One word of his could annihilate thousands, tens of thousands, of people. A Marshal, a People’s Commissar, a member of the Central Committee, a secretary of an obkom – people who had been in command of armies and fronts, who had held sway over vast factories, entire regions, whole Republics – could be reduced to nothing by one angry word. They would become labour-camp dust, rattling their tin bowls as they waited outside the kitchen for their ration of gruel.
