What information remains about the pre-war workers of the BHSS. The case of stealing police informants

Education OBHSS. By order of the NKVD of the USSR No. 0018 dated March 16, 1937, a Department for Combating theft of Socialist Property and Speculation (OBKhSS) was organized in the apparatus of the Main Directorate of the Workers 'and Peasants' Militia. This new structure had the following main tasks:
- management of the work of peripheral police bodies to combat theft and speculation;
- ensuring special work in order to prevent and disclose these crimes at enterprises of the state trade system, consumer, industrial and disabled cooperation, in procurement organizations, in savings banks, etc.;
- investigation of cases of theft of socialist property in these organizations, arising both on the basis of data from their special apparatus, and on the basis of materials transmitted by state security departments (on petty sabotage, etc.);
- fight against speculation, counterfeiting, bribery;
- operational management of the commandants of the procurement points of the "Zagotzerno" system.

In the republican, regional and regional police departments of large industrial centers, departments, departments and groups of the BHSS were created. Where such devices were not created, the fight against theft and speculation continued to be carried out by other police services, including the criminal investigation department. The OBKhSS apparatuses were formed mainly from employees who had previously gone through a good practical school in the economic departments of the system of the Main Directorate of State Security and in the criminal investigation units.

In 1939, investigative groups began to be created in the republican, regional and regional divisions of the service, which took over the investigation of criminal cases initiated on economic crimes. At the same time, the work of the BHSS units begins to be based on the territorial principle, which made it possible to move away from the narrow specialization of employees, which in turn contributed to the improvement of their interaction with district and city police departments.

Just before the start of the Great Patriotic War, in 1941, the BHSS devices were additionally charged with the duty to fight against money changers and smugglers. This work was most actively carried out in the regions of Western Ukraine, Western Belarus and the Baltic republics. However, in general, it was just beginning to unfold, and the size of currency crimes and smuggling activities in the USSR was then small.

Fight against waste and theft. In the last pre-war years, the performance of the BHSS units has improved markedly. Strengthening the fight against waste and theft in the system of state trade and consumer cooperation has led to a decrease in these types of crimes. So, if the number of embezzlement and theft detected in 1939 is taken as 100%, then in 1940 they were established according to the state trade system 62%, and according to the consumer cooperation system - 54%.

The decline in embezzlement and embezzlement is explained by the fact that from direct embezzlement and embezzlement of material values, criminals operating in trade switched to indirect ones. Measuring, weighing buyers, sorting goods, etc. have become widespread. By deceiving buyers, criminals created large surpluses, and then appropriated them.

An important role in the disclosure of these offenses was played by the order of the NKVD of May 26, 1940, which announced instructions for supervising the use in trade of correct and stamped scales, weights and other similar equipment. This made it possible for the police, together with the prosecutor's office and the state trade inspectorate under the People's Commissar of Internal Trade of the USSR, to launch an offensive against persons who violate the rules of trade - weighing, measuring and short-cutting buyers.

Fight against speculation and counterfeiters. Along with active participation in "strengthening socialist property," the divisions of the BHSS solved the responsible tasks of exposing and suppressing the activities of speculators.

In the pre-war years, speculation in industrial goods prevailed. Speculation was especially widespread in Moscow, Leningrad, Kyiv, Sverdlovsk, Novosibirsk and other large industrial centers. In this regard, the BHSS apparatuses undertook a whole range of measures aimed at eradicating speculation. As a result of their efforts in 1940, 242 large groups of speculators were neutralized and 1,242 people were brought to justice. Values worth 3,065 thousand rubles were confiscated from the criminals.

In the prewar years, counterfeit banknotes of 10, 5 and 1 ruble denominations were noted on the territory of a number of republics and regions of the USSR. Employees of the OBKhSS had to put a lot of effort into exposing the counterfeiters. In 1940 alone, the BHSS authorities exposed 4 groups of criminals who made counterfeit money using typographic and lithographic methods, as well as 7 groups that forged banknotes by hand.

Thus, in the Georgian SSR, a group of 12 counterfeit coin makers was arrested, operating in Tbilisi. During the search, the criminals seized 17 clichés depicting banknotes of 3 ruble denominations, 44 drawings of banknotes, tools and other devices for counterfeiting banknotes.

In the Azerbaijan SSR, a group of counterfeiters engaged in the production and sale of 10-ruble banknotes in Baku was liquidated by the employees of the BHSS of the republic and the Rostov region. The money counterfeited by this group was confiscated not only in the Azerbaijan SSR, but also in Rostov, Saratov, Moscow and a number of other regions.

10 ruble bills were of high quality, forged by a group of 6 people in Moscow. During a search of the organizers of the criminal group, 274 counterfeit banknotes of 10-ruble denominations, false passport forms, a large number of fake stamps and seals, devices for making counterfeit money were found and confiscated. In total, in this case, employees of the BHSS seized counterfeit banknotes of 10-ruble denominations in the amount of 52,200 rubles. and confiscated nearly 17,000 genuine money.

