What is the difference between the NKVD and the MVD?
In 1946, all Soviet Commissariats were renamed "ministries". Accordingly, the Peoples Commissariat of Internal Affairs (NKVD) of the USSR became the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD), while the NKGB was renamed as the Ministry of State Security (MGB).
What was the NKVD and what did it do?
The NKVD was a powerful organization. In addition to controlling the security police and the regular police, it was in charge of border and internal troops, fire brigades, convoy troops, and, after 1934, the entirepenal system, including regular prisons and forced labor camps, or the Gulag.
When did the NKVD split into two komissariats?
On 03 February 1941 the NKVD SSSR was separated into two komissariats: NKVD SSSR and NKGB SSSR. The NKGB was headed by V.N. Merkulov. In June 1941 the NKVD and the NKGB were reunited into one NKVD SSSR.
When did the NKVD become the Ministry of Internal Affairs?
In March 1946 all People's Commissariats were renamed to Ministries, and the NKVD became the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD). After the Russian February Revolution of 1917, the Provisional Government dissolved the Tsarist police and set up the People's Militsiya.
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What replaced the NKVD?
In 1941 responsibility for state security was transferred from the NKVD to the NKGB (People's Commissariat for State Security). Both agencies became ministries—the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) and the Ministry of State Security (MGB)—in 1946.
What is the NKVD called now?
In March 1946 all People's Commissariats were renamed to Ministries, and the NKVD became the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD)....NKVD.Agency overviewPreceding agenciesJoint State Political Directorate (OGPU) Commissariats of Internal Affairs of all Union republicsDissolved15 March 194610 more rows
Does Russia still have secret police?
In Russia today, KGB functions are performed by the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), the Federal Counterintelligence Service which later became the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) in 1995, and the Federal Protective Service (FSO). The GRU continues to operate as well.
How many people NKVD killed?
The conclusions were published in January 1989: they indicated that the NKVD (People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs) officers killed no less than 30,000 civilians from 1937 until summer 1941.
What are the Russian secret police called?
Cheka, also called Vecheka, early Soviet secret police agency and a forerunner of the KGB (q.v.).
What does NKVD stand for in Russian?
from Russian Narodny komissariat vnutrennikh del People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs.
What is Gulag definition?
Definition of gulag : the penal system of the Soviet Union consisting of a network of labor camps also : labor camp sense 1.
What does Smersh stand for?
Death to SpiesSMERSH (a portmanteau of the Russian Smyert Shpionam - Смерть Шпионам - which means "Death to Spies") is a fictional Soviet counterintelligence agency featured primarily in the early James Bond novels by Ian Fleming.
History and structure
After the October Revolution of 1917, the Provisional Government dissolved the Tsar's police and created People's Militsiya. The October Revolution established a new Bolshevik regime, the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR), and the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) turned into NKVD under a People's Commissar.
NKVD activities
The main function of the NKVD was to protect the state security of the Soviet Union. This function was successfully accomplished through massive political repression, including the use of sanctioned political murders and assassinations.
When did the NKVD leave the Politburo?
In early 1946 , when he was made a full member of the Politburo and a deputy chairman of the Council of Ministers (the new name for the Council of People's Commissars), he relinquished his NKVD post, but he apparently retained some control over the police through his proteges in that organization.
When did the NKVD get executed?
From 1936 to 1938 , the NKVD arrested and executed millions of party members, government officials, and ordinary citizens. The military also came under assault. Much of the officer corps was wiped out in 1937-38, leaving the country ill prepared for World War II.
What was the role of the NKVD in the 1940s?
During the period from 1934 to 1940, the NKVD took charge of numerous economic enterprises that employed forced labor, such as gold mining, major construction projects, and other industrial activity.
What was the NKVD's role in the war?
The NKVD was a powerful organization. In addition to controlling the security police and the regular police, it was in charge of border and internal troops , fire brigades, convoy troops, and, after 1934, the entirepenal system, including regular prisons and forced labor camps, or the Gulag. During the period from 1934 to 1940, the NKVD took charge of numerous economic enterprises that employed forced labor, such as gold mining, major construction projects, and other industrial activity. In addition, the Special Board, attached to the NKVD, operated outside the legal codes and was empowered to impose on persons deemed "socially dangerous" sentences of exile, deportation, or confinement in labor camps. The Special Board soon became one of the chief instruments of Stalin's purges.
