Cheka: Difference between revisions
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| logo = GPU 5th anniversary emblem.png | | logo = GPU 5th anniversary emblem.png | ||
| logo_width = 150px | | logo_width = 150px | ||
| logo_caption = Badge commemorating 5 years of the Cheka–GPU | | logo_caption = Badge commemorating 5 years of the Cheka–GPU | ||
| seal = | | seal = | ||
| seal_width = | | seal_width = | ||
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| formed = {{Start date and age|1917|12|20}} | | formed = {{Start date and age|1917|12|20}} | ||
| preceding1 = | | preceding1 = | ||
| preceding2 = | | preceding2 = | ||
| dissolved = {{End date and age|1922|02|6}} | | dissolved = {{End date and age|1922|02|6}} | ||
| superseding = [[State Political Directorate|GPU]] | | superseding = [[State Political Directorate|GPU]] | ||
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| minister2_name = | | minister2_name = | ||
| minister2_pfo = | | minister2_pfo = | ||
| chief1_name = [[Felix Dzerzhinsky]] | | chief1_name = [[Felix Dzerzhinsky]] (1917–1918) | ||
| chief1_position = | | chief1_position = | ||
| chief2_name = | | chief2_name = [[Jēkabs Peterss]] (1918) (acting) | ||
| chief2_position = | | chief2_position = | ||
| agency_type = [[Secret police]] | | agency_type = [[Secret police]]<br>[[Intelligence agency]] | ||
| parent_agency = [[Council of People's Commissars]] | | parent_agency = [[Council of People's Commissars]] | ||
| child1_agency = | | child1_agency = | ||
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| website = | | website = | ||
| footnotes = | | footnotes = | ||
| chief3_name = | | chief3_name = Felix Dzerzhinsky (1918–1922) | ||
| chief3_position = | | chief3_position = | ||
| chief4_name = | | chief4_name = | ||
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| parent_department = | | parent_department = | ||
}} | }} | ||
The '''All-Russian Extraordinary Commission''',{{efn|({{lang-rus|Всероссийская чрезвычайная комиссия|r=Vserossiyskaya chrezvychaynaya komissiya|p=fsʲɪrɐˈsʲijskəjə tɕrʲɪzvɨˈtɕæjnəjə kɐˈmʲisʲɪjə|links=yes}}}} abbreviated as '''VChK''' ({{lang-rus|ВЧК|p=vɛ tɕe ˈka}}), and commonly known as the '''Cheka''' ({{lang-rus|ЧК|p=tɕɪˈka}}), was the first Soviet [[secret police]] organization. It was established on {{OldStyleDate|20 December|1917|7 December}} by the [[Council of People's Commissars]] of the [[Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic|Russian SFSR]],<ref>{{Cite book|title= Voices of Revolution, 1917|last= Steinberg|first= Mark D.|publisher= Yale University Press|year= 2001|isbn= 978-0-300-09016-1|location= London and New Haven|pages= 265–266}}</ref> and was led by [[Felix Dzerzhinsky]].<ref name=Stalinsleadership>{{cite book | title= The Impact of Stalin's Leadership in the USSR, 1924–1941 | year= 2008 | publisher= Nelson Thornes | isbn= 978-0-7487-8267-3 | page= 3}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url= https://archive.org/details/russianrevolutio0000moor/page/260|title= The Russian Revolution|last= Moorehead|first= Alan|publisher= Harper & Brothers|year= 1958|isbn= 978-0881843316|location= New York|pages= [https://archive.org/details/russianrevolutio0000moor/page/260 260]}}</ref> By the end of the [[Russian Civil War]] in 1922, the Cheka had at least 200,000 personnel. | |||
The '''All-Russian Extraordinary Commission''' ({{lang-rus|Всероссийская чрезвычайная комиссия|r=Vserossiyskaya chrezvychaynaya komissiya|p=fsʲɪrɐˈsʲijskəjə tɕrʲɪzvɨˈtɕæjnəjə kɐˈmʲisʲɪjə|links=yes}} | |||
Ostensibly created to protect the [[October Revolution]] from "class enemies" such as the [[bourgeoisie]] and members of the [[clergy]], the Cheka soon became a tool of repression wielded against all political opponents of the [[Bolshevik]] regime. The organization had responsibility for [[counterintelligence]], oversight of the loyalty of the [[Red Army]], and protection of the country's borders, as well as the collection of [[Human intelligence (intelligence gathering)|human]] and [[technical intelligence]]. At the direction of [[Vladimir Lenin]], the Cheka performed mass arrests, imprisonments, torture, and executions without trial in what came to be known as the "[[Red Terror]]". It policed the [[Gulag]] system of [[labor camps]], conducted [[Prodrazvyorstka|requisitions of food]], and put down rebellions by workers and peasants. The Cheka was responsible for executing at least 50,000 to as many as 200,000 people, though estimates vary widely. | Ostensibly created to protect the [[October Revolution]] from "class enemies" such as the [[bourgeoisie]] and members of the [[clergy]], the Cheka soon became a tool of repression wielded against all political opponents of the [[Bolshevik]] regime. The organization had responsibility for [[counterintelligence]], oversight of the loyalty of the [[Red Army]], and protection of the country's borders, as well as the collection of [[Human intelligence (intelligence gathering)|human]] and [[technical intelligence]]. At the direction of [[Vladimir Lenin]], the Cheka performed mass arrests, imprisonments, torture, and executions without trial in what came to be known as the "[[Red Terror]]". It policed the [[Gulag]] system of [[labor camps]], conducted [[Prodrazvyorstka|requisitions of food]], and put down rebellions by workers and peasants. The Cheka was responsible for executing at least 50,000 to as many as 200,000 people, though estimates vary widely. | ||
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== Name == | == Name == | ||
The official designation was '''All-Russian Extraordinary''' (or '''Emergency''') '''Commission for Combating Counter-Revolution and Sabotage under the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR''' ({{langx|ru|Всероссийская чрезвычайная комиссия по борьбе с контрреволюцией и саботажем при Совете народных комиссаров РСФСР | The official designation was '''All-Russian Extraordinary''' (or '''Emergency''') '''Commission for Combating Counter-Revolution and Sabotage under the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR''' ({{langx|ru|Всероссийская чрезвычайная комиссия по борьбе с контрреволюцией и саботажем при Совете народных комиссаров РСФСР|translit=Vserossiyskaya chrezvychaynaya komissiya po borbe s kontrrevolyutsiyey i sabotazhem pri Sovete narodnykh komisarov RSFSR|links=no}}).<ref>'''Tcheka''' – Official designation pertaining to [[State Archive of the Russian Federation]] «ф. 130, оп. 1, д. 1, л. 31 об.»</ref> | ||
In 1918, its name was changed, becoming '''All-Russian Extraordinary Commission for Combating Counter-Revolution, Profiteering and Corruption'''. | In 1918, its name was changed, becoming '''All-Russian Extraordinary Commission for Combating Counter-Revolution, Profiteering and Corruption'''. | ||
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== History == | == History == | ||
{{Chronology of Soviet secret police agencies}} | {{Chronology of Soviet secret police agencies}} | ||
