UDC

Authors

Abstract

Along with the main activities of state security bodies during the Great Patriotic War, such as intelligence, commando-type reconnaissance, counterintelligence, military, law enforcement, economic, and scientific and technical, one of its important tasks was to inform the authorities about security threats. For the first time, this paper introduces special reports of the regional NKVD-NKGB department from the Regional Archive of the Federal Security Service of Russia in the Arkhangelsk Region in order to present the sociopolitical situation in the area during the above mentioned period. The main security information user at the local level was the Regional Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) – the actual centre of power in the political and socioeconomic spheres. Certain reports were sent to the Chairman of the Regional Council of Deputies. The topics ranged from defense orders within industry and agriculture; security of railway transport and seaport operations; food supplies for the population; antiaircraft defense; seamen from foreign ships staying in Arkhangelsk and Molotovsk; prisoners’ situation; issues of education and healthcare; results of operational activities and combat operations. The purpose of security services’ informing public authorities has always been to identify and locate security threats. The studied documents show that Arkhangelsk counterintelligence had a deep understanding and control of the situation in various spheres of the social and economic life of the region and performed objective analyses. This information helped develop measures to address the most pressing issues.

Keywords

References

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