Bright Raven
Well-known member
Vasili Blokhin, the “Most Prolific Executioner” of all time, according to the Guinness World Records.
Born to a Russian peasant family in 1895, as a young man he quickly earned a reputation for “chernaya rabota”, or “black work”, while serving in the Tsarist army during World War I- gaining recognition from Stalin himself for his covert assassinations, torture, and executions. Blokhin quickly rose through the ranks of Russia’s secret police at the time—the NKVD—eventually becoming the head of the Kommandatura department.
Over a twenty-eight day period, Vasili Blokhin personally performed over 7000 Polish executions at Katyn. Usually, the executions would take place from dusk til dawn, with Blokhin preferring to work at night for these types of tasks. Blokhin would work nearly uninterrupted each night, reportedly killing a prisoner about every three minutes, averaging around 300 executions per night.
The executions would go like this: after signing identification papers, officers were led with their arms bound into a small room that was equipped with soundproofed walls, a drain, a hose, and a door or hatch- it was a room designed for executions. Forced to their knees, a member of the Kommandatura would deliver a single shot to the back of the prisoners’ heads, killing them instantly. Their bodies would be dragged through the second door or hatch in the ceiling, the room would be hosed down, and the next prisoner would be brought in.
Born to a Russian peasant family in 1895, as a young man he quickly earned a reputation for “chernaya rabota”, or “black work”, while serving in the Tsarist army during World War I- gaining recognition from Stalin himself for his covert assassinations, torture, and executions. Blokhin quickly rose through the ranks of Russia’s secret police at the time—the NKVD—eventually becoming the head of the Kommandatura department.
Over a twenty-eight day period, Vasili Blokhin personally performed over 7000 Polish executions at Katyn. Usually, the executions would take place from dusk til dawn, with Blokhin preferring to work at night for these types of tasks. Blokhin would work nearly uninterrupted each night, reportedly killing a prisoner about every three minutes, averaging around 300 executions per night.
The executions would go like this: after signing identification papers, officers were led with their arms bound into a small room that was equipped with soundproofed walls, a drain, a hose, and a door or hatch- it was a room designed for executions. Forced to their knees, a member of the Kommandatura would deliver a single shot to the back of the prisoners’ heads, killing them instantly. Their bodies would be dragged through the second door or hatch in the ceiling, the room would be hosed down, and the next prisoner would be brought in.
