The KGB is a fairly well-known letter for Russian, and not only citizens. Even now, in the speech of ordinary people, these three letters slip through, indicating the presence or involvement of any existing special services in the territory of the Russian Federation in a particular business. But what was the KGB like a state organization?
The foundation, goals and functions of the KGB as a department under the USSR
The so-called USSR State Security Committee was founded in 1954 by a decree of the head of the Supreme Council within the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics to maintain order, intelligence, both internal and external, and to protect borders throughout the USSR, as well as to protect the leaders of the CPSU (which later It was abolished and removed from the main functions of the KGB).
State Security Committee leadership
It is also interesting that the State Security Committee itself had nothing to do with government bodies, but was rather like a department under the existing Government of the USSR. The reason for this, according to the stories of some historians, was the desire of the “elite” to control the security organs, take away their independence and completely subordinate them to themselves. The only strange fact is that all decrees and orders were issued to the State Security Committee, as well as to all other committees and government bodies. Therefore, the question of what kind of relations were between these two structures remains open.
Also no less secret was such a structure as the NKVD. She was a structure preceding the KGB. A photo of the certificate is shown above.
Service certificate of the KGB of the USSR: how the full description looked
A full description of this document can be made if you look at it firsthand. Of course, representatives of the State Security Committee did not always deploy their certificates, so many saw them only externally, and not from the inside. What were the distinguishing features of the certificate?
Appearance of the document
Outwardly, the certificate of the KGB of the USSR looked like a red pass ticket on which the symbol of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics flaunted. Usually, only his appearance was enough for the owner of the document to go where he wanted, or even gain access to the secret archives, if the position allowed him. Usually only the most meticulous citizens demanded to show the certificate in full, and this "disposed" the employees of the USSR State Security Committee to them. Why, you ask?
Because one of the main functions of the KGB was to fight just those fellow citizens who did not like or even despised the laws of the Soviet Union, conducted dissenting activity against the Soviet system and violated the principles introduced by the members of the Central Committee of the CPSU as the basic laws at the state level.
"Inside" of the certificate of the KGB of the USSR (sample)
On the left in the corner you can see a 3 x 4 photo card confirmed by a seal. It was this seal that confirmed that the certificate belonged to this person and to no one else. The photograph itself contains a part of the seal so that it is impossible to forge the certificate by finding it on the street (and this really often happened when during the pursuit the certificates of the KGB of the USSR fell out of the pockets of employees).
There was also a sign of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics with a sickle and a hammer - the main symbols of the state at that time. The sign of the state department in which the symbol of the USSR was located was slightly larger so that it was clearly visible to which structure the employee belonged. Below is a photo of the certificate of the KGB of the USSR.
The number of the document meant which person received this certificate in the account, usually also meant the "level of access" in conjunction with the series of this document. A series of KGB certificates is written on the left side (see photo), under which the document came (usually indicated when it was released, from which batch of printed documents it was taken). For example, a series of PCs (as in the photo) was issued for senior staff.
The initials of the owner of the document were written in a beautiful handwriting, using a special machine, and not by hand, in order to emphasize the “elitism” of this certificate. In the certificate of the KGB of the USSR, the form was also filled with a typewriter. Under the full name was the position of the KGB officer (for example, with Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov “KGB officer at the Council of Ministers of the USSR”), as well as the signature and seal of the chairman of the State Security Committee in order to confirm the authenticity of the certificate.
The activities of the KGB after its formation
Needless to say, the KGB allowed itself too much, since it was completely subordinate to the Party, and as you know, “The Party is one, like the Homeland,” and could do what it wanted.
In the 1950s, with the help of the KGB, she regulated the uprising in Hungary and arrested almost five thousand Hungarian protesters - ordinary activists who only wanted to pay attention to the fact that there is a person in power who is completely unable to rule the country, but who is pleasing to the Soviet Union. The rally was suppressed very peacefully, but the consequences were pretty bloody: according to the latest facts recovered from the KGB archives, it became known that at least 350 people, some of the most radical activists, were executed. They just raised the people at these rallies, forcing people to take to the streets.
In the 60s, the KGB claimed that its employees participated in the operation to eliminate strikes at the Novocherkassk Electric Locomotive Plant no more than observers and regulators. There are no witnesses to this statement, but according to official documents, the KGB did not participate in the execution of strikers. According to the representative of the KGB, they simply watched the "instigators of the riots", as well as the fact that they were arrested.
In the 80s, a “fight against dissidents” was carried out, which undermined the foundations of the Soviet Union. Everything was applied - from physical violence to pressure on a person through threats to the family, as well as undermining a career and deportation from the USSR. Over time, this began to be done more secretly and secretly.
Mainly watched by cultural and scientific figures: writers, artists, as well as various scientists. As an example, the physicist Andrei Sakharov, Andrei Dmitrievich, was sent into exile in the city of Nizhny Novgorod (formerly Gorky) for "anti-Soviet activity" for almost 7 years and was under the strict control of the KGB.