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{{Refimprove|date=April 2009}} {{Infobox Government agency |agency_name = NKVD ({{lang-ru|'''НКВД'''}})<br> People's Ministry of Internal Affairs |nativename = {{lang|ru|Народный Комиссариат Внутренних Дел<br> ''Narodnyy Komissariat Vnutrennikh Del''}} |nativename_a = |nativename_r = |logo = Emblema NKVD.svg |logo_width = 117px |logo_caption = NKVD emblem |seal = |seal_width = |seal_caption = |formed = 1934 |preceding1 = [[OGPU]] |preceding2 = [[Cheka]] |dissolved = 1954 |superseding = [[MVD]] |jurisdiction = |headquarters = [[Lubyanka (KGB)|Lubyanka Square]], [[Moscow]] |latd= |longd= |region_code = |employees = |budget = |minister1_name= |minister1_pfo = |minister2_name = |minister2_pfo = |chief1_name = [[Genrikh Yagoda]] (1934-1936) |chief1_position = |chief2_name = [[Nikolai Yezhov]] (1936-1938) |chief2_position = |chief3_name = [[Lavrentiy Beria]] (1938-1953) |chief3_position = |chief4_name = |chief4_position = |agency_type = [[Secret police]] |parent_agency = [[image:URSSblason1er.gif|45px]] <br>[[Council of the People's Commissars]] |child1_agency = |child2_agency = |child3_agency = |child4_agency = |child5_agency = |keydocument1 = |website = |footnotes = }} The '''[[Council of the People's Commissars|People's Commissar]]iat for Internal Affairs''' ({{lang-ru|Народный Комиссариат Внутренних Дел}} ''Narodnyy Komissariat Vnutrennikh Del''), abbreviated '''NKVD''' ({{lang-ru|НКВД}} {{Audio|ru-NKVD.ogg|listen}}) was the public and [[secret police]] organization of the [[Soviet Union]] that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including [[Soviet political repressions|political repression]], during the era of [[Stalin]]. The NKVD contained the regular, public police force of the USSR (including [[traffic police]], [[firefighting]], [[border guard]]s and [[archives]]) but is better known for the activities of the [[Gulag]] and the [[Main Directorate for State Security (USSR)|Main Directorate for State Security]] (GUGB), which eventually became the Committee for State Security ([[KGB]]). It conducted mass [[extrajudicial execution]]s, ran the Gulag system of [[forced labor]] camps, suppressed underground resistance, conducted mass deportations of [[Population transfer in the Soviet Union|entire nationalities]] and [[Kulaks]] to unpopulated regions of the country, [[NKVD Border Troops|guarded state borders]], conducted [[espionage]] and [[political assassination]]s abroad, was responsible for influencing foreign governments, and enforced [[Stalinism|Stalinist policy]] within [[communist]] movements in other countries. == History and structure == {{main|Cheka|Chronology of Soviet secret police agencies}} After the [[February 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. However, the NKVD apparatus was overwhelmed by duties inherited from MVD, such as the supervision of the local governments and firefighting, and the proletarian workforce of now ''Workers' and Peasants' Militsiya'' was largely inexperienced. Realizing that it was left with no capable security force, the [[Council of People's Commissars]] of the RSFSR 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 RSFSR.<ref name="Malcher0>Blank Pages by G.C.Malcher ISBN 1 897984 00 6 Page 7</ref> In 1923, the [[Soviet Union|USSR]] was formed with the RSFSR as its largest member. The GPU became 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'', and various other responsibilities. In 1934, the NKVD of the RSFSR was transformed into an all-union security force, the NKVD of the USSR (which the [[CPSU]] leaders soon became to call "the leading detachment of our party"), and the OGPU was incorporated into the NKVD as the [[Main Directorate for State Security (USSR)|Main Directorate for State Security]] ('''GUGB'''); the separate NKVD of the RSFSR 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]].