One of Stalin's orders for beatings of individuals during the Great Purge

There are at least 2 records in which Stalin orders the torture of specific individuals. I will be discussing one of them here. (The other can be found here).

On 13 September 1937 Stalin gave instructions on multiple issues including arrests and interrogation. In this, he ordered:

Beat Unshlikht because he did not extradite Poland's agents in the regions (Orenburg, Novosibirsk, etc.)[1].

This was an order to beat Iosif Unshlikht , a Soviet government official who was Polish. 

Unshlikht was arrested on 11 June 1937 and accused by Yezhov of being a leader of the (non-existent) Polish Military Organization[2]. 

He was beat and tortured (as evidenced by this document); according to Alexander Yakovlev, "during the interrogations, he withstood all the torture and beatings and refused all charges."[3]. 

Unshlikht was sentenced to death on 28 June 1938, and shot either the same day or on 29 June. He was rehabilitated in 1956[4].

Sources

[1]: https://www.alexanderyakovlev.org/fond/issues-doc/61181

[2]: Petrov, Nikita, and Jansen, Marc. Stalin's Loyal Executioner: People's Commissar Nikolai Ezhov, 1895-1940. United States, Hoover Institution Press, 2013. p. 76-77

[3]: See footnote on document of source 1

[4]: http://1937god.info/node/1599