In 1921, the [[Internal Troops|Troops for the Internal Defense of the Republic]] (a branch of the Cheka) numbered at least 200,000.<ref name="History Learning Site: The Cheka">{{cite web|url= http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/the_Cheka.htm|title= The Cheka|publisher= History Learning Site|date= January 2013|access-date= 2013-12-11|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150516133305/http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/the_Cheka.htm|archive-date= 2015-05-16|url-status= dead}}</ref> These troops policed [[labor camps]], ran the [[Gulag]] system, conducted [[Prodrazvyorstka|requisitions of food]], and subjected political opponents to secret arrest, detention, [[torture]] and [[summary execution]]. They also put down rebellions and riots by workers<ref>{{cite book | title=Workers' Unrest and the Bolsheviks' Response in 1919 | publisher=Slavic Review | author=Vladimir Brovkin | year=1990 | pages=350–373}}</ref> or peasants, and mutinies in the desertion-plagued [[Red Army]].<ref name="Black"> | In 1921, the [[Internal Troops|Troops for the Internal Defense of the Republic]] (a branch of the Cheka) numbered at least 200,000.<ref name="History Learning Site: The Cheka">{{cite web|url= http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/the_Cheka.htm|title= The Cheka|publisher= History Learning Site|date= January 2013|access-date= 2013-12-11|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150516133305/http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/the_Cheka.htm|archive-date= 2015-05-16|url-status= dead}}</ref> These troops policed [[labor camps]], ran the [[Gulag]] system, conducted [[Prodrazvyorstka|requisitions of food]], and subjected political opponents to secret arrest, detention, [[torture]] and [[summary execution]]. They also put down rebellions and riots by workers<ref>{{cite book | title=Workers' Unrest and the Bolsheviks' Response in 1919 | publisher=Slavic Review | author=Vladimir Brovkin | year=1990 | pages=350–373}}</ref> or peasants, and mutinies in the desertion-plagued [[Red Army]].<ref name="Black">{{Cite book |last=Stephane Courtois |first=Mark Kramer |url=http://archive.org/details/BlackBookOfCommunism |title=The Black Book of Communism |year=1999 |pages=90–99 |language=English}}</ref> | ||
After 1922, Cheka groups underwent the first of [[Chronology of Soviet secret police agencies|a series of reorganizations]]; however the theme of a government [[Chekism|dominated by "the organs"]] persisted indefinitely afterward, and Soviet citizens continued to refer to members of the various organs as [[Chekism|Chekists]].<ref name="lcweb2.loc.gov">{{cite web|url= http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/soviet_union/su_glos.html#union |title= Library of Congress / Federal Research Division / Country Studies / Area Handbook Series/ Soviet Union / Glossary |publisher= Lcweb2.loc.gov |access-date= 2011-07-27}}</ref> | After 1922, Cheka groups underwent the first of [[Chronology of Soviet secret police agencies|a series of reorganizations]]; however the theme of a government [[Chekism|dominated by "the organs"]] persisted indefinitely afterward, and Soviet citizens continued to refer to members of the various organs as [[Chekism|Chekists]].<ref name="lcweb2.loc.gov">{{cite web|url= http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/soviet_union/su_glos.html#union |title= Library of Congress / Federal Research Division / Country Studies / Area Handbook Series/ Soviet Union / Glossary |publisher= Lcweb2.loc.gov |access-date= 2011-07-27}}</ref> | ||
The Cheka was largely controlled by people who came from well off backgrounds and from a diverse set of ethnicities. Eleven of the top twenty ranking Chekists were of the bourgeoisie or bourgeoisie-intelligentsia, one came from a family of wealthy landowners, two came from families of the industrial proletariat, only three were peasants, and three have unknown backgrounds. Six of the twenty were ethnic Russians, three were Polish Jews, three were Latvians, two were ethnic Poles, one was Ukrainian, one was an Azerbaijani Jew, one was Georgian, one was Armenian, one was a Russified Greek, and one was a Lithuanian Jew.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Leggett |first=George |url=http://archive.org/details/chekaleninspolit0000legg |title=The Cheka : Lenin's political police : the all-Russian extraordinary commission for combating counter-revolution and sabotage, December 1917 to February 1922 |date=1981 |publisher=Oxford : Clarendon Press; New York : Oxford University Press |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-19-822552-2 |pages=257–259}}</ref> | |||
=== Creation === | === Creation === | ||
[[File:Menzhinsky V 1921-2.jpg|thumb|Members of the [[presidium]] of VCheKa (left to right) [[Yakov Peters]], [[Józef Unszlicht]], [[Abram Belenky]] (standing), [[Felix Dzerzhinsky]], [[Vyacheslav Menzhinsky]], 1921]] | [[File:Menzhinsky V 1921-2.jpg|thumb|Members of the [[presidium]] of VCheKa (left to right) [[Yakov Peters]], [[Józef Unszlicht]], [[Abram Belenky]] (standing), [[Felix Dzerzhinsky]], [[Vyacheslav Menzhinsky]], 1921]] | ||
In the first month and a half after the [[October Revolution]] (1917), the duty of "extinguishing the resistance of exploiters" was assigned to the [[Petrograd Military Revolutionary Committee]] (or PVRK). It represented a temporary body working under directives of the [[Council of People's Commissars]] (Sovnarkom) and [[Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Central Committee]] of [[Russian Social Democratic Labour Party|RSDRP]]([[Bolshevik|b]]). The VRK created new bodies of government,{{Clarify|date=April 2011}} organized food delivery to cities and the Army, requisitioned products from [[bourgeoisie]], and sent its emissaries and agitators into provinces. One of its most important functions was the security of [[revolutionary]] order, and the fight against [[counterrevolutionary]] activity (see: [[Anti-Soviet agitation]]). | |||
On December 1, 1917, the [[All-Russian Central Executive Committee]] (VTsIK or TsIK)<ref>[[All-Russian Central Executive Committee]] (VTsIK or TsIK) is not to be confused with the [[Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Central Committee]] of [[Russian Social Democratic Labour Party|RSDRP]]([[Bolshevik|b]])</ref> reviewed a proposed reorganization of the VRK, and possible replacement of it. On December 5, the [[Petrograd]] VRK published an announcement of dissolution and transferred its functions to the department of TsIK for the fight against "counterrevolutionaries".<ref name="Mozokhin">[http://mozohin.ru/article/a-4.html Mozokhin, O.B. ''out of history of activities of VChK, OGPU, NKVD, MGB'']. FSB archives.{{in lang|ru}}</ref> On December 6, the Council of People's Commissars (Sovnarkom) strategized how to persuade government workers to strike against counter-revolution across Russia. They decided that a special commission was needed to implement the "most energetically revolutionary" measures. [[Felix Dzerzhinsky]] (the Iron Felix) was appointed as Director and invited the participation of the following individuals: [[Vasiliy Averin|V. K. Averin]], [[Ivan Ksenofontov|I. K. Ksenofontov]], [[Sergo Ordzhonikidze|S. K. Ordzhonikidze]], [[Jēkabs Peterss|Ya. Kh. Peters]], [[Karl Peterson|K. A. Peterson]], [[Valentin Trifonov|V. A. Trifonov]], [[Józef Unszlicht|I. S. Unshlikht]], [[V. N. Vasilevsky]], [[Varvara Yakovleva (politician)|V. N. Yakovleva]], [[Vasily Yakovlev|V. V. Yakovlev]], [[D. G. Yevseyev]], [[N. A. Zhydelev]]. | |||
On December 1, 1917, the [[All-Russian Central Executive Committee]] (VTsIK or TsIK)<ref>[[All-Russian Central Executive Committee]] (VTsIK or TsIK) is not to be confused with the [[Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Central Committee]] of [[Russian Social Democratic Labour Party| | |||
On December 7, 1917, all of those invited except Zhydelev and Vasilevsky gathered in the [[Smolny Institute]] with Dzerzhinsky to discuss the competence and structure of the commission to combat counterrevolution and sabotage. The obligations of the commission were: "to liquidate to the root all of the counterrevolutionary and sabotage activities and all attempts to them in all of Russia, to hand over counter-revolutionaries and saboteurs to the [[revolutionary tribunal (Russia)|revolutionary tribunals]], develop measures to combat them and relentlessly apply them in real-world applications. The commission should only conduct a preliminary investigation".{{clarify|date=November 2011}} The commission should also observe the press and counterrevolutionary parties, sabotaging officials and other criminals. | On December 7, 1917, all of those invited except Zhydelev and Vasilevsky gathered in the [[Smolny Institute]] with Dzerzhinsky to discuss the competence and structure of the commission to combat counterrevolution and sabotage. The obligations of the commission were: "to liquidate to the root all of the counterrevolutionary and sabotage activities and all attempts to them in all of Russia, to hand over counter-revolutionaries and saboteurs to the [[revolutionary tribunal (Russia)|revolutionary tribunals]], develop measures to combat them and relentlessly apply them in real-world applications. The commission should only conduct a preliminary investigation".{{clarify|date=November 2011}} The commission should also observe the press and counterrevolutionary parties, sabotaging officials and other criminals. | ||