General results of the activities of the OBKhSS. The OBKhSS apparatus proved to be highly effective. As a result of a large-scale attack on economic crime in 1939, 268 organized groups of robbers were exposed in supply and marketing organizations alone, and 1,886 criminals were prosecuted. The following year, 1940, these figures doubled - 538 groups, 3573 robbers.

In general, in all spheres of the economy in the country in 1940, more than 2 thousand organized groups of robbers, speculators and counterfeiters were identified, more than 11 thousand criminals were brought to justice - also 2 times more than in the previous year. During the investigation of criminal cases, it was established that the robbers caused damage to the state by almost 49 million rubles. More than 10 million rubles worth of money and valuables were seized from them. and a significant amount described property. In addition, police officers confiscated money, valuables and securities worth more than 80 million rubles from speculators and turned them into state revenue.

Thus, in the prewar years, the bodies of the BHSS, which are a new kind of police service, proved in practice the necessity of their existence, becoming an effective means of protecting the economy of the USSR.

Today, anyone has the opportunity to find information about relatives and friends who died or went missing during the Great Patriotic War. Many sites have been created to study documents containing personal data of military personnel during the war. "RG" provides an overview of the most useful of them. Therefore, do not despair if you could not find any information about your relatives in the bank of undelivered awards from Rossiyskaya Gazeta - you can continue your search on other Internet resources.

Database

www.rkka.ru - a directory of military abbreviations (as well as charters, instructions, directives, orders and personal documents of wartime).

Libraries

oldgazette.ru - old newspapers (including the war period).

www.rkka.ru - description of combat operations of World War II, post-war analysis of the events of World War II, military memoirs.

military cards

www.rkka.ru - military topographic maps with combat situation (by periods of war and operations)

Search engine sites

www.rf-poisk.ru - official website of the Russian Search Movement

Losses in the Great Patriotic War

It is not known exactly how many people left us during this great human tragedy. After all, the counting did not begin immediately, only in 1980, with the advent of glasnost in the USSR, historians and politicians, archive workers were able to start official work. Until that time, there were scattered data that were profitable at that time.

After the celebration of Victory Day in 1945, JV Stalin declared that we had buried 7 million Soviet citizens. He spoke, in his opinion, about everyone, and about those who lay down during the battle, and about those who were taken prisoner by the German invaders. But he missed a lot, did not say about the rear staff, who stood from morning till night at the bench, falling dead from exhaustion. I forgot about the condemned saboteurs, traitors to the motherland, ordinary people who died in small villages and the blockade of Leningrad; the missing. Unfortunately, they can be listed for a long time.
Later L.I. Brezhnev provided other information, he reported 20 million dead.

Today, thanks to the deciphering of secret documents, search work, the figures are becoming real. Thus, you can see the following picture:

Combat losses received directly at the front during the battles are about 8,860,400 people.
Non-combat losses (from diseases, wounds, accidents) - 6,885,100 people.

However, these figures do not yet correspond to the full reality. War, and even such, is not only the destruction of the enemy at the cost of one's own life. These are broken families - unborn children. These are huge losses of the male population, thanks to which the balance necessary for good demographics will not be restored soon.

These are diseases, famine in the post-war years and death from it. This is the rebuilding of the country again, again in many ways, at the cost of people's lives. All of them also need to be taken into account when doing calculations. All of them are victims of a terrible human vanity, the name of which is war.

How to find a participant in the Great Patriotic War of 1941 - 1945 by last name?

There is no better memory for the stars of victory than the desire of future generations to know. The desire to keep information for others to avoid such repetition. How to find a WWII participant by last name, where to find possible data about grandfathers and great-grandfathers, fathers - participants in the battles, knowing their last name? Especially for this, there are now electronic storages, access to which everyone has.

obd-memorial.ru - this contains official data containing reports of units about losses, funerals, trophy cards, as well as information about rank, status (died, was killed or disappeared, where), scanned documents.
moypolk.ru is a unique resource containing information about home front workers. The very ones without which we would not have heard the important word “Victory”. Thanks to this site, many have already been able to find or help find the lost.

The work of these resources is not only to search for great people, but also to collect information about them. If you have any, please let the administrators of these sites know about it. Thus, we will do a great common thing - we will preserve the memory and history.

Archive of the Ministry of Defense: search by the names of the participants in the Great Patriotic War

Another one - the main, central, largest project - https://archive.mil.ru/. The documents preserved there are mostly single and remained intact due to the fact that they were taken to the Orenburg region.

Over the years of work, the Central Asian staff has created an excellent reference apparatus showing the content of archival accumulations and funds. Now its goal is to provide people with access to possible documents by means of electronic computers. Thus, a website has been launched where you can try to find a military man who participated in the Second World War, knowing his last name. How to do it?

