On 4 February 1940 (presumably!), Nikolai Yezhov, one of the cruellest perpetrators of Stalinist terror, was executed.
On 12 February 1833, Aleksander Czekanowski was born in Krzemieniec in Volhynia. He trained as a geologist, but was not given the freedom to pursue his career as he was sent to Siberia at the age of 30 for taking part in the January Uprising.