<ref>At various times, the NKVD had the following Chief Directorates, abbreviated as "ГУ"– {{lang|ru|Главное Управление, ''glavnoye upravleniye''}}. :ГУГБ – Государственной Безопасности, of State Security ({{lang|ru|[[GUGB]], ''glavnoye upravleniye gosudarstvennoi bezopasnosti’''}}) :ГУРКМ– Рабоче-Крестьянской Милиции, of Workers and Peasants ''[[Militsiya]]'' ({{lang|ru|[[GURKM]], ''glavnoye upravleniye raboče-krest'yanskoi militsyi''}}) :ГУПВО– Пограничной и Внутренней Охраны, of Border and Internal Guards ({{lang|ru|[[GUPVO]], ''GU pograničnoi i vnytrennei okhrany''}}) :ГУПО– Пожарной Охраны, of Fire Guards ({{lang|ru|[[GUPO]], ''GU požarnoi okhrany''}}) :ГУШосДор– ШОСсейных ДОРог, of HighWays ({{lang|ru|[[GUŠD]], ''GU šosseynykh dorog''}}) :ГУЖД– Железных Дорог, of RailWays ({{lang|ru|[[GUŽD]], ''GU železnykh dorog''}}) :ГУЛаг– Главное Управление исправительно-трудовых ЛАГерей и колоний, ({{lang|ru|[[GULag]], ''glavnoye upravleniye ispravitelno-trudovykh lagerey i kolonii''}}) :ГЭУ – Экономическое, of Economics ({{lang|ru|[[GEU]], ''glavnoye ekonomičeskoie upravleniye''}}) :ГТУ – Транспортное, of Transport ({{lang|ru|[[GTU]], ''glavnoye transportnoie upravleniye''}}) :ГУВПИ– ВоенноПленных и Интернированных, of [[POW]]s and interned persons ({{lang|ru|[[GUVPI]], ''glavnoye upravleniye voyennoplennikh i internirovannikh''}})</ref> Until the reorganization begun by [[Nikolai Yezhov]] with a purge of the regional political police in the autumn of 1936 and formalized by a May 1939 directive of the All-Union NKVD by which all appointments to the local political police were controlled from the center, there was frequent tension between centralized control of local units and the collusion of those units with local and regional party elements, frequently resulting in the thwarting of Moscow's plans.<ref>James Harris, "[http://www.cairn.info/article.php?ID_ARTICLE=CMR_422_0423 Dual subordination ? The political police and the party in the Urals region, 1918-1953]," ''Cahiers du monde russe'' 22 (2001):423-446.</ref> Since its creation in 1934, the NKVD of the USSR underwent many organizational changes; between 1938 and 1939 alone, the NKVD's structure changed three times.<ref> '''NKVD Organization in 1939''' :'''NKVD management''' *People's Commissar for Internal Affairs– [[Lavrenty Beria]] **First Deputy and the head of Main Directorate of State Security (GUGB)– [[Vsevolod Merkulov]] '''Deputies''' *for NKVD troops– [[Ivan Maslenikov]] *for ''Militsiya''– [[Vasyli Chernyshov]] *for Staff– [[Sergei Kruglov (politician)|Sergei Kruglov]] '''Secretariats''' *NKVD Secretariat– [[Stepan Mamulov]] *Secretariat of Special Council of the NKVD– [[Vladimir Ivanov]] *Special Technical Bureau– [[Valentin Kravchenko]] *Special Bureau– [[Pyotr Scharia]] *NKVD Inspection Group– [[Nikolai Pavlov]] *Special Plenipotentiary– [[Aleksei Stefanov]] *Secretariat of the First Deputy for GUGB Task– [[Vsevolod Merkulov]] *Inspection Group– [[Vsevolod Merkulov]] *Special Secretariat– [[Vasyli Chernyshov]] *Section for Organization of Labor Force– [[Vsevolod Merkulov]] *Permanent Technical Committee– ? *Section for Repair Work– [[Pyotr Vainschtein]] *Supply Section– M. Mituschyn *Department of Railroad Transportation and Water– ? '''Directorates and departments''' *Main Directorate of State Security (GUGB)– [[Vsevolod Merkulov]] *1st Special Department– [[Leonid Baschtakov]] *2nd Special Department– [[Evgeny Lapishin]] *3rd Special Department– [[Dmitry Shadrin]] *4th Special Department– [[Mikhail Filimonov]] *5th Special Department– [[Vladimir Vladimirov]] *Department of Mobilization– [[Ivan Scherediega]] *Department of Staff– [[Sergei Kruglov (politician)|Sergei Kruglov]] *The Chief Directorate of Economics (GEU)– [[Bogdan Kobulov]] *The Chief Directorate of Transportation (GTU)– [[Solomon Milshtein]] *The Chief Directorate of Prison (GTU)– [[Aleksandr Galkin]] *The Chief Directorate of Administration (AČU)– J.Schumbatov *The Chief Directorate of Archive (GAU)– [[Yosif Nikitynsky]] *The Chief Directorate of fire guards (GUPO)– [[Nikolay Istomin]] *The Chief Directorate of ''Militsiya'' (GURKM)– [[Pavel Zujev]] *The Chief Directorate [or Administration] of Corrective Labour Camps and Colonies (GULAG)– [[Vasyli Chernyshov]] *The Chief Directorate of Highways (GUŠOSDOR)– [[Vsevolod Fedotov]] *Directorate of Kremlin Commander– [[Nikolai Spyrydonov]] *The Chief Directorate of Border Troops (GUPW)– [[Grigori Sokolov]] *The Chief Directorate of NKVD Troops for Railroad Protection– [[Aleksandr Guliev]] *The Chief Directorate of NKVD Troops for Escort– [[Vladimir Sharapov]] *The Chief Directorate of NKVD Troops for Protection of Industrial