"Smersh". Historical essays and archival documents
"Smersh": Historical essays and archival documents
The second, corrected and expanded edition of the book-album “Smersh”: Historical Sketches and Archival Documents has been published (M., 2005. – 343 p.). People have written and are writing different things about “Smersh” here and abroad. They write, sometimes being overly carried away, accidentally or intentionally, mixing truth with lies, reality with legends.One stereotypes are replaced by others.
Nowadays, for the first time, historians have the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the texts of authentic materials from the funds of the Central Archive of the FSB of Russia, which are directly related to the activities of Smersh. All essays presented in the book are strictly documentary.
This name determined the main task - protecting the Red Army from enemy intelligence services. In addition to combating the activities of foreign intelligence services in units and institutions of the Red Army, Smersh also solved the problem of “creating conditions at the fronts that would exclude the possibility of enemy agents passing through the front line with impunity”; was supposed to fight betrayal and desertion, check military personnel and other persons who had been captured, and also carry out “special tasks of the People's Commissar of Defense.” Head of GUKR "Smersh" V.S. Abakumov reported directly to I.V. Stalin and was appointed Deputy People's Commissar of Defense.
The structure of Smersh was built strictly vertically, each unit was subordinate only to its superior counterintelligence agencies.
The Smersh counterintelligence officers received their baptism of fire at the Kursk Bulge. For the 60th anniversary of the Battle of Kursk, the Central Archive of the FSB of Russia prepared a special publication in which for the first time materials related to the participation of Smersh in these events were presented. Therefore, in the book under review, the description of some points relating to the Battle of Kursk is given concisely in order to avoid repetition.
Behind the lines of previously unknown materials given in the book, one can see how the war crushed human destinies. The recent scandal that erupted around the film “Bastards,” which was about a school for teenage saboteurs that allegedly existed in the USSR, once again showed that the so-called. The “rulers of thought” from among the “creative intelligentsia” do not know (or do not want to know) the true history.
#comm#If they had looked at the published documents at one time, they would have learned that it was the German, and not the Soviet, as stated in the film, intelligence services that actively used children to carry out reconnaissance activities and carry out sabotage.#/comm#
Having selected several groups of street children, Abwehr officers trained them in mine explosives and sent them to the rear Soviet troops, setting tasks to disable steam locomotives. To accomplish this goal, teenagers were given explosive devices camouflaged as pieces of coal.
Captured Red Army soldiers whom the Germans transferred across the front line were also actively used for reconnaissance and sabotage operations. According to official data, during the war years, counterintelligence neutralized 43,477 agents of the German intelligence services.
It is no secret that in the USSR there were those who were waiting for the Germans to arrive and were ready to provide them with all possible assistance. Some radio games ("Monastery", "Janus") were specifically aimed at preventing the emergence of a "fifth column" from various anti-Soviet groups; others (“Destruction”, “Reeds”) were designed to paralyze the attempts made by the Germans to organize armed uprisings against Soviet power in national-territorial formations of the USSR. From published sources, we today learned about the Baltic, Turkestan, Tatar, Caucasian, Ukrainian and Russian formations of the armed forces of the Third Reich from among the citizens of the USSR and emigrants. The book contains information about how the Germans prepared a special group, which was entrusted with the task of “unifying small rebel groups operating in Kalmykia and organizing a Kalmyk uprising against Soviet power, as well as carrying out large acts of sabotage in the Soviet rear.” Some of the enemy paratroopers who landed were captured, after which we managed to start the “Aryans” radio game, during which our counterintelligence obtained important information, disinformation was transmitted to the enemy, its agents were liquidated or captured, and military equipment etc.
Radio games not only contributed to obtaining valuable information, but also made it possible to disorient the enemy. The largest radio game, called “Riddle,” lasted from the summer of 1943 until April 1945 and was carried out against the Zeppelin-Nord intelligence agency.
#comm#During the war, Soviet counterintelligence conducted 183 radio games, as a result of which it was possible to identify and neutralize over 400 agents and employees of German intelligence. #/comm#
The publication touches on the circumstances of Lieutenant General A.A.’s defection to the enemy’s side. Vlasova; describes the circumstances of Hitler's suicide and the methods of ideological war. Until recently, these were closed topics. This circumstance has given rise to many myths, which to this day continue to excite the minds of publicists, with a frequency worthy of better use, who continue to publish books about " tragic fate"a traitor (according to all the laws of officer ethics, Vlasov committed precisely treason).
