SMERSH anniversary badge

[deValcourt]

This is actually a well-made, heavy 3-piece construction badge for the 60th anniversary of SMERSH ("1943-2003"). It could be for veterans, it could be for tourists, I don't really care because it looks cool to me. My former Russian fiance and I were on holiday in St. Petersburg and picked this up in a local market.

My question is one of historical accuracy rather than authenticity. I was always under the impression that "SMERSH" was the acrnymn applied the NKVD's rear guard who would shoot deserters and potential spies.

The NKVD part is the stickler for me since the inscription on the ribbon: Военная контрразведка СМЕРШ which literallt translates to "Military Counter-intelligence *SMERSH*"

The questions are simple: Was SMERSH an arm of the army or of the NKVD? Or, was it just sort of a soup of wartime intelligence working more or less togetherwith a single goal of eliminating spies and saboteurs?

I believe the members of SMERSH were recruited from various branchs of the military which would account for military status, but the way they allegedly operated was that of NKVD border guards.

Phillip

[EricFG]

You checked with wikipedia I assume? SMERSH - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[deValcourt]

You checked with wikipedia I assume? SMERSH - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

They do have a way of putting things simply :rolleyes:: NKVD was "responsible" for military intelligence until it "became part of the Army and Navy" in 1941. Then it gets sketchy again - NKGB was created and had control of counter-intelligence (SMERSH) until Stalin got even more paranoid and put them back under the Commissariat of Defense in 1943 within his and Beria's supervision (so still technically state security). And then in 1946 was put under the Narkomat of Military Forces (NKVS) and disbanded the same year when "People's Commissariats" became "ministries."

So yes Eric, I have read it before, and it is still as clear as mud that the group was only in effective existance as long as Stalin wanted / needed people to do his "dirty work" aka "wet jobs" for him. (Thanks for the link - it's been changed some since the last time I read the Wiki version.)

My oh my, is it any wonder why I prefer the Cold War version of the KGB for study?:chuckle

All that being said, I still like the badge. It's not MMD or LMD quality, but looks rather nice, IMHO.:)

Phillip

[EricFG]

Phil, have you read 'The Sword And The Shield: The Mitrokhin Archive And The Secret History Of The KGB'? Looks like something up your alley.

[deValcourt]

Phil, have you read 'The Sword And The Shield: The Mitrokhin Archive And The Secret History Of The KGB'? Looks like something up your alley.

Not yet. I'm still inching my way through Christopher Andrew's KGB: The Inside Story and I'm only about up to 1942 before SMERSH was created and on page 309 of the 700+ pages.

If you happen to run across the ISBN number, would you mind sending it to me? I hope to finish this one before the Spring and I want to pull up the book you are talking about to make sure I don't already have it.

I also have a DVD "documentary" on the KGB in North America that was made in the mid-1980s. It is so serious all I can do is laugh. There is even a point in the film when they start showing still shots of agents stationed at DC and New York (embassies and consulates) and they say their cover names then their real names and V. Putin is one of the known agents in New York. I'll have to find someone to make a copy and send it to you. It's pathetically funny.

Phillip

P.S. Speaking of films and SMERSH. In the early Ian Flemming books, James Bond's main organized nemesis was "SMERSH," but when the films were made, starting with Casino Royale the producers/screenplay writers changed SMERSH to "SPECTRE" (Special Executive for Counterintelligence, Terrorism, Revenge, and Extortion - Wikipedia) because they were afraid of agrivating already tense relations bewteen the USSR and the US and the West in general. the character "Le Chiffre" was a SMERSH agent given the task of killing Bond.

[Nota Bene]

I've never seen this badge before, but based on the overall quality I am not too optimistic about it.

Alexei

[deValcourt]

I've never seen this badge before, but based on the overall quality I am not too optimistic about it.

Alexei

I'm not really convinced it was even commissioned by a veterans group (or if there even is a SMERSH veterans organization), but it was a gift from a friend who went to Moscow a couple of years ago and all she knew was "sword and shield."

I have been looking more closely at it (with a magnifier) and I made a mistake in the first post by saying it is a three-piece construction. It is one solid piece molded to appear multi-layered. There's also no mint mark or even anything on the screw nut and the screw post is thinner with tighter threading than most even unofficial badges. So I think it served its purpose - to get a tourist to buy it.:chuckle

Phillip