Editing Doctors' plot (section)

==Beginnings==
A number of theories attempt to explain the origins of the doctors' plot case. Historians typically relate it to the earlier case of [[Joseph Stalin]]'s destruction of the [[Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee]] and the campaign against the so-called Jewish [[rootless cosmopolitan]]s in the second half of the 1940s, as well as to the power struggle within the Soviet leadership during that time.<ref>[[#refBrentNaumov2003|Brent & Naumov 2003]], p. 4</ref><ref name=Medvedev148>[[#CITEREFMedvedev2003|Medvedev 2003]], p. 148</ref> The campaign against the doctors was presumably set in motion by Stalin as a pretext to launch a massive purge of the Communist Party,<ref name="The Doctors' Plot">Encyclopedia Britannica, [https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/167427/Doctors-Plot ''The Doctors' Plot''], 2008.</ref> and, according to [[Edvard Radzinsky]], even to consolidate the country for a future [[World War III]].<ref>[[Edvard Radzinsky]], ''[[Stalin: The First In-depth Biography Based on Explosive New Documents from Russia's Secret Archives]]'', Anchor, (1997) {{ISBN|978-0-385-47954-7}}</ref>

In 1948, an allegation was made by a Soviet veteran medical worker, [[Lydia Timashuk]], who stated that "intentional distortions in medical conclusions [were] made by major medical experts who served as consultants in the hospital". Timashuk "exposed their criminal designs" and as such the security bodies of the Soviet Union were made aware of the existence of the alleged conspiracy against Stalin.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rapoport |first1=Jakov L. |title=The Doctors' Plot |date=1991 |publisher=Fourth Estate |isbn=978-1-872180-13-7 |page=77 |oclc=59849271 }}</ref> Stalin had strong doubts about Timashuk's allegations.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Grey |first1=Ian |title=Stalin, Man of History |date=1979 |publisher=Doubleday |isbn=978-0-385-14333-2 |page=461 }}</ref> Stalin's daughter, [[Svetlana Alliluyeva]], stated that her father was "very saddened by the turn of events" and that the housekeeper heard him saying that he did not believe the doctors were "dishonest" and that the only evidence against them were the reports of Timashuk.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Allilueva |first1=Svetlana Iosifovna |title=20 Letters to a Friend |date=1967 |publisher=Hutchinson |isbn=978-0-09-085310-6 |page=217 }}</ref>

In 1951, [[Ministry of State Security (Soviet Union)|Ministry for State Security]] (MGB) investigator [[Mikhail Ryumin]] reported to his superior, [[Viktor Abakumov]], Minister of the MGB, that Professor [[Yakov Gilyarievich Etinger|Yakov Etinger]], who was arrested as a "bourgeois nationalist" with connections to the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee, had committed malpractice in treating [[Andrei Zhdanov]] (died 1948) and [[Aleksandr Shcherbakov (20th-century politician)|Alexander Shcherbakov]] (died 1945), allegedly with the intention of killing them. However, Abakumov refused to believe the story. Etinger died in prison (2 March 1951) due to interrogations and harsh conditions. Ryumin was then dismissed from his position in the MGB for misappropriating money and was held responsible for the death of Etinger. With the assistance of [[Georgy Malenkov]], Ryumin wrote a letter to Stalin, accusing Abakumov of killing Etinger in order to hide a conspiracy to kill off the Soviet leadership. On 4 July 1951, the [[Politburo]] set up a commission (headed by Malenkov and including [[Lavrentiy Beria]]) to investigate the issue. Based on the commission's report, the Politburo soon passed a resolution on the "bad situation in the MGB" and Abakumov was fired.<ref>[[#Sebag2005|Sebag-Montefiore 2005]], pp. 611–613.</ref><ref>[[#CITEREFMedvedev2003|Medvedev 2003]], pp. 150–156.</ref>

Beria and Malenkov both tried to use the situation to expand their power through gaining control of the MGB.<ref name=Medvedev148/><ref>
[[#Zhukov2005|Zhukov 2005]], p. 562.</ref>