This book about Smersh is the first document-based description of the activities of the most successful counterintelligence of the twentieth century. Its effectiveness was recognized not only by the allies, but also by the opponents of the USSR. This was the merit of those who thought through, led and directly carried out special operations. On the pages of the book we repeatedly come across the name of a man whose activities as head of Smersh were consigned to oblivion for many years. Arrested in July 1951, USSR Minister of State Security V.S. Abakumov, was shot in December 1954. Since then, if his name was mentioned, it was only in a negative context, next to the names of L.P. Beria, V.N. Merkulova and others.
A separate chapter is devoted to the intelligence services of those countries with which the USSR waged war (Germany, Romania, Finland, Japan). The confrontation between the Abwehr and Soviet counterintelligence is shown in detail, and a diagram of the organizational structure of German military intelligence is presented; information about its leaders is provided; photographs and documents. It is characteristic that the activities of enemy intelligence services are analyzed objectively and impartially, without any “party” pathos.
#comm#Striving for objectivity is generally one of distinctive features works of the team of authors of this publication.#/comm#
The book-album is illustrated with rare photographs, including from the personal archives of counterintelligence officers who took part in the Great Patriotic War.
A separate chapter is devoted to the activities of documenting the crimes committed by the invaders in the occupied areas, as well as the work to search for and punish war criminals and their accomplices from among Soviet citizens.
In the afterword to the book, the authors build a bridge to modern times. Although Smersh as a structure ceased to exist in 1946, military counterintelligence continued to operate effectively. A brief overview of her work in the 1960s-80s and beyond, up to the present day, given on the last pages of the book, is quite logical and fits into the general concept of the publication.
Note that on All-Russian competition journalistic and literary works "We are proud of our Fatherland" in April 2004, the team of authors of the book was awarded the first prize in the "Documentary" section.
Special for the Centenary
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CLARIFY What the new head of the department had to do on Rostov soil, I think, is not necessary. Abakumov differed from many other leaders of the same level only in his youth and personal participation in interrogations, during which he, a man of great physical strength, applied the harshest interrogation methods to those arrested. At that time methods physical impact were a widespread practice - the top political leadership demanded that state security officers expose “enemies of the people” by any means. No matter how much other “party degenerates” try today to distance themselves from the NKVD - KGB, these bodies first of all carried out the “will of the party,” or rather, the orders of the party leadership. However, like everyone soviet man at your workplace...
The service zeal of the young leader did not go unnoticed by Lavrentiy Beria, who himself was not lazy to participate in the interrogations of especially important people. It was people like Abakumov - young, unquestioningly and successfully fulfilling all the instructions of the leadership and, most importantly, not associated with any of the groups of the highest party nomenclature - that Stalin needed in Moscow. At the beginning of 1941, when the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs of the USSR decided to divide into two independent structures - the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs and State Security, new vacancies opened up in leadership positions. Abakumov was appointed to one of them - Deputy People's Commissar of Internal Affairs. He was entrusted with overseeing not the most important area: the main police and fire departments. However, he was also in charge of the 3rd department, which was engaged in operational security services for border and internal troops. So Abakumov began to enter the “Stalinist circle.”
The beginning of the Great Patriotic War opened Abakumov's path to higher power. On July 19, 1941, he was entrusted with heading military counterintelligence - the directorate of special departments of the NKVD. Later, in April 1943, it was renamed the Main Directorate of Counterintelligence "Smersh" and transferred to the jurisdiction of the People's Commissariat of Defense of the USSR. The head of Smersh became deputy people's commissar of defense, a position held by Stalin himself.
But it’s interesting that Viktor Semenovich ended the war only with the shoulder straps of a lieutenant general. He was awarded the military rank of Colonel General in July 1945.
IN THE YEARS During the hard times of war, Abakumov proved himself to be a good organizer. According to the recollections of veterans of military counterintelligence, he skillfully took advantage of the experience of the General Staff and built the leadership system of Smersh on the model of the active army: front departments were created in the Main Directorate. This allowed the head of military counterintelligence to better understand the operational situation at the fronts and raised his authority in the eyes of Stalin, who did not allow his subordinates to cover up their incompetence with verbiage. The leader was also captivated by the efficiency of the military counterintelligence, whose structures demonstrated greater efficiency in the fight against enemy agents than their colleagues from the People's Commissariats of State Security and Internal Affairs.
Being a decisive man, Viktor Semenovich was not afraid to take responsibility and did not want to blindly follow the then established order. The military situation often required quick and non-standard solutions. Thus, Abakumov ordered that German agents who had turned themselves in from criminal liability be released from criminal liability, which greatly helped military counterintelligence officers in the confrontation with German intelligence services and in neutralizing their agents.
