1. Vasily Blokhin is recorded as having executed tens of thousands of prisoners by his own hand, including his killing of about 7,000 Polish prisoners of war during the Katyn massacre in spring 1940, making him the most prolific official executioner in recorded world history.
Vasily Blokhin was forced into retirement in 1953 after the death of Stalin and condemned during de-Stalinization shortly before his death in 1955.
Vasily Mikhailovich Blokhin was born on 7 January 1895 in Gavrilovskoye, Vladimir Governorate into a peasant family.
Vasily Blokhin worked as a shepherd in Yaroslavl Governorate from 1905 to 1910 before becoming a bricklayer in Moscow.
Vasily Blokhin served in the Imperial Russian Army during World War I, rising to rank of a non-commissioned officer despite his young age.
Vasily Blokhin returned home to help his father before joining the Red Army in October 1918.
Vasily Blokhin joined the Russian Communist Party and the Cheka in March 1921.
Vasily Blokhin was appointed a platoon commander in the military wing of the Cheka and its successor agencies.
Once he gained Stalin's attention, Vasily Blokhin was quickly promoted and within six years was appointed the head of the purposefully created Kommandatura Branch of the Administrative Executive Department of the NKVD.
Vasily Blokhin was himself spared by Stalin during the Great Purge due to a positive reference from Nikolai Vlasik and his involvement in the NKVD's wetwork.
Vasily Blokhin was awarded the Badge of Honour for his service in 1937.
Vasily Blokhin would stand waiting behind the door in his executioner garb: a leather butcher's apron, leather hat, and shoulder-length leather gloves.
Vasily Blokhin had brought a briefcase full of his own Walther pistols, since he did not trust the reliability of the standard-issue Soviet TT-30 for the frequent, heavy use he intended.
Vasily Blokhin had arranged for a bulldozer and two NKVD drivers to dispose of bodies at an unfenced site.
On 27 April 1940, Vasily Blokhin secretly received the Order of the Red Banner and a modest monthly pay premium as a reward from Stalin for his "skill and organization in the effective carrying out of special tasks".
Vasily Blokhin was forcibly retired from the NKVD following the death of Stalin in March 1953, officially due to poor health.
Vasily Blokhin was one of the many Stalinist figures removed from power by the new leadership, but his "irreproachable service" was publicly noted by Beria at the time of his departure.