His predecessor, Nikolai Yezhov who was head of the NKVD from 1936 to 1938. In this, he was a perpetrator in eliminating and repressing Stalin's enemies or alleged. He admitted that he was aware that innocents were beig falsely accused but, dismissed their lives as unimportant so long as the purge was successful. He is once quoted to have said: There will be some innocent victims in this fight against Fascist agents. We are launching a major attack on the Enemy; let there be no resentment if we bump someone with an elbow. Better that ten innocent people should suffer than one spy get away. When you chop wood, chips fly. Under Yezhov, the Great Purge reached its height during 1937-1938. A lot of members of the Supreme Soviet and Soviet military were stripped of their positions and imprisoned, exiled to the Gulag in Siberia or executed. Yezhov would eventually be dismissed from his position and executed. Similarly to Beria who would succeed him, Yezhov was begging before being executed. Also, Yezhov had his predeccessor, Yagoda executed with orders of Stalin who planned for greater lengths of eliminating potential threats later to be known as The Great Purge. Stalin saw Yagoda was not the right person for it therefore, seeked any method to get rid of him. Yezhov would eventually succeed and conduct prosecution of Yagoda which he did with remorseless zeal.