On the left side of the screen, find the "memory of the people" tab.
Enter his full name.
The program will give you the available information: date of birth, awards, scanned documents. Everything that is in the file cabinets for this person.
You can set the filter on the right by selecting only the sources you need. But it's better to choose all.
On this site, it is possible to see on the map the military operations, and the path of the unit in which the hero served.

This is a unique project in its essence. There is no longer such a volume of data collected and digitized from all existing and accessible sources: file cabinets, electronic memory books, documents of medical battalions and directories of command personnel. In truth, as long as such programs exist and the people who provide them, the memory of the people will be eternal.

If you did not find the right person there, do not despair, there are other sources, maybe they are not so large-scale, but their information content does not become less. Who knows in which folder the information you need could be lying around.

Participants of the Great Patriotic War: search by name, archive and awards

Where else can you look? There are more specific repositories, for example:

dokst.ru. As we said, the victims of this terrible war were those who were captured. Their fate can be displayed on foreign sites like this one. Here in the database there is everything about Russian prisoners of war and the burial places of Soviet citizens. You only need to know the last name, you can see the lists of captured people. The documentation research center is located in the city of Dresden, it was he who organized this site to help people from all over the world. You can not only search the site, but send a request through it.
Rosarkhiv archives.ru is an agency that is an executive body that keeps records of all state documents. Here you can apply with a request either via the Internet or by phone. A sample of an electronic appeal is available on the website in the "appeals" section, left column on the page. Some services here are provided for a fee, a list of them can be found in the section "archive activities". With this in mind, be sure to ask if you will need to pay for your request.
rgavmf.ru - a reference book of the navy about the fate and great deeds of our sailors. In the "orders and applications" section there is an e-mail address for processing documents left for storage after 1941. By contacting the archive staff, you can get any information and find out the cost of such a service, most likely it is free.

WWII awards: search by last name

To search for awards, feats, an open portal dedicated to this www.podvignaroda.ru has been organized. Information is published here about 6 million cases of awarding, as well as 500,000 undelivered medals, orders that did not reach the recipient. Knowing the name of your hero, you can find a lot of new things about his fate. The posted scanned documents of orders and award sheets, data from accounting files, will complement your knowledge.

Who else can I contact for information about awards?

On the website of the Central Asian Ministry of Defense in the section "Awards are looking for their heroes" a list of awarded fighters who did not receive them was published. Additional names can be obtained by phone.
rkka.ru/ihandbook.htm - Encyclopedia of the Red Army. It contains some lists on the assignment of higher officer ranks, special titles. The information may not be as extensive, but the existing sources should not be neglected.
https://www.warheroes.ru/ - a project created to popularize the exploits of the defenders of the Fatherland.

A lot of useful information, which is sometimes not available anywhere else, can be found on the forums of the above sites. Here people share precious experiences and tell their own stories that can help you too. There are many enthusiasts who are ready to help everyone in one way or another. They create their own archives, conduct their own research, they can also only be found on the forums. Do not bypass this type of search.

WWII veterans: search by last name

oldgazette.ru - an interesting project created by ideological people. A person who wants to find information enters the data, they can be anything: full name, name of the awards and date of receipt, a line from the document, a description of the event. This combination of words will be calculated by search engines, but not just on websites, but in old newspapers. Based on the results, you will see everything that was found. Suddenly, it is here that you are lucky, you will find at least a thread.
Sometimes we seek among the dead and find among the living. After all, many returned home, but due to the circumstances of that difficult time, they changed their place of residence. To search for them, use the site pobediteli.ru. Here, people who seek send letters asking for help in finding their fellow soldiers, random war counters. The capabilities of the project allow you to select a person by name and region, even if he lives abroad. Seeing it in these lists or similar, you need to contact the administration and discuss this issue. Kind, attentive employees will definitely help and do everything they can. The project does not interact with government organizations and cannot provide personal information: phone number, address. But publishing your appeal about the search is quite possible. Already more than 1000 people have been able to find each other in this way.
1941-1945.at Veterans do not abandon their own. Here on the forum you can chat, make inquiries among the veterans themselves, perhaps they have met and have information about the person you need.

The search for the living is no less relevant than the search for dead heroes. Who else will tell us the truth about those events, about what we experienced and suffered. About how they met victory, that one - the very first, most expensive, sad and happy at the same time.

Additional sources

Regional archives were created throughout the country. Not so large, holding, often on the shoulders of ordinary people, they have preserved unique single records. Their addresses are on the website of the movement to perpetuate the memory of the dead. As well as:

https://www.1942.ru/ - "Seeker".
https://iremember.ru/ - memories, letters, archives.
https://www.biograph-soldat.ru/ - international biographical center.

Judging by the letters of workers preserved in the archives, throughout the entire existence of the USSR, its citizens waged a constant and unceasing struggle for basic necessities. The only difference was that the lack of bread or meat, fabrics or shoes either existed in pockets in individual cities and regions of the country, or covered the entire Union as a whole. There were also relatively prosperous years when the tension with food or manufactured goods subsided so much that they were then remembered for many years.