Enterprise– I. Kozik *The Chief Directorate of NKVD Operative Troops– P. Ariemyev *The Chief Directorate of Military Provision– [[Aleksandr Wurgaft]] *The Chief Directorate of Military Construction– [[Ivan Luby]] *Directorate for Prisoners of War– [[Pyotr Soprunienko]] *Directorate for Construction in the Far East– [[Ivan Nikishev]] *Main Fanacial Department– [[Lazar Bierienzon]] *Main Department for Civil Status– [[Fyedor Sokolov]]</ref> On February 3, 1941, the Special Sections of the NKVD responsible for [[Military counterintelligence of the Soviet Army|military counterintelligence]] (CI) became part of the Army and Navy ([[RKKA]] and [[RKKF]], respectively). The GUGB was separated from the NKVD and renamed the "[[NKGB|People's Commissariat for State Security]]" '''(NKGB)'''. After the [[Operation Barbarossa|German invasion]], the NKVD and NKGB were reunited on 20 July 1941. The CI sections were returned to the NKVD in January 1942. In April 1943, the CI sections were again transferred to the People's Commissariats ''([[Narkomat]])'' of Defense and the Navy, becoming ''[[SMERSH]]'' (from ''Smert' Shpionam'' or "Death to Spies"); at the same time, the NKVD was again separated from the NKGB. [[Image:NKVD1936.jpg|thumb|thumb|250px|right|Picture of [[Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky|Dzerzhinsky]] during a parade in 1936.]] [[Image:KGB House Main.jpg|thumb|275px|The former [[Lubyanka (KGB)|NKVD Headquarters]] on [[Lubyanka Square]] designed by [[Aleksey Schusev]]. Served the [[KGB]]; now serves the [[Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation|FSB]].]] In 1946, all Soviet Commissariats were renamed "ministries." Accordingly, the NKVD of the USSR was renamed as the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD), while the NKGB was renamed as the Ministry of State Security '''(MGB)'''. According to a 1996 radio documentary by the Russian Service of [[Radio Liberty]], the MGB was reduced from being a ministry to a committee because Soviet leaders feared what the MGB might do if the purges were to resume.{{Citation needed|date=November 2007}} In 1953, after the arrest of [[Lavrenty Beria]], the MGB was merged back into the MVD. The police and security services were finally split in 1954 to become: * The USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD), responsible for the criminal police and [[prison|correctional facilities]]. * The USSR Committee for State Security '''(KGB)''', responsible for the [[political police]], CI, intelligence, personal protection (of the leadership), and confidential communications. == 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. ===Domestic Repressions and Executions=== ''See [[:Category:Political repression in the Soviet Union]] for detailed articles on the issue.'' In implementing Soviet internal policy with respect to perceived enemies of the state ("[[enemies of the people]]"), untold multitudes of people were 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 [[court martial|courts martial]]. Evidential standards were very low: a tip-off by an anonymous informer was considered sufficient grounds for arrest. Use 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 in the Soviet Union|mass graves]] resulting from such operations were later discovered throughout the country. Documented evidence exists that the NKVD committed mass extrajudicial executions, 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 [[nobility|nobles]] 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]], [[Poles]], [[Tatar]]s, [[Germany|Germans]] 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 [[Population transfer in the Soviet Union|were forcibly resettled]]. Foreigners living in the Soviet Union were given particular attention. When disillusioned American citizens living in the Soviet Union thronged the gates of the U.S. embassy in Moscow to plead for new U.S. passports to leave Russia (Stalin had taken their original U.S. passports for 'registration' purposes years before), none were issued. Instead, the NKVD promptly arrested all of the Americans, who were taken to [[Lubyanka Prison]] and later shot.