Between 1934 and 1941, the
Main Directorate of State Security went through several organizational changes. In January 1935, there were nine departments in the GUGB structure: ; (head of GUGB)Commissioner 1st rank of State Security
Yakov Agranov • Operational Department (headed by)
Karl Pauker • Special Department
Gleb Bokii • Department of Economics – (ЭКО/EKO)
Lev Mironov •
Special Department – (OO)Mark Gai • Secret Political Department – (
СПО/
SPO)
Georgy Molchanov • Foreign Department – (
ИНО/
INO)
Artur Artuzov • Department of Transport – (
ТО)
Vladimir Kichkin • Department of Information and Statistic – (
УСО/
USO)
Yakov Genkin • Staff Department – (
OK)
Yakov Weynschtok By the end of 1937 the People's Commissar of Internal Affairs
Nikolai Yezhov, in his order
#00362 had changed the number of departments from five to twelve. ; (head of GUGB)komkor
Mikhail Frinovsky • Department 1 [Protection of Government]Israel Dagin • Department 2 [Operative]Ans Zalpeter • Department 3 [counter-intelligence] (
КРО/KRO)Aleksandr Minayev-Cikanovich • Department 4 [Secret Political] (
СПО/
SPO)Mikhail Litvin • Military counterintelligence of the Soviet Army|Department 5 [Special] (
OO)Nikolai Nikolaev-Zhuryd • Department 6 [Transport] (
TO)Mikhail Volkov • Department 7 [Foreign (Intelligence)] (
ИНО/
INO) –
Abram Slutsky • Department 8 [Records and Statistic] (
УСО/
USO)Vladimir Cesarsky • Department 9 [Special (codes)] (
OO)Isaak Shapiro • Department 10 [Prison]Yakov Weynschtok • Department 11 [Maritime Transportation] (
ВО/WO)Victor Yrcev • Department 12 [Technical and Operational] (
OOT)Semyen Zhukovsky After
Lavrenty Beria took over Frinovsky place as a GUGB head, in 29 of September 1938, GUGB underwent another organizational change - ; (head of GUGB)Commissioner 1st rank of State Security
Lavrenty Beria • Department 1 – [Protection of Government]
Israel Dagin • Department 2 – [Secret Political]
Bogdan Kobulov • Department 3 – [counter-intelligence]Nikolai Nikolaev-Zhuryd • Military counterintelligence of the Soviet Army|Department 4 – [Special] —
Pyotr Fedotov • Department 5 – [Foreign (Intelligence)]
Zelman Passov • Department 6 – [Codes]
Alexander Balamutov • GUGB Investigating Section ; (head of GUGB)Commissioner 3rd rank of State Security
Vsevolod Merkulov • Department 1 – [Protection of Party and Soviet officials] • included Political department, 24 office divisions, a school, commandant's offices of the
CC VKP(b) and
NKVD of USSR • Department 2 – [Secret Political] • Division 1 [Trotskyists, Zinovievists, leftists, rightists, miasnikovtsi, shlyapnikovtsi, banned from the party, foreign missions] • Division 2 [Mensheviks, anarchists, members of the
Socialist Revolutionary Party,
Bundists,
Zionists, clerics, provocateurs, gendarmes, counterintelligence agents, punishers, White Cossacks, monarchists] • Division 3 [combating Ukrainian, Belarusian, and Ugro-Finnish national ] • Division 4 [agent studies on political parties,
dashnaks, Turkic-Tatar-Mongolian national ,
gruzmeks,
mussavatists, nationalists] • Division 5 [literati, press, publishing, theatres, cinema, art] • Division 6 [academies of sciences, science and research institutes, scientific societies] • Division 7 [discovery and study of formations among studying youth, system of the People's Commissariat of Enlightenment and children of repressed] • Division 8 [People's Commissariat of Healthcare of USSR and RSFSR and its education institutions] • Division 9 [People's Commissariat of Justice, Supreme Court, Prosecutor's Office, People's Commissariat of Social Security and their educational institutions] • Division 10 [combating church and sect ] • Division 11 [physical culture organizations, volunteer societies, clubs, sports publishers] • Division 12 [Special council, militsiya, fire guard,