One of these relatively prosperous periods was 1938, and there was no merit of the authorities in this. The secret was that the chairmen of the collective farms, in order to stop the mass exodus of collective farmers to the cities, began to turn a blind eye to the unauthorized increase in personal plots. And in some places, the villagers even began to rent collective farm fields. The harvest from them went to the markets, and the profit was divided between producers and managers. Along with the increase in supply, there was also a decrease in demand caused by mass repressions. So market prices went down, and fresh food became available even to low-paid categories of the urban population.

However, in May 1939, the party and the government decided to stop this relapse of private ownership, and inspection of household plots and the seizure of surplus land began throughout the country. The supply of products to the markets has decreased significantly, and queues have appeared in stores. In addition to all other troubles, the year turned out to be lean. And in September 1939, the Second World War began, and Soviet citizens, who remembered very well the difficulties and famine of the era of wars and revolutions, began to aggressively buy all durable goods, starting with sugar, flour, salt and matches.

True, they still failed to create solid reserves, since the state also launched preparations for war and began to actively replenish the reserves of the Committee of Reserves. In addition, many plants, factories and other industries began to transfer to the manufacture of military products. And by the end of 1939, the shortage of everything and everyone again became universal. In the same winter, a resident of Kyiv N. S. Kovalev wrote to the chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR V. M. Molotov:

"Dear Vyacheslav Mikhailovich. The issue of clothing in Kyiv is extremely difficult. Shameful deeds are happening. Thousands of queues to shops have been gathering for manufactory and ready-made clothes since the evening. -10 people in single file, one behind the other in a girth (so that no one slipped out of line), surrounded by policemen, like prisoners, they lead to the store. Under these conditions, terrible speculation flourishes, the arbitrariness of policemen, and they say that not without bribes. from such "orders". How much dissatisfaction and curses. An honest working man, even if he is in dire need, cannot buy his linen, trousers, etc., the most necessary things, except perhaps from speculators for double the price. change. Or, if there is, to give more goods for sale, to open several stores, or to establish some norm or right to purchase goods for every citizen. I believe that when liquid they designed the card system, it was meant that it would be better, but in practice this is not justified with the manufacture. Nothing wrong, but on the contrary, it will be better from the introduction of state. regulation in this matter. Dear Vyacheslav Mikhailovich! I kindly request you to look into this matter. Hundreds of thousands of citizens are screaming about it."

In other parts of the country, the supply situation looked even worse. On February 7, 1940, the leaders of the city plan of the city of Volsk wrote to their deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, Deputy Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR A. Ya. Vyshinsky:

"The current situation in the field of grain trade in the city of Volsk is characterized by a number of intolerable moments, which forces Gorplan to turn to you on this issue in the interests of immediately eliminating politically harmful phenomena. The general picture of the grain trade is as follows:

1. Both in the city and at the factories, including the leading ones, that is, at the cement factories, there are long lines for bread. The so-called live queue practiced at the time is not regulated by anyone, which is why the population shows its initiative by introducing lists of those occupying the queue. Most often, the next number is written on the hand. In order to guarantee themselves in obtaining bread (the entire population does not get bread), queues are established from 2-3 am until the store opens, that is, until 7-8 am. That is, people stand idle for 7-8 hours at 35-40-degree frost. Along with the adult population, there are also children in the queues.

2. With a clear shortage of bread, up to 50% of high-grade bread is on sale at the price of 1 r. 50 k., 2 p. 70 k. and more expensive per kilogram. A large proportion of the population does not have the opportunity to purchase this bread, since a worker with an average monthly salary of 200-250 rubles. and a family of 4-5 people does not cover the cost of buying bread.

3. Increasingly, such serious problems are created in the queues that it is necessary to resort to the assistance of the police.

4. Simultaneously with the sharply limited supply of bread, there is no groats, flour and other types of food products in the trading network. There is also no flour or cereals for sale on the collective farm market. It is clear that the conditions created could not but affect the mood of the city's population.
The NKVD of the USSR clearly understood that the main problem that caused queues and discontent among the population was the elementary lack of goods and products in stores. On February 3, 1940, the head of the Main Economic Directorate of the NKVD of the USSR, B. Z. Kobulov, wrote to the People's Commissar of Trade of the USSR A. V. Lyubimov:

"According to the UNKVD of the Ryazan region, due to the low harvest over the past two years and the reduction of flour funds for January of this year, there is an acute shortage in supplying the population with bread. The January plan for the Ryazan region was approved in the amount of 16 thousand tons instead of those released in in November 23.6 thousand tons and in December - 17.5 thousand tons As a result, there are long queues at shops, both in the city and in the countryside. , and most importantly, as a result of improper organization of trade, there are cases when students do not attend schools.In some areas of the region there are facts of perversion of the principles of Soviet trade.Pshenichkin, the party organizer of the Mezhrayleskhoz of the Shelukhov district, set the norm for the sale of bread per hand: lumberjacks - 2.5 kg, and teachers - 700 gr. The party organizer of the state farm "Kiritsa" set the norm for the sale of bread in one hand: multi-family - 2 kg, singles - 1 kg. In the state farm named after Kaganovich - 750 gr. per person. "

