Cheka
This article is about the secret police of the USSR. For other meanings see Cheka (disambiguation).
Chekist is a redirect to this article. For the 1992 Russian film drama, see The Chekist.
WeTscheKa (Russian ВЧК) is the abbreviation for the Extraordinary All-Russian Commission for Combating Counterrevolution, Speculation and Sabotage (Russian. Всероссийская чрезвычайная комиссия по борьбе с контрреволюцией, спекуляцией и саботажем Vserossijskaja tschreswytschainaja komissija po borbe s kontrrewoljuziej, spekuljaziej i sabotaschem), the State Security Service established after the October Revolution on 20. December 1917, on whose tradition the political police of the Soviet Union founded at the end of 1922 referred. From this was derived the term Chekists for the employees of secret services in the states of the Eastern Bloc.
History
On December 20, 1917, the Soviet Russian government, chaired by Lenin, instructed Feliks Dzierżyński, a member of the Petrograd Military Revolutionary Committee (MRKP), to form a special commission to combat the opposition.
From August 1918, on Lenin's instructions, the first prison camps were set up in Penza province to house political opponents and were officially called concentration camps. The number of detainees in the camps organized by the Cheka was about 16,000 in May 1921 and rose to over 70,000 prisoners by September 1921.
In February 1922, the Cheka was dissolved and the organization's archives were destroyed on Lenin's orders; its functions were transferred to the newly formed military GPU.
Development of employee numbers
- March 1918: 600
- June 1918: 12,000
- End 1918: 40,000
- Beginning of 1921: 280,000
Questions and Answers
Q: What is the Cheka?
A: The Cheka was the first Soviet state security organization.
Q: When was the Cheka created?
A: The Cheka was created on 20 December 1917.
Q: Who issued the decree that created the Cheka?
A: The decree that created the Cheka was issued by Vladimir Lenin.
Q: Who was the first leader of the Cheka?
A: The first leader of the Cheka was Felix Dzerzhinsky.
Q: What was Felix Dzerzhinsky's background before becoming the leader of the Cheka?
A: Felix Dzerzhinsky was a Polish aristocrat who became a communist.
Q: Why was the Cheka created?
A: The Cheka was created as a state security organization.
Q: Was the Cheka the only state security organization in the Soviet Union?
A: No, the Cheka was not the only state security organization in the Soviet Union.
