Soviet State Security Organs

[otlichnik]

This series of posts provides the historical and organization information from my old NKVD/KGB website.

HISTORY OF THE K.G.B. & OTHER SOVIET STATE SECURITY ORGANS

CHEKA, GPU & OGPU

The first Soviet state security organization, the Vecheka, was created on 20 December 1917. The Vecheka (All-Russian Extraordinary Commission for Combating Counter-revolution and Sabotage) is more commonly known as the Cheka.

With the end of the civil war and the resulting period of stabilization, the Cheka was transformed, on 8 February 1922, into the GPU (State Political Directorate) which was subordinated to the NKVD (People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs). The NKVD had been formed in early 1918 and controlled the militia (police), criminal investigation departments, fire brigades, internal troops, and prison guards.

With the formation of the USSR in 1923 the GPU became the OGPU (Unified State Poltical Directorate) and was upgraded to an independent directorate of the Soviet Council of People's Commissars (i.e. it was removed from NKVD control).

NKVD

In 1934 the OGPU was transformed into the GUGB (Chief Directorate of State Security) which was subordinated into the new All-Union NKVD. This marked the beginning of Soviet state security’’s most powerful and autocratic period. All key aspects of internal and state security were now subordinated into one body under one leader –– at first G.G. Yagoda, then, from 27 September 1936, N.I. Yezhov, and finally, from 25 November 1938 Lavrentii Beria.

In 1934 the NKVD was organized as follows:
- GUGB (Chief Directorate of State Security)
- GUPVO (Chief Directorate of Frontier Guards and Interior Troops)
- GULAG (Chief Directorate of Camps)
- GUM (Chief Directorate of the Militia)
- other units responsible for Fire Fighting, Local Anti-Aircraft Defence, Highway Construction, Archives, etc.

On 2 February 1939 the GUPVO was divided into 6 Chief Directorates:
-GUPV (Chief Directorate of Frontier Guards)
-GUKV (Chief Directorate of Convoy Troops)
-GUVOVPGO (Chief Directorate of Troops for Guarding Industry and State Facilities)
-GUZhV (Chief Directorate of NKVD Railroad Troops)
-GUInzhV (Chief Directorate of NKVD Engineer Troops)
-GUIntV (Chief Directorate of the NKVD Intendants Service)

In September 1939 NKVD OSNAZ (Special Forces) Battalions subordinate to the GUPV (Frontier Guards) moved into the newly occupied territores of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Bessarabia along with Red Army units and Comminust Party officials. OSNAZ Battalions carried out functions like the Cheka’’s ChON and OSNAZ units had during the Civil War –– carrying out NKVD directives to ensure the smooth transition to Soviet power. Orders which led to widesweeping purges, arrests, imprisonment and execution.

In 1940 NKVD forces killed thousands of Polish officers in three prison camps: Kozelsk (226th Minsk NKVD Convoy Regiment), Starobelsk (228th Kharkov NKVD Convoy Regiment) and Ostashkovsk (236th Moscow NKVD Convoy Regiment).
At the beginning of the war Independent NKVD Line Divisions, complete with artillery and armour, were formed in the new GUOV (Chief Directorate of Operational Forces).

In June 1941 47 ground and 6 naval Frontier Guards Regiments and 11 other NKVD combat Regiments contained approximately 100,000 men. These were formed into 15 divisions. Destroyer (Istribitelyniy) Battalions were formed in Soviet towns and cities to perform rear area security and hunt down enemy agents and parachutists. The infamous Blocking Detachements (Zagraditelniy Otryady) were formed, primarily from GUPV (Frontier Guards) Special Forces Battalions.

