The “Polish Operation” of the NKVD, 1937–8

Abstract

The scope allotted to us merely allows a description of the general contours of the “Polish operation” of the NKVD in the years 1937–8. We place the main emphasis on how it originated, the policy behind it, how it worked and to what extent it was realised. The core document in this connection is Order no. 00485 of the NKVD of the USSR. Order 00485 was confirmed by the Politburo of the Central Committee of the VKP(b) (as the CPSU was then called) on 9 August 1937. It was signed by Ezhov two days later, together with the “sealed” letter “On Fascist-Insurgent, Espionage, Sabotage, Defeatist and Terrorist Activities of Polish Intelligence in the USSR”. This letter had also been approved by Stalin beforehand, and was then signed by Ezhov for circulation to all NKVD units.²

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This article has appeared in a somewhat longer format in L. S. Eremina (ed.), Repressii protivpoliakov i pol’skikh grazhdan (Moscow, 1997), pp. 22–43.