<ref>Tzouliadis, Tim, ''The Forsaken: An American Tragedy in Stalin's Russia'' Penguin Press (2008), ISBN 1594201684: Many of the Americans desiring to return home were communists who had voluntarily moved to the Soviet Union, while others moved to Soviet Russia as skilled auto workers to help produce cars at the recently-constructed GAZ automobile factory built by the [[Ford Motor Company]]. All were U.S. citizens.</ref> American factory workers at the Soviet Ford [[GAZ]] plant, suspected by Stalin of being 'poisoned' by Western influences, were dragged off with the others to Lubyanka by the NKVD in the very same Ford [[Ford Model A (1927-1931)|Model A]] cars they had helped build, where they were tortured; nearly all were executed or died in labor camps. Many of the slain Americans were dumped in the mass grave at [[Yuzhnoye Butovo District]] near Moscow.<ref>Tzouliadis, Tim, ''The Forsaken: An American Tragedy in Stalin's Russia'' Penguin Press (2008), ISBN 1594201684</ref> Even so, ethnic [[Russians]] still formed the majority of NKVD victims. The NKVD also served as the Soviet government's arm for the lethal persecution of [[Judaism]], the [[Russian Orthodox Church]], the [[Eastern Catholic Churches|Greek Catholics]], the [[Roman Catholic Church|Latin Catholics]], [[Islam]] and other religious organizations, an operation headed by [[Yevgeny Tuchkov]]. ===International Operations, Kidnappings, and Assassinations=== During the 1930s, the NKVD was responsible for political murders of those Stalin believed to oppose him. Espionage networks headed by experienced multilingual NKVD officers such as [[Iskhak Akhmerov]] were established in nearly every major Western country, including the United States. The NKVD recruited agents for its espionage efforts from all walks of life, from unemployed intellectuals such as [[Mark Zborowski]] to aristocrats such as [[Martha Dodd]]. Besides the gathering of intelligence, these networks provided organizational assistance for so-called ''wet business'',<ref>Barmine, Alexander, ''One Who Survived'', New York: G.P. Putnam (1945), p. 18: NKVD expression for a political murder</ref> where disillusioned Communist party members or Soviet agents such as [[Juliet Stuart Poyntz]] either disappeared or were openly liquidated.<ref>John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr, ''Venona: Decoding Soviet Espionage in America'', (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999)</ref> The NKVD's [[intelligence (information gathering)|intelligence]] and ''[[special operations]]'' (''Inostranny Otdel'') unit organized overseas [[assassination]]s of ex-Soviet citizens, former Soviet agents, dissident Communist Party members, and/or foreigners who were regarded as enemies of the USSR by [[Joseph Stalin|Josef Stalin]]. Among the officially confirmed victims of such plots were: *[[Leon Trotsky]], a personal political enemy of Stalin and his most bitter international critic; *[[Boris Savinkov]], [[Russia]]n revolutionary and terrorist ([[Trust Operation]] of the [[State Political Directorate|GPU]]); *[[Yevhen Konovalets]], prominent [[Ukraine|Ukrainian]] political and military leader. *[[Guy Leland]], French anti-Soviet underground poet *[[Walter Krivitsky]], NKVD defector *[[Ignace Reiss]] (aka Ignace Poretsky), Soviet [[State Political Directorate|GPU]] defector Many other prominent political dissidents were either kidnapped and forcibly returned to the Soviet Union or were found dead under highly suspicious circumstances, including General [[Evgeny Miller]],<ref>Barmine, Alexander, ''One Who Survived'', New York: G.P. Putnam (1945), pp. 232–233</ref><ref>Orlov, Alexander, ''The March of Time'', St. Ermin's Press (2004), ISBN 1903608058</ref><ref>Andrew, Christopher and Mitrokhin, Vasili, ''The Sword and the Shield: The Mitrokhin Archive and the Secret History of the KGB'', Basic Books (2000), ISBN 0465003125, 9780465003129, p. 75</ref> [[Lev Sedov]],<ref>Barmine, Alexander, ''One Who Survived'', New York: G. P. Putnam (1945), pp. 17, 22</ref> and former German Communist Party (KPD) member [[Willi Münzenberg]].