[[File:Sankt Petersburg-Regierungssitz Smolny.jpg|thumb|left|[[Smolny Institute|Smolny]], the seat of the Soviet government | [[File:Sankt Petersburg-Regierungssitz Smolny.jpg|thumb|left|[[Smolny Institute|Smolny]], the seat of the Soviet government in 1917 (pictured in 2004)]] | ||
Three sections were created: informational, organizational, and a unit to combat counter-revolution and sabotage. Upon the end of the meeting, Dzerzhinsky reported to the [[Sovnarkom]] with the requested information. The commission was allowed to apply such measures of repression as 'confiscation, deprivation of ration cards, publication of lists of enemies of the people etc.'".<ref name="Mozokhin" /> That day, Sovnarkom officially confirmed the creation of VCheKa. The commission was created not under the VTsIK as was previously anticipated, but rather under the Council of the People's Commissars.<ref name="People's Commissars">{{cite web |url=http://memory.irk.ru/zp1.htm |title=Partial protocol of the 21st session of the Council of the People's Commissars |publisher=Memory.irk.ru |date=1998-12-26 |access-date=2011-07-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170804181732/http://memory.irk.ru/zp1.htm |archive-date=2017-08-04 |url-status=dead }}</ref> | Three sections were created: informational, organizational, and a unit to combat counter-revolution and sabotage. Upon the end of the meeting, Dzerzhinsky reported to the [[Sovnarkom]] with the requested information. The commission was allowed to apply such measures of repression as 'confiscation, deprivation of ration cards, publication of lists of enemies of the people etc.'".<ref name="Mozokhin" /> That day, Sovnarkom officially confirmed the creation of VCheKa. The commission was created not under the VTsIK as was previously anticipated, but rather under the Council of the People's Commissars.<ref name="People's Commissars">{{cite web |url=http://memory.irk.ru/zp1.htm |title=Partial protocol of the 21st session of the Council of the People's Commissars |publisher=Memory.irk.ru |date=1998-12-26 |access-date=2011-07-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170804181732/http://memory.irk.ru/zp1.htm |archive-date=2017-08-04 |url-status=dead }}</ref> | ||
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[[File:Petrovskiy Grigoriy.jpg|thumb|upright=0.7|left|Grigory Petrovsky]] | [[File:Petrovskiy Grigoriy.jpg|thumb|upright=0.7|left|Grigory Petrovsky]] | ||
All results of its activities, VCheKa had either to transfer to the Investigatory Commission of Revtribunal, or to dismiss. The control of the commission's activity was provided by the [[Ministry of Justice (Soviet Union)|People's Commissariat for Justice]] (Narkomjust, at that time headed by [[Isaac Steinberg]]) and Internal Affairs (at that time headed by [[Grigory Petrovsky]]). Although the VCheKa was officially an independent organization from Internal Affairs, its chief members such as Dzerzhinsky, [[Martin Latsis|Latsis]], [[Józef Unszlicht|Unszlicht]], and [[Moisei Uritsky|Uritsky]] (all main chekists), since November 1917 composed the collegiate of Internal Affairs headed by Petrovsky. In November 1918, Petrovsky was appointed as head of the All-Ukrainian Central [[Military Revolutionary Committee]] during VCheKa's expansion to provinces and front-lines. At the time of political competition between Bolsheviks and SRs (January 1918), [[Left Socialist-Revolutionaries|Left SRs]] attempted to curb the rights of VCheKa and establish through the [[Ministry of Justice (Soviet Union)|Narkomiust]] their control over its work. Having failed in attempts to subordinate the VCheKa to Narkomiust, the Left SRs tried to gain control of the Extraordinary Commission in a different way: they requested that the Central Committee of the party be granted the right to directly enter their representatives into the VCheKa. [[Sovnarkom]] recognized the desirability of including five representatives of the Left Socialist-Revolutionary faction of VTsIK. Left SRs were granted the post of a companion (deputy) chairman of VCheKa. However, Sovnarkom, in which the majority belonged to the representatives of RSDLP(b) retained the right to approve members of the collegium of the VCheKa. | All results of its activities, VCheKa had either to transfer to the Investigatory Commission of Revtribunal, or to dismiss. The control of the commission's activity was provided by the [[Ministry of Justice (Soviet Union)|People's Commissariat for Justice]] (Narkomjust, at that time headed by [[Isaac Steinberg]]) and Internal Affairs (at that time headed by [[Grigory Petrovsky]]). Although the VCheKa was officially an independent organization from Internal Affairs, its chief members such as Dzerzhinsky, [[Martin Latsis|Latsis]], [[Józef Unszlicht|Unszlicht]], and [[Moisei Uritsky|Uritsky]] (all main chekists), since November 1917 composed the collegiate of Internal Affairs headed by Petrovsky. In November 1918, Petrovsky was appointed as head of the All-Ukrainian Central [[Military Revolutionary Committee]] during VCheKa's expansion to provinces and front-lines. At the time of political competition between Bolsheviks and SRs (January 1918), [[Left Socialist-Revolutionaries|Left SRs]] attempted to curb the rights of VCheKa and establish through the [[Ministry of Justice (Soviet Union)|Narkomiust]] their control over its work. Having failed in attempts to subordinate the VCheKa to Narkomiust, the Left SRs tried to gain control of the Extraordinary Commission in a different way: they requested that the Central Committee of the party be granted the right to directly enter their representatives into the VCheKa. [[Sovnarkom]] recognized the desirability of including five representatives of the Left Socialist-Revolutionary faction of VTsIK. Left SRs were granted the post of a companion (deputy) chairman of VCheKa. However, Sovnarkom, in which the majority belonged to the representatives of RSDLP(b) retained the right to approve members of the collegium of the VCheKa. | ||
Originally, members of the Cheka were exclusively [[Bolshevik]]; however, in January 1918, [[Left Socialist-Revolutionaries|Left SRs]] also joined the organization.<ref>Schapiro (1984).</ref> The Left SRs were expelled or arrested later in 1918, following the attempted assassination of [[Lenin]] by an SR, [[Fanni Kaplan]]. | Originally, members of the Cheka were exclusively [[Bolshevik]]; however, in January 1918, [[Left Socialist-Revolutionaries|Left SRs]] also joined the organization.<ref>Schapiro (1984).</ref> The Left SRs were expelled or arrested later in 1918, following the attempted assassination of [[Lenin]] by an SR, [[Fanni Kaplan]]. | ||
Latvians were significantly over-represented in the early years of the Cheka.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/jews-and-leftist-politics/F716CB6734634689C12DE8319C72233C |title=Jews and Leftist Politics: Judaism, Israel, Antisemitism, and Gender |date=2017 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-04786-0 |editor-last=Jacobs |editor-first=Jack |location=Cambridge |doi=10.1017/9781107256521 |quote=Jews also played a significant role in the Cheka, the secret police that maintained the new regime. The overall percentage of Jews in the organization was quite low: 3.7 percent of the Moscow apparatus, 4.3 percent of Cheka commissars, 8.6 percent of senior (“responsible”) officials in 1918 (…) a key role at this stage was played by Latvians, who constituted 35.6 percent of the Moscow Cheka apparatus, 52.7 percent of all Cheka senior officials, and 54.3 percent of all Cheka commissars (...) In 1918 they made up 19.1 percent of all investigators in the central office and half (six of twelve) of those in the department for “combating counterrevolution.”}}</ref> 35.6% of the Moscow Cheka, 52.7% of Cheka senior officials and 54.3% of Cheka commissars in 1920 were Latvian.<ref name=":1" /> Jews comprised 3.7% of the Moscow Cheka, 4.3% of Cheka commissars, 8.6% of senior officials, 19.1% of investigators in the central office and 50% of those in the department for combatting counterrevolutionaries in 1918.<ref name=":1" /> | |||
