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1
Zykin, I. V. "THE PEOPLE’S COMMISSARIAT OF FORESTRY OF THE SOVIET UNION IN 1932-1940 AND THE PROBLEMS OF PERFORMING PLANNED TASKS." Bulletin of Udmurt University. Series History and Philology 29, no. 4 (August 25, 2019): 625–36. http://dx.doi.org/10.35634/2412-9534-2019-29-4-625-636.
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The purpose of the article is to analyze the activities of the People’s Commissariat of Forestry of the Soviet Union for performance of planned tasks in 1932-1940 and resolution of problems that arose in the course of their achievement. This aspect of history of the forest industry is poorly investigated and is relevant in terms of studying the economic history of the country during a critical era, such as the "socialist industrialization". The practical importance of the article is connected with the appearance in the period of implementation of the first five-year plans of systemic problems in the development of the industry, which have influenced its current state, and with the need to identify their positive and negative aspects, which can be taken into account and used in determining the prospects of the domestic forest industry. In the article on the basis of unpublished and published sources the statistics of performing planned tasks and the policy of the People’s Commissariat of Forestry, as the main forest user, in relation to the arising problems are considered. The reasons of these difficulties are established. The conclusion is drawn that from the moment of creation in 1932 till the last financial year before the Great Patriotic War, 1940, the department tried to perform plan targets with great difficulties. It turned out to be unrealistic to reach overestimated indicators of the first five-year plans. At the same time, the annual plans were not implemented as well. The People’s Commissariat of Forestry of the USSR in 1932-1940 failed to achieve a significant increase in operational performance and implementation of plans therefore other forest users (people’s commissariats of internal affairs, heavy industry) increased their share in the timber industry.
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Grechenko, V. A. "Staffing of the Ukrainian SSR militia in 1945." Bulletin of Kharkiv National University of Internal Affairs 95, no. 4 (December 24, 2021): 26–42. http://dx.doi.org/10.32631/v.2021.4.02.
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The main aspects of the USSR militia staffing in 1945 are revealed. The main directions of personnel work were as follows: 1) completion of staffing of militia bodies; 2) consolidation of personnel, primarily management; 3) creation of an effective reserve of nomination; 4) organization of training, improving the quality of preventive and educational work among personnel; 5) completion of the collection and search of personal files and bringing them into order, completion of a special inspection of those who joined the militia. During 1945, the PCIA (people's commissariat of internal affairs) of the Ukrainian SSR provided instructions on all these issues in the form of directives, reviews, written comments on the work and provided practical assistance on field trips. Specialists were trained in special courses in militia schools, whose activities were resumed in several cities of the republic. In 1945, 12,153 people came to recruit militia, and 5,906 people left and were released. A significant shortcoming in recruitment was staff turnover. The main reasons for the turnover in the police in 1945 were as follows: a) reduced admission requirements to the militia (recruited people without inspection by the medical commission, sometimes clearly disabled); b) insufficient verification of new recruits; c) weak educational work among the staff. Of the total number of those released in 1945: a) for illness, age and inadequacy – 4652 people; b) according to the materials of the special inspection – 1526 people; c) for moral and domestic decomposition, violation of labor discipline, personal desires and family circumstances – 9626 people. Among the militia, 3 % were those with higher and incomplete higher education, 13 % – secondary, 25 % – below secondary and 57 % – lower education. Ukrainians in the PCIA of the USSR in 1945 accounted for 55 %, Russians – 35 %, Jews – 4 %, Belarusians – 2 %, others – 2,6 %. In general, in 1945 the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs and its subdivisions carried out significant and diverse work to improve the staff of the republic's militia.
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Ermakov, Vyacheslav Alexeevich, and Andrey Anatolievich Androsov. "Political goals during liquidation of masonic organizations by Joint State Political Directorate – People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs in USSR in the 1920s–1930s." Interactive science, no. 4 (14) (April 20, 2017): 13–21. http://dx.doi.org/10.21661/r-119706.
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Lagvilava, Uta G. "Military Industry Evacuation at the Beginning of World War II and the NKVD." Economic Strategies 152 (March 25, 2020): 142–51. http://dx.doi.org/10.33917/es-2.168.2020.142-151.
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A few months after the fascist Germany’s attack on the USSR, under harsh wartime conditions, at the end of 1941 military industry of the Soviet Union began to produce such a quantity of military equipment that subsequently was providing not only replenishment of losses, but also improvement of technical equipment of the Red Army forces . Successful production of military equipment during World War II became one of the main factors in the victory over fascism. One of the unlit pages in affairs of the People’s Commissariat of Internal Affairs (NKVD) is displacement and evacuation of a huge number of enterprises and people to the east, beyond the Urals, which were occupied by German troops at the beginning of the war in the summer of 1941. All this was done according to the plans developed with direct participation of NKVD, which united before the beginning and during the war departments now called the Ministry of Internal Affairs, FSB, SVR, the Russian Guard, Ministry of Emergency Situations, FAPSI and several smaller ones. And all these NKVD structures during the war were headed by Lavrenty Pavlovich Beria.
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Kuznets, Tetyana, and Olga Skus. "Political Repressions Against Polish Intellectual Class in the Uman Region in the 1920s-1930s." Eminak, no. 2(30) (June 26, 2020): 146–54. http://dx.doi.org/10.33782/eminak2020.2(30).415.
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The article deals with the peculiarities of the national policy of the Bolshevik regime during the 1920s and 1930s in Ukraine. The main attention is paid to the mechanism of political repressions against representatives of the intellectual class of the Polish national minority in the Uman region. The article used not only problem-chronological and comparative-historical methods of research, but also the biographical method. The purpose of the work was to study and highlight the process of mass terror against the Polish intellectual class in the Uman region taking into consideration a personalized approach.
It has been established that political repressions in the Uman region date back to the early 1920s, just when the policy of «localization» was introduced. At the same time, giving impact to the cultural and educational development of the national minority, the government controlled the manifestations of local nationalism. Starting from the case of «Umanska pliatsuvka» on accusation of G.Z. Yagodzinska and 26 other residents of the Uman Region, the People’s Commissariat of Internal Affairs periodically made arrests of people of Polish nationality. Given the previous activities of Polish intellectual class in the territory of Ukraine, the penal authorities had a convenient reason for further substantiation and investigation of the so-called «counter-revolutionary nationalist organizations». Based on a study of previously unavailable archival and investigative cases of the Departmental State Archive of the Security Office of Ukraine, the facts of mass falsifications on accusations of the Polish intellectual class of the Uman region for espionage in favor of Poland were revealed. Simultaneously with the closing up process of the policy of «localization» in 1933, political repressions gained extraordinary activity and were carried out in order to execute successive resolutions and decisions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party(b) of Ukraine, inclusive until 1938. In the territory of Ukraine and the Uman Region, in particular, the People’s Commissariat of Internal Affairs falsified criminal case materials mainly on the basis of the mythologization of the activities of the former Polish military organization – «PMO». In addition to the central Ukrainian cities, in particular, Kyiv, Kharkiv, the formation of this organization was also «revealed» in various regions. An archival investigative case No. 64463 on the accusation of the Uman citizens F.P. Budzylevych and others was revealed and may serve as an example. According to the decision of the Special Meeting of the People’s Commissariat of Internal Affairs of the USSR of November 28, 1937 P.I. Sulyma-Saliichuk and S.F. Kravchuk were executed by shooting and F.P. Budzylevych was sentenced to 10 years of labor camps.
According to the of the author’s study generalization the conclusion has been made of the multi-faceted historical problem, which actualizes further study and analysis of the crimes mechanism of the totalitarian communist system in national, regional and social aspects.
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Kustyshev, Andrey N. "THE PROBLEMS OF TECHNICAL REGULATION OF LABOR IN THE MANUFACTURING SECTOR OF THE NKVD (People’s Commissariat of Internal Affairs) – MVD (Ministry of Internal Affairs) OF THE USSR." Economic History 15, no. 1 (March 30, 2019): 82–90. http://dx.doi.org/10.15507/2409-630x.044.015.201901.082-090.
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Introduction. The article analyzes the problems of technical regulation of labour in the production sector of the NKVD – MVD of the USSR, the possibility of technical, psycho-physiological and economic justification of the production rate fixed for prisoners is determined. Research efforts in this direction contribute to a better understanding of the mechanisms and features of the functioning of the system of forced labour, to allow for greater clarity in the interpretation of its effectiveness. Materials and Methods. The nature of the problems raised in the article determined the choice of historical-genetic, historical-systemic methods of research, allowing to consider the issue of technical regulation in the context of internal mechanisms of the functioning of the GULAG system, as well as its internal and external relations, dynamic changes. Results. The article analyzes the objective and subjective factors that determined in advance the presence of serious defects in the process of technical regulation. At the same time, attention is drawn to the substantial similarity of the camp sector and the civil sector of the Soviet economy. The author focuses attention on the fact that the state of technical regulation contributed to the spread of falsified production indicators and the opacity of the GULAG system. Discussion and Conclusion. The article concludes that the problems in this area eventually led to the deformation of a number of indicators of financial and economic activity of labour camps and colonies, brought unpredictability to the situation of prisoners, directly dependent on the implementation of production standards. This fact extremely limits the possibility of a qualitative analysis of the issue of the effectiveness of forced labor. The author notes that the spontaneous nature of the formation of the main parameters of production activity caused the uncontrollability and economic burden of the GULAG system, which eventually became one of the factors of its crisis and collapse.
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Khakimov, S. H., and P. A. Mukhametov. "Coverage of the activities of the police in the journals of the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs of the Bashkir ASSR in the 1920s." Аграрное и земельное право, no. 9 (2021): 60–63. http://dx.doi.org/10.47643/1815-1329_2021_9_60.