But the country's leadership saw what was happening from a completely different perspective. If speculators have products, it means that they are in sufficient quantities in the system of trade and the food industry. And they do not reach the population because the police are bad at fighting robbers and underground traders. People's Commissar of Internal Affairs of the USSR L.P. Beria reacted without delay. On March 13, 1940, the NKVD issued a top secret order N00325 on strengthening the departments for combating the theft of socialist property. It ordered to increase the staff of these police units, to strengthen the departments to combat profiteering, and most importantly, to create an extensive intelligence and information network that would make it possible to identify and arrest robbers and speculators.

In the meantime, the new system will work at full capacity, Beria proposed a few more radical measures. Its employees reported that the bulk of the buyers stock up in Moscow with goods for speculation throughout the Union. Therefore, huge queues appeared in the shops in the capital. In response, in July 1940, Beria proposed tougher penalties for buying and reselling goods and products. His report to the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR stated:

"In pursuance of the decision of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR on the fight against queues for industrial and food products in the city of Moscow, the NKVD of the USSR from January to June 1940 inclusive, the following work was carried out:

For manufactured goods. Buyers arrested and brought to trial - 947 people; fined - 16,853 people for a total amount - 474,696 rubles. In addition, industrial goods worth 1,038,279 rubles were confiscated from them.

For foodstuffs. Arrested and prosecuted - 463 people; 50,809 people were detained and 582,688 kg of food products were taken from them; of which 38,962 people were fined for a total amount of 626,556 rubles.

Of the 1,410 people brought to justice for speculation, 184 people are employees of the trading network. During the same time, administratively expelled from the mountains. Moscow 1220 people of violators of the passport regime, detained in queues. To strengthen the fight against speculation in industrial and food products in the mountains. In Moscow, the NKVD of the USSR considers it necessary to additionally carry out the following measures:

1. Persons detained by the police two or more times for buying or reselling food and industrial goods in the mountains. Moscow, arrest.

2. Also subject to arrest persons arriving in the mountains. Moscow from other cities and regions of the USSR caught buying food and industrial goods for speculative purposes.

3. Arrest persons engaged in the purchase and resale of industrial and food products, covering their speculative activities with work in Soviet institutions and collective farms.

4. Cases against persons arrested for buying and reselling food and industrial goods are to be considered at a Special Meeting of the NKVD of the USSR.

And soon, as stated in the report for 1940 of the head of the OBKhSS of the Main Police Department of the NKVD of the USSR, police major V. Ya. Gromilov, the measures taken to strengthen the units and create an agent network began to bear fruit. By the end of 1940, the number of fighters against embezzlers of social property had grown significantly:

"The staff of almost all peripheral offices of the OBKhSS was significantly increased. Against 1939, the increase was 30.7%. In all republican, regional and regional offices of the OBKhSS, special departments were introduced to combat speculation."

The agent network has also expanded:

"As a result, in 1940, most police agencies achieved significant results in the restructuring of intelligence and operational work in accordance with the order of the NKVD of the USSR for N00325. In 1940, the intelligence network to combat theft, speculation and counterfeiting increased quantitatively and qualitatively significantly, moreover, it increased due to primary objects: speculation, state trade and consumer cooperation, supply and marketing organizations, etc. Now the rare OBKhSS apparatus does not have qualified agents, which was not the case before the issuance of the NKVD order for N00325. has been cleared."

During the year, as the report testified, the OBKhSS services recruited 115,000 agents who received police assignments and penetrated the environment of speculators and plunderers, and 61,100 informants who reported to their secret leadership what they saw and heard. As a result, as of January 1, 1941, the OBKhSS agent network included 173,900 agents and 127,000 informants.

“As a result of this,” Gromilov’s report said, “the efficiency of work has significantly increased. For example: in 1940 (only according to the special reports received by the Chief Directorate of Police) 2065 of the most prominent criminal, speculative and counterfeiting groups were opened and liquidated in the Union 2065, according to 11,096 people were brought to justice and 7,993 people were arrested. In 1939, not even half of this number was opened.

As noted in the report, the strengthening of the OBKhSS apparatus and the growth of messages from agents frightened the plunderers of social property:

"In 1940, waste and embezzlement in all state and cooperative organizations sharply decreased."

Reports on certain types of activities of the OBKhSS were supposed to convince the leadership of the NKVD of the USSR that the bet placed on strengthening the agents brings excellent results. As police major Gromilov wrote, after operations against buyers of goods were carried out, store employees changed the main methods of illegal enrichment:

“It has been established, for example, that the most common and dangerous types of theft in these organizations are now stealing from consumers (weighing, measuring, sorting, etc.), to which criminal elements have largely switched in their activities. cases indicates a serious hit by them on trade organizations.For example:

Gor. Moscow. In branch N1 of the Leninsky demonstrative department store, a group engaged in embezzlement by stealing from consumers was opened and arrested. Only according to the recognition of the group members, they stole money in the amount of more than 100 thousand rubles. In reality, the sizes are much larger, but they did not lend themselves to accounting and identification.

