On July 30, 1937 the head of Soviet secret police Nikolai Ezhov signed the order that started a mass punitive operation against their own citizens.
Svetlana Ushakova currently works in the collections department at USC Shoah Foundation as a content specialist. She received her doctoral degree in Russian history at the Novosibirsk State University, Russia. She is the author and co-author of several publications on the history of Soviet ideological campaigns, social mobilization, and adaptation methods used by peasant families to survive Soviet deportation and exile.