Cheka-KGB emblem: sword and shield

The Cheka (ЧК - чрезвычайная комиссия) was the first of a succession of Soviet state security organizations. It was created by a decree issued on December 20, 1917, by Vladimir Lenin and subsequently led by Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky. After 1922, the Cheka underwent a series of reorganizations. Cheka (real name David Lozada) is a reggaeton from Guayama, Puerto Rico. ... Image File history File links Symbol (Coat of Arms?) of the KGB. Source: Agentura site. ... Image File history File links Symbol (Coat of Arms?) of the KGB. Source: Agentura site. ... “CCCP” redirects here. ... Security agency is an organization which conducts intelligence activities for the internal security of a nation, state or organization. ... is the 354th day of the year (355th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1917 (MCMXVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar (see: 1917 Julian calendar). ... “Lenin” redirects here. ... Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky (Polish: Feliks DzierżyÅ„ski, Russian: Феликс Эдмундович Дзержинский, Belarusian: Фелікс Эдмундавіч Дзяржынскі; September 11, 1877 [O.S. August 30] –July 20, 1926) was a Polish Communist revolutionary, famous as the founder of the Bolshevik secret police, the Cheka, later known by many names during the history of the Soviet... The Soviet Union had a succession of secret police agencies over the course of its existence. ...

It was soon an important military force, crucial for survival of the Soviet regime. In 1921 the Troops for the Internal Defense of the Republic (a part of Cheka) numbered 200,000. These troops policed labor camps, ran the Gulag system, conducted requisitions of food, put down peasant rebellions, riots by workers, and mutinies in the Red Army, which was plagued by desertions ^[1] Year 1921 (MCMXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar). ... A labor camp is a simplified detention facility where inmates are engaged in forced labor. ... Gulag ( , Russian: ) was the government body responsible for administering prison camps across the former Soviet Union. ... Prodrazvyorstka (prodovolstvennaya razvyorstka) (Продразвёрстка, продовольственная развёрстка in Russian, or food apportionment) was... For other organizations known as the Red Army, see Red Army (disambiguation). ...

Name

The full name of the agency was The All-Russian Extraordinary Commission for Combating Counter-Revolution, Speculation, and Sabotage) (Russian: Всероссийская чрезвычайная комиссия по борьбе с контрреволюцией и саботажем), but was commonly abbreviated to Cheka or VCheka. In 1918 its name was slightly altered, becoming All-Russian Extraordinary Commission for Combating Counter-Revolution, Profiteering and Corruption. Anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda (ASA) (Антисоветская агитация и пропаганда (АСА)) was a criminal offence in Soviet Union. ... Speculation involves the buying, holding, and selling of stocks, bonds, commodities, currencies, collectibles, real estate, derivatives or any valuable financial instrument to profit from fluctuations in its price as opposed to buying it for use or for income via methods such as dividends or interest. ... For other uses, see Sabotage (disambiguation). ... 1918 (MCMXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ... The act of price gouging in an undersupplied market. ...

A member of Cheka was called a chekist. Chekists of the post-October Revolution years wore leather jackets creating a fashion followed by Western communists; they are pictured in several films in this apparel. Despite name and organisational changes over time, Soviet secret policemen were commonly referred to as "Chekists" throughout the entire Soviet period and the term is still found in use in Russia today (for example, President Vladimir Putin has been referred to in the Russian media as a "chekist" due to his career in the KGB). For other uses, see October Revolution (disambiguation). ... Communism is an ideology that seeks to establish a classless, stateless social organization based on common ownership of the means of production. ... Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (Russian: ) (born October 7, 1952) is the current President of the Russian Federation. ... This article is about the KGB of the Soviet Union. ...

History

The Cheka was created immediately after the October Revolution, during the first days of Bolshevik government. Its immediate precursor was the "commission for the struggle with counter-revolution", established on December 4 [O.S. November 21] 1917, by the Milrevkom (the Military Revolutionary Committee of the Petrograd Soviet) on the proposal of Dzerzhinsky^[2]. Its members were the Bolsheviks Skrypnik, Flerovski, Blagonravov, Galkin, and Trifonov^[3]. For other uses, see October Revolution (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Bolshevik (disambiguation). ... is the 338th day of the year (339th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Old Style or O.S. is a designation indicating that a date conforms to the Julian calendar, formerly in use in many countries, rather than the Gregorian calendar, currently in use in most countries. ... 1917 (MCMXVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar (see: 1917 Julian calendar). ... Military Revolutionary Committee also known as the MILREVCOM (Russian: ) was the name for military organs under soviet (council)s during the period of the Russian Revolution. ... An assembly of the Petrograd Soviet, 1917 The Petrograd Soviet, or the Petrograd Soviet of Workers and Soldiers Deputies, was the council set up in Petrograd (Saint Petersburg, Russia) in March 1917 as the representative body of the citys workers. ...

