According to Soviet records, hundreds of thousands or even millions of people were imprisoned by the authorities in 1937 and 1938, roughly 1/100 of the population at that time. Of all these prisoners, several hundred thousand were executed. This means that about a thousand people were executed per day.
Several tens of thousands of Orthodox clergy fell victim to the purge. Archbishop Augustin Belyaev and those who were arrested or executed with him and whose lives are recounted below, kept their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ strong during the tragic and difficult times. (From the presentation on the back cover of the book)