Many NKVD units were cited for distinction during the war including:
- Defensive battles in Belorussia, Latvia and Estonia: 42nd, 132nd and 155th Independent Convoy Battalions.
- Defence of Riga and Tallin: 22nd NKVD Rifle Division and 3rd NKVD Railroad Division.
- Defence of Kiev: 5th, 10th and 13th NKVD Rifle Divisions.
- Defence of Odessa: 249th Convoy Regiment.
- Defence of the Western Ukraine: 21st NKVD Cavalry Regiment.
- Defence of Rostov: 230th Convoy Regiment.
- Defence of Leningrad: 1st, 20th, 21st and 22nd NKVD Rifle Divisions.
- Defence of Moscow: 34th, 70th, 111th, 115th, 156th, 160th and 207th NKVD Rifle Regiments.
- Battle for Stalingrad: 10th NKVD Division.
- The 70th Army, formed in December 1941 entirely of NKVD

Frontier Guards and Interior Troops, fought at Kursk and Berlin.
In 1943 there were 1210 NKVD garrisons in liberated areas of the USSR: 74 regimental, 346 battalion and 790 company garrisons.

THE NKGB

On 3 February 1941, Decree 149 of the CPSU Politburo removed the GUGB from the NKVD and elevated to equal People’’s Commissariat status creating the NKGB. The NKGB was led by V.N. Merkulov, Beria’’s former deputy, who remained a loyal lackey. The new NKGB was responsible for 1) external espionage, 2) counter-espionage throughout the USSR, 3) operations to find and liquidate anti-Soviet parties and counter-revolutionary formations in the USSR and 4) guarding the leaders of the party and state. The NKGB organization was created at all levels (All-Union down to Oblast, Krai and Raion).

The NKGB was divided into:
- UR (Directorate of Intelligence)
- UK (Directorate of Counter-Intelligence)
- USP (Secret-Political Directorate)
- UKMK (Directorate of the Kommendant of the Moscow Kremlin)

External espionage was carried out by the central NKGB and by the NKGB Directorates of Khabarovsk Krai, Arkhangelsk, Brest, Leningrad, Lvov and Chita.

The NKGB’’s independence was short lived. In late June 1941, after the German invasion, the NKGB was resubordinated into the NKVD as the GUGB to ensure closer control of the nation’’s security apparatus during this chaotic time.

In April 1943, after the military situation had changed in favour of the USSR, the GUGB was again removed from the NKVD and became the NKGB. This time the change lasted until the birth of the MGB in 1946.

On 8 February 1941, the Special Sections of the NKVD (responsible for counter-intelligence in the military) were given to the Army and Navy (NKO and NKVMF) where they became the infamous SMERSH (from Smert' Shpionam or "Death to Spies"). This represented a major policy change since military counter-intelligence had been controlled by the Special Sections (OOs) of the Cheka, and its successors, since 16 July 1918. The timing of this decision, March 1943, implies that it was done to reward the military for its achievements at Stalingrad.

On ““liberated”” territory the NKVD and NKGB carried out mass arrest and deportations, at times sending entire populations (650,000+ Crimean Tatars, Chechens, Ingush, and others) to Central Asia, rooted out and liquidated anti-Soviet organizations and sought out enemy agents and collaborators. These operations involved an estimated 19,000 NKVD, NKGB and SMERSH workers and 100,000 NKVD troops, all working on internal deportations during wartime!!

MGB, MVD & KGB

In March 1946 the Soviet government was restructured and all People's Commissariats (NK) were redesignated Ministries (M). Thus the NKVD became the MVD and the NKGB became the MGB. Merkulov was replaced as head of the new MGB by V.S. Abakumov, S.N. Kruglov replaced Beria as head of the MVD, and Beria became a full member of the Soviet Politburo and a deputy chairman of the Council of Ministers exercising full control over the MVD and MGB. At this time SMERSH was disbanded in the Soviet military and the OOs were reformed in the MGB.

On 6 March 1953, the day after Stalin died, Beria succeeded in uniting the MVD and MGB into one body, the MVD. On 13 March 1954, after Beria's fall, " secret trial", and execution, the monster unified MVD was again split up. The reformed MVD retained its traditional policing and internal security functions while the new KGB took on the state security functions of the MGB. The KGB was subordinated to the USSR Council of Ministers, the Soviet Cabinet. The final change to the Soviet KGB occured on 5 July 1978 when the KGB was upgraded to the "KGB of the USSR". The KGB was now in the inner circle of the Council of Ministers with the KGB Chairman guaranteed a seat on the council.

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