Post-KGB Lives: Is There Such a Thing as a Former Chekist?

Abstract

This article analyzes the postservice lives of Soviet and Russian intelligence and state security officers to explore the meanings behind the phrase, “There is no such thing as a former chekist” (“Бывших чекистов не бывает”). The article analyzes four possible scenarios in which a Soviet/Russian intelligence or state security officer might be considered “former,” organized around the concepts of legitimate and illegitimate ways of leaving the service, as well as genuine and deceptive reasons. Those two concept pairs create a matrix of possibilities for Soviet intelligence and state security personnel who consider leaving the service: legitimate/genuine, made up of officers who leave with no negative ramifications; legitimate/deceptive, made up of officers who claim to leave the service but remain connected; illegitimate/genuine, made up of defectors and arrested officers; and illegitimate/deceptive, made up of false defectors. Whether the statement “there is no such thing as a former chekist” is true depends on whom one asks: those who claim to have genuinely left the service would refute the statement, while those who are still in a Russian intelligence or state security service, as well as those whose departure is not genuine, hold firmly to it.