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924:...The Trotsky and Peters party believe in heroic measures..." Peterss did not merit a mention in any of Trotsky's extensive writings about the period, and certainly was not in the front ranks of the Bolsheviks leadership. As a Chekist, he undoubtedly had many people killed, yet the portrayal of him as 'the most blood-thirsty monster' contrasts with the opinion of the British diplomat,
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suffered physical pain every time he signed a death sentence. I believe it was true. There was a strong streak of sentimentality in his nature, but he was a fanatic as far as the clash between
Bolshevism and capitalism was concerned, and he pursued his Bolshevik aims with a sense of duty which was relentless.
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He told me strange tales of his experiences as a revolutionary. He had been in prison in Riga in
Tsarist days. He showed me his nails as a proof of the torture which he had undergone. There was nothing in his character to indicate the inhuman monster he is commonly supposed to be. He told me that he
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Peterss was a first cousin of Fritz Svaars, a
Latvian anarchist, who was suspected of sabotage, robbery and of the murders of a shopkeeper and a policeman during the 1905 revolution, and was arrested and tortured in Riga, but escaped early in 1906. He moved to London, and was one of a gang who tried
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In 1916, he married May
Freeman, the daughter of a London banker, by whom he had already fathered a daughter, Maisie Peters-Freeman (born 1914). After the Russian revolution, he invited his wife and daughter to join him there, where they discovered that he had a new family. Maisie was never able to
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until
Dzerzhinsky resumed his duties. As one of the Cheka's leaders, Peterss was responsible for the first major Cheka operations involving killings. These were against alleged anarchists in Petrograd and later in May 1918 against anarchists in Petrograd and Moscow. He also was involved in the
908:, considered the "most blood-thirsty monster in Russia". At that time, Peterss' influence was vastly overstated by English language newspapers, because he was known to the police in the UK, and because he was the only one of the founders of Cheka who spoke English. On 25 January 1919,
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came to him complaining about starvation, Peters told them: "Is this famine, when your Rostov garbage pits are chock-full of various garbage and leftovers? In Moscow, where the garbage pits are completely empty and clean - as if they had been licked clean - there is hunger there!"
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to rob a jeweler's shop in
Houndsditch, in December 1910. Caught in the act, they killed three unarmed police officers. Svaars and a fellow anarchist were traced to a house in Sidney Street in January 1911, and opened fire on the police, setting off the
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which ended with the deaths of both suspects. Peterss was arrested at his home in Turner Street, London, on 22 December. Unlike his cousin, he did not attempt to resist arrest. In May 1911, he and three other
Latvian emigres were tried in the
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campaigns and reprisals that followed. He called it a "Hysterical Terror" in the newspaper "Utro Moskvy" (#21) of
November 4, 1918. During these times appeared a term "room of souls" in numerous prisons such as
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to acquit
Peterss on the charge of murder, for lack of evidence. After he had given evidence under cross-examination, he was acquitted of the separate charge of conspiring to commit a burglary.
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in London belatedly learnt that the
Bolsheviks had been divided over whether to conduct a revolutionary war with Germany, and claimed that "One party is headed by Lenin, the other by
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in Petrograd. At that time he was preparing military units for the October Revolution. Afterward, he was a member of
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In 1919, an American diplomat testified to Congress that Peterss was, with another Cheka leader
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working at the front-lines of the Northern Front. During the German advance he moved to
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in August 1919. Upon the sack of Kiev he was a member of the Military Council in
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Jēkabs Peterss with his English wife and daughter taken ca October 1918
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forces he was appointed as the Commandant of the reinforced raion in
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In March 1919, he was appointed as the Chief of internal defense in
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bureau member. There he led numerous operations against the anti-
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1042:"Петерс Яков Христофорович 1886-1938 Биографический Укатазель"
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21 November] 1886 – 25 April 1938) was a
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The Houndsditch Murders and the Siege of Sidney Street
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in 1922 and worked as a high-ranking official in the
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Bibliography of the Russian Revolution and Civil War
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to the Democratic discussion initiated by Kerensky.
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991:"Donald Rayfield on The Forsaken by Tim Tzouliadis"
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60:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
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554:, he was one of the founders and chiefs of the
1554:People executed by the Soviet Union by firearm
1124:Bibliography of Stalinism and the Soviet Union
689:. Peterss was a peasant representative of the
685:where he was an editor of the party newspaper
546:who played a part in the establishment of the
337:Chairman of Moscow Control Commission of Party
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979:. London: Penguin. pp. 48, 112, 171–177.
752:, Peterss briefly served as the chief of the
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732:as well as leading the liquidation of the
570:He was born on 3 December 1886 in Brinken
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1494:Latvian expatriates in the United Kingdom
813:and served there as the Commissar of the
120:Learn how and when to remove this message
592:Latvian Social Democratic Workers' Party
1564:Perpetrators of the Red Terror (Russia)
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740:'s resignation in the aftermath of the
720:Collegiate, the Deputy Chairman of the
306:2 June 1922 – 31 October 1929
649:leave Russia and died there in 1971.
