The early USSR owes many of its achievements to Stalin's secret police, called the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs, or the NKVD. These guys really took Russian espionage to a new level. Their reach was global in scale; nearly anybody Stalin wanted dead, the NKVD could get it done. They administered the infamous Gulags and repressed their own people. They blurred the lines between internal police and military force by supporting Leftists during the Spanish Civil War and infiltrating the Manhattan Project.

The NKVD was a secret police force dictators dream of: vast, pervasive, feared, deadly, deceptive. They were at Stalin's beck and call.

On this episode, we explore the history and methods of the NKVD under the leadership of Genrikh Yagoda and Nikolai Yezhov. We'll cover the NKVD during WWII under Lavrentri Beria in part 5.

Sources

The Russian Secret Police. Ronald Hingley. 1970.

Stalin: Paradoxes of Power. Stephen Kotkin. 2014.

How did the Soviet Union work? By Viki1999

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6emmgC6rsGA&list=PLVtoTh3hF-hzRxUfRlpUs9sapwTPnIg6C&index=2&t=665s

Joseph Stalin: The Red Terror

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqfcpNrcGb0&t=508s

Genrikh Yagoda

https://spartacus-educational.com/RUSyagoda.htm

Nikolai Yezhov

https://spartacus-educational.com/RUSyezhov.htm

Cannibal Island

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaOwcYLGTMo&list=PLVtoTh3hF-hzRxUfRlpUs9sapwTPnIg6C&index=4&t=108s

The Nazino Gulag

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkauF4MndOw&t=518s&ab_channel=GoyimDefenceLeague

Cannibal Island location

http://wikimapia.org/14057879/Nazino-island

Gulag: History, Camps, Conditions, Economy, Effect, Facts, Quotes (2003). Interview of Anne Applebaum. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGeHPwgLm6Y&list=PLVtoTh3hF-hzRxUfRlpUs9sapwTPnIg6C&index=5

Gregory Zinoviev

https://spartacus-educational.com/RUSzinoviev.htm

Nikolay Bukharin

https://spartacus-educational.com/RUSbukharin.htm

Alexei Rykov

https://spartacus-educational.com/RUSrykov.htm

Mikhail Tomsky

https://spartacus-educational.com/RUStomsky.htm

Sergey Kirov

https://spartacus-educational.com/RUSkirov.htm

Music

Scorching Action by Jon Presstone

Tension in the Dark by Jon Presstone

Gnosienne by Eric Satie performed by Neil Cross and Raighes Factory

Cinematic Ambient Orchestral Drama Trailer by MEDIA MUSIC GROUP

Big Epic Drums by Psystein

March of the Defenders of Moscow by Alexey Surkov and Boris Mokrousov

Scheherazade Op. 35 by Rimsky Korsakov

Special Thanks To:

Sergey Vaynshank

Kristaps Andrejsons at the Eastern Border Podcast

Roberto at the History of Saqartvelo Georgia Podcast

*** Important *** Interview audio was edited for quality and soundbites that fit into the subject matter. I intent to post full interviews as bonus material provided I have permission from the interviewee.