Serov Instructions: Difference between revisions
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{{Short description|Soviet Union's document which gave guidelines for deporting people from Baltic states in 1940s}} |
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{{wikisource|Order № 001223 of the USSR People's Commissariat for State Security|Order № 001223}} |
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'''Order № 001223''', ''"On the Procedure for carrying out the Deportation of Anti-Soviet Elements from Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia"'', signed [[January 21]], [[1941]],<ref name=museum>Source: [http://www.occupationmuseum.lv/eng/services/Briefing_paper_04.html Museum of the Occupation of Latvia]</ref> contained detailed instructions for procedures and protocols to observe in the deportation of [[Baltic states|Baltic]] nationals. The order formed the basis for the execution of [[June deportation|the mass deportations]] of [[June 13]] and [[June 14]], [[1941]] throughout the Baltics during the first [[Occupation of the Baltic states|Soviet occupation]] of 1940–1941. |
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{{wikisource|Regarding the Procedure for carrying out the Deportation of Anti-Soviet Elements from Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia|Serov Instructions}} |
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General [[Ivan Serov]], Deputy People's Commissar of State Security of the [[Soviet Union]], issued and signed the Order. |
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The so-called '''Serov Instructions''' (full title: '''On the Procedure for Carrying out the Deportation of Anti-Soviet Elements from Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia''') was an undated [[Classified information#Top_Secret_(TS)|top secret]] document, signed by General [[Ivan Serov]], Deputy [[People's Commissariat for State Security|People's Commissar for State Security]] of the [[Soviet Union]] ([[Ministry of State Security (Soviet Union)|NKGB]]). The instructions detailed procedures on how to carry out [[June deportation|the mass deportations to Siberia]] of June 13–14, 1941, which occurred throughout [[Lithuania]], [[Latvia]] and [[Estonia]] during the [[Occupation and annexation of the Baltic states by the Soviet Union (1940)|first (1940-1941) Soviet occupation of the three Baltic countries]]. |
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The instructions specified that the deportations would be carried out as secretly, quietly and speedily as possible. Families were restricted to taking {{convert|100|kg}} of their belongings (clothes, food, kitchenware). The heads of the families were sent to [[Gulag]] [[labor camp]]s, and other members were transported to [[forced settlements in the Soviet Union|forced settlements]] in remote areas of the Soviet Union. |
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Under threat of invasion, the [[Baltic States]], independent prior to [[World War II]], had signed pacts of "mutual assistance" with the [[Soviet Union]]: [[Estonia]] signed their pact with the Soviet Union on [[September 28]], [[1939]]; [[Latvia]] following on [[October 5]], [[1939]]; and [[Lithuania]] shortly thereafter, on [[October 10]], [[1939]]. The Baltics were subsequently invaded in June 1940 under Soviet charges alleging they had violated the terms of the pacts. |
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==Dating and confusion== |
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==Inconsistencies in historical representations of the date of issue== |
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While the original document is undated, sources provide various dates from October 11, 1939 to January 21, 1941.<ref name=museum>[http://www.occupationmuseum.lv/eng/services/Briefing_paper_04.html Museum of the Occupation of Latvia] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070217181501/http://www.occupationmuseum.lv/eng/services/Briefing_paper_04.html |date=2007-02-17 }}</ref> However, the NKGB was created only on February 3, 1941 and so could not have issued documents earlier.<ref name=parrish/> |
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A copy of the instructions, found in [[Šiauliai]], had a stamp that the document was received on June 7.<ref name=shtromas/> Therefore, the instructions must have been written sometime between February and June 1941. |
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A date of [[October 11]], [[1939]] has been widely alleged to be the date the order was issued.<ref>This date is mentioned, e.g., in the text of the book ''[http://www.latvians.com/en/Reading/TheseNamesAccuse/ThNA-03-Historical-Introduction-pt2.php These Names Accuse]'', first published in 1951 (and in some other texts that refer to this book). However the translation of the document given in the appendix has no date.</ref> That date does not appear to be correct. Serov, when being head of NKVD of the [[Ukrainian SSR]], is known to have prepared instructions on deportations from the annexed regions of [[western Ukraine]] in autumn 1939.<ref name=museum/> Documents allegedly pre-dating the signing of Order № 001223 reference it,<ref>From [http://www.latvians.com/en/Reading/TheseNamesAccuse/ThNA-05-Historical-Introduction-pt4.php These Names Accuse], an order represented as having been signed [[November 28]], [[1940]] at Kaunas by Lithuanian NKVD commissar A. Guzevicius, found in the summer of 1941 among the documents left by the NKVD (cf. K. Pelekis, Genocide, p. 265-267, published by Venta, Germany 1949), contains the passage: "Executing the Order of the People's Commissar of NKVD of USSR No. 001223 referring to a report on the anti-Soviet element, and the demand to be most careful in the exact execution of that task,..."</ref> so it may have existed in some form prior. The official date of issuance, regardless, is [[January 21]], [[1941]]. |