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Anderle, Ádám. "El calvario de los brigadistas húngaros." Acta Hispanica 18 (January 1, 2013): 63–71. http://dx.doi.org/10.14232/actahisp.2013.18.63-71.
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The elite of the Hungarian volunteers of the Spanish Civil War became victim of the Communist terror after World War II (1949-1950). The main role was played by the brigadist, László Rajk, who, before the trial, was the secretary of the Hungarian Communist Party, Minister of the Interior, and then Minister of Foreign Affairs. He was charged with spying for the “imperialists” and Tito as well as with high treason and anti-Semitism. In the show trial of “Rajk and his associates” 155 people were charged and convicted, 15 of them, including Rajk, were condemned to death. In the indictment Rajk was condemned for his activity during the Spanish Civil War: he was accused of being a fascist, and then an imperialist agent, as well as a “Trockyist”, just like the twenty other Hungarian Brigadists. The background of the trial has been thoroughly analysed in Hungarian historiography, but the accusation connected to the Spanish period has not been examined or criticized. The present study, based on new sources, such as the reports of the Hungarian Communist Secret Service, the papers of the KGB Archives in Moscow, and the Comintern, raises the issue emphasizing the negative role of Ernő Gerő (“Pedro”), who was the representative of the Comintern and the PCIA (People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs), in the process.
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KRAVETS, Nataliia. "THE ARCHIVAL-INVESTIGATIVE CASE OF VASYL PROKHODA AS A HISTORICAL SOURCE." Ukraine: Cultural Heritage, National Identity, Statehood 33 (2020): 331–41. http://dx.doi.org/10.33402/ukr.2020-33-331-341.
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The archival-investigative case of Vasyl Prokhoda, a Ukrainian military, public and political figure, Lieutenant Colonel of the Ukrainian People's Republic Army, military historian, is analyzed, as it is not only an important source for studying his life but also for studying totalitarianism in the Ukrainian SSR and the USSR. The investigation clarified the circumstances of the detention and arrest of V. Prokhoda in late January - early February 1945, the vicissitudes of the investigation from February 2, 1945, to September 10, 1945. Working methods of employees of the SMERSH counterintelligence administrative departments are highlighted. Some facts of V. Prokhoda's biography are characterized: his participation in the Ukrainian revolution of 1917–1921, public activity during emigration to Czechoslovakia, work in construction companies during World War II. The author analyzed topics of questions of interest to investigators: military service in the Russian tsarist army on the eve and beginning of World War І; national-cultural activities in POW camps in the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy; participation in Ukrainian military structures during the Ukrainian Revolution of 1917–1921; struggle against the Bolshevik government in Ukraine; activities in public societies and organizations in exile in Czechoslovakia and Germany (as «Sokil», «Society of Former Soldiers of the Ukrainian People's Republic Army», «Ukrainian National Union»); work in construction companies «in favor of Germany» during World War ІІ; information on the activities of the emigration government of the Ukrainian People's Republic and relations with its leaders; «counter-revolutionary nationalist» activities of the leaders of Ukrainian emigrant organizations. The facts of V. Prokhoda's biography in the archival-investigative case and his memoirs «Zapysky nepokirlyvoho» («Notes of the Rebellious») are compared. Keywords: Vasyl Prokhoda, Ukrainian People's Republic, archival-investigative case, public activity, SMERSH, People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs.
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Serebrennikov, S. V. "Correspondence of Japanese War Prisoners in Camps of People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs-Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR (1945—1956): Review of Domestic and Foreign Historiography." Nauchnyy dialog, no. 1 (2018): 186–208. http://dx.doi.org/10.24224/2227-1295-2018-1-186-208.
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Zidaru, Marian. "The New Research Regarding Cooperation between S.O.E. - N.K.V.D. During WWII." International conference KNOWLEDGE-BASED ORGANIZATION 26, no. 2 (June 1, 2020): 357–65. http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/kbo-2020-0104.
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AbstractThe memorandum concluded by S.O.E.(Special Operations Executive) and N.K.V.D., (People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs-Народный комиссариат внутренних дел) in September 1941, obliged the two intelligence services to collaborate in a wide range of fields. The British wanted to take advantage of “the powerful communist N.K.V.D. during world war II network in Europe to destabilize the German-occupied countries by organizing sabotages and subversive actions. The Russians, on the other hand, did not want to organize sabotage operations in areas far from the front line, but were interested in contacting their Western European information network. The present article presents aspects of the co-operation between the two services in the light of the research we have undertaken in the London archives.
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Reyent, Yuri A. "The penal system and penal military units: crime and expiation of guilt during the Great Patriotic War." Tambov University Review. Series: Humanities, no. 186 (2020): 224–33. http://dx.doi.org/10.20310/1810-0201-2020-25-186-224-233.
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We consider the little-studied aspects of the use of persons who committed criminal offences as fighters and junior commanders on the front lines of the Great Patriotic War. We show the change in law enforcement practice at the beginning of the war, which allowed for the extrajudicial release of persons sentenced to penalties related to imprisonment. The second important area of research was the coverage of events related to the establishment, formation and activities of penal companies and battalions. We substantiate the inadmissibility of unreliable images of these processes in literature and cinema. One of the main goals of the study is to increase the interest of the scientific community and ordinary readers to the problems of the relationship held in the military transformations period of the elements of corrective labor system, subordinated to the People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs of the USSR and People’s Commissariat of Defense of the USSR. Attention is focused on the need for more detailed coverage of the activities of penal units and subdivisions. As a result of the analysis of archival materials, memoirs and publications in the mass media, we come to the conclusion that the practice of reducing the level of criminal responsibility for a number of crimes, combined with attracting convicts to direct participation in hostilities, played a positive role in the protection of the Fatherland.
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ZAKHAROVA, Oksana. "Participation People’s Commissariat of Internal Affairs in the seizure of museum valuables. Interior decoration items (1920s of the XX century)." Humanities science current issues 2, no. 43 (2021): 4–9. http://dx.doi.org/10.24919/2308-4863/43-2-1.
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Pesotsky, Maksym. "THE STRUCTURE AND ACTIVITIES OF THE PEOPLE’S COMMISSARIAT OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS OF THE UKRAINIAN SOCIALIST SOVIET REPUBLIC IN THE 1920S." European philosophical and historical discourse 7, no. 3 (2021): 20–27. http://dx.doi.org/10.46340/ephd.2021.7.3.3.
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Sidorov, Sergey. "Organization of War Prisoners Security and Prevention of Escapes in the Camps of the People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR in 1941-1956." Vestnik Volgogradskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Serija 4. Istorija. Regionovedenie. Mezhdunarodnye otnoshenija, no. 4 (November 2015): 100–106. http://dx.doi.org/10.15688/jvolsu4.2015.4.9.
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Obrocka, Romana. "Listy z łagru Issaka Antoniego Donigiewicza." Lehahayer 6 (December 31, 2019): 297–328. http://dx.doi.org/10.12797/lh.06.2019.06.07.
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Issak Antoni Donigiewicz’s Letters from a Soviet Prison Camp
The article focuses on the story of Issak Antoni Donigiewicz (1891-1943), a Polish Armenian born in Kuty in the region of Pokucie (Pokuttia), who was a banker, restaurateur and social activist. Following the outbreak of the Second World War, he became involved in underground activities against the Soviet Union which at that time occupied the territory of Eastern Poland. In 1940 the NKVD (People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs) arrested Donigiewicz and sent him to a Soviet prison camp in the Urals (Ivdel) where he would spend the rest of his life. The author has included and examined the original correspondence (28 letters) sent by Donigiewicz to his loved ones in the period from 7th February to 8th June 1941. The letters stand as a moving testimony to the emotional bonds within the Polish Armenian family and the struggle of an individual to survive under conditions of extreme persecution during the Soviet totalitarian regime.
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Grechenko, V. A. "1941 (pre-war half-year period): changes in the NKVD structure of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic." Bulletin of Kharkiv National University of Internal Affairs 82, no. 3 (November 27, 2018): 9–19. http://dx.doi.org/10.32631/v.2018.3.01.
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1941 is a landmark in the history of the world in the whole and Ukraine in particular. The absolute attention of the historical scientific community is concentrated on the events associated with the beginning of the Soviet-German war. Therefore, a very small number of publications is focused on the pre-war half-year period of 1941. However, the reorganization of the NKVD continued during this period aiming at adapting its activities to new tasks. The study of controversial pages of law enforcement agencies at this time is important for the reproduction of an objective picture of its activity, for the establishment of historical truth. The author of the publication has studied the transformations in the structure of the NKVD of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic during the first pre-war half-year period of 1941.
The structural changes in the NKVD of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in the first half of 1941 have been researched for the first time; the leadership of the regional departments of the NKVD of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in the mentioned period has been specified and summarized; provisions on the role and tasks of the units on combating banditism have gained further development.
It has been demonstrated that there were rather significant changes concerning the separation of the People’s Commissariat of Internal Affairs into two parts in the first half-year period of 1941 in the structure of the NKVD of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in accordance with the model of the NKVD of the USSR. One of them had to deal directly with state security, and the creation of appropriate departments in the regions and districts. Transformations were also associated to the establishment of the Main Office for Combating Banditism and relevant departments and field offices. The essence of these changes has been analyzed; it has been demonstrated how new units of militia were created, in particular agencies on combating banditism. The data on the leadership of the NKVD of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic and its regional departments have been systematized; the functions of the People’s Commissariat of Internal Affairs, departments and divisions on combating banditism have been highlighted. The author believes that the intensification of attention on this issue was largely due to the mainstreaming the activities of the nationalist underground in Western Ukraine.
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Garina, Oksana V. "Activities of the State Automobile Inspectorate of the Police Directorate of the Directorate of the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs of the Orel Region during the Great Patriotic War." History of state and law 9 (September 4, 2019): 51–57. http://dx.doi.org/10.18572/1812-3805-2019-9-51-57.
