The Main Directorate of State Security (russian: Glavnoe upravlenie gosudarstvennoy bezopasnosti, Главное управление государственной безопасности, ГУГБ, GUGB) was the name of the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

most important security body within the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs (NKVD) USSR. At the time of its existence, which was from July 10, 1934 to February 3, 1941, the GUGB reflected exactly the Secret Operational Directorate within OGPU under Council of People's Commissars, which operated within OGPU structure from 1923 to 1931/32. An

intelligence service An intelligence agency is a government agency responsible for the collection, analysis, and exploitation of information in support of law enforcement, national security, military, public safety, and foreign policy objectives. Means of informati ...

and

secret police Secret police (or political police) are intelligence, security or police agencies that engage in covert operations against a government's political, religious, or social opponents and dissidents. Secret police organizations are characteristic of a ...

from July 1934 to February 1941, it was run under the auspices of the Peoples Commissariat of Internal Affairs (

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (russian: Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних дел, Naródnyy komissariát vnútrennikh del, ), abbreviated NKVD ( ), was the interior ministry of the Soviet Union. ...

). Its first head was first deputy of People's Commissar of Internal Affairs (then –

Genrikh Yagoda Genrikh Grigoryevich Yagoda ( rus, Ге́нрих Григо́рьевич Яго́да, Genrikh Grigor'yevich Yagoda, born Yenokh Gershevich Iyeguda; 7 November 1891 – 15 March 1938) was a Soviet secret police official who served as director ...

), Commissioner 1st rank of State Security Yakov Agranov.

History

The Main Directorate of State Security evolved from the Joint State Political Directorate (or

OGPU The Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU; russian: Объединённое государственное политическое управление) was the intelligence and state security service and secret police of the Soviet Union ...

). On February 3, 1941, the Special Sections (or OO) of the GUGB-

(responsible for counter-intelligence in the military) became part of the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

and

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It include ...

(

RKKA The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

and RKKF, respectively). The GUGB was disbanded as an organization within NKVD USSR. The units that operated in GUGB were reorganized and made the core of the newly made People's Commissariat of State Security or

NKGB The People's Commissariat for State Security (russian: Народный комиссариат государственной безопасности) or NKGB, was the name of the Soviet secret police, intelligence and counter-intelligence f ...

. Following the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the NKVD and NKGB were reunited, not as GUGB but as totally separate directorates. On July 20, 1941, Army and Airforce counter-intelligence was returned to the NKVD as Directorate of Special Departments under

Viktor Abakumov Viktor Semyonovich Abakumov (russian: link=no, Виктор Семёнович Абакумов; 24 April 1908 – 19 December 1954) was a high-level Soviet security official from 1943 to 1946, the head of SMERSH in the USSR People's Commissari ...

, in January 1942 Navy CI followed. In April 1943, it was again transferred to the Narkomat of Defence and Narkomat of the Navy, becoming

SMERSH SMERSH (russian: СМЕРШ) was an umbrella organization for three independent counter-intelligence agencies in the Red Army formed in late 1942 or even earlier, but officially announced only on 14 April 1943. The name SMERSH was coined by Josep ...

(from Smert' Shpionam or "Death to Spies"); at the same time, the GUGB was again separated from the

GUGB heads

By the end of 1937, the GUGB was the most powerful and influential organ in the

structure. GUGB departments (or Sections) dealt with - intelligence, internal security, counter-intelligence, protection of government and secret communications.
The first chief of the GUGB was Yakov Agranov, Commissioner 1st rank of State Security and first deputy of People's Commissar of Internal Affairs. The next chief of the GUGB from April 15, 1937, to September 8, 1938, was komkor

Mikhail Frinovsky Mikhail Petrovich Frinovsky (; 7 February 1898 – 4 February 1940) served as a deputy head of the NKVD in the years of the Great Purge and, along with Nikolai Yezhov, was responsible for setting in motion the Great Purge. Biography Mikhail Petr ...

, he was succeeded by

Lavrenty Beria Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria (; rus, Лавре́нтий Па́влович Бе́рия, Lavréntiy Pávlovich Bériya, p=ˈbʲerʲiə; ka, ლავრენტი ბერია, tr, ; – 23 December 1953) was a Georgian Bolshevik ...