military commissariats, leadership of the reserves] • Department 3 – [counter-intelligence] • Division 1 [Germany, Hungary] • Division 2 [Japan, China] • Division 3 [Great Britain] • Division 4 [France, Italy, Belgium, Switzerland, Spain] • Division 5 [Romania, Greece, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia] • Division 6 [Poland] • Division 7 [Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark] • Division 8 [United States and countries of South America] • Division 9 [Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan] • Division 10 [
White movement elements] • Division 11 [Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania] • Division 12 [People's Commissariat of Foreign Affairs, embassies and consulates] • Division 13
ECCI,
MOPR] • Division 14
Foreign Trade, trade offices] • Division 15
Intourist and
VOKS] • Diplomat security section • Diplomat security political department • Divisions 16, 17, 18, 19 Diplomat security • Military counterintelligence of the Soviet Army|Department 4 – [Special] — • Division 1 [headquarters] • Division 2 [intelligence directorates] • Division 3 [aviation] • Division 4 [technical troops] • Division 5 [motorized detachments] • Division 6 [artillery, cavalry and artillery detachments] • Division 7 [infantry, cavalry and artillery detachments] • Division 8
politruk • Division 9 [medical service] • Division 10 [Navy] • Division 11 [NKVD troops] • Division 12 [organizational and mobilizing] • investigative section • Department 5 – [Foreign (Intelligence)] • Division 1 [Germany, Hungary, Denmark] • Division 2 [Poland] • Division 3 [France, Belgium, Switzerland, Netherlands] • Division 4 [Great Britain] • Division 5 [Italy] • Division 6 [Spain] • Division 7 [Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Greece] • Division 8 [Finland, Sweden, Norway, Spitzbergen] • Division 9 [Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania] • Division 10 [United States, Canada, South America, Mexico] • Division 11 [Japan,
Manchuria] • Division 12 [China,
Xinjiang] • Division 12 [Mongolia,
Tuva] • Division 12 [Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan] • Division 12 [technical intelligence] • Division 12 [operational equipment] • Division 12 [visas] • Department 6 – [Ciphering, safeguard of state secrecy] • Division 1, 2, 3 [safeguard of state secrecy, verification and recordkeeping of those admitted to secret work and documents] • Division 4 [deciphering] • Division 5 [research, development and recordkeeping of ciphers, drafting NKVD ciphers, preparation of ciphering specialists] • Division 6 [NKVD encrypting process] • Division 7 [organizational management of peripherals, development of instructions and regulations on secret ciphering and agent missions] • Division 8 [ciphering] • GUGB Investigating Section —
GUGB Ranks The GUGB had a unique system of ranks, a blend of the position-rank system used in the
Red Army and personal ranks used in the
Militsiya; the rank insignia was also very distinct. Even though insignia introduced in 1937 followed the
Red Army collar patch patterns, it assigned them to very different ranks for GUGB and
Internal Troops/political/specialist branches, with GUGB rank placed at least one grade higher than a similar army equivalent. When GUGB and Militsiya ranks were replaced with military ranks and insignia in February 1943, Major to Sergeant ranks were aligned with Colonel to Junior Lieutenant, and Senior Major and up were replaced with various degrees of Commissioner. In 1945, General Commissioner
Lavrentiy Beria received the rank of the
Marshal of the Soviet Union, and other GUGB Commissioners received ranks from
Major general to
Army General. ;Ranks of GUGB 1935–1943 • генеральный комиссар ГБCommissioner General of State Security • комиссар ГБ 1-го рангаCommissioner 1st rank of State Security • комиссар ГБ 2-го рангаCommissioner 2nd rank of State Security • комиссар ГБ 3-го рангаCommissioner 3rd rank of State Security • старший майор ГБSenior Major of State Security • майор ГБMajor of State Security • капитан ГБCaptain of State Security • старший лейтенант ГБSenior Lieutenant of State Security • лейтенант ГБLieutenant of State Security • младший лейтенант ГБJunior Lieutenant of State Security • сержант ГБ Sergeant of State Security ;Rank insignia 1935-1937 ;Rank insignia 1937-1943 == See also ==