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Kovalev, Nikolai S. "Comparative analysis of normative legal acts on the execution of criminal penalties in the initial stage of the formation of the Russian state for the implementation of equality principle before the law." Current Issues of the State and Law, no. 20 (2021): 752–65. http://dx.doi.org/10.20310/2587-9340-2021-5-20-752-765.
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The object of the study is the implementation of equality principle before the law by fixing equal rights and obligations of prisoners in the normative legal acts of the Soviet state. The subject of research: provisions of normative legal acts of the Provisional Government, departmental normative acts of the People’s Commissariat of Justice of the RSFSR and People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs of the RSFSR. As a methodological basis for cognition, general scientific methods of analysis, synthesis, induction, de-duction are used, which allow us to investigate aspects of legal reality directly related to the implementation of the principles of penal enforcement (correctional labor) legislation, to formulate reasonable conclusions. Private scientific methods: formal-legal and comparative-legal – allow us to identify differences in the legal regulation of the legal status of prisoners in the pre-war period. As a result of the conducted research, we make a reasonable conclusion that the principle of equality before the law, although it was not enshrined in specific norms regulating the procedure for the execution and serving of imprisonment, however, was manifested in the provisions regulating the legal status of persons deprived of liberty. The notions of equality before the law of both citizens in general and prisoners in particular were not the fundamental basis of the legislation of the Soviet State. Prisoners were differentiated on the basis of social affiliation, due to: 1) the principle of class approach proclaimed by the Constitution of the RSFSR; 2) the functioning of two systems of places of deprivation of liberty for prisoners with different social status; 3) regulating the execution (serving) of sentences in the form of deprivation of liberty by various regulatory legal acts.
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Ignatusha, Оlexandr М. "Archives and Politics in Ukraine of the XX-XXI Centuries." SUMY HISTORICAL AND ARCHIVAL JOURNAL, no. 34 (2020): 5–20. http://dx.doi.org/10.21272/shaj.2020.i34.p.5.
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Relations between state policy and the state of archival affairs in Ukraine during the XX – the beginning of the XXI centuries are analyzed. The content and forms of activity of the archives are characterized. Based on the legislative acts, the stages of the evolution of archival institutions of Ukraine are given. The negative effects of the Soviet political system on the structure and network of archival bodies, qualitative composition of employees, and the biased nature of the formation of a documentary base are highlighted. The example of the fate of Ukrainian archivists illustrates the deformation of the archival industry. The existence of a separate vertical of the party archives, contrary to the idea of a single archival fund, is shown. The tragic role of the leadership of the branch by the People’s Commissariat of Internal Affairs-Ministry of Internal Affairs, which lasted from 1938 to 1961, is noted. The content of political orders from the authorities is disclosed. The presence of the Russian ideological factor in the publications of Ukrainian archivists is demonstrated. The importance of archival periodicals and information technologies is emphasized. Changes in archival construction after Ukraine acquired the state sovereignty is revealed: an update of the legal basis and philosophy of national archival construction. The importance of the establishment and operation of the Ukrainian Research Institute of Archival Affairs and Records Keeping was evaluated. Contemporary contradictions, relics, and recurrences of the old political system in the practice of archival construction are outlined. An information breakthrough provided by free access for researchers to the Sectoral State Archives of the Security Service of Ukraine is acknowledged. By the permission dated 2019 free copy of archival documents promoted profound scientific researches and restoration of historical memory. Conclusion about the integral connection between the functioning of the archival system in Ukraine of the XX-XXI centuries and state-political and social transformations is made. Keywords: archives, historical sources, politics, Soviet state, power, ideology, Communist Party, National Archival Fund.
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Bochkov, Eugene A. "Border troops of the USSR People’s Commissariat of Internal Affairs during the Soviet-Finnish War. On the eve of. (28th January - 29th November 1939)." Петербургский исторический журнал, no. 2 (2020): 91–109. http://dx.doi.org/10.51255/2311-603x-2020-00030.
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Korobeinikov, Aleksei V. "Korobeinikov A.V., Kochkarev G.V. People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs the police of the Udmurt Republic in the years of the great Patriotic war (Historical-biographical catalog). Izhevsk: Idnakar, 2015. 280 p." Vestnik policii 3, no. 1 (March 12, 2015): 39–44. http://dx.doi.org/10.13187/vesp.2015.3.39.
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Penter, Tanja. "Vergessene Opfer von Mord und Missbrauch: Behindertenmorde unter deutscher Besatzungsherrschaft in der Ukraine (1941-1943) und ihre juristische Aufarbeitung in der Sowjetunion." Journal of Modern European History 17, no. 3 (June 28, 2019): 353–76. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1611894419857526.
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In November 1943, shortly after the liberation of the occupied territories by the Red Army, three mass graves with 144 corpses were discovered in a former colony for disabled children in the Zaporizhia region. The disabled inmates had been shot in two mass murder actions by German SS and Wehrmacht units in October 1941 and in March 1943. During the course of the investigations into the case in 1944 by the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD), seven former Soviet employees of the colony, among them four women, were put on trial and convicted for complicity with the Germans in the crime. The trial not only condemned the murder of the disabled, but also revealed their sexual abuse under the German occupation and in Soviet pre-war times. This article combines three different research perspectives. First, the previously unknown context of the crime is described for the first time on the basis of newly accessible Soviet file material from the Ukrainian secret service archives. In the process, the differing logics behind both the locals and Germans’ roles in the events surrounding the murder are brought to light and examined in the broader context of the German occupation of the Ukraine. Second, the legal treatment of the crime by a Soviet military tribunal is viewed against the background of the general prosecution of Nazi criminals and Soviet collaborators in the Soviet Union. Third, the current handling of the crime in the local Ukrainian culture of remembrance is surveyed. This reveals in particular the consequences of the Soviet memory policies that continue to this day.
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Akimova, Tatiana Mikhailovna. "Soviets of Workers', Peasants', and Soldiers' Deputies in memorandum of E. G. Gerasimov (Gerasin) of June 14, 1918." Genesis: исторические исследования, no. 10 (October 2021): 53–59. http://dx.doi.org/10.25136/2409-868x.2021.10.36585.
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This article discusses the a memorandum of the member of the Control and Audit Committee under the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs – Efim Grigorievich Gerasimov (Gerasin). Having supported the socialist movement and subsequently the February and October Revolutions of 1917 since his youth years, the author of the document has analyzed the system of Soviets of Workers', Soldiers 'and Peasants' Deputies that established on the local level in late 1917 – early 1918 and gradually replaced the county self-government. The value of the source lies in the fact that the author of self-censorship revealed the flaws of the new local government, having expressed the concern that they may lead to a civil war in the country. E. G. Gerasimov (Gerasin) dedicated particular attention to the problem of dialogue between the Soviet deputies and central government, and proposed to institute the post of special emergency mediators for controlling the execution of all provisions and “encourage” the representatives of the Soviets. The conclusion is made that the elimination of the existing flaws required the so-called “democratic centralism” in Russia, which suggested the combination of electivity of local administration along with the governing and supervisory power of the central administration. In this regard, the content of the document allows taking a look at the Soviets of Workers', Peasants', and Soldiers’ Deputies through the prism of a person who worked in that system, without idealization or “touchup”.
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Karchaeva, T. G. "The Data on Personnel of the Volost Executive Committees in East Siberia during First Half 1920s from Archival data People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs of the State Archive of the Russian Federation." Bulletin of Irkutsk State University. Series History 33 (2020): 95–102. http://dx.doi.org/10.26516/2222-9124.2020.33.95.
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Кометчиков, И. В. "Emergency Management Practices of Regional and District Officials in Western Russia (1941–1946)." Вестник Рязанского государственного университета имени С.А. Есенина, no. 1(74) (April 1, 2022): 42–54. http://dx.doi.org/10.37724/rsu.2022.74.1.004.
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На основе законодательных материалов, делопроизводства партийных, советских органов, органов Народного комиссариата внутренних дел СССР и Народного комиссариата государственной безопасности СССР, военных структур, статистики, источников личного происхождения из федеральных и региональных архивов анализируются причины, проявления и последствия чрезвычайных практик региональной и районной власти на Западе РСФСР в 1941–1946годах. Делается вывод о том, что наряду с факторами военного времени (сокращение количества квалифицированных управленцев из-за мобилизаций на фронт, эвакуация, концентрация власти в чрезвычайных военизированных структурах, милитаризация их работы и др.) важной причиной «чрезвычайщины» был низкий уровень капитализации ключевых отраслей экономики Запада РСФСР, когда распространенность ручного труда обусловливала активное применение чрезвычайных способов его мобилизации. Воспроизводство большинства чрезвычайных практик власти завершилось с переходом к мирному времени. Лишь такие из них, как институт уполномоченных партийных органов, просуществовали в регионе до завершения индустриальной трансформации советского общества в начале 1960-х годов. Based on legislative materials, the records of the Party, the committees, NKVD (the People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs), NKGB (the People’s Commissariat for State Security) and military organizations as well as statistical data and private sources from the federal and regional archives, we analyzed the reasons, manifestations and consequences of practices of regional and local authorities in the Western part of the RSFSR (the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic) during the state of emergency in 1941–1946. We came to the conclusion that it was not only the influence of the wartime which entailed a drop in the number of qualified executives due to the mobilization, evacuation, the concentration of power in military organizations and the militarization of their work, that was an important factor in establishing the state of emergency. Besides that, it was caused by a low level of capitalization of key economic sectors in the Western RSFSR under the circumstances of manual labor being extremely widespread and conducive to its urgent mobilization. Most of those practices were abolished after the war was over. Only a few of them, such as “the authority institute”, lived on until the industrial transformation of the Soviet society came to an end in the early 1960s.
