Online Document Archive

Several of the following versions of archival documents held by the HPCWS are stored as Portable Document Format (PDF) files. Viewing these files requires the free Adobe Acrobat Reader software. Click on the button below to visit the download page for Acrobat Reader at Adobe:

 

Top-Secret History of KGB, 1977, Chapters 1-12 and appendix.This top-secret 639-page history of the Soviet state security organs was completed in 1977 under the auspices of Viktor Chebrikov, the deputy head of the KGB (who later became head of the agency). The book was intended for use in the KGB's special academy for the training of senior officers. The book provides a detailed history of the KGB and its predecessor agencies from 1917 through the mid-1970s. The book is still classified top secret in Moscow and is unavailable there. The copy here was obtained in Riga, Latvia in July 1997, courtesy of Indulis Zalite, a Latvian archival researcher. Unlike in Russia, the Latvian government has declassified all documents from the Soviet era, and they are now freely available to researchers. 

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FOREWORD and CHAPTER I: 
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pp 1-12
CHAPTER II: (December 1917 - June 1918)
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pp 13-42
CHAPTER III: (July 1918 - 1920) 
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pp 43-101
CHAPTER IV: (1921-1925)
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pp 102-182
CHAPTER V: (1926-1929)
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pp 183-223
CHAPTER VI: (1929-1932)
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pp 224-265
CHAPTER VII: (1933-1938)
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pp 266-291
CHAPTER VIII: (1939-1941)
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pp 292-324
CHAPTER IX: (1941-1945)
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pp 325-445
CHAPTER X: (1945-1952)
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pp 446-489
CHAPTER XI: (1953-1958)
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pp 490-533
CHAPTER XII: (1959-1971)
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pp 534-600
APPENDIX
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pp 601-639

DOCUMENT 2

Transcript of Conversation between Brezhnev and Dubcek, 13 August 1968. 

Click on image to the left to view a full-sized scanned version, with links to translation and commentary by Mark Kramer.

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DOCUMENT 3

Secret KGB Report on Analysis of Condition and Development of US Strategic Nuclear Weapons, 15 February 1990.

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DOCUMENT 4

Memorandum from the Soviet Politburo Commission on the Polish Crisis, authorizing preparations to "lend military assistance to Poland," August 28, 1980.

Click on image to the left to view a full-sized scanned version, with links to translation and commentary by Mark Kramer.

DOCUMENTS 5-6

CPSU Central Committee Plenum on tensions in Sino-Soviet relations, February 1964.

CPSU Central Committee Plenum on Sino-Soviet split and the international communist movement, December 13 1963.

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DOCUMENTS 7-11

CPSU Central Committee Plenum on the "Zhukov Affair", 28-29 October 1957.

Stenogram from the First Session [TsKhSD, fond 2, opis 1, delo 266, Ll. 80-132].

Stenogram from the Third Session [TsKhSD, fond 2, opis 1, delo 268, Ll 1-106].

Stenogram from the Fourth Session [TsKhSD, fond 2, opis 1, delo 269, Ll 4-145].

Materials from the Fifth Session [TsKhSD, fond 2, opis 1, delo 261, Ll 26-29b, 31-35, 45-51, 69-74, 99-122b, 138-140, 165].

Stenograficheski Otchet

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DOCUMENTS 12-16

On Chechen-Ingush affairs:

Excerpt from Protocol 42 of Politburo [TsKhSD, fond 89, opis 61, delo 11] 27 December 1943.

Excerpt from Protocol 60 of the Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee [TsKhSD, fond 89, opis 61, delo 13] 24 November 1956.

Protocol 67 [TsKhSD, fond 89, opis 20, delo 1] 5-6 January 1957.

Order of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet [TsKhSD, fond 89, opis 61, delo 8].

Resolution of the Sekretariat of the CPSU Central Committee[TsKhSD, fond 89, opis 20, delo75] 19 July 1991.

Resolution of the Sekretariat of the CPSU Central Committee[TsKhSD, fond 89, opis 20, delo 69] 21 June 1991.

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New Additions:

DOCUMENTS 22-23

A Soviet Politburo discussion and a review of Soviet Foreign Ministry documents on the Korean airliner incident of September 1983.

DOCUMENT 24

report by Frol Kozlov to the CPSU Central Committee Plenum on 23 July 1960.

DOCUMENTS 17-18

CPSU Central Committee Plenum, excerpt from 9th session,January 31 1955 [TsKhSD fond 2, opis 1, delo 127]. Plenum to approve the removal of Malenkov as Prime Minister.

CPSU Central Committee Plenum excerpt No. 6 June 24, 1954. Molotov's report to CPSU Central Committee on the Geneva Conference.

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DOCUMENTS 19-21

Soviet KGB Directive on the use of joint enterprises for espionage. April 13, 1988.

Soviet Secretariat resolution on response to Afghan leader Najibullah. October 4, 1986.

Soviet Politburo discussion of policy toward Afghanistan. November 13 1986.

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