The Cheka was established on December 20 [O.S. December 7] 1917, by a decision of the Sovnarkom. It was subordinated to the Sovnarkom and its functions were, "to liquidate counter-revolution and sabotage, to hand over counter-revolutionaries and saboteurs to the revolutionary tribunals, and to apply such measures of repression as 'confiscation, deprivation of ration cards, publication of lists of enemies of the people etc.'"^[4]. The original members of the Vecheka were Peters, Ksenofontov, Averin, Ordzhonikidze, Peterson, Evseev, and Trifonov^[5], but the next day Averin, Ordzhonikidze, and Trifonov were replaced by Fomin, Shchukin, Ilyin, and Chernov^[6]. A circular published on December 28 [O.S. December 15] 1917, gave the address of Vecheka's first headquarters as "Petrograd, Gorokhovaya 2, 4th floor"^[7]. is the 354th day of the year (355th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Old Style or O.S. is a designation indicating that a date conforms to the Julian calendar, formerly in use in many countries, rather than the Gregorian calendar, currently in use in most countries. ... 1917 (MCMXVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar (see: 1917 Julian calendar). ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Yakov Khristoforovich Peters (Яков Христофорович Петерс) (December 3 (old-style November 21), 1886 - April 25, 1938) was a deputy director of the Cheka in the Soviet Union and acting director... Grigoriy Konstantinovich Ordzhonikidze (Russian:Григорий Константинович Орджоникидзе), generally known as Sergo Ordzhonikidze (Серго) (October 12, 1886 - February 18, 1937) was a member of the Politburo, and close friend to Stalin. ... is the 362nd day of the year (363rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Old Style or O.S. is a designation indicating that a date conforms to the Julian calendar, formerly in use in many countries, rather than the Gregorian calendar, currently in use in most countries. ... 1917 (MCMXVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar (see: 1917 Julian calendar). ...

Originally, the members of the Cheka were exclusively Bolshevik; however, in January 1918, left SRs also joined the organisation^[8] The Left SRs were expelled or arrested later in 1918 following their attempted rebellion against Bolshevik rule. For other uses, see Bolshevik (disambiguation). ... In 1917, Russia the Socialist-Revolutionary Party split between those who supported the Provisional Government, established after the February Revolution, and those who supported the Bolsheviks who favoured a communist insurrection. ...

In 1922, the Cheka was transformed into the State Political Administration or GPU, a section of the NKVD of the Russian SFSR. Soviet poster of the 1920s: The GPU strikes on the head the counter-revolutionary saboteur State Political Administration was the secret police of the RSFSR and USSR until 1934. ... Soviet poster of the 1920s: The GPU strikes on the head the counter-revolutionary saboteur State Political Administration was the secret police of the RSFSR and USSR until 1934. ... The NKVD (Narodny Komissariat Vnutrennikh Del  ) (Russian: , ) or Peoples Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the leading secret police organization of the Soviet Union that was responsible for political repressions during Stalinism. ... State motto: Russian: Пролетарии всех стран, соединяйтесь! Translation: Workers of the world, unite! Capital Moscow Official language Russian Established In the USSR:  - Since  - Until November 7, 1917 November 7, 1917 December 12, 1991 (dissolution) Area  - Total  - Water (%) Ranked 1st in the USSR 17,075,200 km² 13% Population  - Total   - Density Ranked 1st in the...

Operations

The agency performed mass arrests, imprisonments, and executions of "enemies of the people". In this, the Cheka targeted "class enemies" such as the bourgeoisie, members of the clergy, and political opponents of the new regime. The very first organized mass repression began against the Left Socialists of Petrograd in April 1918. Then came Moscow the following month of May 1918. The Moscow action led to a pitched battle between the anarchists and the police. ( P.Avrich. G Maximoff) The Cheka later played a role in the suppression of the Kronstadt Rebellion in 1921 and orchestrated the campaign of repression that came to be known as "Red Terror", which was implemented by Dzerzhinsky on September 5th, 1918. The organ of the Red Army, "Krasnaya Gazeta," described it: For the play by Henrik Ibsen, see An Enemy of the People. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given religion. ... Combatants Soviet Sailors Red Army Commanders Stepan Petrichenko Marshal Mikhail Tukhachevsky Strength c. ... For other uses, see Red Terror (disambiguation). ... September 5 is the 248th day of the year (249th in leap years). ... 1918 (MCMXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ... For other organizations known as the Red Army, see Red Army (disambiguation). ...