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Saktaganova, Z. G., Zh K. Abdukarimova, and A. A. Salnikova. "War Children: Homelessness and Neglect in Central Kazakhstan during 1941–1945 (Based on Archival Documents)." Uchenye Zapiski Kazanskogo Universiteta. Seriya Gumanitarnye Nauki 163, no. 6 (2021): 202–14. http://dx.doi.org/10.26907/2541-7738.2021.6.202-214.
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In this article, the materials from the Archives of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Central State Archives of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and the State Archives of the Karaganda Region are introduced in historical science and analyzed to shed light on children’s everyday life during the Great Patriotic War in Central Kazakhstan. The focus is on neglect, homelessness, and juvenile delinquency among children raised under the extreme conditions of the war, such as a sharp increase in the number of children either deprived of parental care or neglected and living in foster families. The new archival documents reveal the levels of homelessness, neglect, and juvenile delinquency in Central Kazakhstan as a whole and in its each region taken separately. The differences observed can be attributed to the specifics of the social structure of the population living there. The conclusion is made about the general effectiveness of the measures taken by various state structures and institutions, primarily the NKVD (People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs) and the national education bodies. However, some problems remained unsolved due to the lack of financial and labor resources, as well as because of the difficulties in the organization of training and educational activities for children.
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Kharlamov, Mykhailo. "Fight Against Fires in Kharkiv Region During the War Communism (1919–1921)." Scientific Papers of the Vinnytsia Mykhailo Kotsyiubynskyi State Pedagogical University. Series: History, no. 37 (2021): 38–45. http://dx.doi.org/10.31652/2411-2143-2021-37-38-45.
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The aim of the article is to analyze the development of firefighting in Kharkiv and Kharkiv province during the war communism. The author explores the features of complex processes of fire prevention and firefighting in the Kharkiv region in 1919-1921. The research methodology is based on a combination of general scientific (analysis, synthesis, generalization, comparison) and special-historical (historical-genetic, historical-comparative, historical-systemic) methods with the principles of historicism, scientificity and systematics. The scientific novelty of the work is that for the first time the peculiarities of fire fighting in one of the largest and most significant for the Soviet government in the studied period of the domestic regions - in the Kharkiv region. Conclusions. After the arrival of the Bolsheviks in Kharkiv in 1919, given the large number of fires that regularly occurred in the Kharkiv region, a number of measures were taken to improve the situation in the firefighting sphere in the region. Resolutions were adopted on the procedure for installing temporary portable furnaces in residential premises, special fire control commissions were created to check the state of fire safety in residential buildings, non-residential buildings and enterprises, etc. These measures were not always effective, due to lack of funds, qualified specialists, problems in the sectoral subordination of firefighting, especially in 1919 – the first half of 1920. However, during the second half of 1920- 1921, the situation in the firefighting sector began to improve: firefighting was transferred to the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs, the situation with financing and logistics of firefighters gradually began to improve, Ukrainian courses for firefighters were opened in Kharkiv. Thus, the fight against fires in Kharkiv during the war communism had difficult periods, especially at the beginning, but gradually the situation in firefighting improved, largely due to the enthusiasm of ordinary firefighters and strict regulation of fire by the authorities.
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Sobolev, G. L., and M. V. Khodjakov. "The Confrontation Between Life and Death: Some Results of Studying the History of the Siege of Leningrad." Modern History of Russia 11, no. 2 (2021): 294–323. http://dx.doi.org/10.21638/11701/spbu24.2021.201.
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The authors focus on the assessment and characterization of the mortality rate of the civilian population, which waged a heroic struggle for survival. The number of victims in besieged Leningrad, as cited by researchers in published works, was “regulated” by the Communist Party leadership for several decades. The situation changed at the turn of the 1980s — 1990s, when historians gained access to previously secret documents. This article poses a problem that Leningrad doctors drew attention to in late autumn 1941. Their proposals for the treatment of alimentary dystrophy, the main affliction of civilians in the blocked city, were not immediately appreciated by Leningrad’s leaders at that time. The presence of various data on the mortality rate of the population during the blockade is understandable: these data were collected at different times by various organizations and individuals, based on far from complete data. The authors emphasize that it is impossible to assess the decline in the city’s population solely using y the number of ration cards in circulation. This approach, for a number of reasons, distorts b the real state of affairs. The city’s statistical department, the People’s Commissariat of Internal Affairs, and the registry offices, which were under its jurisdiction, had their own estimates of the number of civilian victims. Today there is no consensus regarding the completeness of information on the scale of burials in city cemeteries during the blockade winter of 1941/42. The article concludes that there is a need for a wider introduction of previously unknown archival materials into circulation to help to clarify the number of victims of the Blockade of Leningrad, which, according to the authors, reached 750 thousand.
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Prigodich, N. D. "Formation and Development of Airfield Network of Leningrad Region during Great Patriotic War." Nauchnyi dialog, no. 8 (August 24, 2021): 438–51. http://dx.doi.org/10.24224/2227-1295-2021-8-438-451.
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The issue of the formation of the Leningrad airfield network in the pre-war period and its transformation during the years of the blockade are considered. Particular attention is paid to processing statistics of the involved network. The novelty of the research is seen in the fact that for the first time a number of data on the results of the work of the airfield construction department of the front and the administration of airfield construction of the People’s Commissariat of Internal Affairs (NKVD) are being introduced into scientific circulation. The question is raised about the causes of aerodrome-technical problems in the work of aviation in the North-Western direction in the initial period of the war. General information about the airfield network on the “mainland” used by the forces of the 14th air army and the aviation of the Baltic fleet is provided. The author dwells on a detailed examination of the airfields of the Leningrad air hub, their maintenance, use and transformation. Information on the main problems in the use of airfields in the winter period and plans for the development of the network in the period 1942/1943 are given. It is proved that, despite the impressive volume of the airfield network, one way or another involved in the defense of the city, only a limited number of them were used during the most difficult period from the fall of 1941 to the spring of 1943.
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Medvedev, T. D. "Fighter Battalions of the Leningrad Region Defending the City During the Summer of 1941 — Spring of 1942." Modern History of Russia 11, no. 3 (2021): 589–605. http://dx.doi.org/10.21638/11701/spbu24.2021.302.
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The Great Patriotic War became not only the most tragic event in modern Russian history, but also a test for the state system of the USSR, which underwent a number of changes after the outbreak of war. Among other things, the war also affected structures subordinate to the People’s Commissariat of Internal Affairs (NKVD). New irregular units were created in the NKVD structure, the so-called fighter battalions designed to protect the Red Army’s near rear and to maintain order in the frontline zone. The article explores issues related to the formation and application of these units in one of the most difficult sections of the Soviet-German front, the Leningrad front. In particular, the process of creating fighter battalions in this region is studied, the level of their material support, and how these units were used in conditions of the German army’s rapid attack on Leningrad and how they were used somewhat later during the siege. The source base includes previously unpublished documents from the Central State Archive of Historical and Political Documents of the city of St. Petersburg and the State Archive of the Russian Federation. An analysis allows not only a comprehensive study of the above problems, but also possible answers to one of the little-studied questions of the history of the Great Patriotic War: how the Soviet command used irregular military formations at the first stage of the war and what role they played in achieving victory.
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Gudkova, Anna, and Dmitry Erin. "Activities of bodies of Joint State Political Administration-People’s Commissariat of Internal Affairs of the USSR to counteract the bread plunders and bread speculations in the first half of the 1930s." OOO "Zhurnal "Voprosy Istorii" 2019, no. 06 (June 1, 2019): 22–33. http://dx.doi.org/10.31166/voprosyistorii201906statyi04.
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Jaroszek, Małgorzata. "Katyn – Golgotha of the East." Łódzkie Studia Teologiczne 31, no. 1 (April 7, 2022): 141–51. http://dx.doi.org/10.52097/lst.2022.1.141-151.
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Poland has experienced two cruel systems. One of them was fascism, symbolized by the German Nazi concentration camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau. The second one was Stalinism, Katyn will remain its symbol forever. For over 50 years, no other issue in Polish-Soviet relations was as concealed as the Katyn massacre. In this essay, I will talk about the genocide in 1940 on 22,000 Poles (soldiers and civilians), investigations in this matter, and the fight for the truth. Everyone knew that any public statement about this crime could have significant consequences, such as dismissal from work or school expulsion. The Katyn genocide was a war crime that was first concealed and then distorted for the longest time. It can be said that it was a crime against the Polish nation.For many years, the press, radio, and television did not talk about it. On April 13, 2020, Polish people celebrated the Katyn Massacre Remembrance Day. In the spring of the year 1940, during two months in and around Katyn (currently in Russia), executioners from the NKVD, ordered by the Soviet authorities, murdered 21,857 prisoners of war with a shot in the back of the head. NKVD-People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the interior ministry of the Soviet Union. This enormously evil deed of the Bolsheviks is called the Golgotha of the East. Golgotha is a place near Jerusalem where convicts were executed. Christians believe that Jesus Christ was crucified in this place. Similarly, innocent Polish officers were killed at this place of execution. The name of the crime comes from the village of Katyń near Smolensk, where victims were murdered and buried.
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Zhadan, Alexander V. "Activities of the NKVD of the Far East in the fight against crime in the second half of 1945." RUDN Journal of Russian History 20, no. 4 (December 1, 2021): 555–67. http://dx.doi.org/10.22363/2312-8674-2021-20-4-555-567.