=== Consolidation of VCheKa and National Establishment === | === Consolidation of VCheKa and National Establishment === | ||
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On June 12, 1918, the All-Russian Conference of Cheka adopted the ''Basic Provisions on the Organization of Extraordinary Commissions''. They set out to form Extraordinary Commissions not only at [[Oblast]] and [[Guberniya]] levels, but also at the large [[Uyezd]] Soviets. In August 1918, in the Soviet Republic had accounted for some 75 Uyezd-level Extraordinary Commissions. By the end of the year, 365 Uyezd-level Chekas were established. | On June 12, 1918, the All-Russian Conference of Cheka adopted the ''Basic Provisions on the Organization of Extraordinary Commissions''. They set out to form Extraordinary Commissions not only at [[Oblast]] and [[Guberniya]] levels, but also at the large [[Uyezd]] Soviets. In August 1918, in the Soviet Republic had accounted for some 75 Uyezd-level Extraordinary Commissions. By the end of the year, 365 Uyezd-level Chekas were established. | ||
[[File:Dzerzhinsky 4-16291.jpg|thumb|300x300px|Felix Dzerzhinsky in a meeting among other members of the Presidium of the Cheka, 1919]] | [[File:Dzerzhinsky 4-16291.jpg|thumb|300x300px|Felix Dzerzhinsky in a meeting among other members of the Presidium of the Cheka, 1919]] | ||
In 1918, the All-Russia Extraordinary Commission and the Soviets managed to establish a local Cheka apparatus. It included Oblast, Guberniya, [[Raion]], [[Uyezd]], and [[Volost]] Chekas, with Raion and Volost Extraordinary Commissioners. In addition, border security Chekas were included in the system of local Cheka bodies. | In 1918, the All-Russia Extraordinary Commission and the Soviets managed to establish a local Cheka apparatus. It included Oblast, Guberniya, [[Raion]], [[Uyezd]], and [[Volost]] Chekas, with Raion and Volost Extraordinary Commissioners. In addition, border security Chekas were included in the system of local Cheka bodies. | ||
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=== Other types of Cheka === | === Other types of Cheka === | ||
[[File:1988 CPA 6011.jpg|thumb|upright|Portrait of [[Martin Latsis]] on a Soviet [[postage stamp]] | [[File:1988 CPA 6011.jpg|thumb|upright|Portrait of [[Martin Latsis]] on a Soviet [[postage stamp]]]] | ||
On August 3, a VCheKa section for combating counterrevolution, speculation and sabotage on railways was created. On August 7, 1918, [[Sovnarkom]] adopted a decree on the organization of the railway section at VCheKa. Combating counterrevolution, speculation, and [[crimes]] on railroads was passed under the jurisdiction of the railway section of VCheKa and local Cheka. In August 1918, railway sections were formed under the Gubcheks. Formally, they were part of the non-resident sections, but in fact constituted a separate division, largely autonomous in their activities. The gubernatorial and oblast-type Chekas retained in relation to the transportation sections only control and investigative functions. | On August 3, a VCheKa section for combating counterrevolution, speculation and sabotage on railways was created. On August 7, 1918, [[Sovnarkom]] adopted a decree on the organization of the railway section at VCheKa. Combating counterrevolution, speculation, and [[crimes]] on railroads was passed under the jurisdiction of the railway section of VCheKa and local Cheka. In August 1918, railway sections were formed under the Gubcheks. Formally, they were part of the non-resident sections, but in fact constituted a separate division, largely autonomous in their activities. The gubernatorial and oblast-type Chekas retained in relation to the transportation sections only control and investigative functions. | ||
The beginning of a systematic work of organs of VCheKa in [[RKKA]] refers to July 1918, the period of extreme tension of the [[Russian Civil War|civil war]] and class struggle in the country. On July 16, 1918, the Council of People's Commissars formed the Extraordinary Commission for combating counterrevolution at the Czechoslovak (Eastern) Front, led by [[Martin Latsis|M. I. Latsis]]. In the fall of 1918, Extraordinary Commissions to combat counterrevolution on the Southern (Ukraine) Front were formed. In late November, the Second All-Russian Conference of the Extraordinary Commissions accepted a decision after a report from [[I. N. Polukarov]] to establish at all frontlines, and army sections of the Cheka and granted them the right to appoint their commissioners in military units. On December 9, 1918, the collegiate (or presidium) of VCheKa had decided to form a military section, headed by [[Mikhail Sergeevich Kedrov|M. S. Kedrov]], to combat counterrevolution in the Army. In early 1919, the military control and the military section of VCheKa were merged into one body, the [[Special Section of the Republic]], with Kedrov as head. On January 1, he issued an order to establish the Special Section. The order instructed agencies everywhere to unite the Military control and the military sections of Chekas and to form special sections of frontlines, armies, military districts, and [[guberniya]]s. | The beginning of a systematic work of organs of VCheKa in [[RKKA]] refers to July 1918, the period of extreme tension of the [[Russian Civil War|civil war]] and class struggle in the country. On July 16, 1918, the Council of People's Commissars formed the Extraordinary Commission for combating counterrevolution at the Czechoslovak (Eastern) Front, led by [[Martin Latsis|M. I. Latsis]]. In the fall of 1918, Extraordinary Commissions to combat counterrevolution on the Southern (Ukraine) Front were formed. In late November, the Second All-Russian Conference of the Extraordinary Commissions accepted a decision after a report from [[I. N. Polukarov]] to establish at all frontlines, and army sections of the Cheka and granted them the right to appoint their commissioners in military units. On December 9, 1918, the collegiate (or presidium) of VCheKa had decided to form a military section, headed by [[Mikhail Sergeevich Kedrov|M. S. Kedrov]], to combat counterrevolution in the Army. In early 1919, the military control and the military section of VCheKa were merged into one body, the [[Special Section of the Republic]], with Kedrov as head. On January 1, he issued an order to establish the Special Section. The order instructed agencies everywhere to unite the Military control and the military sections of Chekas and to form special sections of frontlines, armies, military districts, and [[guberniya]]s. | ||
In November 1920, the [[Council of Labor and Defense|Soviet of Labor and Defense]] created a Special Section of VCheKa for the security of the state border. On February 6, 1922, after the Ninth All-Russian Soviet Congress, the Cheka was dissolved by VTsIK, "with expressions of gratitude for heroic work." It was replaced by the [[State Political Administration]] (GPU), a section of Internal Affairs of the [[Russian Soviet | In November 1920, the [[Council of Labor and Defense|Soviet of Labor and Defense]] created a Special Section of VCheKa for the security of the state border. On February 6, 1922, after the Ninth All-Russian Soviet Congress, the Cheka was dissolved by VTsIK, "with expressions of gratitude for heroic work." It was replaced by the [[State Political Administration]] (GPU), a section of Internal Affairs of the [[Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic]] (RSFSR). Dzerzhinsky remained as chief of the GPU. | ||
{{Clear}} | {{Clear}} | ||
== Operations == | == Operations == | ||
=== Suppression of political opposition === | === Suppression of political opposition === | ||
{{See also|Red Terror}} | {{See also|Red Terror}} | ||
