- Polish operation of the NKVD
"Polish operation" of the NKVDThe term "Polish operation" was suggested by two researchers of the
Memorial Society , N. Petrov and A. Roginsky (Н.В.Петров, А.Б.Рогинский).] refers to the coordinated actions of theNKVD in 1937-1938, done according toNKVD Order № 00485 "О ликвидации польских диверсионно-шпионских групп и организаций ПОВ" ("On the liquidation of the Polish diversionist and espionage groups and POW units").The order was approved on
August 9 ,1937 by theVKP(b) Central Committee Politburo, and was signed byNikolai Yezhov onAugust 11 ,1937 . It was distributed to the local subdivisions of the NKVD simultaneously with Yezhov's secret letter, "О фашистско-повстанческой, шпионской, диверсионной, пораженческой и террористической деятельности польской разведки в СССР" ("On fascist-resurrectionist, spying, diversional, defeationist, and terrorist activity of Polish intelligence in the USSR").The operation was the second in a series of national operations of the NKVD, justified by the Soviet government by the fear of a
fifth column (in the expectation of war with "the most probable adversary", that is,Germany ), and by the notion of a "hostile capitalist surrounding", bent on destabilizing theSoviet Union .The following categories of people were arrested during the Polish operation of the NKVD:
*Members of Polska Organizacja Wojskowa listed in the special list (most of them were not in fact members of that organisation).
*All prisoners of war from thePolish-Soviet war that stayed in Soviet Union.
*Allimmigrant s fromPoland .
*Political refugees from Poland (mostly members of theCommunist Party of Poland ).
*Former and present members of thePolish Socialist Party , and other non-communist Polish political parties.
*Active and nationalist members of thePolish minority in Soviet Union (practically all Poles).The operation occurred approximately from
August 25 ,1937 toNovember 15 ,1938 . According to the archives of the NKVD, 111,091Poles , and people accused of ties with Poland, were sentenced to death and 28,744 were sentenced tolabor camp s, 139,835 in total. This number constitutes 10% of the total number officially convicted (i.e., with confirming NKVD documents) during theYezhovshchina period. [McLoughlin, References, [http://books.google.com/books?id=8yorTJl1QEoC&pg=PA164&dq=polish+operation+of+nkvd+111,091&ei=kpXuRu_aLKfUowKVmZC2Dw&ie=ISO-8859-1&sig=-1KiWrPJ2aP3HQJiSz5LWxesdC4 p. 164] ]References
* McLoughlin, Barry, and McDermott, Kevin (eds). "Stalin's Terror: High Politics and Mass Repression in the Soviet Union."
Palgrave Macmillan , December 2002. ISBN 1403901198.
* Harvard reference
Surname = Paczkowski
Given = Andrzej
Year = 1999
Chapter = Polsko - "nepřátelský národ"
Editor =Stéphane Courtois et al.
Title = Černá kniha komunismu
Edition = 1st
Publisher = Paseka
id = ISBN 80-7185-194-9.Further reading
*
Nikita Petrov and A. B. Roginsky, [http://www.memo.ru/history/POLAcy/00485ART.htm Polish operation of NKVD]Footnotes
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