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This article examines the causes and conditions of the aggravation of the criminal situation in the Far East in the second half of 1945 and the historical experience of local NKVD (Peoples Commissariat of Internal Affairs) bodies in maintaining law and order under the conditions of the Soviet-Japanese war and the first post-war period. Based on the analysis of the documentation of the NKVD departments of Primorye and Khabarovsk territories, including internal administrative documents (orders, plans, etc.), as well as materials of primary party organizations (minutes of party meetings, certificates, memos, etc.), the author draws conclusions about the development of the criminal situation in the region, and discusses the NKVDs ways and directions to ensure law and order. Studying the stated problems, it was possible not only to state the presence of negative dynamics in the number and severity of criminal manifestations, but also to establish that the criminal crisis of the second half of 1945 was caused by the imposition of new socio-economic and political factors (including the amnesty for prisoners, the relocation of large masses of troops, the Soviet-Japanese war, the placement of prisoners of war, demobilization) on the already difficult criminal situation that had developed during the Great Patriotic War. The study largely confirmed the fact repeatedly noted in historiography about the impact of personnel starvation and problems of material support on the effectiveness of the NKVD in the war and post-war period. The archival documents show that the main ways to normalize the operational situation in the Far East region were measures concerning organizational work and operational-search activities, as well as control-methodical and administrative measures. The author concludes that the measures taken allowed the NKVD of the Far East to reverse the explosive growth of serious street crime by the end of 1945. However, this success was only partial - the overall level of criminal activity in the region continued to remain at a fairly high level for several post-war years.
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Yusupov, V. V. "DEVELOPMENT OF THE UKRAINIAN FORENSIC MEDICAL INSTITUTIONS IN THE ХХ CENTURY." Theory and Practice of Forensic Science and Criminalistics 17 (November 29, 2017): 446–56. http://dx.doi.org/10.32353/khrife.2017.56.
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The issue of development of forensic institutions of Ukraine in the ХХ century was studied. Until 1917, forensic medical examinations were conducted in the medical compartments of the provincial administrations, at the departments of forensic medicine of universities and in hospitals - by police doctors. The chairs of forensic medicine existed in the St. Vladimir Kyiv University, Kharkiv, Novorosiisk and Lviv Universities. Real organization of Ukrainian forensic medical institutions began in 1919 with the creation of the Medical Examination Department at the People’s Commissariat of Health. In 1923, the Main forensic medical inspection, headed by M. S. Bokarius, was founded. In the provinces the positions of forensic medical inspectors were created. In 1927 the sections of biological research were established in the Kharkiv, Kyiv and Odesa institutes of scientific andforensic expertise,where separate forensic examinations were conducted. In 1949 the institutions of forensic medical examination of the USSR were merged into the Bureau of Forensic Medical Examination, in Ukraine it was held in 1951. It was proved that forensic medical institutions developed at the following chronological stages: 1) until 1917 - forensic medical service in the Ministry of Internal Affairs; 2) 1917-1941 - prewar formation of forensic medical institutions; 3) 1941-1949 -forensic medical institutions during the war and in the first post-war years; 4) 1949-1990s - period of development of the bureau of forensic medical examinations of the countries of the USSR; 5) since the 1990s - development of expert institutions in the public health care system in independent postSoviet states. It’s stressed that formation of the forensic institutions in Ukraine is closely related with the development of forensic medicine departments of higher educational establishments. Forensic medicine departments were the basisfor practicalforensic medicine, professors provided daily assistance to forensic medical experts.
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Pashkov, Alexandr M. "‘… The “Popularity” of Doctors Should Not Be the Sole Reason for Their Arrest as Hostages’: The Red Terror of Autumn 1918 in Documents from the National Archive of the Republic of Karelia." Herald of an archivist, no. 3 (2018): 809–20. http://dx.doi.org/10.28995/2073-0101-2018-3-809-820.
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September 2018 will see the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the Bolshevik Red Terror, first announced on September 2, 1918. Although in Russia in the last 20 years there have been published some valuable synthesis works on the history of the Red Terror of 1918, many details, especially of its realization at the local level, remain little-studied. The National Archive of the Republic of Karelia stores in its fond R-460 ‘Petrozavodsk City Soviet’ a file entitled ‘Excerpts from the minutes of the Olonets Gubernia Revolutionary Executive Committee and Military Commissariat meetings; correspondence with the gubernia Emergency Commission for Combating Counter-Revolution and Sabotage on arrests of hostages in response to the “White Terror,” etc.’ Virtually, the file contains documents on the realization of the Red Terror in Petrozavodsk in autumn 1918. The documents implicate that in realization of the Red Terror at least three organizations were involved: Olonets gubcheka (gubernia Emergency Commission for Combating Counter-Revolution), Petrozavodsk City Soviet, and Olonets gubernia revolutionary tribunal. Thus, headcount of the Red Terror victims should include alongside with persons executed by the VChK, those sentenced by other authorities and those who fell victim to extrajudicial execution. Besides documents on realization of the Red Terror in Petrozavodsk, the file stores command papers from the centre. For instance, the article cites telegram from People’s Commissar of Internal Affairs Gregory Petrovsky to all ‘Sovdeps’ (Soviets of deputies) of September 26, 1918. It avowed arresting doctors as hostages because of their ‘popularity’ and clarified that arrests predicated on nothing more than ‘popularity’ were unwarrantable, as gubernia doctors were ‘the most popular element’ and their mass arrests could ‘disorganize only just set going medical and sanitary activities in the gubernias, particularly, control of epidemics.’ Thus, the telegram confirms a very important fact: typically or by chance, in autumn 1918 not just active opponents of the Bolsheviks, their sympathizers or families members, but anyone enjoying authority and respect could fall victim to the Red Terror.
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Edele, Mark. "“What Are We Fighting for?” Loyalty in the Soviet War Effort, 1941–1945." International Labor and Working-Class History 84 (2013): 248–68. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0147547913000288.
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When, beginning on June 22, 1941, German forces sliced through Soviet defenses, Soviet citizens severed their ties with the Stalinist state. In the Western Borderlands, annexed in 1939–1940 as a result of the Hitler-Stalin pact, locals welcomed the invaders with bread and salt as liberators from the Bolshevik yoke. Red Army men hailing from these regions left their posts and went home. Soldiers from the pre-1939 Soviet territories stationed in Ukraine deserted, too, reasoning that the Bolsheviks had “sucked our blood for twenty-five years, enough already!” A group of two hundred soldiers, including an outspoken Siberian, “decided to force our way back, at all cost, toward the Germans.” When army commissars tried to stop them, “[w]e killed them and moved on.” Further East, collective farmers in the pre-1939 territories greeted the German “liberators” in some localities, while displaying a “wait-and-see” attitude in others. One day after the start of the war an inhabitant of Leningrad region reacted to the news of his mobilization by threatening the official bearing the news with a revolver, exclaiming “I will not fight for Soviet Power, I will fight for Hitler!” Urban dwellers rejoiced at the arrival of the long-awaited apocalypse, believing that “the fascists kill Jews and Communists, but don't touch Russians.” As Moscow descended into panic in October 1941, crowds stopped functionaries leaving the city, pulled them out of their cars, assaulted them, and scattered the contents of their luggage on the ground. “Beat the Jews,” yelled the crowd, and protesting their non-Jewishness did not help the victims; to the mob, “Jew” and “functionary” were one and the same. On October 19, workers struck in Ivanovo, an industrial center with a long tradition of militancy. Excited by the spectacle of the advancing Germans and the apparent inability of the Stalinist leadership to stop them, rioters destroyed administrative and Party buildings and beat up state and Party activists, including the first secretary of the region. They demanded “Soviets without communists,” while discussing seriously whether life would be better under Hitler or Stalin. Meanwhile, back at the frontline, where news of the “massive beating up of Jews” in Moscow quickly spread, the state's enforcement agencies arrested soldiers voicing their discontent. They also ensured that both the confused and the hostile would fight. By October 10, People's Commissariat Internal Affairs (NKVD) forces had detained 657,364 soldiers separated from their units. The majority were returned to the front and thrown back into battle; 25,878 were arrested, 10,201 of them shot.
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Halin, Alexey A., Ekaterina V. Akimova, and Elena V. Kainova. "FORMATION OF THE WATER POLICE IN NIZHNY NOVGOROD (1918–1921)." Vestnik Chuvashskogo universiteta, no. 2 (June 25, 2021): 220–32. http://dx.doi.org/10.47026/1810-1909-2021-2-220-232.
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The article reveals the nature of the transformations in the law enforcement system, in particular in water police, in Soviet Russia. On the basis of a wide range of previously unused archival sources, the process of organizational formation of the water police on the Volga in 1918–1921 is presented. The main feature of this process was constant reforming of this security system in order to find the optimal organization to protect waterways and river transport. The first Soviet head of the river police of Nizhny Novgorod P.I. Protasov took up his post in January 1918. In 1919, protection of waterways and public order on them was carried out by the internal security troops of Nizhny Novgorod sector by separate rifle brigades of the Paramilitary Guard Troops (VOKhR) of the People’s Commissariat of Internal Affairs (NKVD) of the RSFSR. At the beginning of 1920, for the first time in our country, the system of All-Russian police on transport was formed. According to this reform, Nizhny Novgorod became part of Nizhny Novgorod section of the river police, which was part of Nizhny Novgorod District Administration of the Volga region. Distribution of protection areas on river transport was fixed in the document dated May 18, 1920. In accordance with it, security on the navigable waterways was assigned to VOKhR troops, to the water police and watchmen. The new status of the water militia and the expansion of its tasks were determined by the «Regulations on the Workers’ and Peasants ‘Militia», adopted on June 10, 1920. The next reorganization of the security system on the river transport of the Soviet Republic was carried out in November-December 1920. It was aimed at strengthening centralization and unity of command in this matter, elimination of disparate actions in the activities carried out by security structures. The article highlights the issue of personnel selection for the water police, taking into account the «class approach» in the formation of new authorities, including the police. Previously unknown facts about the personal composition of the water police leaders are given, and the further fate of some of them is traced. The article gives a fairly complete idea of the first years in the formation and activity of the water police in Nizhny Novgorod and the Volga basin.
