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The NKVD is also known for its Main Directorate For State Security (GUGB). In addition to its State Security and Police functions, however, some of its departments handled other matters, such as transport, fire guards, Border Guard ( NKVD Border Troops ), etc., the tasks that were traditionally assigned to the Ministry Of The Interior (MVD). on Lubyanka Square were designed by Aleksey Schusev ]] HISTORY AND STRUCTURE After the October Revolution of 1917, the Bolsheviks dissolved the old police and sought the creation of Workers and Peasants' '' Militsiya '' under the supervision of the NKVD of the RSFSR. However, the NKVD apparatus was overwhelmed by functions inherited directly from the Imperial MVD , such as the supervision of the local governments and firefighting, and the new proletarian workforce was largely inexperienced. Realizing that it was left with no capable security force, the Council Of People's Commissars of the Russian SFSR created a secret political police, the Cheka , led by Felix Dzerzhinsky . It gained the right to undertake quick non-judicial trials and executions, if that was deemed necessary in order to "protect the revolution". The Cheka was reorganized in 1922 as the State Political Directorate or GPU of the NKVD of the Russian SFSR. Upon the formation of the Soviet Union in 1923, the GPU was transformed into the OGPU (Joint State Political Directorate), under the Council Of People's Commissars of the USSR . The NKVD of the RSFSR retained control of the militsiya, as well as various other responsibilities. In 1934, the OGPU was incorporated into the newly-created NKVD of the USSR, becoming the Main Directorate For State Security ; the NKVD of the Russian SFSR ceased to exist and was not resurrected until 1946 (as the MVD of the RSFSR). As a result, the NKVD also became responsible for all detention facilities (including the forced labor camps, known as the Gulag ) as well as for the regular Police . At various times, the NKVD had the following Chief Directorates, abbreviated as "ГУ" — . :ГУГБ — государственная безопасность, of State Security () :ГУРКМ — рабоче-крестьянская милиция, of workers' and peasants' Militsiya () :ГУПВО — пограничная и внутренняя охрана, of border and internal guards () :ГУПО — пожарная охрана, of fire guards () :ГУШосдор — шоссейные дороги, of highways () :ГУЖД — железные дороги, of railways () :ГУЛАГ — GULAG () :ГЭУ — экономика, of economics () :ГТУ — транспорт, of transport () :ГУВПИ — военнопленных и интернированных, of POW s and interned persons () Since its creation in 1934, the People's Commisariat for Internal Affairs of the USSR underwent many organizational changes; between 1938 and 1989 alone, the NKVD's structure changed 3 times. NKVD Organization in 1939 :NKVD management
Deputies
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Directorates and departments
On February 3 , 1941 , the Special Sections of the NKVD (responsible for counter-intelligence in the military) became part of the Army and Navy (RKKA and RKKF, respectively). The GUGB was removed from the NKVD and renamed the NKGB . Following the outbreak of World War II , the NKVD and NKGB were reunited on July 20 , 1941 and counter-intelligence was returned to the NKVD in January 1942. In April 1943 it was again transferred to the Narkomat of Defence and Narkomat of the Navy, becoming SMERSH (from ''Smert' Shpionam'' or "Death to Spies"); at the same time, the NKVD was again separated from the NKGB. In 1946, the NKVD was renamed the MVD and the NKGB was renamed the MGB. Following yet another merger with the MVD in 1953, after the arrest of Lavrenty Beria the Chekist forces were finally removed from the MVD in 1954 to finally become the KGB. According to the 1996 radio documentary by the Russian Service of the Radio Liberty the MGB was reduced in its role from ministry to committee because of the fear of the communist leaders of the role the MGB might play if the purges would resume. The police force was finally split into MVD , responsible for the criminal police and Correctional Facilities and KGB (Committee of State Security) - responsible for the Political Police , counter-intelligence, intelligence, personal protection and confidential communications. NKVD ACTIVITIES during a parade in 1936]] Main NKVD function was protecting State Security of the Soviet Union. This function has been successfully accomplished by means of massive Political Repression s. Repressions and executions ''See for detailed articles on the issue.'' Implementing Soviet internal politics with respect to perceived enemies of the state (" Enemies Of The People "), the agency conducted Arrest s and Execution s of Soviet and foreign citizens. Millions were rounded up and sent to GULAG camps and hundreds of thousands were executed by the NKVD. Formally, most of these people were convicted by NKVD Troika s ("triplets") — special Courts Martial . Evidential standards were very low; a tip off by an anonymous informer was considered sufficient grounds for arrest. Usage of "physical means of persuasion" ( Torture ) was sanctioned by a special decree of the state, which opened the door to numerous abuses, documented in recollections of victims and members of the NKVD itself. Hundreds of mass graves resulting from such operations were later discovered throughout the country. Documented evidence exists that the NKVD committed mass Extrajudicial Execution s, guided by secret "plans". Those plans established the number and Proportion of victims (officially "public