Secret Police

Imagine a state apparatus of terror; they monitor citizens, they kidnap people in the middle of the night, they torture people to extract false confessions. Now imagine that same state apparatus of terror is run by a murderous pedophile. That was the Soviet people's reality with appointment of Lavrenti Beria to the dreaded People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs or the NKVD, the Soviet secret police. Please leave us a rating, or a review if you're feeling really generous. Follow Secret Police! Twitter @hush_popo Instagram @secretpolicepodcast Sources Beria - The NKVD & Death of Stalin Documentary. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0bnt7hYmDY&list=PLVtoTh3hF-hwiZixdKcerUzA777jS27Ml&index=3&t=1927s  Lavrenti Beria Biography https://spartacus-educational.com/RUSberia.htm Richard Sorge. https://spartacus-educational.com/GERsorge.htm On Stalin's Secret Service - Richard Sorge - WW2 Biography Special. World War Two. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fn9NyRfbSOo&ab_channel=WorldWarTwo  Stalin and Trotsky rivalry https://www.rbth.com/history/333272-how-stalin-and-trotsky-fought Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar by Simon Sebag Montefiore. Russia: The Wild East by Martin Sixsmith and the BBC.  Flowers in Russia: What You Need to Know by Matt Shannon. 2021. https://expatriant.com/flowers-in-russia/   The Finnish Language. LangFocus. 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-uWYvlyeBc&list=PLVtoTh3hF-hwiZixdKcerUzA777jS27Ml&index=5&t=316s  Winter War - Soviet Finnish 1939-1940 War - FULL 3d DOCUMENTARY. Kings and Generals. 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Uk5bY22RSE&t=2448s  US Census. Quick Facts. https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/PST045221 The investigation of the dead or lost Finnish stages of Stalin's persecution will continue – SKS also finds out what traces of persecution left on the victims' descendants. Pekka Torvinen. https://www.hs.fi/kulttuuri/art-2000007766248.html China and International Law -- The Boundary Disputes by Byron N. Tzou. 1990. The end of "Millionka": the liquidation of Chinatown in Vladivostok (1936). Russia and the Pacific (in Russian). Vladivostok: Institute of History, Archaeology and Ethnography of the Peoples of the Far East of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (4): 24–31. A Historical Investigation of the Soviet Union's Handling of the Chinese Issue in the Far East (1937-1938)]. Modern Chinese History Studies (in Simplified Chinese). Beijing: Institute of Modern History, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (2): 41. Khisamutdinov, Amir Aleksandrovich (2018). "Millionka": a culture that grew up in the backyard. The Origins of Soviet Ethnic Cleansing by Martin Terry. 1998. Journal of Modern History.  L'Affaire Lyushkov: Anatomy of a Defector by Alvin D Coox. 1968. Why didn't the Allies declare war on the USSR when they invaded Poland? Knowledgia. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBd60UsL9u0&ab_channel=Knowledgia The NKVD: from Pen-Pushers to Communist Hit Squads - WW2 Special. World War Two. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HwKl8VUZHA&t=507s&ab_channel=WorldWarTwo  State Committee of Defence Decree. Concerning the security measures in rear areas and communications of the Red Army in East Prussia, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Romania. December 1944. https://weaponsandwarfare.com/2015/12/10/soviet-nkvd-iv/  Sonja Schmid. Producing Power: The Pre-Chernobyl History of the Soviet Nuclear Industry. 2015.  The Atomic Bomb, Russia and Spies. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nOrMZCThNg&t=136s&ab_channel=JohnKerruish    Harry S Truman Library Bombing of Hiroshima Newsreel from the AP Music Scorching Action by Jon Presstone Tension in the Dark by Jon Presstone Gnosienne by Eric Satie performed by Neil Cross and Raighes Factory It's Beginning to Look A lot Like Christmas by Perry Como (a parody) Mozart K.488 Piano Concerto #23 in A 2nd mov. Adagio Cinematic Ambient Orchestral Drama Trailer by MEDIA MUSIC GROUP Electra to the Baltic Sea by Giuseppe Rizzo Dramatic Investigation by Jon Presstone Sad Smooth Piano Jazz Background Music by Volodymyr Piddubnyk Eye Of The Storm (Feat. Cicely Parnas) - Instrumental Version Humans Win Kalahari Wind by Humans Win Sneaky Snitch by Kevin MacLeod Giant Wyrm by Kevin MacLeod Selected clips from The Death of Stalin (2017)

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.   

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

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  

They wore black robes and rode black horse 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!*** 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! ***