Well, even though the information is near to hand, locked inside BB's brain, I'm gonna through out two things:

There's another thread with 1933 in the title, and methinks our honorable thread initiator might be conveying a thematic relationship.

As to the history, in the 1930's there took place in the erstwhile Soviet Union a series of show trials. These were political theatre, done as a nasty nasty rite of power, memorialized in such books as Darkness at Noon and 1984 and captured more recently with a Cuban expat who summarized the difference between the Communist and the Capitalist ethos as basically, "The powerful ream you out wherever you are, but over here you are not required to thank them."

I think it's interesting that we can all agree on the nasty side of Russian government, but some are willing to pass on it as nothing remarkable or new. I was in a conversation this week with some educated, well paid Americans and they kind of passed on what's been going on in the Soviet Un-, er, excuse me, Russian Federation and Venezuela as due to people desiring strong leadership. I think people in Venezuela and Russia want to be free just as we do. They are not going willingly into that bad night. They are being sold down the river. In this particular case a brave journalist was shot down like a bird and the culprits are ruling the roost and lining the nest for each other by rampant and massive corruption.

I thank BB for summoning up a bit of outrage over this.