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.
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.
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