157:Deputy Chief of Soviet State Security
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710:Bolshevik revolution of October 1917
58:adding citations to reliable sources
757:investigation of the SR attempt on
169:December 1917 – March 1919
708:, he actively participated in the
247:August 1919 – August 1919
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594:in 1904. In the aftermath of the
219:March 1919 – August 1919
1539:People of the Russian Revolution
1489:People from Skrunda Municipality
1484:People from Courland Governorate
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1017:"Человек, Котопый Убил - Петерс"
714:Military-Revolutionary Committee
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1544:People of the Russian Civil War
1514:Great Purge victims from Latvia
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841:formations of Dutov, Annenkov,
294:Chief of East Department of GPU
45:needs additional citations for
880:, as a part of the so-called "
833:, where he also was the local
765:case), for the indiscriminate
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1094:Bruce Lockhart, R.H. (1932).
964:ru:Петерс, Яков Христофорович
700:Peters with Felix Dzerzhinsky
805:In 1920, he represented the
532:; 3 December [
526:Yakov Khristoforovich Peters
522:Я́ков Христофо́рович Пе́терс
558:, the secret police of the
479:Statesman and revolutionary
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1100:. London: Putnam. p.
1097:Memoirs of a British Agent
890:Kommunarka shooting ground
888:on April 25, 1938, at the
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679:Social Democracy of Latvia
622:The Siege of Sidney Street
612:Social Democracy of Latvia
596:Russian Revolution of 1905
453:May Freeman (m 1910s-1917)
401:Kommunarka shooting ground
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398:25 April 1938 (aged 51)
264:Chief of Tashkent Cheka
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1394:Vladimir Semichastny
1015:Averchenko, Arkady.
665:Peterss returned to
588:Skrunda Municipality
580:Courland Governorate
385:Courland Governorate
54:improve this article
1549:Executed communists
1136:Biography of Peters
829:plenipotentiary in
744:, assassination of
712:as a member of the
671:February Revolution
1519:Latvian communists
1426:Vladimir Kryuchkov
1386:Alexander Shelepin
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1247:Felix Dzerzhinsky
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997:(356). 2008-07-01
944:Peter the Painter
882:Latvian Operation
849:. He returned to
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1139:(in Russian)
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52:Please help
47:verification
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18:Yakov Peters
1479:1938 deaths
1474:1886 births
1371:(1954–1991)
1308:(1946–1954)
1270:(1934–1946)
1240:(1922–1934)
1189:(1917–1922)
916:, Peterss,
878:Great Purge
876:During the
847:Dzhanuzakov
843:Enver Pasha
738:Dzerzhinsky
614:and of the
566:Early years
528:, English:
429:Nationality
415:Citizenship
328:Preceded by
187:Preceded by
1468:Categories
1378:Ivan Serov
1051:2 December
1026:2 December
1001:2017-01-12
951:References
900:Reputation
767:Red Terror
748:, and the
722:Commission
704:Moving to
634:Old Bailey
489:Allegiance
476:Profession
467:Alma mater
80:newspapers
1429:(1988–91)
1421:(1982–88)
1405:(1967–82)
1397:(1961–67)
1389:(1958–61)
1381:(1954–58)
1359:(1953–54)
1343:(1951–53)
1326:(1946–51)
1296:(1938–46)
1288:(1936–38)
1280:(1934–36)
1258:(1926–34)
1250:(1922–26)
1215:(1918–22)
1199:(1917–18)
922:Zinovieff
910:The Times
896:in 1956.
839:Bolshevik
779:Petrograd
706:Petrograd
541:Communist
514:‹See Tfd›
445:(1904-38)
348:1930–1934
344:In office
302:In office
275:1920–1926
271:In office
243:In office
215:In office
165:In office
938:See also
783:Yudenich
683:Valmiera
458:Children
292:1st
155:1st
1456:*Acting
1046:Khronos
1021:Khronos
914:Trotsky
859:Rabkrin
809:in the
772:Butyrka
746:Mirbach
734:Left SR
604:England
538:Latvian
518:Russian
433:Latvian
94:scholar
1446:(1991)
1437:(1991)
1413:(1982)
1351:(1953)
1334:(1951)
1318:(1946)
1207:(1918)
1175:Chiefs
1079:2 June
872:, 1937
851:Moscow
667:Russia
644:Family
608:London
572:volost
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450:Spouse
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1187:Cheka
918:Radek
835:party
827:Cheka
807:Cheka
759:Lenin
754:Cheka
718:Cheka
673:. In
600:Libau
582:(now
556:Cheka
101:JSTOR
87:books
1268:NKVD
1238:OGPU
1081:2014
1053:2023
1028:2023
920:and
886:NKVD
870:NKVD
855:OGPU
845:and
791:Tula
787:Kiev
687:Cīņa
675:Riga
534:O.S.
471:none
443:SDLK
395:Died
374:Born
73:news
1369:KGB
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1234:GPU
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