Struggle in Soviet Russia

For the moment, it is indeed very likely that Kuznetsov will take over as the secretary of the Central Secretariat who is responsible for overseeing national security work, but in the final analysis, this appointment has not been given yet.

Beria was indeed transferred from this post and became the first deputy commissar of the People’s Committee. As for whether Kuznetsov would come to replace him, no one except Comrade Stalin dared to guarantee 100%. .

But in contrast, Voznesensky really took the seat of a member of the Economic Recovery Committee of the Liberated Areas.

Take a look at the positions currently held by Comrade Voznesensky: alternate member of the Politburo, deputy people’s committee of the People’s Committee, chairman of the State Planning Committee, member of the People’s Committee for National Defense, and member of the Economic Recovery Committee of the Liberated Areas.

Anyone with a discerning eye can see from these positions that Voznesensky was cultivated and trusted by Comrade Stalin. In the future, the Politburo will be the first person in charge of the country's economic and construction work, and these are all related to Malinkov's own positioning. Conflict.

Now that Voznesensky has come to Moscow, the only question now is when he will be an alternate member of the Politburo.

"The situation does not seem to be optimistic," Comrade Malinkov finally spoke. He smiled and said, "However, compared with the NKVD, Victor should not have too many problems. After all, the national security people There are no problems with the work of the Committee, especially the Foreign Intelligence Agency. The results of the work in the last two years are very good. Comrade Stalin or the General Staff are very satisfied, no matter who is responsible for the supervision of national security work. It’s not a good thing to make any personnel adjustments in this regard, otherwise, it is likely to cause unnecessary trouble."

Victor nodded, not because he was overconfident, but because Malinkov's words reflected the real situation.

At least for now, Comrade Stalin still trusts him. As long as this trust is not lost, then even if Kuznetsov really gets his wish, he will not easily come to Viktor's trouble. Whether you can't sit firmly depends on whether you can gain the trust of Comrade Stalin.

Turning his head to look at Beria, Malinkov replied: "You want to remind Ivan Afanasyevich, I heard that the health camp No. 185 does not seem to be in good condition. It is far from reaching the expected standard. The mortality rate is far from good. And the prevalence rate remains above 40%. I guess that if nothing goes wrong, Serov will definitely work on this issue once he receives Kuznetsov’s support."

Victor was listening. Although he was not a staff member of the NKVD, he was from this department after all. Therefore, he knew some things about the NKVD very well.

The Ivan Afanasyevich mentioned by Malinkov refers to Petrov, the head of the "Prisoners of War and Detained Persons Administration" of the People's Committee of the Interior. To put it bluntly, he is specifically responsible for the management of prisoners of war.

The so-called "Health Camp No. 185" does not refer to a place for leisure and vacation, but Health Camp No. 185 in Yurijevets. This is a prison camp, and it is a large-scale prison camp, which can accommodate 4,000. More than one prisoner of war.

This prisoner of war camp was established in April last year, shortly after the Battle of Stalingrad, the Soviet army captured a large number of German soldiers and officers in this battle. At that time, because the Red Army caught too many prisoners, it was completely unexpected. Therefore, the NKVD’s management bureau in charge of prisoners of war did not make corresponding preparations. As a result, it was not only that the camps for prisoners of war were not enough, including The materials, medical personnel and equipment, guards, and instigators specially rationed for prisoners of war are all insufficient.

If it is lack of other things, it's okay to say, but the shortage of food and medicine is really terrible. At that time, the Soviet army set up a prisoner-of-war camp in Karachi. In just one month, the death rate and prevalence rate were alarmingly high. The British and American representatives who went to visit expressed their opinions on this and believed that the Soviets should give German prisoners of war the most basic Decent.

At that time, in order to deal with the representatives of the United Kingdom and the United States, the NKVD had to seek support from the 21st Group Army stationed in Karachi at that time, and urgently allocated a batch of supplies from them. For this reason, it also attracted the commander of the Group Army Chisgakov. Dissatisfaction.

Subsequently, in order to reflect the humanitarian spirit of the Soviet Union and establish an image of treating prisoners kindly, the Prisoners of War Administration of the NKVD began to promote the establishment of the "health camp", and a month later, the Yurijevets 185 was founded. No. Health Camp.

