Table of contents:
- How the son of a laborer with four classes of education ended up in a general's uniform
- How 24-year-old Abakumov became a master of physical and mental breakdown
- How Viktor Abakumov was appointed head of SMERSH
- Opal and execution of Abakumov, or how closeness to the leader burns
Video: Who was able to press Beria himself, and for what the chief of the legendary SMERSH was shot
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
The personality of Colonel-General Viktor Abakumov is rather contradictory - on the one hand, he is a courageous man and an excellent counterintelligence officer, on the other, he is a cruel and merciless fighter against the notorious "enemies of the people." Whatever it was, but he lived an extraordinary life: being born in a simple family, he made a dizzying career takeoff and “fell”, having experienced all the hardships of a victim of unjust repression before his death.
How the son of a laborer with four classes of education ended up in a general's uniform
The future State Security Commissioner of the 2nd rank was born in 1908 on April 24 in a poor Moscow family. The son of a laborer and seamstress, having studied for four years at a city school, at the age of 13 he volunteered for the Red Army, where he served as a nurse until the age of 15. Then the teenager worked for a year on temporary part-time jobs, until in 1925 he got a job in the Moscow Union of Industrial Cooperation in the place of a packer.
In 1927, Victor was admitted to the Komsomol, and three years later, after joining the Communist Party, he was promoted to deputy head of a small trade and parcel enterprise. At the same time, the young man, being the secretary of the youth party cell, was engaged in Komsomol work: first at his enterprise, then at the Press plant. Activities along the lines of the Komsomol helped him in promotion - at the beginning of 1932, an ordinary employee became an employee of the state security service, from where his rapid successful growth began.
Starting as a trainee in the economic department of the Special State Political Administration (OGPU), Victor by the end of 1936 rose to the rank of junior lieutenant. By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, Abakumov was already the Deputy People's Commissar of Internal Affairs of the USSR, having received in July 1941, concurrently, the second post - the head of the Office of Special Departments of the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs (NKVD).
How 24-year-old Abakumov became a master of physical and mental breakdown
The opportunities opened up after moving to the OGPU, amazed the young man. Soon after becoming an authorized representative of the economic department, he first came to know the power, and also attracted … increased attention of women. Possessing an expressive appearance and a powerful figure, Victor did not shy away from women: he organized amorous dates right in the safe houses used for meetings with agents. For which he paid: in 1934, the authorities demoted Abakumov for immoral behavior, transferring him to work as an "opera" in the GULAG.
Mindful of past mistakes and not wanting to be just a cog in a mighty system, Victor showed in a new place his diligence, initiative, and his own physical capabilities. With the help of the latter, he learned to interrogate the accused, extracting confessions from the most persistent of them. The efforts, by that time already the head of the NKVD department of the Rostov region, did not go unnoticed by the top leadership - in February 1941, Abakumov was immediately promoted to Deputy People's Commissar of Internal Affairs, who was then Lavrentiy Beria.
How Viktor Abakumov was appointed head of SMERSH
In addition to the existing position, in the middle of the summer of 1941, Viktor Semyonovich received the post of head of the Department of Special Departments of the NKVD, which in 1943 was transformed into SMERSH (short for "death to spies"). After that, he became the head of the new administration, taking together also the post of one of the deputy people's commissars of defense of the country, that is, Joseph Stalin himself.
Judging by the effective work of SMERSH, Viktor Abakumov, in the role of a leader, was in his place. Thanks to the activities of counterintelligence officers, during the war, more than 6 thousand terrorists and over 3, 5 thousand saboteurs were neutralized; the work of the German spy network in the Soviet rear was paralyzed; identified and detained tens of thousands of Nazi accomplices; destroyed thousands of nationalist gangs.
After May 1945, counterintelligence did a titanic job of checking the soldiers and officers freed from captivity, as well as the civilian population stolen during the occupation in Germany. At the same time, as evidenced by the documentary facts, most of the persons who passed the check were not subjected to harassment and arrest. Of course, there were mistakes and abuses, but we can confidently say that thanks to the policy of its leader, SMERSH was looking for real enemies, and did not engage in repression of the unwanted.
Opal and execution of Abakumov, or how closeness to the leader burns
Immediately after the end of the war, Viktor Abakumov was awarded the rank of Colonel General, and the counterintelligence organization headed by him became part of the USSR Ministry of State Security (MGB) as a separate Directorate. In 1946, replacing Vsevolod Merkulov, close to Beria, Abakumov took up a ministerial post.
From that time on, the head of the MGB supervised the most notorious processes, while strictly carrying out the will and orders of Stalin. The closeness to the Soviet leader and the feeling of his own power turned his head - the minister broke away from reality, believing in his own inviolability. But in vain. On July 12, 1951, Abakumov was arrested, accused of abuse of high position, obstruction of the investigation of the "doctors' case", deliberately concealing information important for the leadership, and much more.
Once in the Lefortovo prison, Abakumov was subjected to cruel interrogations, during which they tried to force the necessary testimony out of him. Despite the physical suffering, the former minister showed firmness of mind and did not plead guilty to anything. The investigation lasted almost two years - until the death of Joseph Stalin in March 1953.
This event brought release to someone, but not to General Abakumov: after the arrest in June of Lawrence Beria, the general was declared his accomplice. And then they incriminated another crime - the fabrication of the "Leningrad affair", as a result of which almost all the party leadership of Leningrad and the region, as well as Leningraders nominated to high government posts in Moscow, were subjected to repression.
At the trial, which began on December 14, 1954, Abakumov did not admit his guilt. Despite this, five days later he was sentenced to death, and on the same day, December 19, the sentence was carried out.
The logic in the actions of the generalissimo was not always clear. Sometimes he had mercy on traitors, such as General Lukin. Who collaborated with the Germans.
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