Guenrikh Grigorievich Yagoda was a Soviet secret police official who served as the head of the NKVD, the forerunner of the KGB, from 1934 to 1936. Yagoda was responsible for overseeing the brutal purges and show trials that Stalin initiated to eliminate perceived enemies and consolidate power. Under his leadership, the NKVD carried out mass arrests, executions, and deportations, resulting in the deaths of countless people. While the exact number of people killed under Yagoda's orders is unknown, it is estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands. Yagoda was ultimately arrested and executed in 1938 as part of Stalin's ongoing purges.