Personnel Authority of People’s Commissariat of Internal Affairs in the Odessa Region During the Time of Great Terror

Abstract

The article refers to personnel policy of the Communist Party of Soviet Union (CPSU) as a part of the People’s Commissariat of Internal Affairs (NKVD) connected with Ukrainian People’s Commissariat of Internal Affairs (UNKVD) in the late 1930s. The research is based on party sources of State Archive of the Odessa region. This study is related to representatives of higher and lower position in administration of NKVD: officials of district department, security officers, assistants, etc. Special attention was paid to separation of staff in UNKVD of Odessa. It reached a critical point after the Communist Party Central Committee’s directive of 14 November 1938 «About the party’s registration and verification of executive employees of NKVD of the USSR»; they organized party’s committees (urban, regional, and republican) to clear the NKVD from employees, who are not trustworthy. Firstly, the cases of 15 officials of leadership team of local government and 41 directors of district division were considering. Also on November 23, Regional Committee of Communist Party interviewed 24 administrators and created their personnel files. Since that date, 6 directors of departments of NKVD and 18 directors of district departments went through special section of Regional Committee. The inspection found large staffing shortage among leadership team and in district divisions.

The author reached the conclusion that CPSU’s efforts to regain control of NKVD through implementation of staffing policy, taking out unreliable, ideologically different people. They almost reset UNKVD in the Odessa region. However, its punitive function did not stop. NKVD’s employees allocated by their poor education, peasant origin, politicking and idealism.