In time, Berzin was replaced by a functionary named Pavlov and his deputy, Garanin, a thirty-nine-year-old NKVD colonel whose response to Moscow’s demands for gold made him notorious in the camps. Colonel Garanin personally oversaw the prisoners’ lineups when those who had not fulfilled their work quotas were ordered to step forward. The NKVD colonel then walked down the line personally, executing the “enemies of the people,” closely followed by two guards who took turns reloading his revolver.29 The prisoners’ corpses were then stacked up at the gates as a reminder to the rest.
