The NKVD (НКВД), also known as the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних дел - Naródnyy komissariát vnútrennikh del) was one of a number of predecessor organisations to the KGB in the Soviet Union under Stalin. Its mission ranged from foreign intelligence missions, to running the Gulags, or Soviet slave labour camps. It was formed in 1934, succeeding the OGPU and disbanded in 1946.
Its heads included the notorious Yagoda, Yezhov and Beria, and it ran at the height of the Stalinist purges. The NKVD was also instrumental in helping the emergence of SMERSH.
The NKVD is an important plot element in Heads You Die.
Notable operatives:
- Maria Freudenstein
- La Velada
- Lavrentiy Beria
- Rosa Klebb (formerly)