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<blockquote>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 [[Moisei Uritsky|Uritsky]] … let there be floods of blood of the [[bourgeoisie]] – more blood, as much as possible..."<ref>Applebaum (2003), p. 9.</ref></blockquote> | <blockquote>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 [[Moisei Uritsky|Uritsky]] … let there be floods of blood of the [[bourgeoisie]] – more blood, as much as possible..."<ref>Applebaum (2003), p. 9.</ref></blockquote> | ||
Early Bolshevik [[Victor Serge]] described in his book ''Memoirs of a Revolutionary'': | |||
{{blockquote|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 the Cheka, which made mass arrests of suspects, was tending to settle their fate independently, under formal control of the Party, but in reality without anybody's knowledge. The 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. 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 tribunal (Russia)|revolutionary tribunals]], functioning in the light of day and admitting the right of defense, would have attained the same efficiency with far less abuse and depravity. Was it necessary to revert to the procedures of the Inquisition?"}} | {{blockquote|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 the Cheka, which made mass arrests of suspects, was tending to settle their fate independently, under formal control of the Party, but in reality without anybody's knowledge. The 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. 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 tribunal (Russia)|revolutionary tribunals]], functioning in the light of day and admitting the right of defense, would have attained the same efficiency with far less abuse and depravity. Was it necessary to revert to the procedures of the Inquisition?"}} | ||
The Cheka was also used against [[Nestor Makhno]]'s [[Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine]]. After the Insurgent Army had served its purpose in aiding the [[Red Army]] to stop the [[White Army|Whites]] under [[Anton Denikin|Denikin]], the Soviet communist government decided to eliminate the anarchist forces. In May 1919, two Cheka agents sent to assassinate Makhno were caught and executed.<ref>Avrich, Paul, "Russian Anarchists and the Civil War", ''Russian Review'', Volume 27, Issue 3 (July 1968), pp. 296–306.</ref> | The Cheka was also used against [[Nestor Makhno]]'s [[Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine]]. After the Insurgent Army had served its purpose in aiding the [[Red Army]] to stop the [[White Army|Whites]] under [[Anton Denikin|Denikin]], the Soviet communist government decided to eliminate the anarchist forces. In May 1919, two Cheka agents sent to assassinate Makhno were caught and executed.<ref>Avrich, Paul, "Russian Anarchists and the Civil War", ''Russian Review'', Volume 27, Issue 3 (July 1968), pp. 296–306.</ref> | ||
[[File:Chinese Cheka spec. CHON units shooting priest 1920 Moscow- White Guard Propaganda Poster.jpg|thumb|[[Chinese in the Russian Revolution and in the Russian Civil War|Chinese Chekists]] executing an Orthodox priest in Moscow, [[White movement|White Russian]] anti-Bolshevik propaganda poster, c. 1920]] | [[File:Chinese Cheka spec. CHON units shooting priest 1920 Moscow- White Guard Propaganda Poster.jpg|thumb|[[Chinese in the Russian Revolution and in the Russian Civil War|Chinese Chekists]] executing an Orthodox priest in Moscow, [[White movement|White Russian]] anti-Bolshevik propaganda poster, c. 1920]] | ||
Many victims of Cheka repression were "bourgeois hostages" rounded up and held in readiness for [[summary execution]] in reprisal for any alleged counter-revolutionary act. Wholesale, indiscriminate arrests became an integral part of the system.<ref>Figes (1996), p. 643.</ref> The Cheka used trucks disguised as delivery trucks, called "Black | Many victims of Cheka repression were "bourgeois hostages" rounded up and held in readiness for [[summary execution]] in reprisal for any alleged counter-revolutionary act. Wholesale, indiscriminate arrests became an integral part of the system.<ref>Figes (1996), p. 643.</ref> The Cheka used trucks disguised as delivery trucks, called "black [[voronok]]" or simply voronok (the term translated in English as "[[Police van|Black Maria]]", for the secret arrest and transport of prisoners.<ref>{{cite book|last=Unknown|url=http://gulaghistory.org/items/show/186|title=Prisoners Exiting a Black Maria|date=17 December 2016|publisher=[[Wayback Machine]]|access-date=2021-12-31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150522035058/http://gulaghistory.org/items/show/186|archive-date=2015-05-22|via=Gulag: Many Days, Many Lives}}</ref> | ||
It was during the [[Red Terror]] that the Cheka, hoping to avoid the bloody aftermath of having half-dead victims writhing on the floor, developed a technique for execution known later by the German words "''Nackenschuss''{{-"}} or "''Genickschuss''{{-"}}, a shot to the [[nape]] of the neck, which caused minimal blood loss and instant death. The victim's head was bent forward, and the executioner fired slightly downward at point-blank range. This had become the standard method used later by the [[NKVD]] to liquidate [[Joseph Stalin]]'s [[Great Purge|purge]] victims and others.<ref>Paul, Allen. ''Katyn: Stalin's Massacre and the Seeds of Polish Resurrection''. Naval Institute Press, 1996. {{ISBN|1-55750-670-1}}. pp. 111/112.</ref> | It was during the [[Red Terror]] that the Cheka, hoping to avoid the bloody aftermath of having half-dead victims writhing on the floor, developed a technique for execution known later by the German words "''Nackenschuss''{{-"}} or "''Genickschuss''{{-"}}, a shot to the [[nape]] of the neck, which caused minimal blood loss and instant death. The victim's head was bent forward, and the executioner fired slightly downward at point-blank range. This had become the standard method used later by the [[NKVD]] to liquidate [[Joseph Stalin]]'s [[Great Purge|purge]] victims and others.<ref>Paul, Allen. ''Katyn: Stalin's Massacre and the Seeds of Polish Resurrection''. Naval Institute Press, 1996. {{ISBN|1-55750-670-1}}. pp. 111/112.</ref> | ||
=== Persecution of deserters === | === Persecution of deserters === | ||
It is believed that there were more than three million [[deserter]]s from the Red Army in 1919 and 1920 {{ | It is believed that there were more than three million [[deserter]]s from the Red Army in 1919 and 1920.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Stephane Courtois |first=Mark Kramer |url=http://archive.org/details/BlackBookOfCommunism |title=The Black Book of Communism |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=1999 |pages=98 |language=English}}</ref> Officially there was about 2,630,000 registered deserters by the Central Committee for Struggle Against Desertion.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Figes |first=Orlando |title=The Red Army And Mass Mobilization During The Russian Civil War 1918 to 1920 |url=https://sites.bu.edu/revolutionaryrussia/files/2013/09/Red-Army-Mass-Mobilization.pdf |journal=Past & Present |issue=129 |pages=199 |via=Boston University}}</ref> Approximately 500,000 deserters were arrested in 1919 and close to 800,000 in 1920, by troops of the 'Special Punitive Department' of the Cheka, created to punish desertions.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Stephane Courtois |first=Mark Kramer |url=http://archive.org/details/BlackBookOfCommunism |title=The Black Book of Communism |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=1999 |pages=92 |language=English}}</ref><ref>Chamberlain, William Henry, ''The Russian Revolution: 1917–1921'', New York: Macmillan Co. (1957), p. 131</ref> These troops were used to forcibly [[Repatriation|repatriate]] deserters, taking and shooting hostages to force compliance or to set an example. | ||