“Without mercy, without sparing, we will kill our enemies in scores of hundreds. Let them be thousands, let them drown themselves in their own blood. For the blood of Lenin and Uritsky . . . let there be floods of blood of the bourgeoisie - more blood, as much as possible. . ."^[9] Moisei Solomonovich Uritsky was a Bolshevik revolutionary leader whose assassination helped precipitate the Red Terror. ...

An early Bolshevik Victor Serge described in his book "Memoirs of a Revolutionary" Victor Lvovich Kibalchich (В.Л. Кибальчич) (1890-1947) (better known as Victor Serge) was born in Brussels, the son of Russian Narodnik exiles. ...

"Since the first massacres of Red prisoners by the Whites, the murders of Volodarsky and Uritsky and the attempt against Lenin (in the summer of 1918), the custom of arresting and, often, executing hostages had become generalized and legal. Already Cheka, which made mass arrests of suspects, the was tending to settle their fate independently, under formal control of the Party, but in reality without anybody's knowledge.

Party endeavoured to head it with incorruptible men like the former convict Dzerzhinsky, a sincere idealist, ruthless but chivalrous, with the emaciated profile of an Inquisitor: tall forehead, bony nose, untidy goatee, and an expression of weariness and austerity. But the Party had few men of this stamp and many Chekas. An inquisitor was an official in an inquisition, an organisation or program intended to eliminate heresy and other things frowned on by the Roman Catholic Church. ...

I believe that the formation of the Chekas was one of the gravest and most impermissible errors that the Bolshevik leaders committed in 1918 when plots, blockades, and interventions made them lose their heads. All evidence indicates that revolutionary tribunals, functioning in the light of day and admitting the right of defence, would have attained the same efficiency with far less abuse and depravity. Was it necessary to revert to the procedures of the Inquisition?" The Revolutionary Tribunal (French: Tribunal révolutionnaire) was a court which was instituted in Paris by the Convention during the French Revolution for the trial of political offenders, and became one of the most powerful engines of the Terror. ...

Tracing down and punishing deserters and their families

It is believed that more than 3 million deserters escaped from Red Army in 1919 and 1920. Around 500,000 deserters were arrested in 1919 and close to 800,000 in 1920 by Cheka troops and special divisions created to combat desertions ^[1]. The deserters were forcefully mobilized peasants. Thousands of deserters were killed; their families were often treated as hostages. According to Lenin instructions, Desertion is the act of abandoning or withdrawing support from someone or something to which you owe allegiance, responsibility or loyalty. ... For other organizations known as the Red Army, see Red Army (disambiguation). ... Year 1919 (MCMXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar). ... 1920 (MCMXX) was a leap year starting on Thursday. ... Year 1919 (MCMXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar). ... 1920 (MCMXX) was a leap year starting on Thursday. ... For other uses, see Hostage (disambiguation). ... Vladimir Ilyich Lenin ( Russian: Влади́мир Ильи́ч Ле́нин  listen?), original surname Ulyanov (Улья́нов) ( April 22 (April 10 ( O.S.)), 1870 – January 21, 1924), was a...

"After the expiration of the seven-day deadline for deserters to turn themselves in, punishment must be increased for these incorrigible traitors to the cause of the people. Families and anyone found to be assisting them in any way whatsoever are to be considered as hostages and treated accordingly" ^[1]

In September 1918, only in twelve provinces of Russia, 48,735 deserters and 7,325 "bandits" were arrested, 1,826 were killed and 2,230 were executed. A typical report from a Cheka department stated:

"Yaroslavl Province, 23 June 1919. The uprising of deserters in the Petropavlovskaya volost has been put down. The families of the deserters have been taken as hostages. When we started to shoot one person from each family, the Greens began to come out of the woods and surrender. Thirty-four deserters were shot as an example". ^[1]

Yaroslavl (Russian: ) is a city in Russia, the administrative center of Yaroslavl Oblast, located 250 km north-east of Moscow at . ...