<ref>Sean McMeekin, ''The Red Millionaire: A Political Biography of Willi Münzenberg, Moscow's Secret Propaganda Tsar in the West, 1917-1940'', New Haven, CT: Yale University Press (2004), pp. 304-305</ref> ===Spanish Civil War=== During the [[Spanish Civil War]], NKVD agents, acting in conjunction with the [[Communist Party of Spain (main)|Communist Party of Spain]], exercised substantial control over the [[Second Spanish Republic#The Liberal Government (February 1936-April 1939)|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, at first focusing on [[Spanish State|Spanish Nationalists]] and [[Red Terror (Spain)|Spanish Catholics]], while from late 1938 increasingly anarchists and [[Leon Trotsky|Trotskyists]] were the objects of persecution. In June, 1937 [[Andres Nin]], the secretary of the [[Stalinism|anti-Stalinist]] [[Workers' Party of Marxist Unification|Marxist POUM]], was tortured and killed in an NKVD prison. ===World War II operations=== In order to accomplish its own goals, the NKVD was prepared to cooperate even with such organizations as the German [[Gestapo]]. In March 1940 representatives of the NKVD and the Gestapo met for one week in [[Zakopane]], to coordinate the pacification of [[Poland]]; ''see [[Gestapo-NKVD Conferences|Gestapo–NKVD Conferences]]''. For its part, the Soviet Union delivered hundreds of German and Austrian Communists to the Gestapo, as unwanted foreigners, together with their documents. However, some NKVD units were later to fight the Wehrmacht, for example the 10th NKVD Rifle Division, which fought at the [[Battle of Stalingrad]]. [[Image:Katyn - decision of massacre p1.jpg|thumb|200px|The first page of [[Lavrentiy Beria|Beria]]'s notice (oversigned by [[Joseph Stalin|Stalin]]), to [[Katyn massacre|murder approximately 15,000 Polish officers in the Katyn Forest and other places in the Soviet Union]]]] During [[World War II]], NKVD units were used for rear area security, including stopping [[desertion]]. At the beginning of the war the NKVD formed 15 rifle divisions, which were eventually expanded to a total of 53 divisions and 28 brigades by 1945.<ref name=zaloga>Zaloga, Steven J. ''The Red Army of the Great Patriotic War, 1941-45'', Osprey Publishing, (1989), pp. 21–22</ref> Though mainly intended for internal security, NKVD divisions were sometimes used in the front-lines, for example during the [[Crimean Offensive (1944)|breakthrough in Crimea]].<ref name=zaloga/> Unlike the [[Waffen-SS]], the NKVD did not field any armored or mechanized units.<ref name=zaloga/> In liberated territory the NKVD and (later) NKGB carried out mass arrests, deportations, and executions. The targets included both collaborators with Germany and non-Communist [[resistance movement]]s such as the Polish [[Armia Krajowa]]. The NKVD also executed tens of thousands of [[NKVD massacres of prisoners|Polish political prisoners]] in 1939–1941, inter alia committing [[Katyń massacre]]. NKVD units were also used to wage the prolonged partisan war in the [[Ukrainian Insurgent Army|Ukraine]] and the [[Forest Brothers|Baltics]], which lasted until the early 1950s.<ref name=zaloga/> ===Postwar Operations=== After the death of Stalin in 1953, the new Soviet leader [[Nikita Khrushchev]] halted the NKVD purges. From the 1950s to the 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 out of fear or lack of documents. The rehabilitation was not complete: 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 anyone's rights. Legally, those agents executed in the 1930s were also "purged" without legitimate criminal investigations and court decisions. 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 retain generous pensions and privileges established by the USSR and later confirmed by all of the member countries of the [[Commonwealth of Independent States]]. They have not been prosecuted in any way, although some have been identified by their victims. ===Intelligence Activities=== These included: * Establishment of a widespread spy network through the [[Comintern]]. * Operations of [[Richard Sorge]], the "[[Red Orchestra (spy)|Red Orchestra]]", [[Willi Lehmann]], and other agents who provided valuable intelligence during World War II. * Recruitment of important [[United Kingdom|U.K.]] officials as agents in the 1940s. * Penetration of [[United Kingdom|British]] intelligence ([[MI6]]) and counter-intelligence ([[MI5]]) services. * Collection of detailed nuclear weapons design information from the U.S. and Britain. * Disruption of several confirmed plots to assassinate Stalin. * Establishment of later [[People's Republic of Poland]] communist parties and training activists, during and after [[World War II]]. First President of Poland, after war, was [[Bolesław Bierut]], an NKVD agent. === Soviet economy === The extensive system of labor exploitation in the [[Gulag|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 [[factory|factories]]), [[logging]], and other functions of the labor camps were part of the Soviet [[planned economy]], and the NKVD had its own production plans.