When did the NKGB become independent?
In April 1943, the Soviet intelligence service, the NKGB (People's Commissariat for State Security) had been made independent of the NKVD (Peoples Commissariat for Internal Affairs).
Why did Pavlov not follow Stalin's orders?
Pavlov and three other generals under his command were accused of failing to follow Stalin's orders to attack the Germans. They were unable to do so simply because their own troops had already been virtually wiped out by the advancing Germans after a previous order from Moscow to resist them. Pavlov was also accused of being a plotter: ‘While part of an anti-Soviet plot and a commander of the troops of the Western Front, [Pavlov] betrayed the interests of the Motherland by opening the front to the fascists.' Pavlov was interrogated about Meretskov, and Meretskov was interrogated about him..
Russia
Lubyanka (KGB), formerly All-Russia Insurance Company, rebuild 1940 and 1983
Moscow
Lubyanka (KGB), formerly All-Russia Insurance Company, rebuild 1940 and 1983
Who encouraged the invigilators to continue their hard work?
Joseph Stalin encouraged the invigilators to continue their “hard work” and he personally supervised the progress of the Polish Operation investigation. “Very good,” he wrote to Yezhov, adding “kick and clean out this Polish-espionage scum. Destroy it for the good of the Soviet Union”.
When did Maluka say he was completely pale?
He went on to say: “One time in June 1938 , I went into to Maluka’s office by mistake and saw a prisoner who was being forced by Maluka and two other men to hold unisolated electric wires in his hands. The man was completely pale.”
How much more than during the Katyn massacre?
Almost 10 times more than during Katyn massacre. Almost two times more than in the massacres of Volhynia and Eastern Galicia. 25 per cent more than during the Warsaw Uprising. Three times more than in Auschwitz. To put this into perspective, we can use a more modern and tangible example.
How many Poles were deported during the Bolsheviks?
Among the Poles who lost their lives during this period were the several dozen thousand Poles who had been resettled to Kazakhstan. During their Polish Operation, Bolsheviks deported Poles living in the vicinity of Poland’s borders.
Who was the NKVD officer who cut people's throats?
There is the well-known case of the particularly cruel NKVD officer in Kuibyshev – Ivanov. “He set up competitions to see who could kill a detainee with one single kick,” Tomasz Sommer wrote in his book titled the “Anti-Polish Operation”. “Ivanov himself, however, walked around in a white apron and carried a special device with which he cut people’s throats, which earned him the nickname “Doctor” among his cohorts. Ivanov demanded compassion in lieu of the fact that his health suffered as a result of the intensity with which he carried out the death sentences”.
When did Maluka say he was completely pale?
He went on to say: “One time in June 1938 , I went into to Maluka’s office by mistake and saw a prisoner who was being forced by Maluka and two other men to hold unisolated electric wires in his hands. The man was completely pale.”
What did Musogorski testify about the bodies being shot in prison?
A Kyiv-based NKVD officer named Musogorski testified that: “People were shot in prison basements and during the night special tongs were used to load the bodies onto trucks. We used the tongs to grab the bodies by their necks and legs and throw them onto the trailers. We then covered them with a canvas and drove them to Bykivnia. We threw the bodies into pits, one after another”.
What was the purpose of Order No.00485?
Order No.00485 served as a model for a series of similar NKVD secret decrees targeting a number of the Soviet Union’s diaspora nationalities : the Finnish, Latvian, Estonian, Rumanian, Greek, and Chinese. The NKVD referred to these decrees collectively as “ the National Operations ” directed against “ nationalities of foreign governments ”. The orders did not fix any quotas of people to sentence in the first category (death) or second category (10 years imprisonement), but indicated several categories of people to arrest. In the case of the Polish Operation, for example, these were:
NKVD - People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs
- The People's Commissariat for Int Komissariat Vnutrennikh Del), abbreviated NKVD (НКВД nrjngjtrgnvrk listen (help·info)) was a law enforcement agency of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the All Union Communist Party. It was closely associated with the Soviet secret police which at times was part of the agency and is know...
Purges
The War Years
Smersh
Post-War Developments
- The period of Stalin's purges began in December 1934 when Sergei Kirov, a popular Leningrad party chief who advocated a moderate policy toward the peasants, was assassinated. Although details remain murky, many Western historians believe that Stalin instigated the murder to rid himself of a potential opponent. In any event, in the resultant mass purge of the local Leningrad …