A similar group of 25 people. opened and arrested in the stores "Gastronom" mountains. Moscow, in which, along with the robbing of consumers, a system of bribery was practiced. The amount of the stolen goods was also established in the amount of more than 100,000 rubles.

A similar group was opened and arrested in the Mosplodoovoshtorg system, including 13 people, who, according to their confession, stole up to 500 thousand rubles.

Stalingrad. region In the restaurant "Priboy" in Stalingrad, a group of 9 people was arrested. The amount of theft is determined by tens of thousands of rubles for each participant."

A feature identified at the enterprises of the local and food industries turned out to be that no internal inspections revealed or did not want to identify theft:

"In 1940, police agencies for supply and marketing organizations opened 538 of the most prominent and characteristic groups, for which 3573 people were involved and 2776 people were arrested against 268 of the same groups with 1866 people involved and 953 people arrested, opened in 1939 1940. The investigation for these groups established the amount of stolen money in the amount of 27,870 thousand rubles and confiscated from members of the groups 5,277 thousand rubles. According to any records of organizations, the amounts embezzled by these groups are not reflected. In the People's Commissariat of Local Industry of the RSFSR, for example, in 1940 The amount of embezzlement and embezzlement revealed is 98.7 thousand rubles, and only for 26 opened groups, about which special reports were received by the Main Police Department, the amount of the stolen is expressed in the amount of 275 thousand rubles.

This is also evidenced by the specific cases uncovered in these organizations. The most prominent of these are:

Gor. Moscow. City apparatus OBKhSS at the meat-packing plant. Mikoyan, 2 large and several small groups were opened, in which over 150 people were involved, and some have already been convicted. The investigation found that the participants in these groups during 1939-40. 2,400 thousand rubles of state funds were embezzled. During arrests, 900 thousand rubles in cash and valuables were seized from individual predators.

Moscow region The regional apparatus of the OBKhSS and the Pavlo-Posad City Police Department at the P-Posad bakery uncovered a predatory group of 62 people. It was established that during 1939-40 the group plundered bread products in the amount of 1062 tons.

Georgian SSR. The republican apparatus of the OBKhSS in the system of the Food Industry Union opened and liquidated two large groups, one of 45 people, the other 25 people. These groups have been engaged in organized embezzlement of public funds for a long time. The investigation found that these groups plundered up to 1 million. rubles.

Yaroslavskaya oblast. The OBKhSS of the Police Department on the basis of Rosglavzhirmaslo opened and arrested a large group engaged in theft of butter. Only in 1940, the members of the group plundered 44 tons of vegetable oil, 17 tons of drying oil and other goods for a total of 600,000 rubles.

Gromilov noted that there are some shortcomings in the work. Thus, the OBKhSS operatives lacked experience and, as the report said, "operational courage" to recruit serious, big speculators and people from among the most notorious robbers. But, as expected, experience will come with time, and the identification of criminals with the help of agents will go even better. But soon the war began.

In 1944, the head of the OBKhSS GUM of the NKVD of the USSR Gromilov, who by that time had become a third-rank police commissar, prepared a report on the activities of his department during the war years, where he talked about how all the work done in the pre-war period, in fact, was brought to naught . Agents were drafted into the army, and it took a lot of time and effort to find replacements. Additional difficulties were created by the fact that enterprises and the population were evacuated, so the agents in the eastern regions of the country were practically lost.

No less important, as Gromilov stated, was the fact that the nature of the crimes subordinated to his employees has changed dramatically:

"The nature of theft has completely changed. If in pre-war times the objects of criminal encroachment were mainly money, then in wartime - goods, mainly food items of prime necessity, and the proceeds from the sale of their money, criminals began to turn into gold, foreign currency, gold products and other values. In this regard, the buying up of gold, jewelry and foreign currency became widespread, which, by the way, was one of the reasons for the sharp increase in the activities of currency traders in wartime. Theft itself radically changed. Methods of direct plunder of goods were mainly replaced by methods of squandering goods Self-supply, supply of relatives, acquaintances, "by pull", supply according to various kinds of notes and lists from the very beginning of the war was the most common form of plunder of goods, especially in shops, canteens, bases and food enterprises. "

In addition, new places of mass theft have appeared. Before the war, no one could imagine large-scale theft of food in hospitals. And after it began, they began to identify significant shortages of food and medicine in hospitals. New objects for the OBKhSS were also the ORSs created during the war at almost all more or less large enterprises - departments of workers' supply. They were intended to improve the nutrition of workers, but due to the lack of accounting and control, they turned into centers of theft of food from ordinary workers.