{{Citation needed|date=February 2007}} The most unusual part of the NKVD's achievements was its role in Soviet science and arms development. Many scientists and engineers arrested for political crimes were placed in special prisons, much more comfortable than the GULAG), colloquially known as ''[[sharashka]]s''. These prisoners continued their work in these prisons. When 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. [[Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn]] was also imprisoned in a sharashka, and based his novel [[The First Circle]] on his experiences there. After World War II, the NKVD coordinated work on Soviet nuclear weaponry, under the direction of General [[Pavel Sudoplatov]]. The scientists were not prisoners, but the project was supervised by the NKVD because of its great importance and the corresponding requirement for absolute security and secrecy. Also, the project used information obtained by the NKVD from the United States. ==See also== [[Image:Katyń, ekshumacja ofiar.jpg|250px|thumb|[[Katyn massacre]] 1943 exhumation. Photo made by [[International Red Cross|Polish Red Cross]] delegation.]] *[[Attack on the NKVD Camp in Rembertów]] *[[Bykivnia]] *[[Eastern Bloc politics]] *[[Gestapo-NKVD Conferences]] *[[Great Purge]] *[[Holodomor]] *[[Internal Troops]] *[[Katyn massacre]] *[[KGB]] *[[Kurapaty]] *[[Mass operations of the NKVD]] *[[NKVD buildings]] *[[Divisions of the Soviet Union 1917-1945#NKVD Divisions|NKVD Divisions]] *[[NKVD prisoner massacres]] *[[NKVD special camps]] *[[NKVD units dressed as UPA fighters]] *[[Population transfer in the Soviet Union]] *[[Schutzstaffel]] *[[Special Council of the NKVD]] *[[USSR Border Troops]] *[[Vasili Blokhin]] *[[Vinnytsia massacre]] ==Notes== {{Reflist|2}} ==External links== * For evidence on Soviet espionage in the United States during the Cold War, see the full text of Alexander Vassiliev's Notebooks [http://www.wilsoncenter.org/index.cfm?topic_id=1409&fuseaction=topics.documents&group_id=511603 from the Cold War International History Project (CWIHP)] * [http://www.nkvd.org/ NKVD.org: information site about the NKVD] * {{Ru icon}} [http://www.mvdinform.ru/index.php?docid=361 MVD: 200-year history of the Ministry] * {{Ru icon}} [http://www.memo.ru/history/nkvdfram.htm Memorial: history of the OGPU/NKVD/MGB/KGB] {{Secret police of Communist Europe}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Nkvd}} [[Category:NKVD| ]] [[Category:Intelligence agencies]] [[Category:Political repression in the Soviet Union]] [[Category:National security institutions]] [[Category:Soviet Union]] [[Category:History of the Soviet Union and Soviet Russia]] [[Category:Cold War]] [[Category:Freedom of expression]] [[Category:Civil rights and liberties]] [[Category:Imprisonment and detention]] [[Category:Internments]] [[Category:Human rights abuses]] [[Category:Eastern bloc]] [[Category:Law enforcement in communist states]] [[Category:Intelligence services of World War II]] [[Category:Human rights in the Soviet Union]] [[be:Народны камісарыят унутраных спраў]] [[be-x-old:НКВД]] [[bg:Народен комисариат на вътрешните работи]] [[ca:NKVD]] [[cs:NKVD]] [[da:NKVD]] [[de:Innenministerium der UdSSR]] [[et:NSV Liidu Siseasjade Rahvakomissariaat]] [[es:NKVD]] [[eo:NKVD]] [[fr:NKVD]] [[ko:내무인민위원부]] [[hr:NKVD]] [[it:Narodnyj komissariat vnutrennich del]] [[he:נ.ק.ו.ד.]] [[ka:შინაგან საქმეთა სახალხო კომისარიატი]] [[lt:NKVD]] [[nl:NKVD]] [[ja:内務人民委員部]] [[no:NKVD]] [[pl:NKWD]] [[pt:NKVD]] [[ro:NKVD]] [[ru:Народный комиссариат внутренних дел СССР]] [[sah:НКВД]] [[simple:NKVD]] [[sk:Narodnyj komissariat vnutrennich del]] [[sl:NKVD]] [[sr:НКВД]] [[fi:NKVD]] [[sv:NKVD]] [[tr:NKVD]] [[uk:Народний комісаріат внутрішніх справ]] [[yi:ען קא ווע דע]] [[zh:內務人民委員部]]
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