enemies") in a given region (e.g. the quotas for Clergy , former Noble s etc, regardless of identity). The families of the repressed, including children, were also automatically repressed according to NKVD Order No. 00486 . The purges were organized in a number of waves according to the decisions of the Politburo of the Communist Party (e.g. the campaigns among Engineer s ("Shakhty Case"), party and military Elite ("fascist plots"), and medical staff (" Doctors Plot "). Distinctive and permanent purging campaigns were conducted against non- Russia n nationalities (including Ukrainians , Tatar s, German s and many others, who were accused of "bourgeois nationalism", "fascism", etc.) and religious activists. A number of Mass Operations Of The NKVD were related to the prosecution of whole ethnic categories. Whole populations of certain ethnicities Were Forcibly Resettled . Despite this, it is important to note that Russians still formed the majority of NKVD victims. NKVD agents became not only executioners, but also one of the largest groups of victims. The majority of 1930s agency staff (hundreds of thousands), including all commanders, were executed. During the Spanish Civil War , NKVD agents, acting in conjunction with the Communist Party Of Spain , exercised substantial control over the Republican government, using Soviet military aid to help further Soviet influence. The NKVD established numerous secret prisons around Madrid , which were used to detain, torture and kill hundreds of the NKVD's enemies. In June 1937, Andres Nin , the secretary of the Anti-Stalinist POUM , was tortured and killed in an NKVD prison. Cooperation of NKVD and , for the coordination of the pacification of resistance in Poland ; ''see Gestapo–NKVD Conferences ''. The Soviet Union delivered hundreds of German and Austrian communists to Gestapo, as unwanted foreigners, together with their documents. During World War II , NKVD units were used for rear area security, including stopping Desertion . In liberated territory, the NKVD and later NKGB carried out mass arrests, deportations and executions, including prosecutions of anti-Nazi resistance movements like the Polish Armia Krajowa . They were also responsible for executing thousands of Polish Political Prisoners . The NKVD's Intelligence and '' Special Operations '' (''Inostrannyi Otdel'') unit organized overseas Assassination s of ex-Soviet citizens and foreigners who were regarded as enemies of the USSR by Joseph Stalin. Among the officially confirmed victims of such plots were:
After the death of Joseph Stalin in 1953, the new Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev began a campaign against the NKVD purges. Between the 1950s and 1980s, thousands of victims were legally "rehabilitated" (i.e. acquitted and had their rights restored). Many of the victims and their relatives refused to apply for rehabilitation due to fear or lack of documents. Still, the rehabilitation was ineffective: in most cases the formulation was "due to lack of evidence of the case of crime", a Soviet legal jargon that effectively said "there was a crime, but unfortunately we cannot prove it". Only a limited number of persons were rehabilitated with the formulation "cleared of all charges". Very few NKVD agents were ever officially convicted of the particular violation of anybody's rights. Legally, those agents executed in the 1930s were also "purged" without legitimate Criminal investigation and Court decision. In the 1990s and 2000s, a small number of ex-NKVD agents living in the Baltic States were convicted of crimes against the local population. At present, living former agents receive generous Pension s and privileges established by the government of the USSR and later confirmed by all the CIS countries. They are not persecuted in any way, although some have been identified by their victims. , a depiction of the Car s used by NKVD agents. Curiously, this painting was approved by Stalin 's Censor s.]] Intelligence activities These included:
The NKVD and the Soviet economy The extensive system of labor exploitation in the Gulag made a notable contribution to the Soviet economy and the development of remote areas. Colonization of Siberia, the North and Far East was among the explicitly stated goals in the very first laws concerning Soviet Labor Camp s. Mining , Construction works (roads, Railway s, Canal s, Dam s, and Factories ), Logging , and other functions of the labor camps were part of the Soviet Planned Economy , and the NKVD had its own production plans. The most unusual part of the NKVD's achievements was its role in Soviet Scientific and arms development. Many researchers and Engineer s which were arrested and tried for political crimes, were placed in privileged prisons (much more comfortable than GULAG ), which were colloquially known as '' Sharashka s'', where they were forced to work within their speciality. Continuing their studies there and later released, some of them became world leaders in science and technology. Among such ''sharashka'' members were Sergey Korolev , the head designer of the Soviet rocket program and first human space flight mission in 1961, and Andrei Tupolev , the famous airplane designer. After the world war NKVD coordinated work on Soviet nuclear weaponry, under the direction of General Pavel Sudoplatov . Scientists were not prisoners, but the work was coordinated by NKVD because it was closely connected with intelligence service and it was needed to ensure security and secrecy of the works. SEE ALSO
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