Against this background, as Gromilov wrote, the undercover apparatus had to be created again, almost from scratch. In 1942, the OBKhSS units recruited 64,683 agents and informants, in 1943 - 90,721. However, many agents and informants were culled for uselessness, many were transferred to other places, and as a result, as of July 1, 1944, the agent network consisted of 132,769 Human.

Despite a significant reduction in the number of agents, it was possible, as stated in the report, to achieve significant results. Groups were identified that included in the lists of people who received food and goods on the cards of "dead souls", which brought huge profits to the organizers of the scam. A similar check was carried out in 480 ORSs. And as a result, it was found that they illegally allocated food for 134,232 people.

The inspection of the food warehouses of all departments was also impressive, which the OBKhSS employees began with the besieged Leningrad, and then, amazed at the scale of theft, carried out in other cities of the country. As a result, at 1,467 bases, warehouses and refrigerators, 804,641 kilograms of surpluses were found that were not given to consumers and were not listed in the documents, and a shortage of 476,143 kilograms of food that was stolen was revealed.

Agents, as Gromilov noted, helped to identify tens of thousands of groups of robbers. So the importance of its further use was not in doubt, and in the post-war period they again began to strengthen and expand it. However, after the war, a new trend was clearly manifested: there were more and more agents, but more and more crimes. The number of agents was mentioned in the OBKhSS report for 1947:

"The agent-information network in 1947 increased and its quality improved. So, if on January 1, 1947 there were 308,579 people in the agent-information network, then on January 1, 1948 there were 338,858 people, including: 14,556 residents , 18,491 agents and 306,812 informants.Thus, the intelligence network increased by 30,279 people, or 9.8%, including 2,691 residents, 2,436 agents, 25,152 informants. network increased by 22,371 people)".

But the number of thefts and the value of the stolen have grown much more significantly. For example, in consumer cooperation, as stated in the report, in the first nine months of 1946, theft of 269.8 million rubles was revealed, and for the same period in 1947 - by 342.7 million rubles, in the ORS of the Ministry of Aviation Industry - by 2.2 million and 3.7 million, respectively, in the cooperation of the disabled of the RSFSR - by 8.7 million and 18 million. Moreover, as the leaders of the OBKhSS wrote self-critically, only a small part of theft of various kinds was detected:

"However, official data, as you know, do not reflect the actual situation of the size of the theft. In fact, the size of the theft is greater than they have been detected, since a significant part of them remains unidentified. police on suspicion of embezzlement. As of January 1, 1948, there were 63,756 such persons under investigation, including 6,542 people under the system of the Ministry of Trade, 6,500 people in consumer cooperation, 7,312 people in the Ministry of Food Industry, 6,649 people in the Ministry of Procurement, etc. " .

senior detective of the OBKhSS Major Bychkov

Based on the materials of the article of the magazine "Kommersant Money", No. 47 (904), 11/26/2012

Russian fighters against economic crime celebrate today, March 16, their professional holiday - the Day of the formation of economic security units in the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

The predecessor of this service was the famous department for combating theft of socialist property and speculation (OBKhSS), created on March 16, 1937 as part of the Main Police Department of the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs of the USSR. In the adopted regulation on OBKhSS, in particular, it was said that it was created to "ensure the fight against theft of socialist property in organizations and institutions of state trade, as well as to fight speculation."

Tasks of economic security units

Currently, employees of the economic security units are actively involved in the areas of control over the use of budget funds for their intended purpose, counterfeiting and combating bribery and corruption. The tasks of the economic security units in the system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs include the identification and suppression of violations of laws governing the circulation of national and foreign currency in the field of operations of the external and internal economy. The body is in charge of illegal acts in the theft of precious and non-ferrous metals, the financial and credit system, strategic materials and other state resources, as well as the forgery of securities and state treasury notes.

In February 1992, the Main Directorate for Economic Crimes (GUEP) was created as part of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, which was renamed GUBEP five years later. In June 2001, it became part of the Criminal Police Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, and two years later, the Federal Service for Economic and Tax Crimes began to operate within the structure of the ministry. As a result of administrative reform, it became the Department of Economic Security.

The issues of reliable protection of state and public property in our country, the organization of the fight against acquisitive crimes have always been in the focus of attention of the government and local authorities.

Of course, the specialists of the country's economic security units are only highly qualified employees with higher legal or economic education, who also participate in operational activities. On the holiday of March 16, on the Day of the formation of economic security units in the system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, solemn events are held to reward specialists, and gratitude is also given to distinguished professionals.

History of service BHSS - BEP

In fact, the beginning of the formation of the BHSS service - BEP fell on 1919, when the NKVD, having examined the state of the security that existed at the enterprises, decided to immediately organize the so-called industrial police, which was entrusted with the task of combating the theft of national property, with the disorganization of the economic and industrial life of the country from illegal use in private interests of nationalized means of production and raw material reserves.

The period 1927-1930 is characterized by the expansion of the functions of the NKVD, the assignment of new tasks to it, due to the deployment of the construction of a new socialist economy throughout the country, the need to strengthen the protection of the national property, and the intensification of the fight against economic and malfeasance.