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Nevezhin, V. A. ""BANQUET CHRONICLE" A.Ya. VYSHINSKY: FROM THE EVERYDAY LIFE OF SOVIET DIPLOMATS IN KUIBYSHEV (1941-1942)." History: facts and symbols, no. 3 (September 14, 2021): 34–44. http://dx.doi.org/10.24888/2410-4205-2021-28-3-34-44.
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The article examines an episode from the everyday life of Soviet diplomats during the Great Patriotic War. The reports of one of the leaders of the People's Commissariat of Foreign Affairs of the USSR Andrei Vyshinsky on diplomatic receptions in November 1941-1942 are analyzed. These receptions took place in Kuibyshev, where employees of the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs, headed by Vyshinsky, were temporarily evacuated. Reports on them have been preserved in the Foreign Policy Archive of the Russian Federation and are being introduced into scientific circulation for the first time. They were sent by Vyshinsky to Moscow in the name of Stalin and Molotov. The sources identified by the author of the article, together with memoirs, make it possible to reveal various aspects of the culture of everyday life of Soviet diplomats who were temporarily in Kuibyshev. First, they give an idea of the participation of the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs in festive commemorations (anniversaries of the October Revolution), which were one of the components of the ceremony for the representation of power. Secondly, the recordings of Vyshinsky's conversations, reflected in his reports, contain important information about the moods of representatives of the diplomatic corps, in particular, ambassadors and envoys of the member states of the anti-Hitler coalition. It was used by the Soviet leadership in solving foreign policy tasks during the most difficult period of the war.
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Panfilets, Aleksandr, and Andrey Udaltsov. "Leningrad city police in the local anti-aircraft system during the Great Patriotic War." Vestnik of the St. Petersburg University of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia 2021, no. 2 (July 8, 2021): 50–56. http://dx.doi.org/10.35750/2071-8284-2021-2-50-56.
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The relevance of the research of the Leningrad city police activities in the local anti- aircraft system during the Great Patriotic War is due to the continuing falsifications of the history of special services in western and domestic publications. Despite a significant amount of researches of the police activities during the war, above-mentioned authors including, the activities of the city police in the system of the local anti- aircraft system are not thoroughly elaborated and are not presented.
The aim of the authors’ study was the activity of the Leningrad city police in the local anti-aircraft system as a unit, which was a part of NKVD office in the Leningrad region and a part of the People’s Commissariat of Internal Affairs of the Soviet Union simultaneously. The task was to determine the structure and responsibility for the anti- aircraft defense at the grassroots level and participation of the city police in this system. Besides, it was necessary to identify the main positions of the Leningrad city police, whose holders directly had to organize and monitor the work in the hotbeds of defeat through the structures of self- defense groups of households and dormitories.
The results of the authors’ study revealed that the main work with the grass-roots formations of the local anti- aircraft system in the city blocks was performed by the divisional inspectors, who instructed, supervised and directed the work of self-defense groups of households and dormitories through housemanagement and commandants. Besides, the most capable policemen on duty were involved in this work, most often due to the absence of an officer at the station for any reason. In turn, the head of the territorial police department through his deputy managed the divisional inspectors and police officers.
In connection with the work of divisional inspectors and policemen in neighborhoods, streets and squares, they often took a practical part in the elimination of hotbeds of defeat from artillery shelling and bombardment of enemy aircraft. In most cases they coped with this kind of activity with honor, sparing no effort and lives, starting to extinguish fire, without waiting for the arrival of the fire brigades.
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Karchaeva, Tat’iana G. "Socio-Cultural Appearance of Employees of the Lower Soviet Administrative Apparatus of Eastern Siberia in the First Half of the 1920s." Journal of Siberian Federal University. Humanities & Social Sciences 14, no. 8 (August 2021): 1219–30. http://dx.doi.org/10.17516/1997-1370-0797.
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The study tested members of volost executive committees, deputies, chairmen and secretaries of village Soviets that served in the Yeniseisk and Irkutsk Governates from 1921 till 1925. Village Soviets were meetings of deputies elected to fulfill people’s right to power. Volost executive committees were administrative and executive public service for village Soviets. In accordance with archival materials, we determined that 1,357 village Soviets worked in the Yenisesk Governate in 1923 (including Achinsk, Yeniseisk, Kansk, Krasnoyarsk, Minusinsk, Turukhansk uyezds). 782 inhabitants and 1.9 villages formed one village Soviet in the Yeniseisk Governate of several members. On average, one village Soviet included 4–5 members. The number of residents in one village of the Yeniseisk Governate was 404, and 7,071 people lived in one volost. Moreover, 9 village Soviets formed one volost executive committee of 41 members. 460 village Soviets were located in the Irkutsk Governate in 1923(including sparsely populated Balagansky, Selenginsky, Kirensky, Ziminsky, Verkholensky, Irkutsk, Tulunsky uyezds). Therefore, one volost Executive Committee included 32 members. 256 people lived in one village in the Irkutsk Governate; 6,839 inhabitants lived in one volost. Socio-cultural image of employees in the Yeniseisk Governate’s volost Executive Committees was not an elite image: 64 % communists; 83 % peasants; 17 % workers and intellectuals; 2.4 % had a higher education level; 67 % had secondary education level; 30 % had primary education level; 0.6 % had a home education level; however, there weren’t any illiterates. The Irkutsk Governate’s volost Executive Committees included: 37 % communists; 85 % peasants; 15 % workers and intellectuals; 99 % had higher, secondary and primary education levels. However, members of village Soviets were more democratic than members of volost Executive Committees. For example, 15 % of village Soviets’ deputies were illiterate in the Yeniseisk Governate. Moreover, 16 % of deputies were illiterate in the Irkutsk Governate. Other deputies had lower and home education level. Only 11 % of village Soviets’ deputies were communists in the Yeniseisk Governate. 9 % of deputies were communists in the village Soviets in the Irkutsk Governate. Importantly, 99 % were men among local administrators in Eastern Siberia. Although gender equality was proclaimed in Soviet Russia, it was absent in the Yeniseisk and Irkutsk Governates in the first half of the 1920s. As a result, members of the volost executive committees and village Soviets in Eastern Siberia were ordinary people. They did not have any professional experience; and they had a low level of work ethics. To analyze the information about members of volost Executive Committees, deputies, chairmen and secretaries of village Soviets we used archival materials of the Fund No. 393 «People’s Commissariat of Internal Affairs of the RSFSR» from the State Archives of the Russian Federation (Moscow)
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Potapova, N. A. "The Korean diaspora in the USSR in the 1930s." BULLETIN of L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University. HISTORICAL SCIENCES. PHILOSOPHY. RELIGION Series 135, no. 2 (2021): 48–62. http://dx.doi.org/10.32523/2616-7255-2021-135-2-48-62.
Full textAbstract:
The article is devoted to the so-called Korean problem in the Soviet Union and ways to find ways to solve it. The Bolsheviks inherited from the Russian Empire the unresolved issue of active settlement of the Far East by Koreans. The migration from Japanese Korea was massive and uncontrolled. Unlike the Chinese, who settled all over the Soviet Union, Koreans settled compactly in the far eastern region. According to the 1937 census, the diaspora in the USSR numbered about 200,000 people. Since the 1920s, the Bolshevik government has attempted to solve the Korean question in the country, including repression of the diaspora. However, the Bolsheviks resorted to drastic and decisive measures in the 1930s. At this time, persecution of the Korean population increased. The main reason for persecution was the desire of the Bolshevik government to rid the country of «unreliable» and «dangerous» elements. The repression of Koreans in the 1930s can be divided into two stages. The first stage covers the period from the beginning of the new decade to the summer of 1937. This period is characterized by sporadic arrests of the Korean population, with the peak of persecution being in 1931- 1932 due to the occupation of Manchuria by Japan and, consequently, a new wave of the Korean population emerged in the Soviet Far East. The Japanese military threat was the main reason for the Bolshevik government to look for foreign spies and agents in the USSR, and the population living in territories occupied by Japan and ending up in the Soviet Union were charged with Japanese espionage. The Koreans therefore became a category of the so-called fifth column. The targeted repressions in the first half of the 1930s were replaced by mass punitive actions in the second half of the 1930s, which reached their peak in 1937-1938. The repression of Koreans in 1937- 1938 comprised conditionally two punitive campaigns. The first campaign was the deportation of far eastern Koreans to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. The second was the arrests and convictions of the Korean population during the period of the Great Terror as part of the mass operations of the NKVD (The People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs ), particularly the «Harbin» operation. Before 1937-1938, arrests and convictions of Koreans ranged in the hundreds. Thus, for example, in 1933 213 persons were convicted of espionage, in 1934 - 104, in 1935 - 200. During the period of the Big Terror only under the order No.00593 there were convicted about 5 thousand Koreans.
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Chernyavsky, S. I. "The People's Commissariat of Foreign Affairs (NKID) of the USSR in the City of Kuibyshev (1941-1943)." MGIMO Review of International Relations 13, no. 4 (September 4, 2020): 178–98. http://dx.doi.org/10.24833/2071-8160-2020-4-73-178-198.