“Belittling Abakumov’s merits in successful work GUKR “Smersh” is not serious, I think that not a single wartime counterintelligence officer would allow himself to do this. The practical results of Smersh’s activities turned out to be higher than those of the NKGB, which was the reason for Abakumov’s nomination.”
From the Hero's memories Soviet Union Army General P.I. Ivashutina.
Abakumov’s strong character and his ability to go against the opinions of others were evident in the episode with the search for Hitler’s remains. In the fall of 1945, People's Commissar of Internal Affairs Beria was inclined to decide to familiarize our Western allies with materials on the investigation into the circumstances of Hitler's death. The People's Commissars for State Security and Foreign Affairs were of the same opinion. All that remained was to formally obtain approval from the State Counterintelligence Directorate “Smersh” of the People’s Commissariat of Defense and give the corresponding instructions to the representative of the NKVD in Germany, General Serov.
In November 1945, a draft cipher telegram was already drawn up:
"Berlin.
Comrade Serov
To your number 00399
There are no objections to transferring to the British and Americans the information you have about the results of the investigation into the circumstances of Hitler’s disappearance.
Please note that, in addition, the allies may request the interrogation of certain persons who are with us: Günsche, Rattenhuber, Baur, etc.
In what form this information should be conveyed to your allies, think about it and decide for yourself.
L. Beria"
Everything seemed clear, and suddenly on November 26 the secretariat of the People's Commissar of Internal Affairs reported to him about the disagreement of military counterintelligence.
"Reference
T.t. Merkulov, Kruglov, Kobulov agree with the draft telegram. Comrade Abakumov objects and said that he will report to you personally on this issue.”
As a result, General Serov never received instructions to transfer information on Hitler to the Allies. Having gained weight in the apparatus, Abakumov could already afford to disagree with Beria, to whom he, of course, owed his rise in the late 30s.
"We need to touch someone"
OF COURSE that during the war years the main counterintelligence directorate of the People's Commissariat of Defense had to not only deal with the fight against espionage, but also monitor the political sentiments of the officers. By the way, the archives contain many interesting documents about this side of the activities of military counterintelligence agents. For example, on December 23, 1943, in a memo labeled “Top Secret,” Abakumov reported to Stalin at the State Defense Committee about the responses of Red Army soldiers to the decision of the Council of People’s Commissars of the USSR “On the National Anthem of the Soviet Union” published in the press.
About this document, recently provided to the editors of the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper by the Presidential Archive Russian Federation, we will tell you in detail, but for now we will give only a few statements. Here is the opinion of the head of the Main Artillery Directorate of the Red Army, Colonel General N. Yakovlev: “Abroad, this will be regarded as a step back, as a concession to the allies, but in fact it is not so. After all, how many such steps did we take during the war: we eliminated the commissars - nothing happened, we began to fight even better, we introduced general and officer ranks, put shoulder straps on everyone - we strengthened discipline.
The Holy Synod was created, the Patriarch was elected, the Comintern was dissolved and, finally, the “International” was abolished - and all for the benefit of the Motherland..."
Of course, statements of a different kind did not pass the attention of military counterintelligence officers.
Lieutenant General of Aviation Grendal, Head of the Intelligence Directorate of the Air Force Headquarters: “It’s good that they finally remembered Rus' in the anthem, but still it seems to me that there is some concession to Roosevelt and Churchill.”
Lieutenant Colonel Vorobyov, teacher of higher political courses named after Lenin: “All this is being done under the great influence of the allies. They dictate their will, especially since they succeed now, when our country is seriously weakened in the war and their will has to be taken into account.”
Colonel Krylov, head of the Main Quartermaster Directorate of the Red Army: “We are gradually moving towards the appearance of the anthem “God Save the Tsar.” We are gradually changing our basic attitude and getting closer to being pleasant to our allies."
Captain quartermaster service Nordkin, senior assistant to the head of the Main Quartermaster Directorate of the Red Army: “The anthem contains glorification of the Russian nation while silencing other nations. This can be used by dark elements as great power Russian chauvinism. The consistent protrusion of the Russian people is noticeable.”
Senior Lieutenant Baranov, assistant head of the searchlight service department of the headquarters of the separate Moscow Air Defense Army: “The essence of our state has changed so much that we are no longer faced with the task of building a communist society and we are sliding into a bourgeois system. In this regard, Marxism is no longer suitable for us and needs to be reconsidered.”
