Day: February 17, 2026

#SouthCaucasus
#Beria‘s Organs and the  #KGB
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While Lavrentiy Beria is colloquially associated with the KGB, he actually led its predecessor organizations (the  #NKVD and the MVD). The KGB itself was founded in 1954, specifically to dismantle Beria’s personal power base after his execution.

Beria’s tenure over the Soviet security apparatus (roughly 1938–1953) is distinct for transforming the secret police from a blunt instrument of terror into a sophisticated, multi-purpose institution that managed espionage, the economy, and scientific research.

Here is a breakdown of “Beria’s Organs” and how they operated.

1. The Institutional Structure (NKVD vs. MVD)

The Purge of the Purgers (1938): Beria replaced Nikolai Yezhov as head of the NKVD to end the chaotic violence of the Great Terror. He executed Yezhov’s loyalists and released some prisoners to stabilize the workforce, earning him a reputation for “efficiency” over sheer bloodlust, though the system remained brutal.
Consolidation (1953): Immediately after Stalin’s death, Beria merged the Ministry of State Security (MGB) and the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) into one super-ministry under his direct command. This terrified the rest of the Politburo, as it gave him total control over the police, the Gulag, and foreign intelligence.

2. The Economic Empire (The Gulag)

Unlike his predecessors, Beria viewed the Gulag primarily as an economic engine rather than just a dumping ground for enemies.

Industrial Slavery: He reorganized the camps to prioritize industrial output, specifically gold mining, timber, and construction.
The “Sharashkas”: Recognizing that imprisoning scientists wasted their talent, Beria created special prison laboratories (Sharashkas). Captured engineers and scientists (including Sergei Korolev and Andrei Tupolev) worked on aircraft and weaponry designs while incarcerated.

3. The Atomic Spies (“Enormoz”)

Beria’s most significant success was not domestic policing, but the theft of the atomic bomb. Stalin put Beria in charge of the Soviet atomic bomb project.

Intelligence Integration: Beria did not trust Soviet scientists initially. He relied heavily on intelligence gathered from the Manhattan Project (via spies like Klaus Fuchs and the Rosenbergs).
Verification: He forced Soviet scientists to replicate the American design exactly, using the stolen blueprints as a control to ensure the local scientists weren’t sabotaging the project or making mistakes.

4. Wartime Operations & Deportations

During WWII, Beria’s apparatus was responsible for maintaining internal order through extreme measures:

Blocking Detachments: NKVD troops were stationed behind regular Red Army lines to shoot retreating soldiers (Order No. 227).
Mass Deportations: Beria organized the wholesale deportation of entire ethnic groups accused of collaboration (Chechens, Ingush, Crimean Tatars, and Volga Germans) to Central Asia. These operations were logistical feats carried out with ruthless speed.
Katyn Massacre: In 1940, Beria personally proposed the execution of over 20,000 Polish officers and intelligentsia to eliminate potential future opposition in Poland.

5. The “Liberal” Reformer (1953)

In a strange twist, after Stalin died in March 1953, Beria attempted to position himself as a liberal reformer to win popular support against his rivals (Khrushchev and Malenkov).

Amnesty: He released over a million non-political prisoners from the Gulag.
Nationalism: He advocated for more autonomy in the Soviet republics (especially Ukraine and the Baltics) and curbing the “Russification” policies.
Germany: He reportedly considered allowing a unified, neutral Germany in exchange for Western aid, a heresy that helped his rivals label him a British spy.

The End of Beria’s Era

Beria’s accumulation of power threatened the Communist Party. In June 1953, Nikita Khrushchev and Marshal Georgy Zhukov orchestrated a coup. Beria was arrested, tried in secret, and executed in December 1953.

The Birth of the KGB:
The KGB was formed in 1954 specifically to ensure that the secret police would never again dominate the Party. It was downgraded from a “Ministry” to a “Committee” (Komitet) answerable to the Council of Ministers, placing it firmly under political control.

Would you like to know more about the specific structure of the “Sharashka” prison labs, or how the intelligence network for the atomic bomb project operated?

— Michael Novakhov (@mikenov) Feb 17, 2026