Full textAbstract:
This article analyzes the work of the People's Commissariat of Foreign Affairs (NKID) of the USSR in the city of Kuibyshev (now Samara), where it was evacuated in 1941- 1943 together with other central government agencies and the diplomatic corps accredited in the USSR. Although this period was quite short, and though key decisions were, of course, made in Moscow, intense rough work was being carried out in the “reserve capital”, which ensured the solution of the tasks set by the country's leadership to the NKID apparatus.The aggression of Nazi Germany found the Soviet Union poorly prepared not only militarily, but also diplomatically. Due to the opposition of the Western powers, domestic diplomacy failed to create a collective security system to prevent the aggression of Germany, Italy and Japan. Negotiations with representatives of Great Britain and France, which were conducted in 1939, were interrupted and relations with these countries were virtually frozen.Some important strategic tasks were set before Soviet diplomacy. First of all, it was about the concentration of diplomatic activity in specific areas that could provide real assistance to the Red Army in obtaining the necessary weapons and strategic raw materials. Among other tasks were the search for allies, establishing effective military, economic and political cooperation with them, counteracting the expansion of the Nazi coalition at the expense of Sweden and Turkey, and conducting an extremely balanced policy in the Far East in order to avoid a military clash with Japan.Due to the deterioration of the military situation on the Western Front and the imminence of the capture of Moscow, on October 16, 1941, the main staff of the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs, headed by its Deputy Chairman A. Vyshinsky, as well as members of the diplomatic corps were evacuated to Kuibyshev (now Samara). V. Molotov and a small group of assistants remained in Moscow.The relations between the NKID and the embassies evacuated to Kuibyshev evolved differently. The level and the intensity of contacts with them largely depended on bilateral relations with the respective nations. Contacts with the embassies of Great Britain and the USA were naturally at the top of the agenda. By way of ambassadors of these countries the key tasks of forming the anti-Hitler coalition were being solved, and the dates of summit meetings were agreed upon.The crowding of the central office staff and foreign diplomats in a small regional city certainly introduced difficulties into the practical implementation of many tasks. Nevertheless, the striving for a common victory and the awareness of responsibility to their own country, united this motley crew of diplomats, and facilitated the search for compromise solutions. The return to Moscow of the employees of the People’s Commissariat and the diplomatic corps took place after the victory in the Battle of Kursk in the summer of 1943. Only at the end of 1943 Kuibyshev did finally cede its status of the capital of the USSR to Moscow.
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Иванов, Роман, and Roman Ivanov. "Analysis of the state of learning to communicate in educational institutions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia." Applied psychology and pedagogy 4, no. 1 (January 10, 2019): 39–47. http://dx.doi.org/10.12737/article_5c2d0f8c2d3f85.13312438.
Full textAbstract:
Training as a component of training specialists forms an important area of human activity, gradually transforming with the development of the real process of people's life. The training of qualified specialists, adapted to the specifics of the work of the internal affairs bodies and having a legal culture, high communicative skills is carried out in the departmental system of vocational education. Learning to communicate cadets and trainees in specialized educational institutions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia at the present time can increase the professionalism of an employee of the internal affairs agencies and the effectiveness of his work.
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Zasypkin, Mikhail Aleksandrovich. "Legal grounds of the activity of the Central Committee on Prisoners of War and Refugees (1918-1919)." Право и политика, no. 9 (September 2020): 239–48. http://dx.doi.org/10.7256/2454-0706.2020.9.33696.
Full textAbstract:
The subject of this research is the system and types of normative legal acts that regulate the establishment and activity of the Central Committee on Prisoners of War and Refugees as a part of the Council of People’s Commissars on War Affairs of the RSFSR prior to being assigned to People's Commissariat for Interior Affairs of the RSFSR in May 1919. The establishment of migration authorities took place in the objectively severe conditions of civil war and foreign intervention, which affected their legal status. The scientific novelty of this work consists in provision of classification of legal acts in accordance with the legal force, subjects of compliance, content area, and the nature of regulations contained therein. The conducted research demonstrates that the formation of grounds of legal regulation of the activity of the Central Committee on Prisoners of War and Refugees tool place simultaneously with the establishment and development of the Soviet law as a new historical type of law, and these grounds are its constitute elements. The obtained results significantly broaden our historical knowledge, allow rationalizing experience of the past and implementing it in the educational process along with the current practice aimed at improvement of organization and activity of migration authorities.
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Kilimnik, Evgenii Vital'evich. "Activities of the Ministry of Internal Affairs against the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists-Ukrainian Insurgent Army in postwar years on the territory of Western Ukraine." Полицейская деятельность, no. 5 (May 2021): 38–50. http://dx.doi.org/10.7256/2454-0692.2021.5.36002.
Full textAbstract:
The research object is the history of the People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs. The research subject is the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists and its battle group - the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. The article studies the experience of the Internal Affairs bodies’ struggle against the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, which became a symbol of the national-separatist movement in postwar regions of Western Ukraine. The purpose of the research was to analyze the practice of the Internal Affairs bodies’ struggle against the nationalist armed groups of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army in 1944 - 1955. The research task was to consider various measures aimed at the extermination of nationalist armed groups in postwar Western Ukraine. The research methodology is based on analysis and synthesis, and the historical-legal analysis of events. The scientific novelty of the research consists in the need for a comprehensive study of the experience of struggle against armed national-separatist groups in the context of complicated Russia-Ukraine relations after the 2014 armed coup in Kyiv which resulted in radicals coming to power, who use the ideas of the OUN-UIA and the postwar experience of struggle against official authorities. The topicality of the research consists in the fact that the experience of military and ideological struggle against the Internal Affairs bodies of the Ukrainian Soviet Republic has been actively used by the modern Security Service of Ukraine. Territorial claims to Russia’s south-western areas are expanding, which are believed to belong to the Ukrainian Republic by Ukrainian radicals. The author’s contribution to the research of the topic is the definition of the strategy and tactics of internal affairs and security bodies of the Ukrainian Soviet Republic aimed at the elimination of nationalist armed groups. The author defines the reasons which impeded the work of internal affairs bodies during the suppression of armed separatism.
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Elesina, Irina, and Olga Guz. "Experimental justification of the program of training of people’s teams in educational organizations of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation." Vestnik of the St. Petersburg University of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia 2020, no. 1 (April 8, 2020): 195–99. http://dx.doi.org/10.35750/2071-8284-2020-1-195-199.
Full textAbstract:
the relevance of the presented research presentation in the form of an article is based on the needs of modern society in the institutions of people's vigilantes, which by their direct participation in the recent past provided significant support to state law enforcement and human rights, as well as a symbol of the unity of society and the state. The article is devoted to the substantiation of the experimental program developed in the course of the dissertation research, which is aimed at improving the efficiency of the process of training people's vigilantes in educational organizations of the Ministry of internal Affairs of Russia on the basis of a practice-oriented approach. The program content has been developed by us based on the analysis of the present problems in the training of national guards in the educational institutions of the Ministry of internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, on the basis of which we aim to further improve the training of representatives of public associations of law enforcement focus, on the basis of educational institutions of Ministry of internal Affairs of Russia, to conduct training of national guards on the basis of Federal law of 02.04.2014 No. 44- Federal law "about participation of citizens in protection of a public order", and The order of the Ministry of internal Affairs of Russia of August 18, 2014 N 696 regulating questions of preparation of national vigilantes to actions in the conditions connected with use of physical force, and first aid to citizens. In our research, we relied on a whole range of research methods, such as interviewing and observation, as well as methods of using independent assessments.
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Ashihmin, Sergey S. "Documents from the Central State Archive of the Udmurt Republic on Establishing a Military Commissariats Network within the Territory of Udmurtia." Herald of an archivist, no. 1 (2018): 74–83. http://dx.doi.org/10.28995/2073-0101-2018-1-74-83.
Full textAbstract:
Drawing on materials from the Central State Archive of the Udmurt Republic, the article studies the establishing and functioning of the military commissariats network in the first years of the Soviet power. The outspread of the Civil War and the Allied Intervention therein necessitated calling up citizens, primarily workers and peasants, for compulsory military service. The establishment of the commissariats for military affairs marked the beginning of accounting of able-bodied males and their conscription into the armed forces. Volost, uezd, and gubernia commissariats for military affairs were organized by volost, uezd, and gubernia Soviets of workers', soldiers' and peasants' deputies; commissars and military leaders of volost, uezd, and gubernia commissariats were appointed by volost, uezd, and gubernia Soviets respectively and by the People's Commissariat for Military Affairs. Studying activities of local military authorities is of great importance, as it allows to see beyond central authorities actions, to understand how their decisions were implemented at the local level. Consequently, this allows to evidentiate the process of the Soviet armed forces creation in all its multiformity and complexity. On the territory of Udmurtia, armed hostilities continued from August 1918 to late June 1919, and newly formed military commissariats had to perform many tasks, both peaceful and military. First and foremost, they had to account of and mobilize officers and soldiers returning from the fronts of First World War. Much effort was required to drill recruits who had no military training. The military commissariats were also to prevent the widely spreading desertion. These functions were performed under difficult circumstances of rapidly shifting front lines, as areas and towns of the Vyatka gubernia repeatedly passed from the Reds to the Whites and back again.
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Purinaša, Ligija. "FACTORS OF INSPIRATION IN ČENČU JEZUPS’ NOVEL “PĪTERS VYLĀNS”." Via Latgalica, no. 8 (March 2, 2017): 126. http://dx.doi.org/10.17770/latg2016.8.2237.
