"The same paper we used earlier can be applied to this section quite well, as it documents the soviet judicial system in its entirety. Getty records a total of 799,455 execution sentences during the entire 1921–53 period (including executions of criminals). Now, the distinction between execution sentences and executions seems small, but its of the utmost importance to note, especially considering vast numbers of people were released on amnesty after the purge, during the war and in many other cases. Furthermore, according to Sarah Davies’s 1997 “Popular opinion in Stalins' Russia”, slightly fewer then 300,000 arrests for anti-soviet activities during the 1937-38 period, when according to Getty, 85% of executions took place. I could also go into the specified execution ratios and many, many other data points implying a lower number"
