Lazer Kaganovich,
the son of Jewish
parents,
was born in Kabany, on 10th November, 1893. He worked as a shoemaker
and joined the the Social Democratic Labour Party
in 1911. A member of the Bolshevik
faction, he took part in the October Revolution
and afterwards became leader of the Communist Party in the Ukraine.
With the
support of Joseph Stalin Kaganovich rose
quickly in the party hierarchy and by 1930 was a full member of the
Politburo. As Stalin's loyal servant, Kaganovich played a significant
role in the collectivization programme and joined with Vyacheslav
Molotov to oppose suggestions made by Sergey
Kirov to free those imprisoned for political offences. Kaganovich
was also involved in the great purses (1936-38) that removed all of
Stalin's opponents from power.
Kaganovich
held a series of posts as people's commissar including transport (1935-37),
heavy industry (1937-39) and the fuel industry (1939).
In the
Second World War Malenkov was part of the five-man
defence council which managed the Soviet Union's war effort.
Kaganovich
lost power on the death of Joseph Stalin
in 1953. He opposed the de-Stalinization policies and in the summer
of 1957 he joined with Nikolai Bulganin,
Vyacheslav Molotov, Georgy
Malenkov in an attempt to oust Nikita
Khrushchev. This was unsuccessful and Kaganovich lost all his
government posts and was expelled from the Communist Party. Lazer
Kaganovich died in Moscow on 25th July, 1991.
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