Sharapov, head of the administrative and economic department of the Central House of the Red Army: “All that remains is to change and dissolve the Bolshevik Party. In 1918 – 1919 there was something to agitate about, then there was the slogan “Land to the peasants, factories to the workers” and freedom of speech, and then they pressed so hard that millions of people laid down their heads.”
The leader’s resolution is also curious: "Important. We need to touch someone."
After the end of the war, the aging Stalin began to think about his successor. It was obvious to him that his closest associates were of little use as statesmen capable of preserving and strengthening the recreated mighty empire. The leader needed new people, personally loyal to him - those on whom he could rely in the planned purge of the party nomenklatura, which during the war period had recovered from the psychological shock of the 30s.
State security agencies were also called upon to play a role in the upcoming changes in the country. At their head, Stalin decided to put Abakumov, whose loyalty and efficiency he had the opportunity to personally verify during the war period. In addition, Abakumov did not have personal relationships with most of the leaders of the MGB and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which was also important for the Kremlin owner, who was becoming increasingly suspicious. The cruel school of struggle for power taught him to be extremely cautious, which over the years increasingly developed into suspiciousness. Although, who knows, maybe these fears were not unfounded. After all, the mystery of the leader’s death remains unsolved...
TO BECOMING in May 1946, as Minister of State Security instead of Army General Vsevolod Merkulov, who was close to Beria, Abakumov had to solve problems that helped him make many ill-wishers in the upper echelons of power. But this, apparently, is the fate of all leaders of the “secret police”: - the more effectively you work in the interests of power, the more bitter fruits you can subsequently reap. In particular, the new head of the MGB had to deal a lot with military affairs - at this time, in the process of reorganizing state security bodies, the State Counterintelligence Directorate "Smersh" moved from the military department to the MGB as one of its structural divisions- 3rd control.
In the photo: “Special folder” of the GUKR “Smersh”.
(To be continued.)
"SMERSH": HISTORICAL ESSAYS AND ARCHIVED DOCUMENTS
V.S. Khristoforov, V.K. Vinogradov, O.K. Matveev, V.I. Lazarev, N.N. Luzan, V.G. Makarov, N.M. Peremyshlnikova, A.P. Cherepkov
THE TRUTH ABOUT SMERSH
(Book "SMERSH": HISTORICAL ESSAYS AND ARCHIVED DOCUMENTS)
Vadim UDMANTSEV
"VPK" N8. March 3 - 9, 2004
Another closed page from the history of domestic intelligence services has become available to the general public. Many people know that at a certain stage During the Great Patriotic War, the Directorate of Special Departments of the NKVD was transformed into the Main Directorate of Counterintelligence "SMERSH" People's Commissariat defense (NKO) of the USSR, and the abbreviation of this organization itself was composed of initial letters the well-known slogan: “Death to spies!” However, not everyone knows that by the same resolution of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR dated April 19, 1943, the SMERSH Counterintelligence Directorate of the NKVMF of the USSR and the SMERSH Counterintelligence Department of the NKVD of the USSR were created.
Unfortunately, we must admit that, despite the obvious military merits of the Smershevites, the specifics of their work were hushed up for many years. Here is what the head of the Directorate for Registration of Archival Funds of the FSB of Russia, Major General Vasily Khristoforov, who at the same time headed the team of authors of the newly published book, said: “During the period of work on the book, we published materials from the Central Archive of the FSB of Russia for the first time, so we even discovered a lot of new and interesting things for ourselves: But We tried to give an objective picture without embellishment or shortcuts... What is said in the book has not previously appeared in the open press, moreover, all previous books about the work of SMERSH employees were either outright misinformation or an invention of the authors themselves. , reflecting the reality of the work of SMERSH, is Bogomolov’s novel “The Moment of Truth. In August 1944..." By the way, Vladimir Georgievich Bogomolov also made a significant contribution to the creation of the book "SMERSH. Historical essays and archival documents", agreeing to informally advise younger authors, but his untimely death did not allow him to hold this publication in hand.
The book contains a large number of photographs, color and black and white images of various documents, wartime posters. Separate pages contain diagrams of the GUK SMERSH, the UK NCO SMERSH of the fronts, OK NKO SMERSH of the armies, as well as photo galleries of portraits of the leaders of these structures during the Great Patriotic War. A significant part of the photographs and documents are from personal archives, and this is very gratifying, since not many veterans are left alive, and also because service in the “authorities” left its mark for many years - most of these people are accustomed to “keeping their mouths shut.” ". It is known, for example, that the wonderful Russian classic writer Fyodor Abramov, having front-line experience behind him, did not leave any noticeable purely “military” works or memories for his descendants. Meanwhile, after spending several months in hospitals after being seriously wounded in the battles near Leningrad, from April 1943 he continued to serve in the counterintelligence department SMERSH of the Arkhangelsk Military District. Incomplete university education and knowledge of German and Polish languages allowed Abramov to short term make a good career: from a reserve detective to a senior investigator. And, perhaps, it is precisely in “Smershev’s” training that the key to the writer’s amazing powers of observation and the accuracy of conveying psychological portraits of genuine characters in a number of his stories?
