In the article we present below, we will delve into the topic of Mass operations of the NKVD, exploring its different aspects and its relevance today. Mass operations of the NKVD is a topic that has captured the attention of a wide spectrum of people, from academics and specialists in the field, to individuals interested in understanding its impact on society. Through a detailed and exhaustive analysis, we will seek to unravel its implications and offer a comprehensive vision that allows our readers to better understand this phenomenon. From its origin to its evolution over time, Mass operations of the NKVD has generated debates and controversies that make it a topic of great interest for different areas of research. Join us on this journey of discovery and reflection about Mass operations of the NKVD!
Mass repression in the Soviet Union |
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Economic repression |
Political repression |
Ideological repression |
Ethnic repression |
Mass operations of the People's Comissariate of Internal Affairs (NKVD) were carried out during the Great Purge and targeted specific categories of people. As a rule, they were carried out according to the corresponding order of the People's Commissar of Internal Affairs Nikolai Yezhov.
The operations of this type in this period targeted "foreign" ethnicities (ethnicities with cross-border ties to foreign nation-states), unlike nationally targeted repressions during World War II. According to historian Oleg Khlevniuk, Stalin became concerned about rearguard uprisings that were seen in the Spanish Civil War and believed that "nationalities of foreign governments" posed a threat in border regions, even if they were Soviet citizens whose ancestors had sometimes lived decades or centuries in the areas controlled by the Soviet Union.
Minutes of the January 31, 1938 Politburo meeting list the following ethnicities against which NKND operations were to be continued: Poles, Latvians, Germans, Estonians, Finns, Greeks, Iranians, Harbinites, Chinese, and Romanians. It was also suggested to carry out similar NKVD operations against Bulgarians and Macedonians.
From August 1937 to October 1938, 353,513 people were arrested and 247,157 were shot in the national operations of NKVD. It is estimated that this would make up 34% of the total victims of the Great Purge.
On November 17, 1938 a joint decree No. 81 of Sovnarkom USSR and Central Committee of Communist Party of the Soviet Union Decree about Arrests, Prosecutor Supervision and Course of Investigation and the subsequent order of the NKVD undersigned by Lavrentiy Beria cancelled most of NKVD orders of mass type (but not all, see, e.g., NKVD Order No. 00689) and suspended implementation of death sentences, signifying the end of the Great Purge ("Yezhovshchina").