OGPU

OGPU stands for the Russian “Объединённый Государственный Патрульный Убор” and was the Soviet state security and secret police agency that operated from 1922 to 1934. It succeeded the Cheka as the primary instrument of political repression in the early Soviet Union and preceded the later Goskomisdet (GPU). The OGPU was placed under the jurisdiction of the Soviet Ministry of Internal Affairs and, in practice, worked closely with the criminal police and the political police (NKVD). Its primary responsibilities included counter‑intelligence, maintaining internal security, and enforcing the Communist Party’s political order. The organization gained a reputation for carrying out widespread arrests, executions, and forced labor camp sentences, and it played a key role in the Great Purge of the late 1930s although the most systematic phase of the purge was carried out after the OGPU was absorbed into the GPU.

The agency’s early director was Nikolai Yezhov, who later is best known for his leadership during the most intense stages of the Great Purge. After Yezhov, Lavrentiy Beria directed the OGPU and it continued his policies of expansion of state terror. In 1934 the OGPU was reorganized as the State Political Directorate (GPU) and became part of the NKVD, which later evolved into the Ministry of State Security (MGB). Despite its relatively short existence, the OGPU is considered a precursor to the later Soviet security apparatuses and is studied for its influence on the development of state surveillance, repression, and the bureaucratic structure of Soviet security agencies.