In pre-Petrine times, criminals in Russia were punished in various ways. Depending on the degree of fault, in addition to imprisonment, their nostrils were pulled out, the word “thief” was burned with a red-hot iron on their foreheads, and their right hand, which was used for the theft, was cut off. In special cases, the villain was betrayed to a shameful death on the scaffold, performing an act of justice in the most diverse and intricate ways. The reforming emperor left the method of carrying out sentences practically unchanged, it was in full compliance with the then European standards, but changed the name of the procedure.
Where did this word come from
The direct meaning of the word "execution" does not mean anything terrible. Its translation from Latin corresponds to the Russian counterparts "performance" or "performance". However, the context of the application of this legal term gave this concept a gloomy meaning. For the defendant, the execution of the sentence did not bode well. At best, cruel corporal punishment was coming, much worse if the executioner cripple or mutilate, and it will become very bad when the head lies on the chopping block or the noose squeezes the neck.
This term came to us frominheritance from ancient Roman jurisprudence. The position of the executor did not correspond to the duties of the executioner, but he quite clearly and unambiguously determined the degree of guilt, delving into the circumstances of the events under investigation, and determined the punishment that was subject to mandatory execution. This specialist in legal and penitentiary matters controlled all the paperwork, and after its completion stated: "The investigation is over." Then quietly added: "Forget it."
Watching the execution, do not yawn
Public execution and today in some places it is considered an effective remedy against corruption and theft. In some countries, the execution of death sentences is even broadcast on television, as a warning to embezzlers and bribe-takers. Perhaps such a spectacle can overtake fear, but, as a rule, the effect is manifested in an increase in the amount of bribes, which partly compensates for the moral suffering of corrupt officials not yet caught. Even in medieval Europe, it was noticed that it was during public executions in the squares that thieves were most active, cutting off wallets and rummaging through the pockets of onlookers who watched other crooks cut off their hands.
Execution as a pedagogical method
So, execution is a one-time execution of the decision of the authorized instance. This clarification is important, since sending to hard labor or imprisonment was not called that. At the same time, in ancient times, the severity of punishment did not matter, what was important was its inevitability and timeliness. Between decision-making and its implementation in educationalinstitutions, for example, a minimum period of time passed. Only once, on the occasion of the upcoming Easter of Christ, according to the recollections of the former student of the bursa Pomyalovsky, the execution with rods was postponed (but not canceled). Without idealizing the past and obviously outdated pedagogical methods, it is impossible not to notice that they had an effective impact on the educational process. People with a four-year parochial education quite coped with the duties of people's commissars in the first Soviet decades, the level of knowledge allowed. In England, by the way, school corporal punishment was abolished only in the sixties of the XX century. True, according to Michael Gove, British Secretary of State for Education, they did it in vain. He suggests entering them again.
Execution is terror against civilians
After the Second World War, new terms began to be widely used to describe the types of crimes against humanity: genocide, the Holocaust and, of course, execution. This word has come to mean the mass execution of civilians in order to intimidate them. Terror against the inhabitants of the occupied territories was used by German punitive units, troops of the allies of Nazi Germany and national units of the SS troops, recruited from defectors. Monstrous ethnic cleansing was carried out in Lvov by the Nachtigal battalion, in Kyiv tens of thousands of Soviet citizens were shot and buried in Babi Yar by collaborators, in Odessa, the Romanian invaders hung the central streets of the city with the corpses of hostages. Numerous war crimeswere exposed during the trial of Nazi criminals in Nuremberg.
Modern economic execution
But this word has a different, peaceful, though also unpleasant meaning for many citizens. Today, in European countries, execution is a forced deprivation of property in order to compensate for damage. Property is torn away from unlucky debtors and sold at auction, and the proceeds go to creditors. Similar actions are carried out in our country, and when a bailiff knocks on the door, and he has a writ of execution (executio!) In his hand, then malicious non-payers experience emotions that no one will envy. Of course, they won’t be taken to be shot, but…
