One of Stalin’s closest allies was Karl Pauker. Pauker began as Stalin’s bodyguard but eventually was responsible for the safety of Stalin at all times. Pauker knew Stalin better than any of the other party members because he was around him all time. Pauker studied his habits and tastes and learned to guess his slightest wishes. Alexander Orlov, author to The Secret History of Stalin’s Crimes and also former soviet diplomat and counter-intelligence chief, states how Pauker would notice little things that Stalin would enjoy such as his image and use that to make him happy. He once had a boot made for Stalin that would have an inch and a half heel in order for Stalin to appear taller than he really was and had his coats ordered to go to his heels. Pauker was also a former barber and insisted on shaving Stalin’s face. Stalin’s distrust of everyone left him afraid to go to a barber to get a shave because he always feared for his life. However, Pauker was the only man that Stalin entrusted to have a blade to his neck. Pauker was more than a bodyguard or a friend to Stalin, he was more like family. However, during the reign of Stalin, nobody was safe. Soon in 1937, Pauker was dismissed as chief of Stalin’s bodyguard. In a secret trial, Pauker was declared as a German spy and soon was executed. According to Sebag-Montefiore, a British journalist, “he knew too much and lived to well.”