Page "Cheka" Paragraph 41

It was during the Red Terror that the Cheka, hoping to avoid the bloody aftermath of having half-dead victims writhing on the floor, developed a technique for execution known later by the German words " Nackenschuss " or " Genickschuss ", a shot to the nape of the neck, which caused minimal blood loss and instant death.

The victim's head was bent forward, and the executioner fired slightly downward at point blank range.

This had become the standard method used later by the NKVD to liquidate Joseph Stalin's purge victims and others.