The People's Commissariat for State Security () or NKGB, was the name of the

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

secret police image:Putin-Stasi-Ausweis.png, 300px, Vladimir Putin's secret police identity card, issued by the East German Stasi while he was working as a Soviet KGB liaison officer from 1985 to 1989. Both organizations used similar forms of repression. Secre ...

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and counter-intelligence force that existed from 3 February 1941 to 20 July 1941, and again from 1943 to 1946, before being renamed the Ministry for State Security ( MGB).

Separate administration

Changes in Soviet apparatus began in February 1941 with the

Presidium of the Supreme Soviet The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet () was the standing body of the highest organ of state power, highest body of state authority in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).The Presidium of the Soviet Union is, in short, the legislativ ...

decision. It started with Military Counterintelligence. On 3 February 1941, the 4th Department (Special Section, OO) of GUGB within the

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (, ), abbreviated as NKVD (; ), was the interior ministry and secret police of the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1946. The agency was formed to succeed the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) se ...

security service responsible for the

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military counter-intelligence, consisting of 12 Sections and one Investigation Unit, was separated from the GUGB NKVD. The official liquidation of the OO GUGB and GUGB as organized units within the NKVD was announced on 12 February 1941 by a joint order № 00151/003 of the NKVD and NKGB USSR.
The rest of the GUGB was abolished and staff were moved to the newly created People's Commissariat for State Security (NKGB). Departments of the former GUGB were renamed Directorates. For example, the former Foreign Department (INO) became the Foreign Directorate (INU); political police represented by the Secret Political Department (SPO) became the Secret Political Directorate (SPU), and so on.

NKGB tasking

Based on

and NKGB directive number ''782/B265M'', from 1 March 1941, the NKGB tasks were: *Conducting intelligence activities abroad; *Battling espionage (on both fronts: counter and offensive); *Battling sabotage and terrorist acts organized by foreign Special Services on USSR territory; *The penetration, and liquidation, of anti-Soviet parties and ''counter-revolutionary'' organizations; *Overseeing

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in Soviet society; *The protection of high party and government officials.

February 1941 organization

The first head of NKGB was Vsevolod Nikolayevich Merkulov who became ''People's Commissar of State Security''. His first deputy was Ivan Serov, a former Commissar 3rd rank of State Security, and two deputies, Bogdan Kobulov and Mikhail Gribov.

Changes 1941/1943

The Soviet security organizations were merged in July 1941, after the German invasion, with the NKGB Directorates returned to

as separate units. During 1943 changes NKGB was created again as separate Commissariat. Please look at organization changes below) These organizational changes were never explained. According to historian John Dziak they may have had something to do with the Soviet occupations of

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, eastern

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, part of

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( Bessarabia and northern

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). Also, the numbers of apprehensions, deportations, executions and establishments of

Gulag The Gulag was a system of Labor camp, forced labor camps in the Soviet Union. The word ''Gulag'' originally referred only to the division of the Chronology of Soviet secret police agencies, Soviet secret police that was in charge of runnin ...

s had quickly grown, which required a reorganization of structures and a boost of manpower in the security administration. Other reasons Dziak states are: the shock caused by the German aggression and the fast progress of their army; and when the Soviet victory in Stalingrad had made prospects of the recovery of previous war losses more likely.

1943 organization

From commissariats to ministries

In 1946, other changes followed. Existing

People's Commissariat A People's Commissariat (; Narkomat) was a structure in the Soviet state (in the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, in other union and autonomous republics, in the Soviet Union) from 1917–1946 which functioned as the central executive ...

s were renamed "ministries." People's Commisariat for Internal Affairs (or NKVD) was renamed Ministry of Internal Affairs (''Ministerstvo Vnutrennikh Del'') or MVD, and the People's Commissariat for State Security was renamed Ministry for State Security (''Ministerstvo Gosudarstvennoi Bezopasnosti'') or MGB.

Notes

References

*Vadim J. Birstein : SMERSH Stalin's Secret Weapon, Soviet military counterintelligence in ww2 *Piotr Kołakowski – ''NKWD i GRU na ziemiach Polskich 1939–1945'' – (Kulisy wywiadu i kontrwywiadu) –

Dom wydawniczy Bellona Bellona Publishing House (, formerly also ''Dom Wydawniczy Bellona'') is a private publishing house based in Warsaw, Poland. It was created in 1990 from restructuring of the state-run Wydawnictwo MON. It specialises in books on military history. A ...

Warszawa 2002 – (NKVD and GRU on Polish soil 1939–1945 ntelligence counter-intelligence seriesWarsaw, 2002) *Norman Polmar, Thomas B Allen – Spy Book: ''The Encyclopedia of Espionage'' 1997

External links

* {{authority control Law enforcement agencies of the Soviet Union Soviet intelligence agencies Political repression in the Soviet Union Secret police 1941 establishments in the Soviet Union 1941 disestablishments in the Soviet Union 1943 establishments in the Soviet Union 1946 disestablishments in the Soviet Union Government agencies established in 1941 Government agencies disestablished in 1941 Government agencies established in 1943 Government agencies disestablished in 1946 State Security