M1943 Special Tunic for NKGB Commissars

[kliment]

Hello,
I will share with you some findings about a uniform rarely seen or described: the m1943 semi-dress uniform for commissar of state security.
This open collar uniform have no direct equivalent in the Red Army. Bekesi had given in "Stalin's War" (Ramsbury, 2006, p.121) some pictures of the regulations (Prikaz 126, 18 Feb. 1943), but without any useful comments.
Picture 1: an unidentified commissar of state security (may be Merkoulov) in Moscow in june 1943. This photo is published in "Russian Aviation. A Pictorial History" (Moscow, 2003).
Picture 2: Pavel Fitin, head of foreign intelligence. (wikipedia)
Picture 3: Abakoumov in parade dress, Merkoulov in semi-dress and Beria in full dress. (Low resolution picture from an original unknown russian source)

[DougD]

The drawing is from a Russian book called 'SMERSH'.

Here is an NKGB Commissars parade dress tunic (far left of above drawing) I used to have...please ignore the belt as I made it using a modern belt! I had nothing else at the time for display.

Huge size! Has 'wave' boards that were supposed to be just for NKGB Commissars, but in my experience were also on the double breasted NKVD Troops Generals uniforms. I know others disagree with me on that, but to each his own.

DougD

[kliment]

Thank you Doug for the reference and the photo, it's exactly the kind of things I hoped in opening this thread. Have you a better quality image of the drawing ? In fact I didn't see if there is a blue piping at the cuffs and collar.
I have also found an heavily retouched picture of Ivan Serov in the same uniform.

[vvadim]

Have you a better quality image of the drawing ? In fact I didn't see if there is a blue piping at the cuffs and collar.

Drawing in question was made by Igor Sternberg. With 50K size limit it’s really difficult to talk about quality picture. Yes it’s is a blue piping at the cuffs and collar.

[kliment]

Vvadim, thank you for your precious informations. The blue piping was not only in cuffs and collar, but also on reverses and front. Very interesting, it’s not so usual in uniforms, North Koreans also use piping on reverses.
Doug, thanks to share the details of this splendid uniform.
Have someone, by chance, a drawing of the cap embroidery for commissar-general, is it the same as for a msu?

[vvadim]

Have someone, by chance, a drawing of the cap embroidery for commissar-general, is it the same as for a msu?

Yes they are the same

[DougD]

Kliment,

I cleaned up this thread a bit as it got off topic. This tunic is really interesting as a thread focus; only used for a little over two years; really one of the rarest of Soviet tunics (not to mention perhaps the most unique in design from the war era).

Here is a crop/close up of the special open collar tunic from the same drawing from the SMERSH book. Also, another example in a 1944 photo of Commissar Rezev (from Occupation Museum in Tallinn); note the full size 'generals' buttons on the chest pockets!

DougD

[DougD]

An admittedly poor quality shot (but still worth posting) of Solomon Milshtien in the special tunic.

[kliment]

Hello Doug, Thank you for the new pictures about this fascinating uniform. I have since found a quite interesting picture on a russian site

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The man is colonel general Zavenyagin head of the 9th Chief Directorate of the NKVD at the end of the war, one of the chief responsable of the soviet atomic project. According to the site, the picture was taken in Krasnoyarsk-26 in 1950!

[Ser-g]

wow that is a amazing version.
i just love the open collar uniform!!

it must be one of the very first open collar uniforms inuse ?

were they only for the NKGB Commissars ? or did every branch have there own version with differend collor piping?

ser-g