Full textAbstract:
Čenču Jezups or Dzērkste (real name Jezups Kindzuļs, 1888–1941?) was a Latgalian public figure, agronomist, publicist and writer. Date of his death is unknown – he was arrested in February 1941 by NKVD (People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs), but after that there is no information about his further life. He participated in the Latgalian Awakening movement at the beginning of 20th century. Later J. Kindzuļs was one of the organizers of the Latgalian congress (1917) in Rēzekne and a member of Constitutional Assembly of Latvia (1920–1922). He was an editor of such periodicals as “Latgalīts” (1921), “Latgolas Zemkūpis” (1924–1935), “Latgolas lauksaimnīks” (calendar, 1924–1935). He wrote his novel “Pīters Vylāns” between 1935 and 1941. It was first published in Daugavpils in 1943 by writer and publisher Vladislavs Luocis. Later it was published again in Germany in 1967.Čenču Jezups’ novel “Pīters Vylāns” was analysed by Miķelis Bukšs, Ilona Salceviča, Oskars Seiksts. The mentioned papers reveal the meaning of Latgalian self-confidence, which is disclosed in “Pīters Vylāns”, but unfortunately the author of this novel seems to be forgotten. Therefore the aim of this research is to “decode” factors of inspiration in Čenču Jezups’ novel “Pīters Vylāns” to gain more information about author’s life and his value system.Inspiration is always connected with writer’s life experience. Furthermore, the writer creates his own world. Vladislavs Luocis wrote that J. Kindzuļs planned to write a trilogy (Lōcis 1965: 26), but because of Latvia’s occupation by the Soviet Union this intention was not fulfilled. Factors of inspiration are divided into two groups: literary and non-literary (Lukaševičs 2007: 5). Non-literary factors of inspiration are those connected with J. Kindzuļs’ life (social and political events, education and public activities, private life). Literary and cultural factors of inspiration refer to his interests and Latgalian self-identification.Novel “Pīters Vylāns” was written during the authoritarian regime of Kārlis Ulmanis (1934–1940) and deals with peasants’ life during the Russian Revolution of 1905 (1905–1907) in Latgale. The problems of Latgalian identity (to be russified or polonized, quest for identity as a possibility) are dealt with by means of such characters as Vera Semjonova, Stefa, Meikuls Stumbris and Buks. It may be that the characters Pīters Vylāns and Ontons Sleižs are the two sides of J. Kindzuļs’ alter ego. His life experience until World War I is revealed in Pīters Vylāns, but after 1920 – in Ontons Sleižs. J. Kindzuļs may have studied either agronomy or law in Petersburg (after 1907). He took part in Latgalian Musical society and later he worked in the editorial office of newspaper “Drywa” (1908–1912). J. Kindzuļs was involved in the First World War and after that he worked in Rēzekne Commerce School (1919). After 1922 he started farming in his household “Pelēķi” in Laucesa rural municipality and was busy with issues of agronomy in Latgale.J. Kindzuļs’ private life is revealed in two women characters: Elvira and Stefa. Kindzuļs himself had three wives: unknown (married before 1919), Hortenzija Kindzule (Dardedze, married about 1921), Jadviga Kindzule (Kondrāte, married before 1933). J. Kindzuļs became a widower twice. He had two sons: Česlavs (from his first marriage) and Andrivs Jēkabs (from the second marriage). The third child was a daughter, but he and his wife Jadviga lost her because she died of an illness when she was 3.Because of lack of information about J. Kindzuļs, there is no possibility to find out his interests. The only way to get more information about J. Kindzuļs is to research his novel “Pīters Vylāns”. From the novel we know that for J. Kindzuļs there are three groups of literary and cultural factors of inspiration. Firstly, it is Latgalian self-confidence, which appears in the use of Roman Catholic elements such as rites, prayers and honour songs for God. Secondly, it is syncretism of Christian faith and paganism, which is presented as rewriting of folksongs by hand and “vakariešona” or evening gathering. Thirdly, it is European culture, because it is clear that J. Kindzuļs knew, for example, such writers as Goethe, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, classical music (F. F. Chopin) and architecture. The amount of information about J. Kindzuļs must be enriched and research must be continued. Novel “Pīters Vylāns” was written after 1935 and it is autobiographical. Such characters as Pīters Vylāns and Ontons Sleižs reflect the personality of J. Kindzuļs, but Elvira and Stefa reveal some traits of his wives Hortenzija and Jadviga. J. Kindzuļs glorifies values which became significant after 1934: land and farming, peasants and unity. He describes the Latvians of Latgale during the Russian Revolution of 1905 (1905–1907), but at the same time he criticizes the tendency to be latvianized. The same attitude he has to russification. He accepts the ideological course of Kārlis Ulmanis policy and this ideological position of J. Kindzuļs is manifested as a form of rebellion.
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Kaasik, Peeter. "Hävituspataljonidest Eestis 1941. aasta sõjasuvel [Abstract: The Destruction Battalions in Estonia in the Summer War of 1941]." Ajalooline Ajakiri. The Estonian Historical Journal 167, no. 1 (December 31, 2019): 3–36. http://dx.doi.org/10.12697/aa.2019.1.01.
Full textAbstract:
Abstract: The Destruction Battalions in Estonia in the Summer War of 1941
A state of war was declared in the western regions of the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941. This did not in any case mean only purely military operations. The safeguarding of security in the rear was considered extremely important. On 25 June 1941, the Union-wide Communist Party (CPSU) Central Committee Politburo adopted the decision ‘On the tasks in the rear of front-line forces’, which placed all agencies and units of the People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs and State Security (NKVD and NKGB) under the command of the commanders of rear defence of the front lines. The following was prescribed as the more general tasks of rear defence: maintenance of law and order in the rear and on roads; the capture of deserters and ‘disorganisers of the rear’; protection of communications; the organisation of evacuations and the transportation of supplies; the destruction of saboteurs. Since rebellion against Soviet rule also began in parallel with combat action in many regions (primarily in regions that the Soviet Union occupied and annexed in 1939/1940), then combat against the so-called internal enemy became the primary task of rear defence units in the vicinity of the front in many areas. Thirdly, rear defence units were assigned the task of destroying all property of any value that could not be removed from the region of the front in the event of possible retreat.
At the same time, all communications of military importance were to be destroyed in the course of retreat. NKVD internal forces and border guard forces on the one hand, and irregular people’s defence units (destruction battalions, workers’ regiments, people’s defence divisions, etc.) formed locally in the summer of 1941 on the other hand were to bear the brunt of this action. The various irregular people’s defence units were on the one hand supposed to be manifestations of ‘nationwide struggle’ deriving from ideology; on the other hand, the need for an improvised territorial defence force was due to pragmatic needs that made it possible to skip many of the formalities associated with mobilisation, transport, formation and supply. At the same time, the possibilities for utilising these units were also considerably more flexible. The formation and utilisation of the ‘people’s defence force’ varied from region to region. The destruction battalions that were formed in the Estonian SSR are considered illustratively in this article.
As elsewhere in areas in the vicinity of the front, the formation of destruction battalions began in the Estonian SSR at the end of June, 1941. The ‘Estonian SSR operative group of destruction battalions’ was established for their formation and command at the NKVD Baltic Border Guard District headquarters. At the start of July, this operative group was placed under the command of the assistant responsible for rear area defence of the commander of the 8th Army, which had retreated into Estonia.
The destruction battalions did not have any definite composition of personnel. Although the self-evidence of patriotism was stressed, in reality the battalions were manned in Estonia by way of ‘Party mobilisation’. If a person was a member or candidate member of the CPSU or the communist youth organisation and did not have any other administrative duties, joining the destruction battalions was in essence mandatory. Generally speaking, this obligation also applied to the employees of other Soviet institutions as well.
The operations of destruction battalions in Estonia can conditionally be divided into three periods: 1) combat against the armed resistance movement before the arrival of German forces; 2) the direct employment of destruction battalions in military assignments alongside securing the rear area; 3) the deployment of destruction battalions and regiments formed out of them at the front in combat against regular Wehrmacht units.
This periodisation is nevertheless conditional. It is rather difficult to present temporal frames of reference more precisely because the actions and composition of different units varied depending on the situation at the front and they also do not match temporally. While battalions were initially formed in the counties and in the cities of Tallinn and Narva, later on units were disbanded and combined, and new additional units were also formed. In total, over 20 such units operated in Estonia (in addition to several more Latvian destruction units that had retreated into Estonia) in the summer war of 1941. Over 6,000 fighters were entered in the lists of the Estonian SSR militia companies, destruction battalions and workers’ regiments. These in turn were divided up according to specific assignments: some went on raids and later fought at the front line as part of the Red Army; others were part of the armed units guarding certain industrial enterprises or Soviet institutions, or provided security for communications of military importance (railroads, bridges, communications lines, and other such sites). Third, there was a large group that was formally connected to destruction battalions because they were tied mainly to other military-administrative duties (the organisation of evacuation, fortification works, mobilisation of horses and motor vehicles, future partisan warfare, and other such duties).
As the name ‘destruction battalion’ already says, these units were initially supposed to be used mainly in combatting saboteurs, spies and local ‘bandits’, and in carrying out ‘scorched earth tactics’. Yet as we can already see from the previous periodization, the role of destruction battalions in Estonia already became blurred at the start of July, 1941. Since the front was breached in many places, some units that were completely unprepared for it were quickly sent to the front to plug the holes. The Southern Estonian destruction battalions that had retreated in the direction of Narva fell apart, disintegrating into isolated troops that retreated together with civilians who wanted to evacuate. Other units were incorporated into the Red Army in Northern Tartu County in the latter half of July, and most of them were cut off there in a pocket. In August, two companies were formed in Harju County and Narva out of the remnants of the destruction battalions, and were already utilised directly as front-line units.
In conclusion it can be said that while the destruction battalions that operated in Estonia initially were indeed a rather effective force for a short time in the fight against armed resistance, their utilisation in front-line combat not only had negligible effect, it was also rather short-sighted in terms of Soviet rule because it resulted in the destruction of a large proportion of the cadre that was trustworthy in the eyes of the Soviet regime, and this cadre was already quite modest in numbers to begin with. A large proportion of the fighters of the destruction battalions left behind in the rear met their end in the course of vigilante justice in the summer war of 1941. And secondly, since the Germans did not count the members of the destruction battalions as soldiers, the status of prisoners of war did not extend to them, and many of them who were taken prisoner were shot on the spot or were executed at a later time as ‘active communists’.