On the pages of the book "SMERSH". Historical Sketches and Archival Documents" tells in detail, with specific examples, about the confrontation of Soviet counterintelligence officers with espionage, sabotage, terrorist and other activities of foreign intelligence services in units and institutions of the Red Army, about the fight against traitors to the Motherland, deserters and those who engaged in self-mutilation at the fronts. Several The chapters are devoted to the counterintelligence work of the "Smershevites" both deep behind enemy lines and in the front line, about brilliantly carried out operations on the radio, as a result of which in this direction the military counterintelligence of the USSR had no equal during the Great Patriotic War. In turn, the now living Chairman of the Veterans Council of the Military Counterintelligence Directorate of the FSB of the Russian Federation, a holder of three Orders of the Red Banner, three Red Stars and many other military awards, Lieutenant General Alexander Matveev, spoke about the book “SMERSH”: “The book is written in simple, understandable language. This will help convey the idea of the book more clearly to young security officers... When I read this book, I imagined my entire military journey... We had a very insidious and well-prepared enemy in the person of the Abwehr. Equipped with everything they needed, they behaved brazenly and aggressively..."
Indeed, since the years of repression and the first months of the war had a deplorable impact on most Soviet “organs,” yesterday’s students, teachers, and engineers—who made up the bulk of the employees of SMERSH departments and directorates during the Great Patriotic War—were confronted by professionals of the highest class, worked in intelligence and counterintelligence for years. In this regard, a separate chapter of the book contains detailed information about the structures and methods of work of the intelligence services of the four main states opposing the USSR: Germany, Japan, Romania and Finland. These pages are illustrated with diagrams of enemy organizations, captured photographs of the leaders and most valuable agents of the German Abwehr, Zeppelin, Waffen SS Jagdverband, Romanian SSI, as well as Japanese and Finnish intelligence and counterintelligence, IDs of members of sabotage and reconnaissance groups and seized them by SMERSH weapons and equipment authorities. Of particular interest are photographs of buildings that have survived to this day in the territories of Germany, Poland, Russia and the Baltic countries, in which the headquarters of enemy intelligence services and structures were located during the war.
One of the chapters - "The Big Sieve of Military Counterintelligence" - talks about the work of the "Smershevites" among prisoners of war. This was also not easy work, because during the entire period of World War II, the Red Army captured 4,377,300 military personnel of enemy European states and 639,635 of the Kwantung Army . Among the soldiers and officers, intelligence officers were hiding, while the agents recruited and trained by them still continued to shoot in the back the soldiers and commanders of the Red Army in the liberated territories. However, SMERSH units still identified over 2,000 former employees of the German Abwehr and RSHA and about 900 intelligence and counterintelligence officers of Imperial Japan.The book contains reports on the results of the work of assembly points, on the results of intelligence and operational work among enemy prisoners of war, intelligence reports, denunciations and statements of German prisoners of war about their readiness to cooperate with Soviet counterintelligence, corresponding photographs.
The same chapter talks about the filtering by military counterintelligence of hundreds of thousands of Red Army soldiers and other persons who were captured or surrounded by the enemy, about numerous cases of concealment of former punishers, collaborators of enemy services and their agents. Among others, specific facts are cited of the recruitment of USSR citizens by the intelligence services of foreign, including allied states. For the first time, photographs of false IDs of members of partisan detachments of the French Resistance, as well as corresponding memos to the head of the State Institution of the NPO SMERSH, V. Abakumov, marked “Top Secret”, have been published.
The only thing that remains to be regretted is that the book, being a “gift edition”, was published in a small edition - only 4000 copies - and is expensive, which is why it is unlikely to be affordable for both historians and veterans. However, some hope for a possible more widespread and less expensive re-release of SMERSH was inspired by the phrase of a member of the team of authors - the head of the Main Archive of Moscow, Alexei Kiselev, said at the presentation of the book: “These materials should be accessible to the mass reader. They must be published, first of all , for young people - so that they know the real, and not fictitious, truth about those events..."
