Description
Book Synopsis
This is the first major study based on Soviet documents and revelations of the Soviet state security during the period 1939-1953a period about which relatively little is known. The book documents the role of Stalin and the major players in massive crimes carried out during this period against the Soviet people. It also provides the first detailed biography of V. S. Abakumov, Minister of State Security, 1946-1951.
Based on Glasnost revelations and recently released archival material, this study covers the operations of Soviet state security from Beriia's appointment in 1938 until Stalin's death. The book pays particular attention to the career of V. S. Abakumov, head of SMERSH counterintelligence during the war and minister in charge of the MGB (the predecessor of the KGB) from 1946 until his removal and arrest in July 1951.
The author argues that terror remained the central feature of Stalin's rule even after the Great Terror and he provides examples o
Table of Contents
Preface Beriia Takes Over Mass Killings of Polish POW Officers The Orel Massacres; The Killings of Senior Military Officers and War Time Deportations SMERSH and Abakumov The Vlasov Movement and Other Collaborators Abakumov as Head of MGB Post War Campaigns against the Military The Anti-Semitic Campaigns The "Leningrad Affair" Intelligence, Counterintelligence and Terror Campaigns in East Europe Downfall The Aftermath Legacy Appendix I: General Officers of NKVD/NKGB(MVD/MGB), SMERSH Appendix II: Principle Victims of Stalinist Repression during the Abakumov Regime, March 1946 - July 1951 Bibliography Index