In September 1918, according to ''[[The Black Book of Communism]]'' | In September 1918, according to ''[[The Black Book of Communism]]'', in only twelve provinces of Russia, 48,735 deserters and 7,325 "bandits" were arrested, 1,826 were killed and 2,230 were executed. The exact identity of these individuals is confused by the fact that the Soviet Bolshevik government used the term 'bandit' to cover ordinary criminals as well as armed and unarmed political opponents, such as the anarchists. | ||
== Repression == | == Repression == | ||
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*For the period 1918 – July 1919, covering only twenty provinces of central Russia: | *For the period 1918 – July 1919, covering only twenty provinces of central Russia: | ||
*:In 1918: 6,300; in 1919 (up to July): 2,089; Total: 8,389 | |||
*For the whole period 1918–19: | *For the whole period 1918–19: | ||
*:In 1918: 6,185; in 1919: 3,456; Total: 9,641 | |||
*For the whole period 1918–20: | *For the whole period 1918–20: | ||
*:In January–June 1918: 22; in July–December 1918: more than 6,000; in 1918–20: 12,733. | |||
Experts generally agree these semi-official figures are vastly understated.<ref>pp. 463–464, Leggett (1986).</ref> Pioneering historian of the [[Red Terror]] [[Sergei Melgunov]] claims that this was done deliberately in an attempt to demonstrate the government's humanity. For example, he refutes the claim made by Latsis that only 22 executions were carried out in the first six months of the Cheka's existence by providing evidence that the true number was 884 executions.<ref>[[Sergei Melgunov]], [http://www.paulbogdanor.com/left/soviet/redterror.pdf "The Record of the Red Terror"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181221170529/http://www.paulbogdanor.com/left/soviet/redterror.pdf |date=2018-12-21 }}, paulbogdanor.com.</ref> W. H. Chamberlin 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."<ref name="Chamberlin">pp. 74–75, Chamberlin (1935).</ref> [[Donald Rayfield]] concurs, noting that, "Plausible evidence reveals that the actual numbers … vastly exceeded the official figures."<ref>[[Donald Rayfield]]. ''[[Stalin and His Hangmen]]: The Tyrant and Those Who Killed for Him.'' [[Random House]], 2004. {{ISBN|0375506322}}, p. 1926: [https://books.google.com/books?id=Yi3ow3TU8-4C&pg=RA2-PA1915 GBYi].</ref> Chamberlin provides the "reasonable and probably moderate" estimate of 50,000,<ref name="Chamberlin" /> while others provide estimates ranging up to 500,000.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=sK5CJFpb2DAC&dq=lethal+politics+cheka+executions+most+probably+about+500,000&pg=PA39 p. 39], Rummel (1990).</ref><ref>{{cite news|url= | Experts generally agree these semi-official figures are vastly understated.<ref>pp. 463–464, Leggett (1986).</ref> Pioneering historian of the [[Red Terror]] [[Sergei Melgunov]] claims that this was done deliberately in an attempt to demonstrate the government's humanity. For example, he refutes the claim made by Latsis that only 22 executions were carried out in the first six months of the Cheka's existence by providing evidence that the true number was 884 executions.<ref>[[Sergei Melgunov]], [http://www.paulbogdanor.com/left/soviet/redterror.pdf "The Record of the Red Terror"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181221170529/http://www.paulbogdanor.com/left/soviet/redterror.pdf |date=2018-12-21 }}, paulbogdanor.com.</ref> W. H. Chamberlin 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."<ref name="Chamberlin">pp. 74–75, Chamberlin (1935).</ref> [[Donald Rayfield]] concurs, noting that, "Plausible evidence reveals that the actual numbers … vastly exceeded the official figures."<ref>[[Donald Rayfield]]. ''[[Stalin and His Hangmen]]: The Tyrant and Those Who Killed for Him.'' [[Random House]], 2004. {{ISBN|0375506322}}, p. 1926: [https://books.google.com/books?id=Yi3ow3TU8-4C&pg=RA2-PA1915 GBYi].</ref> Chamberlin provides the "reasonable and probably moderate" estimate of 50,000,<ref name="Chamberlin" /> while others provide estimates ranging up to 500,000.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=sK5CJFpb2DAC&dq=lethal+politics+cheka+executions+most+probably+about+500,000&pg=PA39 p. 39], Rummel (1990).</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2273462.stm |title=Statue plan stirs Russian row |publisher=BBC News |date=2002-09-21 |access-date=2011-07-27}}</ref> Several scholars put the number of executions at about 250,000.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=9TWUAQ7Xof8C&pg=PA28 page 28], Andrew and Mitrokhin, ''The Sword and the Shield'', paperback edition, Basic books, 1999.</ref><ref>p. 180, Overy, ''The Dictators: Hitler's Germany, Stalin's Russia'', W. W. Norton & Company; 1st American Ed edition, 2004.</ref> Some believe it is possible more people were murdered by the Cheka than died in battle.<ref>p. 649, Figes (1996).</ref> Historian James Ryan gives a modest estimate of 28,000 executions per year from December 1917 to February 1922.<ref>Ryan, James (2012). ''[https://www.routledge.com/Lenins-Terror-The-Ideological-Origins-of-Early-Soviet-State-Violence/Ryan/p/book/9781138815681 Lenin's Terror: The Ideological Origins of Early Soviet State Violence].'' London: [[Routledge]]. p. 2. {{ISBN|978-1138815681}}</ref> | ||
Lenin himself seemed unfazed by the killings. On 12 January 1920, while addressing trade union leaders, he said: "We did not hesitate to shoot thousands of people, and we shall not hesitate, and we shall save the {{nowrap|country."<ref>pp. 72 & 73, Volkogonov (1998).</ref>}} 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]."<ref>p. 238, Volkogonov (1994).</ref> | Lenin himself seemed unfazed by the killings. On 12 January 1920, while addressing trade union leaders, he said: "We did not hesitate to shoot thousands of people, and we shall not hesitate, and we shall save the {{nowrap|country."<ref>pp. 72 & 73, Volkogonov (1998).</ref>}} 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]."<ref>p. 238, Volkogonov (1994).</ref> | ||
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== Atrocities == | == Atrocities == | ||
The Cheka engaged in the widespread practice of [[torture]]. Depending on Cheka committees in various cities, the methods included: | The Cheka engaged in the widespread practice of [[torture]]. Depending on Cheka committees in various cities, the methods included: being 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, or rolled around naked in internally nail-studded barrels. Chekists reportedly 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 in Russian Revolution|Cheka detachments]] stationed in [[Kyiv|Kiev]] would attach an iron tube to the torso of a bound victim and insert a rat in the tube closed off with wire netting, while the tube was held over a flame until the rat began gnawing through the victim's guts in an effort to escape.<ref name="Linc">{{Cite book |last=Lincoln |first=W. Bruce |url=http://archive.org/details/redvictoryhistor0000linc |title=Red victory : a history of the Russian Civil War |date=1989 |publisher=New York : Simon and Schuster |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-671-63166-6 |pages=383–385}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> | ||
Women and children were also victims of Cheka terror. | Women and children were also victims of Cheka terror. Rape of women by Cheka guards and interrogators was commonplace, superiors would only put a stop to it if the rape became too brutal.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lincoln |first=W. Bruce |url=http://archive.org/details/redvictoryhistor0000linc |title=Red victory : a history of the Russian Civil War |date=1989 |publisher=New York : Simon and Schuster |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-671-63166-6 |pages=383}}</ref> Many of the women were shot after they were raped. Children between the ages of 8 and 16 were imprisoned and occasionally executed.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Leggett |first=George |url=http://archive.org/details/chekaleninspolit0000legg |title=The Cheka : Lenin's political police : the all-Russian extraordinary commission for combating counter-revolution and sabotage, December 1917 to February 1922 |date=1981 |publisher=Oxford : Clarendon Press; New York : Oxford University Press |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-19-822552-2 |pages=197–198}}</ref> | ||
