Restructuring of the UNKVD work in the Kursk Region on the eve of German occupation

Abstract

Importance. Interest in the events of the Great Patriotic War is reinforced both by the complexity and inconsistency of modern processes taking place in Russia and the world, and by the insufficient degree of study of certain topics of this historical period in the country’s modern history. Topics related to the activities of the state security agencies of the USSR are traditionally not studied in detail in historical science. The purpose of study is to reconstruct the historical events that preceded the invasion of German troops into the territory of the Kursk Region, one of the largest regions of the Central Black Earth Region. Research methods. The study is based on declassified archival materials of the Directorate of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation for the Kursk Region. The materials of the fourth department of the NKVD in the Kursk Region for May–December 1941 are studied. Results and Discussion. The German aggression against the USSR put before the state and party bodies, both in the whole country as a whole, and at the regional level, the need to restructure all spheres of the country’s life. The features and directions of restructuring the activities of territorial bodies of state security, regional and district party and state bodies on the eve of the German invasion of the territory of the region are studied. Specific measures are considered that were carried out and planned for implementation as the German troops approached the borders of the Kursk Region. Considerable attention is paid to the creation of fighter battalions, the organization of partisan detachments, the deployment of a reconnaissance, agent and sabotage network in the rear of the German troops as they move towards the Kursk Region. Conclusion. As subsequent events showed, the preparatory measures played a big role in organizing a fairly effective resistance to the German occupation regime in almost all areas of the Kursk Region throughout the entire period of the German occupation of the Kursk region in November 1941 – August 1943.