In March 1920, as part of the Main Police Department of the NKVD of the RSFSR, an industrial police department was formed, whose functions included the protection of objects of the national economy and the fight against theft and petty theft of socialist property.

In May 1922, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR approved the Regulations on the NKVD of the RSFSR, which entrusted the police with the task of protecting civilian institutions and structures of national and exceptional importance: telegraph, post office, water supply, structures on all lines of communication, stations and backwaters, factories, factories, mines , forests, plantations, public nurseries, fuel depots, raw materials, agricultural products, etc.

In August 1932, the Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR adopted a resolution "On the protection of property of state enterprises, collective farms and cooperatives and the strengthening of public socialist property."

On March 16, 1937, as part of the Main Police Department of the NKVD of the USSR, a department was formed to combat theft of socialist property and speculation - OBKhSS GUM NKVD of the USSR. The Regulation on OBHSS was also adopted. It stated: “OBKhSS is being created to ensure the fight against theft of socialist property in organizations and institutions of state trade, consumer, industrial and disabled cooperation, procurement bodies and savings banks, as well as to combat speculation.”

The apparatus of the BHSS is established in the republican and local police bodies.

During the war years, the protection of the national economy from criminal encroachments acquired vital importance. In this most difficult time, the apparatuses for combating the theft of socialist property and speculation, fully realizing the significance of the tasks assigned to them, focused on strengthening the protection of rationed essentials that go to provide for the army and the population, suppressing the criminal activities of plunderers, speculators, swindlers and counterfeiters. .

Under special control, the BHSS service took procurement and supply organizations, food industry enterprises and a trading network.

A characteristic feature of the theft of that time was that the criminals most often stole not money, but inventory, putting them on sale at speculative prices, resorting in some cases not to large, but to small theft and squandering of products.

The activities carried out by the BHSS employees made it possible to identify shortcomings and put things in order in the distribution of products, improve their accounting and safety, ensure the reliable storage of strict reporting forms, receipts, invoices, warrants, passes for the export of goods and other documents. The security of food warehouses was strengthened, order was put in place in the printing houses where coupons were printed, a monthly change in their grid was introduced, which excluded the possibility of their reuse. In general, thanks to the hard, selfless and painstaking work of the BHSS service, during the war years, it was possible to ensure the effective functioning of the entire infrastructure of the region, its employees made a significant contribution to strengthening the economic power of the country, returned significant material assets and funds to the state, created the necessary conditions for achieving victory .

The main task of the police in the period of post-war restoration of the national economy was to eliminate the consequences of the war in the field of public order and the fight against crime.

In the difficult conditions of the post-war period, the fight against speculation, bribery, and abuse in the rationing system acquired particular importance.

The order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, issued in 1947, determined measures to review the staffing of the operational departments, the criminal investigation department, in order to maximize the number of qualified operational workers.

In June 1947, the BHSS department of the GUM of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR was transformed into the Directorate for Combating theft of Socialist Property and Speculation (UBHSS). The BHSS service was entrusted with the task of organizing the fight against theft of socialist property in state trade, consumer cooperation, ORS and food supply of industrial enterprises and industrial cooperation, in the supply and marketing departments, in industries manufacturing food and industrial consumer goods. An important task was to combat speculation, bribery, counterfeiting, private business activities and speculation in currency values.

In October 1949, the militia was transferred from the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to the Ministry of State Security of the USSR (MGB USSR).

On August 23, 1950, the USSR Ministry of State Security reorganized the Main Police Department. As part of the GUM MGB USSR, three departments were formed, one of them was the department for combating theft of socialist property and speculation (UBKhSS GUM MGB USSR).

On March 6, 1953, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR and the Council of Ministers of the USSR decided to merge the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of State Security into one ministry - the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR. In 1954, when the state security agencies were again withdrawn from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the UBKhSS remained part of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs.

On April 11, 1955, the Council of Ministers of the USSR adopted a resolution on the organization of the republican Ministry of Internal Affairs of the RSFSR. The Russian Republic received its own administration to combat the theft of socialist property and speculation.

By order of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs No. 0068 of November 24, 1958, the staff and structure of the Main Police Department of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs were announced, which also included the BHSS department.

The period of the early 60s was characterized by a significant stabilization of the socio-economic situation in the country. This inevitably affected the criminal situation. In particular, the number of criminal cases initiated by the police decreased (by about 26%), as well as the number of persons prosecuted (by about 34%).

In 1963, the ministries of internal affairs of the union republics were renamed the ministries of public order. The BHSS service became known as the UBHSS MOOP of the RSFSR.

In February 1992, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the RSFSR were merged into the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation and by order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation No. 35 dated February 10, 1992, the Bureau of Crime in the Economy of the Criminal Police of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs and the BEP of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the RSFSR merged.

The new division of the Ministry of Internal Affairs received the name - Main Directorate for Economic Crimes (GUEP MIA RF).