All of these atrocities were published on numerous occasions in ''[[Pravda]]'' and ''[[Izvestiya]]'': January 26, 1919 ''Izvestiya'' #18 article ''Is it really a medieval imprisonment?'' («Неужели средневековый застенок?»); February 22, 1919 ''Pravda'' #12 publishes details of the [[Vladimir, Russia|Vladimir]] Cheka's tortures, September 21, 1922 ''Socialist Herald'' publishes details of series of tortures conducted by the [[Stavropol]] Cheka (hot basement, cold basement, skull measuring, etc.).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Russia's Last Capitalists "d0e670" |url=https://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft2199n7h5;chunk.id=d0e670;doc.view=print |access-date=2022-11-02 |website=publishing.cdlib.org |pages=40–43}}</ref> | All of these atrocities were published on numerous occasions in ''[[Pravda]]'' and ''[[Izvestiya]]'': January 26, 1919 ''Izvestiya'' #18 article ''Is it really a medieval imprisonment?'' («Неужели средневековый застенок?»); February 22, 1919 ''Pravda'' #12 publishes details of the [[Vladimir, Russia|Vladimir]] Cheka's tortures, September 21, 1922 ''Socialist Herald'' publishes details of series of tortures conducted by the [[Stavropol]] Cheka (hot basement, cold basement, skull measuring, etc.).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Russia's Last Capitalists "d0e670" |url=https://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft2199n7h5;chunk.id=d0e670;doc.view=print |access-date=2022-11-02 |website=publishing.cdlib.org |pages=40–43}}</ref> | ||
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Cheka departments were organized not only in big cities and [[guberniya]] seats, but also in each [[uyezd]], at any front-lines and military formations. Nothing is known on what resources they were created. | Cheka departments were organized not only in big cities and [[guberniya]] seats, but also in each [[uyezd]], at any front-lines and military formations. Nothing is known on what resources they were created. | ||
;Moscow Cheka (1918–1922) | ;Moscow Cheka (1918–1922) | ||
* Chairman – [[Felix Dzerzhinsky]] | * Chairman – [[Felix Dzerzhinsky]] (also the leader of the Cheka overall)<ref>{{Cite book |last=Leggett |first=George |url=http://archive.org/details/chekaleninspolit0000legg |title=The Cheka : Lenin's political police : the all-Russian extraordinary commission for combating counter-revolution and sabotage, December 1917 to February 1922 |date=1981 |publisher=Oxford : Clarendon Press; New York : Oxford University Press |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-19-822552-2 |pages=28}}</ref> | ||
*Deputy – [[Jēkabs Peterss|Yakov Peters]] (initially the chairman of the Petrograd Department) | *Deputy – [[Jēkabs Peterss|Yakov Peters]] (initially the chairman of the Petrograd Department for a month, and the number two in the Cheka overall) | ||
*Other members – Shklovsky, Kneyfis, Tseystin, Razmirovich, Kronberg, Khaikina, Karlson, Shauman, Lentovich, Rivkin, Antonov, Delafabr, Tsytkin, G.Sverdlov, Bizensky, [[Yakov Blumkin]], Aleksandrovich, Fines, Zaks, | *Other members – Shklovsky, Kneyfis, Tseystin, Razmirovich, Kronberg, Khaikina, Karlson, Shauman, Lentovich, Rivkin, Antonov, Delafabr, Tsytkin, G. Sverdlov, Bizensky, [[Yakov Blumkin]], Aleksandrovich, Fines, Zaks, Yakov Goldin, Galpershtein, Kniggisen, [[Martin Latsis]] (later transfer (chief of jail), Fogel, Zakis, Shillenkus, Yanson). | ||
;Petrograd Cheka (1918–1922) | ;Petrograd Cheka (1918–1922) | ||
* Chairman – [[Moisei Uritsky]] (January 1918 to 30 August 1918), [[Gleb Bokii]] (31 August 1918 to 30 September 1918), Meinkman ( | * Chairman – [[Moisei Uritsky]] (January 1918 to 30 August 1918),<ref>{{Cite book |last=Leggett |first=George |url=http://archive.org/details/chekaleninspolit0000legg |title=The Cheka : Lenin's political police : the all-Russian extraordinary commission for combating counter-revolution and sabotage, December 1917 to February 1922 |date=1981 |publisher=Oxford : Clarendon Press; New York : Oxford University Press |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-19-822552-2 |pages=34}}</ref> [[Gleb Bokii]] (31 August 1918 to 30 September 1918), Meinkman (October 1918 to January 1919),<ref>{{Cite book |last=Leggett |first=George |url=http://archive.org/details/chekaleninspolit0000legg |title=The Cheka : Lenin's political police : the all-Russian extraordinary commission for combating counter-revolution and sabotage, December 1917 to February 1922 |date=1981 |publisher=Oxford : Clarendon Press; New York : Oxford University Press |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-19-822552-2 |pages=111}}</ref> [[Varvara Yakovleva (politician)|Varvara Yakovleva]] (acting chair in two periods; November 1918 to January 1919; and October 1919 to October 1921),<ref>{{cite web|url=https://arch2.iofe.center/en/person/44511|title=Yakovleva Varvara Nikolaevna|publisher=Хронос|date=1 February 2009|access-date=7 August 2025}}</ref> [[Nikolai Antipov]] (January 1919 to October 1919)<ref name="Kritika: Explorations in Russian and Eurasian History 2006">{{cite book |title=Kritika: Explorations in Russian and Eurasian History |publisher=Slavica Publishers |year=2006 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5HTvAAAAMAAJ |access-date=9 August 2025 |page=778 |quote=Nikolai Kirillovich Antipov}}</ref> | ||
*Deputy – Gleb Bokii (March 1918 to August 1918), | *Deputy – Gleb Bokii (March 1918 to August 1918), Varvara Yakovleva (September 1918 to February 1922), Nikolai Antipov (acting deputy chairman from November 1918 to January 1919) | ||
*Other members – Reiller, [[Mieczysław Kozłowski|Kozlovsky]], Model, Rozmirovich, I. Diesporov, Iselevich, Krassikov, Bukhan, Merbis, Paykis, [[Jaan Anvelt|Anvelt]]. | *Other members – Reiller, [[Mieczysław Kozłowski|Kozlovsky]], Model, Rozmirovich, I. Diesporov, Iselevich, Krassikov, Bukhan, Merbis, Paykis, [[Jaan Anvelt|Anvelt]]. | ||
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== Popular culture == | == 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 [[Ostern]]'s ''[[Miles of Fire]]'', [[Nikita Mikhalkov]]'s ''[[At Home among Strangers]]'', the miniseries ''[[The Adjutant of His Excellency]]'', and also ''[[Dead Season]]'' (starring [[Donatas Banionis]]), and the [[1992 in film|1992]] [[cinema of Russia|Russian]] [[Drama (film and television)|drama film]] ''[[The Chekist]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103949/|title=Chekist|date=1 January 2000|via=IMDb}}</ref> | * 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 [[Ostern]]'s ''[[Miles of Fire]]'', [[Nikita Mikhalkov]]'s ''[[At Home among Strangers]]'', the miniseries ''[[The Adjutant of His Excellency]]'', and also ''[[Dead Season]]'' (starring [[Donatas Banionis]]), and the [[1992 in film|1992]] [[cinema of Russia|Russian]] [[Drama (film and television)|drama film]] ''[[The Chekist]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103949/|title=Chekist|date=1 January 2000|via=IMDb}}</ref> | ||
* In Spain, during the [[Spanish Civil War]], the detention and torture centers operated by the [[Republican faction (Spanish Civil War)|Republicans]] were named "''checas''" after the Soviet organization.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.firmaspress.com/285.htm|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20031205105934/http://www.firmaspress.com/285.htm|author=Carlos Alberto Montaner|title=International justice begins at home|work=[[Miami Herald]]|date= August 4, 2003|archivedate=2003-12-05|accessdate=December 7, 2024}}</ref> | * In Spain, during the [[Spanish Civil War]], the detention and torture centers operated by the [[Republican faction (Spanish Civil War)|Republicans]] were named "''[[Checa (Spanish Civil War)|checas]]''" after the Soviet organization.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.firmaspress.com/285.htm|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20031205105934/http://www.firmaspress.com/285.htm|author=Carlos Alberto Montaner|title=International justice begins at home|work=[[Miami Herald]]|date= August 4, 2003|archivedate=2003-12-05|accessdate=December 7, 2024}}</ref> [[Alfonso Laurencic]] was their promoter, ideologist and builder.<ref>[[Rafael Chacón]], "''Por qué hice las checas de Barcelona. Laurencic ante el consejo de guerra''", ''Editorial Solidaridad nacional'', Barcelona, 1939.</ref> | ||
