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Beria's Order no. 00350 on “Clearing Out” the NKVD Prisons in the Western UkSSR and BSSR

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By Beria, Lavrenty Pavlovich

Katyn: A Crime Without Punishment

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Document 53

Beria's Order no. 00350 on “Clearing Out” the NKVD Prisons in the Western UkSSR and BSSR

22 March 1940, Moscow

Top Secret

No. 00350

Order of the People's Commissar of Internal Affairs USSR for 1940

Contents: On Clearing Out the NKVD Administration Prisons of

Western UkSSR and BSSR

22 March 1940, Moscow

In order to clear out the NKVD Administration prisons in the western oblasts of the UkSSR and BSSR,

I ORDER:

Page 155

1. For the NKVD of the Ukrainian SSR:

1) Transfer 3,000 arrested persons from the prisons of the western oblasts of the Ukrainian SSR to the prisons of the central oblasts of the UkSSR. Of these:

From Lvov prison	900	people
from Rovno prison	500	″
from Volynsk prison	500	″
from Tarnopol prison	500	″
from Drogobych prison	200	″
from Stanislavov prison	400	″

2) Relocate the arrested persons in the Kiev, Kharkov, and Kherson prisons.

More than these 3,000 prisoners are known to have been murdered in Ukraine. The death lists for 3,435 were delivered on 25 November 1940 by GB 1st Lieutenant Feodor Tsvetukhin, head of the 1st Special Department, NKVD in Ukraine, to Major Leonid Bashtakov, head of the 1st Special Department, NKVD; see Gajowniczek, Ukraińiski Ślad, p. xxii; KDZ2/Aneks/I/7. Of these, 2,000 have been identified; see Gajowniczek, Ukraitińki Ślad, p. xxii. In May 1994 the lists were given by General Andrei Khomich, deputy chief of the Ukrainian Security Service, to the Polish deputy prosecutor general, Stefan Sniezko; see Gajowniczek, Ukraińiski Ślad, p. x.

3) Send the head of the Main Prison Administration of the USSR NKVD, GB Major Com. [Pavel N.] Zuev, to render assistance to the UkSSR NKVD in organizing the transportation of these arrested persons.

4) UkSSR People's Commissar of Internal Affairs, GB Commissar 3rd Rank Com. Serov, and the head of the Main Prison Administration of the USSR NKVD, GB Major Com. Zuev, are to complete the operation of transporting the 3,000 arrested persons from the prisons of the western oblasts of the UkSSR to the prisons of the central oblasts of the UkSSR within ten days' time.

5) Bearing in mind the possibility of escapes by the arrested persons and attempted attacks on the convoy by counterrevolutionary (c-r) elements in order to free the arrested [persons], entrust Coms. Serov, Zuev, and the commander of the 13th Division of the NKVD Convoy Troops, Colonel Com. A. I. Zavialov, with the responsibility of ensuring the strictest order among and guarding of the arrested persons, during both their reception [from the prisons] and their being loaded [onto the trains] and all along the route of the echelons [carrying] the arrested persons.

6) USSR Deputy People's Commissar of Internal Affairs, Divisional Commander Com. Chernyshov, shall within ten days' time remove from their NKVD places of imprisonment in the Ukrainian SSR and send to USSR NKVD correctional labor camps 8,000 convicted prisoners, including 3,000 from the Kiev, Kharkov, and Kherson prisons.

This was to make room for the prisoners to be transferred from western Ukraine.

2. For the NKVD of the Belorussian SSR:

1) Transfer 3,000 arrested persons from the prisons of the western oblasts of the Belorussian SSR to Minsk prison, of these:

Page 156

from Brest prison	1,500	persons
from Vileika prison KDZ2/27, p. 84, incorrectly lists Vilna [Wilno, Vilnius] prison. Vileika (Wilejka], located southwest of Smarhon [Smorgonie] on the Vilia [Polish, Wilia; Lithuanian, Neris] River, was the regional administrative center, and prisoners from the whole region were brought there.	550	″
from Pinsk prison	500	″
from Baranovichi prison	450	″ No trace has been found thus far of the 3,000 persons transferred to Minsk prison and presumably shot there. Republic of Belarus authorities have refused Polish requests for access to archival documents and permission to search for the remains.

2) Send the section head of the Main Prison Administration of the USSR NKVD, GB Captain Com. [Aleksandr] Chechev, to render assistance to the BSSR NKVD in organizing the transfer of these arrested persons.

3) BSSR People's Commissar of Internal Affairs, GB Commissar 3rd Rank Com. Tsanava, and the head of the Department of the Main Prison Administration of the USSR NKVD, GB Captain Com. Chechev, shall complete the operation of transporting the arrested persons from the prisons of the western oblasts of the BSSR to Minsk prison within ten days' time.

4) Entrust Coms. Tsanava, Chechev, and the commander of the 15th Brigade of the NKVD Convoy Troops, Colonel Com. P. S. Popov, with the responsibility of ensuring the strictest order among and guarding of the arrested persons, both during reception and loading and all along the route of the echelons with the arrested persons.

3. USSR Deputy People's Commissar of Internal Affairs, Divisional Commander Com. Chernyshov, shall ensure the delivery on time of the necessary number of echelons for the above-specified transports of arrested persons, both for transporting the arrested [people] from the western oblasts of the UkSSR and BSSR and for shipping out 8,000 prisoners from the UkSSR to correctional labor camps.

See also Beria's directive of 21 March to Lazar Kaganovich, commissar of communications, on the transport of the prisoners to their destinations; KD2/12; KDZ2/26.

4. USSR Deputy People's Commissar of Internal Affairs, Corps Commander Com. Maslennikov, and the head of the Main Administration of Convoy Troops, Brigade Commander Com. V. N. Sharapov, are to allocate the necessary number of convoy [soldiers] and organize the careful guarding of the convoyed arrested persons, not allowing even one to escape.

Coms. Maslennikov and Chernyshov shall report to me along the way on the progress in implementing the present order.

USSR People's Commissar of Internal Affairs GB Commissar 1st Rank L. Beria

The head of the NKVD USSR Secretariat, GB Major Stepan S. Mamulov, ordered the immediate transmission of Beria's order over high-frequency wires to Serov in Kiev, and Tsanava in Minsk; see KD2/13, n. 1; KDZ2/27, n. 4.

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Document Details

Document TitleBeria's Order no. 00350 on “Clearing Out” the NKVD Prisons in the Western UkSSR and BSSR

AuthorBeria, Lavrenty Pavlovich

RecipientNKVD - People's Commissariat of Internal; Affairs (Narkomvnudel)

RepositoryGARF

ID #f.9401, op.1, d.552, ll.207-219

DescriptionN/A

Date1940 Mar 22

AOC VolumeKatyn: A Crime Without Punishment

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