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Events on Wednesday 23 December 1953 1
1899 – 1953Lavrentiy Beria (1899-1953)Died 23 December 1953, aged 54Lavrentiy Beria was the head of the Soviet secret police under Stalin, responsible for overseeing mass repressions, deportations, and the Gulag system. Following Stalin's death he was arrested in a power struggle among Soviet leaders and secretly tried and executed on charges of treason. His downfall marked a turning point in the post-Stalin leadership transition.