People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs
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Народный комиссариат внутренних дел Naródnyi komissariát vnútrennikh dél |
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NKVD emblem
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| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1934 |
| Preceding agencies |
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| Dissolved | 1946 |
| Superseding agencies | |
| Type |
Secret police Intelligence agency Law enforcement Gendarmerie Border guard Prison other emergency services |
| Jurisdiction | Soviet Union |
| Headquarters | Lubyanka Square, Moscow |
| Agency executives |
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| Parent agency | Council of the People's Commissars |
| Child agencies |
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The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (Народный комиссариат внутренних дел, Narodnyi Komissariat Vnutrennikh Del), abbreviated NKVD (НКВД 
listen ), was a joint law enforcement agency of the whole Soviet Union that directly executed the will of the All-Union Communist Party. It was closely associated with the Soviet secret police, which at times was part of the agency, and is known for its political repression during the era of Joseph Stalin. NKVD was heading by the Soviet secret police officials.
The NKVD contained the regular, public police force of the USSR, including traffic police, firefighting, border guards and archives. It is best known for the activities of the Gulag and the Main Directorate for State Security (GUGB), the predecessor of the KGB. The NKVD conducted mass extrajudicial executions, ran the Gulag system of forced labor camps and suppressed underground resistance, and was responsible for mass deportations of entire nationalities and Kulaks to unpopulated regions of the country. It was also tasked with protection of Soviet borders and espionage (which included political assassinations abroad), influencing foreign governments and enforcing Stalinist policy within communist movements in other countries.
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Wikipedia