In August 1937 , Berman 's fall began in the time of the Great Terror . On August 17 , 1937 , he lost his position as head of the GULAG and was appointed People 's Commissar of Posts and Telecommunications ( Russian : Наркомпочтель ) . On December 23 , 1938 , he was expelled from the Soviet Communist Party , arrested the next day in the office of Georgi Malenkov , and sent to prison at Lubyanka . He was found guilty by the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR of belonging to a " terrorist and sabotage organization " and shot on March 7 , 1939 at Kommunarka
Great Terror
Great Purge
Matvei Berman