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The Serov Instructions are often confused with [[NKVD Order No. 001223]],<ref name=shtromas/> a completely different document that was signed by [[Lavrenty Beria]] on October 11, 1939,<ref name=anusa/> which was prepared by the [[People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs]] (NKVD) and listed various groups of people (anticommunists, former military or police personnel, large landowners, industrialists etc.) to be targeted by Soviet security structures according to the [[Article 58 (RSFSR Penal Code)]].<ref name=anusa/> The original Serov Instructions had no date or number.<ref name=shtromas/> The confusion possibly originates from the Third Interim Report by the [[United States House Select Committee to Investigate the Incorporation of the Baltic States into the U.S.S.R.]], which published the full text of the Instructions under a misleading heading as Order № 001223.<ref name=shtromas/> |
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==See also== |
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== See also == |
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== References == |
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[[Category:History of Lithuania (1940–1945)]] |
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<ref name=shtromas>{{cite book| first=Alexander |last=Shtromas |title=Totalitarianism and the Prospects for World Order: Closing the Door on the Twentieth Century |series=Applications of Political Theory |page=292 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fTt6lJOEEFcC&pg=PA292 | publisher=Lexington Books |year=2003 |isbn=0-7391-0534-5}}</ref> |
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[[Category:History of Latvia]] |
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<ref name=parrish>{{cite book| title=The Lesser Terror: Soviet State Security, 1939–1953 |first=Michael |last=Parrish | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NDgv5ognePgC&pg=PA262| page=262 | publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |year=1996| isbn=0-275-95113-8}}</ref> |
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<ref name=anusa>{{cite book| first=Arvydas |last=Anušauskas |title=Lietuvių tautos sovietinis naikinimas 1940–1958 metais | pages=18–19 |location=Vilnius |publisher=Mintis |year=1996 |isbn=5-417-00713-7|language=lt}}</ref> |
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}} |
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{{Authority control}} |
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[[Category:1941 in Estonia]] |
[[Category:1941 in Estonia]] |
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[[Category:1941 in Lithuania]] |
[[Category:1941 in Lithuania]] |
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[[Category:1941 in Latvia]] |
[[Category:1941 in Latvia]] |
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[[Category: |
[[Category:1941 in the Soviet Union]] |
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[[Category:Soviet |
[[Category:Forced migration in the Soviet Union during World War II]] |
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[[ro:Ordinul nr. 001223]] |
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Latest revision as of 11:35, 28 November 2024
The so-called Serov Instructions (full title: On the Procedure for Carrying out the Deportation of Anti-Soviet Elements from Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia) was an undated top secret document, signed by General Ivan Serov, Deputy People's Commissar for State Security of the Soviet Union (NKGB). The instructions detailed procedures on how to carry out the mass deportations to Siberia of June 13–14, 1941, which occurred throughout Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia during the first (1940-1941) Soviet occupation of the three Baltic countries.
The instructions specified that the deportations would be carried out as secretly, quietly and speedily as possible. Families were restricted to taking 100 kilograms (220 lb) of their belongings (clothes, food, kitchenware). The heads of the families were sent to Gulag labor camps, and other members were transported to forced settlements in remote areas of the Soviet Union.
Dating and confusion
[edit]While the original document is undated, sources provide various dates from October 11, 1939 to January 21, 1941.[1] However, the NKGB was created only on February 3, 1941 and so could not have issued documents earlier.[2]
A copy of the instructions, found in Šiauliai, had a stamp that the document was received on June 7.[3] Therefore, the instructions must have been written sometime between February and June 1941.
The Serov Instructions are often confused with NKVD Order No. 001223,[3] a completely different document that was signed by Lavrenty Beria on October 11, 1939,[4] which was prepared by the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD) and listed various groups of people (anticommunists, former military or police personnel, large landowners, industrialists etc.) to be targeted by Soviet security structures according to the Article 58 (RSFSR Penal Code).[4] The original Serov Instructions had no date or number.[3] The confusion possibly originates from the Third Interim Report by the United States House Select Committee to Investigate the Incorporation of the Baltic States into the U.S.S.R., which published the full text of the Instructions under a misleading heading as Order № 001223.[3]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Museum of the Occupation of Latvia Archived 2007-02-17 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Parrish, Michael (1996). The Lesser Terror: Soviet State Security, 1939–1953. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 262. ISBN 0-275-95113-8.
- ^ a b c d Shtromas, Alexander (2003). Totalitarianism and the Prospects for World Order: Closing the Door on the Twentieth Century. Applications of Political Theory. Lexington Books. p. 292. ISBN 0-7391-0534-5.
- ^ a b Anušauskas, Arvydas (1996). Lietuvių tautos sovietinis naikinimas 1940–1958 metais (in Lithuanian). Vilnius: Mintis. pp. 18–19. ISBN 5-417-00713-7.