 Sergei Kirov , head of the Party organisation in Leningrad , was killed in 1934 ; some believed his death was ordered by Stalin . Kirov 's death triggered a second crisis , the Great Purge . In 1938 , out of the 28 People 's Commissars in Molotov 's Government , 20 were executed on the orders of Molotov and Stalin . The purges were carried out by Stalin 's successive police chiefs , Nikolai Yezhov was the chief organiser and Kliment Voroshilov , Lazar Kaganovich and Molotov were intimately involved in the processes . Stalin frequently required Molotov and other Politburo members to sign the death warrants of prominent purge victims , and Molotov always did so without question . There is no record of Molotov attempting to moderate the course of the purges or even to save individuals , as some other Soviet officials did . During the Great Purge , he personally approved 372 documented execution lists , more than any other Soviet official , including Stalin . It is known that Molotov was one of few with whom Stalin openly discussed the purges . Although Molotov and Stalin signed a public decree in 1938 that disassociated them from the ongoing Great Purge , in private , and even after Stalin 's death , Molotov supported the Great Purge and the executions carried out by his government . 