Number of victims

Estimates on Cheka executions vary widely. The lowest figures are provided by Dzerzhinsky’s lieutenant Martyn Latsis, limited to RSFSR over the period 1918–1920:

• For the period 1918-July 1919, covering only twenty provinces of central Russia:

1918: 6,300; 1919 (up to July): 2,089; Total: 8,389

• For the whole period 1918-19:

1918: 6,185; 1919: 3,456; Total: 9,641

• For the whole period 1918-20:

January-June 1918: 22; July-December 1918: more than 6,000; 1918-20: 12,733

Experts generally agree these semi-official figures are vastly understated.^[10] W. H. Chamberlin, for example, claims “it is simply impossible to believe that the Cheka only put to death 12,733 people in all of Russia up to the end of the civil war.”^[11] He provides the "reasonable and probably moderate" estimate of 50,000^[12], while others provide estimates ranging up to a whopping 500,000.^[13][14] Several scholars put the number of executions at about 250,000.^[15][16] Some believe it is possible more people were murdered by the Cheka than died in battle.^[17] Lenin himself seemed unfazed by the killings. On 14 May 1921, the Politburo, chaired by Lenin, passed a motion "broadening the rights of the [Cheka] in relation to the use of the [death penalty]."^[18] May 14 is the 134th day of the year (135th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1921 (MCMXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar). ... Politburo is short for Political Bureau. ...

Cheka atrocities

The Cheka is reported to have practiced torture. Victims were skinned alive, scalped, "crowned" with barbed wire, impaled, crucified, hanged, stoned to death, tied to planks and pushed slowly into furnaces or tanks of boiling water, and rolled around naked in internally nail-studded barrels. Chekists poured water on naked prisoners in the winter-bound streets until they became living ice statues. Others beheaded their victims by twisting their necks until their heads could be torn off. The Chinese Cheka detachments stationed in Kiev reportedly would attach an iron tube to the torso of a bound victim and insert a rat into the other end which was then closed off with wire netting. The tube was then held over a flame until the rat began gnawing through the victim's guts in an effort to escape. Denikin’s investigation discovered corpses whose lungs, throats, and mouths had been packed with earth.^[19][20][21] For other uses, see Torture (disambiguation). ... White Army propaganda poster depicting evil Trotsky. ... Map of Ukraine with Kiev highlighted Coordinates: , Country Ukraine Oblast Kiev City Municipality Raion Municipality Government  - Mayor Leonid Chernovetskyi Elevation 179 m (587 ft) Population (2006)  - City 4,450,968  - Density 3,299/km² (8,544. ... General Anton Denikins Volunteer Army and regional Armed forces after Armistice of Mudros Anton Ivanovich Denikin (Анто́н Ива́нович Дени́кин) (December 16, 1872 – August 8, 1947) was Lieutenant General of the Imperial Russian Army (1916) and one of the foremost leading generals of the anti-Bolshevik White Russians in the civil war. ...

Women and children were also victims of Cheka terror. Women would sometimes be tortured and raped before being shot. Children between the ages of 8 and 16 were imprisoned and occasionally executed.^[22]

The Cheka in popular culture

• The cheka were popular staples in Soviet film and literature. This was partly due to a romanticization of the organisation in the post-Stalin period, and also because they provided a useful action/detection template. Films featuring the Cheka include Osterns Miles of Fire, Nikita Mikhalkov's At Home among Strangers, and also Dead Season starring Donatas Banionis and the 1992 Soviet Union film Chekist.[1]
• In Spain, during the Spanish Civil War, the detention and torture centers operated by the Communists were named checas after the Soviet organization. [2]
• In George Orwell's Animal Farm, The Dogs are Napoleon's (Stalin's) secret police and bodyguards (inspired by Cheka, NKVD, OGPU, MVD).

The Ostern (Eastern) or Red Western was the Soviet Union and Iron Curtain countries take on the Western movie. ... Miles of Fire (Огненные вёрсты, Ognennye Versty, 1957), is an early Red Western. ... Nikita Mikhalkov in the 2005 Fandorin movie The Councillor of State. ... At Home among Strangers is a 1974 film starring Anatoly Solonitsyn and directed by Nikita Mikhalkov. ... Donatas Banionis (b. ... Year 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1992 Gregorian calendar). ... Not to be confused with the Spanish Civil War of 1820-1823. ... Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 [1] [2] – 21 January 1950), better known by the pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist. ... For other uses, see Animal Farm (disambiguation). ... Josef Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili (Georgian: , Ioseb Besarionis Dze Jughashvili; Russian: , Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili) (December 18 [O.S. December 6] 1878[1] – March 5, 1953), better known by his adopted name, Joseph Stalin (alternatively transliterated Josef Stalin), was General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Unions Central Committee from...

