Secret Police

Russian Secret Police Pt. 4 The NKVD

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. 
 

Russian Secret Police Pt. 3 The Cheka

From 1917 to 1922, the Cheka terrorized the Russian people into dedicating their lives to the Soviet State. Old institutions were destroyed, people were targeted on the basis of their socio-economic status, and farmers were forced into collectives. Those who disobeyed were likely shot, the most unfortunate were subjected to sadistic torture not seen since the time of Ivan the Terrible. 
Under the leadership of Vladimir Ilych Lenin, the Bolsheviks seemed at first to bring real, much needed change to Russia. But it didn’t take long for Lenin’s true intentions to become clear: a dictatorship of the proletariat with himself at the helm. 
Lenin was a man with many similarities to those he later deemed political enemies. He was unwavering in his faith in Marxism, but tweaked Marx’ original writings into Leninism both in theory and in practice because, when it came to governing, Leninism was only achievable through the Red Terror unleashed by the Cheka.
Sources:
The Russian Secret Police. Ronald Hingley. 1970.
Stalin: Paradoxes of Power. Stephen Kotkin. 2014.
The Russian Civil War. Evan Mawdsley. 2005.
The Life of Lenin. Louis Fischer. 1964.
Vladimir Lenin: The Founder of the Soviet Union. Biographics.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSWT8oPb1mM
Holidays in Russia
https://russiatrek.org/about-russian-holidays
Felix Dzerzhinsky
https://alphahistory.com/russianrevolution/felix-dzerzhinsky/
Princess Stories: The Secret of Anastasia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2e7t_jUt8sY&list=PLVtoTh3hF-hwvWhPtFZp9XVByI0uRvvLI&index=2
Thanks to @regina_imperatrix for the Anastasia film
Music:
Scorching Action by Jon Presstone
Tension in the Dark by Jon Presstone
Gnosienne by Eric Satie performed by Neil Cross and Raighes Factory
Mystery Warrior by LIVINGFORCE
Cinematic Ambient Orchestral Drama Trailer by MEDIA MUSIC GROUP
Final Speech by Humans Win (formerly Lance Conrad)
Big Epic Drums by Psystein
Ammil by The Tides
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlHZd94pdhQ

Russian Secret Police Pt. 2 The Okhrana

Imagine for a moment you're an early 20th Century Russian factory worker in Moscow. You do your job everyday to support your family but it's dangerous work. You have moments when you wonder what you're family would do if you were injured or killed on the job. Then you overhear a coworker talking about a movement to petition your Tsar, Nicholas II, for better working hours and pay.
 
Laborers like you can join a union called the Moscow Mechanical Productions Workers' Mutual Aid Society that will advocate for these better conditions you've been hoping for. Plus this organization sounds like a better option than those radial groups out there throwing bombs at government officials. 
 
But if this union sounds too good to be true, that's because it is. Unbeknownst to you, the union was created by the Tsar's secret police, the Okhrana, to spy on any potentially dangerous radicals. 
 
Source:
The Russian Secret Police. Ronald Hingley. 1970.
Stalin: Paradoxes of Power. Stephen Kotkin. 2014
 
Fyodor I
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Fyodor-I
 
Boris Godunov
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Boris-Godunov-tsar-of-Russia
 
American home square footage
https://www.statista.com/statistics/456925/median-size-of-single-family-home-usa
 
Lee, Eric (1993-06-01). "The Eremin letter: Documentary proof that Stalin was an Okhrana spy?". Revolutionary Russia. 6 (1): 55–96. doi:10.1080/09546549308575595. ISSN 0954-6545.
Butovo Memorial
https://coldwarsites.net/country/russia/butovo-execution-and-burial-site-moscow/
 
Rasputin’s Twig ‘n Berries
https://www.cultofweird.com/curiosities/rasputin-penis/
 
Inflation Calculator
https://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm
 
Music:
Scorching Action by Jon Presttone
Electra to the Baltic Sea (Full) by Giuseppe Rizzo
 
Ammil by The Tides
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlHZd94pdhQ
 
Giant Wyrm by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3807-giant-wyrm
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
 

Russian Secret Police Pt. 1 The Oprichniki

They wore black robes and rode black horses like a monastic order of death itself. From 1565 to 1572, the Oprichniki inflicted medieval terror and torture upon the Russian people in the name of Ivan the Terrible. ***Content Warning*** contains descriptions of torture techniques.
 
This is the first part of a series on Russian secret police and the first episode ever of this new podcast, Secret Police. 
Sources:
Armies of Ivan the Terrible: Russian Troops 1505–1700 (Men-at-Arms) Paperback – Illustrated, January 31, 2006 by David Nicolle, Viacheslav Shpakovsky, Angus McBride (Illustrator)
 
Dictators and their secret police : coercive institutions and state violence Studies of the East Asian Institute. Sheena Chestnut Greitens
 
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
 
Dictators and their Secret Police - Coercive Institutions and State Violence. Sheena Chestnut Greitens.
 
A Short History of Russia. A compilation from the  study of a number of other works, in particular H.A.L.  Fisher's  "History of  Europe",  Paul  Crowson's  "A History of  the Russian  People",  and  William L.  Langer's  "Encyclopaedia  of  World History”.
 
Andreyev, Nikolay. "Ivan the Terrible". Encyclopedia Britannica, 21 Aug. 2021, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ivan-the-Terrible. Accessed 31 December 2021.
 
The Oprichnina as a Carnival of Violence: Ivan the Terrible and Muscovite Popular Culture Maureen Perrie Emeritus Professor of Russian History, Centre for Russian, European and Eurasian Studies, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
 
Skrynnikov and Graham, Ivan the Terrible. Solovʹev and Rhinelander. History of Russia. 1981. 
 
Nizhny Novgorod. Sergei Maltcev. To My American Friends. 2015.
 
The Oprichnina of Ivan the Terrible: Part 1, Creation. A Region of Fear Patrolled by Black Robed Soldiers. Robert Wilde. May 30, 2019. https://www.thoughtco.com/the-oprichnina-of-ivan-the-terrible-3860937
 
Music:
Main Theme: Scorching Action - Jon Prestone
Mysterious fantasy with gloomy choir and harp for dark fairytale setting - Suite Tracks Music
Introitus - Audio Waves - Eliche Remblon
Odious Signs - Humans Win (formerly Lance Conrad)
Final Speech - Humans Win (formerly Lance Conrad)
TV Audio:
History Bites Season 4 Episode 8

Trailer: Secret Police

***TRAILER!*** Welcome to a new podcast called Secret Police. This show is dedicated to the lap dogs of dictators. Special operatives that employ surveillance and terror upon their own people. We will explore their histories, their brutal methods, and their eventual downfalls. Listen to Secret Police ad free wherever you get podcasts.
 
*** Episodes drop soon! ***