Prison Diary: Letters

“Iron Felix” is associated primarily with the “Red Terror” and his position as head of the Cheka, but it’s important to know that he also fought just as decisively against child homelessness and worked on developing sports in the young Soviet republic. He was one of the founders of a program for the quick restoration and development of the country’s economy. It was, in essence, Dzerzhinsky’s program that became the foundation of the industrialization of the Soviet Union. Where this steel character was forged, how a young man who had planned to become a Catholic priest grew into a person who saved the country of workers and peasants from chaos and anarchy—best of all, hear it firsthand: from the diary and letters of the legendary People’s Commissar.