See also

• Russian Revolution of 1917
• Lavrenty Pavlovich Beria
• Mensheviks
• Bolsheviks
• Decossackization
• Lenin's Hanging Order

The Russian Revolution of 1917 was a series of political and social upheavals in Russia, involving first the overthrow of the tsarist autocracy, and then the overthrow of the liberal and moderate-socialist Provisional Government, resulting in the establishment of Soviet power under the control of the Bolshevik party. ... Lavrenty Beria Lavrenty Pavlovich Beria (Russian: Лавре́нтий Па́влович Бе́рия) (29 March 1899 - 23 December 1953), Soviet politician and police chief, is remembered chiefly as the executor of Joseph... Leaders of the Menshevik Party at Norra Bantorget in Stockholm, Sweden, May 1917. ... Bolshevik Party Meeting. ... In 1919 the Soviet engaged in a policy to eliminate the Cossack threat to proletarian power by de-Cossackization: extirpating the Cossack elite; terrorizing all other Cossacks; and bringing about the formal liquidation of the Cossackry. ... This article needs to be wikified. ...

Notes

Stéphane Courtois is a French historian, currently employed as research director (i. ... The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression is a controversial book edited by doctor Stéphane Courtois which attempts to catalog various crimes (deaths, torture, deportations, etc. ... The Harvard University Press is a publishing house, a division of Harvard University, that is highly respected in academic publishing. ...

Sources

• Andrew, Christopher M. and Vasili Mitrokhin (1999) The Sword and the Shield : The Mitrokhin Archive and the Secret History of the KGB. New York: Basic Books. ISBN 0465003125.
• Applebaum, Anne (2003) Gulag: A History. Doubleday. ISBN 0767900561
• Carr, E. H. (1958) The Origin and Status of the Cheka. Soviet Studies, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 1–11.
• Chamberlin, W. H. (1935) The Russian Revolution 1917-1921, 2 vols. London and New York. The Macmillan Company.
• Figes, Orlando (1997) A People's Tragedy: The Russian Revolution 1891-1924. Penguin Books. ISBN 0670859168.
• Leggett, George (1986) The Cheka: Lenin's Political Police. Oxford University Press, New York. ISBN 0198228627
• Lincoln, Bruce W. (1999) Red Victory: A History of the Russian Civil War. Da Capo Press. ISBN 0306809095
• Melgounov, Sergey Petrovich (1925) The Red Terror in Russia. London & Toronto: J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd.
• Overy, Richard (2004) The Dictators: Hitler's Germany, Stalin's Russia. W. W. Norton & Company; 1st American edition. ISBN 0393020304
• Rummel, Rudolph Joseph (1990) Lethal Politics: Soviet Genocide and Mass Murder Since 1917. Transaction Publishers. ISBN 1560008873
• Schapiro, Leonard B. (1984) The Russian Revolutions of 1917 : The Origins of Modern Communism. New York: Basic Books. ISBN 0465071546.
• Volkogonov, Dmitri (1994) Lenin: A New Biography. Free Press. ISBN 0029334357

Christopher Maurice Andrew (born 23 July 1941) is a British historian and professor with a special interest in international relations and in particular the history of intelligence services. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The KGB sword and shield emblem appears on the covers of the three published works by Mitrokhin, co-author Christopher Andrew. ... Basic Books is a book publisher founded in 1952. ... Anne Applebaum (born 1964) is a journalist and author who has written extensively about issues related to communism and the development of civil society in Eastern Europe and the USSR / Russia. ... Doubleday is one of the largest book publishing companies in the world. ... Edward Hallett Carr (28 June 1892 – 5 November 1982) was a British historian, journalist and international relations theorist, and fierce opponent of empiricism within historiography. ... Europe-Asia Studies is an academic peer-reviewed journal published 8 times a year by Routledge on behalf of the Institute of Central and East European Studies, University of Glasgow, and continuing (since vol. ... Orlando Figes, born 1957 in London, son of the Feminist writer Eva Figes. ... It has been suggested that Penguin Modern Poets, Penguin Great Ideas be merged into this article or section. ... Oxford University Press (OUP) is a highly-respected publishing house and a department of the University of Oxford in England. ... Sergei Petrovich Melgunov (Russian: ) (December 24 or 25, 1879-May 26, 1956) was a Russian historian, publicist and politician best known for his opposition to the Soviet government and his numerous works on the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the Russian Civil War. ... Richard Overy has published extensively on the history of World War II and the Third Reich. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... This article or section is missing references or citation of sources. ... Dmitri Antonovich Volkogonov (Дмитрий Антонович Волкогонов in Russian) (22 March 1928, Chita - 6 December 1995, Moscow) was a Russian historian, Doctor of Philosophy, Doctor of History, Colonel General (1986). ... In the modern age, the free press has taken on multiple meanings. ...

External links

• The Cheka - Spartacus Schoolnet collection of primary source extracts relating to the Cheka
• Origins of the Cheka
• The Cheka and the Institutionalization of Violence