Compared with ordinary prisoner-of-war camps, the conditions of this kind of health camp are relatively better. According to the regulations of the Prisoners of War Administration, the general prisoner-of-war camps are responsible for organizing and managing prisoners of war and improving labor efficiency. Here, labor is very critical. In this kind of health camp, the main responsibilities of managers have become: organize and manage prisoners of war, improve their physical condition, and eliminate their hostility towards Soviet Union. Labor has become a secondary factor.

Of course, not all prisoners of war can live in a health camp like this. Under normal circumstances, the health camp accommodates German officers and senior officers. Ordinary soldiers do not have this qualification.

In addition to the health camps with better conditions, the prison administration has also set up special prisoner-of-war camps. Unlike the health camps, this special prisoner-of-war camp specializes in accommodating German brutal personnel, intelligence personnel, and Gestapo. Of course, in this special prisoner-of-war camp, there is no such thing as the so-called conditions. It is a place specially set up by the Soviet army for revenge, and it is an out-and-out hell.

Victor did not know the health camp, but according to Malinkov, the situation there was obviously not very good. At least it was a bit far from the original purpose of setting up such a prisoner of war camp. Because of this, the existence of the health camp became a reality. A flaw in the work of the NKVD, and the flaw is also the most vulnerable area.

Obviously, in the few months that he was transferred to the NKVD, Comrade Serov was not reconciled. He should have done a certain amount of work.

"The problem with the Prisoners of War Administration is no longer my problem," Beria just smiled in response to Malinkov's suggestion, and then said lightly, "Of course, it's not Petrov's problem, but Krivenko’s question."

After a pause, he continued: "Vsevolod previously submitted a report criticizing the status of the 15 health camps under the Prisoners of War Administration. Therefore, the committee made a resolution to remove Petrov from his position. , Krivenko replaced him as the director of the Prisoners of War Administration."

"Oh?" Malenkov asked curiously, "When did it happen?"

"Yesterday," Beria smiled, "Well, Comrade Krivenko has a wealth of experience in the prison administration, and he is indeed very qualified for this job."

With that said, he owed his body, took a glass of champagne on the table, took a sip, and then said again: "Today I read a report submitted by Comrade Krivenko, and he suggested that the Prisoners of War Administration should be divided. The second is to set up the Prisoners of War Administration and the Detained and Mobilized Personnel Administrations to deal with the more complicated management situation in the future. In addition, he also suggested reorganizing the Operational Office into an Operational Administration, because as we are on the frontal battlefield In the counterattack, the number of prisoners of war will inevitably undergo a process of rapid increase, and the work of the combat office will inevitably become increasingly heavy. If it is only on today's scale, the combat office may not be able to handle the increasingly heavy work."

The "operation office" mentioned by Beria here is not the operation office of the General Staff, but the operation office of the Prisoners of War Administration of the NKVD. Its main responsibility is to take various anti-riot measures against prisoners of war and ensure that They were obediently obedient. To put it bluntly, this department is responsible for guarding the various prisoner-of-war camps.

Seriously, from what Beria said, as a veteran national security officer, Beria and his party members are really not so easy to deal with. If Serov wants to learn from them Taking advantage of the hand is not so easy.

After all, the people under Beria are the truly experienced NKVD staff. They know how this large-scale department should operate and where there are weaknesses.

Malinkov suggested that Bellado pay attention to the issue of the prisoners of war administration, which shows that he has received some news from some aspects, or someone wants to make a fuss on the issue of the prisoners of war administration, or it is Comrade Stalin’s work on this department. Not satisfied anymore. As for Beria, he had already taken action before Malinkov made his proposal. Petrov, as the director of the Prisoners of War Administration, has now been directly dismissed, and his replacement is experienced Krivenko.

At present, after all, Kuznetsov has not been appointed as secretary of the Central Secretariat, and he is still unable to get involved in the affairs of the NKVD. Therefore, the appointment of the new Director of the Prisoners of War Administration will be entirely done by the NKVD. The committee came to decide. Although Serov was the chairman of the committee, he was alone in the committee and had little say in it.

As a result, the Prisoners of War Administration changed a new director before Kuznetsov took office. In the future, even if he takes up his post, he will not be able to make personnel adjustments in a short time. After all, it is impossible to justify. The relevant suggestions will also be boycotted by the Committee of the People’s Committee of the Interior.

In addition, in this personnel change, those guys from the NKVD also made a trick, and that was the report submitted by Krivenko.