, then just promoted to Commissioner 1st rank of State Security. When Beria became People's Commissar of Internal Affairs (head of NKVD), Commissioner 3rd rank of State Security Vsevolod Merkulov became his first deputy and the new and final head of GUGB.

Organization

Between 1934 and 1941, the ''Main Directorate of State Security'' went through several organizational changes. In January 1935, there were nine departments in the GUGB structure: ; (head of GUGB)Commissioner 1st rank of State Security Yakov Agranov # Operational Department (headed by) Karl Pauker # Special Department Gleb Bokii # Department of Economics – (ЭКО/EKO) Lev Mironov # Special Department – (''OO'') Mark Gay # Secret Political Department – (''СПО''/''SPO'') Georgy Molchanov # Foreign Department – (''ИНО''/''INO'')

Artur Artuzov Artur Khristyanovich Artuzov (name at birth: Artur Eugene Leonard Fraucci) (russian: Арту́р Христиа́нович Арту́зов (), (18 February 1891 – 21 August 1937) was a leading figure in the Soviet international intelligence a ...

# Department of Transport – (''ТО'') Vladimir Kichkin # Department of Information and Statistic – (''УСО''/''USO'') Yakov Genkin # Staff Department – (''OK'') Yakov Weynschtok By the end of 1937 the People's Commissar of Internal Affairs

Nikolai Yezhov Nikolai Ivanovich Yezhov ( rus, Никола́й Ива́нович Ежо́в, p=nʲɪkɐˈɫaj ɪˈvanəvʲɪt͡ɕ (j)ɪˈʐof; 1 May 1895 – 4 February 1940) was a Soviet secret police official under Joseph Stalin who was head of the N ...

, in his order ''#00362'' had changed the number of departments from five to twelve. ; (head of GUGB)komkor

* Department 1 rotection of Governmentsrael Dagin * Department 2 perativens Zalpeter * Department 3 ounter-intelligence(''КРО/KRO'')Aleksandr Minayev-Cikanovich * Department 4 ecret Political(''СПО''/''SPO'')Mikhail Litvin * Department 5 pecial(''OO'')Nikolai Nikolaev-Zhuryd * Department 6 ransport(''TO'')Mikhail Volkov * Department 7 oreign (Intelligence)(''ИНО''/''INO'') – Abram Slutsky * Department 8 ecords and Statistic(''УСО''/''USO'')Vladimir Cesarsky * Department 9 pecial (codes)(''OO'')Isaak Shapiro * Department 10 risonakov Weynschtok * Department 11 aritime Transportation(''ВО/WO'')Victor Yrcev * Department 12 echnical and Operational(''OOT'')Semyen Zhukovsky After

took over Frinovsky place as a GUGB head, in 29 of September 1938, GUGB underwent another organizational change - ; (head of GUGB)Commissioner 1st rank of State Security

*Department 1 – rotection of Government srael Dagin *Department 2 – ecret Political ogdan Kobulov *Department 3 – ounter-intelligenceikolai Nikolaev-Zhuryd * Department 4 – pecial — Pyotr Fedotov *Department 5 – oreign (Intelligence)

elman Passov Elman may refer to: * El Maan, a town in south-central Somalia * Elman FC, a Somali football club * Elman (name) Elman is both a given name. Notable people with the name include: Given name: *Elman Guttormson (1929–2001), Canadian politician *E ...

*Department 6 –

odes Odes may refer to: *The plural of ode, a type of poem * ''Odes'' (Horace), a collection of poems by the Roman author Horace, circa 23 BCE * Odes of Solomon, a pseudepigraphic book of the Bible * Book of Odes (Bible), a Deuterocanonical book of ...

Alexander Balamutov Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

*GUGB Investigating Section — ; (head of GUGB)Commissioner 3rd rank of State Security Vsevolod Merkulov *Department 1 – rotection of Party and Soviet officials**included Political department, 24 office divisions, a school, commandant's offices of the CC VKP(b) and

of USSR *Department 2 – ecret Political**Division 1 rotskyists, zinovievists, leftists, rightists, miasnikovtsi, shlyapnikovtsi, banned from the party, foreign missions**Division 2 ensheviks, anarchists, members of the Socialist Revolutionary Party, Bundism">bundists, Zionism">zionists Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Jew ...

History

GUGB heads

Organization

GUGB Ranks

See also

References