HISTORICAL DICTIONARY A–Z - Russia: A Reference Guide from the Renaissance to the Present - page 185

K

Kaganovich, Lazar Moiseevich
(1893-1991)
Soviet official
An important member of Joseph STALIN 's inner
circle, Kaganovich developed a reputation for
ruthlessness among an already ruthless group.
He was born in Kiev to Jewish parents. A leather
worker at the age of 14, Kaganovich joined the
BOLSHEVIK Party in 1911 and spent the next
years organizing underground workers' groups.
During 1917 he worked in the town of Gomel in
Belarus, organizing the Bolshevik seizure of
power there at the time of the OCTOBER REVOLU -
TION . A talented organizer, he advanced rapidly
in the ranks of the party, joining the All-Russian
Executive Committee of the Russian Soviet Fed-
erated Socialist Republic (RSFSR) soon after the
revolution. During the civil war he worked as a
political commissar in the Red Army. An early
ally of Stalin, he became a secretary of the Cen-
tral Committee of the COMMUNIST PARTY in 1924,
and the following year he was appointed first
secretary of the Ukrainian Communist Party. In
1928, Stalin recalled Kaganovich to Moscow,
where he again worked in the Party Secretariat.
In 1930 he became a full member of the Polit-
buro, as well as first secretary of the party in
Moscow. From this position he directed the
transformation of Moscow into a “showcase of
socialism.” Among his achievements at this time
was the construction of the Moscow Metro, a
subway system with elegant stations that were
supposed to be underground palaces for the
masses who used the system. He also oversaw
the destruction of numerous older structures,

especially churches such as the Cathedral of
Christ the Savior. While in Moscow, he was
instrumental in advancing Nikita KHRUSHCHEV 's
career, which he would probably later regret. In
1935 he became people's commissar for Trans-
port, a post he held until 1944. During these
years Kaganovich also served as a troubleshooter
for Stalin, organizing the collectivization cam-
paigns of 1929-32 and taking an active part in
the purges of the 1930s. Trusted by Stalin,
Kaganovich held numerous posts in the next
decade. While working as transportation com-
missar, he was appointed to serve as commissar
for the oil industry. During World War II, he was
a member of the State Defense Committee and
traveled to various fronts, especially the Cauca-
sus, as a political commissar. From 1938 to 1953,
he was deputy chairman of the Council of Peo-
ple's Commissars, known as the Council of Min-
isters after 1946.
In 1957 Kaganovich joined MALENKOV , MOLO -
TOV , and other old-guard Stalinists in the unsuc-
cessful attempt to overthrow his former protégé
Khrushchev, an episode that would later be
known as the ANTI - PARTY GROUP . He was removed
from all his posts and appointed a factory direc-
tor in the Urals, a milder punishment than what
Kaganovich had earlier accorded his rivals. He
returned to Moscow in 1961 but lost his party
membership in 1962. He applied for reinstate-
ment in 1964, after Khrushchev had been over-
thrown, but was denied; his hard-line Stalinist
past was too much even for a more conservative
leadership. He lived as a pensioner in Moscow
until his death in 1991 at the age of 98.