Most prolific official executioner

Personally selected in 1926 by Stalin, leader of the former USSR, Vasili M Blokhin acted as chief executioner to the NKVD (People’s Commissariat of Internal Affairs), where he led a company of executioners.  Under him, they carried out most of the executions ordered by Stalin and, not only is he recorded as having executed all significant prisoners of the regime by his own hand as well as many others, he also, personally, executed 7,000 Polish officers at the Ostachkov prison camp in 1940 over precisely 28 nights, that is 250 executions a night.  He thus ranks as the world’s most prolific, official executioner.  He died in 1955.