, thirteen Soviet Jews, including five Yiddish writers affiliated with the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee, were executed at Lubyanka Prison in Moscow following secret trials in which all had been convicted of espionage, treason, and related charges under duress.
The event, later called the Night of the Murdered Poets, became a symbol of Stalinist antisemitism and the destruction of Soviet Jewish cultural life. It effectively ended Yiddish literary culture in the USSR and contributed to international awareness of persecution of Jews under Stalin's regime.