NKVD AUTHORITIES AS A TOOL OF STALIN՚S REPRESSION IN THE WESTERN REGIONS OF UKRAINE (September-December 1939)

Abstract

Summary. The article analyzes activities of the Soviet state security bodies in the western regions of Ukraine in September-December 1939. The area covers Western Volyn and Eastern Halychyna, according to Soviet administrative-territorial division introduced by the USSR Supreme Council (Verhovna Rada) Presidium decree of December 4, 1939 – Volyn, Drohobych, Lviv, Rovno, Ternopil and Stanislav regions of the Ukrainian SSR. The purpose of the work is to find out the role of NKVD in Stalin՚s political repression system. Methodology: the article is based on totalitarianism theory and on the principles founded by Carl Joachim Friedrich, using traditional scientific and special historical methods. The scientific novelty of the article is the use of original documents and materials from the Central State Archives of the Russian Federation and the State Archive of Security Service of Ukraine. Conclusions. Soviet totalitarian system in the western regions of Ukraine was accompanied by the formation of a repressive apparatus, which ensured the strict implementation of the political will of the Bolshevik Party being its reliable and ruthless body. The foundation of internal affairs authorities was made by operative-Chekist groups which entered western Ukraine along with the advanced units of the Red Army and performed special political tasks, carried out "cleansing" of occupied lands from "class-hostile elements". Those groups relied on workers guard local units and village armed groups, which included primarily the poor, who were supportive of the Soviets. In October 1939, a wider network of mobile groups was created, which covered the region՚s main cities. After western Ukraine had formally joined the USSR, an integral system of internal affairs was created together with a powerful apparatus for punishment and repressions.