* Dzerzhinsky, who rarely drank, is said to have told Lenin – on an occasion in which he did so excessively – that secret police work could be done by "only saints or scoundrels ... but now the saints are running away from me and I am left with the scoundrels<ref>{{Cite web|last=Stove|first=R. J.|title=Nationalobserver.net|url=http://www.nationalobserver.net/2001_winter_106.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070623095512/http://www.nationalobserver.net/2001_winter_106.htm|archive-date=2007-06-23|access-date=2021-12-31|website=www.nationalobserver.net|publisher=[[Wayback Machine]]}}</ref> | * Dzerzhinsky, who rarely drank, is said to have told Lenin – on an occasion in which he did so excessively – that secret police work could be done by "only saints or scoundrels ... but now the saints are running away from me and I am left with the scoundrels".<ref>{{Cite web|last=Stove|first=R. J.|title=Nationalobserver.net|url=http://www.nationalobserver.net/2001_winter_106.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070623095512/http://www.nationalobserver.net/2001_winter_106.htm|archive-date=2007-06-23|access-date=2021-12-31|website=www.nationalobserver.net|publisher=[[Wayback Machine]]}}</ref> | ||
* ''[[The Chekist]]'', directed by [[Aleksandr Rogozhkin]], is a 1992 French–Russian film based on a 1923 short story by Vladimir Zazubrin. It tells the story of a bloody work and downfall of a Soviet Cheka security official involved in mass executions during the [[Russian Civil War]]. | * ''[[The Chekist]]'', directed by [[Aleksandr Rogozhkin]], is a 1992 French–Russian film based on a 1923 short story by Vladimir Zazubrin. It tells the story of a bloody work and downfall of a Soviet Cheka security official involved in mass executions during the [[Russian Civil War]]. | ||
* ''[[The Soviet Story]]'', a 2008 Latvian film, mentioned that Cheka is the Soviet terror machine, and Cheka is the "teacher" of Nazi [[gestapo]]. | * ''[[The Soviet Story]]'', a 2008 Latvian film, mentioned that Cheka is the Soviet terror machine, and Cheka is the "teacher" of Nazi [[gestapo]]. | ||
== Legacy == | == Legacy == | ||
[[File:Happy Birthday, Executioners 03.jpg|thumb|'' | [[File:Happy Birthday, Executioners 03.jpg|thumb|''"Happy Birthday, Executioners"'' near the main FSB building, on the day the centenary of the Cheka was celebrated, 20 December 2017]] | ||
[[Konstantin Preobrazhenskiy]] criticised the continuing celebration of the professional holiday of the [[NKVD|old]] and the modern Russian security services on the anniversary of the creation of the Cheka, {{ill|The Day of the Security Authorities of the Russian Federation|ru|День работника органов безопасности Российской Федерации}}, with the assent of the Presidents of Russia. ([[Vladimir Putin]], former KGB officer, chose not to change the date to another): "The [[Federal Security Service|successors]] of the [[KGB]] still haven't renounced anything; they even celebrate their professional [[holiday]] the same day, as during [[Political repression in the Soviet Union|repression]], on the 20th of December. It is as if the present intelligence and counterespionage services of Germany celebrated [[Gestapo]] Day. I can imagine how indignant our press would be!"<ref>Article of Konstantin Preobrazhenskiy: "[http://justicefornorthcaucasus.info/?p=1115535600 People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs and Gestapo: cooperation of friends]"</ref><ref>[https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=ru&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=ru&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fsb.ru%2Ffsb%2Fhistory.htm History of creation of the FSB on the official website of FSB] (English translation).</ref><ref>[http://russiatrek.org/about-russian-holidays Russian holidays and celebrations info]: "December 20 – The day of national security service workers (professional holiday)".</ref> | [[Konstantin Preobrazhenskiy]] criticised the continuing celebration of the professional holiday of the [[NKVD|old]] and the modern Russian security services on the anniversary of the creation of the Cheka, {{ill|The Day of the Security Authorities of the Russian Federation|ru|День работника органов безопасности Российской Федерации}}, with the assent of the Presidents of Russia. ([[Vladimir Putin]], former KGB officer, chose not to change the date to another): "The [[Federal Security Service|successors]] of the [[KGB]] still haven't renounced anything; they even celebrate their professional [[holiday]] the same day, as during [[Political repression in the Soviet Union|repression]], on the 20th of December. It is as if the present intelligence and counterespionage services of Germany celebrated [[Gestapo]] Day. I can imagine how indignant our press would be!"<ref>Article of Konstantin Preobrazhenskiy: "[http://justicefornorthcaucasus.info/?p=1115535600 People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs and Gestapo: cooperation of friends]"</ref><ref>[https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=ru&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=ru&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fsb.ru%2Ffsb%2Fhistory.htm History of creation of the FSB on the official website of FSB] (English translation).</ref><ref>[http://russiatrek.org/about-russian-holidays Russian holidays and celebrations info]: "December 20 – The day of national security service workers (professional holiday)".</ref> | ||
== See also == | == See also == | ||
{{Portal|Communism|Politics|Soviet Union}} | |||
{{div col|colwidth=30em}} | {{div col|colwidth=30em}} | ||
* [[Chekism]] | * [[Chekism]] | ||
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* Volkogonov, Dmitri (1998) ''Autopsy of an Empire: The Seven Leaders Who Built the Soviet Regime'' [[Free Press (publisher)|Free Press]]. {{ISBN|0-684-87112-2}} | * Volkogonov, Dmitri (1998) ''Autopsy of an Empire: The Seven Leaders Who Built the Soviet Regime'' [[Free Press (publisher)|Free Press]]. {{ISBN|0-684-87112-2}} | ||
{{refend}} | {{refend}} | ||
==Notes== | |||
{{Notelist}} | |||
== External links == | == External links == | ||
* {{commons category-inline|Cheka}} | * {{commons category-inline|Cheka}} | ||
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[[Category:Cheka| ]] | [[Category:Cheka| ]] | ||
[[Category:Anti-anarchism]] | |||
[[Category:1917 establishments in Russia]] | |||
[[Category:1922 disestablishments in Russia]] | |||
[[Category:Communist terrorism]] | |||
[[Category:Defunct intelligence agencies]] | |||
[[Category:Defunct law enforcement agencies of Russia]] | [[Category:Defunct law enforcement agencies of Russia]] | ||
[[Category: | [[Category:Government agencies established in 1917]] | ||
[[Category: | [[Category:Government agencies disestablished in 1922]] | ||
[[Category:Organizations of the Russian Revolution]] | [[Category:Organizations of the Russian Revolution]] | ||
[[Category:Law enforcement in communist states]] | [[Category:Law enforcement in communist states]] | ||
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[[Category:Paramilitary organizations based in Russia]] | [[Category:Paramilitary organizations based in Russia]] | ||
[[Category:Political repression in Russia]] | [[Category:Political repression in Russia]] | ||
[[Category: | [[Category:Russian intelligence agencies]] | ||
[[Category:Secret police]] | [[Category:Secret police]] | ||
[[Category:State-sponsored terrorism]] | |||
[[Category:Soviet intelligence agencies]] | [[Category:Soviet intelligence agencies]] | ||
[[Category:Soviet war crimes in the Russian Civil War]] | [[Category:Soviet war crimes in the Russian Civil War]] | ||
[[Category: | [[Category:Torture in Russia]] | ||